Chapter 56: Prelude to Awakening
"Baniel was attacked? Someone crossed our defensive line and struck the rear?"
At the front lines, inside the temporary command center of the joint fleet, Faina and Yarnamilo, who were in charge of command, furrowed their brows. Their expressions were grave. "Or perhaps there are hidden monsters preparing to destroy the space-time hub, only to be stopped by those two students Joshua left behind."
"The technology of the otherworldly civilizations is not weak. If it's an ultra-long-distance teleportation with coordinate positioning, it's perfectly normal for them to bypass us—Baniel managed to send a message, which proves he's not seriously injured. If that's the case, there's no need for us to send people back to assist."
Because the Nature Mentor was still controlling the wide-area Ether Manipulator, only three people remained in the entire command conference hall. Faina was lost in thought, Lamot remained silent, and Yarnamilo nodded thoughtfully before speaking: "To be honest, we're stuck here by those Knowledge Seizers. There's no way for us to leave... we can only rely on them to handle it themselves."
Mentioning the Knowledge Seizers gave the three present a headache.
Through interrogating captured individuals from other worlds, the joint fleet had already learned the names of most civilizations. Compared to the clearly hostile 'Annihilation Order' and 'Amos Royal Court,' the 'Knowledge Seizers' were actually relatively friendly. They merely stationed themselves at the edge of the Two Realms Star River, constructing fortresses as massive as worlds. Rather than opposing the clearly weaker joint fleet, they seemed intent on sealing off this area, as if preparing to fight some unknown threat.
Of course, the reason the Knowledge Seizers were behaving so mildly might be related to Joshua, who was still fighting fiercely against the other two super-otherworldly lifeforms nearby... The battle there was intense, with many worlds already destroyed. No one wanted to provoke such a powerful being without reason.
Originally, the absence of conflict should have been a good thing. If they could communicate with the other side and figure out what the Knowledge Seizers wanted, they could at least take corresponding measures. But the other side remained silent on all frequency communication channels, blocking both mental and psionic communication. They wouldn't answer questions or respond to hails—truly as unyielding as a stone.
But ignoring them and simply withdrawing was also impossible. Joshua's battlefront was gradually drawing closer, and they might need to provide support at any time. Moreover, the Knowledge Seizers hadn't shown any desire to explore; it was only because the joint fleet had maintained a tight defense that they hadn't succeeded.
Both sides were locked in a stalemate here, wasting enormous amounts of manpower and resources. It was truly an uncomfortable situation.
However, just then.
Faina, who controlled the entire fleet's detection channels, let out a soft exclamation of surprise.
Her psionic scan detected a wobbling, oddly shaped black spaceship flying toward the rear of the joint fleet... The fleet had no ships of that design, yet it carried a strange friendly signal.
"What... is that thing?"
By the time Priest and the others were rescued from the black living-metal spaceship, half a day had already passed.
The reappearance of the missing Elite Squad was indeed good news—Joshua would surely be pleased. But even more inspiring than the survival of the Elite Squad was the discovery that this half-broken spaceship still preserved an ancient and primitive special communication channel of the Knowledge Seizers!
"The Knowledge Seizers rely on magic to parasitize souls—a very unique life form. They communicate with each other by plucking the strings of energy runes, directly conversing through 'magic.'"
To control the spaceship and accurately jump toward the joint fleet headquarters, the Alchemist had nearly drained the last bit of energy from his body. Now, soaking in the Holy Water of Life, he earnestly explained the Knowledge Seizers' special communication method to everyone: "Our runic magic, designed for faster and more efficient attacks, has always been extremely simplified—using as few runes as possible, eliminating all redundant and ineffective ones. But the Knowledge Seizers are different. Their communication is like temporarily creating a 'magic' with runes that has no effect. This 'magic' carries nothing but information and has no other function. To us, it's nothing but gibberish."
"How should I put it? To us, magic is just a tool—simple and convenient is enough. But to the Knowledge Seizers, magic is language, the foundation of their existence. Useful magic is naturally a tool, but useless magic—though 'useless' is also a concept from our civilization—is like poetry in our culture, carrying their emotions, feelings, and communication."
