Star Odyssey

Chapter 4165: Bring Them Along

There had always been powerful civilizations within the Aevum Inch; humanity had simply lacked the means to encounter them before. But as their human civilization grew stronger, encountering more such civilizations became a matter of course.

Kang Tian grew increasingly nervous. It had assumed that humans were well-behaved creatures, and given their number of Immortals, they should have had the ability to protect themselves. Combined, those two things should have been enough for the snail to live comfortably, even if a little bitterly. But the longer it listened for, the more it felt that these humans had even more enemies than the Seven-Treasure Anuras.

That can’t be right. These humans all look so honest.

“Uh... everyone.” Kang Tian could no longer hold back and prepared to speak.

The others looked over at the snail. It asked, “Can we... not cause trouble?”

Everyone: “...”

...

Above human civilization, the Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm surged. Greater Sancte Green Lotus stood atop it with Lu Yin at his side.

After throwing a Thousand-Petaled Lotus Hand at the Aevum Inch, the Immortal said, “Just wait. The Immortal Lord won’t be far.”

Because Luo Chan had been captured, the Immortal Lord could not go far away. There was no doubt that the creature was thinking about how to retrieve Luo Chan.

Soon, a green glow flickered in the darkness, illuminating the distance as a green stalk appeared.

“Humans, you seek me?”

Before Greater Sancte Green Lotus spoke, Lu Yin smiled at the green stalk. “That’s the cleverness I’d expect from the Immortal Lord who created the Nests.”

The green stalk’s glow wavered, as though the Immortal Lord was thinking.

Lu Yin’s demeanor had changed completely. He was warm and friendly, which made the Immortal Lord uncomfortable.

“We’ve spoken with Luo Chan,” Lu Yin announced.

The Immortal Lord’s pleasant yet heavy voice replied, “How is Luo Chan?”

“You can rest assured. We promised that we wouldn’t harm it. We did come to an agreement afterall,” Greater Sancte Green Lotus replied.

“It’s our guest for now,” Lu Yin added.

The Immortal Lord exhaled in relief. “What do you want from me now?”

Lu Yin said, “To add one more condition.”

The Immortal Lord instantly grew furious. “We have already settled the terms! I made a sincere offer to your human civilization! What more do you want?”

“Do you want to take Luo Chan back right now?” Lu Yin countered.

“Are you willing to release Luo Chan immediately?” the Immortal Lord asked in surprise.

“That’s what the added condition is for. If you agree, we will.”

“Human, what is your condition?”

Lu Yin exchanged a look with Greater Sancte Green Lotus, then gazed toward the distant Qing He. “The Seven-Treasure Anuras invited us over for a chat. I would like you, Immortal Lord, to accompany me.”

The Aevum Inch fell silent. After a moment, the Immortal Lord’s voice was heard again. “Are you making deals with the Seven-Treasure Anuras?”

“It can hardly be counted as a ‘deal,’ but the Seven-Treasure Anuras want us to send someone over to visit them. There’s no certainty that our two civilizations will go to war, which is a good thing for you as well, is it not?” said Greater Sancte Green Lotus.

The Immortal Lord bluntly refused. “I will not go to the Seven-Treasure Anuras. I may not have much knowledge about them, but I do know about Obscura. Any species powerful enough to make even Obscura wary is anything but simple.”

“What are you saying? Do you not want to take Luo Chan back right now?” Lu Yin asked.

The Immortal Lord replied, “You must release Luo Chan. Should you not, not only will you be facing the Seven-Treasure Anuras and Obscura, but also an unknown and powerful fishing civilization. The only leverage that you humans have in our negotiations is when you choose to release Luo Chan. Should you insist that I visit the Seven-Treasure Anuras as a condition for that release, I refuse.”

Lu Yin was not surprised. It was extremely rare for civilizations to interact at all. It would be hard for any creature to pay a visit to a civilization already known to be powerful.

