Plunder

Upon entering the Eternal Order Secret Realm, the air is filled with a strange atmosphere that is both vibrant with life and carries an ancient and weathered feel.

This aura felt quite familiar to Lister, being roughly the same as that of Plane Barrier.

Of course, the spatial range of this barrier is much larger than the Plane Barriers of the original universe.

Moreover, the life force within this space is different, more complex, carrying the unique evolutionary and reproductive characteristics of the Zerg, as well as the unique blending and creation of the Tree of Eternity.

In the heart of the secret realm, a colossal tree stands prominently.

It was somewhat different from the Tree of Eternity he had imagined.

This avatar of the Tree of Eternity in this plane seems to have partially merged with the characteristics of this universe.

Its trunk is not pure jade or emerald green, but rather a deep bronze color.

It is covered with intricate grooves and patterns, like those of wormholes, which shimmer with a dark gold and obsidian-like luster.

The massive root system spreads and grows freely throughout the space.

What attracted his attention most were the countless vines of various shapes and sizes, full of vitality and resilience.

It hangs down from its branches, penetrating deep into the "energy riverbed" and spatial distortion points below.

These vines are not purely plants; their surface is covered with a semi-biological crystalline substance similar to the exoskeleton of insect mothers such as Ramos.

Like a highly efficient pump and energy converter, it extracts and transforms the mixed energy absorbed from the outside world by the secret realm, and partially feeds it back into special energy crystals for the Zerg to enjoy.

The entire giant tree, the entire Ramos swarm, and even Ramos itself formed a distorted relationship of interdependence.

"That's it, sir."

Ramos's massive body hovered cautiously to the side, his mental fluctuations filled with extreme tension.

Two hundred thousand years ago, it was a seedling on the verge of Wither when it was born here.

"After it matured, this secret realm came into being, and it can provide our swarm with 'Essence' to break through the limits of life, nourishing the evolution of our race, allowing my offspring to survive and evolve in harsher star systems, its effectiveness far surpassing our own past evolutionary sequences."

In return, I will provide it with security, the necessary energy, and the strength to defend against external threats.

Lister remained silent, simply "gazing" at this avatar of the Tree of Eternity of the Zerg universe.

His will, like the most precise detector, silently swept across the tree trunk, roots, leaves, and the vines that connected the energy flow and the points of spatial distortion.

They quickly discovered the golden Power of the Plane buried deep beneath the energy riverbed.

At the same time, the Tree of Eternity seemed to sense Lister's threat. The pressure from his will and the feeling that he was completely seen through made the tree tremble violently!

The grooves in the tree trunk, which had been slowly flowing with a dark gold and obsidian luster, suddenly lit up with a blinding light, then quickly dimmed.

The dense leaves, with their crystalline texture, rustled and moved without wind.

The massive canopy unnaturally curls and shrinks towards the core branches, as if instinctively trying to hide itself.

A sense of panic and fear instantly spread across the bronze-colored giant tree.

This fear was so palpable that it even impacted Ramos, who had a deep connection with the giant tree.

The mother insect's enormous compound eyes grew increasingly filled with astonishment and uncertainty.

It had never felt such pure and profound fear emanating from this powerful and mysterious ancient tree!

Lister naturally sensed the fear emanating from the Tree of Eternity, but his gaze remained calm as still water.

After a thorough examination, he finally spoke slowly in a language that the Tree of Eternity could understand.

"Hand over all the Power of the Plane."

The soft sound echoed through the secret realm, yet it seemed to possess immense power, piercing through all other noises and clearly imprinting itself on the core consciousness of the tree and the insect queen.

This was not a request, but a calm declaration.

It was as if the Tree of Eternity before them was not a powerful life form that parasitized this universe and evolved in symbiosis with the cosmic Zerg, but merely a warehouse whose wealth needed to be plundered.

After a brief, suffocating silence.

"Ha... an outsider!"

A strange sound emanated from the deepest veins of the trunk of the Tree of Eternity before them.

The voice forcefully suppressed its fear, carrying anger at being offended, and even more so, a resentment at having its true nature exposed.

Greed... but one must know its limits!

"I am an avatar of the Tree of Eternity in this universe..."

The giant tree tried to remain calm, attempting to threaten Lister by claiming to be the Tree of Eternity.

Unfortunately, the words stopped abruptly halfway through.

