The alien was stunned for a moment, then continued, “It seems that even low-level carbon-based life forms aren’t entirely useless. That’s right, although your planet is extremely lacking in energy resources and even considered low-level, it is indeed very beautiful, a planet suitable for habitation. I can even sense this planet’s indulgence toward you creatures. Unlike our planet, which is so harsh. This planet does its best to let you live comfortably, tolerates your mistakes, and even sacrifices its own energy...”

At this point, the alien actually seemed a bit lost, but quickly regained clarity and said, “Now I’ll answer your other question. Although we see you as ants, and although the energy minerals on Earth are so primitive that we don’t care about them at all, we still came. The reason is simple: our galaxy is currently embroiled in a galactic war. The planet I lived on has already been destroyed, turned into a blazing inferno. We were chased by the alliance’s mecha warriors and warships, fleeing across the universe. Our ship was hit, the database malfunctioned, the jump space failed, and we ended up in your star system. Then we crashed into a small satellite, the ship was destroyed, and I had no choice but to look for a planet with intelligent life in the nearest star system to land on. So I abandoned the ship, put on my mecha, and came to your planet...”

“Oh, so you’re a refugee?” Jason Carter thought to himself, feeling a bit schadenfreude—serves this alien right for being so arrogant.

The alien clearly read Jason Carter’s thoughts, but showed no reaction.

“No matter whether you’re a refugee or a traveler, no matter what your identity is, you still represent your galaxy. By rights, I should contact the Secretary-General of the Planetary United Council to receive you. That’s the proper administrative protocol on Earth, called reciprocal reception. But I don’t have the Secretary-General’s phone number. I don’t even have our national leader’s cell number, so I can only call our mayor and have him receive you. I only saw his number on the mayor’s hotline on TV.”

“No need.” The alien suddenly smiled, and his smile made Jason Carter a little scared.

“Because, very soon, you will disappear from this world.” The alien said coldly.

“Whoa, seriously? Don’t you see us as ants? Do you really have to stomp even ants to death? Fine, I won’t call the mayor’s hotline, I’ll just pretend I never saw you, okay?...”

“Sorry, you’re the first Earthling I’ve seen, and so far the only one. I can’t let Earth’s government know of my arrival—that would bring me great danger and inconvenience. Even though I see you as ants, as you Earthlings say, ‘enough ants can bite an elephant to death.’ I need to slowly search for energy on your planet, accumulate it, so my mecha can regain power and fly again. I also need to repair my spaceship in outer space, then pilot it to our Sith Empire’s secret colony planet. So I may need to stay on your Earth for a dozen years, maybe even decades. Not having an Earthling identity would be extremely inconvenient, so I must make you disappear, and then take your place as an Earthling for a while...”

“How is that possible? How is that possible?” Jason Carter shouted, “You look so weird and ugly, how could you possibly turn into me...”

Before Jason Carter could finish, he stared in shock at what was happening before his eyes.

The alien transformed? The greenish-gray skin began to fade, turning into human skin. Hair grew out, eyes shrank, nose grew larger, mouth became smaller...

Half a minute later, the alien had completely disappeared, and standing in front of Jason Carter was a perfectly ordinary human.

“You—you still don’t look like me! I’m not that unattractive!” Jason Carter shouted angrily.

The alien looked a bit helpless and said, “I transformed according to your appearance, with a one hundred percent resemblance. What you call handsome must be your imagined self—you just imagine yourself as more handsome, that’s all...”

The alien ruthlessly spoke the truth, leaving Jason Carter devastated, wishing he could burst into tears. Every time he looked in the mirror, he thought he looked a little more handsome, and over time he’d convinced himself he was really very handsome. Now another version of himself stood nakedly before him, completely shattering his long-standing self-hypnosis.

But right now, survival was most important, so Jason Carter quickly said, “Look, I’m really not that handsome, am I? And my family isn’t very well-off, which won’t help your future endeavors. I have a classmate who’s good-looking and rich—why not become him and make him disappear instead? His name is Samuel Langley, he lives at 867 Holland Avenue, that big, beautiful blue villa is his home. I can take you there right now...”

“No need. Your ordinary, unremarkable face is perfect—no one will notice you in a crowd, no one wants to look at you twice, and even if they do, they won’t remember you. I don’t like being noticed!” The alien’s words were like knives, stabbing fiercely into Jason Carter’s chest.