Chapter 11: Complete Preparations
The God of Love and Decay had left Moldavia.
The divine power seal vanished, time began to flow once more, and all the ordinary people who had been restrained felt their vision clear, only to see their own lord and the Pope of the Seven Gods Church appear in the middle of the street.
In an instant, the terrifying pressure of two Legendary experts leaked out slightly. However, while in other areas this mental oppression would have caused a mass human coma effect, in the Northern lands it only resulted in a brief pause in breathing and a momentary blackout.
But even that brief moment of darkness was enough. By the time everyone opened their eyes, Joshua and Eagle had already vanished from the street like phantoms, as if it had all been an illusion.
However, a few individuals with decent strength and sharp eyes seemed to catch a glimpse of their lord's gloomy and puzzled expression in that instant before he disappeared.
High above Moldavia, after confirming that Yue Ai had returned to Boundless Heaven, and had even entered the Void, Joshua and Eagle remained silent for a long time.
"Sometimes, I really hate this kind of behavior."
Joshua frowned, looking down at the city of Moldavia. His voice was low: "Everyone, every god, is so mysterious, hiding things, never finishing their words... Although what they say is indeed correct, knowing this information is indeed useless, but knowing is still better than not knowing. If everyone pooled their information together, wouldn't finding the truth be much simpler?"
This was clearly an angry outburst. After calming down a little, the warrior sighed.
Yue Ai's unwillingness to elaborate on other information was actually quite normal... If Joshua had heard correctly and guessed correctly, the God of Love and Decay should have been a person very close to the Sage during the Era of Radiance. Her true identity was likely one of the Saints, and she held feelings for the Sage that went beyond that of a teacher and student. Obviously, no matter what secret information Yue Ai knew, it was a private matter between her and the Sage, and it was her freedom to speak or not.
Joshua himself had no interest in listening to gossip about the Sage's private life and romantic relationships, but the information revealed by this God of Love and Decay was simply too shocking.
The Sage's death and resurrection during the final battle.
Yue Ai's words about herself, that she was no longer herself.
What exactly happened in between, when the former Saint became a god.
Many, many questions were shrouded in a hazy mist. Even if Yue Ai explained, it probably wouldn't be of much use. The Love God clearly didn't seem to know the truth about the Sage's death and resurrection; she probably only knew that such a thing had happened. And the latter two questions were essentially the same problem.
After Yue Ai transformed from a human into a god, she was no longer her original self... Although it sounds terrifying, it's actually not strange. It's like a human transforming into a Lich, a Death Knight, or a Dragon-Blooded descendant. When a mortal becomes a god, it is certainly accompanied by an extreme transformation of mind and body. The ritual known as 'Ascension to Godhood' is essentially a complete metamorphosis into another kind of super lifeform.
But...
"Don't think about it, Joshua."
Beside him, the Pope of the Seven Gods, Eagle, straightened his cuffs and collar. Although he appeared very calm, even having the energy to tell Joshua to stop his pointless thinking, it was noticeable that His Holiness the Pope had buttoned one of his cuff buttons incorrectly. He spoke in a calm tone: "No matter how curious the truth behind the secrets is, right now, the most important thing is still the information about the deepest layer of the Abyss."
"You're right."
Hearing this, Joshua could only nod.
In the legends circulating in the outer Star Rivers, the Lost Star River—the Star River where the Mycroft World is located—held the secret to defeating the Evil Gods, and this secret was hidden in the deepest layer of the Abyss.
Many related researchers had analyzed thousands of times whether the content spoken by the Great Khan and others was a lie or nonsense, but they instead confirmed that the other party had indeed not lied. Regardless of whether the Great Khan and these Star Shepherds were deceived themselves, they genuinely believed that in the deepest layer of the Abyss, there was a secret capable of defeating the Evil Gods.
Actually, this statement wasn't entirely wrong. The first-sequence Evil God, Plenty, was killed by the Sage in the deepest layer of the Abyss. The tomb of the strongest known Evil God in the multiverse was there. If there were any traces of that battle left behind, then comprehending even a fraction of the techniques used there might indeed be enough to kill an ordinary small Evil God.
The problem was, how did this news get out?
Did the Sage himself spread it?
Or had the information about the final battle been distorted over tens of thousands of years of transmission, turning into this form?
There were too many doubts. Even though Joshua had already decided to go and see for himself whether there was any secret in the deepest layer of the Abyss, he still felt something was off.
"Even if the Sage really left behind some ultimate technique... why didn't he just give it directly to the Mycroft Civilization? And according to the information from Yue Ai and the Unified Grand Database, after defeating Plenty, the Sage was severely wounded and dying, and was sent to the Genesis Hub, which is the lair of the Steel Serpent Mycroft, to recuperate... In that state of injury, did the Sage really have the ability to leave behind a secret?"
