Chapter 20: Teleportation... Successful?
"Why did our teleportation go wrong again?!"
In the thin atmosphere over eight thousand meters high, the knight let out a miserable scream like a pig being slaughtered. Even at this altitude, his cry was full of vigor, proving the knight's excellent physical condition.
"Because of those world fleets!"
On the other side, even while plummeting through the sky several thousand meters up without a parachute, the mage still managed to give a clear answer amidst the panic: "Their mass is too great, distorting space-time... but that doesn't make sense! How are we still near the edge of the World Star River?!"
The teleportation beacon crafted by Archmage Nostradamus, directly linked to the Myriad Realms Sacrificial Ground, should, in theory, be able to cross the entire multiverse and send the five of them straight back. Even if the world fleets distorted space-time, it shouldn't have only moved them this short distance.
The clergy and the alchemist said nothing. Both silently spread their wings. The clergy unfurled a pair of common holy light wings. The massive, pale golden wings instantly canceled out the tremendous falling force, allowing the clergy to hover steadily in midair.
As for the alchemist, the armor on his back contracted, and the flesh behind him writhed for a moment before expanding, hardening, and transforming into a pair of insect-like wings resembling a dragonfly's. He too hovered in the air, even casually catching Priest, who was still falling.
"Hey, Titan dragonfly wings! I just installed them a few days ago!" he boasted with some pride. "Strangely enough, that 'Human Progress Technology Group' Lord Radcliffe set up didn't have many members. I snagged this modification opportunity easily."
"Well, thanks a lot for that." Priest said helplessly. "But I can fly. Don't grab me by the scruff of the neck."
"Oh."
Nearby, the mage, who had cast a flight spell, also grabbed the knight, who was still shouting. The five of them hovered in the air, holding a brief discussion.
"Take cover as soon as possible."
This was Priest's opinion. He had already used his gravity battle qi to lighten his weight and create a solid foothold in midair. After steadying himself, Priest frowned, looking uneasily at the black sky behind him, and said urgently, "Those eight-legged fungus creatures have a high level of technology. We didn't teleport far. If we're too careless, they might find us."
"The captain is right."
The spellcaster nodded, instinctively touching the staff hanging at his waist, and continued, "Of course, we also need to determine the coordinates of this world as quickly as possible and send a signal back to Mycroft. Otherwise, we'll be trapped here."
That was roughly the gist of it. No one had any other questions. After confirming their next course of action, the five of them began descending toward the ground.
This was a star world located at the edge of the World Star River. The continent beneath their feet was a massive, spherical star. During the descent, the sharp-eyed clergy noticed something off. He said quietly, "Wait, look... this seems to be a living world?"
Hearing this, everyone immediately looked down at the earth below.
Sure enough, beneath them was indeed a vibrant green planet teeming with life!
They could see undulating mountains covering the entire continent, white clouds churning above the sky-blue ocean, and a thick layer of green spreading like a blanket over all the land.
They could even make out, within the forests that covered the entire continent, a dozen or so enormous trees, so massive they rivaled small mountains in height. The tops of these trees shimmered with obvious magical rainbows, with rings of color circling their canopies.
"Praise the Seven Gods..."
The clergy couldn't help but tear up. "Have we finally found a normal, magical living world?"
For some reason, as the most elite squad, the five of them never encountered anything good on their expeditions. Looking back, not only had things never gone smoothly, but they basically stumbled at every step. If they stretched their legs a little too far, they'd trip.
First expedition: the extreme environment of World One, attacked by black mist. If not for the Soul Abyss Orb and the rescue of many legendary experts, they would have been wiped out.
Second and third expeditions: worthless barren worlds, just encountering some earthquakes, landslides, torrential rain, blizzards, typhoons, and volcanic eruptions. Those were the easiest missions for the squad.
Fourth expedition: in a primordial ocean world, they encountered a super-giant creature over a kilometer long, the 'Dominant Squid.' If not for the fishing boat being big enough and the ram sturdy enough, the five of them would have been swallowed alive, forced to outwit the parasites inside it.
Fifth expedition: the most dangerous one. In a wasteland world, they were ambushed by a stampede of primal magical beasts. If not for the timely use of a suitable hypnotic device to calm the herd, they would have all been torn apart.
And this expedition to the edge of the World Star River was supposed to be a simple reconnaissance mission to gather world data. Apart from being far from Mycroft, it should have been the safest and most comfortable task imaginable. But who would have thought? They failed the teleportation right from the start, ended up in the lair of a group of advanced alien civilizations, and nearly had their souls searched and memories extracted for information about the Mycroft World!
The clergy had almost given up hope on their squad's luck, but he never expected that this failed teleportation would actually send them to a normal jungle living world!
