Chapter 23: Rainbow in the Dark
None of the exploration team members knew that the Restorative Pillar (compressed form) they carried contained a specially crafted complete information transmission module designed by Joshua. This module could simultaneously collect surrounding images, sounds, and energy fluctuations. It would automatically activate after the teleportation began and then gather information from the surroundings.
This module itself had no mobility and a very narrow collection range—only about five meters in radius. However, through it, Joshua could confirm the current status of the exploration team at any time and roughly understand the situation of the world they were in. This not only facilitated rescue but also allowed the warriors to proactively activate the Restorative Pillar to deploy a protective shield during critical moments.
"You're being a bit too good to these kids."
That was Carlis's opinion of this module. It was quite surprised that Joshua had the ability to exchange information across worlds, but after considering the characteristics of Steel Force, it no longer found it strange. When it saw Joshua simultaneously unfold eight light screens, enlarge them all, and arrange them around himself as if preparing to watch an eight-screen high-definition movie high above the Carlis world, the Steel Serpent couldn't help but say: "Isn't this a bit overprotective?"
"That kind of thinking won't do."
Regarding Carlis's thoughts, Joshua shook his head, showing clear disagreement.
Overprotective? That kind of thinking was simply unreasonable—ensuring the safety of exploration personnel was always of utmost importance. Think back to Earth's moon landing, launching probes to the Moon and Mars—every single time, they spared no effort and spent countless money and manpower to ensure the safety of the explorers. In this multiverse, because of the existence of supernatural powers, exploring other worlds was a bit better, as the explorers themselves had some ability to protect themselves. But conversely, the dangers they might encounter could also be immense.
Joshua relied on his unique superluminal medium to achieve instantaneous, delay-free transmission of his own information, so this thing couldn't be used on the exploration team members. Otherwise, all exploration teams could receive official information and advisory support from the Empire's Exploration Department.
"This time, eight exploration teams are simultaneously exploring the eight most likely worlds in the 'Dark Domain.'"
Joshua sat in a chair, while Carlis floated behind him like a spirit. The two of them simultaneously focused on the images transmitted from the eight light screens. The warrior watched as he spoke: "Ensuring their own safety, exploring the basic conditions of other worlds, gaining experience, and searching for clues about the Unified Grand Database—that's their mission. Except for the last one, which depends on luck, everything else is very simple. Barring accidents, it's almost one hundred percent certain to be completed."
Even the last task of finding clues about the Grand Database was not difficult in most researchers' preset experiments. According to speculation, the demiplane where the Grand Database was located was flying through the void at an extremely high energy level. It collided with a world in the Dark Domain and then, like the 'Boundless Heaven' merging into the Mycroft world, became one with it.
Of course, this process of merging was not smooth; it could even be said to be very painful. According to calculations and speculations, given the Grand Database's original speed and energy level, if it collided with a world, there was a high probability it could directly trigger a world-ending catastrophe, or even shatter the entire continent or planet. Some believed that this collision was partly responsible for why the First Flame in the worlds of the Dark Domain had gone out.
Such a terrifying world-ending catastrophe would inevitably leave extremely deep traces. Its aftershocks might not have disappeared even now. As long as the eight exploration teams reached the world where the Database was located, they would surely discover it.
At this moment, Joshua was watching the light screens. He observed the eight teams waking up from the brief dizziness after teleportation and then quickly confirming whether the surrounding environment was safe—atmospheric conditions, geological conditions, magic element levels, and various other information. Following their training, the spellcasters smoothly and familiarly deployed atmospheric shields to provide oxygen inside the shields, while the clergy released an 'Alignment Detection' spell around them.
Alignment Detection, in the Mycroft world, was used to confirm the mental inclination of each life form. It was a divine spell based on the theorem of Holy Light that 'an awakened Holy Light user cannot be evil.' When used in other worlds, it was a simple and effective mental detection spell. As long as a life form had a certain level of intelligence—whether it was an energy life form, a construct, or an ordinary creature—it would be detected and return an alignment result to the caster.