By extracting information from the Knowledge Seizers' spaceship database, the five members of the Elite Squad had gained a deep understanding of this race—mainly because they had no choice. After all, their reconnaissance ship had been blown away by the Knowledge Seizers in one shot. If they hadn't learned more, they wouldn't have been able to jump at all and would have had to circle around behind the Knowledge Seizers for half a day before reaching their own controlled area.
Upon learning this, without waiting for Faina's instructions, Yarnamilo closed her eyes and experimentally began sensing the countless 'noisy and meaningless magical currents' in the void. She even tried using the database from the Knowledge Seizers' spaceship discovered by Priest and the others to send a magical message to the distant, massive steel fleet.
"You—why—here?"
"You—build—fortress—why?"
At first, Yarnamilo's message was very brief, almost without any grammar—just a simple pile of words. But with the thinking speed of a Legendary expert, she quickly mastered this special runic language: "Knowledge Seizers, what is your purpose in coming here? Do you intend to be our enemy, or do you have other intentions?"
After a long while, there was no response.
Yarnamilo sighed—perhaps the Knowledge Seizers had changed their language form, or perhaps Priest and the others' deductions were wrong. But before this Radiant Winged Human Legendary could end her sensing, suddenly, accompanied by a slight disturbance across the entire Knowledge Seizers' fleet at the other end of the star river, a vast, surging magical current returned.
"You, beings from the Lost Star River... Did you come from there?"
The overly complex runic language made it difficult for Yarnamilo to understand at first, but she soon sensed a great deal of 'worry,' 'caution,' 'curiosity,' and 'incomprehension' within the magical current. Realizing that this was indeed the Knowledge Seizers' language, Yarnamilo excitedly replied and displayed the information and response she had received to everyone else: "Yes, we come from the Lost Star River... but where is 'there'?"
The vast magical current shifted: "There, the region where infinite darkness converges, the place that once destroyed our homeland, the gathering of darkness that destroyed all civilizations in the Myriad Realms Star River... You weren't destroyed? You still exist..."
"Civilization of the Lost Star River, are you fleeing from them? Fleeing from those dark World Devourers... Could it be, as we guessed."
"They, are they about to return?"
Hearing this, everyone present exchanged glances.
Everyone present, even the seemingly most ignorant knight, possessed profound knowledge—surpassing ninety-nine percent of Transcendent beings—gained through hellish training. All of them could understand the implications behind the Knowledge Seizers' words.
"In the past, the Knowledge Seizers indeed had an allied race, also parasitic beings—the 'Flesh Seizers'... The Flesh Seizers' homeworld was destroyed by the Evil Gods, leaving only the most primitive worms surviving on a primitive world. And it seems the Knowledge Seizers' homeworld was also destroyed, which is why they abandoned a settled existence altogether, their civilization transforming into a massive fleet wandering through the stars."
Sword Saint Lamot nodded softly, muttering to himself: "It seems their civilization was attacked by the Evil Gods around seven hundred thousand years ago—though with time dilation, who knows how many of our years that actually was. But they weren't annihilated; instead, they've been drifting through the stars ever since, all the way to the present."
"Moreover, they likely observed the scene of the Evil Gods swarming in during the final battle of the ancient Radiant Civilization... That's why they believe the Lost Star River is now occupied by the Evil Gods, and we are also a refugee fleet fleeing disaster."
Faina also understood why the Knowledge Seizers hadn't launched a forceful attack but instead built fortresses at the edge of the Two Realms Star River—because they believed the joint fleet was also a wandering race forced to flee by the Evil Gods, just like they once were. Moreover, they thought the Evil Gods would follow the joint fleet, so they needed to build fortresses to prepare for the imminent arrival of the Evil Gods, sealing off the 'darkness' at this edge of the star river!
