Chapter 355: First Communication with Mother

Chapter 355 -347: First Communication with Mother

The tremor lasted for ten seconds at most, and the effects were most pronounced in places like the Tibetan Plateau, known as the Roof of the World.

RUUUMBLE~

In the Himalayas, the brief tremor triggered avalanches on multiple, perennially snow-capped peaks.

Anyone watching from a wide aerial view would have witnessed a spectacular sight: a chain of avalanches across the peaks. Immense waves of snow cascaded downward, creating the illusion that the mountains themselves were rising up through the flowing white.

The tourists and climbers on some of the high mountains felt the tremors even more clearly and directly. They panicked for more than ten seconds before the shaking stopped and they could settle down.

Reports of these tremors, which completely defied the laws of plate tectonics, trickled in to the Special Security Team’s headquarters from epicenters all over the country.

Although none of the epicenters were in densely populated areas, their sheer number was unnerving. The intelligence department couldn’t stand by; they immediately issued a warning to the higher-ups.

But there were too many locations, and it had all happened too suddenly; it was impossible to monitor them all. If every one of these locations was about to spawn a terrifying anomalous event, it meant they would likely have to abandon some of them.

For the past two years, they had managed to keep both the anomalous events and society under control quite well. The sudden emergence of this possibility was a painful and unacceptable prospect for the entire leadership of Hua Country.

In the operations room, the large screen displayed a map where numerous locations across the country were marked with red dots, each annotated with the tremor’s approximate intensity.

By now, the member nations of the World Alliance rarely referred to these special tremors as earthquakes, because the true source was never underground.

Tao Xingzhi chain-smoked, waiting for the meteorological department to confirm more locations and for news from the international community.

“Chief, through World Alliance diplomatic channels and global intelligence gathering, we’ve basically confirmed that these tremors are happening worldwide!”

A liaison officer relayed the intelligence in a low, somber voice, silencing everyone in the room, from the strategists to the special agents.

The expert teams, who received the news simultaneously via the network, were also speechless.

As the entire tactical hall fell deathly silent, the atmosphere grew oppressive.

Tao Xingzhi ground out his cigarette butt in an ashtray.

“How long to get all units deployed to their tactical positions?”

The data analyst, who had been anticipating the question, answered immediately.

“Assuming good weather, about three days. Since most of the locations are in sparsely populated areas, we can achieve full coverage with tactical weapons.”

After a long moment, Tao Xingzhi finally just grunted an “Mm.”

CLICK.

A lighter flared, and he lit a new cigarette.

Tao Xingzhi rarely smoked during missions, but today was an exception.

“Any response from Dawn?”

An intelligence officer immediately replied.

“We and the other World Alliance nations have all reached out to the Dawn Association through our respective channels. So far, Dawn has remained silent.”

It wasn’t just Tao Xingzhi who frowned. The other high-ranking agents in the room, as well as the senior leadership being briefed in real-time, all wore expressions of concern.

One of the World Alliance’s greatest achievements was convincing the Dawn Association, an organization of Ancient Guardians, to join its ranks. This had, to a certain degree, made Dawn look upon human authorities with new respect, erasing some of the animosity that had persisted since ancient times.

However, due to a mixture of apprehension and respect, Dawn enjoyed great autonomy within the World Alliance and still felt like it operated outside the normal human power structure.

For the most part, the member nations treated Dawn as a knowledge base, preferring to handle anomalous events with their own resources and methods.

But as true allies, even if only out of courtesy, Dawn always responded to any communication from the alliance almost immediately.

This time, however, half a day had passed with no word from them.

At the headquarters for the special divisions of the Six Nations of the World Alliance, the respective leaders were all growing anxious, either holding discussions or simply waiting as they continued to gather data and intelligence.

…

So what was the situation with Dawn, the object of all this concern?

In truth, they weren’t faring much better.

Within the headquarters’ Secret Realm, the massive holes that the six Celestial Pillars had torn through Jilian’s enormous body had vanished, leaving its skin without a single mark.

Despite its immense size, its skin didn’t feel coarse in the slightest, even up close.

Not far from Jilian, numerous tall wicker chairs and a huge, circular wicker table were set amidst a sea of flowers.

Some of the surrounding flowers were Sound Transmission Flowers, which were loudly and emotionally relaying the inquiries and messages from the World Alliance.

Ai You and Axi, who normally loved to playfully dart around Jilian, now rested quietly on Qin Xiaoxia’s shoulders.

Seated at the table were the five Silent Knights who could make it, eleven Skywalkers, over thirty of the association’s Magic Controllers, and dozens of other branch heads from major regions.