No other reason than that Lister had already raised his hand.

A crimson longsword, imbued with terrifying killing intent, suddenly converged.

There was no blinding burst of light, no earth-shattering energy fluctuations.

He simply and calmly swung the scarlet longsword at the avatar of the Tree of Eternity in this universe.

A thin, crimson blade of light appeared silently, as if it had transcended the barriers of space.

The blade's edge was incredibly fast!

It surpassed the speed at which the Tree of Eternity could react! It also surpassed the speed at which Ramos could perceive!

Before it could even assume a defensive stance, the blade's edge pierced its body and will with pinpoint accuracy!

"Well--!"

A desperate, soul-piercing scream erupted from the depths of the Insect Tree!

The enormous tree trunk, now split in two, convulsed and twitched violently, its gnarled roots churning wildly in the energy riverbed, creating monstrous currents of energy!

Whether it was the Power of the Plane gathering beneath the riverbed or the Power of the Plane absorbed from the current universe, both surged dramatically at this moment.

As a parasite of the cosmic plane, this Tree of Eternity, which had already reached maturity, could not be directly killed.

Lister had already detected two energy links on its body: one connected to this universe, and the other connected to its physical form.

Unfortunately, the cosmic plane in which the other party's true form resides is unknown.

Even using Power of the Plane, it's difficult to sense.

Lister said nothing more and quickly slashed out with two more sword strikes.

With a single stroke, he severed the giant tree's root system, severing its mysterious connection to the energy riverbed.

The other path, however, penetrates this barrier and slashes into the depths of the universe.

The purpose was none other than to temporarily sever the parasitic channel between this avatar of the Eternal Uncle and the current universe.

The existence of the Tree of Eternity's clones and its parasitic existence on different cosmic planes is indeed unsolvable.

However, this lack of a solution applies only to life forms at the Fourth Advancement, which is limited to life forms within the current universe.

For a life form like Lister, who has already Fifth Advancement of transformation, his powerful will and ability to deconstruct the rules make it impossible for him to be restricted by a mere Fourth Advancement clone.

"Sizzle--!"

A violent sound, as if being torn apart and souls were ripped apart, rang out.

Lister's two blows caused him far more pain than if they had struck his body directly, tearing him to pieces once more.

That connection between the soul and the universe was severed, and the life force was no longer bound to the current universe, including the cessation of the absorption of energy from the universe.

The fear in the heart of this Tree of Eternity was truly uncontrollable.

All the convulsions and spasms of the bronze-colored giant tree suddenly intensified!

The fear that permeated the entire secret realm did not disappear; instead, it became deeper and purer, completely crushed. The most primal tremors from the depths of his soul continued, and the fear of death enveloped him.

Ramos could naturally sense the fear emanating from this avatar of the Tree of Eternity.

At the same time, I have gained a new understanding of Lister's strength.

Before it could even try to calm itself down, Lister delivered another swift and decisive slash.

The strike wasn't delivered with much force, but inexplicably, Ramos sensed... that its two-hundred-thousand-year pact with the Tree of Eternity had been severed.

The unspoken emotional connection between their souls vanished in an instant.

This Tree of Eternity, struck by Lister, has returned to its most essential state.

The numerous wormholes on its body were quickly repaired, and it returned to the state of a pure "tree" that needed protection.

At that moment, Lister raised his knife again.

This time, the killing intent was poured to the extreme, and the entire Eternal Order Secret Realm was almost unable to withstand Lister's strike.

Fortunately, he didn't strike directly with his knife, and his voice remained calm.

"Now... can we use the Power of the Planes?"

Those who understand the times are wise.

The avatar of the Tree of Eternity had no intention of resisting at this point, and dared not put up any resistance.

The moment its opponent severed its current cosmic connections, it realized the unique nature of this adversary.

It is by no means an ordinary World Annihilation powerhouse, but a true intercosmic life form, just like its original form.

The World-Ending Level power he currently possesses is not his strongest state, but merely his strongest form within the current universe.

The tree trunk, now cut in two and deprived of cosmic energy, is rapidly losing its vitality.

But they still dared not delay for even the slightest, and lifted the restriction on the energy riverbed.

It guides the emergence of the immense Power of the Plane at the very bottom.

Without a word, Lister immediately used his knife to carve out an area, and the space in that area instantly shattered.

