Chapter 435 The Nemesis

The three Tree Kings were in the midst of a discussion when they suddenly paused, falling silent as they simultaneously sensed a message from the Mother Tree's consciousness.

The Ancestor Tree King's eyes flashed with a strange light as he slowly said, "The Mother Tree senses the birth of another nemesis, and instructs us to kill it."

"Another one of those bizarre creatures? They still haven't been exterminated?" The Secret Tree King asked with some interest.

The Ancestor Tree King nodded to him. "Yes, the secondary dimensions are suited to your abilities. You shall lead the dependents to resolve this matter, searching for its location before the nemesis reaches adulthood."

"I'll do my best," the Secret Tree King replied noncommittally.

This was not the first time the World Tree had detected a nemesis. Records of nemesis invasions existed from the early days of the civilization.

The mutually restraining relationship stemmed from an unusual entanglement at the information state level, involving bidirectional sensing. Therefore, the World Tree Civilization had always placed great importance on the existence of nemeses.

The World Tree's sensing of a nemesis was divided into two stages. When a nemesis was in its larval stage, the World Tree merely knew of its existence and could not sense its specific location. As the nemesis larva gradually matured, the sensing would grow stronger. When any nemesis entered adulthood, the World Tree would be able to track its location and hunt it down precisely, thus eliminating many nemeses.

However, the World Tree could only sense nemeses after they were born and could not detect the embryos produced by the nemeses. Thus, it had never been able to completely eradicate them, and there were always survivors. They could only settle for the next best thing, focusing on killing the larvae as the primary goal.

In fact, the World Tree had been expanding in the secondary dimensions, partly to exterminate the nemeses. Once a sensing occurred, the Tree Kings would be immediately notified to kill the nemesis larva as soon as possible, preventing it from reaching adulthood. This was a task of extremely high priority, with only the Tree Kings knowing the details.

The Fixed Tree King couldn't help but ask, "What about the frontline war?"

"Eliminating the Mother Tree's nemesis takes precedence. It seems our operations will have to be temporarily suspended." The Ancestor Tree King glanced at him, thought for a moment, and added, "Don't forget to water the Suppressing Tree King."

...

In the secondary dimensional world, at a forward base of the expeditionary force.

A huge ring-shaped teleportation gate floated in the dimensional space. This was the gateway for the three civilizations to enter and exit from the main universe. Surrounding it were a series of secondary-dimensional fortresses, with batches of expeditionary teams coming and going.

A flash of light appeared, and Han Xiao, wearing the Emperor's figure, appeared on the dedicated teleportation platform.

The person in charge of the forward base was already waiting and immediately came forward.

"Your Excellency Black Star, you've finally arrived."

"What's the situation now?" Han Xiao looked down at him and asked.

"The rate at which that embryo is absorbing dimensional energy has suddenly increased by a factor of ten million. I don't know if it's good or bad. You should go and see for yourself. I've already prepared a vehicle for you."

"Okay… by the way, what's the reaction from the King of Unbounded?"

"He went ahead of you and should be observing the embryo's changes up close."

"Alright, I'll go then."

Han Xiao nodded.

After more than a decade of development, the secondary dimension loaned by the King of Unbounded had been transformed by the three civilizations. Currently, the three civilizations were using this forward base as a springboard to greatly increase the strength of their expeditionary forces.

Furthermore, the three civilizations were displaying their traditional rogue behavior, persuading the King of Unbounded to provide them with more territory to establish bases. This area had now been transformed into a "shallow dimension," allowing the three civilizations to directly enter and exit from the main universe, effectively taking over the nest.

Even if the King of Unbounded was unwilling to provoke the World Tree, he was now faintly tied to the same war chariot by the various actions of the three civilizations.

Han Xiao boarded the vehicle, set the dimensional coordinates, and started the engine. The heavy particle thrusters spewed out surging tail flames, which soon transformed into an invisible wake. It transitioned from a conventional engine to a dimensional warp engine, accelerating to the critical point and suddenly disappearing from its original position, initiating a dimensional jump.