Among them were tall and short, men and women, beautiful and ugly, as well as non-humans and beings from Otherworlds.

They were the most elite group to have emerged from thousands of recruits after nearly two years of Dawn’s expansion.

They possessed either immense strength, wondrous abilities, extraordinary intellect, or control over vast factions…

Nearly a hundred people in total sat amidst the endless sea of magical flowers, yet no one spoke a word.

The only sound came from the surrounding Sound Transmission Flowers.

An hour earlier, they had already learned the full details of the situation.

Master Sage sat in a wicker chair on the north side of the table, his fingers interlaced, supporting his chin with the back of his hands as he mulled things over with his eyes closed.

No one present dared to be the first to break the silence.

Qin Xiaoxia’s star-like eyes slowly opened. He first glanced at the Holy Spirit, who sat nearby, before looking up toward the sky.

He couldn’t see what the Holy Spirit saw, but afterward, he could faintly perceive a subtle difference in the world’s response.

“I never thought it would be this much sooner than we predicted!”

It was a helpless sigh.

Dawn’s numbers seemed substantial, but on a global scale, they were merely a drop in the ocean. A significant portion of their members weren’t even powerful enough to meet the minimum requirements for the Silent Knight Order’s reserves.

Besides those present, the number of truly capable members was only about a thousand.

The state of the world’s nations was an even bigger headache. Even the Six Nations of the World Alliance, who were in the best position, were not in an optimistic situation.

The more prepared nations, like China and the United States, had braced for the worst. Despite their powerful economies and militaries, the preparations made by mobilizing all their national resources were barely 60% complete, to say nothing of the other countries.

‘Unfortunately, not everything can be perfect. The word ‘ease’ has never been in our vocabulary.’

His peripheral vision caught Jilian’s massive form and swept over the distant Magic Mirror overhead. ‘Thankfully, Dawn isn’t exactly weak.’ Then he thought of humanity’s terrifying military might and those dreadful weapons that made even humans shudder just thinking about them. ‘Thankfully, humanity is actually more formidable than I give them credit for.’

Qin Xiaoxia had come up with the name “Star of the Dark” on the spot when the Holy Spirit questioned him, but its meaning was no mere fabrication. It originated from his own speculation after first learning what the Holy Spirit had seen, combined with research into the incidents that followed.

In fact, Qin Xiaoxia felt the unease from that “not-a-star” thing even more intensely than the Holy Spirit did; it was just that his eyes weren’t as capable, so he simply couldn’t see it.

Right now, even with a highly probable theory in mind, he still found it difficult to accept. Qin Xiaoxia decided to perform one final confirmation. Regardless of the outcome, he would trust his intuition.

He released the restrictions on the Secret Realm, allowing nature and the world to merge with this place.

Closing his eyes again, his Magic Power didn’t rage, boil, or burn. Instead, it spread out like a radiating membrane of light, extending ever farther into the distance.

He was about to attempt something he had never done before.

He extended his right hand to his side.

“Red Demoness, lend me the power of Comir!”

Without a word, she took his right hand and closed her eyes, pushing the Magic Power of the Order of Truth to its absolute limit.

The two vast and pure streams of Magic Power, like shifting, multicolored membranes of light, continuously extended outward.

In that moment, the Red Demoness was both herself and the Statue of Comir—or more accurately, a conduit for the Comer Law.

The colors of the Secret Realm began to shift. To the Dawn Members, the sky as far as they could see was stained with blue and purple, as if the outside world had become as magical as the Secret Realm.

‘Progenitor of countless living beings, sustainer of the Power of the World, our common Mother… do you truly exist…?’

This magnitude of Magic Power was staggering, at least by Earth’s standards. None of those present knew what Master Sage was doing.

They could only watch with worry as blood began to trickle from the corners of his eyes and nostrils, not daring to make a sound.

Even the Red Demoness’s face was creased with a rare frown.

Doudou watched her cousin and the Red Demoness with concern. The scene was somewhat reminiscent of when they had used the Statue of Comir, but the current level and scale were completely incomparable.

At a certain moment, everyone’s heart jolted, and the oppressive pressure from the immense Magic Power abated significantly.

A wind, like the very breath of nature, swept through the Secret Realm with a gentle warmth. Everyone present instinctively squinted against it.

The caress of the wind also brought Qin Xiaoxia back to his senses.

Despite being at the pinnacle of mortal power, he was still unable to converse with the world itself. However, he could clearly feel its power and perceive its vague response.

PS: Chapter two for Tuesday.