"Don't celebrate too soon."
On the other side, the knight muttered, "Who knows if these plants eat meat... Hey, why did you hit me?!"
Leaving aside the knight and the clergy brawling in midair, the squad's luck was good. The knight's jinx didn't activate. The place they landed was indeed an ordinary forest—non-carnivorous, non-moving, with no wild beasts living in it. It looked very peaceful.
Almost too peaceful.
In a quiet forest clearing, there was a patch of exposed, towering rock covered in moss and scattered bushes. Because of this, the dense forest hadn't spread here. Landing on this rocky ground, the five of them could use the elevation to survey the surrounding forest.
"Strange."
After landing, the alchemist, the most biology-savvy member of the team, retracted his Titan dragonfly wings. He approached the nearby trees, curiously stroking the bark, and said softly, "These trees... they look very similar to the plants in the Mycroft World!"
"Similar how?" The spellcaster was setting up communication equipment and asked casually, "In appearance? As far as I know, due to the resonance of order, most plants in this World Star River look like this."
"No, it's not just the appearance." The alchemist pulled an iron straw from a pouch on his waist armor, inserted it into the tree, and withdrew it. He carefully observed the color of the sap, opened his helmet visor, breathed the surrounding air, and tasted the sap.
His expression immediately became very strange.
"Hey, you guys, open your helmets!"
He turned around and shouted to his companions, "The air here is exactly the same as in the Mycroft World!"
"And these trees are completely identical to the same species in Mycroft! You could even say they're the exact same kind of tree!"
Although the alchemist liked to modify himself into something neither human nor beast, even swapping out his internal organs twice, his brain was still human, and he was usually very diligent and responsible in his work. So, the other four, including Priest, were willing to trust his words.
The spellcaster was the first to remove his helmet. He shook his hair, took a deep breath of the surrounding air, and immediately looked around the forest in shock. "It's true! The atmospheric composition here is extremely similar to the Mycroft World! The only difference is that the air in Mycroft is more polluted!"
"Indeed." The clergy nodded, retracting his holy light wings and removing his helmet. He sniffed the scent of a nearby leaf. "Very fresh, very clean, no chaotic contamination... But why? Why is there an alien world at the edge of the World Star River that's so similar to the Mycroft World?"
Not just the clergy, everyone present found this very strange. But for the moment, no one could come up with an answer.
At that moment, the alchemist noticed that their captain, Priest, hadn't said a word. He was standing off to the side, fiddling with something.
So, the alchemist strode over to Priest's side, intending to remind him to join the discussion and analyze the current situation.
But just as the alchemist reached Priest's side, he heard the young warrior muttering to himself in an unusually anxious tone.
"That's not right."
The young warrior held the now-gray teleportation beacon in his hand. He was using his battle qi to activate the device's internal recorder to retrieve detailed teleportation logs.
The alchemist initially thought Priest was trying to find the records of this failed teleportation to reverse-engineer their current coordinates, the only way to get rescue from the Mycroft World. But he was wrong, because he soon heard Priest's next words.
"Teleportation... successful?"
An incredulous tone, mixed with some unknown panic. Priest looked up, his gaze vacant. "We didn't fail? The beacon successfully teleported?"
But successful? How was that possible? When they exited the space-time tunnel, they saw the void—a sky so sparse with stars it seemed almost nonexistent. There was no doubt they were still at the edge of the World Star River. Because the teleportation had failed, they had been thrown into this insignificant little world.
If this could be called a success, then there would be far too many failures.
"Could my teleportation beacon be faulty?"
Thinking this, he looked up at the other four who had gathered around him. The knight, clergy, spellcaster, and alchemist had all taken out their own teleportation beacons. Each was using their own transcendent power to activate the beacon's records and extract information.
Seconds later, a series of exclamations rang out.
"What?!" "It really says teleportation successful?!" "Impossible!" "How?! We didn't make a mistake?!"
The shocking truth revealed by the teleportation beacons instantly threw everyone into chaos. No one could believe that their teleportation hadn't failed.
But why? The teleportation beacon wasn't a random teleport scroll. It was a legendary-grade magical artifact linked to the coordinates of the Myriad Realms Sacrificial Ground!
"Identical atmospheric composition, identical plants... but this isn't Mycroft."
The knight looked around the jungle, his expression complex as he gazed at the familiar vegetation and breathed the air that was no different from the Mycroft World. He murmured softly, "Where... is this?"
No one answered his question.
And at the same time.
In the distant jungle.
A dark figure could be seen lying on a tree trunk, holding a long tube, silently observing the five's movements.
The observation lasted for a long time. After confirming that the five didn't immediately take action after landing, this slender, humanoid shadow figure gently turned, stepped back, and silently vanished into the depths of the forest.