Research

In Jiangcheng City, Su Province, at the research center of a certain university, an elderly man was using scientific equipment to study a purple sphere before him. Inside the purple crystal ball were four golden stars—it was clearly one of the Wish Orbs created by Xiao Hen.

"How amazing! This thing seems to have formed naturally, with no trace whatsoever of artificial carving!" the old professor exclaimed.

His granddaughter had found this miraculous orb while playing outside. At first, he had not taken it seriously, treating it as nothing more than a glass toy someone had casually discarded. He had also assumed the information it conveyed was merely some high-tech trick.

After playing with it for a while, his granddaughter had accidentally dropped the orb from the high-rise building where he lived. It gave him quite a fright, and he hurried downstairs to see whether it had hit anyone.

Fortunately, no pedestrians had been passing below at the time. However, that look revealed the orb’s extraordinary nature. The glass bead had fallen from the sixteenth floor and smashed a deep crater into the concrete ground, yet it itself was completely undamaged.

With such hardness, it was obviously no ordinary glass product. Curious, the old professor brought it to the laboratory for testing. The tests immediately uncovered a major issue: the crystal ball seemed to have formed naturally and was not something made by human hands.

As for the source and method of transmission of that information, he likewise found no trace of anything on the orb itself. That left him astonished.

Of course, he could not possibly figure it out. Xiao Hen had created the Wish Pearl using six Infinity Stones as its foundation. It would have been truly strange if humans could decipher his methods.

"Its hardness is even greater than that of the toughest diamond, and its transparency is also exceptionally high. And those four stars inside—it doesn’t matter from which direction you look, they always appear as five-pointed stars. This is… too strange!" The professor shook his head as he stared at the Four-Star Orb on the experimental table. As a scientific researcher, he believed everything could be explained by science, yet the orb before him had shattered all his long-held common sense.

"I refuse to believe you truly can’t be destroyed!" After studying it for a while without learning anything, the old professor resorted to brute force. He brought in all kinds of destructive equipment, including electric drills, iron hammers, and corrosive liquids.

But to his utter disbelief, none of those things could inflict even the slightest damage on the crystal ball.

"Th-this… this thing can withstand so much destruction and still remain completely intact?" The old professor scratched his head.

Left with no choice, he summoned all the school’s scientific researchers and began a comprehensive analysis of the crystal ball.

"Old Wang, you called us here to study this… this Dragon Pearl?" An elderly professor with a full head of white hair looked speechlessly at the Four-Star Orb on the laboratory table. He knew a little about the Dragon Pearl manga as well. It had been a wildly popular hot-blooded manga more than three hundred years ago, and even in this era, plenty of people still enjoyed it. His youngest grandson had been reading it recently.

"Yes, Old Wang. Don’t you know I’m busy?" an old woman said irritably.

"Stop arguing! Listen to me, listen to me! This thing is truly amazing!" Seeing that everyone was annoyed, the old professor hurriedly explained, "Touch this crystal ball with your hands first, and then you’ll understand why I say that!"

"Oh?"

"You’re acting all mysterious. Who knows what you’re up to."

The professors and researchers looked at the old professor skeptically, but they did as he said and reached out to touch the crystal ball.

"Huh?"

The first elderly man to touch it let out a startled sound. Clearly, he had already received the information transmitted by the Wish Orb.

"It really is a Dragon Pearl! Hahaha, and once you collect them all, you can make a wish!" The old man shook his head with an amused smile, already judging it to be some technological product meant to fool people.

"Oh! It really is…"

"Hahaha, Old Wang, do you want to collect Dragon Pearls? Do you need me to make you a Dragon Pearl radar?" The old woman could not help laughing.

"Listen to me. This thing is not simple. I suspect it really can grant wishes!" Old Wang said gravely.

"Old Wang, have you gone mad from researching that spatial wormhole theory of yours? You actually believe this?" Another old professor looked at Old Wang with some concern.

"Hey! Listen to me. I tested this crystal ball. Its hardness has absolutely surpassed every object on Earth. Diamonds aren’t even worthy of carrying its shoes! I tried many tools, and none of them could damage it in the slightest! Look!" Old Wang pointed at the electric drill and large iron hammer on the floor beside him.

"Oh?"

"Is it really that amazing?"

"Seriously?"

"Isn’t it just a glass ball? How could it be that incredible?"

"Let’s study it and see…"

Upon hearing Old Wang say this, the group of old scholars immediately grew curious and began examining it. The moment they did, every one of them was stunned.

In an ancient manor in Scotland, Europe, a man in a suit and sunglasses stepped out of a black sedan. Carrying a stack of documents and a case, he swiftly entered the manor and arrived at a luxurious room within.

A handsome young man sat on the sofa inside. His golden hair was meticulously combed, and his entire body radiated an air of nobility. At that moment, he was gently sipping coffee. Even while drinking coffee, his movements were as flawless as if they had been planned according to etiquette, without the slightest fault to be found.

Knock, knock, knock…

A knock sounded at the door. The man’s heart stirred, and he said softly, "Come in."

"Mr. Angus, the research results are out!"

The man in sunglasses carefully placed the stack of documents and the briefcase before him. "As you instructed, I brought the item as well!"

"Mm." The man nodded and picked up the documents to read them. His eyes immediately lit up. He then opened the briefcase, revealing a green crystal ball inside. Within it were six small golden stars, clearly visible from every angle.

"This thing… is actually this miraculous! Could it truly grant wishes?" The man stroked the crystal ball and muttered, "So be it. With our family’s capabilities, if we mobilize all our manpower and resources, we should be able to find all the Wish Orbs!"

"It’s just that those old fossils in the family will definitely think I’m fooling around… Fine, I’ll give it a try. After all, I only hold the fourth right of inheritance. If I don’t take a gamble, the family will surely have nothing to do with me in the future…"

"Kyle, we’re leaving!" The man suddenly rose to his feet.

"Sir, where are we going?" the man in sunglasses asked strangely.

"Of course, to search for these crystal balls!"