At his will, the passage between the original universe and this universe was temporarily opened.

This immense Power of the Plane, which should have been stored for tens of thousands of years, had not yet been acquired by the Tree of Eternity itself, but was now intercepted by Lister.

Until the very last wisp of Power of the Plane was injected into this spatial passage.

Lister finally sheathed the crimson longsword in his hand.

At the same time, based on his instinctive understanding of energy, a mark of murderous intent gathered here.

He is not the Tree of Eternity, and cannot allow his clones to be scattered across various universes as independent life forms.

It can only be crossed over at any time in the form of this imprint.

"Before you bring me back next time, if you don't have a new Power of the Plane that satisfies me, you know the consequences."

His calm gaze swept over the avatar of the Tree of Eternity, and his icy will served as a further warning.

Then his figure disappeared within the barrier, leaving only a mark inside; his aura vanished from this universe.

The Tree of Eternity breathed a sigh of relief and quickly restored its parasitic link with the current universe.

Its life force is still waning; we must try our best to recover it as quickly as possible.

In fact, if it were only for this one Power of the Plane, he wouldn't need the Tree of Eternity's avatar to open the restrictions for him at all.

His sole purpose in doing this was to intimidate the other side.

Let this avatar of the Tree of Eternity leave the Power of the Plane to him in the future.

This is also why he couldn't find the true form of the Tree of Eternity; otherwise, he would have wanted to attack it directly and seize the Power of the Plane.

The Eternal Light Plane, the Winter's Approach Plane, the Superpower Plane, etc.

For more than a decade, Lister spent all his time on these other universes' avatars of the Tree of Eternity.

This feeling of plunder is indeed different; others painstakingly establish themselves in the universe with their clones to steal the Power of the Planes.

Lister went directly to plunder, and when he returned to his original universe...

Within the entire Plane Barrier, the original pond has expanded again and again.

In the end, it had all turned into a huge golden lake.

Lister looked at the countless Power of the Plane before him and felt quite moved.

The player's system server was accessed and restarted.

The Power of the Planes was injected, causing a certain degree of reconstruction of this system.

At the same time, at Lister's instruction, the Machine-Slaying Federation secretly issued a public announcement, with Lilina selecting the personnel.

"Special notification from the Machine-Slaying Federation: Congratulations! You have been selected by the Federation to participate in a secret mission led by Leader Lister. This mission is highly confidential, and its completion will yield tremendous rewards. You have 24 hours to confirm your participation in this mission."

Compared to the original system's random distribution of a large number of people, Lister is currently unable to achieve this.

Whether it's his willpower or the plundered Power of the Plane, the only option is to select as many elites as possible to enter the system.

And now, his chosen targets are naturally not just the players from this universe.

There were also many Federation Legion soldiers who had grown up with him.

Merrick Reck, commander of the Third Army of the Machine-Slaying Federation.

I clicked confirm as soon as I received the message.

His strength has progressed rapidly, having completed four evolutions and reached level 20 A-rank combat power, and his position is even that of a legion commander.

He was no longer a recruit who had been in the boot camp with Lister.

Having truly soared to new heights, he now faces this secret mission related to Lister without hesitation.

Boren Price, the vice-commander of the Galactic Ninth Legion, was originally the captain of the Ship A73 of the Arcane Civilization where Lister resided.

Cohen, former Administration Department of the Ship A73.

Siegfried, former commander of Lister's recruit battalion.

Sariel, Hunter Powell, and nearly 20,000 others were selected by Lister to receive this invitation.

On the other hand, within the Scourge Legion.

Faced with such a secret mission, a fierce internal competition ensued.

The Scourge Legion now has a total of 4 million warriors.

Lister only allocated 30,000 places.

The two sides, totaling 50,000 people, attempted to grow as the first batch of alien invaders, which also served as a way for him to refine this new system.

As for the universe he was going to, Lister pondered for a long time.

In the end, a relatively conventional large-scale plane was finalized: the Elf Plane.

The ultimate power of this universe is roughly equivalent to that of the current universe.

Lister is now preparing for his first attempt to see if he can use these 50,000 chosen warriors to enhance their individual abilities while simultaneously Power of the Plane of this world back to him.

If this process goes smoothly, Lister's advancement to the Fifth Advancement will officially begin.