Because the detection mechanism of Alignment Detection was the mind and it had no environmental casting conditions, aside from its relatively high casting level, it was much more reliable than the natural-type spell 'Life Detection,' which was useless in environments lacking natural conditions.
"None of the eight worlds have life, and the environments are relatively calm."
After roughly confirming the situation, Joshua, who had been ready to intervene at any moment, relaxed. The most dangerous time in otherworld exploration was the very beginning, right after teleportation. For example, what if the exploration team teleported into a world of magma? What if they teleported into a deep-sea world full of water, or even a corrosive world full of acid?
The carefully selected exploration team members might be able to swim in lava, and their equipment could function in deep seas and acid. But during that initial period of mental disorientation, if they failed to cast a spell successfully, no matter how elite the team, they would be wiped out.
Joshua had considered this, so he originally planned to release a temporary defensive shield for each team at the very start of teleportation to prevent them from being killed by harsh environments or sudden dangers. Unfortunately, due to technical reasons, this was temporarily impossible. He had to settle for the next best thing: watching them with his own eyes as they got through the initial exploration phase.
"The flames of these worlds are almost extinguished... They're worse off than me."
Joshua and Carlis shared their senses. The Steel Serpent perceived the earth of the eight worlds and couldn't help but sigh, somewhat gloomily: "I didn't sense any Chaos power. It wasn't the Evil Gods that destroyed them... Or at least, not directly. I suspect that when the Plenty Evil God passed through, it triggered an environmental imbalance in all the surrounding worlds. These worlds merely survived but are now on the verge of death."
This was roughly the same as Joshua's view. He had personally come into contact with the remains of the Plenty Evil God and understood the essence of its power.
It was a force that forcibly induced a target's peak state and then caused it to decline from its zenith. In a sense, it could be seen as an extreme form of one-sided time acceleration, but it was even more terrifying than time acceleration. Because during the period when the target was suddenly elevated to its peak, all its hidden flaws would erupt in an instant, and it would be impossible to control such immense power, leading to even faster self-destruction. In this process, all the overflowing energy would be seized by the Plenty Evil God.
Even a star would be triggered into a helium flash, expand into a red giant, then rapidly decay and cool, having its energy stolen and turning into a black dwarf.
As for why such a powerful Plenty Evil God was defeated by the Sage... Joshua had a not-quite-mature guess: the Plenty Evil God did indeed elevate the Sage to an unprecedented peak state... and then, couldn't bring him back down.
After all, Joshua himself, in his battle with Fatlervi, had been able to evolve himself into a form with almost no weaknesses. So it was very possible that the Sage also had no weaknesses or hidden flaws for the Plenty Evil God to exploit. Coupled with the Plenty Evil God elevating him to his strongest form, it couldn't make the Sage 'decline,' and then he was purified into nothingness.
A true, yet sorrowful story.
Ending his thoughts on the Plenty Evil God, Joshua turned his attention back to the current situation of the exploration teams.
The eight worlds were numbered One to Eight Otherworlds. Among them, four were barren sand-and-stone worlds, two had detectable water, and two were still being explored.
Among them, the six exploration teams that had roughly finished surveying their surroundings were reporting to headquarters.
Of course, the exploration teams didn't know that Joshua could directly hear what they were saying. Their so-called 'reporting' involved describing their exploration results into a transmitter. This transmitter had a sound-recording function and would periodically send a signal into the void. The well-prepared Otherworld Exploration Department headquarters could intercept this void information. Although the delay was high, it was still a means of communication and could prevent the exploration teams from having no gains at all if they encountered an accident.
"World Two reporting. This world is temporarily classified as a 'Barren World.' Light brightness 52, gravity deviation 1.13, mana concentration 0.31. No water, oxygen, or mental reactions detected. The surrounding ground is mostly sandified soil and hardened rock layers. High-altitude observation indicates that the surrounding environment is generally uniform—all barren desert. No valuable discoveries yet."
