# Chapter 5: Unified Grand Database 6600
The deep space observation continued, with golden world light points in the void model increasing steadily, but the energy reserves of the Holy Mountain Fortress and the Void Observation Station were showing signs of strain as the scope of observation grew ever wider.
As the magical runes on the surface of the Void Observation Station, glowing with faint blue light, shifted to red representing 'crisis', the outermost layer of Holy Light shields surrounding the Holy Mountain Fortress, which protected against the surrounding temporal-spatial turbulence, also dimmed. At this moment, the massive deep space observation array had expanded nearly to its limit, enveloping an entire World Star River within its embrace, replicating its model reflection at the center.
Although there were other Star Rivers beyond this one, those were beyond the detection capabilities of the current Mycroft Civilization.
Undoubtedly, the results of this observation were extremely successful. The three major powers joining forces had directly scanned the entire World Star River where the Mycroft World was located with perfect clarity. With the information transmitted by the sentinel arrays positioned at the outer layers of the Mycroft World, they could even directly know whether any given world contained life reactions — ordinary golden light points represented worlds without life, while if a light point had obvious red patterns around its periphery, it indicated the presence of life within.
However, the observation results that followed made all the researchers present furrow their brows deeply, then feel a chill rise in their hearts.
"Impossible!"
In the Void Observation Station, Tamara Muir, Vice President of the Imperial Royal Mage Association who had come in place of Nostradamus, instinctively pulled out one of his own beard hairs upon seeing the observation results. But he had no time to lament his increasingly sparse facial hair; instead, he widened his eyes and muttered angrily: "How can this be? How can there be so few?!"
Apart from him, not a single mage in the Void Observation Station made a sound. They had all fallen into a deathly silence. On the other side of the void, the same was true in the Holy Mountain Fortress — numerous clergy stared blankly at the void model flickering on the light screen before them, then wondered if they had seen something wrong.
But they had not seen wrong. The facts were exactly as presented.
Within the vast World Star River, aside from the vicinity of Mycroft, there was almost no world with life.
The enormous void model rotated before everyone's eyes, millions or even more world light points densely arranged in the shape of a Milky Way. But among these worlds, those with life reactions were pitifully few, and even those that existed only showed faint red patterns — meaning 'environments that might possibly have life'.
While the Mycroft World flickered with bright red light, all other worlds shone with dazzling golden light. But this golden light did not bring warmth to those present; instead, it made them feel an inexplicable coldness, because even the Abyss on the other side of the World Star River flickered with more red light than within the Star River itself.
"...Ridiculous. In a normal multiverse, the number of life forms is actually less than in the Abyss, which serves as a graveyard?"
"What a joke!"
This was the indignant muttering of a certain clergy member from the Holy Mountain, but no matter how subtle the sound, it could not escape the notice of the two Legendary experts present.
In the central control room of the Holy Mountain Fortress, Pope Israel looked solemnly at the light screen before him. He had originally planned to discuss matters concerning the Void Great Maelstrom with Joshua, but now his attention had been diverted by the results of this deep space observation.
"So few? Unbelievable... You encountered several intelligent civilizations around the Chronos World."
The old Pope seemed puzzled by this result. He frowned deeply and said to Joshua beside him: "I recall your last report about those alien civilizations with void-traveling capabilities... I originally thought there were many of them. Could it be that there were only a few, and you just happened to encounter them?"
"Your Holiness, the Chronos World is located over five hundred layers deep in the Abyss. The reason those civilizations went there was for the Ancient Dragon's creative power."
Joshua was also somewhat puzzled by this observation result, but coming from the interstellar era, he didn't find the 'empty and uninhabited' cosmic model strange, so he calmly replied: "Civilizations that need creative power represent worlds that are already similar to the Abyss, or rather, they are Abyss civilizations that haven't yet degenerated into 'demons'. They simply aren't within the World Star River."
"Is that so... I really never imagined the multiverse would be so empty..."
Israel's expression carried a hint of disappointment, but after a moment, the old Pope sighed, then announced to everyone present that this deep space observation operation had concluded successfully. He reiterated that the void model was a Class A secret and must not be disclosed to outsiders without permission. He also saw off several high-ranking clergy members beside him who still looked somewhat dazed, comforting them with a few words and encouraging them to continue their work without worrying too much about this observation result.
Finally, having more or less handled everything, Israel gestured for Joshua to follow him. The warrior followed behind the other man to a simple small room in the Holy Mountain Fortress.
"This was originally a storage room. Later, because there wasn't so much material to store, it became vacant... Void warships have cramped spaces, and life is rather harsh. I hope you, a great noble of the Empire, don't mind."
