Chapter 2: Named Directly
"Human, human, do you have any special feelings right now?!"
"If I must answer, then I suppose it would be a bit of excess energy."
Joshua, who had just thrown Priest along with a wandering soul out of Winterfell Academy, pondered for a long time in the face of the urgent inquiries from the four Fairy Empresses on the light screen beside him. Finally, he gave an answer that wasn't really an answer: "Overall, it feels a bit comfortable."
"Com... comfortable?"
Upon hearing this, the four Fairy Empresses exchanged glances, then all looked dumbfounded. Immediately, the most lively Fire Fairy Empress let out an incredulous exclamation: "How could it be comfortable! Hey hey, Joshua, after you achieved 'World,' don't you feel anything at all? Structuring a world, differentiating elements, coordinating the various transcendent powers, controlling the world's stability and balance... You clearly started from scratch just like us, so how can you feel comfortable?!"
Joshua did not immediately respond to the words of the four Fairy Empresses.
Now, several months had passed since he defeated the Decay Evil God, burned his soul sea, transformed into a world, and awakened from the void.
Regarding Joshua's rapid advancement, most legends felt numb—Joshua advanced again, what does that have to do with me? After all, most legends knew that the warrior's speed of advancement was entirely due to his ceaseless tendency to stir up trouble.
He could create three major news events in a year, visit seven or eight different worlds and abysses in a decade, kill enemies numbering in the millions as a basic unit, and fight with powerful beings several times more than several legends combined... If the price of rapid advancement was frantically seeking enemies for life-and-death battles, many believed they wouldn't even live to see the day of advancement.
In short, after a grand celebratory banquet, Joshua informed most of the other legends about his information regarding the Evil Gods and the extradimensional star rivers, without any concealment. And because of the existence of the Star Shepherd race, most had to admit that besides their own world star river, there were many more world star rivers in the multiverse. In fact, it could be said that their world star river was the isolated one. Beyond the barrier of nothingness called the Material Vacuum Zone, there existed vast new worlds.
Moreover, the most terrifying thing was that they were sealed by time dilation. The thousand-plus years experienced by Mycroft Civilization corresponded to tens of thousands of years in the outside world.
At least twelve thousand years, possibly tens of thousands more.
Faced with such terrifying methods and the seal called time, everyone fell silent. Pope Eagle personally tried accelerating matter to near-light speed to observe the time dilation effect, then shook his head and sighed.
This was temporarily beyond their understanding.
Impacted by this information, the joy brought by Joshua's advancement dissipated considerably. Coincidentally, he needed time to stabilize his own state during that period, so he took the opportunity to decline most social engagements, leaving his main body 'World' at the edge of the world star river while he differentiated a thought unit to return to the Mycroft Continent for activities.
As for the Fairy Empresses' questions...
Joshua thought carefully and finally told them the truth: "Because I had help."
"Huh?!" x4
"Indeed."
Joshua wasn't lying. His ability to quickly adapt to the identity of a world, master himself, and even have the spare capacity to create an avatar was all thanks to the help of friends.
Not to mention that the soul sea of the 'Decay Evil God' contained quite a bit of information about worlds themselves and the experience of Steel Serpent Carlis. After absorbing it, Joshua quickly got through the initial chaotic period. After he communicated with the Old Pope, Steel Serpent Carlis, along with Steel Serpent Siberia and Xiao Guang, hitched a ride on the Yinglin 3rd and other members of the Lord's Manor family to the edge of the world star river. As genuine active-duty Steel Serpents and incarnations of newborn world wills, they imparted much experience and technique to Joshua.
Honestly, with several world wills pouring knowledge into him like this, even an ordinary little girl could ascend on the spot and score over 95 points on the creation exam. Although there was a slight difference between a world will and Joshua, who was himself a world, the warrior wasn't stupid. By integrating the knowledge according to the situation, stabilizing his own body wasn't difficult at all.
Faced with the Fairy Empresses' expressions of serious doubt, Joshua shook his head. Was it really so strange that he, Joshua, never fought alone and had a few enthusiastic friends to help in times of crisis?
Making a mountain out of a molehill.
After hanging up the Fairy Empresses' communication, Joshua stayed in Winterfell's sterile laboratory, closing his eyes in contemplation.
At this moment, the Nameless Technician was conducting experiments in a corner of the laboratory.
The Watcher tribe, transferred back from the sealed world, along with the nine legendary experts, were now in deep slumber due to the chaotic erosion of the Decay Evil God. The coma caused by this erosion was essentially due to decay, not chaos. Neither Holy Light nor Order Force could heal them; their power essence had decayed, making it impossible to sustain their own souls and wills.
The situation for the Watcher tribe elves was better. The Far South Elven Royal Court accepted them all, and they were now recuperating under the radiance of the World Tree. With luck, they might wake up in a few years. Even if they didn't, they could endure as a spiritual symbol of elven clan unity and mutual aid, never abandoning any compatriot. Thanks to these compatriots, the Nature Mentor and the Elf Empress, with little effort, once again united the entire elven race and inspired their desire to explore the outer void.
