Above The Sky
Chapter 356 - 356 328 Shattered Future 23

356: Chapter 328: Shattered Future (2/3) 356: Chapter 328: Shattered Future (2/3) “Destroying a sturdy surveillance drone thousands of kilometers away with no-delay spirit energy physics?!”

At this moment, the watchers were finally moved.

This was the ability of a Third Energy Level spirit energy user, and although not unique, possessing Third Energy Level abilities was in itself considered incredible.

After all, looking at the young man’s original body, he could be no more than a teenager.

To elevate a teenager to the Third Energy Level within a matter of days…

Carlin’s Flower had been even quicker, but that was a capability near her Complete Form!

The leader of the Huai Guang Church wasn’t too surprised, he activated another surveillance camera.

In this camera’s view, the youth from the White Folks who stepped out of the white cocoon membrane looked like a humanoid juvenile dragon.

His slender metal-blade tail casually swept across the solid rock street, slicing it open, and sturdy fine scales formed a structure similar to an exoskeleton under the influence of Origin Quality, yet stronger.

The boy’s forelimbs had claws that shone with a silver-white metallic luster, just as sharp as the blade on his tail, no doubt.

He appeared not fully developed yet, with wings on his back that seemed part insect and part dragon, still covered with the translucent mucus from the cocoon, sticking wetly to his back.

But as he stepped out of the cocoon into the environment, those wings immediately spread open, dried, and the color gradually transitioned from faintly blood-colored translucence to their current pure white.

The creature looked into the sky with curious eyes, obviously noticing the observation cameras above.

Then, it vibrated its wings on its back, and with a piercing tearing sound, a fierce wind suddenly arose, even blowing down a tottering small building nearby completely.

The forceful wind pressure propelled its body like a missile, breaking the sound barrier in a breath, creating a white vacuum path in mid-air with relentless vortices and sonic booms dispersing in all directions.

Another camera was destroyed—then one after another.

“What in the world is this monster?”

The upper echelons of Canaan Moore stood up.

As Elves who regularly dealt with Alien Insect Swarms, she was feeling creepy: “Why would a parasitic offspring have traits of a Crystal Dragon?

Even a completely parasitic queen wouldn’t possibly allow her progeny to also have the host’s genetic traits!”

—Even if there were, it would only be a part, and might not be effective, a positive inheritance…

How could it be like this creature before me, half-insect, half-human, yet with a human appearance and intelligence, so perfect?

It was as if…

someone had performed an extremely precise and perfect modification on the Nest’s and Crystal Dragon’s genetic factors and methods!

But how could that be possible?

How many times would one have to try and fail, and how much time would have to be invested to achieve even a slight result?!

What kind of Collective Nest Will could have such efficiency?!

“We classify this Heart-eating Swarm as the ‘Primordial Hive.’ It is different from previous gestalt hives, where the Nest Will leads everything, instead creating a large number of ‘offspring’ with semi-independent personalities to act as leaders, specializing in certain aspects.”

“And ‘offspring’ can be regarded as Sublimators injected with a special swarm Magic Potion, who are guided and assisted by the swarm in rapid sublimation.”

The high-ranking member of the Huai Guang Church spoke thus, having already gained a deep understanding of the Heart-eater Swarm: “What we’re seeing is the metamorphosed offspring temporarily named ‘White Wing,’ a swarm air combat leader who has been endowed with the power of the Crystal Dragon after experiencing ‘Rebirth in Death.'”

“The Heart-eater Worm Swarm can transform other creatures into a part of themselves, interlocking the genes and Origin Structures of the hosts with other Sublimated creatures, perfecting each other.

However, this process distorts the original life form to such an extent, it’s akin to killing it and creating a completely new entity, hence it has been named ‘Rebirth in Death.'”

“According to the internal data of the Huai Guang Church on the sixteen previously eradicated Nests Wills of different Worm Nests, the Heart-eater Worm Swarm is extraordinarily similar to the ‘Star-picking Swarm’ found around the Inner Sea of the Heavenfall, the most ancient and powerful swarm.”

“They too create powerful leader units to assist the Nest Will in ruling and expanding.

It’s a spiritual energy swarm capable of living in the void.

If it weren’t for the Falling Star Fae, who suppressed the swarm in its early stages with the full strength of their clan, and used the ‘Luminous Furnace’ in Falling Star City to completely incinerate the mother nest, I’m afraid that by now, the entire northeastern side of the continent would have been devoured.”

“And the primitive Sea Demon Worm Swarm that once appeared in the Southwest Terra and triggered the ‘Sea Beast Tide’ showed similar traits before the minds leading it were crushed by the combined forces of the Terra nations.

The main mind was eliminated immediately, so it didn’t get much chance to display its full potential.”

“Even so, the fragmented Sea Demon Worm Nests still plunged the whole of Terra into a brutal struggle, and we even lost the vast majority of our Sublimators.”

“The Heart-eater Worm Swarm possesses a potential similar to that of the Star-picking and Sea Demon Worms, it has not yet fully unfolded its nest and hasn’t developed into its Complete Form.

We must eradicate it as soon as possible.”

The screen in front of everyone flickers once more, and this time, what appears before them is a pitch-black, tranquil sea.

In the ocean, there is a giant shadow with glistening dorsal fins swimming along—a tremendous Isle Whale Shark, whose body bears bizarre structures akin to vector nozzles and all kinds of terrifyingly armed metallic module structures.