The old Pope personally pulled out a chair for Joshua. After thanking him, Joshua casually brushed off the dust on it. The two sat down facing each other in the room without any ceremony — only then did Israel show a tired expression. He smiled bitterly and said: "Ah, although I didn't conduct this deep space observation operation truly to find traces of other intelligent civilizations, this kind of result was still unexpected."
Out of millions of worlds, there were no more than fifty light points with obvious life reactions, and half of them might be purely primitive planes rather than worlds with intelligent civilizations... How could such a result not cause worry?
"If there are many intelligent civilizations, competition is fierce. When two encounter each other, they might start wars over resources and borders. If there are few intelligent civilizations, competition is small, and initial contact might more likely lead to peaceful negotiation."
The old Pope rambled on, the wrinkles on his face appearing deeper. He sighed again: "But if it's as few as it is now — then it's no longer a matter of negotiation. For us to reach their temporal-spatial domain, we would need to spend a long time, even crossing vast world voids. The distance between civilizations is almost insurmountable... This makes me feel an immense loneliness. We Mycroft people seem to be an isolated island in the multiverse, without even other fellow competitors, let alone companions."
"Don't worry too much. To be honest, the conditions required for life to emerge are extremely numerous. The possibility of primitive life developing into civilization is also not great, after all, intelligence is not a necessary condition for life's reproduction and growth. Only a few races, such as humans, are fortunate enough to possess it."
Seeing the other's worried expression, Joshua spoke to comfort him: "Ultimately, the World Star River we are in is gradually falling toward the Abyss, located at the edge of the multiverse. It's normal for there to be few worlds with life — also, perhaps they all have the ability to hide their own worlds and weren't scanned by us."
"...You still don't understand the severity of the matter."
Hearing Joshua's words, which didn't sound like comfort at all but rather like a blow, Israel couldn't help but frown, worrying about the warrior's emotional intelligence. However, precisely because of this, much of the worry in his heart also dissipated. The old Pope raised his head, meeting the warrior's gaze, and said in a deep voice: "In a few decades, the Evil Gods will follow the Great Magic Tide back to this World Star River. If there aren't many civilizations here, and their strength isn't great, how can we find allies?"
Speaking up to here, Israel paused. He seemed to sense that there was no one else around except Joshua, then continued smoothly: "And how can we use them as 'means' to delay the Evil Gods' advance?"
This statement was too direct.
But neither of the two present cared about this. Joshua shook his head slightly and said: "Rather than relying on 'allies' or using other civilizations as bait to delay, it's better to think about how to strengthen our own strength. After all, allies might also be too preoccupied to help themselves, and bait is only a temporary measure. How long can it delay? Remember, it doesn't take many days for an Evil God to destroy a world without resistance."
As he spoke, the warrior informed Israel about the 'Sanctuary Civilization'. Part of this information he had mentioned after returning from the Chronos World last time, but what Joshua was saying now was his new discovery around the Void Great Maelstrom.
"Earlier, you asked me how I knew about the Void Great Maelstrom. Actually, I just returned from there."
Joshua raised his right hand and drew a line in the void. Immediately, a ring of light mist composed of Steel Force appeared before him. This light mist transformed, actually forming a detailed void model identical to the one in the previous observation array! The warrior stretched the model, placing the view beside the vortex energy structure at the center of the World Star River. He pointed to the center of the Maelstrom and said: "To be precise, I returned from a world located at the center of the Void Great Maelstrom, after resolving the trouble of that world's World Will."
In the old Pope's solemn and silent listening, Joshua roughly described his experiences and observations in the Siberia World. But he emphasized not Fatlervi's abilities and power, but rather the consequences of the crazy spread of the Steel Authority and the existence of 'Black Mist'.
"The consequences of loss of control of Transcendent power are probably like this... And the Black Mist is the ultimate weapon of the Sanctuary Civilization. Its master was an ally of the Mycroft World during the Era of Radiance. This civilization was also a powerful civilization whose influence radiated across multiple worlds — in this regard, the Mycroft World might even be inferior to them, because their member worlds were extremely numerous, with nearly ten core worlds alone, and countless potential vassals. But even such a large void civilization was destroyed under the siege of multiple Evil Gods."
Speaking up to here, Joshua couldn't help but look at the dark void spanning across the World Star River. He shook his head and said: "I originally thought that the Void Great Maelstrom was caused by the Sanctuary Civilization's experts and Evil Gods fighting for hundreds of years. But now it seems the void belt is too large. There might be other reasons."
"The Steel Particles brought by the Great Magic Tide can actually cause such rapid awakening of Transcendent power? This point indeed requires vigilance. Our current world has finally ushered in a peaceful period of rapid development and cannot fall into chaos."