But the nine legends were more troublesome. Their power was too strong; the World Tree's radiance couldn't heal them. Even the Psychic Master William, after examining them, couldn't help but shake his head and bluntly stated that these legends had been completely dead for thousands of years—their bodies corrupted by chaos, their souls decayed and nearly dissipated. Only a faint remnant of instinct made them appear alive; the possibility of awakening was basically nonexistent.
Of course, 'basically nonexistent' didn't mean impossible.
And even if it was just a slight possibility, Mycroft Civilization had to try to awaken them, because they might be the only channel from the Starfall Era to contact the final glorious era and the ultimate war period of the Era of Radiance. They were legends who survived from that era, experienced various secrets, personally met the Sage, and knew countless top-secret information and knowledge. If they could awaken, the benefits for the current Starfall Civilization would be unimaginable.
The Nameless Technician was conducting experiments with Joshua's support precisely to awaken them.
In fact, Priest's little girlfriend's recovery was also a result of his experiments.
Half a year ago, at the edge of the world star river, after Joshua shattered the Decay Evil God's main body, the Decay Evil God, in order to regain power and fight the self-destructing Joshua, swallowed all the souls in the entire world that had been eroded by chaos in one gulp. This was the basic method of an Evil God's world-destruction: polluting the world through minions, weakening the world barrier, then the Evil God's main body descends, swallowing all souls and leaving.
Su Er's soul, lacking the protection of the Mother Tree of Life, was deeply eroded. Although the Aklafa Hub purified much, the connection wasn't severed. So this elven girl's soul was pulled and swallowed by the Evil God, nearly transformed into the Evil God's power.
However, 'nearly' was the key word. Because Joshua acted too quickly, Su Er wasn't eroded by the Evil God. But even so, her physical body was difficult to continue using.
The Nameless Technician used the soul technology of the Siberia World to repair the girl's soul, practicing for saving the nine legends' souls. The result proved that as long as the chaotic erosion was expelled, even a nearly dissipated soul could be repaired. Although some memories might be lost, the soul remained the original one. Originally, the Nameless Technician also planned to create a puppet body for Su Er to use for actions in the material world, but Joshua refused.
"That disciple of mine only asks for the soul."
He said: "If so, don't give him more. If you erase his motivation for future effort all at once, he'll be confused about how to proceed."
From the current perspective, Priest hadn't shown signs of forging his own new path. Perhaps in the future, he would grow up and walk his own unique path, even impressing Joshua. But regardless, for now, he was still only Gold-rank, far from Ultimate-rank. Su Er's soul recovery was enough for him now. When Priest later advanced to Ultimate-rank and initially mastered the condensation and application of life force, reshaping a body under Joshua's guidance wouldn't be difficult.
What could be more romantic than personally creating a body for the one you love?
Joshua couldn't think of anything.
Moreover, by then, with the progress of biological modification technology in the Mycroft World, Su Er's new body would definitely be much stronger than her current one. After all, the guardians of the Unified Grand Database had already switched to new bodies. Although they couldn't yet adapt to the movements of humanoid forms, normal communication was no longer a problem. Through the techniques passed down by these descendants of ancient guardians, the Unified Grand Database, originally just a library, had gained many new functions, such as a fully virtual simulation laboratory and a 'Magic Net Database' that could connect to the Magic Net.
Now, Baniel, William, No. 3, and others were working overtime to redesign the access ports for the Magic Net Database. They also planned to follow the example of the Era of Radiance, setting corresponding authority levels for Mycroft citizens who held Psychic Terminals.
This wasn't unfair—on the contrary, if everything were truly equal and all information were open to everyone, that would be the real mistake, a persecution of ordinary people. Some top-secret information and dangerous knowledge couldn't be known by ordinary people. Under information disturbance, powerful Evil Gods and chaotic entities would track it like sharks smelling blood.
Moreover, if evil people learned those wicked knowledges, the ones who suffered the most would also be ordinary people.
Only when one's strength reached Gold High-rank, or even Ultimate-rank, could one ensure their own safety without endangering others.
"Lord, you're right. Void Behemoth flesh can indeed effectively expel chaotic aura... A body made entirely of Void Behemoth flesh would make it basically impossible for the soul within to be eroded by chaos!"
Soon, from the Nameless Technician's side, came a rather delighted voice: "It seems so. That extradimensional civilization didn't rely solely on luck to wander and travel this far. With the protection of the Void Behemoth, they weren't afraid of chaotic erosion below the Evil God level!"
Upon hearing that the other party had indeed achieved results, Joshua didn't hesitate. He quickly stepped forward to observe the Nameless Technician's work.
The Nameless Technician was now named Lotram, but neither Joshua nor he himself used that name often. Standing by the experimental table, Joshua could clearly see, inside a white crystal sealed chamber completely isolated from the outside world and only controllable through psychic power, a humanoid mass of flesh was constantly writhing and growing.
