Silence

"Thump."

The strange sound seemed drawn-out in the deathly silence.

Thump-thump—

Every movement of that colossal creature caused the heavens and earth to tremble.

With a physique like a mountain, even the sun and moon could not help but shy away. The already dim environment gradually plunged into total darkness.

"How much of it has extended?"

"Less than one percent."

"What?" Chen Beixun was startled. The Stelamo Worm exceeded his imagination; it was the most massive creature he had ever seen.

The Stelamo Worm was an omnivorous creature, but it fed mostly on rotting corpses.

Its appearance meant that there must be a large number of corpses nearby.

The Stelamo Worm secreted a substance that caused corpses to decay rapidly, thereby satisfying its need for putrid remains.

Qishan had already explained this data to Chen Beixun.

The three guards in front of Chen Beixun kept their auras restrained, their eyes locked firmly on the Stelamo Worm.

The Stelamo Worm writhed rapidly, yet its head remained still, slipping into the ground in a flash and leaving behind only a bottomless pit.

"A diameter of 20,000 meters?" Chen Beixun made a rough estimate of the crater.

The three guards looked at each other.

"Good heavens!"

Shock, deep shock.

There was no shortage of large lifeforms in the universe; for instance, an adult Stelamo Worm could reach a length of several hundred thousand meters.

"The appearance of a Stelamo Worm signifies the presence of a massive quantity of corpses." Chen Beixun pondered, weighing whether he should move forward.

"Wait." A guard named Moluo shouted.

This cry interrupted Chen Beixun's train of thought.

"What is it?" Chen Beixun asked, frowning.

"The Black Eagle Pavilion... has been completely wiped out!" Moluo said with a calm expression—or rather, he was so shocked that he had lost all facial control, his entire face frozen at the moment he received the news.

Everyone's jaws dropped upon hearing this. They could not imagine that such a powerful force, having entered this World Lord World for less than a month, had already been annihilated.

The Black Eagle Pavilion had dispatched 6,000 cosmic-level powerhouses for this treasure hunt!

"What?"

"Where did you get this news?"

When adventurers roamed the universe, they would have circles of one kind or another; just like a fishing club, it was perfectly normal to be well-informed.

Faced with the group's questioning, Moluo wanted to explain, but he felt a lump in his throat that he couldn't spit out, blocking his mouth as he stammered for a long time.

Seeing this, everyone understood; such things were all too common.

A moment later, Moluo recovered and explained to the group, albeit with a stutter.

"The news has spread." Qishan said beside Chen Beixun.

From the moment Moluo mentioned it to the news spreading, only eight minutes had passed.

"I heard that the scouting parties from other factions sent to investigate have already lost contact."

Every sentence struck hard at Chen Beixun's heart, and his expression turned grim.

"We must make the intelligence public!"

"Otherwise, those unaffiliated cosmic-level..."

Qishan placed a hand on Chen Beixun's shoulder and said in a low voice, "Don't overthink it."

"I know you want to release the information."

"But think about it: if you do, it will be a massive blow to the interests of those factions!"

"This would be a disaster for you as well!"

Whether in war or commerce, one always utilizes information asymmetry to secure an advantageous position or to launch surprise strikes.

Chen Beixun understood this principle, so he chose to remain silent.

"The fact that I survived back then... was truly damn lucky."

Chen Beixun let out a long sigh and continued to face the current situation.

How to get across?

Cross directly through?!

That was clearly suicide.

"Let's take the tunnel," said a guard named He Ke.

"Mm." Chen Beixun nodded and said, "That is exactly my intention."

Chen Beixun glanced at Qishan, who nodded in agreement.

"Let's go!" Chen Beixun ordered, his figure flickering as he dove straight into the tunnel.

The three guards followed closely behind; two of them suddenly accelerated to overtake Chen Beixun, while one remained in the rear.

Chen Beixun followed ten meters behind the two.

The three guards formed a triangle, shielding Chen Beixun in the center.