"World Seven reporting. This world is temporarily classified as a 'Water-Rich World.' Light brightness 77, gravity deviation 1.07, mana concentration 0.83. We are currently located in the depths of a calm, windless ocean. No land or mental reactions detected in the vicinity. The spellcasters have frozen a layer of ice as our temporary habitat. High-altitude observation indicates no traces of any continent within a radius of 400 kilometers, approximately 16,000 square kilometers. This world is extremely oxygen-rich, about 1.92 times the Mycroft standard value. The alchemist's observations indicate she found a special type of algae in the water, which might be the source of the oxygen richness."
"World Five reporting. This world has almost no light source. Light brightness 3, gravity deviation 0.92, temperature approximately minus 94 degrees Celsius, mana concentration 1.21. Extremely cold and dry, with no snowfall or frost formation. We are located on top of a rock layer. No mental reactions detected. We cannot conduct other detections for now and can only temporarily set up a camp to maintain life support."
"Damn, it's too cold here!" "Quick, add elemental resistance!" "Alchemist? Potions?" "Don't ask me for resistance potions. You can't unscrew the cap, and even if you do, you can't drink it unless you want to freeze your mouth shut."
Faint sounds like these could be heard from around the reporter.
"World Eight..."
"World Four..."
"World Six..."
After professional training, reports with a specific format came from the mouths of each team leader and were recorded into the communication devices. Joshua listened carefully to their reports—after all, his cross-world perception range was only five meters. Carlis also listened with great interest. The Steel Serpent rarely went to other worlds, but thanks to Joshua, it always got a lot of otherworld information.
However...
"It sounds like there's nothing much to find, Joshua."
Carlis finished listening to the reports of the six teams that had completed their surveys. It coiled around the warrior's shoulder and asked somewhat puzzledly: "Three barren sand-and-stone worlds, one completely dark, lightless, freezing world, one oxygen-rich ocean world, and one temporarily located on a mountaintop, with only ice and mountains visible around."
"Not to mention clues about the Grand Database, there isn't even anything valuable!"
What Carlis said was indeed correct. Joshua nodded in agreement. None of these six otherworlds were good for development; their value was very low.
The three barren worlds were not worth mentioning. The lightless world, although it existed in the researchers' speculations and they had prepared accordingly, was also unsuitable for human habitation. Minus ninety degrees wasn't just a matter of freezing people to death; even metal would become extremely brittle.
The ocean world might have some value, but building a base there would be very difficult. Unless the World Seven exploration team found a continent, or they sent an Ultimate-rank mage to freeze a glacier, subsequent development couldn't proceed. The same went for the mountain world. Unless the exploration team found a suitable environment, they couldn't build on a snowy mountaintop. Both worlds were of the type with high costs and unclear returns.
"However, that dark world might have been caused by the Grand Database's impact."
Joshua stared at the light screen of World Five. He nodded thoughtfully and pointed out this possibility: "Maybe the impact dust blocked the sunlight, or the Grand Database directly destroyed the world's small sun—the mana-formed light element aggregate—causing it to become so cold."
But the environment was too harsh. The exploration team couldn't even begin their exploration. Even with the spellcasters adding 'Heat Shield' and 'Ice Element Resistance,' it was useless. The clergy's divine spell 'Embers of Radiance' couldn't sustain its light and heat in the surrounding environment for more than 0.8 seconds before being interrupted by backlash.
In the end, it wasn't until a spellcaster had a sudden idea and cast an 'Ice Shield' on everyone, enveloping them in an elemental ice layer at about minus twenty degrees Celsius, allowing everyone to breathe a sigh of relief, that they were forced to set up camp and explore slowly from a fixed position.
After all, sometimes, the inside of a refrigerator is indeed warmer than the outside.
So, the clues to the Grand Database's location were probably in the remaining two worlds that hadn't been fully surveyed. After confirming this, Joshua shifted his gaze to the light screens of World One and World Three.
And as it happened, the team leader of the World Three exploration team had just finished observing his otherworld. He excitedly activated the transmitter and began his routine report.
"This is Dark Domain World Three. I will make a special report classified as 'Extremely Important'!"