The Immortal Lord had no need to wade into such muddy waters. Helping humanity stand against the Seven-Treasure Anuras for Luo Chan’s sake was still acceptable, but that did not mean that the Immortal Lord was willing to stake their life against the toads.

Visiting the Seven-Treasure Anuras was entirely different from facing them.

Lu Yin stopped being polite. “You are free to refuse, in which case I will go by myself. As for Luo Chan, don’t overthink things. I’ll be taking it along with me so that I’m not lonely on the road. It’ll just be something to chat with, nothing more.”

Once more, the Immortal Lord grew enraged. “Lu Yin, you dare to take Luo Chan to the Seven-Treasure Anuras?”

Lu Yin laughed. “Why not?”

“You-”

“I told you, don’t overthink things. This journey is not dangerous. The Seven-Treasure Anuras are completely trustworthy. This trip is mostly to resolve a misunderstanding, so relax. I’ll definitely bring Luo Chan back safe and sound.”

The Immortal Lord fell silent. In the face of Lu Yin’s brash behavior, they were not even able to mount an argument.

Luo Chan was the humans’ captive, and there was nothing that the Immortal Lord could do to change that.

“If anything happens to Luo Chan during this trip, I can promise that your human civilization will be annihilated.” All the Immortal Lord could do was threaten them.

Lu Yin shrugged. “If Luo Chan dies, I’ll also die. If we’re all dead, what does it matter to me whether human civilization is destroyed or not?”

“Karmic Immortal, you cannot stop a fishing civilization.” The Immortal Lord stopped interacting with Lu Yin. They had realized that talking to the young man was nothing more than subjecting themselves to frustration.

Greater Sancte Green Lotus clasped his hands behind his back as he stared at the green stalk. “If this trip does not go well, we will not even live to see that supposed fishing civilization arrive. Your threats hardly matter, given the situation.”

The Immortal Lord again fell silent.

Lu Yin said, “Enough. Everything that needed to be said has already been said. In short, if you are willing to accompany me to visit the Seven-Treasure Anuras, then I will release Luo Chan as soon as we return. If you are unwilling, then just wait. If I make it back alive, we’ll stick to the original terms. If I don’t...”

He shrugged. “Well, I’ll be dead anyway, so it won’t have anything to do with me.”

With that, Lu Yin’s figure vanished.

Greater Sancte Green Lotus’s figure faded away as well.

Right as the man was about to disappear entirely, the Immortal Lord called out. “Wait, human.”

Greater Sancte Green Lotus looked over at the green stalk.

The Immortal Lord’s voice betrayed their feelings of helplessness and suppressed anger. “I will go, but you must release Luo Chan as soon as we leave the Seven-Treasure Anuras.”

Greater Sancte Green Lotus frowned, knowing that the Immortal Lord was afraid that Lu Yin would not honor his word upon returning to the human megaverses. “Your concern is unnecessary. We are not concerned with fears about whether you might attack Lu Yin on the way to the Seven-Treasure Anuras.”

The Immortal Lord sneered. “If it were so easy to deal with an Aberrant, they would not be Aberrants. Karmic Immortal, you must have some preparations in place, not only intended for me, but also for the Seven-Treasure Anuras.”

Greater Sancte Green Lotus shook his head. “Those so-called preparations only have a chance of succeeding because Luo Chan is in our hands and you have your own considerations. If Luo Chan is released as soon as you leave the Seven-Treasure Anuras and you decide to make a move against Lu Yin, how is he to escape?

“Here is my proposal: there is no need for you to return to the Heavenly Karmic Macrocosm. Outside of its bounds, at a distance roughly half a year away for you, we will release Luo Chan. How about that?”

The Immortal Lord was about to argue when Greater Sancte Green Lotus continued to say, “You can choose the location.”

“I can choose?”

“Correct. This should demonstrate that we trust you completely. At that distance, and with me not even knowing the direction, if you still insist on attacking Lu Yin, I will not be able to save him. Still, one of the original conditions of us releasing Luo Chan was that you would no longer be an enemy of our human civilization and not make any moves against us. Everything that I have suggested is founded entirely on the presumption that you will honor your word.”

