Chapter 72: Mycroft's Advance
"——Monsters from the dark void are landing in the Origin Star River!"
In the Multiverse Star River, near some of the more peripheral star rivers, the reputation of a civilization called 'Mycroft' by numerous races was rapidly spreading.
Naturally, this reputation was hardly good news. Whether due to the grief and rage from the annihilation of their exploration fleet, or deliberate slander born from fear of their immense power, the vast majority of messages spreading to other worlds and civilizations associated the name 'Mycroft' with 'unknown,' 'powerful,' and 'terrifying.' Some busybodies even claimed to have witnessed powerful Transcendent Beings from the Mycroft civilization battling experts from the 'Annihilation Order' and the 'Bloody Royal Court' at the edge of a star river, with the aftermath destroying multiple worlds and killing trillions upon trillions of lives—their intent was to paint the Mycroft civilization as a member of the 'Calamity Civilization' group.
Strictly speaking, these fellows weren't lying—if single-celled life counted as life, then trillions upon trillions, quadrillions upon quadrillions wouldn't be wrong either—and they nearly succeeded. After all, if three people repeat one thing, it can turn falsehood into truth. Even more so when dozens or hundreds of civilizations unanimously described it that way for the first half year, making all the rumors about the Mycroft civilization in the star rivers surrounding the Origin Star River equally exaggerated.
But soon, due to some mysterious reason, the style of the rumors completely changed after half a year.
"——Strange races from the Silent Void are approaching the inner ring!"
The distribution of civilizations in the Multiverse Star River generally follows an outward-in pattern. The innermost core has an energy level too high for normal worlds and civilizations to form, though some elemental lifeforms thrive there. From the core outward, it's divided into many ring zones. The further inward you go, the higher the concentration of Transcendent power, and the higher the average strength of civilizations.
Of course, this doesn't mean there are no powerful civilizations in the outer rings or weak ones in the inner rings. It's just a matter of relative averages. The inner rings do have a slightly higher level of civilization, and the density of intelligent races is greater. After the Mycroft civilization settled at the very edge and stabilized its foundation, it naturally began exploring inward—a perfectly normal thing. In fact, their vanguard exploration forces had already made contact with several inner-ring civilizations. And every civilization they contacted, strong or weak, remained completely silent about any information related to them, not uttering a single word.
This confirmed the strangeness—not only was the Mycroft civilization strange, but all the races and civilizations that came into contact with them also became strange. Come to think of it, the last event that stirred up such a huge wave in the Multiverse Star River was probably the 'Star River Maintenance Group' and the 'World-Devouring Swarm' clashing head-on in the Dama Star River, a battle that affected thousands of civilizations. Although that great war ended hastily because it attracted multiple World Devourers, its sheer scale and momentum were identical.
"——An unknown civilization's ambassador from an alien star river has established diplomatic relations with the Shuda Technical Committee!"
The Shuda civilization was one of the very few fourth-level civilizations in the entire Multiverse Star River. Of course, 'very few' is relative to the entire Multiverse Star River. The number of currently well-known fourth-level civilizations isn't large, but it's more than can be counted on the fingers of one hand for some races—though some races could count them on one hand; that's just a matter of natural talent, no comparison possible.
Among the eighteen more famous fourth-level civilizations, the Shuda Technical Committee was considered one of the harder ones to deal with. These beings, who had transformed themselves into a semi-mechanical race, possessed formidable technical strength and an arrogance matching their power. They dominated their own 'Shuda Star River,' with other civilizations and races serving as their vassals and slaves, only fit for the most menial labor.
Strangely enough, according to reports, the ambassador from that unknown civilization of the alien star river looked utterly unremarkable—just an aged individual with white body hair, surrounded by a ring of light bubbles. He merely demonstrated a technique for changing the color and speed of light, and instantly, the entire Shuda Technical Committee revered him as a celestial being, treating him as an honored guest.
"I can do that too!"
Upon hearing this news, some intelligent individuals immediately expressed indignation. Of course, some understood the principle behind it, and their faces changed drastically. At the same time, precisely because they had established diplomatic relations with numerous powerful civilizations simultaneously, the Mycroft civilization began appearing extensively in the publications of many civilizations, mostly in a positive light, and the prevailing attitude shifted dramatically.
"——The Mycroft civilization becomes the new master of the Origin Star River!"
About a year or so after the Mycroft civilization landed in the Origin Star River, the original native civilization of the Origin Star River, the Spirit Clan, completely prostrated themselves under the banner of the Mycroft civilization, truly making their entire nation a vassal.