As soon as he opened his mouth, the World Three team leader said something that made Joshua and Carlis perk up. The man and the serpent exchanged a glance, feeling that this was a good sign. Then, the World Three team leader continued: "This world is temporarily classified as an 'Extremely Rich World.' Light brightness 39, gravity deviation 1.54. Light brightness is poor, gravity is heavy. The ground has no undulations or surface features—it's barren and flat. We detected no water or mental reactions. The atmosphere is mixed with a large amount of toxic gas, completely unbreathable, and extremely unsuitable for survival."
"But," after reporting a long list of bad news, the team leader said a 'but.' Joshua could even see his excited eyes through his mana armor and inner armor: "But, the mana concentration of this world is 11.21 times the standard value! It is a super-grade super-magic world! Here, even a simple Light spell can produce an effect similar to 'Daylight Burst'! Because the elements are so active, we dare not even experiment with other spells."
Eleven times the mana of the Mycroft continent?!
Just this one sentence stunned the well-traveled Joshua and Carlis. Unlike the contemplative warrior, the Steel Serpent opened its snake mouth wide and said in shock: "Eleven times the mana after the Great Magic Tide? What does that mean? The mana in this world is probably liquefiable! My god... such a world..."
"Such a world is still unsuitable for human survival."
Joshua interrupted Carlis's exclamation. He frowned slightly, staring at the light screen of World Three. Through the Restorative Pillar, he sensed the situation on the other side—it was absolutely correct. The mana concentration fluctuated between 9 and 12 times the standard value. No matter how you looked at it, it was an extremely high concentration.
"However, the mana concentration is too high, which will cause mana-powered instruments to malfunction, the radiation to be too high for survival, and many spells will automatically undergo structural dissociation, causing casting errors... Coupled with the world's poor environment, it can at most be used as a training world for those seeking breakthroughs. Other than that, it's not very useful."
I am somewhat interested in why it has such high mana.
This was the warrior's true thought. After all, a high-mana environment could be found by randomly choosing a dead, barren world around the Void Great Maelstrom. That is, unless the Siberia world was located in the eye of the storm, its mana concentration would have to exceed the standard value by hundreds or thousands of times—but the worlds in the Dark Domain should all have nearly extinguished flames. Why did this one have such high mana?
But the World Three exploration team's report wasn't over yet. Still looking excited, the team leader continued: "Besides the extreme mana abundance, we have confirmed that this seemingly barren desert we are in is actually entirely composed of extremely special rare metal particles. And these metal particles themselves seem to be the remains of some kind of super-large, high-level magical construct!"
"The remains of this high-level magical construct are so damaged that they have completely disintegrated into pure alloy sand. However, the alchemist has confirmed that these materials can be reused. This discovery alone is equivalent to discovering a super-large alloy mine for the Empire!"
When he said this, the World Three team leader was even a bit out of breath—partly due to excitement, and partly because the air in this world was too poor, and the oxygen-supply spell couldn't provide enough oxygen for a while. But this wasn't surprising. After all, the results of the exploration would be converted into points and rewarded to the team members. If both the mana-rich world and the alloy mine were real, then the entire World Three team could get a total of 0 exchange points and three B-rank, or one A-rank, exchange permissions! They could even get a share of the mine's output, giving them a continuous source of points.
"It's a pity that too much time has passed. This high-level magical construct is completely irreparable and can only be recycled as raw material."
After catching his breath, the team leader said regretfully: "We really want to know what kind of super-large magical construct could form a metal desert. Without a doubt, although we don't know why it was here or how it got damaged to this extent, the civilization behind it must have been extremely advanced."
And indeed, it was a pity. If they had actually discovered a super-large magical construct, like the large mobile city where Number 3 was located in the Carlis world back then, they would have deserved an S-rank reward. After all, that was the technological crystallization of an entire civilization, with immeasurable value!
If Number 3 hadn't been assisting Moldavia's mana technology development, the various mana factories wouldn't have spread so quickly. And that was just the data carried by one artificial intelligence. If they could recover the entire mobile city, Mycroft's mana technology would have even greater development.
The World Three team's report ended. They would continue exploring this metal desert, trying to find the cause of the high mana concentration and any possible construct remains. Joshua ignored Carlis, who was still muttering to itself, 'If only I had so much abundant mana' and 'If only my world had such good conditions,' and turned his gaze to World One.
