The three Tree King were discussing when they suddenly stopped and fell silent, all sensing a message from the Mother Tree's consciousness.
A strange light flashed in the eyes of the Ancestral Tree King, and he slowly said:
"The Mother Tree senses another natural enemy has emerged; let us kill it."
"Is it that kind of strange creature again? It's amazing it hasn't gone extinct yet." The Secret Tree King was somewhat intrigued.
The Ancestral Tree King nodded. "Yes, the Secondary Dimension is suitable for you. Go and lead your clan to resolve this matter, and try to locate its position before the natural enemy reaches adulthood."
"I'll try my best," the Secret Tree King said noncommittally.
This is not the first time the World Tree has encountered a natural enemy; there are records of enemy invasions in the early stages of civilization.
The restraint between the two sides stems from an unusual entanglement at the Information State level, with bidirectional sensing, which is why the World Tree Civilization has always attached great importance to the existence of its natural enemies.
The World Tree's ability to sense predators is divided into two stages. When a predator is in its juvenile stage, the World Tree only knows of its existence but cannot sense its exact location. As the predator matures, the senses become stronger. When any predator reaches adulthood, the World Tree can track its location and precisely Pursuit, thus eliminating a large number of predators.
However, the World Tree can only sense predators after birth, and cannot detect the embryos laid by predators. Therefore, it has never been able to completely eradicate them, and there are always some that escape. It can only settle for second best and make killing the larvae the primary goal.
In fact, the World Tree has been expanding into Secondary Dimension, partly to exterminate its natural enemies. Once it senses an enemy, it immediately notifies the Tree King to kill the juveniles of the enemy as soon as possible to prevent them from reaching adulthood. This is a matter of extremely high priority, and only the Tree King knows the details.
Anchor Tree King couldn't help but ask, "What about the war on the front lines?"
"Let's prioritize eliminating the Mother Tree's natural enemies first. It seems our operation will have to be put on hold for now." The Ancestral Tree King glanced at him, thought for a moment, and added, "Don't forget to water the Tranquil Tree King."
Secondary Dimension World, Expeditionary Army outpost.
A massive circular portal floats in the dimensional space, serving as the gateway for the Three Universal Civilizations to enter and exit the main universe. Surrounding it are continuous fortresses dedicated to Secondary Dimension, with expeditionary teams coming and going.
A flash of light appeared, and Han Xiao, dressed as Sovereign, appeared on the dedicated teleportation platform.
The head of the outpost was already waiting there and immediately came to greet him.
"Lord Black Star, you've finally arrived."
"How is the situation now?" Han Xiao looked down at him and asked.
"The embryo's rate of dimensional energy absorption has suddenly increased by tens of millions of times. I don't know if it's good or bad. You should go and see for yourself. I've already prepared a vehicle for you."
"Okay... By the way, what's the reaction from the King of the Boundless?"
"He got there a step ahead of us and should be observing the embryos' changes up close now."
"Okay, I'll go too."
Han Xiao nodded.
After more than a decade of development, the Secondary Dimension lent by the King of the Boundless has been fully transformed by the Three Universal Civilizations. Currently, the Three Universal Civilizations are using this outpost as a springboard to significantly increase the strength of their Expeditionary Army.
Furthermore, the Three Universal Civilizations employed their traditional rogue tactics, persuading the King of the Boundless to provide more territory for them to establish bases. Currently, this area has been transformed into a "shallow dimension," allowing the Three Universal Civilizations to directly enter and exit the main universe, essentially usurping its territory.
Even though the King of the Boundless was unwilling to provoke the World Tree, he was now subtly bound to the same chariot by the various actions of the Three Universal Civilizations.
Han Xiao boarded the vehicle, set the dimensional coordinates, started the engine, and the heavy particle thruster spewed out a surging tail flame, which quickly transformed into an invisible tail stream. He transitioned from a conventional engine to a dimensional traversal engine, accelerated to the critical point, and suddenly disappeared from the spot, performing a dimensional jump.
