# Chapter 39: Me and the Future
The Charil United First Agricultural World, the World Tree that wrapped the continent in its roots, shook its branches, forcing the fishman who was conducting experiments in a laboratory on one of its branches to interrupt his work.
But the fishman did not complain. High Priest Godar raised his head blankly, quickly walked out of the laboratory, and looked up at the empty top of the world: "Galannod, did you hear that?!"
"I heard it."
From within the massive World Tree, a light, ethereal elven voice came, but with a hint of gravity in its tone: "This sound is very peculiar, very strange... Although I only half-understand the content, there is no doubt that it is extremely important."
"But not as important as the work at hand."
Godar frowned, thinking on the branch for a moment, then said: "Continue your experiment. I'll contact Eagle and the others... Damn it, Joshua isn't here, and the secret work of the Seven Gods seems to have reached a critical moment—perhaps we need to ask the Myriad Realms Sacrificial Ground's Dominant Will. Although it doesn't know much, it at least knows more than we do."
Just as the Fishman High Priest was about to begin contacting other Legendary experts, Nature Mentor gave him an unexpected piece of good news: "Wait a moment, Godar."
"My experiment may have succeeded. Let me confirm the final step."
Hearing this, the Fishman High Priest was first stunned, then shocked and delighted: "It really succeeded!?"
"Did you develop a vaccine for the Extreme Virus?"
The giant tree did not answer. Instead, a green halo enveloped Godar. He did not resist, and in the next instant, the High Priest found himself in a hall made entirely of emerald green, semi-wooden, semi-crystalline material.
This was the central heart of the World Tree.
Nature's Force is a derivative energy between Arcane Power and Life Energy, so it is connected to all things in the world. Nothing—not even man-made objects—can exist without involving Nature's Force.
This is its advantage, but also its disadvantage. In a barren, lifeless world, even if Arcane Power is abundant, Nature's Force will not be born. Similarly, in a world with abundant life but no Arcane Power, Nature's Force will wither. In other words, its essence is Arcane Power with the characteristics of Life Energy, or Life Energy with the characteristics of Arcane Power. It can be said to be the earliest aggregate of Transcendent power, similar to Divine Energy and Emotion Force.
At the heart of this massive World Tree, vast amounts of Life Energy and Arcane Power surged up and down, flowing along the crystalline patterns on the inner walls. Guided by a deep green light formed by Nature's Force, Godar arrived at an unusually spacious compartment.
As he entered the compartment, the originally peaceful and harmonious atmosphere immediately changed. Godar looked up and saw countless biological skeletons piled up in the corners of the compartment, sealed and imprisoned by Nature's Force crystals. The High Priest knew that these were the remains of creatures devoured by the Extreme Virus, experimental subjects created by Nature Mentor. Judging by the number, in the past few days alone, perhaps hundreds of thousands of beasts and magical creatures had been consumed. The experimental materials from earlier periods were even more countless, after all, worthless experimental subjects would be decomposed again and reused as materials for the next experiment.
In the center of the compartment, within a space completely enclosed by transparent crystals, a super-large fungal ecosystem was thriving. Fungi of various colors, mixed with Transcendent power, were wriggling and growing in this micro-space with a diameter of one and a half kilometers.
"According to my research, any creature with a complexity exceeding that of sponges and jellyfish is extremely susceptible to erosion by the Extreme Virus. It has a certain conditional selectivity—the more complex the structure, the more it is favored."
Noticing the Fishman High Priest's gaze, the World Tree—now the main body of Galannod—spoke, explaining: "In other words, if I want to closely observe the erosion process of the Extreme Virus, I must use sponges, jellyfish, and creatures with even simpler structures than sponges and jellyfish... There aren't many such creatures. Sponges are already the lowest form of multicellular animals, and jellyfish are only slightly more advanced."
"So you chose various microorganisms and fungi? That makes sense. After all, the ancestors of sponges were fungi. If you want something simpler, only they remain..."
Godar nodded thoughtfully. He was also an expert in related fields: "So, did you succeed?"
"Perhaps."
Nature Mentor's voice was noncommittal. Nature's Force condensed into an arrow, guiding Godar's gaze toward the fungal ecosystem: "The Extreme Virus is not incapable of eroding fungi and various microorganisms. In fact, its structure is probably smaller than the viruses we know. The smallest is only ten nanometers, and the largest does not exceed fifty nanometers. In their presence, even a virus is an object that can be 'sublimated'—I just destroyed a batch of initially sublimated super-viruses that could infect any intelligent life form using mental power through Psionic Energy in the realm of thought, gradually transforming their thinking patterns into the Extreme Beings we are familiar with."
