Extraordinary Pedigree.

Chapter 863: Perception of the Black Seal

There was silence in the Governor's Mansion.

Only the sealed [Black Seal] in Xia Xiu's palm was vibrating slightly, as if some indescribable omen was whispering.

The starlight from the outside world shone through the dome of the Governor's Palace and fell around him, making his shadow extremely long on the ground, like the shadow of a god in deep thought.

But Xia Xiu's eyes at this moment had already passed through this star battlefield, passed through the many hubs that had been brought under the rule of the courtyard, and looked into the deeper distance - those forbidden areas that even the gods were unwilling to set foot in.

He did not dwell on the alarmist remarks of the Knight of the Dark Horse.

Whether it is the Seven Seals or the end of the world, in his eyes, these grand narratives are nothing more than a cover for the struggle for resources and divine authority among higher-dimensional beings.

There is only one thing he really cares about - the bargaining chips for cooperation.

The Four Lords, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, the four supreme beings who brought the end of the world to the world - quietly reached some kind of secret agreement with him in the dark night of Terra.

At that time, with the help of Green Sun, the Four Lords stole the oldest "human editing gene" deep in Terra. It was the ideal prototype of human pan-consciousness and one of the sacred templates called "Origin".

They told Xia Xiu:

"You will get the most perfect embryo in the world..."

“Not afraid of pain or destruction, possessing the closest self-calibration ability to [a miracle]…”

"They will become your descendants—apostles, students, generals, comrades-in-arms..."

Xia Xiu was silent for a long time.

They said:
"You will have a perfect body, and you will also have these offspring born for you."

“When you reach the pinnacle of miracles, they will share your glory with you.”

But their request was also direct:

—Imprint a part of that divinity onto these embryos.

——Return some of the offspring to the Four Sovereigns, and let them shape and cultivate them in their own divine kingdoms.

This is an exchange.

Xia Xiu understood it very well.

The Four Lords - do not care about life.

They only care about one thing: the carrier of the miracle.

At this moment, the [Black Seal] handed to him by the Black Horse Knight - a piece of black parchment engraved with obscure inscriptions, slowly floated in his palm, and its edges began to show dark fluctuations visible to the naked eye.

Like a heart, it beats gently and tremblingly.

Like responding to something.

"Finally moving."

Xia Xiu murmured in a low voice.

He felt it, the perfect embryos were beating, they were near the astral realm.

He had been carrying this [Black Seal] with him at all times, long before he entered the deeper realms of the Ivy War.

The Four Sovereigns - the four doomsday gods who incarnated as the apocalypse - once told him.

They have scattered those perfect embryos across the heavens and all realms. When he stands in the destined place, the [Black Seal] will guide him towards his offspring.

Xia Xiu has been paying attention to the fluctuations of the [Black Seal].

However, in many shallow worlds, the parchment remained silent, like a dead object.

Until Xia Xiu led the courtyard army into the star realm of [Depth 60]——

[Black Seal] finally woke up.

At first, it only vibrated occasionally, emitting some faint resonance like a dream talk.

As Tunaras was completely controlled and the dust settled on the demise of the Gisyan Empire, the fluctuations became stronger and more urgent.

It was as if something in the distance was calling it.

Call him.

Xia Xiu looked at the floating [Black Seal] with deep eyes, and tapped lightly on the parchment with his fingertips. His fingertips ran across the dark and deep seal line. It was a chain of words composed of the "language of the kingdom of God", emitting a cold silver glow in the night.

[Unopened Seal - Coordinate Capture: In Progress...]

[Ether induction strength is increasing...]

[High-risk area confirmed: Depth 60 Star Realm/Nineteenth Fractal/Abandoned City Community/Perception frequency is close to the highest critical value]

Lines of ancient sentences appeared before his eyes like phantoms, and were then compiled and analyzed by the [Triple Crown] in his body.

This is the first active reaction after the activation of [Black Seal].

At this moment, he finally confirmed:
In this deep astral world, there really is a perfect embryo.

Today, the courtyard is full of battle flags in Tunaras, and the eight major abnormal capitals have been "tied" to the courtyard by him in the name of dividing the cake, asking them to guard the courtyard.

Abnormal capital expands its interests here while indirectly protecting the courtyard.

And he can free up his hands to do the really important things.

"It's about time."

Xia Xiu whispered to himself, he stood up from his chair, flicked his fingertips lightly, and with a crisp "snap" sound, he was instantly covered with the familiar black suit, with a straight lapel and intricate silver lines on the cuffs. His top hat then fell steadily, and the brim of the hat lightly covered the pair of dazzling golden pupils.

