Chapter 175
Chapter 175
Darkness covered the field of vision, merging sea and sky into one.
In the center of the South Sea, a rapidly spinning vortex resembled the bottomless maw of a giant beast. Countless marine life carcasses floated along the direction of the whirl. From above, everything visible was covered in an ominous blackness, with no living creature in sight, as if the gates of the underworld had suddenly opened from the ocean depths.
“Th
Above the firmament were the most advanced aircraft from various nations. Li Fufeng and others from the Special Case Investigation Team looked down at the scene below, inevitably recalling their first encounter with the mysterious when pursuing the Rainy Night Serial Killer K, seeing that old inn. Following that memory came the all-encompassing mist from when the Sword Realm returned.
“...Has another extraordinary descended?”
Would it be an ancient one of this world, or a visitor from another realm?
Others from various countries who weren’t yet aware of the key information about “other realms” also had their speculations, but their guesses inevitably leaned toward the first possibility, assuming it was probably another Sword Master like Pei Hefeng. Their only concern was the newcomer’s disposition and alliance.
At this crucial moment with the Return to the Void approaching, would this sudden variable possibly change everyone’s future?
They refrained from hasty action, quietly waiting for the vortex below to calm, waiting for the truth itself to reveal answers to them.
BOOM!
The deep vortex suddenly erupted in massive waves, as if an infinitely large black hole had reopened. A strange black peak suddenly emerged from the seafloor vortex, then continued rising higher.
Only then did they realize it wasn’t a peak but a tower’s spire. Just this portion emerging from the vortex showed artificial craftsmanship rather than natural formation, with angular contours that made it look like a black pyramid rising from the sea.
The “black pyramid” leaped from the vortex like a fish, but transformed in that instant. Its original angles disappeared, morphing like kneaded jelly until finally becoming a ship hovering in the sky.
At first glance, the ship seemed boundless, covering the entire sky, vaster than the whole world, reminiscent of the legendary “Kun” from ancient Eastern texts. It was impossible to imagine how it emerged from such a small vortex.
Yet on second glance, that impression seemed illusory – it appeared only the size of an ordinary vessel, its streamlined contours and black hull like a small fish swimming through the heavens.
The people in the aircraft looked at this “floating ship” through their windows, maneuvering their vessels to approach it from various directions before stopping at an appropriate distance.
“Alright, this distance is sufficient. Considering the ship’s owner may not understand modern technology, to avoid misunderstandings, let’s personally go greet the owner.”
Several figures flew toward the floating ship.
Given the ocean’s dangers, the extraordinaries sent by various countries all possessed levitation abilities. At least until their extraordinary powers were exhausted, they could freely move through the air.
For instance, Li Fufeng used Spirit Forger secrets to cast mental suggestions on himself and controlled a special artifact that temporarily merged him with the wind.
As they approached the ship, what had appeared normal-sized expanded infinitely in their vision, filling heaven and earth. This bizarre sensation made them extremely uncomfortable.
Presumably detecting their approach, a figure suddenly appeared on the infinitely expanding deck, looking their way.
Their gaze met with everyone’s eyes simultaneously.
In that instant of eye contact, everyone’s minds went “buzz,” as if struck by a heavy hammer.
After what felt like seconds or minutes, they recovered from that mental blank state.
As currently the highest-level extraordinaries on Blue Star, they clearly understood what had just happened – being extraordinary, their spiritual perception was far stronger than ordinary people’s, essentially maintaining constant “scanning.” Usually, they could take in every detail about ordinary people at a glance. Many had grown accustomed to this convenient state.
But when encountering far stronger extraordinaries, especially those with powerful mental will, their unconscious “scanning” could easily be injured by the other party’s unconscious counterattack.
The Heavenly Master of Divine Calculation, always appearing and disappearing mysteriously, rarely seen except to give guidance at crucial moments, mostly only helping through that one-fortune-per-day rule;
The Puppet Master and K were even less trustworthy – besides hiding in shadows, their status as otherworld visitors naturally made the Special Case Investigation Team distrustful, and the Shadow Council’s actions had long been feared by other countries;
The Lord of the Heavenly Capital, Pei Hefeng, was even more outrageous – besides spreading martial arts worldwide, no one had seen him since his return, not even knowing where to find him;
Finally, the Flower Speaker, universally recognized as the most approachable and good-aligned, now had followers globally, but meeting him depended on the intangible concept of “fate.”
In short, these people all had a strong sense of detachment from the human world, none feeling reliable.
Previously, various national higher-ups had liked their attitude of non-interference in worldly affairs, hoping they’d remain as aloof as possible.
But now, with Return to the Void’s crisis imminent, these extraordinaries’ elusive state and non-interference in “mortal affairs” left people feeling very insecure and uncertain.
They would even prefer these people to emerge now, establishing sects and marking territories and protection zones worldwide.
Thus, suddenly discovering a newly emerged extraordinary, confirming they weren’t an evil faction’s chaos element, and finding them approachable with possibility for alliance, everyone was very excited.
At once, they answered whatever was asked, even unreservedly explaining the crisis now facing the world, expectant gazes falling on this mysterious extraordinary, just waiting for them to express willingness to help save the world.
As they spoke, the wizard-robed youth’s expression gradually became serious, seeming to fall into deep thought.
“Return to the Void...” The youth sighed, “I should have known, this world also faces Return to the Void’s approach. No wonder the world barriers are so fragile...”
What did that mean? Others looked confused.
Before they could understand his words’ meaning, they saw the wizard-robed youth raise his staff. He smiled. “I can’t resolve Return to the Void, but escaping this doomed world is possible, and bringing along several people isn’t a problem.”
Everyone was shocked, then showed delight: this powerful one’s abilities exceeded imagination, even capable of helping others escape this doomed world!
–Although the Lord of the Heavenly Capital Pei Hefeng had previously managed to create the Sword Realm and take people away from this world, bringing quite a few people, so they could create a new realm before Return to the Void arrived and take everyone along. Trial participants had proposed this idea in the dream world back then, but it was rejected by the White King’s “spokesperson.” According to them, Return to the Void’s steps now swept the entire universe sea – even leaving this world early, destruction storms were everywhere in the void. The Sword Realm itself had already proven unable to withstand those storm remnants, otherwise it wouldn’t have been destroyed before.
Could this powerful one before them be even stronger than the Lord of the Heavenly Capital Pei Hefeng? At least, their mastery of space must be deeper.
Some even turned their gaze to the floating ship, wondering if this was the tool that could help everyone escape disaster.
But more people focused on only being able to bring “several people,” and someone couldn’t help asking, “Can’t we save more people?”
“No, because there isn’t enough energy.”
This truth was stated too frankly.
“What energy? We have all the world’s nations behind us, everyone can help...”
The black-robed wizard shook his head. “Not possible. As you saw, all life in this sea area was given the concept of death by me, but the fundamental power gained was minimal.”
“From this I calculate...”
He curved his eyes, speaking word by word:
“Just killing 99.9% of the world’s population would be enough for me to take you lucky ones and escape this doomed fate.”
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