Chapter 31: Strange Space-Time Rift
Boom! Accompanied by deafening thunder, countless seemingly living arcs of electricity burst forth from the dark clouds in the sky, a rain-like thunderstorm sweeping back and forth between heaven and earth like the flickering magnetic storm currents in a laboratory. This world, completely enveloped in high-density mana currents, was extremely dangerous, but precisely because of this, the superconducting magic silver, which would otherwise rapidly decay, had been perfectly preserved since the dawn of creation.
However, what made the Elite Squad's faces turn pale was not just this ordinary thunderstorm alone.
Within the ultra-dense thunderclouds, nearly a hundred kilometers high, terrifying lightning currents could be seen coalescing into form. An immensely huge elemental being was awakening due to the arrival of intruders from outside. A roar, ten times louder than the thunder, could be heard emerging from its newly formed mouth. Visible shockwaves swept across the ground, causing the five members of the Elite Squad, who had just descended, to be thrown into disarray. The intense static electricity even turned all their hairstyles into afros.
A high-mana environment, coupled with the existence of ultimate mana minerals like superconducting magic silver, made the birth of elemental life seem not so strange. But a 'Supreme Ruler Lightning Elemental,' whose innate strength exceeded the Ultimate-rank, growing stronger even while sleeping due to the world's magnetic field and thunderstorms, along with a large group of over a hundred ordinary lightning elementals, still seemed a bit excessive.
"A whole nest of lightning elementals."
Extending his right hand, Priest smoothed down his afro with Battle Qi. His blood surged, restoring color to his face, which had momentarily paled from the pressure. The Gold-rank young warrior sighed, seemingly unfazed by the situation: "Thank the Knight. If it were an ordinary squad, they'd be panicking right now at encountering such a powerful magical beast."
"Yeah, yeah." "Isn't that right." "We're used to it." The Alchemist, Mage, and Priest nodded in unison. The three spellcasters were always good friends who echoed each other: "Thanks to the Knight, we're long accustomed to this."
This was the danger of exploring other worlds. No one knew what kind of monstrous thing was hidden inside a world's shell. Every time they entered another world, it was like a ten-card pack pull—you never knew if you'd get a legendary card (SSR) or just the common blue sky and white clouds.
On the other side, Knight Clark kept a straight face, expressionlessly pulling out his weapon from his mana armor. He was too tired to complain anymore about teammates who, without a word of reproach, just assumed that bringing him along would inevitably lead to unexpected trouble.
So it's all my fault, huh?
But the most frustrating part was that, whenever they brought him along, their squad really did always run into these kinds of monsters!
Although, given that the Elite Squad of five were all Gold-rank, fully armed, and well-prepared, defeating a powerful Ultimate-rank Supreme Ruler Lightning Elemental and its minions wasn't impossible. If they were willing to pay the price, this group, who had undergone hellish training and fought countless powerful monsters, had no reason to lose.
Moreover, with the inheritance and power gained from the Continent of Strife, various special combat techniques and ultimate legacies from other civilizations were now spreading across the world. Gold-rank experts of the Mycroft World could now easily take on seven or eight, even a dozen, native Gold-rank creatures of the same level. If several Gold-rank fighters joined forces, even a native Ultimate-rank might not be unbeatable.
But was it necessary?
Of course not.
Facing the Supreme Ruler Lightning Elemental in the distance, which was enraged by the intruders and gathering power, ready to unleash a plasma storm to blow away and incinerate these five little ants, team leader Priest raised his right hand. With a serious expression, he activated the Psychic Terminal on his wrist.
The Psychic Terminal, which could only operate independently without a Magic Net, suddenly flashed with a silver light. Accompanied by the resonance of Steel Force, a summoning array dozens of meters high materialized out of thin air in front of Priest!
"We'll split the summoning cost this time!" Priest shouted to his teammates amidst the surging winds and the approaching plasma storm. "I paid the whole bill last time and got ripped off. You're not getting out of it this time!"
As he finished the summoning incantation, the silver light abruptly brightened, and a blue space-time portal opened. Beyond the portal, a sea of cyan-blue thunder could be seen. Following the contract, a powerful being, crossing half a star river, emerged from the portal and directly confronted the surging plasma storm!
Boom!
The originally formless, high-temperature plasma storm was blocked by a suddenly appearing force field. The invisible surface of this force field shimmered with strange runes, decomposing and absorbing all the energy and electrical currents.
Normally, the collision between energy and a force field wouldn't produce sound, but at the moment they met, a thunderous roar echoed in the hearts of the Elite Squad's five members.
At that moment, the furious roar of the Supreme Ruler Lightning Elemental could be heard in the distance, mixed with confusion, caution, and anger at having its attack blocked. On the other side of the summoning array, Priest and the others looked up at the massive creature standing before the lightning storm.
It resembled a jellyfish, but its countless tentacles were entirely composed of mana runes. This semi-energy being, covered in electrical arcs and absorbing the enemy's plasma energy, was now cheering. It seemed to greatly enjoy the high electromagnetic environment of the superconducting magic silver world.
