Chapter 15: Ultimate Crisis (Part 2)
With Elma, a mid-to-high-ranking figure among the Amos people, narrating the history in detail, the outsider Krelle gained an increasingly clear understanding of the grudges and entanglements between the two major powers—the Royal Court and the Order.
Before becoming a void civilization, the Takur people had encountered some unimaginable events. They firmly believed that this multiverse would inevitably face ultimate "annihilation," where all things would return to nothingness, and no one could escape or avoid it. This belief even became the cornerstone of their civilization and social structure—it would not be an exaggeration to call it a faith.
This idea was actually quite similar to what the Mycroft civilization thought, knowing that evil gods would repeatedly destroy civilizations. The Takur people, however, did not simply give up; they chose another method to confront it head-on—"creating a new world," namely the "Psionic Canopy World."
"Back then, the all-out war between the Amos people and those Takur bastards had this as one of its causes—the Great Emperor Amos's act of devouring worlds and stars was deemed by the first High Patriarch as one of the 'sources of annihilation,' and he was considered one of the future threats that would annihilate the multiverse of stars."
At this moment, the contaminated settlement, which had been placed into the teleportation array, had already been transported into a sealed world. Elma also gave up her spot to the next group. During this process, within her body, she thoughtfully displayed for Krelle the territorial maps of the Amos Royal Court and the Annihilation Order from back then. It was clear that at that time, both civilizations were probably only at the mid-to-upper level of Tier 3 void civilizations—neither in strength nor territory were they as powerful and vast as they were now.
"Of course, this alone wasn't enough to justify an all-out war. Back then, those Takur bastards..." As she spoke, Elma's human body frowned, as if somewhat reluctant to admit it, but she still evaluated objectively: "Back then, the 'Takur people' were actually quite friendly. However, at the beginning of the Royal Court's expansion, in those histories that have left little record, we gradually evolved into what we are now with them."
"Although you might not believe it, back then we Amos people weren't as crazy as we are now. We even accepted people of other races—mainly the strong, of course—to live with us. This custom, where every Amos person has a different life form but all consider themselves Amos, has been passed down from that time."
Krelle naturally had no right to comment on this. He was merely a small frigate captain—how could he confirm the truth of the secrets of a calamity civilization in the multiverse star river? However, based purely on logical deduction, it wasn't strange at all.
Whether it was the Amos Royal Court or the Annihilation Order, their core beliefs were not "eradicate external enemies, purify the multiverse." On the contrary, the Royal Court's core belief was "the strong are supreme," at most an extreme authoritarian dictatorship—absorbing strong immigrants was only natural. The Annihilation Order's core belief was "all things will fall," so this civilization should have tried to befriend other civilizations as much as possible, working together to confront the inevitable doomsday.
It seemed that the brutality of the war back then had left violent, distrustful, and xenophobic undercurrents in the foundational cultures of both civilizations.
"I've digressed."
Noticing she had complained a bit too much, Elma sighed. She turned around and, within her own body, gazed at the location of her brain: "In short, the Takur people have always been committed to understanding the truth of 'annihilation.' Although I don't know why, they believe it is the truth and future of the multiverse. So, they created the Canopy Sanctuary, an artificial world said to protect all life when annihilation arrives—and with this confidence and a fallback plan, they began to prepare for research, to understand what the truth behind annihilation really is."
"That is to say, the Takur people prepared to study what exactly would cause the multiverse to be completely annihilated."
Hearing this, a flash of insight struck Krelle—he had also traveled with Joshua and the others through the Silent Void. Krelle had naturally vaguely heard that the so-called Silent Void, though seemingly empty, was actually nothing but the remnants and ruins of destroyed worlds.
"So—" Thinking it, he said it. He had no intention of hiding anything. Krelle rubbed his chin and spoke bluntly: "They started trying to study other worlds?"
"To be precise, other star rivers beyond the multiverse star river. They have always been trying to study this."
Sitting on her bone armor seat, Elma nodded. She crossed her legs and spoke calmly: "'Our star river is still alive—this is meaningless for studying annihilation. We need to explore beyond the abyss and the star river, the wastelands that might exist in the void'—that was their exact words. They wanted to study worlds that had already been destroyed."
"The Takur people studied void behemoths, studied the Silent Void, studied the abyss, destroyed worlds, the remnants in the star river. They even tried to study the World Devourer—but after attempting most possibilities, the Takur people believed none of these were the key. None could resist the final annihilation or reveal its truth. What they were looking for did not exist within this multiverse star river, but in possibilities beyond it."