The shuttle entered a tunnel of iridescent light. Before long, the vehicle jolted violently, and the light outside the window disappeared, replaced by a dark secondary dimensional space. They had arrived at their destination.

A grayish-white embryo floated in the center of the dimension, guarded by a large number of mechanical troops.

The projection of the King of Unbounded was nearby. Sensing the arrival of the vehicle, he couldn't help but turn his head and look over. After discovering that it was Han Xiao, he greeted him.

"Black Star, you've come too."

"Tell me the situation," Han Xiao said as he flew to his side.

"The energy of this dimension is pouring into the embryo at an extremely high rate. If this continues, it will soon collapse. I think this embryo is about to be born…" the King of Unbounded explained.

Han Xiao nodded and turned to carefully observe the embryo.

Originally, the gray mist wrapped under the fetal membrane was very stable, but now it was boiling like water, fluctuating wildly. Inside, the increasingly distinct long, dark shadow stirred, impacting the fetal membrane from the inside time and time again, causing bumps to appear on the embryo.

In Han Xiao's perception, this embryo had become an energy black hole. Everything in this secondary dimension, including mass, space, and energy, was collapsing toward the embryo, being devoured in large gulps.

Some oviparous animals would eat their eggshells to replenish nutrients when they were born. In Han Xiao's view, the act of the Primal Esper Worm's egg draining this parasitic secondary dimension was a similar behavior.

Before long, this secondary dimension became riddled with holes, and the remaining remnants were quickly eaten clean by the Primal Esper Worm's egg. The embryo was directly exposed to the spatial storm.

Han Xiao had already recalled his mechanical troops and did not interfere with the changes of the Primal Esper Worm's egg, watching alongside the King of Unbounded.

*Chi—*

The fetal membrane suddenly cracked, and the grayish-white mist inside leaked out, spreading. The surrounding spatial turbulence could not penetrate this layer of mist.

Han Xiao sucked in a strand of mist and analyzed it. He discovered that the composition of this mist was a special kind of biological micro-particle that could isolate spatial storms and seemed to have the effect of breaking through space. It seemed to come with dimensional travel capabilities.

The fetal membrane quickly withered, but the mist continued to increase, obscuring the appearance of the Primal Esper Worm. Only a black shadow could be seen vaguely in the gray mist, like a giant dragon hidden in the clouds.

At this moment, the Primal Esper Worm suddenly flew in the opposite direction of the two of them, at an extremely fast speed.

"Is it trying to run?"

Han Xiao's eyes flashed. He raised his hand and used the Spatial Stabilizer to freeze the Primal Esper Worm in place, preventing it from moving.

He slowly approached, flying into the gray mist. The interface immediately prompted him that he was under continuous attack. The surrounding gray mist was spontaneously repelling outsiders, but the attack power was too low to break his defense. He didn't lose any health.

Entering the center of the gray mist, Han Xiao finally saw the true appearance of the Primal Esper Worm…

It was a huge, dark-golden serpent-like creature without external armor, its entire body flowing with a metallic luster. Its skin was continuously releasing more gray mist, which seemed to be a substance it automatically generated and was probably an external protective layer. It had two pairs of huge membranous wings on its back and a pair of sharp claws on its abdomen. The shape of its head was similar to that of a snake, but it had no mouth or nostrils, only a pair of cold, golden vertical pupils.

Compared to the random appearance of the Void Bugs, the appearance of the Primal Esper Worm was much more aesthetically pleasing.

"Although it's called a worm, it looks more like a dragon…"

Han Xiao muttered to himself and took out a mental communication device to release his mental waves to the Primal Esper Worm, attempting to communicate.

The mental waves of both sides connected smoothly. Han Xiao sensed the Primal Esper Worm's cold emotions, but it did not respond to his probing.

