Chapter 11: Black Mist Ant Swarm 4500
Without the slightest hesitation, he immediately set off, following the surging river of energy formed by the Great Magic Tide, Joshua gradually approached the center of the Void Great Maelstrom.
The silver maelstrom was magnificent and spectacular, with tributaries from countless directions in the void converging energy into it. As the maelstrom spun, even the chaotic space-time currents trembled. Under this terrifying propulsion and attraction, even a Void Behemoth would find it difficult to escape the maelstrom's capture, falling into this enormous energy trap.
But Joshua was different. His body was too small, yet his density far surpassed all living things in the world. Even the raging tide that could shake a behemoth was merely a gentle breeze brushing his face. The warrior walked freely through the violent energy currents as if strolling in his own living room. Countless Steel Particles rose and fell around him, like a school of fish in the deep sea.
"...Compared to last time, you've grown even stronger."
In his mind, Carlis spoke softly. "Even an entire world might not be able to resist the pull of this maelstrom."
"..."
Joshua did not answer. He walked in silence, but even so, when he passed through thirty-three spiral arms and was about to reach the maelstrom's core, he still felt a slight strain. This was because the excessively dense energy had distorted all means of perception—light was warped, space-time was chaotic, and direction was blurred. Joshua couldn't even determine the coordinates of the vortex eye right in front of him. He could only rely on his own perception and control to adjust his trajectory, preventing himself from getting lost.
But just then, a faint yet exceptionally clear mental fluctuation reached him.
"Here."
This fluctuation was like a candle flickering in the wind, yet it could easily penetrate the violent energy maelstrom and reach Joshua's mind. It contained a set of constantly changing space-time coordinates, instantly making the warrior understand that this was the location of the vortex eye.
"Interesting, it's nearby."
Without doubting the authenticity of the coordinates, Joshua could judge the data's reasonableness. So, he paused for a moment. The next instant, violent red flames erupted from the warrior's back and legs. The energy burst from the furnace fire rapidly propelled Joshua forward, like the most violent meteor or rocket. During the rapid advance, he felt as if he had collided with some extremely solid energy barrier, but this barrier was fragile in the face of the incarnation of Steel Force, shattering instantly into millions of fragments.
Bang.
In an instant, everything became clear.
Whether it was the violent energy, the gravity that even a Void Behemoth couldn't break free from, or the river of the Magic Tide capable of pushing worlds forward—all of it vanished in that moment, as if it had never existed. Joshua stopped his propulsion, extinguished the flames, and, together with Carlis, looked up to survey their surroundings. The calm void, indescribable in color, was like a sheet of paper without any wrinkles. The chaotic space-time currents from outside were completely absent here. And at the center of this maelstrom, a massive world was slowly rotating. The outer shell of the world barrier emitted a bright light, illuminating everything around it.
Joshua nodded slightly. He had entered the vortex eye.
"Is this the only world in the entire vortex eye?"
At this moment, in the warrior's mind, Carlis spoke with considerable surprise. "I originally thought there would be at least several, forming a cluster of worlds in the maelstrom's calm zone... but there's only one?"
"In that case, isn't it just like 'Famine'..."
The Steel Serpent's tone now carried a hint of cautious vigilance. As a world that had been invaded by Famine, Carlis naturally knew the reason for the Evil God's formation: because it was located in a void cavity, with no neighboring worlds around. A civilization unable to explore the outside world would exhaust all resources of its mother world, even consuming soil and rock. In the despair of nothingness, the crystal insects eventually devoured their own civilization and world, transforming into the Evil God [Famine] that wandered through chaos.
And now, this world before them was also completely isolated from other worlds. In Joshua's memory, the nearest world was still over ten million standard coordinate values away. And even if it were close, what use would it be? If they couldn't penetrate the violent energy flow of the Great Maelstrom, no civilization could communicate with the outside world... They were in absolute solitude.
"But at least it isn't one yet."
Joshua nodded, indicating that he understood Carlis's concern. Then, the warrior flew toward the only world at the center of the entire void maelstrom. He moved quickly, almost instantly reaching the outer layer of this world. The light from the world barrier shone on Joshua, and as if sensing the arrival of a distant visitor, a vast will slowly awakened from the world's surface. It extended its spirit, preparing to connect with the warrior.
