# Chapter 46: Declaration
The surrender of the Spirit Clan was only natural.
Even the members of the joint expedition fleet, upon witnessing Joshua create a sun in the void with his bare hands, fell into dead silence—each crew member asked themselves honestly, when facing power of this level, surrender was truly not a matter of damaged courage or loyalty. Even Arna Merlot, who had seen all sorts of grand spectacles during the Era of Radiance, stared blankly for a moment and muttered a few words to herself.
Not fainting could already be considered possessing courage and hope... In other words, the warrior could be said to have given every member of the Spirit Clan the opportunity to display their backbone, which was quite gentle.
After dealing with the Spirit Clan's main fleet and two subsidiary fleets, Joshua returned to the Jetram World to assist Baniel in constructing the Space-Time Hub. Although there were still quite a few Spirit Clan subsidiary fleets en route, the warrior believed that the remaining scattered fleets were insufficient to pose a threat to the joint fleet, so he handed over the subsequent work to other Legendary experts and vice-captains to handle freely.
Now, the Star Shepherds and Abyss Demons were boarding the Spirit Clan's fleets in sequence, disarming the crew members, and guiding the warships to a lifeless world for centralized detention.
Naturally, due to the peculiar physiques and excessively chaotic and terrifying appearances of the Star Shepherds and Abyss Demons, some minor conflicts arose during the disarmament process. Although no deaths occurred, over four hundred people were injured... The disturbances erupted quickly and subsided just as fast. Whether Spirit Clan, Star Shepherd, or Demon, when on the verge of being overwhelmed by anger, they would subconsciously recall the Steel Giant God from before, involuntarily shiver, and then calm down.
The vast majority of ordinary Spirit Clan crew members were taken into custody within the fungal world on the backs of the Void Behemoths. Although that place was not particularly suitable for races other than the Star Shepherds, the Star Shepherds, who were proficient in biological technology, could make some modifications to make it barely habitable—that was not a difficult task.
As for the high-ranking lords of the fleet, they were gathered together and taken to the flagship where Faina was located, to be communicated with by this Legendary Sage proficient in Psionic Energy.
If they had encountered an evenly matched enemy, most Spirit Clan members would not have minded displaying some backbone and honor. Even if it were a Calamity civilization capable of annihilating their nation and race, the Spirit Clan would have been willing to shed their last drop of blood... But when facing a Super Lifeform that could annihilate their main fleet with a single slap, even the most stubborn military minister felt there was no need to persist.
No need, truly.
"It seems the Star Shepherds have brought us back to where they originally departed... That shouldn't be the case—doesn't the Multiverse Star River rotate?"
After using Psionic Energy to exchange basic star charts and local common sense with a cooperative lord captain, Faina couldn't help but furrow her brow.
According to what these native civilizations said, combined with the situation Joshua had previously deduced, the matter was actually quite clear... Whether it was the Lost Star River or the Greater Multiverse Star River, they had truly stopped moving. At most, within a very small range, individual star rivers rotated on their own axes.
According to these large insects who called themselves the 'Spirit Clan,' if it were a small star chart within a single star river, it would occasionally need to be re-identified and modified. But if it were a star chart of the entire Greater Multiverse Star River, it basically never changed. This was precisely why the Star Shepherds had spent several hundred years traveling back and forth between the Multiverse Star River and the Lost Star River, and their departure and arrival points could be in the same star river.
They had truly fallen into stagnation.
Even though the purpose of coming to the Multiverse Star River was to verify Joshua's conjecture and thereby uncover the truth behind the Multiverse's stagnation, actually confirming this matter still gave Faina a headache.
Earlier, she had communicated in turn with all the captured Spirit Clan generals. Even the highest-ranking Spirit Clan military minister had no hidden information, proving that for the Spirit Clan, this knowledge was common sense and truth, and they had not deceived her... Ironically, because the Spirit Clan used Psionic Energy combined with chirping as their language, they almost never deceived each other. Those who understood the concept of 'lies' were basically all high-ranking politicians.
"Forget it, it's not a big deal."
Faina sighed, stretched lazily, used Psionic Energy to refill her cup, calmed her somewhat disappointed mood, and then began summarizing the obtained information.
The Spirit Clan was a fortunate race. They were located in a World Star River at the very edge of a Multiverse Star River. There was no high-energy environment here, and almost all worlds were close to magic-less worlds. Even if there were occasional exceptions, their magic power would crystallize into mineral form and be buried underground, maintaining a stable existence form, unable to catalyze souls and thereby give birth to intelligent life.
Races like humans, who independently evolved physical thinking organs, were actually very rare. Because intelligence was not a necessary skill for life, natural evolution found it very difficult to give birth to intelligent life—most intelligent races in the Multiverse primarily nurtured souls, and most races that nurtured souls also used Psionic Energy. This was also the oldest Transcendent power in the history of the Multiverse.
