Volume 1, Chapter 40: You Are Not the Demon Eye
Beyond the distant and boundless expanses of space and time, a colossal spacetime shuttle, massive enough to crush the starry firmament, hovered silently.
"Third Inquisitor, we have located the overlapping time-line point of Parallel World Number 87."
An officer attired in the combat uniform of the Order reported respectfully to the Third Inquisitor, whose face remained obscured beneath a pristine white robe.
"Very well. Breach the spacetime barrier and contact the Third Squad."
"Yes, sir!"
The gigantic spacetime shuttle rapidly completed its energy charging sequence, instantly unleashing a beam of light capable of obliterating stars and universes.
Whoosh...
The previously sealed spacetime barrier was sliced open by the beam, revealing two overlapping worlds.
The captain of the Ninth Legion hastily initiated a broadcast: "Calling all members of the Ninth Legion, please respond if you copy."
"Calling all members of the Ninth Legion, please respond if you copy."
"Calling all members of the Ninth Legion, please respond if you copy."
The calls went out in rapid succession.
Li Yan and his companions, currently converging toward the survivor base, suddenly heard a woman's voice.
Instantly, everyone's spirits lifted.
"That's wonderful! The captain and the others have finally found us. Reinforcements have arrived."
"Phew... If they hadn't come any sooner, my combat suit's energy would have been completely depleted. It's down to eleven percent now."
The members of the Order, who had been swept along by the spacetime tides, all breathed sighs of relief.
For days, they had been locked in battles against dinosaurs and unknown creatures.
The energy reserves of their combat suits were practically exhausted; had reinforcements failed to arrive, they likely wouldn't have lasted much longer.
"Message received, I am Gu Guanhua of the Third Squad. Captain, have you arrived?"
"Message received, I am Xu Tianhao of the Fifth Squad."
"Message received, I am Alia of the Seventh Squad."
"Message received, I am Yue Chengze of the Eleventh Squad."
The various squad leaders responded one after another.
Everyone felt a profound sense of relief—they had finally waited for reinforcements.
The captain of the Ninth Legion commanded, "Upload your recent logs to the database. Gu Guanhua, give me a brief report on the situation."
"Yes, Captain. It happened like this..."
Gu Guanhua briefly recounted how, upon arriving in Parallel World Number 87, they discovered that all human life had vanished from the entire realm, only to be subsequently swept by spacetime tides into this strange world, along with everything that transpired thereafter.
Standing aboard the Ninth Spacetime Shuttle, Captain Wei Anlan furrowed her brow as she listened to the report.
An entire world's human population collectively transmigrated into the Jurassic world.
This was no trivial matter; nothing of the sort had occurred during her tenure as captain.
"Captain, there are still many humans from Parallel World Number 87 scattered across every corner of this world. We cannot attend to them all simultaneously; how should we proceed next?"
Gu Guanhua's concerns mirrored those of everyone else.
The immediate priority was undoubtedly to sever the overlapping spacetimes of the two worlds once more, and subsequently recalibrate their respective timelines.
Yet this was an immensely complex engineering project, one they could certainly not accomplish alone.
Furthermore, once the two parallel worlds were segregated, every human belonging to World 87 had to be returned to their native timeline—another deeply intricate undertaking.
At these thoughts, a wave of headache washed over everyone.
Wei Anlan raised her finely chiseled yet heroic eyebrows. Indeed, this was no simple task to handle.
She immediately turned her gaze toward the Third Inquisitor.
"Lord Third Inquisitor, how shall we proceed from here?"
She wished to hear the Third Inquisitor's judgment; possessing boundless supernatural powers, he might well have a solution.
The Third Inquisitor, who had remained standing steadfastly at the bow of the spacetime shuttle, maintained silence for a long moment before speaking: "Instruct your squads to pinpoint the locations of all Number 87 humans, and then utilize the spacetime shuttle to teleport them back. Activate the memory-編制er program upon initiation, and then have the entire Ninth Legion enter Parallel World Number 87 to reshape the memories of all humans."
"Understood, I know what to do." Wei Anlan offered no alternative opinions; under the circumstances, this was the optimal arrangement.