After listening to Joshua's words, Israel let out a long breath. He nodded with a heavy expression: "And speaking of this, it can explain why there are so few life worlds in this World Star River. Most of them should have been destroyed by Evil Gods in the last era, or fallen into the Abyss. What we see now should be a batch of newly born races and civilizations."
"Actually, it could also be caused by the Black Mist extinguishing some newly born civilizations to hunt for resources."
Joshua rubbed his chin and said in a serious tone: "Compared to worrying about the fact that 'life worlds are extremely rare in the multiverse', the more urgent matter is to solve the trouble right beside us."
This reason could roughly explain the results of the previous deep space observation, but the old Pope still seemed to have some questions — not about why Joshua would run to the depths of the void to resolve a World Will's trouble, but about some matters that had existed from the beginning.
"Let's set aside the deep space observation results and the Black Mist for now. Joshua, you should know that a few months ago, I had something I wanted to ask for your help with."
Slightly leaning back against the chair, Israel's expression became calm. He met Joshua's gaze and slowly said: "And the reason I conducted this deep space observation was precisely for that matter."
The warrior also sat on the chair, silent, waiting for the other to continue. A few seconds later, the old Pope, who seemed to be thinking about how to phrase things, continued: "Joshua, do you know that the current Mycroft World is not complete?"
Joshua naturally knew. He nodded.
Compared to the Era of Radiance, in the current Era of Falling Stars, even the continent was missing several pieces. The Boundless Heaven, which was part of the sky, had only recently returned to its original position. The fact that the Mycroft World was not complete was too normal, to the point that it had become common knowledge among Legendary experts.
"And this matter concerns a part that Mycroft once possessed but has now lost."
Israel said calmly: "The independent demiplane wonder built by all races of the Era of Radiance, located above the former Western Continent, the library containing all things — the Unified Grand Database."
The Unified Grand Database?
After hearing this term, Joshua nodded thoughtfully — but there was no information related to this term in his mind. It was beyond the warrior's information reserves.
The old Pope didn't mind what Joshua was thinking. He reached out, moved aside the void model Joshua had constructed earlier, and then built a model of the Mycroft Continent from the Era of Radiance — this Joshua was more familiar with, having seen it in the Divine Calamity Mist and the Earth Mother Goddess's memories — then, Israel pointed his finger at the entrance of a demiplane located in the sky above the western part of the continent, below the Boundless Heaven. He indicated: "This is where the Unified Grand Database once was."
"It was the common database and library of all races. Its contents were open to the vast majority of the public. The remaining small portion was not open because it was too dangerous, and those without corresponding authority could not access it... In that era, no race or school would hide their techniques. Instead, they proudly opened them to all personnel. Of course, core content required corresponding identity authority and cost, after all, complete selflessness is unrealistic."
Speaking of the Unified Grand Database, Israel's expression seemed somewhat yearning. But then, his expression returned to normal. The old Pope said somewhat regretfully: "But unfortunately, in the final battle, the Unified Grand Database and the Boundless Heaven were both forced out of the damaged Mycroft World. Unlike the Boundless Heaven, which had a large volume and was guarded by many deities, the demiplane where the Grand Database was located was directly knocked away by the aftermath of the battle between the Sage, the deities, and the Evil Gods, and has been missing ever since."
"But some time ago, you found clues to the current location of this database?"
Joshua nodded thoughtfully again. This time, he understood the old Pope's meaning: "You originally wanted to entrust me, someone who often moves about in the void, to go to the corresponding place and check the situation. But you found that I had already left, and even if I returned, I was in a state of transformation and temporarily unable to awaken. So you conducted a large-scale deep space observation to investigate."
"Exactly."
Israel nodded straightforwardly. He stood up from the chair and walked to the window of this narrow room. The old Pope looked at the chaotic void and said seriously: "The existence of the Unified Grand Database has always been recorded in the Holy Mountain's scriptures. Every generation of Pope has longed for this giant data center, which is rumored to contain almost all the knowledge of the Era of Radiance. If we had it, our civilization would have a shortcut and would develop rapidly."
Speaking up to here, Israel slightly raised his head and said with a light laugh: "It's not that I'm boasting — my strength is considered the strongest among all generations of Popes. With my deliberate deduction and monitoring based on the Saint's Eye, finding clues to the Grand Database is only a matter of time."
To this, Joshua also nodded in agreement — as for the kind of talk that civilization shouldn't take shortcuts and shouldn't retrace the old path of the Era of Radiance, it was essentially meaningless empty talk. Because the Era of Falling Stars was fundamentally different from the previous era in terms of social form. It had its own set of cognitive rules for magic, battle qi, and various Transcendent powers. Even if it were the database of the previous era, it couldn't affect the form of an already formed civilization. A large amount of empirically verified data could instead allow many researchers to reduce meaningless testing time.