To be honest, they had no other choice. It wasn't that they hadn't wanted to before, but the Spirit Clan's internal bureaucracy was far too complex. Even if they wanted to swear allegiance, it would take over half a year to reorganize from top to bottom... This was no easy task. Who would have thought that these flying giant insects would go against the simple and efficient governance system of most insectoid civilizations, creating a system of constitutional monarchy under a mother queen that even hairless naked apes couldn't come up with?
But perhaps it was precisely because the Spirit Clan had overcome their innate instinct to obey the mother queen that they were able to reach the height of a Void civilization—most insectoid civilizations at most hover around the second level. Their survival and adaptability are too strong, leaving almost no need for challenge or evolution. In fact, the most widely distributed lifeform in this Multiverse Star River isn't intelligent life, but a kind of 'Psionic Bug' that attaches itself to Void civilization starships and spreads across the Multiverse. It looks very much like a cockroach, but due to its psionic precognition, it's nearly impossible to hit, and even difficult to kill. This creature has existed for so long that even the records of the Knowledge Seizers can't determine its age, at least over thirty million years.
Maybe they are the most successful species.
"——The overlord of the Lost Star River issues a declaration to the Multiverse Star River!"
After successfully constructing its massive Space-Time Hubs in several star rivers, the Myriad Realms Sacrificial Ground finally stabilized its power in the Multiverse Star River. If the former Era of Radiance built the central hub and foundation of this Multiverse-level formation, then the current Era of Falling Stars had finally erected a few floors. Whether the building was beautiful, large, or sturdy didn't matter—at least it was usable and habitable. The Myriad Realms Sacrificial Ground could finally transport large quantities of materials between the Lost Star River and the Multiverse Star River at minimal cost.
With the successful expansion of the Myriad Realms Sacrificial Ground, the flow of people and experts between the two star rivers increased dramatically. To date, including the Metal Dragon Clan, all Legendary-rank experts of the Mycroft civilization had visited the Multiverse Star River. The Dominant Will of the Myriad Realms Sacrificial Ground even moved its consciousness hub—that silver sun—to the Jetram World in the Origin Star River. In its words, 'The Lost Star River is too small, far less spacious than the Multiverse Star River.' The Seven Gods also each selected some empty worlds and established their own Multiverse Star River Great Temples.
But what expanded along with the Myriad Realms Sacrificial Ground wasn't just the 'people' of the Mycroft civilization, but also the 'ideology' and unique 'civilizational products' that had once belonged exclusively to Mycroft.
For example, the exchange system of a certain 'God of Steel,' and the Restorative Pillar.
"——The venerable ancient ancestor civilization finally returns to their long-lost homeland!"
These were not words that civilizations outside, which had not yet contacted Mycroft, could utter. Most of these statements came from the publications of civilizations within the no-delay teleportation range of the Myriad Realms Sacrificial Ground—that is, within the no-delay strike range of the entire Mycroft civilization.
Most of these civilizations had, through prolonged exchanges, gradually learned about the history of the Mycroft civilization and its connection to the Radiant Civilization.
Of course, the vast majority of these civilizations knew nothing about the Radiant Civilization, but that didn't stop them from flattering. Remember, the last civilization that held a hostile attitude, constantly obstructed and hindered, and even secretly opposed Mycroft, had been killed as a warning to others. Only a fool would seek death... not even a fool would.
After all, they all remembered that day.
That day, half a year ago, accompanied by dazzling divine light, the Seven Gods, who usually had a very low profile, acted. In an hour and a half, they punched through all the defenses along that civilization's path, and afterwards, without mercy, annihilated half of the world's landmass. This was only because they were unwilling to cause excessive casualties among innocent civilians. But even so, a third-level civilization was dismantled and destroyed in less than half a day. Its people were displaced, and even the name of their homeland was erased, reduced to dust in the Multiverse.
Such ruthless methods were enough to make all civilizations in the Multiverse Star River understand the 'true' meaning of the name 'Falling Stars' and to restrain most of their petty schemes.
Needless to say, they could truly make stars fall—literally. With that God of Steel over there, who could eat the sun and crunch on white dwarfs like snacks, as proof, this was truly terrifying.
In any case, time flew by.
Year 836 of the Falling Stars Era, September 29th. After more than a thousand years, the Falling Stars Mycroft finally regained a foothold in the Multiverse Star River.
And amidst this vast expanse of stars, they also discovered many unexpected pieces of information and truths.
Among them, the most important was a crucial piece of news brought back by the Metal Dragon God, His Majesty the Dragon of Ten Thousand Steels, from his return from the Dark Star Domain.
"Without a doubt, this Multiverse Star River is not the same Multiverse Star River where the Mycroft civilization once resided."