Naturally, the group could not simply follow the tunnel left by the Stelamo Worm. One of the three guards was a Controller, and it was his job to use his telekinetic weapon to clear the path.

Boom, boom—

They pushed forward all the way without encountering any danger.

Even so, the group did not lower their guard.

So much time had passed that the major factions had already established outposts in the relatively safe Cape Desert.

World Lord World, Cape Desert, Luote Family outpost.

The map Chen Beixun provided was neither large nor comprehensive, but it was better than nothing.

Although there were losses, they were not worth mentioning.

Most of the bases in the Luote Family outpost were half-buried underground.

First, it was easy to hide.

Second, there was no second reason; it was just easy to hide.

In truth, it was not that they did not want to bury them entirely; the life bases were simply too massive. If they were buried a thousand meters deep, anything below eight hundred meters was the domain of creatures like the Stelamo Worm. If they ran into one with a volatile temper, they would end up just like the Black Shadow Pavilion.

Inside the Luote Family outpost command base.

"Yes."

"Chen Beixun has not arrived yet."

"No problem, Elder; I will arrange everything properly."

The person speaking with the projection of Luote Tejieer was named Luote Wosike, a Universe-level 9 powerhouse.

He held a high status within the family and had always acted as Luote Tejieer's pawn.

Of course, he had his own little schemes. The World Lord World was a place where crowds of people broke their heads trying to get in; he had been the same way initially, but after witnessing the horrors here, he had become much more cautious.

Luote Wosike bowed slightly as the projected figure of Luote Tejieer gradually faded away.

In the vast command center, only Luote Wosike remained.

It was empty and deathly silent, save for the faint sound of him straightening his back.

He paced back and forth.

Thud, thud—

The sound of his metal combat boots striking the floor was exceptionally loud.

Suddenly, he stopped his footsteps.

Beep—

Luote Wosike opened the holographic map. Since the World Castle, filled with treasures, had not yet opened, he could only conduct sand table simulations.

Most of the command staff were outside the base, leading teams to survey the situation, leaving only a few inside the command center.

The World Castle was not far from the Luote Family outpost, and the same was true for the other factions.

This had one benefit: it was relatively safe. The destruction of any organization within the World Lord World offered no advantage to the others.

It was a matter of mutual defense.

After all, heavy firepower and weapons of mass destruction were best kept hidden; they could not be exposed at will.

*******

Time flew by, and seven days had passed.

At this moment, the command center was bustling with noise as various command groups discussed tactics.

Luote Wosike kept his eyes tightly shut, listening intently to the arguments of the important figures gathered around the simulated flat map.

"We should place one division in Valley No. 6!"

"No, no! We should set an ambush along Valley No. 10!"

They argued endlessly, their faces flushed red.

"Enough, everyone." Luote Vosk said softly.

Suddenly, the entire command center seemed to freeze in place.

"Vosk?"

"Commander?!"

Luote Vosk wore a smile, his deep gaze sweeping across the crowd.

"Advance directly along Valley 17." Luote Vosk pointed.

"That is the nest of the Magic Axe Beast?!"

Everyone was shocked.

They knew Luote Vosk was reckless, but they hadn't expected him to be this reckless.

"Just use 4J Fire Crystals to blow it open, won't that work?"

Luote Vosk's expression was calm, yet it was this very calmness that sent a chill down everyone's spines!

4J Fire Crystals were actually quite stable; one of their main components was an "inert" substance. Under normal usage, 4J Fire Crystals posed no issues, as that "inert" substance merely acted as a catalyst.

But that "inert" substance was exactly what was needed. As long as special conditions were created through specific methods, it could be detonated. The explosive power would be enough to destroy half a planet, though it could not be triggered without hundreds of people operating it in close proximity. (Top-tier nonsense, fine.)

In short, quantitative changes lead to qualitative changes.

The advantages of 4J Fire Crystals were:

First, they appeared in large quantities without arousing the suspicion of other factions, since they were stable after all.

Second, their stable nature could be used to mask one's true intentions.

At the same time.