He raised his right hand and gently flicked it towards the air.

The space trembled slightly, and a ripple spread out from his fingertips. Then a silver scepter emerged from nothingness and was held firmly by him.

The head of the staff is coiled with delicate carvings, and at the very top is a miniature ether core that is slowly rotating.

He stood in the middle of the floor of the upper floor of the Governor's Mansion and called out in a steady tone:

"Adam."

In the void, circles of light woven by data streams suddenly lit up, and then a phantom composed of light particles appeared in front of him.

[exist--]
The management bureau's think tank responded with its usual calm mechanical voice. A panel popped up automatically, and the virtual interface of lineage authority unfolded in front of Xia Xiu's eyes, floating in mid-air.

Xia Xiu glanced at it, nodded, and his tone became concise and cold:
"I'm going away for a while."

“From now on, all courtyard internal affairs and strategic planning will be temporarily delegated to the Secretariat, and Pansy Jane will be responsible for overall implementation.

At the same time, Vice Principal Turles has full authority to intervene and cooperate with Pansy to handle all high-risk nodes."

“You assist them, Adam.

Maintain the management system and pay attention to the eight abnormal capitals in the star realm to ensure that they operate in accordance with the agreement and do not exceed their authority. "

"Especially the Astra Militarum - that's the foundation upon which we'll win the next war.

I want to see that the training data, personnel recruitment and grading systems are all online before the first fleet is built, without any delay. "

Adam listened quietly, identifying each instruction and receiving them one by one. The frequency of data rotation in the halo increased significantly.

[clear--]
Its voice is still cold, but it is filled with unquestionable execution.

"Also, regarding the second round of recruitment for the Children of the Courtyard."

Xia Xiu hesitated for a moment.

“They are the backbone of the future yard.

But unlike the first phase of 300 people, they will expand to 1,000 people, and individual differences and management pressure will increase exponentially, so don’t rush into it in the early stages.”

"I require all recruits of the second phase to stay in Odepapadopoulos at Depth 5 first. They are not allowed to be sent out or undergo transformation in advance. All pedigree construction must be postponed until I return in person." "They must pass the most rigorous screening and running-in."

Adam responded quickly, confirming the command, and the virtual interface turned into rows of green confirmation codes:

[Authority confirmed: Vice President Turles - full authority to intervene in the internal policies of the courtyard. ]

[Authority confirmation: Pansy Jane - Secretariat's overall coordination agent.]

[Star Army Project: Priority increased. ]

[Phase II Children of the Courtyard Project Status: Restricted Movement; Restricted Renovation;
Locked in: Enclave Odepapadopoulos]

[Accessing the Administration Monitoring Branch Network...]

Xia Xiu looked at the data interface in front of him and let out a long sigh.

——The basic overall situation has been determined.

After explaining everything, he was finally able to extricate himself from the dense pile of government affairs, temporarily put aside the construction of the courtyard's huge war system and star hegemony, and embark on another journey that had been destined but always shelved.

He was going to look for the First Apostle, and those perfect embryos that were scattered throughout the heavens and the worlds by the Four Sovereigns.

"Adam, I'm leaving."

The sound was not loud, but it fell like the sound of a dusk bell into this tall and solemn space.

[May order accompany you——]
Think Tank Adam's voice was still cold and solemn, just like the law of the courtyard itself.

Xia Xiu said nothing, but just nodded slightly without comment.

The next second, a circle of bright and complex embossments quietly emerged under his feet.

The glyph takes the shape of [∞], twisting the boundaries of space and time.

Layer upon layer of silver runes extended like a dream between the ground and the sky, enveloping him completely.

When the glyph rotated to its limit, his figure trembled slightly - and then disappeared.

Silent and motionless, as if it had never existed.

About a quarter of an hour later.

On the high-orbit track of Tunaras, a small, ancient-model [scientific research ship] slowly slid out of the hidden dock.

The ship's paint had peeled off and the nameplate had been painted over, leaving only an extremely simple identification code: "EX-01".

It has no accompanying fleet, no escort, and no external bridge support.

There is only a deep and silent hull, like a drop of ink, gently dissolving into the sea of ​​stars.

********
In a silent [Research Ship], Xia Xiu sat alone in front of the main console with a focused expression.

He spread out his right hand, and an ancient, pitch-black sheepskin mark as dark as a scorched star core appeared on his palm - the [Black Seal].

It trembled constantly, as if responding to some distant resonance.

Ether waves like nerve signals spread outward from the mark, and finally turned into a dark directional arrow in the navigation system of the [research ship].