Before long, Li Yan and his comrades received their orders to scan and pinpoint the humans of Parallel World Number 87 at maximum speed.
A total of twelve individuals set off in twelve directions, beginning wide-range scans and localization.
Wei Anlan instructed: "Everyone, complete your positioning as swiftly as possible. The faster you finish locating them, the fewer humans of World 87 will perish. Do you understand?"
"Understood!"
"Understood!"
"Understood!"
The group responded in unison.
Li Yan's speed had consistently outmatched all others. Leveraging his quadruple-integrated strength, the velocity he could unleash completely overwhelmed all members of the other four squads.
"Initiate area scan."
"Surviving humans detected, confirm coordinates."
"Coordinates confirmed!"
Reports echoed synchronously as red dots flickered continuously across the holographic megascreen aboard the Ninth Gigantic Spacetime Shuttle.
The number of localized individuals climbed relentlessly.
Fifty million, one hundred million, two hundred million...
Witnessing the ceaseless updating of the Number 87 survivors' numbers, the members of the Order all let out silent breaths of relief.
Had too many died, it was likely even the Supreme Lord of the Order would have been startled into action.
Li Yan moved at breakneck speed, smashing straight through trees and boulders along his path.
He resembled an unstoppable Sion with his ultimate activated.
Yet directly ahead of him, he suddenly caught sight of a man standing quietly.
It was as if he were waiting specifically for Li Yan's arrival.
The man was dressed in a clean, crisp black suit, tall and straight-backed—a figure utterly discordant with the primeval wilderness of this strange world.
Hmm?
This person looks terribly familiar.
Li Yan frowned, hastily decelerating.
Finally, he came to a halt right in front of the man.
As he took in the man's appearance, Li Yan's brows knit together even tighter.
This individual bore no resemblance whatsoever to the survivors of Parallel World Number 87, for he appeared utterly composed. Almost every human from Parallel World Number 87 was consumed solely by the struggle for survival in this realm, looking disheveled and wretched beyond measure.
Yet what about this man?
He looked as though he were merely out on a vacation.
Li Yan felt an uncanny sense of déjà vu—no, he had seen this person before.
Especially the man's eyes, profound and distant, resembling a pair of black holes.
"You've arrived?" the man said slowly, a faint smile playing at the corners of his mouth.
Li Yan was momentarily stunned. "Who on earth are you?"
The man cast a glance around his surroundings before speaking: "Heh, I never imagined you would actually join the Order. Quite interesting, really. Then let's consider this a welcoming gift from me for joining the Order. Do you like it?"
Li Yan was baffled. "What gift?"
The middle-aged man replied, "You'll understand in time. Remember not to die too easily, though."
"State your business clearly! Who exactly are you?" Sensing that the man was far from ordinary, Li Yan lunged forward in a flash, attempting to grab him.
Yet with a casual flick of the man's hand, Li Yan was sent flying backward like a kite with a snapped string for over a dozen meters, smashing through several thick tree trunks before finally coming to a stop.
A deep shock gripped Li Yan's heart. Who on earth was this man?
What manner of technique was this, that a casual wave of his hand left him utterly incapable of defending himself?
When he struggled back to his feet and looked toward the spot where the man had been standing, the figure had already vanished without a trace.
Simultaneously, far beyond the bounds of space and time.
The Third Inquisitor's previously closed eyes snapped open abruptly. "Hmm? Spacetime fluctuations—show yourself!"
He thrust out a massive hand, and deep within the spacetime ahead of him, a colossal hand materialized, condensed entirely from spacetime energy.
Yet in the next instant, the gigantic hand shattered into dust, inch by inch.
"Are you the Demon Eye?" the Third Inquisitor cried out in profound alarm.
"Third Inquisitor, it has been a long time. I never expected you to still be putting on such a pretentious act. How tedious." A man's blurred visage condensed within the void.
"No, you aren't the Demon Eye. You are... you are!" The Third Inquisitor attempted to utter the man's name, but due to some unknown constraint, he was forced to swallow the words hovering on the tip of his tongue.