'You've made a stellar choice, my young friend.'
Bernoni smiled at Luther. If others had been in Luther's shoes, their thoughts would be hellbent on returning to their normal lives but how boring that was!
Everyone should have a spirit of curiosity and adventure!
Now in a good mood, Bernoni began to speak. 'Perhaps when you return, you'll be able to open the eyes of your race.
You people are still a Level 0 Civilization. You've not even upgraded your planet yet but are rather polluting it. That's very foolish!'
Luther's brow furrowed. 'What do you mean by we're a Level 0 Civilization?'
'In the Galaxy, undeveloped races who still huddle in tribes, use primitive weapons and haven't travelled beyond their star system are called Level 0 Civilizations.
Your home planet is an Advanced Level 0 Civilization as you've made some progress in exploring outer space, but nothing major.
Ideally, you would be able to enter the interstellar era in about a century and meet with some of the representatives of the Golden Light Federation but because of the massive pollution…
Hmm, it might take at least a millennium before you could truly become a Level 1 civilization.'
Luther nearly jumped out of his chair in fright.
It would take at least 1,000 years before Earth could enter what was the Interstellar era and come into contact with aliens?
In other words, it would take at least 1,000 years before Earth developed to an acceptable level?
He couldn't help but feel downhearted. The future seemed rather bleak!
Luther looked up and asked, 'Why a millennium?'
Bernoni smiled and replied, 'You see, for a race to truly enter the Interstellar era, they must upgrade their planetary core and awaken the spirit of the planet who is the guardian of the race.
Once the planet gains sentience, it will naturally give birth to higher forms of energy like mana, aether and others, making it easier to develop technology which would allow space exploration.
Unfortunately for you and those of your race, the pollution has made it such that you're even depleting the tier 0 ozone barrier which protects the planet!
Currently, it is at 33.19% integrity.
The moment it falls below ten percent, that energy source you call sun will be your undoing and cause an apocalypse.
All the efforts your race has made to evolve and develop will reset to square 1 and you'll have to start the arduous task of rebuilding your ruins and increasing population.
That will take at least, a millennium!'
Luther sighed and all the previous bliss he felt from the food evaporated.
How could he be happy when Earth was heading towards ruin?
While Bernoni was speaking, he had displayed screens of information on the table to give credibility to his statements.
Not that Luther didn't believe him; but what the screens showed were too frightening!
Earth was displayed in a ball like form, surrounded by a weak barrier which visibly fluctuated, as if it was growing dim rapidly.
Estimates beside it showed that the planet had only five or so years before the apocalypse struck.
On the surface, various areas had varying degrees of pollution; the blue and green color was now varying shades of black and grey in most areas.
Another screen showed what would happen if the barrier was destroyed; a solar eruption engulfed the planet in bright red light and the planet shrunk to one third of its previous size!
It became dark and gloomy, like an abandoned house.
'I can't let this happen to earth… I have to do something…' Luther clenched his fists involuntarily.
How could he watch on while his home planet was about to be destroyed?
The idea of escaping to the alien civilization and leaving earth for good was shunned from his thoughts!
What a joke, in the face of the apocalypse, all racial problems on earth were mediocre, a farce.
He may not have any siblings but he had parents and friends, people he knew, all on earth. The students in his university, the lecturers, cleaners, workers, everyone…
Even those he didn't know.
At that moment, Luther felt great pressure. Being mistakenly beamed into an alien ship was actually a blessing in disguise.
What if the planet had caused that malfunction or something, so that someone on the planet could go to alien civilizations and get help?
Whether that was the case or not, Luther knew he had to save Earth from the apocalypse.
It was no longer a matter of returning. He had to go to the advanced alien civilizations and see if there was something, anything, he could do to help save his planet!
'Bernoni, how do I save my planet and my race?' Luther asked seriously.
The alien sipped from a golden goblet and sighed. 'You truly have a noble heart. Others would have chosen to flee for their lives.
You have gained my respect, Luther, so I will give you some advice; become stronger.'
Luther tilted his head in confusion. What did the alien mean by becoming stronger?
'This level of apocalypse is actually the lowest but to a Level 0 Civilization like yours, it also is the deadliest. There are many ways you can resolve it though.
One, you could move your planet from this star system to a safer one.
Second, you could destroy the energy source before it causes any more trouble.
Or third, you could upgrade both your planet and civilization to Level 1.
All these options depend massively on personal strength. You'll have to be an Entity Stage powerhouse to pull any of these off.'
Luther's jaw dropped for the umpteenth time. 'Super powers exist too?!'
Bernoni chuckled. 'What did you expect? Super powers exist! Once a race is able to upgrade their planet to Level 1, the way will be paved for the awakening of special powers.
At the same time, they will also discover their racial talent or ability which is unique to every race.
My race, the Borrussi, have a Psychic racial talent.'
As if to prove this, the various tables and chairs levitated into the air and began to dance, much to Luther's shock.
Suddenly, he fell onto his knees.
'Bernoni, please help me awake my super powers!'