by <unknown>
"Carry out your assigned task. Next time when we meet again, I hope you'll provide me with answers that may satisfy me."
Chen Chen's final statement resounded in the room continuously and by the time Niuceus came back to his senses, he realized that Chen Chen had disappeared without a trace.
"How, how's that possible..."
Niuceus stood with his mouth agape. He suddenly recalled something and rummaged through his bookshelf like a madman in search of a particular book. After some effort, he managed to find a book titled The Legendary Tales of the Divine Fusion Empire. He frantically flipped through the pages until he arrived at a certain portrait.
Inside the portrait, two magnificent figures were battling each other on the skies above. One of them was the God of the Divine Fusion Vatican, Alosorthoth, while the one facing off against Alosorthoth was a man.
The man's appearance was a blur but it could be made out that he had a strange short hairstyle. His facial structure and temperament greatly resembled the mysterious man Niuceus just saw...
There was a tiny passage underneath the portrait that labeled it as "the battle between God and Devil".
Niuceus' hands would not stop trembling. He felt as if his body had been electrocuted. That man, that man was...
...
Chen Chen left the city of Laman.
While soaring across the skies, he recalled the events that happened earlier.
It just suddenly came to him that he should plant a seed inside Niuceus, one may call it a whimsical idea or an experiment.
Ever since the Field inside his mind had fused with the psionic power he had acquired from devouring the Consciousness Stealer, he had been thinking about how he could utilize the psionic power.
Based on what he knew so far, a part of these psionic powers overlapped with Field. For instance, both powers granted abilities similar to telekinesis, but there seemed to be another facet to these psionic powers.
Which was why he decided to inject a tiny trace of psionic power into Niuceus to see what would happen.
Just as he expected, Niuceus was not killed by this injection. The moment he planted the seed, he had a faint sensation that Niuceus' life had become his appendage.
Chen Chen held Niuceus' life in his hands and could wish his death upon him at any time.
With that said, the psionic power obtained by these common people and the psionic power Chen Chen obtained directly from the Consciousness Stealer were different matters entirely. The psionic power granted to them by the Consciousness Stealer was a simplified version of these powers but the one Chen Chen possessed was authentic.
"This means that the Consciousness Stealer's ability to consume human consciousness and trigger the fusion death phenomenon we observed should stem from these psionic powers as well..."
Chen Chen ruminated on the fact. If his deduction was correct, then he should be able to achieve the same effect as well. If something were to happen to him that caused his body to perish, he should be able to resurrect on a conscience level by using Laman as a vessel.
Of course, only using Laman himself was not going to suffice. He would need tens of thousands or even more vessels to accumulate enough power for himself to be resurrected.
Chen Chen was intrigued by the prospect of such powers.
Although these psionic powers could not compare to Field in terms of raw strength, the advantage of granting himself the ability to resurrect made it an exemplar ability.
Chen Chen continued heading toward his destination with this in mind and this time, he was heading toward the west. He was curious to see what the Eco Science City and the Spire Experimental Base would look like in this alternate dimension.
Furthermore, while Chen Chen was relaying his instructions to Laman, a bold idea suddenly occurred to him. He wondered, what would happen if he managed to bring the other half of himself to this world as well?
The Consciousness Stealer in this world had so much time to let its strength fester that Chen Chen was not confident in his chances against it. In this case, he could borrow the strength from the other world to combat it.
This world was a lost cause and its surviving civilization was nowhere better, but there were still enough assets here to strive for...
The task of traversing from one dimension to another would be considered nigh impossible for most people, but this was because they were not Chen Chen.
The reasoning for this was simple. It was because Chen Chen had a logic-defying tool in the USB drive.
With this in mind, Chen Chen continued accelerating, doubling, tripling, even quadrupling the speed of sound itself!
Chen Chen maintained his speed at three times the speed of sound. Although he could go faster than this, the Field consumption from this point on would soar to a point that it would be counterproductive to do so. This was due to the difference in atmospheric concentration between Earth and Mars whereas it was a lot more difficult to accelerate on Earth.
Even so, it would only take an hour and a half for Chen Chen to travel from Niger to Namibia. The two regions were separated by a 4650 kilometers stretch and if Chen Chen went another approximately 500 kilometers further, he would arrive at the Eco Science City.
Chen Chen spent the next hour and a half flying across many regions, disregarding whatever was unimportant to him at the moment. In usual circumstances, it would take someone several months to travel such a great distance.
Across the horizon, the endless stretch of ocean was beginning to come into view. Even the air itself began to dampen.
Chen Chen could smell the salt of the sea even at great altitudes.
When Chen Chen finally arrived at his destination, the look on his face was not a pleasant one.
There was nothing but collapsed ruins where the Eco Science City once was. Piles on top of piles of rubbles and wreckage were lined up along the coast. Most of the foundation of the buildings along the coast had given away to the beating of the waves over the years. Meanwhile, most of the metallic materials had been salvaged.
