Chapter 1607 Identical Locations

Chapter 1607 Identical Locations

Author's Note: Unedited Chapter

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"Another dead end," Endric voiced with a frustrated sigh as they finally broke away from the black hole.

As Endric skillfully piloted the ship around the gaping maw of the black hole, his attention was caught by a faint flickering in the distance.

Just beyond the swirling gravitational chaos, he spotted a teal-hued planet.

It wasn't static, nor was it consistent—it flickered in and out of existence like a mirage at the edge of his vision.

"Hold up," Endric squinted through the viewport. He tapped a few buttons, magnifying the image, then called out, "Hey, you two, look at this. Do you see that?"

Both Ria and Sersi leaned over his shoulders, staring intently into the viewport.

At first, the dark void of space revealed nothing unusual. But then, as if on cue, the teal planet shimmered back into view, hanging in space for a few moments before fading away again. Nôv(el)B\\jnn

"Did you see it?" Endric asked, glancing between them with a spark of excitement and concern.

Ria's eyes narrowed. "Yeah, I caught it."

"That's no ordinary flicker. Planets don't just... phase like that," Sersi chipped in.

Sersi's expression was a mix of fascination and unease. "It looks like the first planet we checked out, doesn't it? The color, the haziness... everything."

Endric nodded, gripping the controls. "It's weird, but I'm bringing us in closer. Hang tight."

He eased the ship forward, carefully navigating past the intense gravitational forces.

The black hole seemed to reach out, tugging at their vessel with an unrelenting grip, but Endric maintained a steady course, pushing back with his telekinetic energy as they headed towards the flickering teal world.

With every second, the planet became more real, until finally, they crossed some unseen threshold and emerged in the planet's atmosphere. The shimmering faded, and the planet solidified, no longer vanishing in and out of existence.

The ship touched down with a soft thud. It's engines powered down as Endric, Ria, and Sersi prepared to disembark.

"Alright, keep your guard up," Endric warned, his voice low and tense. "This place... it looks exactly like the first planet, and that's not a good sign."

They exited the ship, stepping onto the surface.

The surroundings were almost haunting in their familiarity. Pointed rocks rose from the ground, casting long shadows under the teal sky.

A pale mist clung to the ground, curling around their legs and filling the air with an unsettling chill.

The officer's lips tightened, but he said nothing, gesturing to a subordinate to begin the scan. Gustav watched as a bright light washed over his ship, scanning every inch of the vessel's exterior.

After a few moments, the officer's face reappeared on the screen. "You're clear, but I'd advise against flying through restricted regions without checking in at designated checkpoints. You may be a well-known figure, but that doesn't exempt you from Alliance regulations."

Gustav smirked while crossing his arms. "Noted. So, what's got the Alliance so riled up? Seems like you're running a pretty tight operation out here."

The officer's eyes narrowed slightly. "We're on the lookout for a fugitive. A high-priority target. That's all you need to know."

"A high-priority target, huh? Must be serious if it's got you all out here patrolling the middle of nowhere."

The officer's face hardened. "Your cooperation is appreciated, Mr. Crimson. We don't need your commentary."

Gustav raised his hands in mock surrender. "You never know what could help. I've got places to be anyway. You're good to let me through now, right?"

Gustav was being humble even though he knew none of them could stop him if he wanted to leave.

The officer hesitated, then nodded reluctantly. "Fine. You're clear. Just remember to be on your best behavior Mr. Crimson. You might be powerful, but we're still the protectors of the cosmos."

As the screen blinked off, Gustav smirked.

He fired up the engines, pulling away from the checkpoint with accelerating speed.The gravitational forces resumed pressing down on the spacecraft as it drew closer and closer to the next vestige, but his thoughts lingered on the interaction with the Alliance.

The fugitive they mentioned had seemed unimportant in the moment, but the description he had overheard was automatically stored in his mind.

It was impossible for him to forget anything after all.

---

Back in their own ship, Endric, Ria, and Sersi regrouped, silently processing the strange experience on the flickering planet.

"This has to be some sort of trick," Ria voiced in confusion. "The fact that we found two planets with identical environments can't be a coincidence."

It was one thing to both have teal looks but it was something else entirely to have a completely identical ecosystem and environment.

Endric leaned back in his seat, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Could Nocturnis be behind this? I find it difficult to understand since his powers doesn't have enough potency to create a whole world in this plane."

Sersi looked between them. "Maybe it's a delay tactic from someone else. If someone knows we're looking for the sword, keeping us here could buy them time to move it."

Endric's expression darkened as he considered her words. "You might be right. If this is a fluke, we need to rescan."

Ria nodded. "Agreed. If this place is a decoy, let's not stick around any longer than we have to."

As they prepared the ship for departure, a sense of urgency settled over them.

They couldn't afford to waste any more time. If someone was playing tricks here, they needed to isolate the fake from the real as soon as they could and figure out exactly what was going on.