At this point, Elma turned her head to gaze at Krelle, her tone somewhat playful: "Actually, the Lost Star River was also a key focus of the Takur people's research. And now, the facts have proven that you Mycroft people indeed possess truths and information that surpass both the Amos and the Takur... but I think, even if you are closer to the truth than we are, it is certainly not the real truth."
You're right, you're right...
How could Krelle answer? He could only subconsciously touch his belt, hoping that some marshal would give him a hint about what the so-called "truth" really was... He was just an ordinary small ship captain—how could he possibly know intelligence of that level?
Elma didn't expect to get an answer from Krelle either. Her plan was to help that Mycroft Grand Marshal complete his mission and then use the reward to exchange for knowledge of this part of the truth... To be honest, everyone has curiosity. Elma knew that she, being an already extremely active Amos person, had an even heavier curiosity than most.
"In short, the Takur people developed many powerful detection spells—they called those technologies 'prophecy'—and they were committed to exploring beyond the multiverse star river, because within our star river, there was no path that would allow them to understand and surpass annihilation."
"This plague... I think they succeeded."
Hearing this, Krelle couldn't help but turn his head to look at the sealed world behind him, clicking his tongue twice: "They must have found another world beyond the star river."
"Indeed, they succeeded."
Elma curled her lips, also recalling this extremely dangerous supernatural virus, capable of turning all residents of an entire Amos colonial world into dry bones: "Succeeded too much. What is this plague? What is its origin? It can even survive in the void for a period of time!"
"Actually, if I had to guess, this might be a special supernatural plague that can only spread on a large scale during the Great Magic Tide." Krelle recalled the plague cultists that had appeared in his hometown, narrowing his eyes: "The energy of the Great Magic Tide just happens to be a warm bed for them to maintain their activity, and also a source of energy supply. Without the Great Magic Tide, the energy in the void is simply insufficient to keep this plague active."
Whether it was the Radiant Civilization or the Era of Falling Stars, both originated from the Great Magic Tide period. Two Great Magic Tides, separated by thousands or even tens of thousands of years, witnessed the glory and fall of a civilization... and naturally, also witnessed the rampage and silence of a civilization.
During the Great Magic Tide, not only did civilizations flourish, but void behemoths, and even all kinds of chaos monsters and chaos evil gods, also became more active than usual—this supernatural virus might be one of them.
And... what exactly is the source of the Great Magic Tide?
Krelle didn't think about this question in detail, because beside him, Elma seemed to have received some information from the leader of the concentration zone, and was now looking confused.
"What... the plague has spread again?!"
Her tone was shocked, even carrying a hint of disbelief: "The Star Mok star sector has completely fallen, the core star domain has lost all contact, and all residents of over eighteen worlds are dead?!"
"They want us to lead a team to seal off the star sector... No problem, I'll go right away. But what exactly is going on? The Star Mok star sector is a frontline war zone—no matter how you think about it, it shouldn't have turned out like this! They have complete fortresses, quarantine measures, and several great generals leading the team. There's no way the plague could have spread so quickly!"
The total population of the Amos people was not large to begin with. As a civilization that revered the strong, they were relatively elite but sparsely populated compared to normal void civilizations. The death of all residents from over a dozen worlds was no small matter even for a calamity civilization, let alone for the Mycroft civilization, which had a total population of nearly three billion not long ago—Krelle gasped when he heard that over a dozen worlds had fallen silent.
—That was over a dozen habitable worlds!
Even counting colonies, the current Mycroft civilization didn't have that many habitable worlds. The population the Amos people had lost to this plague probably exceeded the total population of the Mycroft civilization!
Amidst his shock, Krelle still felt some relief... Thank goodness they had contacted Grand Marshal Radcliffe and had him notify the Mycroft civilization headquarters to be on guard against the great plague coming from the Bloody Star River... Otherwise, with the Mycroft people's average physical condition being lower than that of the Amos, the plague would only be more terrifying.
And at that moment, Krelle could hear Elma, who shared a mental link with him, let out an undignified roar: "What?!"
"Ultimate Being?!"
And at the same time, in that very instant.
Whether it was Elma, Krelle, or all the other Amos thinking individuals still in the concentration zone, every intelligent life form suddenly felt a chill pierce through their brains and spines, stimulating every nerve.
In that instant, Elma and Krelle both turned their heads simultaneously, looking at the sealed world not far behind them—in that sealed world, gathered from seven or eight star sectors, who knew how many star domains, were all the buildings and blocks infected by the plague, or even serving as the plague's source.
From there came a roar, furious yet mixed with joy, and utterly **kuangbao** (ferocious)!