The Spirit Clan's home planet was precisely such a world. Beneath its surface lay vast deposits of high-quality Magic Crystal ore, which, due to geological movements, had been dispersed to the surface. The Spirit Clan, who already possessed certain potential, were the first to awaken souls and intelligence as an entire race, defeating all competitors and monopolizing the entire world. After tens of thousands of years of development, these large insects finally left the shackles of their home planet and ventured into the void.
At that time, what welcomed them was a vast and empty World Star River—although there were no noteworthy rare strategic resources, they also had no competitors. The entire World Star River was the future territory of the Spirit Clan. They developed happily, colonized, and looked forward to one day encountering other void civilizations... This mindset continued until several hundred years ago, when the Star Shepherd race passed through.
This caused a shift in the ideology of the entire Spirit Clan, as well as their hatred for the Void Behemoths.
"No wonder they attacked us the moment they saw us—it was all the Star Shepherds' fault... After all, they are a Void Behemoth fleet that feeds on worlds, so it's not surprising."
Thinking of this, Faina couldn't help but take a sip of magic potion. She furrowed her brow and thought to herself: "The Star Shepherds were not unknown in the Multiverse Star River in the past. These wandering void nomadic people might have few friends, but they certainly have many enemies and grudges... They left several hundred years ago, but this hatred may not have been forgotten."
"This might cause trouble for our subsequent exploration."
And just as Faina was pondering how to write a memorandum.
At the same time, Joshua was working with Baniel to debug the Space-Time Hub in the Jetram World. The Nature Mentor was inspecting the natural environment of the Jetram World, attempting to transform it into an ecosystem suitable for the Mycroft people's physical bodies. The Holy Sword Bearer Lamotte and Arna Merlot were leading the main force of the joint fleet to engage the other Spirit Clan sub-fleets that were still unaware of the truth.
The construction of the Space-Time Hub had been attempted back on the Mycroft Continent. Because it involved cross-Multiverse Star River transmission, it required a very large area to inscribe runes and lay foundations. Even with the power of Joshua and Baniel, building it would require completing the workload of modifying half a continent, taking several months just to finish the basics. This was a matter that couldn't be rushed; it required a process of slow testing and correction.
However, even if they couldn't connect to the Myriad Realms Sacrificial Ground, relying solely on this half-finished Space-Time Hub, all fleets of the joint expedition except for the Void Behemoths could possess the function of 'Emergency Jump.' They could choose to overload the Psionic Leap engine in a crisis, instantly jumping back to the void around the Space-Time Hub. Although the success rate of the jump was not one hundred percent, and success would result in the complete destruction of the Mana Core and engine, at least the hull and the people would survive.
The Nature Mentor's work was also very heavy. Transforming a world's ecosystem was much harder than destroying it. According to Galannod's initial estimate upon arrival, transforming a large world would take about twenty years. Even with the assistance of Legendary experts like Joshua, it would be a long-term world-level project measured in years. Heaven knows whether by that time everyone would have already found another naturally livable world.
So, compared to transforming the world, Galannod felt that listening to Joshua's suggestion—manufacturing some simple human body modification pods to give most crew members high-environment adaptation characteristics—might be simpler. Unfortunately, just as Joshua's human body modification experiments had not yet exceeded a hundred test subjects, there were still not many crew members willing to undergo self-modification. This instinctive and subconscious resistance could only be worn down by time.
At that time, Joshua, knowing that most people were unwilling to accept modification, expressed great confusion. The warrior still couldn't understand why, when it was just a matter of modifying some skin and a few internal organs to easily adapt to most environments, people would be unwilling. Clearly, obtaining a 'Transcendent Body' through cultivating Transcendent power and gaining resistance to a large number of abnormal environments was exactly the same as self-modification.
Modification surgery was a technology condensed from wisdom, and Transcendent power was also a technique summarized from wisdom. In a world with Transcendent power, technology and Transcendent power were one and the same. Clearly, they were the same thing, but there were always people who resisted, believing that power obtained through 'modification' was not their own power, holding a kind of purity complex about it. But to be honest, the vast majority of Transcendents also stood on the shoulders of their predecessors, using the wisdom and cultivation methods summarized by their predecessors to become stronger—did that mean knowledge had levels of superiority? Did technology have distinctions of closeness? For humans, operating tables and modification pods were tools. Weren't hands, legs, hearts, and even brains and souls also tools?
Truth was not such an inconvenient thing.
Soon, reports of victory came in succession from the front lines. With the cooperation of the Void Behemoths and the expedition fleet, the Spirit Clan's other sub-fleets were captured one after another. A small number that escaped quickly managed to flee back to the Void Border Port—but this also allowed Lamotte and Arna Merlot, who were commanding the fleet, to discover the other side's lair in this part of the star domain.
