Chapter 547 - The Fleet's Origin

The World of Tree Spirits.

It's a world I didn't recognize. Probably, it's one of those worlds where the Hero wasn't from our Special Class and it had been saved without my assistance.

Either way, it's undeniable that it's connected to Earth. If they're not going to conquer it, they're probably going to use it as another foothold to arrive there. Maybe they had other plans but that's why we infiltrated them.

After more probing when I rejoined Erin to investigate, the ones in the perimeter were given limited information. They're just there to set up a barricade and to stop any unaffiliated Space Vessel approaching the area from snooping around.

Even if this Zone Density was still at 1, as it was only two layers below Density 2, Rank 2 Transcendents and above from both Mortal and Transcendent Worlds with developed Space Vessels would start traveling around to search for various opportunities that they might chance upon in different worlds or even inhabitable planets, asteroids and other celestial bodies that were often born through the passage of time as well as influenced by the existing Chaotic Energy.

Even Mortal Worlds could give birth to a unique treasure or artifacts but more often than not, a native would be the one to acquire it.

For everyone's imagination, the strongest entity on a Mortal World could write his own life story in a book and people on Earth who are abundant with entertainment would take it as a fictional adventure filled with blood and glory.

I mean, even my story could be a legend that would be passed on generation after generation. And with the advent of the returning Source Energy of Earth, it's only a matter of time before the other denizens experience the adventure of their lifetime.

Anyway, that's it. We had to move inwards to collect more information. 

Although we had borrowed identities, it's already pointless to keep them due to how low their accessibility is. We quickly abandoned them as we moved from Space Vessel to Space Vessel under Void Concealment with our ultimate destination being the large Space Vessel that served as the command center of the fleet.

Along the way, I probed every Transcendent we passed by and sure enough, they're at the very least Rank 2 Transcendents. Even those two I disposed of were Rank 2…

Erin was more of an assassin so she easily took out the first one unaware while I could simply overpower that guy even before he could react.

I'm already an elite at this point. But considering a Rank 2 Transcendent was also an elite, it would be harder if we got into a fight against all of these Transcendents with only more than ten combatants. Yse and Ezyn were not even that strong.

Nonetheless, one thing was for sure, these Transcendents of the fleet didn't come from a single world. They had different species and different Source Energy signatures.

But that's not enough to associate them with that organization. A Converging Transcendent World or a Sage World could also send a fleet by pooling in Transcendents from Mortal Worlds connected to them.

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Around an hour later, after passing by every passageway that connected one Space Vessel to another, we finally reached the central command, the large Space Vessel.

If I could compare it to the Kingfisher that's as large as a commercial airplane, this large Space Vessel was comparable to a giant cruise ship.

It's wide enough to house thousands of passengers but naturally, they couldn't fill it to the brim.

Even in Transcendent Worlds, every Transcendent could be likened to a nuclear missile. That's how precious they were.

Earth had a lot of them simply because of me. If I let nature take its course by not putting them in my support list, most of them would stay at Rank 5 Mortal.

"Erin, there's only one Rank 3 Transcendent in here. However, there's at least fifty Rank 2 Transcendents. As much as I want you to stay next to me, let's split up and gather information separately. Meet me at the bridge of this Space Vessel."

"This monster, alright… Leave it to me. But first…" Erin jumped at me and pushed me to a corner. Her lips coincided with mine as is her tongue.

I could feel her slight nervousness but by doing this, she's calming herself down. Her strength was already close to the peak of Rank 2 Transcendent, she could hold herself off against a number of them but if she was surrounded, there's still a possibility for her to lose, unlike me who had a lot of tricks in my sleeves as well as the experience of the previous life.

"I'm glad my Erin is this honest now. There's no dishonor in retreating when you feel you're at a disadvantage so if that happened, come to my side immediately. I'll even send my Incarnation to you."

"I know. But even so, I have to be strong enough to continue walking beside you."

"Have you forgotten? We have Shared Growth, in time, you'll all be as strong as me. Talk about being this nervous despite presenting yourself to come with me."

"Ugh. You're right… I'll be off then, monster. I have my Shadow Control, it's a bit inferior to your Void Concealment but I can manage it if it's only for espionage."

"Un. If nothing turns up, we can just leave and check the surface of the Mortal World instead."

Having decided on what to do, Erin and I immediately split off to quickly cover the whole Space Vessel.

I had Void Concealment. Unless someone stronger than me was here, it's close to impossible to be detected.

Sending Erin on her own was just my way to not let her feel like she's not needed here. Moreover, I trust her abilities. Otherwise, I would be the same protective guy who wouldn't let any danger befall my Companions.

"What's the situation? Has the similar signature sent to us been detected in that world?"

As soon as I entered the bridge of the Space Vessel, a similar scene close to those command centers of sci-fi films involving spaceships and the like appeared before me.

In front, much like that example I just gave, showed the spherical Mortal World in full view.

The man who just spoke was wearing a dirty green-colored military uniform complete with medals pinned on his right chest. He's the lone Rank 3 Transcendent here. He's a mustached middle-aged man whose face was filled with battle scars.

Judging from the fluctuation of Source Energy around him, although I couldn't guess what level it was, it's a Physique-type Source Energy.

He was standing at something like a bow of the ship and below him, Rank 2 Transcendents wearing slightly inferior dirty green uniforms were in front of computers typing away and checking things in their monitors, all the while reporting their findings on him.

"As of the moment, there's no sighting of it. This Mortal World seemed to have been targeted by an Invasive World but they pushed them back."

"They repelled an Invasive World? That in itself is an achievement not many Mortal Worlds can do. Send more of our men down the surface. No… I will be going down to talk to its World's Will."

"But…"

"What? Even if we cannot find what we're looking for here, we can convince the World's Will to form a connection to our world. These days, that organization is rampant that there are fewer Natural Mortal Worlds surviving from their claws." The Rank 3 Transcendent snickered as if he found a gold mine.

This… This fleet isn't from Overworld Serpent.. But what are they searching for? Signature of what? I need to hear more before I can make a judgment.