Several days later.
"The transport ship has been stolen?!"
Harrison's team, who were waiting for the final payment in the hotel, suddenly stood up, shocked and furious, staring at the remote projection of the auction house staff who had come to inform them.
"Yes, a group of space pirates discovered our secret transport route and attacked all our disguised spaceships transporting the auction items." The auctioneer's face was also very grim.
"Where are your guards?" Harrison couldn't help but ask. "I heard you were with the Beast Ancestor..."
The staff member interrupted him, his face darkening, and said, "With the fall of the Beast Ancestor, he is no longer our protector. We have no choice but to hire new armed forces. This group of space pirates had been watching us for a long time, bribing their own people to help them steal this shipment of goods and the spaceship. All the newly hired guards were killed in battle."
At this point, the staff at the black market auction house couldn't help but sigh.
If Gorutan were still alive, with the protection of the Beast Ancestor, they would be able to deter all the raiders in the Ancient Star Desert, and no one in the black market would dare to make a move against them.
But now that their old backer has fallen, and the newly appointed ones are still slowly integrating the black market forces left behind by the Beast Ancestor, they are at their most vulnerable. They have immediately become easy prey surrounded by wolves, and even a bunch of random nobody dares to lay a hand on them.
"What about our stuff?" the captain asked warily.
This black market auction house used to have a good reputation, which is why he chose to sell his goods here. But after this drastic change, he's unsure if the other party will double-cross him. The black market's order is extremely fragile, and the law of the jungle prevails even more.
"We will organize a search party to find these space pirates and retrieve the goods."
"What if we can't get it back..."
"The auction house will compensate according to the starting price." After saying this, the staff member immediately ended the communication without giving the group a chance to speak.
The group looked at each other in bewilderment.
"The starting bid was only 4,000 Enas, but the final bid was 13,800!"
"Be grateful, it's good enough that they're willing to compensate us." The captain said helplessly. "The probability of compensation at the black market auction house is less than 10%. They probably think our stuff isn't worth much, that's why they're so agreeable. For items with starting prices of hundreds of thousands, they'll definitely try to renege."
Upon hearing this, everyone sighed. The things they had dug up weren't very valuable to begin with, and now they had lost them. It was a complete waste of time.
Harrison, however, was restless, his intuition making him inexplicably uneasy.
He had a feeling that what had been stolen might bring him a lot of trouble.
Somewhere in the Ancient Star Desert, a pirate fleet, fresh from battle, slowly moved through space, towing its cargo ships laden with spoils.
"This time we've had a very fruitful harvest."
Inside the ship's cabin, the pirate leader, hands on his belt, belly protruding, arrogantly surveyed the prisoners and the mountain of spoils before him.
"Boss, this batch of weapons is all intact." One of his men said excitedly.
The loot included a wide variety of items, not only ancient blueprints, technological creations, and antiques, but also various types of advanced weaponry from different civilizations. The black market auctions sold everything, but these space pirates preferred practical weaponry to antiques.
The pirate leader paced back and forth, surveying the spoils of war, when suddenly he stopped in front of the dark, triangular device.
What is this?
"Boss, this is an artifact unearthed by an archaeological team from an unknown civilization. It seems to be a disposable safe."
What's inside?
"I don't know, it doesn't seem to be worth much."
"Open it." The pirate leader kicked the base of the device.
As it turns out, opening boxes is something everyone loves to do. The Mechanic Class expert in the team was fiddling with the equipment on the device, and all the space pirates around couldn't help but gather around to watch.
The triangular device's connector and energy transmission line were connected, activating the cryptographic interface. An expert then used a decryption device to connect the triangular device to a quantum network, causing the cryptographic interface to rapidly display various garbled characters.
After a while, the triangular device suddenly beeped, indicating that it had been activated.
Click click click--
Immediately afterwards, the display screen used to enter the password retracted, and the entire device began to rotate like a Rubik's Cube, rapidly changing shape and peeling away layer by layer.
Everyone, including the pirate leader, craned their necks, curious about what was inside.
