Chapter 24: Two Plans 7600
On this path where the First Flame and the Great Magic Tide coexisted, Joshua saw thousands of corpses of powerful beings along the way.
Each corpse represented a being strong enough to single-handedly sustain an entire civilization. And this seemingly vast number of corpses was merely a small portion visible along the path Joshua had traveled... I'm afraid, no one could know just how many people had passed through this path of the Magic Tide, nor how many had died here.
"Their goal... should be the same as the Sage and the Sage of Demons—to chase the radiance of the First Flame. They must have also sensed that behind the bizarre actions of the Evil Gods, there lay some deeper secret."
Joshua did not stop for these corpses of the powerful. At most, when he encountered a corpse with a particularly wondrous body structure that he felt would be beneficial, he would pause to observe it. Stroking the shell of a large fungal entity that looked very much like a Star Shepherd, Joshua's expression grew solemn: "Of course, it's also possible they sought the source of the Great Magic Tide. At least Baniel and Barbarossa mentioned more than once that they wanted to explore the origin of the Magic Tide."
"But strange... why is there no trace at all? That luminous giant cocoon should have taken this same path!"
After repeated checks, still no anomaly was found. Joshua could confirm that this white torrent of the Magic Tide was likely the only path to explore the First Flame and the origin of the Magic Tide. Both he and the luminous giant cocoon should have taken the same route—yet he did not see anything like the Extreme Virus on these corpses.
Joshua refrained from damaging or desecrating the corpses of these alien powerful beings out of personal moral cultivation. He felt that, as fellow seekers of the truth of the Multiverse, these people deserved his respect. Even in death, their remains should at least be allowed to rest in peace.
But this kind of thinking was undoubtedly rare. Someone with a slightly more pragmatic mindset, even if they didn't destroy them, would at least try to recover these corpses of the powerful, which held immense reference value—even a part of them could unlock a vast amount of Transcendent inheritance... As for the luminous giant cocoon, this evil entity that maliciously invaded the Starry World and recklessly spread filth like the Extreme Virus from upstream to downstream, Joshua could think of no reason why it wouldn't bother to recover these powerful corpses.
"Perhaps... it's unnecessary."
Having obtained an answer that wasn't really an answer, Joshua temporarily ended his thoughts on this matter: "After all, given the power of that giant cocoon, probably only beings at the level of Evil Gods are worthy of being collected by it. Although the corpses of these powerful beings are strong, they are already dead, having lost most of their value in terms of both utility and technical reference."
So, what was its purpose?
The answer to this question was actually quite easy to understand.
Joshua thought about it by putting himself in its place—if he had spent a long time traveling along the Magic Tide path, finally arriving at a place few predecessors had reached, and while continuing toward the First Flame and the source of the Magic Tide, he suddenly saw an extremely vast world along the way!
Then, whether out of material replenishment or curiosity, anyone would try to enter this world and take a look, right? There might be clues leading to the First Flame inside, or some other precious thing.
Perhaps.
Sometimes, thinking doesn't need to be so complicated. The answer to a question might simply be 'curiosity.'
"But that is no excuse for it to maliciously control Chaos Minions and destroy countless civilizations."
Letting out a deep breath, Joshua's incarnation stood still like a solid reef, causing the surging light of the Magic Tide to split around him. He began to contemplate his next plan: "If that luminous giant cocoon intends to stay outside the Starry World for a long time and continue trying to invade it..."
"Then I'm afraid I'll have to do this."
...
Starfall Era 848, March 24th, Mycroft World, Myriad Realms Sacrificial Ground, Star Gate Void Base.
Inside the Seven Gods Church Holy Mountain Warship, in a simple, quiet room.
Loranda, the adopted son of the Pope of the Seven Gods and a newly promoted Legendary Paladin, opened his Psychic Terminal and received an urgent report from the Mycroft colonies in the Multiverse Star River.
"A direct communication from the Archbishop of the frontline colony?"
The knight, clad in pale white armor tinged with cyan light, with his full-face helmet placed on the table beside him, raised an eyebrow slightly upon noticing the signature at the top of the report.
Having advanced to Legendary, his face showed no difference from his younger days. But compared to the purely zealous, even somewhat naive Paladin of yesteryear, Loranda's eyes were now deeper, his expression much calmer, already possessing the demeanor of his adoptive father Eagle from back then, who never showed his emotions. His whole being exuded a majestic spiritual pressure that would make those with dirty thoughts tremble. However, after carefully reading the contents of the report, the previously peaceful Paladin's expression immediately turned serious.
