stonecrandall Chapter 409 - 70 - The Calm Before the Storm
Chapter 409 - 70 - The Calm Before the Storm
"Hmm... are they serious? Sending us to deal with that one-man army, Fenfeng? That's a being known as a mobile biological cataclysm!"
March pouted with dissatisfaction. This assignment, no matter how you looked at it, didn't seem like a good thing!
"March has a point. There are indeed problems with this assignment. But beyond that, there are many other issues that weren't even mentioned at the conference."
Welt nodded, then shook his head.
Those factions who want a piece of the glory without getting involved... forget it. When it comes to fighting the Antimatter Legion, the main forces still have to be these publicly committed powers.
"Don't worry. Although it's said that we'll be facing Fenfeng's legion alone, in reality, our allies will be helping us."
Himeko reassured March. If the fledgling Astral Express were truly sent to fight the strongest Lord Ravager all by themselves... that would be completely unreasonable, wouldn't it?
"The Xianzhou Alliance will fight alongside us. In addition, the Interastral Peace Corporation, Punklorde, Belobog, the Azure Star, and the Honkai world will all be our support. Although on the surface it seems the Astral Express has been chosen to face Fenfeng alone, in practice, our allies will not sit idly by."
Recalling the various factions the Express had befriended since its departure, Welt was confident about this.
"From this perspective, our front seems to be the most stable one. All the major powers are gathered, with the Astral Express taking the lead... Although the enemy we face is also the most ferocious, as long as everyone is united, fighting the Antimatter Legion won't be that difficult."
Dan Heng carefully considered the hand the Astral Express currently held and couldn't help but nod in agreement with Welt's view.
"Wende, what do you think?"
Himeko turned her gaze to Wende, who had been standing by the window in a daze from the beginning. As the ultimate decision-maker for both the Astral Express and miHoYo Planet, Wende's opinion was crucial.
"Hmm..."
Wende pondered for a moment, then turned and sat down in a nearby chair.
His thoughts were not simply on the problem of the Antimatter Legion. On one hand, he trusted in the strength of Kevin and the others. Fenfeng was powerful, but his personality had been revealed by Phantylia. While he could be described as having a crude sort of cunning, compared to a true "seasoned veteran" like Kevin, he would fall short in both combat experience and power.
As for the legion Fenfeng led, with the cooperation of the other major powers, a single-pronged force wouldn't be able to achieve much. Most importantly, if the Xianzhou dispatched support... then in terms of the number of Emanators, the Astral Express held an absolute advantage...
Therefore, Wende wasn't worried about that aspect.
What puzzled him most, what he most wanted to know, was why, up until now, not a single Aeon had stepped forward to declare resistance against [Destruction]'s invasion.
If anything big were to happen in the universe, the one who would jump around the most would definitely be Aha of [The Elation]. But now, Rupert III had been obliterated by Kevin, not even dust remaining; Propagation had been assimilated by Wende himself, and this one didn't even make a peep.
Now only [Destruction] was left, but that trickster hadn't shown his face from the beginning to the end of this crisis. If he wasn't "turning over a new leaf," then he was definitely brewing up something big.
Although Aha was also privy to the plans of that mysterious person, he had made no move at all, not even his followers were stirring up trouble... This was completely out of character for him!
However, with him not showing his face, Wende had no concrete evidence to prove he was indeed planning something massive. He could only prepare himself mentally and keep a card up his sleeve.
If something truly went wrong during the confrontation with Fenfeng, then, even if it meant risking exposing his identity and facing a mutual destruction with Nanook... it couldn't be helped.
In the end, Wende simply reminded everyone to be well-prepared. He also checked on Stelle's physical condition, ruffling her gray hair amidst her bewildered gaze, and then left the carriage.
---o---
Returning to miHoYo Planet, Wende went straight to Kafka. It seemed Kafka had grown fond of her job as a "miHoYo customer service representative." With her help, miHoYo Interstellar Inc.'s revenue had indeed increased significantly. It would be even better if this was all achieved without her using [Spirit Pledge]...
"Oh? Isn't it our big boss? A rare guest. To what do I owe the pleasure?"
Kafka gently took off her headset. With a slight snap of her fingers, she made the other employees who had noticed them turn their heads and refocus on their work.
"I need you to answer some questions for me."
Wende got straight to the point, without any pleasantries.
"Then we'll need to go somewhere a bit quieter..."
Kafka glanced at the surveillance camera behind Wende, a faint smile on her face.
"Mm."
Wende naturally knew who Kafka was referring to, but right now, he was desperate to know if his thoughts would be confirmed. He didn't care about anything else. With a wave of his hand, both he and Kafka vanished from the office floor.
Otto watched the monitor screen with a knowing smile. It seemed to be a matter of personal privacy. It was best for him not to know for now.
He casually switched the monitor feed to another location. Otto sat down at the computer and, using the convenient channels of the cosmos, began to madly absorb knowledge about the universe.
However, the knowledge of the universe was as vast as the sea. It was impossible for one person to organize it all. Therefore, he only wanted to see what he wanted to see.
---o---
After bringing Kafka to a "secret base" on miHoYo Planet, before Wende could even ask his question, Kafka spoke as if she had foreseen his purpose.
"You... want to know about her situation, don't you?"
Kafka smiled, looking at Wende's expressionless, handsome face.
"Don't worry, her journey is still very, very long. It will not be cut short again. And the Stellaron within her will not affect her. Even if [He] himself intervenes, it will not cause the Stellaron to mutate..."
"However..."
Kafka's tone shifted. Her eyes, lacking pupils and appearing empty and vacant, stared silently at Wende.