The shuttle entered a dazzling tunnel of light. Not long after, the vehicle jolted violently, the light outside the window vanished, and it turned into a dark Secondary Dimension. They had arrived at their destination.
A grayish-white embryo floated in the center of the dimension, guarded by a large mechanical army.
The projection of the King of the Boundless was nearby. Sensing the vehicle's arrival, it turned its head and looked over. Upon seeing Han Xiao, it came forward to greet him.
"Black Star, you're here too."
"Tell me what happened." Han Xiao went to his side.
"The energy of this dimension is surging into the embryo at an extremely high speed. If this continues, it will collapse soon. I think this embryo is about to be born..." the King of the Boundless explained.
Han Xiao nodded and turned to carefully observe the embryo.
The gray mist that was originally enveloping the amniotic sac was very stable, but now it was fluctuating wildly like boiling water. The increasingly clear elongated black shadows inside were becoming restless, repeatedly impacting the amniotic sac from the inside, causing bulges to appear on the embryo.
In Han Xiao's perception, the embryo seemed to have turned into an energy Black Hole. Everything in this Secondary Dimension, including mass, space, and energy, was collapsing towards the embryo and being devoured.
Some oviparous animals eat the eggshell to supplement their nutrition when they are born. In Han Xiao's view, the Pivot Snake Egg draining this parasitic Secondary Dimension is a similar behavior.
Before long, this Secondary Dimension became riddled with holes, and the remaining debris was quickly devoured by the Pivot Snake Egg, leaving the embryo directly exposed to the spatial storm.
Han Xiao had already withdrawn the mechanical troops and did not interfere with the changes in the Pivot Snake Egg, observing from the sidelines with the King of the Boundless.
laugh--
Suddenly, the amniotic sac ruptured, and the grayish-white mist inside leaked out and spread, the surrounding spatial turbulence unable to penetrate this layer of mist.
Han Xiao inhaled a wisp of mist, analyzed it briefly, and discovered that the mist was composed of a special type of biological microparticle that could isolate spatial storms and seemed to have the ability to break through space, seemingly possessing the function of dimensional travel.
The amniotic sac quickly deflated, but the fog continued to thicken, obscuring the Pivot Snake's appearance. Only a dark shadow could be seen appearing and disappearing in the gray fog, like a giant dragon hiding in the clouds.
Just then, the Pivot Snake suddenly flew in the opposite direction from the two of them at an extremely fast speed.
"Are they running away?"
Han Xiao's eyes flashed, and with a wave of his hand, the spatial device directly immobilized the Pivot Snake, rendering it unable to move.
He slowly approached and flew into the gray mist. The panel immediately notified him that he was under continuous attack. The surrounding gray mist was spontaneously repelling outsiders, but the attack power was too low to break through his defenses. He didn't lose any health.
Upon entering the heart of the gray fog, Han Xiao finally saw the true form of the Pivot Snake...
This was a huge, dark golden serpentine creature. It had no outer shell, and its entire body shimmered with a metallic sheen. Its skin was continuously releasing more gray mist, which seemed to be a substance it generated automatically, presumably an outer protective layer. It had two pairs of huge membranous wings on its back and a pair of sharp claws on its abdomen. Its head resembled a snake's head, but it had no mouth or nostrils, only a pair of cold, golden vertical pupils.
Compared to the haphazardly growing appearance of the Void Louse, the appearance of the Pivot Snake is much more aesthetically pleasing.
"Although its name is Snake, it looks more like a dragon..."
Han Xiao muttered to himself, took out his mental communication device, and released his mental fluctuations to the Pivot Snake in an attempt to communicate.
The two connected mentally, Han Xiao sensed the coldness in the Pivot Snake's demeanor, but the Pivot Snake did not respond to his probing.