"As for these bacteria and fungi, they haven't reached the level of Extreme Beings yet, but look—they have already begun to control Transcendent power through the form of fungal colonies, similar to Mana Circuits and Rune structures... Truly a terrifying power."
"But precisely because of the Extreme Virus's transformation of these fungal colonies, I discovered one of its vulnerabilities."
"What vulnerability?" Godar asked urgently. After all, it concerned Mycroft, it concerned the fishmen. Even though he was a cold-blooded creature (literally), he still had to think about his race: "Don't keep me in suspense."
"Very simple."
Nature Mentor answered straightforwardly: "The Extreme Virus is a selfish and very 'intelligent' virus. It ensures that its host sublimates as successfully as possible, then assimilates with the host to become an Extreme Being. However, due to limited energy, if it finds that the host might fail to sublimate, it will take all the host's energy—that is, erode the host into the dry bones in the corner—and then replicate and spread."
"But as long as failure is not certain, the Extreme Virus will absolutely not allow its own kind to increase. It is very selfish. If it can succeed as an individual, it will never create a second one."
"Combined with the earlier point that 'the Extreme Virus is extremely enthusiastic about eroding complex, advanced organisms,' I can deduce a key element: The Extreme Virus pursues a solitary successful sublimation. If possible, the stronger and more complex the sublimated being, the better."
At this point, Godar already understood somewhat, and Nature Mentor said with a smile: "So, based on this element, through multiple experiments, I discovered that when the Extreme Virus parasitizes low-level multicellular organisms like sponges and jellyfish, the erosion speed becomes abnormally slow... This is easy to explain. Even if a sponge or jellyfish were successfully sublimated, it wouldn't be very powerful. Perhaps only a magical beast-level sponge would be worth eroding. Rather than wasting its opportunities and possibilities on these weak creatures, the Extreme Virus would unhesitatingly choose to hibernate and delay the erosion process."
"So!" Following Nature Mentor's train of thought, the Fishman High Priest slapped his palm excitedly: "As long as we make the Extreme Virus hallucinate, as long as..."
"Yes, as long as we make the Extreme Virus hallucinate, make it feel that what it is eroding is not a human, but a giant sponge, a giant jellyfish, a giant fungus, bacteria, various single-celled organisms—then even if infected, it won't act immediately. Instead, it will activate after 8 to 14 days, attempting to find the next host."
Nature Mentor's voice carried a hint of meaningful amusement. She said softly: "Simply put, as long as you make it think you're useless, it won't erode you. Instead, it will conserve energy, waiting for the next opportunity to encounter a target worth eroding."
—As long as you become useless, no one can use you.
Hearing this, the Fishman High Priest finally fully understood Nature Mentor's line of thinking.
Yes, the Extreme Virus is a Transcendent biochemical creation far more advanced than the current Mycroft Civilization, perhaps even a legacy created by some kind of Ultimate Lifeform. To fundamentally develop a vaccine is actually a completely impossible task—at least Galannod cannot do it for now.
But conversely, by exploiting the Extreme Virus's overly advanced, overly intelligent characteristics, one can use this to one's advantage... As long as a Transcendent potion is created that gives the drinker the biological essence of a sponge or jellyfish, then the Extreme Virus will be too lazy to erode these low-level organisms and will instead try other targets.
Is this difficult? Too simple. In the Transcendent world, even dragons can transform into human form, even humans can transform into neutron stars or even worlds. Merely disguising oneself as a jellyfish or fungus is far too easy for Legendary experts.
In this case, although the Extreme Virus's transfer might give rise to strange things like Extreme Cows, Extreme Grass, Extreme Vines, Extreme King of Flowers, etc., at least humans will be safe—and that's enough. If the virus doesn't transfer, there is still an incubation period of about eight days. As long as the Seven Gods and several Legendary experts periodically purify the population, there will be no worry of a viral outbreak.
If one is truly unlucky—naturally resistant to magic and transformation spells, causing the potion to be ineffective, or the virus activating early—then there is no help for it. The situation is critical now. Galannod can only ensure the safety of the vast majority, not guarantee that all humans will emerge unscathed.