About ten seconds later, the safe was finally opened. The last layer of protection was peeled away, revealing the core, which was a cube-shaped space of about 10 cubic centimeters.
However, in the next moment, a surge of energy suddenly erupted!
BOOM!!
Before anyone could even see what was inside, they were blown away by the circular shockwave, and even the pirate leader, who was at the Calamity Grade, was not spared.
The next second, the area around the triangular device became an open space, with the spoils scattered everywhere, leaving the scene in a mess.
"Ouch..."
Everyone rubbed their bottoms and got up, finding that they had only hurt a little from the fall, and had no other injuries.
The pirate leader and his men hurriedly peered into the safe, only to find it completely empty.
"Where's the stuff inside? There's nothing there."
The pirate leader was furious, feeling that he had been tricked.
Could this just be a prank?
Who stored a fart in there?!
At that moment, the door opened, and the technicians operating the spacecraft rushed in, looking panicked.
"Boss, what happened here? The location we were just at became the origin of a cosmic-level energy surge. The energy reaction exceeded its peak value in an instant, burning out the detection radar. There's no matching energy burst model in the database."
Upon hearing this, the space pirates present were taken aback.
Cosmic-level energy burst?
Are you kidding me? They only got a tumble on their butts, and you call that cosmic-level power?
While the group was racking their brains trying to figure it out, in a world they couldn't see, a unique information packet was frantically replicating itself, spreading rapidly outwards along the links of the quantum network, centered on the space pirate fleet.
Faced with this information signal, the intelligent firewalls of countless devices become useless.
At the same time, at a Sanctum Organization.
This was a dimly lit palace, with endless pillars supporting the dome. Beneath each pillar sat a brazier, its pale flames dancing—the only source of light.
A hooded figure in a black robe hovered in mid-air, the edges of the robe seemingly burning, constantly emitting wisps of black mist.
Below, Luo and Fei were bowing and reporting something. Although they were both Beyond Grade A, they dared not look up and meet the figure in the sky.
"... Are you saying there's no way to obtain the Holy Light Particle?"
The voice resonated directly within their minds, its tone neither too loud nor too soft, causing Luo and Fei to tremble slightly.
Luo gritted his teeth and said, "Yes, we've already ambushed Black Star once, so he must be on guard. Acting rashly risks exposing the organization, and Black Star's high-profile announcement of possessing Holy Light Particle is likely a deliberate attempt to lure us in. According to our information, Black Star is an extremely vengeful person, and he definitely wants to get revenge on us."
Fei chimed in, "Although Black Star found a host for the Holy Light Particle, he must have made preparations. During the Hila Rescue Battle some time ago, Black Star demonstrated his Infinite teleportation device. He has no reason not to let the Holy Light Particle host use it, so it might be a decoy."
The man in black robes lowered his head, looking down at the two. After a moment of silence, he slowly said, "I understand. For now, don't attack the Holy Light Particle. The appointed day hasn't arrived yet; we have time to continue observing."
Seeing that their superior didn't intend to blame them, Luo and Fei secretly breathed a sigh of relief; their awe of the man in black robes was deeply ingrained.
This man in black robes is the leader of the Sanctum Organization. His name is unknown, but his code name is "The Oathkeeper." He is the only remaining Beyond Grade A teacher within the organization.
During their childhood, the Oathkeeper was already the leader of the organization. No one knew how long he had lived, and his strength was unfathomable. Even though the two of them barely grew to Beyond Grade A, they were powerless against the Oathkeeper.
Just then, a remote projection of an official appeared beside the two, urgently saying, "Oathkeeper, the Child of Destiny is suddenly exhibiting an abnormal reaction!"
Wow!
As soon as he finished speaking, the Oathkeeper the oath vanished instantly, reappearing in a closed room.
Countless researchers in lab coats surrounded a cylindrical, transparent container filled with a deep blue liquid. Inside, a white Primordial Esper Ability Entity remained, maintaining a humanoid structure but lacking facial features, floating silently in the liquid.
The Oathkeeper turned to the research group leader beside him and asked in a deep voice, "What happened?"
