Chapter 54: Changes, Part 1
At the edge of the Origin Star River, in the Jetram Star Domain.
On the continent of the Jetram World, now transformed beyond recognition.
The world had turned a uniform gray, stretching out like a flat sheet of white paper from a distance. Even the oceans were dotted with sparse, regular gray spots, while circuit-board-like, azure runic lines connected all these spots, flickering on and off at intervals, drawing energy from the entire world—from its atmosphere down to its very core.
A black metal structure, as vast as a city, sat precisely on the dividing line between sea and land.
Its shape resembled a disc, but at its center stood two towering, symmetrical spires. Between these spires, lightning crackled. Arcane power, enough to shake the world, was converging, forming an azure vortex over four kilometers in diameter. A colossal spatial rift, ten thousand meters long, hung suspended and fluctuating above the spires' peaks.
Rain pattered down. The anomalous magical energy condensed moisture, darkening the sky and bringing a cold, icy rain. The damp, humid air soaked into everything, allowing the overly dense mana to return to the world through this cycle.
Beneath this gloomy, oppressive sky, within the rain formed of magical power, a white-haired old man stood at the core hub of the Space-Time Hub. He was using his mana to fine-tune the Hub's frequency.
Twenty-seven holographic screens floated before the old man, flowing with infinite information. The complex runes in every corner of each screen were like a celestial script. For an ordinary person, a single glance would send the overly dense knowledge and power rushing into their mind. At best, they would faint; at worst, they would go mad.
The old man was focused on his work, completely absorbed, oblivious to the world around him. He seemed to have utterly abandoned his attention to the material realm, discarding the physical shell left behind in reality.
And at that moment, behind the old man, a figure hidden in the void suddenly manifested into the material world. With a burst of psionic energy, a being straddling the line between reality and illusion appeared, wielding a blade of divine energy—a power capable of annihilation and assimilation. Like a white rainbow piercing the sun, it thrust straight for the back of the old man's head!
Everything happened in an instant, measured in microseconds. The attacker's speed, aided by its illusory body, faced almost no resistance. It shot through like a beam of light, its purpose seemingly not just to destroy the old man's brain, but also to shatter the core hub of the Space-Time Hub itself!
The old man remained oblivious, making no reaction at all, allowing the attack to land.
But just as the attacker felt a surge of joy, believing it had succeeded, the divine energy blade disintegrated the moment it touched the old man's skin, scattering into countless golden particles. The attacker, caught off guard, crashed bodily into the old man. It was then similarly repelled and shattered, dissolving into a cloud of psionic particles.
Having finished recalculating the positioning and removing thousands of redundant and erroneous transmission routes, Baniel finally had time to look around. Frowning at the golden psionic particles floating in the air, he muttered a curse: "These little pests, don't they ever learn?"
For over twenty days now, attackers from higher civilizations in other worlds had been crossing the defenses at the edge of the World Star River, attempting to assassinate Baniel and destroy this Space-Time Hub. Among them were beings whose power reached the Legendary Realm, their auras vaguely stronger than the old mage himself.
But this Space-Time Hub was practically an avatar of the Myriad Realms Sacrificial Ground within this foreign star river. How could other civilizations easily grasp its immense function? Relying on it, Baniel had repelled all the attacks from their powerful experts, blocking them on the other side of spacetime. However, the net was too large. It could stop whales, but not shrimp. Baniel simply didn't have the time to guard against beings that posed no threat to him.
So, for the past twenty days, there had been assassination attempts almost every moment... Unfortunately, whether it was the illusory assassins manipulating psionic energy or the void demons who had evolved to walk in subspace, they all got one thing wrong.
He, Baniel, had advanced to Legendary through the Ultimate Essence of Force! The power of his Rune Body was not something ordinary people could imagine. Even the force of his instinctive counterattack was beyond the endurance of any being below the high-rank of the Ultimate Realm. Even a high-rank Ultimate expert would be annihilated on the spot if they didn't retreat in time.
"I can already faintly sense the call from the other side of the Lost Star River... The Space-Time Hub is almost debugged. I can head to the front lines soon to stabilize the situation."
At this moment, Baniel could just barely hear a call, as if from an extremely distant place. The old man's expression didn't change, but he nodded slightly, stroking his beard: "My work here is almost done. Just some minor system adjustments and waiting for the connection back home."
Although these tasks were complex and difficult, they were no trouble for him. The old mage estimated it would take about two or three days to fix these issues, completely perfect the Space-Time Hub, and open a trans-star river teleportation Star Gate in the Jetram World, greatly easing the tension on the front lines.