It was a strange flesh mass with a humanoid shape, grayish-white, with parts of the flesh appearing like translucent gel. Unlike typical Void Behemoths that instinctively generate various limbs, mouthparts, or tentacles, it was suppressed by magical runes and Steel Force, perfectly growing in human form. It could be seen that at least seventeen metal probes were deep inside this body, releasing various transcendent powers, stimulating the body for repeated beneficial mutations.
On the surface, it didn't seem particularly impressive, even a bit like a slime transforming into a human, somewhat reminiscent of Syndicate's initial determination of body image. But in reality, if the observer had a soul vision, they could clearly see a soul eroded by chaos bound within this body. The chaotic power eroding the soul was actually being expelled by the instinctive counterattack from the flesh.
Clusters of barely perceptible black gas floated out from micropores on the body's surface, then dissipated into nothingness.
After all, a Void Behemoth was essentially a living world embryo, with the potential to become a world. The Star Shepherds relied on this to harness Void Behemoths, carrying civilization and worlds forward. As the ultimate incarnation of Steel Force, it was normal for it to be immune to chaotic erosion.
It was just that no one had thought before that transferring an eroded human soul into a body made of Void Behemoth flesh would automatically reduce the degree of erosion.
"Unfortunately, we still can't control Void Behemoth flesh. Once separated, this flesh becomes completely independent, a new individual. Then, the chaotic erosion on the soul placed inside will indeed be dissolved, but the soul itself will also be devoured by this flesh mass, becoming nourishment for the new behemoth soul... It's still okay for short-term treatment of legendary experts. If the time is longer, maybe we can gradually expel the chaos from their souls, allowing me to repair them."
"It's a pity that ordinary people can't switch to this body."
Saying this, the Nameless Technician's expression was very regretful.
Although not as extreme as the alchemist in the Elite Squad who advocated physical modification, after experiencing so much and learning the knowledge of the Mycroft World, the Nameless Technician no longer valued the sanctity of the physical body. In his view, if there was a better body, switching wasn't a big deal. As long as the freedom of the soul and the independence of self-will were guaranteed, the flesh was merely an external possession.
Perhaps the souls of Ultimate-rank experts could resist the erosion of Void Behemoth flesh, but Ultimate-rank experts had basically already embarked on their own paths. Why would they need Void Behemoth flesh bodies?
"It seems there's still no shortcut for ordinary people to quickly gain transcendent power."
Joshua stroked the crystal cover of the isolation chamber, his gaze calm. He said in a low voice: "Although, with the support of resources from various worlds, many Transcendent Academies have been established throughout the Mycroft World, it's still far from enough."
Not everyone could attend school, let alone Transcendent Academies. Under the current level of civilization in the Mycroft World, resource distribution in human society couldn't achieve 'equality for all.' There were always many people powerless to pursue their dreams, powerless to become transcendents.
Even though Emperor Amos used the 'Heavenly Net System' to monitor the entire empire, eliminating villains, gangsters, nobles, and the oppression that brought sorrow to the people as much as possible, he couldn't instantly make the poor rich or give an ordinary farmer's son the resources to become a transcendent... He could strike down evil people, but he couldn't make good people live better.
This was a problem that could only be solved when civilization transformed and reached a higher social level.
Joshua wanted to save time by fundamentally solving this problem through biological modification, but it seemed the situation wasn't good.
"The Plague Evil God's mother civilization attempted to use the Ascendant Virus to modify, letting everyone ascend in one step, becoming a long-lived class similar to transcendents... I must be vigilant, not fall into the demonic path arrogantly like them."
Although there was still some urgency deep inside, Joshua exhaled, patted the Nameless Technician on the shoulder, encouraged him a few words, and allocated resources for him to continue the corresponding research.
Indeed, with the current biological technology of the Mycroft Civilization, it was completely impossible to control Void Behemoth flesh.
This was because the Mycroft Civilization was not a biological technology civilization. In essence, it should be considered a model of 'cultivation civilization.' Its strength lay in the power of individuals and the study of transcendent forces. As for biology, probably only the Druids, Fishmen, and Necromancers studied it in depth.
This was a difference in the direction of civilization development.
However, that said.
The Mycroft Civilization was indeed not skilled in biological mutation and modification.
But other civilizations were not so. Some civilizations could even control Void Behemoths, using their bodies as worlds, traveling through the void of the multiverse.
Now, on March 7th, 840th year of the Starfall Era, at 7:30 in the morning, Joshua stood in the sterile laboratory, waiting for a message from an old friend.
Soon, without making Joshua wait long, a communication notice from the Ocean Sage Faina appeared on the light screen beside the experiment.
"Count Radcliffe, good news."
The most powerful psionicist on the continent, the descendant of the Earth Mother Goddess, Sage Faina, said: "The Great Khan of the Star Shepherd civilization has finally agreed to our 'cooperation.'"
"However, he specifically requested that 'you' go for the negotiation."