In a sense, the Knowledge Seizers were actually a race with a strong sense of responsibility, willing to take the initiative to fight the Evil Gods—quite different from what the Great Khan had described... Or perhaps not so different. After all, the joint fleet was powerful enough, so it was natural for the other side to be more polite. Joshua was still at the other end of the star river, trading blows with experts from two other high-level civilizations, causing worlds to collapse and disintegrate. The Mycroft Civilization had already demonstrated that it was not a piece of meat to be slaughtered.
Because of strength, they earned respect—that was the truth of this multiverse.
"And most importantly... these Knowledge Seizers seem to be a race that survived the previous 'Great Civilization Extinction'!"
Yarnamilo's eyes were now blazing. This petite Winged Human Legendary paced back and forth on the table, her tone resolute: "The information they possess may be far more than we imagine—we must try to communicate with them further!"
And at this very moment.
While Baniel was fighting against the endlessly surging Takur psionics and Amos biological warships.
While Lisa, Syndicate, and Chu Hao were cooperating to cut down one lurking destroyer after another.
While the joint fleet was beginning to attempt communication with the Knowledge Seizers.
At the other end of the World Star River, within the Lost Star River, around the Myriad Realms Sacrificial Ground, a powerful point of light was located near a demiplane, circling this perhaps greatest wonder in the multiverse.
The Old Pope and the Six Gods gazed at the massive star gate slowly opening before them under the control of the Myriad Realms Sacrificial Ground's Dominant Will. Though they no longer needed to breathe, they still held their breath in awe.
This magnificent scene was so anticipated that no one wanted to close their eyes.
"Almost there—I've already linked to the star gate at the other end... but it's not clear enough yet. I need a little more time to clear the noise... Soon, I will officially open this passage and project my power to other star rivers."
The Dominant Will's voice vibrated through the void, clearly audible to all the Legends and gods gathered around: "At that time, I can first send one of you over to scout. Using them as a sample, I can fully stabilize the star gate and completely link the two ends of the star river."
Thus, the question arose.
Who would have the honor of being the first to pass through this star gate spanning the endless void and travel to the other end of the star river?
The Six Gods exchanged glances, their expressions calm. The Old Pope narrowed his eyes and stroked his beard. The four Fairy Empresses were sitting in a circle nearby playing cards and hadn't heard the Dominant Will's voice. Nostradamus wore an expression of rightful claim—he was indeed one of the most suitable candidates. Meanwhile, other Legends like the Psychic Overlord, the Dwarf Godsmith, the Elemental Master, and the Fishman High Priest all showed expressions of regret, knowing that this opportunity likely wouldn't fall to them.
Just as the Myriad Realms Sacrificial Ground was preparing to choose one from among the Six Gods, the Old Pope, and Nostradamus to be the first to teleport to the other end of the star river, suddenly, everyone heard a strange sound.
—Crack, crackle.
"Huh? What's that sound?"
Firefly and Lin, who had completed the work Joshua entrusted to them and were now gathered with the Lord's Manor group at the edge of the Myriad Realms Sacrificial Ground watching the star gate opening ceremony, instinctively looked toward the ground beneath the Sacrificial Ground. There, the Nature Mentor had established an underground laboratory.
Indeed, at this moment, deep within the underground laboratory, many top-secret items were preserved—such as the yet-unrevived bodies of the other eight Radiant Legends, and the embryos of numerous artificial void monsters sealed away by Joshua. These were all extremely dangerous and extremely precious things. However, compared to another existence sent there for preservation not long ago, all of these things paled in comparison.
That was a cocoon.
Sitting atop Hei, who had reverted to his Black Dragon form, No. 3 couldn't help but release the hand holding Xiao Guang, her expression turning surprised and serious. She sensed an extremely familiar power... and aura.
The aura of divine power.
Deep underground in the Myriad Realms Sacrificial Ground, within a top-secret hall protected by six layers of divine power and holy light, a golden, burning energy cocoon was trembling. Winding energy patterns flowed across its surface.
One could see cracks spreading across the cocoon's surface.
From within the gaps, light was spreading.