Joshua reached out and actively connected with it.
Then, he heard a voice, weak but incredibly calm.
"Hello, foreign Descender, and my kin."
This voice vibrated through the spirit. It wasn't any language, yet any living being could understand it. It went straight to the foundation of the mind, then automatically transformed into the language and symbols the listener could comprehend. Joshua was familiar with this; it wasn't a method of communication for mortals, but the language of Steel Serpents, the language between worlds.
Undoubtedly, this was the world will that Carlis had mentioned, the one that had sent a distress signal. Joshua had originally wondered how a world located at the center of the Void Great Maelstrom could send a distress signal, but the voice that could be clearly heard even within the Great Maelstrom just now proved that this world will might possess a unique ability to penetrate energy tides and send messages.
"You came quite quickly."
The world will's tone remained calm. "Much faster than I imagined."
The concept of time for a world will is vastly different from that of mortals. For Joshua, a few months was hardly fast, but for these world wills, whose ages are measured in millions, tens of millions, or even billions of years, it might indeed be just an instant. However, Joshua wasn't one to engage in such small talk. He asked directly, "I received your commission. You said you needed a little help to get out of your current predicament, but to be honest..."
Joshua paused. He surveyed the calm void around him, the drifting Steel Particles, and the energy tide of the Great Maelstrom spinning rapidly at the void's edge, seemingly capable of grinding everything. The warrior shook his head. "I don't think this situation qualifies as 'little.'"
Joshua was telling the truth. Before coming, he had thought it might be some Chaos invasion event, like the Ilgena World, where the Evil God's Ten Calamities and Great Stars descended with their incarnations and minions to destroy civilization. He would just go over, clean up those things, and incidentally collect some information about the Evil God... But instead, he arrived at a peculiar world within a void maelstrom. The position of this world was so marvelous that it could be called a masterpiece of the Multiverse. Joshua admitted that he currently didn't have the ability to take a world out of such a maelstrom. Even a god couldn't do it.
"The surrounding environment? No, I'm quite satisfied."
The unknown Steel Serpent's spirit fluctuated slightly for a moment. It understood Joshua's train of thought. Shaking its head, it continued in a faint tone, "I find this environment quite good. No external enemies, no communication. Even those destroyers in the Multiverse are unwilling to approach. This place is quiet and safe. I like it very much."
"My name is Siberia. Far-traveling Descender, I sent out a call for help not to move my position, but for something else."
The world will, Siberia, revealed its name—this was usually the name given to the world by the first civilization within it, and the Steel Serpent had gladly accepted it. It was about to state its purpose directly, like Joshua, but it noticed that the warrior seemed to be distracted.
Joshua was indeed distracted. In fact, he even turned his head to look back in the direction he had come from, toward the Void Great Maelstrom. The warrior's eyes were like molten silver metal, flashing with intense light. Joshua stared straight at the outer layer of the void, his gaze piercing through the chaotic energy currents of the Great Maelstrom, reaching its edge.
"What are you looking at, Joshua? Siberia is talking to you."
Carlis asked with considerable confusion. It knew Joshua wasn't the type to deliberately snub others. He would even chat with beggars in the city, send them to the barracks for training, and then help them find jobs. But the fact was that the warrior had ignored the words of a world will and instead turned to look at the void maelstrom, which was almost empty except for energy.
But Joshua had no time to answer now. His brows were tightly furrowed, almost vertical. The warrior's gaze swept across the edge of the distant maelstrom, and through their shared vision, Carlis also saw what Joshua saw—a large patch of black, slowly drifting mist. This mist seemed to be a foreign energy washed in by the Great Magic Tide, slowly approaching the Void Great Maelstrom.
"What is that?"
The Steel Serpent asked in confusion. It had never seen such peculiar black mist. Even when scoured by the energy of the Great Magic Tide, it showed no signs of dispersing.
"...Black Mist."
Joshua replied in a low voice, his tone grave. "It's the Black Mist from the Sanctuary World."
How could it be here?
