"An alien?"
Rimuru shook her head. "You got that wrong; I am a true Earthling."
Natasha smiled. "So, you're trying to tell me your blue hair is dyed, your golden eyes are colored contacts, and your superpowers are… magic?"
"Of course not. Do you know what a Parallel Universe is?" Rimuru asked.
"A Parallel Universe?"
"Yes. Because of the instability of quantum mechanics, many scientists speculate that since every quantum has different states, the Universe is not just one, but composed of multiple similar universes. In the past, I wasn't sure if Parallel Universes existed, but now I'm certain!"
Natasha pondered. Not certain before, but certain now—was Rimuru implying she was an Earthling who traveled from another universe?
"Do you think I'll believe that? I don't believe that people from a Parallel Universe would even have superpowers."
Rimuru gazed into the distance, saying melancholically, "That's because you don't know what we've been through."
Natasha immediately became curious. "Can you elaborate?"
"In our universe, the solar system where our Earth is located has three Suns. The movement of these three Suns is extremely irregular, causing the destruction and rebirth of hundreds of civilizations."
"When the three Suns appear together at their perihelion, temperatures skyrocket, rivers dry up, and life becomes extinct. When the three Suns appear simultaneously at their aphelion, temperatures drop to their lowest, oceans freeze, and the world enters a complete Ice Age."
"Only when the positions of the three Suns align just right does life regenerate and civilization rebuild. To adapt to this extreme living environment, humans on our planet evolved."
Three Suns? Natasha was completely baffled. Was this a science-fiction story?
Damn it, a solar system with three Suns?
But her training helped her stay composed. "What kind of evolution did you gain?"
Although Rimuru's story was full of loopholes, Natasha immediately latched onto the word "evolution."
This was an excellent chance to gather intelligence on Rimuru's superpowers, and she wouldn't miss it.
Rimuru didn't hide anything and immediately transformed into her Slime form.
Huh?
Staring at the soft, jelly-like blue blob in front of her, Natasha's beautiful eyes widened.
What a sight!
Just moments ago Rimuru was a beautiful girl, and in the blink of an eye, she had turned into a small blue ball.
Was she dreaming?
Natasha couldn't help reaching out and poking it with her finger. Instantly, her heart leaped.
The soft, bouncy texture felt so comfortable—she really wanted to hug it.
Wait. She was an Agent who had undergone strict training. How could she have such thoughts?
Was this some kind of charm ability?
Forcing herself to resist the urge to knead Rimuru, Natasha asked curiously, "Is this the evolution you mentioned?"
Transforming into a soft blob with no limbs or facial features looked more like degeneration!
Cough, cough. Rimuru cleared her throat and slipped back into her grand deception mode.
"To adapt to the extremely harsh living environment, Earthlings were forced to acquire various superpowers. For example, temperature-change resistance. With this ability, external temperature fluctuations do not affect our survival state."
"Temperature-change resistance?!"
Natasha's eyes widened. It sounded unbelievable.
But thinking about those three Suns, this adaptation… somehow made sense. What was she supposed to do with that?
"Exactly. Survival of the fittest, natural selection—nature's choices are brutally cruel."
Natasha was speechless. For a moment, she felt like saying, What you just said makes so much sense I'm at a loss for words.
She had carried out so many missions, but this one was definitely the most unforgettable.
This story was truly science fiction.
"Anything else?"
Rimuru: "Of course! Water is the source of life; how can one survive without it? When the three Suns align at perihelion, Water completely evaporates and Earth thoroughly dries up. To survive, and to preserve civilization, we Earthlings could only strive to store it. A drop of Water in normal times is the Pacific Ocean in times of crisis!"
Natasha rolled her eyes, feeling her intelligence being insulted.
"When the three Suns align at perihelion and Earth is completely dry, how do you store it? Bury the water tanks in the Earth's core?"
Rimuru: "Such limited mortal thinking. Life is the greatest miracle in the universe! As the philosopher said, when pushed to their limits, humans reveal infinite potential. To adapt to an environment with almost no Water, our Earthlings' stomachs evolved!"
"Huh?"
Natasha almost choked. Their stomachs… evolved?
Was this a joke?
Rimuru said earnestly, "To survive the Waterless era, we would preemptively store several lakes' worth of Water in our stomachs. But I know you won't believe me without proof. So I'll demonstrate!"
Huh?
She could demonstrate that?
Natasha felt her brain lagging, and then vaguely followed Rimuru to the swimming pool.
Rimuru, now in human form again, stretched her arms and said, "Always be prepared. To cope with the dry era, my stomach contains half a lake's worth of Water. I originally wanted to fill it completely, but there wasn't enough water in the lake."
Pfft!
Rimuru opened her mouth and sprayed water from her stomach.
She sprayed for ten minutes, and the swimming pool was filled.
Natasha was utterly dumbfounded. Oh my god—this was real!
Was her stomach connected to another dimension?
Natasha felt her worldview completely collapse.
To make sure it wasn't a trick, she even tested the water with her hand. It was indeed real water. No mistake.
Good lord. This was actually happening.
With such a stomach… wait—wouldn't their planet experience a food crisis?
Even long after the demonstration, Natasha's heart couldn't calm down.
But then she realized an obvious issue. "The solar system doesn't have three Suns at all. You're not an Earthling, are you?"
Rimuru looked up at the sky at a forty-five-degree angle, revealing deep sorrow.
"This is an even sadder story. It begins with our ancestors a hundred generations ago. Back then, our solar system had only one Sun. We thrived, and our civilization flourished endlessly. Until one day, the Sun aged rapidly, and Earth could no longer sustain life."
"Facing despair, the Human Federal Government initiated the 'Wandering Earth' project. All of humanity, carrying Earth with them, escaped the solar system. The project took 2,500 years and 100 generations. But none of us expected that our new home, four light-years away, would have three Suns."
Natasha: "…"
It's safe to assume that the moment those Earthlings saw the three Suns, they all instinctively flipped them off and yelled, 'What the hell?!'