Following behind this whale shark is a gigantic Three-Headed Crystalline Dragon, staring with its cyan eyes coldly into the distance at the observation camera.

It seems to be a fusion of three crystalline dragons, yet it exudes an ultimate aura that a purebred crystalline dragon could never possess.

Behind its chest plate, the Furnace Core burns with a pale flame.

They do not attack because their ruler is right here.

In the pitch-black sea, crisscrossing azure Spirit Energy patterns light up, spreading endlessly into the far distance.

A shadow etched with light patterns is emerging.

The behemoths respectfully bow their heads to the shadowy patterns.

Then, extreme heat erupts.

The heat greater than that of a volcano steams the seas, whipping up winds—off the coast south of Harrison Port, huge columns of cloud resembling tornadoes rise from the sea, while flickers of crimson light intermingle with the increasingly fiery surge of azure Spirit Energy patterns, creating a vast cloud mountain that covers the entire sky in mere minutes.

An unimaginable amount of water vapor and incredible winds are howling, yet the area where the giant shark and crystalline dragon are located remains unusually calm, as if they are at the center of the storm.

Twenty-one years later, another great storm begins…

And with the great storm comes a ‘warm snow’ that begins to spread across the Southern Sea coast of Terra.

All observation cameras plunge into darkness.

“We cannot predict the future of the Heart-eater Worm Swarm nor the level of disaster it may bring—not in the slightest.”

In front of the pitch-black lens, the high ranks of the Huai Guang Church’s tone finally wore a hint of fluctuation…

a regretful fluctuation, “This is the reason why we classified the Heart-eater Swarm as a first-level Apocalypse calamity.”

“The Swarm might possess the ability to evade prophecies, or perhaps, their potential even surpasses the limit of our Huai Guang Book of Prophecies, going beyond what the Prophet could have imagined.”

“Or to say…”

“—The Swarm, is also a Prophet.”

The dreamscape trembled, the future wavered.

A path of fate was cut off, a grand Path of the Dao severed.

Everything shattered into pieces, disintegrating into the pitch-black cracks.

And numerous fragments of ‘futures’ fell towards a quietly swirling, aqua-colored light.

One could vaguely hear such voices.

—Demon Bugs from Harrison are closing in on Naru City!

—Unspeakable, humanity-devouring monsters are approaching the Duchy of Solin!

—Heart-eating Swarm has taken over the Southern Coast of Terra!

—Fiery Flame Land, Sertar Empire, Canaan Moore Federation, and Whale Song Cliff joined forces to battle the Swarm’s deep-sea troops!

The special operations teams of the Four Great Orthodox Churches have been dispatched, targetting the Swarm’s overlord ‘Star-seeker Ian’!

—Good news!

The Swarm’s main fleet has been defeated, three leaders of the Worm Nest’s offspring crushed, the Swarm’s mastermind nest collapsed, we have won!

—Shock!

After fifteen years, the Huai Guang Church announces that mining bugs from the Worm Nest were discovered at the mantle of the New Continent.

We’ve all been deceived!

The Swarm has not been annihilated!

—The Battle of Doom!

The Terra Crisis Federation declares its establishment, our enemy ‘Star-eater Swarm’ is approaching the Core of Terra, its aim is to cause a planet-restructuring great apocalyptic disaster, completely destroying the habitats of all existing sentient beings!

—We must stop it, this is the war that will decide Terra’s fate, we must unite as one and fight this strong enemy!

Memories, a jumble of shards, began surging in.

On the Southern Coast, fifteen years later, after the decisive battle in the Southern Sea, the Worm Nest returns with a vengeance, this time abandoning all other targets in a bid to totally destroy the entire planet’s ecosystem.

In the dream, surrounded by whispers in the darkness, the entire dreamscape was shattering, flaking away to reveal the nihility behind.

Above the great sea, the aqua halo gazed at its own Worm Nest-transfigured self from afar, locking sight with the vast, endless azure patterns.

These were the only two colors that did not crumble apart in the breaking dream world.

They looked at each other.

But Ian saw nothing.

He could glimpse nothing beyond the traces of azure; his vision was filled with a non-existent veneer of nihility, rippling with golden halos, singing a somewhat sad tune.

The golden firmament was incredibly pure, but… there were no stars.

[…This path…

has an end…]

[…Can’t see…

still can’t see…]

[…Can’t see…

the light of the stars…]

From a more distant future, such sorrowful soliloquy arrived, mixed with the hissing of countless Swarms, only emphasizing the purity of this voice’s will.

Hum—Accompanying the buzzing in his ears, Ian startled awake from the dream.

White-haired, the youth confusedly raised his hand, touching his own eyes—he noticed his sweat was dripping, his white locks clinging to his skin felt cold as the crystal fungal mats of the Swarm in the dream.

All things in the dream were spinning, flickering, captured and remembered by the youth using the Silver Chips, lest they be forgotten.

“Just now…

was that a dream?”

Ian took a deep breath, looked around him, and then to the young Elan sleeping by his side, munching on the covers in his dreams.

It was absurd, yet it calmed him down, “You’re too old to be biting on covers, kicking them would be more normal, at least!”

Gently rescuing the covers from the young boy’s mouth, Ian got up, pulled back the curtains, and stood silently by the window, gazing at the distant churning azure sea.

He stared at the moonlight and the tides in the distance, murmuring to himself, “Is that…”

“The Swarm?”