"Are you ready?"
"Me? I am always ready. Let's just hope the future he saw is the correct one..."
Wende closed his eyes. The next second...
Kafka was back at her seat, a steaming cup of coffee placed on her desk.
As for Wende, he had already buried himself in the base code of the Simulated Universe. He was planning to do some eavesdropping to see if the Aeons had made any new moves recently.
As it turned out, the Aeon chat room was eerily quiet. Even Xipe of Harmony, who usually preached about love and peace, was not promoting Its Path's ideology in the group.
Through reverse deduction in the Simulated Universe, Wende could roughly figure out what these entities were doing. But a deduction was just a deduction, completely unrelated to the real world. Even if he deduced the current movements of each Aeon, it would be useless.
However, he could use the Simulated Universe as a medium to see what the other factions were up to.
That's right, this was a new use for the Simulated Universe that Wende had discovered. It was just a bit late. If he could have used it on his trailblazing journeys, negotiating with the worlds they were opening up would have been much simpler.
The Xianzhou was currently in the midst of intense war preparations. On the Xianzhou Yaoqing, Marshal Hua was speaking to the Empyrean Arbor's Seven Arbiter-Generals through a Yu-Sign, telling them to be prepared for any potential threats and to protect the Xianzhou's safety from all aspects.
And the flagship leading the Xianzhou's fight against the Lord Ravager Xingxiao this time was the Xianzhou Yaoqing itself.
The Xianzhou had now fully prepared for war with Destruction and had developed many plans based on this, showing extremely thorough consideration.
They had even taken into account the possibility that the [Denizens of Abundance] might take advantage of the Xianzhou's war with [Destruction] to cause trouble on the planets the Xianzhou had reclaimed and their other subsidiary worlds.
They had also formulated different response plans based on the specific situation of each Xianzhou flagship. Of course, if it really came to that, the Xianzhou people would probably just directly call upon the "Empyrean Arbor" to forcibly join the battle.
Wende also considered this. If the Xianzhou suffered huge losses, to the point where [The Hunt] had to intervene, how would this cosmic-level disaster end?
After understanding the Xianzhou's arrangements, Wende turned his attention to the IPC.
The IPC was still squabbling over some trivial matters internally. But surprisingly, almost all the senior executives had no complaints about "fighting Destruction." This came as a surprise to Wende. It seemed the IPC's top brass still inherited the will of the Amber Lord [Qlipoth]!
The situation with Harmony was the same as always. The凝聚力 of The Family was not to be underestimated.
But one faction did surprise Wende. The Annihilation Gang... how dare they cause trouble at the Herta Space Station?
And to do so under the current circumstances, spreading rumors and such. Did they think anyone would pay them any mind?
Everyone was busy as hell right now. But it had to be said, this was indeed a good opportunity for a backstab.
Wende briefly logged into his "Akivili" alt account and left a line of text in the base code of the Simulated Universe, as a reminder for Herta.
Anyway, she always came to "fix bugs" every time he intruded on the Simulated Universe. He was sure she would see his message.
After that... there was nothing else worth watching.
What else was there to see? The Masked Fools teasing the Mourning Actors? Or the Galaxy Rangers chasing a "string" of Abundance abominations while holding a meeting?
Wende left the Simulated Universe with a sense of helplessness. He hadn't obtained the information he most wanted to know.
---o---
"It seems that if you don't cause trouble, nobody thinks it's normal."
HooH looked at the departing Wende with some amusement, teasing Aha who was beside It.
"Haha! You all thought Aha would cause trouble, but in fact, Aha did not cause trouble. Isn't that a form of elation in itself? And when everyone thinks Aha will no longer cause trouble, but Aha appears! Isn't that also a form of elation!"
The figure behind the mask laughed wildly, but soon, the laughter stopped abruptly.
Because this time, He really couldn't intervene. The current stage was not His. He had to prepare for the final "supreme elation"!
"All the groundwork has been laid. The real show is about to begin! This time... no one can be an exception! All the Aeons will face It... and make their choice... not even you and I are exceptions."
"Isn't that more interesting? Hahaha! The lofty gods finally have a chance to break free from the shackles of their own Paths... what a joyous occasion!"
"It's just that we're still missing a spark. Someone needs to keep the fire going!"
---o---
There wasn't much time left for the factions to prepare. The Antimatter Legion of Destruction was visibly approaching the central star systems. Everywhere they passed, they left a trail of devastation. The Antimatter Legion would not spare any planet where life had been born. Even if all the inhabitants had been evacuated to other places for refuge, even if it was an uninhabited planet, as long as it had value for destruction, they would perform a "grand and magnificent" "fireworks show" in the universe.
Although not as spectacular as a collapsing star, it wasn't far off.
After all, the Antimatter Legion was currently under Nanook's decree to destroy, as much as possible, all life that was "harmful to the universe."
Each Lord Ravager brought out their best skills, steadfastly carrying out their god's command while adhering to their own aesthetic.
That day... was drawing ever closer.
In less than a week, the Antimatter Legion, led by the Lord Ravagers, would break through to the outermost edge of the central star systems. At that time, it would be the first large-scale, direct confrontation between the "Alliance" and the Antimatter Legion.
For this, Wende had also made preparations. He had used [Order] to scout out a good location in the central star systems. If something uncontrollable happened, he could urgently evacuate everyone from the Express to miHoYo Planet, and then do a runner with the whole planet!
Although he felt a bit sorry for Belobog, this was only the worst-case scenario.
Wende hoped he wouldn't have to use it, but... that depended on what the god on the other side was thinking.