"The sleeping Child of Destiny One ability entity suddenly generated Information State Disturbance, broke through the container's seal, and leaked. We are calculating how many sub-entities this Information State Disturbance will create throughout the universe..." The research team leader nervously wiped away sweat.
"A sudden disturbance?" The Oathkeeper paused, "Without you actively activating it?"
"Yes, yes, we were just recording the parameters as usual, and then it all suddenly happened."
"Wake it up," the Oathkeeper said decisively. "It's been stimulated; it must have sensed something."
The researchers had no choice but to comply, and began to drain the special liquid from the container. The form of the Child of Child of Destiny's ability immediately became blurred, as if it would disappear at any moment.
"Strengthen the binding force field and the anchor of reality, prevent it from completely entering the High-Dimensional Information State, and break through containment." The researchers next to him were busy and sweating profusely.
Ignoring the commotion around him, the Oathkeeper placed his hand on the outer wall of the container, and a flame ignited in his palm. This flame had a peculiar color, resembling a pulsating starry sky, and was completely devoid of heat, burning silently without any effect on the outside world.
The Child of Destiny's ability within the container was drawn to the attention. Its form stabilized again, and it curiously reached out, placing its hand against the Oathkeeper's palm through the transparent container wall.
At this moment, the Oathkeeper spoke, saying in a low voice:
Tell me, what did you find?
The Child of Destiny with supernatural abilities tilted its head, and a wave of spiritual energy rippled out. In the hearts of everyone present, a childlike, innocent voice resounded, its content fragmented.
"Information State Projection... A new line of destiny... Resonance of the First Sanctum..."
The Oathkeeper listened quietly, then pressed for an answer, "Will the agreed-upon date still be the same?"
"It's ahead of schedule... ahead of schedule... ten years... twenty years..."
The Oathkeeper took a deep breath, turned without looking back, and ordered, "Inject the solution, let it continue to slumber."
The group immediately began operations, and the deep blue solution refilled the container. The Child of Destiny's ability trembled incessantly, seemingly trying to struggle, but eventually calmed down again and fell back into slumber.
The research team leader glanced at the instruments and couldn't help but sigh. In the short time since the Child of Destiny's superpowered entity awakened, the amplitude of the Information State Disturbance had increased by 6.4%, which meant that another batch of unknown sub-entities would emerge throughout the universe.
Although the Sanctum Organization had mastered the Child of Destiny One ability at its inception, Sanctum has always been extremely cautious in its use due to its unique nature.
Among the Primordial Esper Ability Entity, the Child of Destiny exist in a unique form. When they awaken and activate their abilities, a phenomenon called "Information State Disturbance" occurs. Random beings throughout the universe inexplicably awaken a weakened version of its abilities, primarily focused on precognition. These targets are referred to as "Children" by the Sanctum Organization.
The appearance of the offspring is completely random, without any spatial or temporal restrictions. In other words, where, when, and how the offspring appear is entirely unknown.
At this moment, Luo and Fei also rushed over, looking around anxiously.
"How is the situation?"
Upon hearing this, the Oathkeeper turned around and slowly said, "The plan has changed, the agreed date has been moved up, and I will personally go to collect the Holy Light Particle."
"You did it yourself?!"
The two were startled.
Luo hurriedly said, "That's too risky. Black Star is cunning and treacherous, and very skilled in combat. If something happens to you, then we..."
The Oathkeeper interrupted him, his gaze distant, and said in a low voice, "We don't necessarily have to take action. Perhaps we can talk to him. All we want are a portion of the Holy Light Particle... Similarly, we can offer portions from other ability users in exchange for them."
After saying that, he patted the two of them on the shoulders and spoke softly:
"We have collected all the other key fragments to open the Third Sanctum, and only the fragment of the Primordial Esper Ability Entity remains. Although we can still perform the synthesis ritual even with just one less Holy Light Particle, it will bring unknown risks. We have been preparing for so many years, so it is best to eliminate any unstable factors as much as possible and ensure that nothing goes wrong."