Sanctuary Paradise

Chapter 870 Post-War Meeting
A slightly pungent smell of alcohol permeated the air. At a long table large enough to accommodate more than twenty people, a major sat alone on one side, looking at the group in front of him and speaking with a smile.

Looking in front of him, one could see reports laid out on a long table, recording the various measures and actual results taken by the Blackthorn Legion against the 'Macrophagocytic World Cluster' they had mentioned over the past three days:
……

[File Number]: 0599-03-YC01
[Recording Unit]: Blackthorn Legion
[Permission Level]: LV.40 (Special Permissions)
[Danger Level]: Extremely High (Freezing is Recommended)

...

"Start Time: After the 'Backtrack' anomaly event ended—"

"At 00:00:07, the Elemental Interlayer Quantum Observation Instrument successfully confirmed a large-scale spatiotemporal reaction in the area east of the original Cassinome route, which was initially judged to be a huge world cluster."

"At 00:03:19, we received information from Pioneer Black Sword. After combining the relevant information, we confirmed that the impact cluster is the source of the anomalous characteristic 'Retrospection'. After discussion, we tentatively named it 'Macrophage World Cluster'."

"At 00:05:33, it was confirmed that the 'Macrophage World Cluster' is moving towards the star plane at a speed of 3.972 light-years per hour. Because its speed has exceeded the horizon limit, it cannot be observed optically with conventional equipment. Its movement can only be determined by the trend of changes in spatial curvature and the frequency response of abyssal energy."

"At 00:05:49, the Void Tree notarized spacetime buffer zone was successfully set up."

"At 00:06:10, the 'Macrophagocytic World Cluster' collided with the spacetime buffer zone. Its speed has been confirmed to have decreased to within the horizon. The Blackthorn Seventh Legion has been dispatched to investigate..."

"... "

"... "

"At 03:15:22, relevant combat units of the Blackthorn Seventh Legion successfully arrived at the area where the 'Macrophagocytic World Cluster' is located."

"At 03:16:30, dispatch a total of 3000 interstellar environment-specialized combat units, the 'Blackthorn Nest,' to investigate the 'Macrophagocytic World Cluster.'"

"At 03:32:55, the last interstellar environment specialized combat unit was killed, and extremely strong spacetime turbulence was confirmed in the outer region of the 'Macrophagocytic World Cluster'."

"At 03:35:00, the spacetime barrier breaking device was deployed."

"At 04:06:48, it was confirmed that the spacetime barrier breaking device successfully broke through the spacetime turbulence in the outer region of the 'Macrophagocytic World Cluster'."

"At 04:53:11, the third signal request failed. It was determined that all spacetime barrier breaking devices had lost contact and failed to obtain internal information of the 'Macrophagocytic World Cluster'."

"At 04:58:21, begin executing Plan Two, prepare for deployment..."

"... "

"... "

"At 17:33:45, the fourth plan failed to obtain internal intelligence of the 'Macrophage World Community'."

"At 17:35:12, the externality intelligence gathering operation failed, the request for the destructive contingency plan was approved, and the application for permission to use the galactic-class combat weapon was initiated."

"At 17:35:22, the application for the use of the star-level weapon was approved, and preparations were made to implement the annihilation plan."

"At 17:40:00, the 'Destruction Light' strategic weapon, a space-destroying weapon, was launched."

"At 17:40:12, the 'Light of Annihilation' hit was confirmed, and a severe collapse was observed in the spacetime turbulence zone outside the 'Macrophage World Community'."

"At 17:43:12, three minutes after the 'Light of Annihilation' hit, a massive increase in the abyssal frequency reaction activity inside the 'Macrophage World Cluster' was detected, and the abyssal pollution intensity in the external area rose to the 'conceptual level,' triggering an emergency spacetime blockade plan."

"At 17:58:37, the emergency time-space blockade was completed. The observation range of the Blackthorn Seventh Legion has been reduced to 300 world units..."

"... "

"... "

"At 32:17:23, the analysis of the abyss contamination sample was completed. According to the test results, the subjects experienced continuous cell atrophy throughout the entire process after being exposed to the contamination, their mental state dropped to a 'beast-like' state, and they exhibited severe 'blood and flesh hunger' and 'thirst' phenomena. Externally, they were extremely sensitive to living organisms and had a strong light-chasing characteristic."

"Based on intelligence provided by the pioneer 'Black Sword,' it is speculated that the 'Macrophagus World Cluster' likely contains multiple abyssal characteristics, all of which are high-risk. Preliminary inferences suggest their effects are as follows..."

"... "

"... "

"At 53:30:18, the growth rate of abyssal energy outside the 'Macrophagocytic World Cluster' was detected to exceed the critical threshold. The confirmed abyssal energy is growing at an extremely rapid rate. It is preliminarily determined that there is a 65.37% probability of multiple large abyssal holes, a 31.63% probability of small abyssal cavities, a 2.98% probability of medium-sized abyssal cavities, and a 0.02% probability of large abyssal cavities inside."