The Immortal Lord pondered the proposition. It was true that, if they selected a location half a year away from the human civilization that was unknown to the human karmic Immortal, such a location would be safe. Lu Yin, no matter how powerful an Aberrant he might be, was still not an Immortal. He would have little ability to resist on his own.

If the Immortal Lord broke their word, the ones to suffer would be the humans.

But why would the humans choose to place themselves at a disadvantage?

The Immortal Lord could not understand that. According to their understanding of humanity, they should be looking for a way to gain an advantage, not giving it to a potential enemy. They could not figure out where the problem lay, unless Lu Yin really did possess the strength to fight the Immortal Lord head-on and hold out until help arrived. Otherwise, as soon as they attacked, the human would be doomed.

Why would they do this?

“Immortal Lord, this is already the greatest concession that we can accept. If you still refuse-”

“I agree.” Though they could not understand why, the Immortal Lord knew that this was the best condition possible. As long as Luo Chan was released, they truly had no intention of going back on their word. They had only offered such beneficial terms out of fear that the humans would break theirs.

Whatever the humans were plotting, the fact that they were willing to offer such favorable terms showed that they did not intend to renege.

Nothing was more important than Luo Chan.

...

After the Immortal Lord agreed to accompany him, Lu Yin spent half a year arranging many different matters. At the moment, there was little inner conflict within their human civilization, and the only active threat was the hidden Immortal from Obscura. And their external threats were gradually being resolved one by one. Lan Meng, who represented the threat of Obscura, had been severely wounded. The threat of the Nest civilization had been removed. And now, Lu Yin was about to visit the Seven-Treasure Anuras. Overall, human civilization was moving in a better direction.

But even in relative security, it was imperative that they remain vigilant and search for a possible retreat path.

On the other side of the Gate of Laws, Ku Deng stood guard.

Lu Yin had sent the people of the Tianyuan back home. The return trip proved far less troublesome than the journey to the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, due to Lu Yin’s teleportation ability that allowed him to directly transport Boundless and the other battleships back home, leaving the cultivators of the Tianyuan completely dumbfounded.

Teleportation meant that, at least within the human civilization’s domain, distance had ceased to be relevant.

Teleportation had changed the entire strategic landscape and style of warfare for humanity.

The Tianyuan cultivators were overflowing with confidence. They might not have an Immortal of their own, but they all believed that Lu Yin’s ability was worth at least as much as any Immortal.

Lu Yin was also not worried about his new innate gift being revealed to Obscura, as it was impossible to keep hidden.

When Master Qing Cao saw Lu Yin teleport, the man was utterly stunned. He felt that he must be dreaming.

It was the first time that Lu Yin had ever seen such an expression on Master Qing Cao’s face.

It prompted Lu Yin to have another conversation with the Immortal, but Qing Cao offered the exact same response as ever. His stance remained completely unchanged, which left Greater Sancte Blood Tower itching to give the man a beating.

Not even teleportation could overturn the pressure of Obscura. This was something that Lu Yin had expected, as Obscura possessed a similar ability: their gates.

While those gates were not exactly teleportation, Obscura’s gates could connect any two regions, and a gate could also stay in place for countless years. Lu Yin’s teleportation could not compare to that sort of ability.

Compared to Obscura, their human civilization still had a very long road ahead of them.

During this period, the one with the biggest headache actually ended up being Lu Yuan. Greater Sancte Green Lotus and the others had laid their eyes on having the man marry. They were actually arranging his marriage, as everyone wanted Lu Yuan to produce an entire batch of new descendants, rather than just one.

Lu Yuan was completely helpless, as there was nothing that he could do. His innate gift of teleportation could only be passed down through his bloodline, but his descendants who had already been born, such as Lu Tianyi and Lu Qi, would find it hard to awaken the new innate gift in a short time. The fastest way was for him to immediately give birth to more children. When those children grew up, which would be decades at the shortest and centuries at the longest, it would be possible to see if any of them awakened the innate gift.