In the consul's office, Ian was sitting on a chair with a projection screen suspended in front of him.
Sitting opposite him was an old man with a meticulously trimmed beard. The old man's face was full of wisdom, but he could not hide his deep fatigue and sadness.
"What's wrong with you?" Ian asked. The eyes are Mind Stone's windows. This proverb is more appropriate for powerful spellcasters.
"It's nothing serious," Dumbledore replied, "It's just that I have seen too much darkness in the past few years, and I feel a little tired."
Ian understands what he means. The universe is a dark and cruel place, full of all kinds of terrifying things. Dumbledore is responsible for the Empire's external affairs and intelligence collection, and has to directly come into contact with these dark sides. It seems that this has caused a lot of psychological burden on him.
"After this matter is over, you can take a vacation. Go back to your hometown and see your old friends. After you adjust your mentality and get promoted to Sixth Tier, you can come back and resume your duties."
Dumbledore wanted to refuse, but thinking that he had been drifting in space for decades, he finally nodded. "Thank you."
"So, what happened?" Ian got to the point.
"Dozens of galaxies with life in our Milky Way Galaxy were completely wiped out. No, to be precise, they disappeared out of thin air - we did not find a single corpse there."
"Moreover, as time goes by, news of the disappearance of such galaxies continues to come."
"Have you found the reason?"
"There is no definite evidence yet, but we have a very high probability speculation. This disappearance is likely to be related to powerful undead creatures."
Is it a coincidence? Ian thought to himself. He just came back from an undead-themed universe, and an undead crisis broke out here?
No, this should be the effect of Felix Felicis (Felix Felicis).
"Why do you say that?" Ian asked.
"We have monitored that Interstellar Federation, Eldama Kingdom (Elves) and Nightskin Tribe have recently secretly purchased large amounts of magic materials and resources, and they are all materials that have special effects on the undead and souls."
"In addition, if all the corpses disappeared, it would make sense if they were transformed into undead."
Ian pondered for a moment. Eldama Kingdom is a Eighth Tier civilization established by elves, and Nightskin Tribe is a Eighth Tier race with beautiful black skin and star-like eyes. Their magic system is related to the stars, and they are famous for being good at Divination.
"Mindthinkers What's going on over there?"
In addition to the Arcane Empire, Milky Way Galaxy, there are only three Eighth Tier civilizations. Two are on the magic side, and the other one is on the technology side, Mindthinkers.
According to intelligence, this race has a deep hatred and aversion to magic, and focuses on the development of pure technology. They have even developed the Eighth Tier anti-matter weapon.
"There is no news from them yet."
"Are we going to send Metamorphmagus to infiltrate these forces?"
"The incubation time is too short. The most successful spies at present only reach the lower levels and have no access to core intelligence."
Ian thought for a while and said, "I will come to you in an hour, and we will go to the scene to have a look."
Subsequently, Ian picked up Olivia and drove the spacecraft to merge with Dumbledore.
"Your Majesty, Your Royal Highness the Queen." Dumbledore saluted.
"There is no need to be polite in private," Olivia said. She knew that this old man had played a mentor role in the growth of Ian and many Imperial Family members.
After the three exchanged a few words, they entered the spaceship again and headed to one of the destroyed galaxies.
After arriving at their destination, they found that many spaceships had gathered here. It seemed that there were many people with the same idea of exploring.
Ian took out the star map of the galaxy and a pendulum. He cast a spell on the pendulum, and then asked loudly, "Which planet did the disaster originate from?"
The pendulum swung above the star chart, and finally stopped at one of the planets, motionless.
The spacecraft immediately flew towards the planet.
After landing, Ian frowned. There were too many scavengers gathered on this planet.
So, he used Mind Stone magic to transmit the voice directly into the minds of everyone on the planet:
"This planet will be taken over within the next two hours. Please leave immediately to avoid unnecessary trouble."
A thought flashed through these people's minds: Sixth Tier Mind Magic Sir!
Without hesitation, everyone rushed to their own spacecraft to escape. They knew the cruelty of the universe, and if a strong person of this level wanted to kill them, they would not need a reason at all.
There were even two Sixth Tier strong men hidden in the crowd. But after feeling the threatening sight of Ian, they wisely chose to retreat.
After clearing the place, Ian waved his hand and laid down a barrier, covering the entire planet and blocking out prying eyes from the outside world.
A gray staff appeared in his hand, and he cast the spell again:
"Time Rewind."
"Time Magic, it's so beautiful." Dumbledore looked at the scene in front of him and murmured to himself.
"Professor, why do I smell a sour smell?" Ian joked with a smile.