As for the old Pope's boasting... no, speaking truthfully, there was indeed no problem. Because according to his words, the trajectory of the Grand Database being knocked away was recorded. If the surrounding world coordinates didn't undergo major changes, finding clues to it was indeed a matter of time. Unfortunately, what Israel lacked most was time.
"Then? Did you find the Grand Database?"
Joshua asked: "Could it be near the Void Great Maelstrom?"
To this, Israel nodded, then shook his head: "Probably, I guess, not sure."
Then, he continued: "Some time ago, on the day I invited you for help, the Holy Mountain Fortress happened to intercept a piece of information from the depths of the void. It was sent by the remaining guardians of the Unified Grand Database. They survived the aftermath of the battle and have reproduced until now... But now, their situation is very bad. The material circulation inside the database has collapsed. That communication should be a last testament. I suspect they can't hold on much longer."
Speaking up to here, the old Pope took a deep breath, showing some reluctance on his face, but he still said coldly: "To be honest, those guardians deserve respect, but whether they live or die is not important. Our most important goal is to find the location of the Grand Database. The countless information and data stored inside it are the truly priceless treasure. So I didn't rashly launch a rescue operation. Instead, I have been searching the surrounding void all along, to avoid wasting resources in vain."
"And now, I can roughly determine that it should be located near the Void Great Maelstrom you mentioned, or rather, beside that 'dark' world void belt, because the demiplane where the database is located has no starlight."
This was the correct choice. Compared to those respectable guardians, the database itself was the top priority. One could not be careless and must not act rashly.
Upon hearing this, Joshua couldn't help but sigh. He also stood up and stood together with the old Pope by the window.
After a moment of silence, he spoke: "What can I do? Also, if we truly want to inspect the worlds around the Maelstrom, we must deal with the Black Mist left by the Sanctuary Civilization. Their headquarters is located there and won't sit idly by while we act."
"I know this."
Israel stroked his beard, looking at the void as if gazing at worlds in the distance. Then, the old Pope said in a low voice: "Joshua... you can freely converse with the Steel Serpents, can't you?"
"Indeed."
Joshua nodded slightly, acknowledging this. Israel, as if confirming something, continued: "You also know many Steel Serpents, right?"
"That's right."
Joshua said. He was about to continue saying 'but actually not many, just a few' when the old Pope's voice sounded again: "Then, since they can entrust you to help them solve their problems."
Israel turned his head, looking at the warrior with bright eyes, and said in the most serious voice: "Can you also entrust them to help us find the whereabouts of the 'Grand Database'?"
This was Israel's true purpose — Joshua, as the only existence in the history of the Mycroft World who knew many World Wills, didn't need to personally go every time. In fact, a single word from him might surpass thousands of aimless searches.
Of course, neither the Church of the Seven Gods nor other forces would let you bear the cost alone. Whatever reward the Steel Serpents need, we will bear together. You only need to act as an intermediary between us and the Steel Serpents. We will even pay an additional reward... Israel originally wanted to say this to the warrior. For the Unified Grand Database and the entire civilization, he was willing to pay any cost.
But before he could speak, Joshua's voice rang out straightforwardly.
"Sure."
Just like agreeing to go out for a meal and a drink with a friend, the warrior readily agreed: "No problem, this matter isn't difficult — but whether it can be resolved quickly, I can't guarantee."
Seeing Israel's slightly changing expression, Joshua naturally understood what the other wanted to say. To this, he just shrugged: "It concerns the entire civilization. Why talk about reward and make such a clear distinction... After all, from my understanding, those World Wills might not care about such trivial matters. Just remember to say thank you."
He joked humorously: "You know, I spent a lot of effort this time helping the Siberia World solve its problem, and it didn't even say thank you."
"Ah... hmm."
Beside him, Israel, who had prepared many arguments, responded softly. He couldn't say anything and had nothing to say to this, only showing a relieved smile. The old Pope raised his hand and heavily patted Joshua's shoulder — Joshua was almost a head taller than the old Pope, making this action somewhat strenuous.
"Thank you." He said softly.
Soon, Joshua left the Holy Mountain Fortress in the void, returning to the Myriad Realms Sacrificial Ground through the teleportation gate. But before the warrior could plan his departure to the Carlis World to contact the Steel Serpents, an urgent emergency interrupted his plans.
The Dragonman girl from the Chronos World, the warrior's student, Lisa Chronos, suddenly fell unconscious in the camp of the Myriad Realms Sacrificial Ground.