# Chapter 7: Plague Invasion Part 1 6200
The other end of spacetime.
Bloody Star River, Amos Royal Court territory.
Although there is no day or night in the void, according to the traditional customs of the Amos people across various star domains, this point in time is precisely the time for rest.
After lengthy planning and preparation, the Mycroft temporary agent Kerele and the alien international friend Elma were now ready to begin their exploration of the Amos Royal Court — to be honest, although this matter had nothing to do with their original goals, any intelligent being always has a curiosity that can get them killed. Such was the case for Kerele and Elma now; they genuinely wanted to investigate the truth behind the Royal Court's abnormal situation.
After all, behind them, a kind and amiable God of Steel was watching over them.
"Are you ready, Kerele?"
Elma, who now looked more like a tall human woman than a tentacled alien, was making final adjustments at the forward port of the void warship. Visible around her was substantial life energy flowing in materialized form, interacting with the warship's mainframe port for information exchange. Behind her, the black-haired human youth touched the clothes on his body with an uncomfortable expression, then reluctantly said: "Ready... uh, so we're just going to drive the warship like this... to be precise, using your main body to go out for a spin?"
Kerele now understood the specific lifestyle patterns of the Amos people... In the Amos Royal Court, most manual labor was handled by modified 'flesh-mechanical servants', a peculiar semi-biological, semi-mechanical artificial life form. Amos people who had undergone the 'Divine Light Trial' (mana radiation exposure) were generally classified into three categories: 'War', 'Thought', and 'Universal', handling combat, scientific research, various cultural matters, production, and precision processing.
Thought-category Amos people were generally concentrated in several heavily protected artificial star domains, guarded by the Amos Emperor's personally deployed power. War-category and Universal-category Amos people had evolved their main bodies to the point where they could enter and exit the void. Only upon reaching this level could they hold citizenship rights and voice opinions on various topics. The three categories could be interconverted, and Elma was a typical example — she had experienced all three categories, and her main body naturally possessed the ability to enter and exit the void.
In other words, she was a large biological warship.
When he learned this, Kerele was shocked. He found it hard to understand that the humanoid form before him was merely an interaction terminal, while the warship beneath his feet was Elma's true body. However, he quickly accepted this setting — mage towers had tower spirits, weapons had weapon spirits, so what was strange about a ship having a ship spirit? Understood, understood.
What truly made Kerele uncomfortable was actually the clothes on his body: these clothes were part of Elma's body, active substances secreted right in front of him... alive, used for real-time communication with him and monitoring his physical condition. To be honest, as a young man in his early twenties, seeing Elma's tall, elegant human appearance while wearing such 'clothes', Kerele felt very awkward.
But clearly, the alien international friend Elma had no such self-awareness. She replied matter-of-factly: "I am a high-ranking individual holding 'Commander' authority. I originally have permission to access various confidential facilities. As long as I'm willing, ninety-five percent of secrets hold no mystery for me."
"However, this abnormality in the Royal Court happens to be the five percent I don't know about. Going to the star domain's upper database and forcibly cracking it for information is the last resort. Before that, I want to observe the surrounding situation and see if there's anything to gain."
A very reasonable course of action. Kerele himself had no objection. And so, amid a series of vibrations, the two began to slowly depart from Elma's private void anchor point and start navigating through the star domain.
The calm void was like a sea without undercurrents, and the warship was like a giant beast in the sea, swimming slowly.
The star domain where Elma was currently located was in a relatively remote border region of the Bloody Star River. The Royal Court's control here was lax, allowing Elma to secretly prepare plans to break away from the Royal Court's control and stockpile materials. Of course, despite this, the star domain still had a complete community, with numerous Amos people living and reproducing here.
At this moment, it was deep night for most civilians in this star domain, but for combat individuals, they didn't need sleep for self-regulation and rest. So one could see many teams of void warships patrolling the star domain, sealing off key passages.
Elma's main body was an anti-detection warship capable of complete stealth, taking the form of a spindle-shaped whole with probing tentacles that could extend from both sides. Although Elma could activate stealth mode for movement, this time she unusually and conspicuously displayed her complete form, swimming through the void in a translucent form with flickering fluorescence.
Kerele was naturally a bit nervous about this, but he understood the reason. As a member of the Royal Court, Elma naturally knew the various rules and unwritten rules within it. As an individual holding Commander authority (Ultimate Peak), her comings and goings would not attract the attention of most patrol teams. She would only be questioned when entering or exiting important facilities — a form of privilege.