"To the north of the astral plane, it's tilted at 5.7 degrees...but it's all gray."

Xia Xiu murmured, his fingers lightly brushing across the control panel in front of him.

The [Research Ship] seemed to respond to his will. The ship shook slightly, then changed course and slid silently into the most chaotic star sea area of ​​[Depth 60] along the direction guided by the [Black Seal].

At first, one could see the projection halos of sporadic planets outside the ship's windows, the broken shells of some lost civilizations' hubs, the wreckage of abandoned space stations, or forgotten psychic lighthouses, with faint, unextinguished lights floating in them.

But as the voyage continued, those "normal" things gradually disappeared, and were replaced by bizarre and disgusting interstellar phenomena.

In a space that was collapsing like a fluid, huge bodies that looked like a fusion of octopuses and stalactites were wriggling. They had an indefinite number of eyes, each of which was suspended outside of itself and hung in the etheric layer.

They made no physical sounds, but they continued to spread whispers of mental pollution, attempting to establish... "resonance" with the [research ship].

Outside a pitch-black void, an entity made of pure information is devouring itself. Its body is a language structure that constantly rewrites its own code. Its "breathing" is to swallow up a section of physical law and then spit it out in the form of a logical paradox.

It noticed the research ship and began to crawl towards it like a curious child, dragging the entire area of ​​local weightless space.

There is also a skeleton snake nest floating in the sea of ​​stars. It is made up of tens of millions of interstellar snake corpses. At the center of it is a spiritual heart inlaid with gems, as if it was once the tomb of a "star-eating spirit".

They sensed the energy of the research vessel and revived one after another, spewing out mist carrying a tide of death and pounced on the intruder.

But in the next moment, Xia Xiu stood up with a calm expression, and the shadow behind him twisted violently.

That was not a shadow in the normal sense, but his true "original form". The outline of the original form gradually bloomed in the void, like the sun reflected in the abyss.

A black sun rose from beneath his feet, so hot that it was almost blinding, but without a trace of temperature, as if existence itself was burning.

That was a fragment of his "original form".

It is not a show of strength, but a revelation of the concept itself.

His projection in the ether, his integrated information in the ether is - Black Sun!
In an instant——

That sea of ​​tentacles, that thing of code, that nest of snake bones, trembled like a beast being approached by a branding iron.

They saw Xia Xiu's true face and instinctively realized that this was an untouchable existence.

The strange phenomena were all shocked back, not daring to come any closer.

They dragged the madness and corruption in the starry sea, like defeated soldiers fleeing under the light of judgement. Twisted tentacles, lifeless bones, disordered codes and broken and unclear mental storms all retreated beyond the borders of the underworld.

And in the gaps between the disintegrating things, the [Research Ship] with white paint and the courtyard emblem engraved on its hull moved forward quietly, like a peregrine falcon at dawn, silently penetrating the disordered deep space.

Inside the ship, Xia Xiu was still sitting in the main control seat.

The scene outside the window was chaotic and picturesque, but his expression was as calm and silent as a star.

He ignored the monsters that fled in fear.

He didn't even care about those visions that could be described as disasters in the deep world - because they were like dust to him and were insignificant.

He just stared at the increasingly agitated [Black Seal] with a sharp gaze.

The black mark sealed in the parchment was now trembling like a heartbeat.

Every pulsation triggered psychic interference pulses in the research ship, stirring up subtle sounds in the air, like the breathing of some ancient life.

"We're almost there..." Xia Xiu whispered.

He reached out his hand to calm the restless black mark, and at the same time, he turned his right hand slightly to adjust the course. The ship glided at a lower propulsion power, as if afraid of disturbing the unknown "sanctuary" ahead.

Finally, after passing through an ether storm and a completely "projection-free" dead space, the hull suddenly shook and the jumping device temporarily failed.

It was not a system failure, but rather - a certain field that rejected all jumps and distortions.

At this moment, Xia Xiu's gaze suddenly froze.

He looked through the observation window of the research vessel and saw the end point that the black mark pointed to.

That is a projection of a planet.

In this chaotic, dark, deep astral world filled with fragments and virtual images, its existence itself is like a heavy hammer from reality.

It's too complete, too quiet, too...

It's real.

Unlike those phantoms floating in the etheric plane, this planet seemed to have fallen here from the real world.

It has no wandering star belts, nor trailing energy trails. It is like a "seed" left behind by the gods, quietly floating in the deep star abyss.

Its surface is wrapped in a thick blue-gray atmosphere, with a full outline and faintly visible surface mountains and continental shelves, as if there were traces of a complete civilization that once existed on it.

(End of this chapter)