"Maybe a little."
"The last time we discussed it, you were able to pause time on small objects like apples. I think you should be making progress now."
"Unfortunately, I have been too busy recently and have neglected my magic research. Moreover, even if I make progress, I will never reach this scale."
Time Magic is extremely rare. Among the Empire, there are only a handful of people who are talented and capable of using it. Even among the Imperial Family members, only Rowena has mastered the basic time spell. The others are either still struggling or have given up.
Therefore, Dumbledore can pause the time of an object, which makes it a master in comparison.
"You overestimate me. Without Time Staff, I would be helpless in front of Time Magic."
Dumbledore didn't refute, although he didn't think so in his heart. Even if he was given this staff, he didn't think he could control it to this extent. Divine Artifact Although it is strong, it still depends on the user's ability.
After the small talk, the three began to view images of the planet's past.
This was originally a planet ruled by a race of insectoid humans.
Some tribesmen only have wings, while others have claws, teeth and other insect organs, and even possess some racial talents.
After simple observation, they quickly understood the social structure of this race.
This is a strictly hierarchical society. Those tribesmen who look close to humans and only have wings discriminate against other tribesmen with insect characteristics. They live in giant trees towering into the clouds and enjoy the best resources, while others can only live on the ground and scavenge for scraps.
The life of this group of "nobles" was originally peaceful and luxurious, until one day, a meteor fell not far from their city.
A team is sent to investigate the crash site, but they come back with nothing but horror.
Ian paused the screen and carefully observed the creature coming out of the meteor crater.
It was a humanoid creature wearing full black armor, wrapped tightly from head to toe, making it impossible to distinguish gender or race.
But deep in its eye sockets, two groups of faint blue flames danced with its every movement.
"Death Knight?" This is the most appropriate description Ian can think of.
He continued to play the picture.
The knight made an eerie sound:
"@$^E%^R%346^%R#@@#%$%^&^%"
Ian entered Mind Palace and instantly deciphered and translated the language:
"You miserable creatures, it is your honor to serve Lord Gaznard."
"Gaznard? Is there this person in our database?" Olivia, who also translated this sentence instantly, asked.
"No," Ian shook his head, and Dumbledore also said he had never heard of it.
"Maybe it's a powerful lich, or a Bleach. We'll check it out later."
What happened next was just as they expected.
This Fifth Tier death knight easily Carnage everyone. Then, he cast a spell to transform all the dead into undead.
He kept repeating this process until every living creature on the planet had turned into a skeleton, Zombie or the Mummy. Even the dead in the graves were not spared.
What caught the attention of the three people was that these undead souls actually had the ability to evolve after killing the living.
"If all the disappearing galaxies have encountered this situation, then the problem is much more serious than we expected," Dumbledore looked solemn.
Ian thought for a moment and said, "I probably guessed what happened."
"What did you find?" Olivia asked.
"This is likely to be a precursor to a 'Undead Calamity'."
"Tell me more about it."
"This is regarded as a taboo method, and is one of the reasons why Bleach is hated and feared in the universe. In order to quickly advance to a higher level, they will convert all life that Carnage comes into contact into undead, so as to more easily harvest faith."
"I thought Faith Power came from faith. How could it be easier to collect faith from the dead?"
"I don't know the specific principle, but my theory is: because the IQ of low-level undead is only at the level of children, it is easier to be brainwashed to believe in gods. And as they evolve, the concept that power comes from gods has long been rooted in the depths of their souls, thus creating the most fanatical believers."
"It's indeed possible, but we haven't determined yet whether it was the work of gods."
"It's very simple." Ian then cast a spell to detect energy.
Sure enough, he found a faint trace of Divine Power where the death knight descended.
"Things are getting a little complicated," Dumbledore said.
"On the contrary," Olivia retorted, "Since we know that this was done by Bleach who was trying to hit a higher level, we can infer a lot of information. For example, this Bleach must not have reached Tenth Tier, otherwise he would not have had to do this."
"As long as he is not Tenth Tier, Empire can control the situation."
"You're right, but we still have to be careful," Ian added.
Afterwards, the three of them continued to watch the video.
After conquering the planet, they witnessed an amazing scene.
The death knight devoured 90% of the undead on the planet, thereby breaking through to Sixth Tier. Then, the remaining 10% of the undead used the bones to build a huge bone battleship, carrying the knight to the next planet.
The three traced the trajectory of this group of undead to other planets. However, the death knight no longer devoured low-level undead, but began to focus on expanding the number of the army through killing.
After reading all this, Ian turned around and asked Olivia:
"What do you think?"