That is, the world where the elite team, the Priest team, was located.
Until now, the world where the Priest team was located was still full of noise. If Joshua hadn't been able to detect that everyone's heartbeats were steady and their vital signs were normal, he would have thought they were in danger.
After a while, probably a few hours later, when Joshua saw the first curious Silver Fairy approach the Restorative Pillar and then joyfully shout and call its friends to come and 'soak in the hot spring,' the light screen of World One finally transmitted Priest's tired voice.
"World One reporting. This world has special conditions and is temporarily classified as a 'Special World.' Light brightness 25, gravity deviation 0.33, mana concentration 1.78. High-heat world, average detected temperature 85 degrees Celsius. No water, oxygen, or mental reactions detected."
"Another special world."
Carlis stopped being envious of World Three. It turned its head and, together with Joshua, watched the light screen of World One. Then it asked curiously: "Hey, isn't it snowing there? How can they say they detected no water? And how can it snow in high heat?"
But soon, Priest's report answered its question: "After the initial teleportation, we were located in the center of a basin and encountered a large-scale snowfall phenomenon unique to this world. Due to the temperature, we were very surprised. But soon, the alchemist in the team discovered that what was falling from the sky was not frost, but metal condensate."
"Yes, the snowfall in this world is actually 'metal snow.' We climbed out of the basin and found a relatively safe mountain slope that wouldn't be buried by metal snow for observation. We confirmed that this world is full of volcanoes, the surface is covered with rift valleys, and a large amount of dust mixed with high-heat metal gas rises into the sky, then condenses and precipitates as metal snow falling to the ground. Part of this metal will be evaporated by the high surface temperature, continuing this special cycle, while another part will precipitate into large, rough metal ore layers. The mountain range we are currently on is actually covered with a layer of metal alloy on its surface."
Without a doubt, this was also a large mining world. Hearing this, Joshua and Carlis both nodded. This was undoubtedly a good discovery. Naturally exposed ore layers and high-heat environments were the favorite type for Dwarves. They were unafraid of toxic gases and could move freely in such a world. And since even the snow was made of metal, for Dwarves, this place might be paradise.
[They lie on beds inlaid with gems, with an eternal furnace burning beside them. Everyone can freely pick up the metal they want from the ground and forge the things they desire. No one can disturb this process. They can freely drink strong liquor without getting headaches or becoming drunk. Everywhere is adamantite and mithril, everywhere is hot air. Everyone can have a completely safe house beside a magma pool.]
[——Dwarf Sacred Teachings, Heaven Chapter]
"But that alone doesn't qualify as 'special.'"
Joshua commented: "It's just a metal-rich world with low gravity and active geological activity. Unless there's some special information."
And coincidentally, Priest continued his report: "This world seems to have no sun. The light source is entirely from the cracks on the surface and the lava light from volcanic eruptions... But strangely, there is a ring of rainbow in the sky."
With that, Priest transmitted a series of special information to the transmitter, which was used to describe images and video codes. Joshua directly decoded it and obtained a not-very-clear magical video.
Above the completely dark world were large patches of metal clouds. After a particularly heavy snowfall, the clouds briefly disappeared for a while. It could be seen that in the pitch-black high sky, there was a perfectly circular rainbow in the dark.
The rainbow had seven distinct colors and rotated frequently. It seemed to surround a completely dark, non-luminous entity, moving across the sky of World One at a not-very-slow speed.
The video ended. Priest's tired but hesitant voice came through: "This is the rainbow in the dark we discovered... Even the sun has gone out, and water doesn't exist. Why is there still a rainbow? And every time the rainbow appears, the mana concentration suddenly increases to more than five times the standard value, the gravity deviation strangely decreases significantly, even causing brief weightlessness. Countless volcanoes and earthquakes erupt simultaneously, causing massive amounts of dust to be swept into the sky like a tide, as if..."
At this point, even the usually calm Priest swallowed his saliva and said in a somewhat fearful voice: "As if we, along with this entire world, are being attracted towards that dark existence!"