Finding a planet full of dinosaurs and giant apes was already surprising, but now William had learned that creatures like Thunderbirds, dragons, unicorns, and elves also existed here.
And considering the teleportation gate that led to Earth's Storm Island, he couldn't help but wonder—was this planet the true origin of Earth's magical creatures?
Closing his eyes, he focused on sensing the distance between this planet and Earth. He compared it to the star system he had visited with Captain Marvel, which was 275 light-years away.
To his surprise, this planet was much closer—less than one-twentieth of that distance.
Roughly around ten to fifteen light-years.
With that estimate in mind, and wanting to cover up the fact that he had already dispatched ships and probes, William patted his Sentinel armor, which had transformed into casual wear.
The armor responded by shifting and forming a two-meter-tall, arm-thick transmission tower.
Seeing Laura's confused expression, he explained, "To confirm whether this is an alien planet, we just need to see if signals from here can reach Earth."
"That's a great idea!" Laura nodded excitedly.
But her enthusiasm faded as she voiced a concern. "But what if this place is thousands—maybe tens of thousands—of light-years away?
Wouldn't it take years, even centuries, for Earth to receive our message?"
"Haha, don't worry. If even you thought of that, don't you think I did too?"
William chuckled, only to get playfully pinched by Laura.
He then shamelessly claimed credit for a technology that Sunday had reverse-engineered from a captured Kree warship.
"Using quantum entanglement for data transmission, the signal can travel at speeds a million times faster than light.
With my modifications, a message can travel one million light-years in just 3.65 days.
So if this planet is ten light-years from Earth, our message will arrive in 5.3 minutes.
Who knows? By the time we finish this meal, we might already have a reply."
"Let's hope so."
Laura, not wanting to ruin his optimism, simply smiled and handed him a skewer of freshly grilled T-Rex meat.
"Try this. I used some herbs I found here as seasoning. And don't worry—I tested them on King Kong first."
William had already used a poison detection spell earlier, so he didn't hesitate to take a bite.
His taste buds, accustomed to only the best food, were pleasantly surprised. His eyes lit up.
"This is actually really good. And you're quite skilled, my dear."
Hearing him call her "my dear," Laura's heart swelled with joy.
She kissed him quickly on the lips, then playfully slapped his arm.
"You bastard! I went out of my way to spoil you earlier, and you didn't call me that once. Now you're saying it just because there's food?"
"Ooohhh… ooohhh… ooohhh…"
As the couple flirted, King Kong—who had been smelling the roasted meat but getting none—began grumbling hungrily.
Feeling amused, William used his telekinesis to lift several large chunks of T-Rex meat, slicing them into smaller palm-sized pieces.
Suspending them over the fire, he quickly roasted them for a minute, sprinkled some seasoning, and tossed them to King Kong.
To his surprise, the great ape seemed quite satisfied with his makeshift cooking.
After devouring several dozen kilograms of meat, it even let out a low, eager whimper, as if politely requesting more.
As William continued grilling for King Kong, Laura fed him bite after bite, making him laugh at the ridiculousness of it all.
With nothing else to do, he ended up cooking for the ape five more times, until it had consumed over 300 kilograms of meat.
Finally satisfied, King Kong lumbered to the downstream portion of the waterfall and settled into the water to cool off.
—
Just as William was enjoying the perfect combination of delicious food and a beautiful woman tending to him, the makeshift transmission tower emitted a "beep, beep, beep" sound.
Laura, holding a skewer of meat, froze.
Realizing what it meant, she excitedly tossed her food aside and sprinted to the transmission tower.
"William! William! What's happening? Does this mean—"
"Yes, it's exactly what you're thinking," William said with a smirk as he walked over.
Placing his hand on the tower, he commanded it to disassemble into nano-particles and reabsorb into his casual wear.
He then closed his eyes and pretended to process data for several seconds before announcing,
"We got lucky. This planet is only 12 light-years from Earth.
That's why it only took about fifteen minutes for the signal to return.
Two spaceships will arrive here in thirty minutes via space jump.
Once they do, we can conduct a full planetary survey and identify all life forms.
And if you want to return to Earth, it'll take just half an hour to reach London."
Laura's joyful expression immediately faded.
She silently sat down next to the fire, resting her chin on her hand, lost in thought.
William sighed. He knew exactly what she was thinking.
—
As long as they stayed on this planet, she wouldn't have to think about his other women.
But the moment they returned to London, she would either have to integrate into his life or walk away.
And this was precisely why William had avoided getting involved with her for so many years.
His household was already full—he didn't want to keep adding more women.
Laura leaned against his shoulder.
"You're probably never going to marry me, are you?"
"Unless you can accept the women already in my life… no."
She didn't need him to finish the sentence—she already understood.
"Forget it," Laura muttered.
"If we're being honest, I'm the one who came into your life late.
And let's be real—I wouldn't last long playing the role of Duchess Devonshire.
Even if I did marry you, I'd probably get restless and want to go on adventures again."
She suddenly grabbed him by the collar and glared.
"But until I fall in love with someone else, I expect you to be at my beck and call. Got it?"
"Of course."
A no-strings-attached arrangement that benefited him? Why would he say no?
"As long as it's within my power, I'll help you with anything.
In fact…"
William's lips curled into a playful smile.
"How about this? You can become the Devonshire Family's Official Relic Hunter.
Start with exploring ruins on Earth, and maybe one day I'll take you into space to search for even greater treasures and mysteries."
"Exploring space for lost relics?"
Laura's eyes lit up.
Through her father's research, the lost tomb of Himiko, and now this alien world, her restless heart had already fallen in love with the thrill of adventure.
And, truthfully, even if she became a duchess, she would never be content staying at home.
Before long, she would be dragging William along on her next great expedition.
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