"Plague... sudden outbreak... this thing is really hard to deal with."
After reading the report, Loranda frowned and paced in his room.
The content of the report was simple. At a Mycroft colony in an outer star river closest to the Bloody Star River, missionaries of the Seven Gods Church had observed phenomena indicative of a possible Transcendent Plague. Various details matched previous observations.
"According to Joshua's last communication, this plague is also spreading in the Starry World where he currently is. It seems this is a wide-area infectious plague on the scale of multiple star rivers—damn it, what exactly does the creator of this plague want to achieve?"
Stopping by his table, he picked up his helmet and put it on. Loranda opened the door and headed towards the core nexus of the Holy Mountain Fortress. As he walked, he remained puzzled: "Even for an Evil God, this kind of infection must benefit it in some way, right?!"
Through a special Restorative Pillar located in Moldavia, Joshua could briefly exchange information with the Mycroft Continent. It was through this pillar that Joshua could simply transmit the wave of Emotion Force into every Restorative Pillar.
The last time Joshua communicated with the Mycroft Continent was about the Extreme Virus—both sides had foreseen the terror of this Transcendent Plague and tried various means to prevent and eliminate the possibility of its emergence. After Joshua confirmed that its source was a certain wave released by the luminous giant cocoon, he used his own wave to interfere with it, preventing the Extreme Virus from suddenly emerging around Mycroft's home territory.
But this could not stop the already formed virus from physically infecting entities in the Void.
Just like the report said—the Extreme Plague had already appeared around the Mycroft colonies. Without any surprises, these overseas colonies would soon face large-scale epidemic prevention work, or even battles against Extreme Beings.
The most likely outcome was abandonment. Although helpless, without a vaccine or specific cure, this was the only choice.
"Your Holiness."
There weren't many people in the core control room of the Holy Mountain Fortress. Most of the Church's elite had gone to the Multiverse Star River for related missionary work, cultural dissemination, and stabilizing otherworldly temples to facilitate the Seven Gods' descent at any time. Those remaining in Mycroft's home territory were generally elderly clergy with strength and experience but lacking energy, and Transcendent beings powerful enough to ensure Mycroft's home security.
The Pope of the Seven Gods Church, Eagle, was a very typical example.
"I know. I've read that report too."
Hearing his adopted son's voice, a luminous incarnation stationed in the Holy Mountain Fortress opened its eyes, revealing two platinum-white pupils like flames, brightening the somewhat dim central hall. Turning his head to look at the bowing Loranda, Eagle spoke calmly: "Archbishop Amiel discovered the Extreme Plague spreading within the territory of the Charil Void Combine. We warned them, but it wasn't taken seriously... These people fear our presence affecting their power more than the plague, so they've been hesitating, unable to make a decision."
"...Secular powerholders are always like this. They never see the greater calamity."
Raising his head, Loranda said solemnly: "Your Holiness, how should we respond? The Mycroft home territory is already protected by the Seven Gods and Lord Radcliffe's power, preventing sudden outbreaks of plague. But if the plague spreads through the teleportation network and Star Gates, even Divine Power would find it hard to detect such a stealthy virus!"
There was another sentence the Paladin didn't say, but he believed his adoptive father understood his meaning.
—Behind the spread of this unknown virus, there must be another purpose. Simple killing is probably just a byproduct. For the entity that created this bizarre Transcendent Plague, if it truly isn't an Evil God as Joshua said, then its real purpose is definitely not simple 'destruction.'
"Don't worry, we've been prepared for a long time."
The old Pope's platinum-white pupils moved slightly, seemingly connecting with his main body far away. The luminous humanoid said calmly: "A stable but passive plan, and a dangerous but thorough plan—we've had both ready for a long time."
"Then, which one do we choose?"
Although Loranda didn't quite understand what plans Eagle was referring to, he still instinctively responded: "The stable plan?"
"Of course not. An ordinary civilization might need to choose."
Shrugging, the old Pope smiled. He spread his hands humorously and said to his adopted son: "But if it's us—we take both."