The Eco Science City had been abandoned for several centuries at this point.
Despite the desolate outlook of the city, Chen Chen did not give up and continued searching for the underground entrances to the Spire Experimental Base. After sweeping through the area, he managed to find several such entrances. However, most of these entrances had caved in as well, completely burying the tram and its platform underneath.
Left without a choice, Chen Chen went for the ocean and dove in.
Using Field, he created a three-meter-wide bubble around himself to allow himself to breathe. After that, he dove for the bottom of the ocean and soon found the entrance that was now hidden underneath a large coral reef population.
Chen Chen paved through the coral reef without hesitation and soon discovered that even the tunnel leading to the Spire Experimental Base was now overflowing with water.
Chen Chen had a bad feeling about this but pressed forward nonetheless. After passing through three large gates that were all left open and arriving at the end of the tunnel, there was a gigantic collection of boulders blocking his path.
With that, Chen Chen decided it was time to give up. It seemed like the Spire Experimental Base had collapsed entirely.
Chapter 555: Clues |
Upon returning to the surface, Chen Chen felt deeply conflicted by his findings.
In the real world, he had successfully defeated the Consciousness Stealer and restored peace and balance to mankind. However, it seemed like he was defeated in this parallel world.
The cost of his defeat was the collapse of modern civilization and the deaths of billions of population. All these were not his primary concern. What he wanted to know was what happened to his parents in this parallel dimension.
For Chen Chen who had always been protective of his parents, this was a lot to stomach.
Since a staggering four centuries had passed, chances were that all of the people from his generation had
turned to ashes and dust. This was a completely new and foreign world for Chen Chen.
Knowing that the only thing resembling a connection between himself and this world had been severed, Chen Chen did not see a reason to remorse over this loss anymore. Right now, what he needed to do was to figure out how he was going to defeat the Consciousness Stealer in this world and to open a passage between the two worlds so that he could invade from the other world.
Before accomplishing any of this, there was one more matter that he had to attend to, and that was to take a look at this Joint Resistance Army they spoke of. If possible, he would like to assimilate this faction for his purposes.
With this in mind, Chen Chen departed from the now ravaged Eco Science City and continued toward the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.
...
Cyric was a high-ranking officer of the troops of the Joint Military Forces.
The high-ranking officer governed over a fleet of two destroyers and one cruiser. They patrolled the southern Atlantic all year round, curbing the smuggling and infiltration operations of followers of the Consciousness Stealer from the opposite shore.
The ships under his command were extremely old, some of them were built before any of the members of the crew had been born at all. It was these fleets that managed to hold off the infiltration of the Divine Fusion Empire. These ships were the lifeline of the tens of millions of survivors on the continent.
By this point, Cyric was already well into his retirement age. The reason he was graced with the role of the commander of this fleet in the first place was that his ancestors used to be fleet commanders in Northern America. The art of fleet and Battalion government had been passed down in his family through the generations.
Cyric wore a washed-out uniform and looked over the ocean from the command room, occasionally picking up the binoculars to inspect the horizon.
During another one of his routine inspections, he spotted a tiny black dot rising across the horizon.
It was something that slowly crept up from beneath the horizon. It would not be observable at this distance under regular circumstances but since they were in the wide-open sea, they were able to spot enemies approaching from a greater distance.
It seemed like the black dot was rapidly approaching the fleet's location.
At first, Cyric thought it was his old eyes deceiving him. After getting a closer look for several seconds longer, he began to frown. There was no mistaking it. This unknown black dot was slowly growing larger.
It was clear now that this black dot was advancing toward their location.
"Radar!"
Cyric quickly reminded himself of the radar system and turned to inspect the monitor, only to see a disappointing, pitch-black screen staring back at him. He forgot that the radar system had broken down more than a month ago.
This ship was simply too old and should have been decommissioned decades ago. The advanced technological systems invented by their predecessors were a lost craft now and the ship itself was a scrambled project comprised of dismantled parts of other ancient ships. The best they could do was to put these pieces together for there was no way to recreate these advanced machinations.
With the way things were now, there was simply no way to repair the high-precision radar system that had broken down since a month ago.
After evaluating the situation, Cyric immediately pressed a large red button on the side of the control panel to put the entire fleet on alert and into a state of emergency. Meanwhile, he continued to observe the approaching black dot with his binoculars and was shocked by what he saw - was it a person?
It was someone soaring across the skies!
"A psionicist!"
Cyric felt his heart drop upon verifying this. The three ships of the fleet had prepared themselves for combat just in time as troops of gunners entered the artillery compartments and aimed the barrel at the dark figure!
"Hold!"
Cyric glared at the humanoid figure that was approaching at unprecedented speed. It had been no more than thirty seconds since his initial spotting of the target and it was already entering the borders of their attack range.
"Fire!"
Decades of training had honed Cyric's senses to perfection. He had identified the perfect time to fire!