The surrounding thunderclouds could be seen slowly converging due to its presence, with bolts of lightning striking toward it. But it simply extended its tentacles, taming the powerful thunder and turning it into its own power.
"Disciple of the Re-Creator, you summoned me this time. Have you prepared enough exchange points?"
Priest heard a seemingly young voice deep within his mind—the heart-voice of the Thunder Jellyfish: "That Supreme Ruler Lightning Elemental—in your terms—is much stronger than me. Although I counter it, this will be a tough battle. If the price isn't enough, then I'll..."
"5000 exchange points!" Priest unhesitatingly stated the reward.
"I fight for you, my employer!"
...
Similar scenes were playing out across almost all official exploration teams of the Imperial Foreign Exploration Department.
The heroic spirits of otherworld civilizations within Joshua's body possessed immense power. Aside from daily pondering how their own civilizations had fallen and how to rebuild them, they engaged in social practice in a special version of the 'Continent of Strife' prepared by Joshua. Those with good practice results could earn a certain share, build territories on their respective sky islands, and gain the qualification to create a portion of their own race, guiding them to redevelop their civilization.
But, without a doubt, the conditions for the development and reproduction of some civilizations were too complex. While Joshua could help build them, he couldn't do so unconditionally—that would defeat the educational purpose. So, the Warrior had a brainwave: he connected the exchange system of the Foreign Exploration Department with his own world, allowing these otherworld civilization heroic spirits to exchange for what they wanted, using exchange points to purchase his assistance.
The way to earn exchange points was by signing contracts with various exploration squads, helping them to earn their rewards.
This way, both sides were happy. On one hand, they gained the help of powerful otherworld civilization heroic spirits; on the other, they earned exchange points to cultivate their own races. Joshua was also satisfied. As these otherworld civilization heroic spirits helped more and more, their unique biological structures, civilizational techniques, and concepts of supernatural power would all be collected and stored as part of the information reserve.
After all, living otherworld beings using their techniques was much clearer than what was merely recorded in data. If exploration team members sought advice, they could also receive friendly guidance from these civilization heroic spirits by paying exchange points.
For Joshua, this was another good way to wear down Chaos: as the civilization heroic spirits within him grew and strengthened, Chaos would naturally be shattered and dissipated by even greater power. Coupled with the purifying effect of the Continent of Strife, the Warrior felt that within a few years—or even less, as his strength progressed—he could return to normal, suppressing both the Chaos memories and Divinity together.
Over the past two months, Joshua had accomplished quite a bit.
First, together with the Demon Lord Goliath, he had placed the orderly demons it spoke of into the Bloodmoon Abyss.
Initially, Goliath seemed somewhat reluctant, only complying due to circumstances that left it no choice. But upon discovering that the Bloodmoon Abyss's environment was excellent—a realm between Abyss and Order, very suitable for orderly species converted from demons—Goliath's attitude did a complete one-eighty, and it became very cooperative.
It even planned to make a pact with Little Light: any newborn demons would be transferred entirely to the Bloodmoon Abyss for breeding, to produce more orderly demons.
The Light Humanoid, who wanted intelligent minions for the big guy, was about to agree outright, but Joshua intervened.
"The most important thing is cooperation, Goliath."
The Warrior said in a low voice: "We won't use these demons as hostages—on the condition that you cooperate with us. Send your most elite demon army to join the Joint Void Fleet. Remember, the most elite, not the misfits causing trouble every day at the fortress."
At this, the Abyss Lord was silent for a moment, then slightly bent its spine.
"...As you wish, my master."
...
With the open beta of the Continent of Strife, dealing with the uncooperative Abyss demons, making Little Light happy, and finding jobs for the civilization heroic spirits within his world, Joshua felt that he had basically done everything he could for now.
What remained was to wait for the Joint Void Fleet to take shape and then head to the far end of the Star River.
Although this task sounded serious and seemed to require a long time, it wasn't actually the case. According to estimates from various Legendary experts, combined with the resource requirements reported by the experienced Great Khan, everyone found that, aside from a possible shortage of food, other resources could be entirely supplemented by the power of multiple Legendary experts—this was one advantage of a transcendent civilization: a sufficiently powerful expert could replace a large amount of originally insufficient resources.
Joshua thought he could take a break for a while, continuing his struggle against the Chaos memories and Divinity within his mind.
But a strange new piece of news disrupted the Warrior's plans.
"...Space-time rift?"
Joshua looked at No. 3, frowning, and repeated her words: "You're saying many people have observed strange space-time rifts appearing?"
"Yes."
No. 3 nodded, simply repeating the reports from the Magic Net in a formal, businesslike tone: "According to observations, over twelve independent otherworld explorers have found that occasionally, an extremely concealed space-time rift appears behind them."
"Initially, they thought it was an accident, a special natural mana phenomenon, or a sign of a treasure appearing. But after compiling all the information, we believe the situation might not be that simple."