After finishing his joke, Eagle's expression returned to calm. He looked at his adopted son and knight, who had lowered his head again awaiting orders, and said solemnly: "Go, Loranda. Head to Moldavia. There's a temporary headquarters of the Northern Empire's 'External Exploration Department' stationed there. I'm sending you and your knightly order there to help Lord Radcliffe's disciples complete that 'stable' plan, codenamed 'Full Transfer Drill.'"
"As for me and the other Legendary experts... we will carry out that 'dangerous' plan."
Saying this, the luminous humanoid incarnation closed its eyes, indicating that all the power of its main body had been diverted away, only briefly monitoring the surroundings. Confirming this, Loranda raised his head, silently watching the old Pope who no longer spoke, and then replied solemnly.
"Yes!"
...
Charil Void Combine, First Frontier Agricultural World.
This was a common continental small world. A plane of light and fire elements revolved around its outer side, becoming the sun for this supercontinent with a surface area exceeding 1.7 billion square kilometers, giving it a harmonious climate, abundant vegetation, extremely diverse life forms, and a fertile land.
The Charil Void Combine was a multi-racial alliance with seven different member races. However, after over seven hundred years of unified rule and related genetic modifications, there were basically no racial conflicts or reproductive isolation left. The seven races had completely merged into a new Charil people.
The First Frontier Agricultural World was discovered by the Charil Combine three hundred years ago. Its climate was especially suitable for large-scale agricultural operations, and surprisingly, it had no overly powerful intelligent life or native Magical Beasts. So the Charil people colonized this world almost effortlessly and transformed it into an agricultural base supplying thirty-four percent of the Combine's total food consumption.
Here, over 370 million professional farmers engaged in industrialized farming and breeding, along with 49 million workers responsible for agricultural byproduct processing. Although the world was sparsely populated, with magical assistance, it didn't seem busy. The endless rice paddies and pastures stretching across mountains and plains were refreshing to the mind, and the oceans were filled with carefully bred edible fish and their corresponding ecological chains—one could say delicacies were everywhere.
Because of this, the First Agricultural World had specially developed a coastline as a high-end luxury resort. Every Charil person considered being able to vacation here the greatest goal in life.
But now, this world, which should have been a peaceful paradise, was eerily silent.
"At first, over a dozen farmers mysteriously disappeared at the edge of the Southern Continent."
"Then, large numbers of herbivorous dragons vanished from the pastures, as if they had evaporated into thin air—not even bones were left."
"Next, people in the pastures sent out distress signals, but when rescue teams arrived, they found nothing. The entire agricultural base was empty—no signs of struggle, no bloodstains."
"Soon, the rescue teams also disappeared. The Charil high command found it strange and sent professional Transcendents to investigate."
"But before the Transcendents even arrived, all residents of the Southern Continent lost contact within two days—over fifty million people completely vanished."
"Farmers in other regions began to panic and wanted to leave, but were stopped by martial law Transcendents who had arrived. They had already discovered this might be related to the Extreme Plague, so they quarantined the world."
"An Ultimate-rank Archmage went to observe the situation. He went missing three hours later, without even time to send back any message."
"The Charil government locked down the world, completely ignoring the riots of over 300 million local farmers... After all, most of these people were locals. As long as the news was sealed, other colonies wouldn't know, naturally preventing panic. But even the Charil government couldn't imagine that these 300 million people would completely disappear within just one week, as if they had never existed."
"We had previously offered friendly assistance, but it was refused. The disappearances didn't seem like a plague, more like an internal rebellion or something. But after detecting high concentrations of the Extreme Virus in the world's atmosphere, the Charil ambassador knelt and begged us to intervene... Sigh, if only they had figured it out sooner, the whole world's people wouldn't have died in vain... That's nearly 400 million people."
On the First Agricultural World, Southern Continent, in some agricultural base, Nature Mentor Eydriel Galannod and Fishman High Priest Godar walked through the fields. Tall rice stalks almost obscured them both. The Elf and the Fishman looked around at this cyan-green otherworldly farmland, their expressions somewhat regretful: "Can you hear me, Eagle? This should be the source of the Extreme Virus within the entire Charil Void Combine territory. Have you cleaned up the virus in other places?"
"All cleaned up."
From a small device by Galannod's ear came the gentle voice of the old Pope's main body: "But the range of this Extreme Virus infection is too wide. It's as pervasive as the Great Magic Tide. Besides the Charil Combine here, several other native civilizations that haven't reached the Void are also showing signs of the plague... If we hadn't come to eliminate it, these civilizations would likely have been completely wiped out."