Faced with the friendly observation of eight Void Behemoths and an entire fleet, the Border Port quickly surrendered without putting up unnecessary resistance.
In less than a week, the entire border province had completely fallen. The vast majority of the Spirit Clan's fleets were captured, with only a small number of high-speed ships exploiting the gaps in the joint expedition fleet's still-unfamiliar coordination to escape back to the Spirit Clan's home planet.
Starfall Month, 24th Day.
At the core of the Central Hive Zone on the Spirit Clan's origin home planet.
The Mother Queen and the Prime Minister, who seemed to have aged several decades from the consecutive reports of defeat and occupation, suddenly received a strange message that appeared out of nowhere in the Psionic Energy network.
Filled with suspicion, but unable to delete it, unable to safely open it, unable to block it, and with a one-hour countdown marked on it, the two nominal supreme leaders and actual national administrators of the empire had no choice but to open it.
Then, the information that surged out spread throughout the entire Spirit Clan empire along the Psionic Energy network.
It was not an attack, not interference, and certainly not some malicious Psionic Energy virus. The information released was just a somewhat long but very simple video.
In the dark and silent void, what first appeared was the Border Void Port, familiar to all Spirit Clan members and frequently seen in news reports... The once-busy giant void port was empty, without a single ship docked.
When they saw this, including the Mother Queen and the Prime Minister, most Spirit Clan members didn't know why this video was being forcibly played for them—but soon, they understood.
Because as the camera continued to zoom out, what emerged from the darkness next was an incomparably giant hand, like a wall, covering half the void, holding the void port.
Compared to this giant hand, the Border Port was as small as a miniature toy, a plaything that could only be placed on a fingertip for viewing. This giant hand carried the void port rapidly through the void, flying past countless stars, until finally finding a dim, lifeless world.
The palm clenched. The great power capable of crushing a planet ground the entire void port into insignificant sparks between the fingers—and then, with a boom, it smashed into this dark world.
The camera followed the giant hand. Because of the comparison with the void port, everyone now roughly knew how big this hand was, and how big that world was. Soon, all Spirit Clan members saw a world that had cooled and died because its sun had gone out, a moon orbiting a planet covered in frost. It seemed that because it had lost the guidance of its sun, this satellite would crash into that planet in tens of thousands of years.
The giant hand flew past these two celestial bodies, casually adjusting the Earth-Moon orbit along the way. A rumbling sound could be heard. The moon that was about to fall, now with five fingerprints, was dragged back to a temporary Earth-Moon equilibrium point.
After a period of darkness and flickering, the giant hand arrived at a patch of dim nebula material—the remains of a sun that had gone out. A large amount of positive energy undergoing self-annihilation reactions had been consumed, leaving only various attribute-less nebula crystals. With luck, there might be some Fusion Core Stars in the nebula.
All Spirit Clan members didn't know what the owner of this giant hand wanted to do... Actually, they didn't mind continuing to watch. When they saw the other party effortlessly crush the void port and drag the moon back into planetary orbit, even the most unruly Spirit Clan members shut their mouths—not because of submission, but because fear had gripped their hearts.
But soon, they knew.
Because a flame ignited in the dark void.
A golden-red light illuminated the darkness, allowing people to see what they couldn't see before. All Spirit Clan members could see that seemingly small golden-red flame, cradled in the embrace of four incomparably huge metal arms, was gradually growing brighter. Bright energy patterns were spreading along the giant god's four arms, then being infused into this flame. The surging heat, so intense that even through the video one could clearly feel the temperature that would burn everything to ashes, was radiating outward, lighting up the surrounding vacuum at the speed of light.
"No need to resist. We are not a bloodthirsty or violent lot."
A low voice in the Spirit Clan language sounded in the video—this was the first time a human voice appeared in the entire video. And accompanying this voice, which stirred the vacuum like solar wind, the blazing and violent flame suddenly expanded, then completely filled the entire video!
The camera continued to zoom out, zoom out—the Spirit Clan could see the infinitely expanding fireball, the silver ring encircling this fireball, and the dark world gradually being lit up by the corona flood and bursting light.
Three minutes later, the frozen world that had been plunged into darkness once again welcomed warm sunlight. Golden radiance illuminated half the planet.
And the second sentence in the entire video, also the second sentence, was spoken in that low male voice.
"Submit."
The video ended.
And the last trace of resistance in the Spirit Clan's hearts completely disappeared.
...
In various distant parts of the void, the watchers who thought they had not been discovered also fell into silence.
Unlike the Spirit Clan, who faced it directly, these powerful and ancient civilizations understood that this seemingly boring and time-wasting behavior was not a simple threat, but a declaration—a declaration to the entire Multiverse Star River.
Declaring that they were right here.
Declaring that they had arrived.
Powerful, orderly, creating star rivers.
We are unstoppable!