An array of ten Vulcan cannons unleashed a terrific roar that tore through the skies as it fired torrents of cannon shells into the approaching figure to cut off its advance. There was not a single member in the Joint Resistance Army who was uninformed of a psionicist's abilities. It was an occult source of power that came from the Consciousness Stealer. It was this power that helped the Divine Fusion Empire suppress the Joint Military Forces and drive them to the west coast of the Indian Ocean.
Bright flares illuminated the sky above and weaved large nets of cannon shells within the firing range of the fleet. Despite all this, the approaching figure showed the slightest intention of stopping. Instead, it charged through the array of shells and crashed into the deck of the flagship within moments!
"Bang!"
There was a deafening crash. The invader had arrived at the deck!
"Protect the general!"
A swarm of soldiers rushed toward the position of the intruder with rifles in hand. They saw a slender figure rising from the deck. His eyes were dark and lacked any sense of warmth. The moment they met his eyes, they became overwhelmed with an indescribable fear.
"Bring me to the highest-rank commanding officer of the fleet."
The man spoke idly, completely disregarding the soulless barrels aimed at him.
"Get him!"
Someone among the soldiers who seemed to be their commanding officer gave the order. With orders given from their superiors, the soldiers that were arrested with fear clenched their teeth and executed the orders with fierce discipline.
The man only frowned the moment he saw the soldiers swarming on him. In an instant, an invisible force swept outward with this man at its center. Everybody within a fifty-meter radius was completely frozen in place!
As one may expect, this man who had just traveled across the Atlantic Ocean was Chen Chen.
Chen Chen immediately activated his Field and swept through the flagship. It did not take him long before he identified the highest-ranking officer, which was the general at the bridge of the ship. He slowly went toward the bridge and approached the general.
"Who are you?"
At the moment, Cyric may appear composed but deep down, he was awestruck by this mysterious invader's magnificent display of power. He did have experience with psionicists users in the past. The only reason that the Divine Fusion Empire that had forsaken the advancement of technology was able to suppress the Joint Resistance Army in the first place was in no small part thanks to the psionicists.
If not for these psionicists, the Joint Resistance Army, even with their crippled technology, would have overwhelmed the Divine Fusion Empire a long time ago,
With that said, even advanced-level psionicists could nullify the firepower of regular cannons at most. This invader had managed to power through their concentrated bombardment. What sort of a human being was capable of such feats?
"I come in peace. I don't belong to the Divine Fusion Empire."
Chen Chen did not beat around the bush and addressed the heart of the matter directly. "I come here with a singular purpose and that is to meet the highest-ranked commanding officer in your resistance army. There's something I need from your forces."
"That's impossible!"
Cyric refused this preposition without even considering it. "I won't bring you to our commanding officer even if you threaten to kill all of us. It's simply impossible!"
Chen Chen frowned. There was nothing else he could use to threaten them and there was no value in killing them since he was not here to exact any form of vengeance. He stomached his discontent with the situation and stated, "In that case, I won't force your hand. I'm sure you have methods to contact your superior, in that
case, tell them to inform the resistance general that there's somebody who wants to meet him and that his name is Chen Chen."
"Chen Chen?"
Cyric felt strangely familiar with this standard Chinese name but knew that this was no time to ask unnecessary questions. He hesitated for a moment before asking, "Could I ask why you want to speak with the general of our joint resistance army?"
"Just to form an alliance."
Chen Chen remarked almost too casually, "I'm sure you people want to destroy the Divine Fusion Empire and the Consciousness Stealer as well. I can help you with that."
Cyric once again fell into deep thought upon hearing this. He was debating whether he should do as Chen Chen instructed.
"I come in good faith."
Chen Chen saw that Cyric was on the verge of making up his mind so he immediately struck when the metal was still hot. "All you need to do is to get in touch with him. Whether to join with me in an alliance or not is entirely up to your superiors to decide."
"Alright, I can pass the message for you..."
Chen Chen's persuasion seemed to have worked as Cyric returned with a firm nod and promised him, "But this place is some distance away from land. I'll need to take the fleet back to land before I can get in touch with my superiors. If it doesn't inconvenience you, you're welcome to stay on the ship..."
"Excellent."
Chen Chen smiled easily. Immediately after, the soldiers who were nailed to their spots suddenly felt the invisible tension lifted off them as they regained control of their bodies.
The rigid atmosphere on the ship was suddenly lifted off like a switch being flicked. They immediately bolted to the bridge and eyed Chen Chen cautiously.
"Prepare a room for the gentleman!"
Cyric immediately ordered.
The chief officer on deck immediately stepped up to the task. He approached Chen Chen, saluted, and informed, "Sir, this way please!"
Chen Chen nodded courteously and left the bridge with the chief officer.
After the strange invader had left, Cyric and the gathered soldiers finally heaved a sigh of relief. A deputy commander asked with a grave look on his face, "Boss, are you going to do as he asked?"