Joshua directly voiced his doubts to Eagle beside him. The old Pope could only respond with a helpless, bitter smile.
"You're asking me, but I don't know either. Lord Radcliffe, I'm just an ordinary Pope. My hobby is watering flowers. I probably know even less about the secrets of the Radiant Era than you do."
Eagle stroked his beard and shook his head: "The most important question is whether 'you want to go' or not."
"Of course I do."
Joshua answered directly without any hesitation: "How could I not go? Even if it's just to see the fragments of the Plenty Evil God's remains, I have to make a trip."
Are you kidding?
Doubts were doubts, questions were questions. Faced with the deepest layer of the Abyss, a place known as the 'Abyss Nirvana Ground', the tomb of the Plenty Evil God and the Sage, how could Joshua not be curious, how could he not want to go? Even Eagle, upon hearing this news, couldn't help but show an expression of 'anticipation'. The warrior, who never hid his desires, would never give up on exploration.
"In that case, prepare yourself."
Saying this, Eagle turned to leave. He said in a low voice: "Originally, we planned to clear out the surrounding Abyss and demons before sending an exploration team to the outer Star Rivers. Now it seems we can take the opportunity to look for the deepest layer of the Abyss without wasting much time... After settling matters on the continent, the Mycroft World's Abyss Expeditionary Force will begin to be formed."
"Joshua, don't be late then."
"I am always punctual."
To this, the warrior showed a smile and told a dry joke: "Just like justice, never late."
"Oh, by the way." As a fellow enthusiast of dry jokes, the old Pope naturally wouldn't let such a simple joke affect his train of thought. He closed his eyes and sensed the situation in the Moldavia Territory. He couldn't help but ask with some confusion: "I've been a bit curious from the start... Where did all those good children in your house go? Today I only saw one black-haired one; all the others were missing."
After carefully sensing again, Eagle's confusion deepened: "No, it's not just your Lord's Manor. All your students are gone too... What a coincidence?"
This time, his sensing was purely a whim. After all, every time Joshua was about to go on a long trip to another world, he would instruct Ying, Lin, or Number 3. But this time, the group that actually managed the Moldavia Territory was all absent, as if Joshua was doing the work himself. This couldn't help but surprise the old Pope greatly.
"They... all have some tasks."
To this, Joshua's lips curled up slightly. He said calmly: "After all, I have been preparing for a trip to the deepest layer of the Abyss for a long time now."
Within the Multiverse Void.
Accompanied by the teleportation light of the Myriad Realms Sacrificial Ground, a silver-haired girl appeared alone in the cold vacuum of a lifeless world.
Ying's strength was currently stuck at Gold High-rank, below the Ultimate level. Because she found it difficult to comprehend the essence of the three fundamental Ultimates—'Force', 'Technique', and 'Soul'—she hadn't found a path to advance further. But even so, as a Divine Mechanism with a Psionic body, a Gold-rank could easily move and live in a vacuum.
"I wonder what the master's goal is with this task this time... Ah well, at least having a task is better than having none."
In the vacuum, the girl couldn't help but ponder the purpose of her mission, but soon, having learned the essence of Joshua's thinking pattern, Ying gave up on this pointless speculation. She mobilized her Psionic energy, driving her body forward like a rocket thruster, heading towards a nearby celestial body that was orange-yellow, massive, and burning with fierce flames.
Meanwhile, a black-haired boy also arrived at another lifeless alien world.
Compared to the full-of-doubt Ying, Lin's thoughts were simple: complete the task, then go back to continue administrative work. Although it might be a bit disrespectful, he genuinely didn't think his lord had the patience to handle administrative affairs himself... Faced with those complex construction requirements, wouldn't the master just punch down a target mountain peak and then casually smooth the ground flat with a swipe? Wait, that actually seemed much simpler...
Stopping the increasingly bizarre thoughts beginning to form in his mind, Lin continued his work.
His target was a sky-blue, incredibly massive flaming star.
And it wasn't just them.
Using the Myriad Realms Sacrificial Ground as a transfer station, numerous individuals with special tasks appeared in many lifeless alien worlds.
A floating, bobbing light orb cheerfully drifted through the vacuum. It occasionally spat out a stream of fire, occasionally a jet of water. Freed from the constraints of the Lord's Manor, Little Light, who could create things at will, was like an unrestrained child, freely enjoying the taste of freedom. But even so, it didn't forget its task. It could be seen traveling through the vacuum at an incredible fourth cosmic velocity. Being nearly massless and possessing immense energy, it shone with a bright light, like a small sun.