"Our mission went smoothly. The local civilizations were cooperative, no abnormal situations. So Galannod and Godar, continue with the 'Capture' mission. But be careful—the terror of Extreme Beings sometimes defies common sense."
"Understood."
The Nature Mentor was naturally no rookie on her first mission. But after so many years, being on a mission again in an otherworld within the Multiverse Star River made Galannod a bit emotional. After closing the communication with the old Pope, she turned to Godar and complained: "I really don't understand... Normal viruses and bacteria, when truly successful in evolution, don't deliberately kill their hosts. The higher the virulence, the easier it is for the virus to go extinct because it can't spread."
"Gurururu... The Extreme Virus isn't a normal virus. Actually, it's debatable whether it's even a virus at all. Our shallow biological knowledge can only define it as a virus."
On the other side, the Fishman High Priest said somewhat indistinctly, shaking his head with a heavy expression: "Guru, let me state in advance: if something goes wrong with the plan, I will immediately abandon you and flee. You're not a Fishman, so I won't risk my life to save you."
"Never expected you to." The Nature Mentor raised an eyebrow and said naturally: "But before that, you still need to assist me."
The Fishman tribe and the humans of the Far South Eastern Plains had generations of old grudges. If not for the Mad Dragon Plague, the Fishman tribe might have gone to war with both humans and Elves. Barbarossa and Faina had both confronted Godar before. This rather hostile relationship only eased somewhat after the Great Expansion Era began and the survival crisis of the Fishmen disappeared.
But even so, Godar still had some issues with his old rivals. This was evident from the attitudes between Galannod and him. However, both were veteran Legendary experts. Having witnessed the vast scenery of the Multiverse over the years, they had both come to see the old grudges of being trapped in a single world more lightly, even to the point of being able to carry out missions together.
"Enough nonsense—an entire world, over 300 million people, tens of billions of livestock missing or dead. Godar, what's your take on this?"
As she spoke, the Nature Mentor had arrived at an extremely empty pasture. The grass had grown wildly, nearly several meters high. Standing before this overly lush pasture, the Elf Legendary's pointed ears twitched slightly, then she looked up at the sky.
The elemental sun was being obscured by gray-black rain clouds. A gloomy, sultry atmosphere spread. A tropical storm was about to arrive.
"What else can I say."
Watching the approaching rain clouds, Godar showed a comfortable smile. He said in a low voice: "Of course, an 'Extreme Being' has emerged in this world. To supplement its nutrition, it simply ate all the animals in the entire world."
"So, where do you think this Extreme Being is hiding?"
Gradually, a hazy mist appeared around the pasture. It was a rather clean, milky-white mist, like milk floating in the air. It seeped out from the earth, the grass, and every crevice. If someone could look down from high above the entire world, they would be astonished to find that this mist filled the entire Agricultural World, covering every corner of the continent completely.
And this mist was all high-concentration Extreme Virus.
Faint rustling sounds could be heard wandering in the mist, as if something was walking through the virus-shrouded grassland.
Faced with such an abnormal situation, both remained calm, even showing relaxed expressions. Galannod raised her hand, and a staff like a tree branch appeared in her hand, its cyan-green light shining to dispel the mist. The Nature Mentor continued to smile and asked softly: "Why does this Extreme Being eat people, eat livestock, but just doesn't eat the grass?"
"Isn't that obvious."
The Fishman High Priest took a deep breath. This outwardly old Fishman's body began to change rapidly. His iron-blue skin grew darker and shinier, as if forged from incredibly smooth black metal. The white mist touched his skin, only to be absorbed and devoured by it.
"Of course, because it *is* the grass—the 'pasture grass' that livestock have always eaten!"
The moment the words were spoken, thunder roared in the sky, and a torrential downpour instantly covered the entire world.
Then, lightning flashed, illuminating the hazy mist that almost covered the entire First Agricultural World.
One could see, beneath the mist that shrouded the continent, the 'vegetation' was writhing and moving in units of ten thousand kilometers! All the plants in the entire Agricultural World—whether forests or weeds, rice paddies or wheat fields, seaweed or cacti—every single plant, everything growing from the earth, was entangled and connected by a dense, milky-white root system!