Indeed, as expected, those patrol ships with black shells that looked like inverted iron bowls stopped respectfully when they noticed Elma's main body, sending out friendly signals. Occasionally, a patrol team leader (a larger trapezoidal pyramid ship) would only send an inquiry signal as a formality. Elma didn't respond to the former's signals, and the latter just casually dealt with it. And so, naturally, they continued drifting through the void.
"The internal security of the star domain is very strict. Normally, even late at night, there would be some wandering individuals. But now, throughout the entire star domain, across a dozen worlds, only patrol teams and some military personnel with authority can be seen."
Inside the warship, Elma's humanoid avatar had a serious expression: "Back when we were confronting the Annihilation Order on the front lines, even the border star domains weren't under such strict control. I'm afraid only the control level during total war can compare to this — Kerele, as an individual of the Amos Royal Court, I can only think of two possibilities: 'the Royal Court is preparing for war' or 'the Royal Court is defending against the World Devourer'. But things are probably not that simple. What are your thoughts?"
Elma clearly knew that while her knowledge was broad, it might be limited by the characteristics of Amos society. Although Kerele couldn't be called a wise man, he at least had the perspective and insights of another race to draw upon.
"My thoughts." Upon hearing the question, Kerele paused for a moment. After all, he was a Mycroft elite who had received captain's education. He thought for a moment, then replied: "This situation is a bit like back during the 'Mad Dragon Plague', when cultists spread the plague, the Empire went into lockdown, every household had to be isolated, with only knights and patrols moving around to prevent population movement from spreading the plague."
"Of course, it's also a bit like when some highly mobile magical beasts or cultists appeared, infiltrating the cities, requiring lockdown to find their traces."
As he said this, Kerele couldn't help but feel a sense of absurdity — what plague could spread across the void? What magical beast or monster could make an entire vast star river empire lock down for it?
And not just one, but two — the Takur Annihilation Order had been similarly on high alert recently. Two massive, exclusionary void powers both so vigilant — how could mere plagues and monsters achieve this?
Impossible.
The star domain where Elma was located wasn't large, and the void conditions weren't complicated. Soon, most areas had been surveyed. Apart from the lockdown, nothing unusual could be seen. The Royal Court's internal news and various notifications all seemed normal.
In this regard, Kerele truly felt Elma's particularity. This Amos person possessed suspicion and initiative far beyond ordinary Amos people. Relying on nothing more than a metaphysical 'feeling' and 'guess', she had found several irregularities in a seemingly normal star domain.
"The Newba family lives in this void settlement, but spacetime fluctuations show that no individuals have entered or exited this settlement for over ten cycles."
Inside the ship, Elma thoughtfully restored the afterimage of spacetime trajectories on a light screen. Imitating the serious-looking Kerele beside her, she bit her lip and said softly: "I suspect the Newba family may have already met with misfortune... I need to find an opportunity to see what exactly happened inside this settlement."
"Leave the infiltration and exploration to me. Your target is too large; you can't stay in this vicinity for long."
At this moment, Kerele knew it was time for him to step up. The black-haired youth stood up, directly pressing one hand on the black-gold belt at his waist, and said in a low voice: "Crisis Management System, activate!"
"Load Transcendent Plugin — Shadow Gold!"
[Loading complete — y?]
"Armor up!"
A quick, brief exchange passed in an instant. Accompanied by a subtle mechanical vibration sound, starting from the belt at Kerele's waist, large clouds of black dust erupted, with golden lines swirling within like lightning, completely enveloping Kerele. The next moment, all the dust and golden lightning contracted sharply, transforming into a strange black-gold full-coverage armor that completely wrapped Kerele. Visible on his head and shoulders, an undying dim flame was burning, with golden sparks flickering at its core.
Pretty cool, even by Amos aesthetic standards. Beside him, watching this scene, Elma couldn't help but think this thought.
[Joshua System Special Installation Version activated... Linking to Crisis Management System, beginning modular processing... Transcendent Armor · Shadow Gold Flame fully activated]
[Stealth, Assault, Eradication — We are the flames in the shadows!]
"Activate, 'Shadow Path'!"
Without any hesitation, having activated the Transcendent Armor, Kerele immediately used the most core ability among the armor's built-in Transcendent powers — 'Shadow Path'! One could see a small knife that seemed entirely made of shadows suddenly appear in his hand. With Elma's assistance, Kerele unhesitatingly threw the small knife in the correct direction.