But no matter how close it was to a sun, it wasn't a real sun. Facing the two colossal objects floating nearby, slowly rotating, Little Light's radiance was as dim as a firefly's.
It was a binary star system composed of two suns, with twelve planets orbiting on their respective paths, rising and falling with the trajectory of the two giants.
It wasn't just the people from the Lord's Manor.
Ivan, the siblings Amira, Nick and Ka Lin, and the entire First Squad were executing tasks separately for the first time, each acting alone in four different worlds. The worlds they went to didn't have massive stellar suns, but were dead continental worlds with energy crystal light sources hanging in the sky. Compared to the Lord's Manor group, who were used to pondering the deeper meaning behind Joshua's actions, they executed their tasks more decisively and cleanly.
Lisa, Syndicate, and Chu Hao formed a trio, appearing in the same world. It was a huge planetary world, but no light source was visible. The entire world was dead and dark, as if even its sun had gone out. But the three didn't mind. Their arrival point was right in the middle of a high-density asteroid belt.
The members of the Elite Squad had also split into three groups. Priest was alone; the Spellcaster and Alchemist were in one group; the Clergy and Knight were in another. These three groups appeared above an 'Ocean World', a 'Desert World', and a 'Glacier World' respectively.
"Priest, what task did the lord assign you this time?"
Behind Priest, who appeared to be alone, a faint echo like a ghost sounded, but he wasn't surprised at all. Instead, he started chatting with his back-seat spirit.
"It's not really a task, actually. This operation is quite simple."
Saying this, Priest, floating in mid-air, pulled a silver cylinder from the storage pack on the back of his Mana Armor. He shrugged at his back-seat spirit, Su Er, and then casually threw the metal cylinder towards the sea surface, which was churning with huge waves.
"Just throw this Restorative Pillar at any point in the world. That's the whole task. And for this kind of task, there are 3000 exchange points. I suspect the teacher arranged this ridiculously easy task just to take care of us."
"Is that so? Then the lord is really kind." Following Priest's words, Su Er, who was witnessing the scenery of different alien worlds with him, couldn't help but laugh: "He's really gentle."
"Did the lord add an extra zero by mistake?" The Alchemist and Spellcaster didn't speak, but the same thought appeared in their minds: "Or is there some danger we haven't discovered?"
"Strange, with so many points, why haven't I seen any super-massive Void Behemoth..." In another world, the Knight frowned, looking around the empty world. He was about to continue, but a Word of Power 'Seal' was directly imprinted on his mouth. The next moment, the Clergy, eyes wide with anger, grabbed the Knight by the collar and started shaking him wildly: "Shut that stinking mouth of yours, you jinx! If we run into any more trouble this time, I'll go find the Alchemist and have him modify you so you don't have any vocal organs... Huh?!"
Boom!!!
And just as Priest was chatting with Su Er, and the others were puzzled in their own worlds...
The Restorative Pillar thrown into the sea began to activate automatically.
Red-black runes, different from those in other worlds, began to appear on both ends of the silver cylinder. Even though the surrounding surging waves, due to the world's special stormy climate, were comparable to tsunamis and powerful enough to capsize a ten-thousand-ton oil tanker, it remained unmoved, falling straight towards the seabed in a straight line.
During its descent, the silver cylinder began to turn red and heat up. A large amount of seawater evaporated, making it look like it was enveloped in a huge mass of bubbles.
And just as this large mass of bubbles touched the deep-sea crust...
A silver light shone in the deepest, darkest part of the ocean.
And it wasn't just this world.
In other worlds, as each task executor threw their held silver pillar into their respective target areas, a brilliant silver light, like stardust, shone in the vacuum and on the land.
One could see the silver pillar approaching the orange star at the fifth cosmic velocity.
One could see the silver pillar, constantly flickering and teleporting, approaching the sky-blue star using teleportation spells.
One could see the silver pillar, using the gravitational slingshot effect, approaching the binary star system at an unbelievable speed.
One could see the silver pillars, deep within the crust of continental worlds, completely releasing their Order radiance.
Infinite light, spanning numerous worlds, shone simultaneously.
In the center of the Myriad Realms Sacrificial Ground, under the Silver Sky's Radiance, Number 3 closed her eyes.
"All nodes have been deployed."
She said in a low voice: "Joshua, the task is complete."
"Very good. Thank you for your trouble."
And a voice sounded in Number 3's mind: "This way, I have complete preparations."
Without a doubt. Hearing this, Number 3 couldn't help but shake her head and let out a soft laugh.
This was indeed a flawless plan.