Huh? Isn't it usually portrayed in movies that newly born animals treat the first creature they see as their parents…

Even if it wasn't that way, with my extraordinary charm and affability, this little animal shouldn't be so cold to me…

Han Xiao was secretly curious and probed a few more times. However, the Primal Esper Worm only stared at him indifferently with its cold, golden pupils, never answering, as if it was maintaining a strong sense of vigilance against the outside world.

Seeing this, he simply stopped communicating and reached out to poke the Primal Esper Worm.

The next moment, the interface popped up with the other party's attributes. Han Xiao quickly browsed through them and suddenly froze.

In the Primal Esper Worm's attribute panel, there was actually a talent ability to sense the World Tree's main body. However, it was currently in a gray, frozen state. The ability description stated that it would only be activated upon entering adulthood, while the Primal Esper Worm was still in its larval stage.

"It actually has such a talent! No wonder it's the World Tree's nemesis!"

Han Xiao was shocked and immediately delighted.

This was an unexpected surprise, representing that the three civilizations had a stable way to find the World Tree's main body. Finally, they didn't have to place all their hopes on ethereal luck!

Hmm, that doesn't seem right. If it weren't for Harrison, he wouldn't have met the King of Unbounded, let alone come into contact with the Primal Esper Worm's egg…

So, in the final analysis, it's still Harrison's luck?!

"His halo of luck is even more powerful than I thought…"

Han Xiao clicked his tongue secretly, and his thoughts immediately became active.

He didn't expect the Primal Esper Worm to have such an ability, so the plan could be improved. With such a trump card, the top priority was to nurture the Primal Esper Worm larva and allow it to enter adulthood as soon as possible. That way, they could directly attack the World Tree's heart.

"However, the expeditionary force can't stop either. Who knows how long it will take for the Primal Esper Worm to reach adulthood…"

Han Xiao made up his mind and continued to try to communicate with the Primal Esper Worm. However, the Primal Esper Worm larva was still aloof and unresponsive, with an attitude of "do whatever you want." He couldn't do anything about it. After all, this was his first contact with the Primal Esper Worm, and he didn't know if all newly born Primal Esper Worms were like this.

He didn't dare to revoke his control over the Primal Esper Worm larva. Judging from how it ran away as soon as it was born, it was probably a lost cause.

Han Xiao had no choice but to temporarily put aside the issue of communication. He grabbed the Primal Esper Worm and came to the King of Unbounded. After thinking for a moment, he said:

"It's a very peculiar creature that's of great use to me. It feeds on secondary dimensions. Since you're known as the lord of a million dimensions, I'll leave the task of feeding it to you."

Upon hearing this, the King of Unbounded immediately wore a sour expression.

Those secondary dimensions were all territories he had collected. It was already depressing enough to lend them to the three civilizations, and now he had to feed this creature? Did you really think of me as a fat sheep to be slaughtered at will?!

Seeing that he didn't respond, Han Xiao raised an eyebrow. "You're not willing?"

"…I'm honored." The King of Unbounded decisively agreed to Han Xiao's unreasonable request in a state of extreme anger.

Don't say anymore. I'm a coward.

"Don't worry, you won't be feeding it for nothing. The three civilizations will offer some main universe materials in exchange."

Han Xiao smiled and comforted him.

Since the King of Unbounded liked to collect trash, the three civilizations would definitely not be stingy with this cost. Anyway, the one thing they didn't lack was trash.

After successfully persuading the King of Unbounded to open his wallet generously, Han Xiao turned his head to look at the Primal Esper Worm larva again, his eyes shining as if he had seen the dawn of a solution.

The Primal Esper Worm lowered its head and looked at him, its golden vertical pupils flashing with human-like rejection, with the same hostility as a prisoner toward a guard.

Sensing this emotion, Han Xiao couldn't help but narrow his eyes.

"The first impression isn't very good. The Primal Esper Worm isn't naturally unrestrained and loves freedom, is it? It seems that raising this creature won't be so easy."