Then one could see a black streak of light flash by, directly plunging into the nearby void settlement.
Shadow Path!
The shadow power obtained from the Sixth Abyss Demon Lord Goliath, combined with the legendary warrior Radcliffe's matter control ability, generated a powerful composite Transcendent ability!
[Creates a shadow knife, throws it in any direction, forming a Shadow Path. As long as the user is within the range of the Shadow Path, they can penetrate almost all spacetime barriers, energy defenses, material walls, and force field shields.]
[Thirty-seventh experimental result with shadow power, quite effective. It's just that Goliath looks very unhappy... 'I'm not here to be a lab animal!' — what does that mean?]
[— A researcher named Radcliffe who prefers not to be named]
Nodding slightly to Elma beside him, Kerele directly flew along the Shadow Path. What seemed like a considerable distance was something he could cross in an instant. Even Elma's specially prepared detection organs couldn't see how Kerele passed through this Shadow Path.
"It's almost like a leap!"
At this moment, Kerele had already entered the void settlement, but Elma's voice could still reach him because the clothes on his body were part of her body... However, Kerele didn't have time to pay attention to what Elma was saying now, because in his mind, warnings from the Crisis Management System were piercing his eardrums.
[Warning! Abnormal biological matter detected!]
[Warning! Alien substance erosion detected!]
[Warning! Large-scale micro-life forms approaching!]
What the hell?!
Even though he had mentally prepared himself for danger inside the void settlement, Kerele hadn't expected danger to come so quickly and so unusually. He had only just raised his head and glanced at the seemingly normal walls and hall when he was attacked by something invisible!
"Damn it, do I have to use this already?!"
Forced into a corner, Kerele could only use the second Transcendent ability of the Transcendent Armor · Shadow Gold Flame — [Shadow Wasteland].
Based on previous activations of the Transcendent Armor, Elma and Kerele knew that Shadow Gold Flame had four powerful Transcendent abilities: [Shadow Path], [Shadow Wasteland], [Solar Flare Refraction], and [Ember Descent].
Among them, [Shadow Path] was for movement and stealth — it could be thrown out for long-distance displacement or thrown at one's feet to hide in shadows. [Solar Flare Refraction] could create a small cloud of steel mist around the body, a complete stealth method that could thoroughly eliminate Kerele's aura, energy fluctuations, and all traces. In critical moments, it could also transform into a shield, canceling and reflecting part of non-physical energy damage.
As for [Ember Descent], it was a complete life-saving skill with an extremely long cooldown but great effect — when the wearer encountered fatal danger, the Crisis Management System would forcibly unleash all the power of Shadow Gold, delivering a legendary-level strike. At the same time, regardless of whether the wearer died or not (very likely dying on the spot), the body would be burned to ash, and the soul, along with the Shadow Gold core, would be teleported to a pre-cut piece of Shadow Gold fragment, then undergo regeneration and recovery.
Apart from special skills, the armor could also greatly enhance the wearer's physical qualities and reaction speed, along with various auxiliary combat systems. It was a full-spectrum amplifier — even a seventy-year-old grandmother equipped with it could probably defeat ordinary Transcendent professionals who weren't skilled in combat.
As for [Shadow Wasteland], it was the only offensive means of the entire Shadow Gold Flame armor — using the armor's surface as an origin point, it created a layer of black body space. All matter and energy that struck this space would be decomposed and shattered by the steel force within. It was an offensive-defensive integrated combat method, the most perfect except for its lack of ranged capability. However, there was another drawback that wasn't quite a drawback — because Shadow Wasteland's power was too great, it might accidentally injure teammates or absorb their attacks. So it couldn't be deployed when many allies were present. Only when infiltrating and surrounded by numerous enemies, when the user was preparing to break out or eliminate witnesses, could its power be maximized.
As Shadow Wasteland activated, a layer of dim shadow emerged on Kerele's body surface. As soon as it appeared, it immediately caused clusters of dark gold flames to ignite in the seemingly empty surrounding space, continuously spreading in all directions. Kerele looked around in shock — he naturally knew this was the phenomenon of invisible existences in the air being eroded by steel force, but he still hadn't figured out what exactly was attacking him.
"...Kerele, go find the Newba family's... remains."