This milky-white root system covered the entire continent. It was slowly penetrating and infiltrating the world. One could see the white roots multiplying by eroding soil and rock. It had already 'digested' a small layer of the crust, with the deepest roots having completely plunged into the planet's core, feeding on the high-temperature magma. Without a doubt, given time, this vast and bizarre root system would inevitably devour the entire world, becoming a ferocious beast capable of roaming the Void!
And now, this ferocious beast bared its ferocious claws at the two strangers who had invaded its domain—with a deafening roar, the pasture where Galannod and Godar stood shattered. A magnitude 12 earthquake erupted abruptly, hurling clouds of dust and shattered rocks into the air. Amidst this earth-shattering tremor, over a dozen white root claws, each over ten kilometers long, wielding a high-frequency vibrating mana field that was almost materialized, releasing heat and temperature surpassing the sun, whipped and slammed down towards the two like falling mountains!
—If they were ordinary Transcendents, this strike of millions of degrees, like a solar flare oscillation blade, even if it couldn't kill them, would at least seize the initiative.
But neither Galannod nor Godar were ordinary Transcendents.
"'Extreme Pasture Grass'... If you could be eaten, how many livestock could you feed?"
A voice of emotion rang out. At the same time, in an instant, the sky-filling dust clouds and the white mist of Extreme Virus were all broken through. The phantom of a magnificent World Tree, supporting the sky and earth, seemingly about to pierce the world and break into the Void, abruptly appeared between heaven and earth.
Boom! The World Tree descended, directly flattening the still-quaking earth beneath it. Its roots spread, taking root in the land already occupied by the white root system—as deep green Nature's Force released the naked aura of the survival of the fittest, forcibly strangling and tearing apart the white roots. The World Tree's roots began to directly take root in this world in reverse, competing with the white roots for sovereignty over the land.
But that was just the surface. The enormous World Tree entangled with the white roots wasn't simply 'erosion' or 'nutrient competition.' In reality, Galannod was deciphering the life information within the opponent's body—moments later, the Nature Mentor's voice resounded throughout the world: "Its main body is in the Southern Continent, directly beneath the Nineteenth Herbivorous Dragon Pasture!"
"Understood."
Hearing the instruction, from the other side of the milky-white mist, accompanied by a series of explosive sounds that tore even the wind to shreds, a huge void suddenly appeared in mid-air.
One could see a black shadow flickering within. Behind the Fishman High Priest had grown a pair of ferocious dragon wings. The tips of these wings even had structures resembling rocket thrusters, undergoing extremely intense elemental annihilation reactions. Ultra-high temperature elemental jets accelerated him to a speed of 300,000 meters per second—at this speed, within an atmosphere, it could be called a world-destroying speed. Gale winds formed behind the High Priest, and as a trail of high-temperature molten rock extended in a straight line, super tornadoes began to ravage the land. They tore apart the rain clouds and shredded the white roots into pieces.
Soon, the black shadow reached the designated destination: the Nineteenth Herbivorous Dragon Pasture, an area completely occupied by tangled white roots, transformed into a nest.
Boom!!!!
The black shadow flashed past—an impact powerful enough to dig out both the crust and mantle. In that instant, the earth was blasted into a perfectly circular opening. At the end of that opening, near the planet's core region, was a massive tangle of white roots, like a heart, attempting to envelop the planet's core.
"Pity, the lucky little thing that survived Extreme-ization."
At this moment, Godar recalled the decades of suffering under his old rival's suppression, the embarrassment of being easily surpassed by a junior who had trained for only a decade or so, the envy and jealousy of the rich and varied technologies and worlds of other civilizations in the Void, the boredom of being a combatant but always researching edible earthworms, and the joy of finally breaking through after a long seclusion and learning he could go out on a mission... and a nameless rage!
—I am the Fishman High Priest! Not some agricultural product researcher! For the sake of my race, I could do those things, but that doesn't mean I want to be farming there forever!
Facing the core of the Extreme Pasture Grass, where a hexagonal mana barrier was beginning to condense, layered like a honeycomb, Godar's body shifted slightly, instantly transforming into the anti-mage combat form best suited for breaking magical defenses. This Fishman High Priest, who had been stifled for over a decade and finally had a chance to fight, revealed a grin full of shark-like teeth.
"Weeding? That's our specialty!"