Joshua hadn't forgotten his encounter with the Black Mist in the Chronos World. It hadn't been a difficult battle, but it had been exceptionally tense. Facing the micro-nano-scale mist rune constructs that could erode everything, several Legendary-rank experts had to join forces to quickly destroy it, preventing it from causing greater damage. Although Joshua knew that the parent body of the Black Mist was located in the former Sanctuary Civilization's Alpha Sanctuary World, and that he had only destroyed an advanced sub-body, he truly hadn't expected to encounter the Black Mist again here.
Without further words, Joshua watched the Black Mist at the edge of the Great Maelstrom. At first, he wondered what this mist intended to do, but now he understood—it was foraging, or rather, transporting.
Following the first patch of Black Mist was another large group of Black Mist, densely packed, like a black river flowing from the other side of the void to the periphery of the Great Maelstrom. Like diligent worker ants, they approached the rapidly spinning spiral arms of the Great Maelstrom, then absorbed the vast energy and countless Steel Particles, which were far denser than elsewhere.
It could be seen that the Black Mist, originally pitch black like a black hole reflecting no light, began to gradually turn white and bright, until it finally became a bright gray cloud. After drinking its fill of the high-density Magic Tide energy, the Black Mist returned at a pace that could be called slow. It leisurely traversed the void, yielding its place to the next patch of Black Mist. This behavior occurred everywhere on this side of the void: this large group of Black Mist was like an efficient energy-absorbing machine, using their special structure to store large amounts of energy and Steel Particles before returning, like individual energy packs.
The Black Mist's foraging and transport speed was fast. In less than five minutes, this large group of Black Mist had finished loading and began its return journey. The entire series of actions was so smooth that not a single Black Mist was attracted by the Great Maelstrom and fell into the energy trap. This was enough to show that they had a complete transport procedure, honed through millions of practices.
The Alpha Sanctuary World is nearby!
Without any need for guesswork, Joshua could undoubtedly assert this. He had fought the Black Mist and knew the strengths and weaknesses of this peculiar micro-cluster rune construct. In short, this state of overload energy storage would make the Black Mist extremely fragile. Any Void Behemoth could easily devour them as a big gift package. Moreover, this state consumed a lot of energy. If the coordinates of the Sanctuary World were extremely far, this method of energy absorption would be utterly foolish, completely not worth the cost.
There was only one possibility: the parent body they needed to supply energy to was nearby!
Although it was just a guess, Joshua felt it was highly likely. He had already memorized the directional coordinates from which the Black Mist had come. He felt that if he followed that direction, there was a high probability of finding the lost Alpha World of the Sanctuary Civilization.
But at this moment, the warrior also realized that he had been somewhat rude. So Joshua turned around with an apologetic expression, ready to apologize to the Steel Serpent Siberia—but he sensed its completely indifferent emotion.
That was also true. For a world will, a few minutes for a mortal might not even be as long as one of its energy cycles. Joshua's distraction was, to it, at most a brief moment of spacing out.
"What exactly is the matter that requires our, the outsiders', assistance?"
Clearing his throat, Joshua steered the conversation back to the main topic. He was still thinking about the Black Mist. The warrior planned to solve this world's problem first, then go find the parent body of the Black Mist, and call all the Legendary-rank experts he knew in the Mycroft World to go over and destroy it—if necessary, even a god could come.
Joshua wasn't the type to insist on solving everything alone. When faced with worthy allies, he would naturally gather his comrades.
Then, Siberia's incredibly calm voice, as if devoid of any emotional fluctuation, came again: "My body."
It said softly, its voice echoing in Joshua's mind. This Steel Serpent's tone finally carried a trace of barely perceptible emotion. It spoke with considerable helplessness: "Descender, I have lost contact with my body."
"Since a thousand years ago, I have been unable to perceive my body, to receive news from this world... My connection with it has been cut off by some force. My will cannot enter it; I can only drift outside."
At this moment, intangible energy condensed outside the world. It could be seen that a massive, enormous phantom of a Steel Serpent appeared in the void beyond the world. The homeless world will spoke in a tone almost like a bitter laugh: "I don't know what happened. I was kicked out of myself. How ridiculous and helpless... So, Descender, if possible, please help me."
"Help me enter this world and find my body."