Elma, who was witnessing all this in real-time alongside the black-haired youth, was the first to react. She quickly realized that the 'Universal-category logistics personnel' living here, the Newba family she was quite familiar with, might have already met with misfortune. But grief and anger couldn't make her hesitate for a moment. Elma guided: "The Newba family isn't large in size. They're a professional logistics family. While living in this void settlement, they're also responsible for maintaining the bodies and machinery of passing patrol personnel and combat personnel. Most of the time, they should be around the repair bay in the lower-middle part of the settlement."
"Alright."
Kerele naturally had no objection. He raised his head and looked around the hall... He had to admit, the Amos people's body sizes weren't comparable to humans. Their ordinary doors looked as huge as the triumphal arches in the Far South Kingdom's capital. He felt like a little person who had entered a giant's country. However, with the support of the Transcendent Armor and Elma's guidance, he quickly passed through a series of corridors and arrived at the area around the repair bay in the lower-middle level of the void base.
Along the way, Kerele encountered several more attacks from formless, qualityless existences, but they were all dealt with using Shadow Wasteland. Soon, Kerele encountered his first target.
A massive biological corpse, resembling a snail.
This corpse was fully forty meters long, twenty-five meters high, and an astonishing twenty meters wide. Its main body was a huge, alloy-metal snail shell, supported by a network-like carbon fiber soft column — which seemed to be the creature's former skeleton.
There was no flesh on the corpse, no pus or rotting meat on the ground. The entire corpse was clean and bare. Even when Kerele approached using Shadow Wasteland, he didn't sense any invisible danger — the corpse was empty, hollow, with nothing left behind.
"What creature is this..."
Kerele naturally exclaimed in surprise. Gazing at this corpse as large as a building lying horizontally, he couldn't help but remark: "Is this an Amos person? Your body sizes are truly enormous. Even a logistics personnel has such an astonishing physique!"
"No!"
But Kerele heard Elma's grave voice: "No! The Newba family's corpses aren't like this... They chose to evolve toward a specialized 'brain' information processing evolution! They don't have such cumbersome things as shells at all. On ordinary days, they soak in the repair bay's nutrient solution, handling material transport and maintenance logistics!"
"Go look elsewhere. This might be another Amos person's corpse."
Kerele naturally didn't mind. With the help of Shadow Path, the various walls and sealed doors of the void settlement were useless against him. In less than ten minutes, he had traversed every corner of the entire void settlement.
During this process, including the first one, he found a total of five corpses — one with a huge snail shell, one that had grown solid bone wings, one with no specific form, only a scattered pile of skeletal fragments, one that left only what should be eye crystals.
And the strangest was the last corpse — it had also grown a huge metal shell, but behind this shell were two enormous jet nozzles. If not mistaken, these nozzles should have originally connected to two flesh engines, allowing for accelerated propulsion.
"...Five skeletons, matching the Newba family's population count... The eldest son who handled engineering manufacturing, the mother who handled material transport, the second daughter who controlled machinery, the second son responsible for observation, and the father responsible for void warship maintenance."
Elma murmured: "Although these corpses are completely different, they leave obvious characteristics... And these forms feel very familiar..."
Soon, she suddenly recalled where her familiar feeling came from: "Wait, these forms — aren't they the prototypes of the special abilities and special individuals that we Amos people evolved through successive generations?!"
"This is atavistic mutation!"
Just as Elma, who was moving around the surrounding star domain, recalled where that familiar feeling originated, Kerele suddenly received a prompt. The 'Crisis Management System' fed back an important piece of information.
[Successfully identified the microorganism's main body: Molecular-level autonomous biological forced evolution variant (tentative name: Extreme Virus)]
[Effect: Forces evolution on the host, consumes large amounts of energy, one hundred percent unlocks the host's potential, randomly evolving them to a certain level's extreme state]
[Warning: Non-Ultimate-level existences infected with this variant will irreversibly suffer life essence collapse. Under insufficient energy conditions, there is a one-in-a-hundred-billion chance of successfully evolving to the extreme state. Under sufficient energy conditions, there is a one-in-a-million chance of successfully evolving to the extreme state. Failures will consume all available energy, including but not limited to fat, muscle fiber, blood...]
[Final Conclusion: Super-hazard-level Transcendent Virus!]
[Recommended Treatment: Complete eradication!]
[Preventive Measures: Complete material isolation. Throw infected material into a star, or subject it to high-temperature roasting above twelve thousand degrees for twenty seconds, destroying its outer shell, completely inactivating the virus!]
[Real-time Response Strategy: Emergency evacuation!]