Wait, isn't that how newborn animals always treat the first creature they meet as their parents...?
Even if it weren't for this approach, with my exceptional charm and affability, this little animal shouldn't be so cold to me...
Han Xiao was secretly curious and tried to probe a few more times, but the Pivot Snake just stared at him indifferently with its cold golden eyes and never answered, as if it maintained a strong sense of vigilance towards the outside world.
Seeing this, he simply stopped communicating and poked the Pivot Snake.
The next moment, the panel popped up with the other party's attributes. Han Xiao quickly glanced through them and was suddenly stunned.
On the attribute panel of the Pivot Snake, there was a talent ability to sense the World Tree itself, but it was currently in a grayed-out frozen state. The ability description said that it would only be activated upon reaching adulthood, but at this time the Pivot Snake was still a juvenile.
"Such talent! No wonder he's the nemesis of the World Tree!"
Han Xiao was taken aback, but immediately became overjoyed.
This is an unexpected bonus, meaning that the Three Universal Civilizations now have a stable way to find the World Tree itself, and finally don't have to place all their hopes on a sliver of luck!
Hmm, that doesn't seem right either. If it weren't for Harrison, he wouldn't have been able to encounter the King of the Boundless, let alone come into contact with the Pivot Snake Egg...
So ultimately it all comes down to Harrison's luck?!
"His Lucky Halo even stronger than I imagined..."
Han Xiao clicked his tongue in amazement, his mind immediately racing.
He hadn't expected the Pivot Snake to have such an ability, so the plan could be improved. With such a trump card, the most urgent task was to nurture the Pivot Snake larvae and help them reach adulthood as soon as possible, so that they could directly attack the heart of the World Tree.
"However, the Expeditionary Army cannot be halted; who knows how long it will take for the Pivot Snake to reach adulthood..."
Han Xiao made up his mind and continued to try to communicate with the Pivot Snake, but the Pivot Snake remained aloof and unresponsive, giving off an attitude of "do whatever you want with me." He was at a loss, after all, it was his first time encountering Pivot Snake, and he didn't know if all newborn Pivot Snake were like this.
He dared not retract his control over the larvae of the Pivot Snake; judging from its behavior of running away as soon as it was born, it was probably a lost cause.
Han Xiao had no choice but to put the issue of communication aside for the time being. He grabbed the Pivot Snake and came to the King of the Boundless. After thinking for a moment, he said:
"It's a very peculiar creature, extremely useful to me. It feeds on Secondary Dimension. Since you claim to be the Lord of a Million Dimensions, the task of feeding it is entrusted to you."
Upon hearing this, the King of the Boundless immediately frowned.
Those Secondary Dimension were all territories he had collected, and he was already annoyed enough by lending them to the Three Universal Civilizations. Now he expects me to feed them to this creature? Does he really think I'm some kind of rich dog that he can just slaughter at will?!
Han Xiao raised an eyebrow when he didn't respond. "You're not happy?"
"... I am honored." In a fit of extreme anger, the King of the Boundless decisively agreed to Han Xiao's unreasonable request.
Stop talking, I'm a coward.
"Don't worry, you won't be feeding them for nothing. The Three Universal Civilizations will offer some matter from the main universe in exchange."
Han Xiao smiled and offered a word of comfort.
Since the King of the Boundless enjoys collecting trash, the Three Universal Civilizations certainly won't be stingy with this expense, since trash is the last thing they need.
After successfully persuading the King of the Boundless to generously donate, Han Xiao turned back to look at the Pivot Snake, his eyes shining as if he had seen a glimmer of hope for breaking the deadlock.
The Pivot Snake looked down at him, its golden vertical pupils flashing with a human-like rejection, the kind of hostility a prisoner shows to a guard.
Sensing this emotion, Han Xiao narrowed his eyes.
"My first impression isn't good. Is the Pivot Snake naturally unrestrained and freedom-loving? Raising such a creature won't be easy."