"Can success be guaranteed?"
But once the excitement passed, worry arose. Godar paced around the compartment a few times, his brow furrowing again: "For example, what if the Extreme Virus discovers that its host is only pretending to be a sponge..."
"One hundred percent. As long as the Extreme Being is indeed a Transcendent creation of an Ultimate Lifeform, as long as it is truly that advanced, then it will inevitably not risk wasting energy to check whether what it is eroding is a high-level animal disguised as a sponge and fungus, or a genuine fungus and sponge."
Nature Mentor's tone was very certain: "After all, it is too small. No matter how advanced its method of carrying energy, it cannot perform multiple erosions. It must strike with a single blow, which gives us the opportunity to take shortcuts."
"I succeeded."
"...Couldn't be better." The Fishman High Priest took a deep breath. He immediately picked up the communication array in his hand, eager to share this good news with the other Legendary experts.
Eagle was the first to know. After listening to Godar's general explanation, he quickly understood that this was an extremely simple and feasible preventive measure.
"Now. Immediately. Right away."
He said this, then pulled out his communication array, preparing to notify the others: "Have Galannod write out the formula for the disguise potion—then we'll put it into Joshua's Restorative Pillars."
"Thank the heavens. Radcliffe has finally been of great help outside of combat... Without the Restorative Pillars, just setting up the production line alone would probably cost hundreds of thousands or millions more lives—if it were the Multiverse Star River, it would be in the hundreds of billions."
Thinking of this, the old Pope hesitated for a moment, then shook his head and decisively said: "—Also notify the other civilizations. Tell them this method. Ha, this method isn't difficult. I don't think we're the only ones who could discover it. Consider it a favor."
"After all... in this multiverse, the remaining civilizations cannot be destroyed again. If what that voice just said is true, then this is probably the last chance."
—If, at this final opportunity, all civilizations still cannot work together, cannot share resources, cannot face the greatest and most terrifying threat... then this plague called selfishness will surely cut off hope, bringing about destined destruction and the end.
"This is my responsibility. The responsibility of an intelligent life."
Pope Eagle did not consider himself exceptionally wise. He knew that he was merely talented, lucky, had received good inheritances, and had favorable conditions for growth. His intellect alone could not make him the 'Heir of Holy Light' or the 'Pope of All Realms and All Races.' At most, he could only be the Pope of the Mycroft people—a strong, kind person who liked watching the sunrise.
But no one has ever said that the Mycroft people, or the Pope of the Mycroft people, cannot care about the multiverse—no race can say that, claiming that they can stand independent of all realms.
Because in the face of calamities that sweep across all heavens and all realms, all intelligent minds are a single whole, not isolated islands. Under the illumination of the First Flame, order will surely endure forever.
He believed this firmly, and that is why he has come this far.
And this is the path completely opposite to the Extreme Virus—the path called civilization.
"We are the final, the last. After this, there will be no future and no hope."
The voice that resounded throughout the multiverse echoed through the confused spacetime. All experts, all enlightened ones already understood—this was indeed the final moment. The path to the 'source' was about to be cut off. The First Flame would soon completely lose contact with the multiverse in the near future. After that, everything would face a destined end, turning into black ash that could no longer burn after the flame was extinguished.
Therefore.
—I must succeed.
—We must succeed.
—As long as I succeed, that's fine.
—As long as there is still a future, that's fine.
—It must be me, it can only be me. If not me, then the multiverse is meaningless. Whether it is destruction or extinction, it has no meaning.
—It's best if it's me. I hope it's me. But if it truly cannot be me, then at least I hope that I and my successors can have the possibility of a future.
The beast that craves 'tomorrow,' and the civilization that craves 'tomorrow.'
Between the two, there is a clearly visible dividing line. This line is like an abyss, called the 'Abyss of Tomorrow.' It divides two kinds of thought, two modes of behavior, two underlying logics, judging the future of the multiverse.
Even if some individuals cannot distinguish the difference between the two, at least as a whole—even a racially purist civilization that tends to destroy all aliens, all non-self beings—at least they are a civilization, a collective composed of countless people. The vast majority of civilizations can understand.
But only the vast majority.
Amos Royal Court. The dome of the royal court. The void sky composed of stars.
The massive luminous nebula, due to the call of the distant beast, sank into deep contemplation.
Until a fleet of Void Warships flew in from afar, interrupting his meditation.