The front lines were still manageable for now. In the past few months, those 'Knowledge Seizers' hadn't communicated or responded, refusing any contact with the expedition fleet. But they also hadn't launched a forceful attack. Instead, they kept stacking fortresses and building strongholds. Neither side had formally started a fight. In fact, they had jointly eliminated several other civilization fleets attempting to enter the Origin Star River.
The Nature Mentor and others analyzed the situation, concluding that the Knowledge Seizers seemed utterly indifferent to the expedition fleet itself. They were building fortresses at the edge of the star river, seemingly to seal off the two star rivers. The expedition fleet could go out, and they wouldn't stop them. But if the fleet tried to return from the foreign star river, they would be attacked.
Due to the lack of a suitable means of communication, even psionic energy couldn't break through the mental barrier formed by the combined forces of all the Knowledge Seizer fleets. So, for now, both sides could only maintain a puzzled, mysterious standoff.
Besides this, Baniel also knew that Joshua's battle with the experts from the foreign star river had already torn through eleven star domains and destroyed three small to medium-sized worlds. Although, due to the chaos of the melee, the front-line expedition fleet could observe that Joshua wasn't at a disadvantage, the battlefield was still steadily approaching the edge of the star river.
Regardless, Joshua had tied up the top-tier combat power of the foreign star river, ensuring peace on the battlefield and in the rear. And he seemed to be having a great time fighting. That was enough.
Everything was within the expectations of the Legendary experts, and it was even one of the better scenarios. To think, the worst-case scenario would have been Joshua and the foreign experts fighting around the Jetram Star Domain. Others could only barely guarantee the safety of the void base and the Space-Time Hub, while facing attacks from a coalition of multiple foreign civilizations. They would have had to endure that terrifying environment for months, only able to counterattack after the teleportation gate was opened.
Compared to that terrifying thought, the current situation was entirely acceptable.
But honestly, having everything within expectations isn't always a good thing.
"Boom—"
A dull sound echoed from beyond the world. A psionic roar, striking directly at the heart, swept through the entire star domain like a storm.
"...Damn it. I knew they wouldn't just give up..."
Baniel looked up, somewhat frustrated. He had long anticipated this. The foreign civilizations sending those teleporting assassins wouldn't just sit idly by while the coalition fleet built the Space-Time Hub. The closer it got to completion, the more violent their attacks would become. At this moment, the old mage could sense that, on the other side of spacetime, more than three Legendary-level Spiritual Realm Manifestors were performing a ritual, using infinite divine power mixed with psionic energy to bombard the forbidden teleportation zone sealed by the Space-Time Hub.
At this point, Baniel had to temporarily set aside his work on the Space-Time Hub and head into the void to inscribe a runic grand array for further sealing. The old mage dared not underestimate the enemy. Even if only one of their experts managed to cross over, it could tie him up, preventing the seal from being repaired. This would lead to a vicious cycle, allowing more and more foreign experts to break through the blockade.
If that happened, the situation would be dire. They might have to rely on the self-destruct mechanism of the void base Joshua had designed to salvage the situation and buy time.
Boom!
The roar of spacetime tremors grew louder. Baniel's expression changed. The force from the other side was a bit beyond his expectations. This foreign civilization's mastery of spacetime sorcery was by no means weak! Relying solely on the Space-Time Hub, he couldn't stop them!
The old mage hesitated no longer. He immediately levitated, preparing to head into the void.
Just as the old mage was about to leave the Jetram World and enter the void, a wall at the core hub of the Space-Time Hub began to deform.
A metallic humanoid appeared right where Baniel had been standing. It looked in the direction the old man had left, then nodded firmly. After that, it took over the work, quickly continuing the adjustments and inspections.
Of course, Baniel was aware of this.
The power of the Steel Elemental, Chu Hao, was like a smaller, weaker version of Joshua. Its computational power was immense, like a biological supercomputer. Perhaps it wasn't as adept at using runes, but following the auxiliary programs Baniel had left behind to handle the subsequent work wasn't difficult. Plus, Joshua and Baniel had been training Chu Hao on the spaceship, even granting it the ability to temporarily integrate with the Space-Time Hub and act as the Hub's 'Tower Spirit' for a short time.
"But even so... I can't be sure if it can handle such complex problems."
The old mage was still a bit worried about this substitute who would replace him in an emergency. Even though Joshua had immense confidence in Chu Hao, even saying that its essence was a replication of himself, making it his first vassal, it was precisely because of this that it sparked the old mage's concern: "A replication of Joshua... Sigh."
He stopped thinking. The problem was too big, and thinking about it was useless.
"Speaking of which, if we're being technical, as the so-called 'first vassal', Chu Hao should be considered Joshua's..."
Mid-flight, Baniel squinted, beginning to ponder this deeply. But soon, he shuddered and shook his head, dismissing his own speculation.
And then, he had no more time to think about these questions.