"At 53:31:30, the 6th operational meeting against the Macrophage World Cluster was convened, and an emergency discussion began on the handling plan for the 'Macrophage World Cluster'..."

……

Six emergency operational meetings, more than thirty different solutions, and a large amount of data and sample analysis—these are the results they achieved by staying at home for three days.

It could be said that, in order to deal with the colossal world cluster that had appeared out of nowhere, they had exhausted almost every possible method and means over the past three days, all in an effort to ascertain the true state of its interior. However—

"I'm sure you've all seen the report that just came back. Do you have any new thoughts?"

Inside the command room, the major squinted as he looked at Xin Lailai and the others sitting in front of him, his gentle smile gradually turning into a solemn and serious expression.

"..."

"Unfortunately, from my perspective, I can't think of any other way to deal with this from the outside."

Randy, sitting on the right side of the long table with empty bottles piled up beside him, was biting a straw and spreading his empty right hand with a helpless expression. The White Demon and the Deathbringer beside him were just staring at the report in front of them without saying a word.

Just as Randy said, in these three days, they tried almost every possible solution, but in the end, they couldn't even stop the 'Giant Devourer World Cluster' from releasing abyssal energy to the outside world, let alone destroy it.

"To be honest, given the current situation, it's more realistic to worry about when it might go out of control than to think about how to deal with it, since the amount of abyssal energy inside it is constantly increasing."

Yamu, standing to the side, shrugged and offered his opinion.

"Out of control... Heh, indeed, upon closer reflection, that's a more worrying issue."

Upon hearing this, the major gently pushed up his round-framed glasses, narrowed his eyes slightly, and a deep, unfathomable gaze flickered beneath his dark golden pupils. Xin Lailai and the others standing nearby fell silent. In truth, even without the major's words, they knew that waiting here idly was far from a wise choice.

As a super-giant world cluster with a spacetime radius of 3.75 light-years, the situation inside the 'Macrophagocytic World Cluster' can be said to surpass that of any other anomalous world they know.

Especially considering that there are highly likely to be multiple large abyssal holes or even an entire abyssal void within the other side, and that it is itself carrying unknown abyssal contamination as it continues to move towards the astral plane.

Although, for the time, thanks to the spacetime seal descended by the Void Tree, they have temporarily restricted the movement of the Megaphalloid world community.

But this is like putting a cover on a spring that is constantly gushing water. While the spacetime seal prevents the leakage of abyssal pollution, it also deprives the abyssal energy produced by the abyssal wormholes in the macrophage world cluster of having no outlet and can only be forced to accumulate inside the macrophage world cluster.

It might be okay in the short term, but if this continues for a long time, given the scale of the abyssal wormholes within the macrophage world cluster, once the abyssal energy accumulates to a level sufficient to break through the spacetime barrier...

According to the information they gathered from the remnant soul of Gamo, the so-called abnormal characteristic 'Retrospection' that caused the entire expeditionary defense line to collapse instantly was actually just a secondary abnormal characteristic that Gamo cultivated using scraps brought from the periphery of the 'Macrophagocytic World Cluster'.

Even so, the opponent still caused enormous trouble for the entire expedition, and even nearly dragged the entire third-tier world layer of the astral plane into crisis. From this, one can imagine how terrifying the disaster would be if the abnormal characteristics within the 'Giant Devourer World Cluster' were allowed to get out of control.

The problem is, even knowing all this... how exactly are they supposed to deal with the phalloid world community before them?

"Black Sword, have you gotten any new information from your divination?"

White Demon looked at Xin Lailai, who was sitting opposite the Major, and asked, but Xin Lailai shook her head and said:

"Unfortunately, no. The severity of this problem far exceeds the scope of divination. At least, my divination methods cannot obtain any useful information through divination."

"Tsk, we can't blow it up, we can't investigate it, we can't stop it, and we can't predict anything with divination. And we can't just leave it alone... What the hell should we do with this thing?"

Randy muttered to himself, scratching his unkempt hair, which hadn't been washed in three days, looking rather annoyed. His eyes were full of worry. Just then, the Death Keeper suddenly spoke up:

"In that case, why not just send someone in to investigate?"

"?!!"

As the indifferent words fell, Randy's eyes widened in shock as he looked at the executioner, exclaiming:
"No way, sis, are you serious? How can a living person go into a place like that? Have you forgotten what happened to those people who came into contact with the pollution escaping from there, as reported in the report?!"

"Turned into a living corpse, worse than death, and then what?" The Death Bearer said, glancing indifferently at Randy, and said, "The report clearly states that that level of pollution can be easily resisted with just an Abyss Resistance of 3 or higher."

"Although we can't be sure how strong the pollution will be once inside, with an abyss resistance of 10 points, even if we can't survive inside for a long time, we can at least stay active for several hours to a few days. That's enough time to investigate the information inside and bring it out."

"Or do you have a better solution?"

"Uh, I... wait, even if we don't have to worry about the abyss contamination, what about the spacetime barrier around that thing? That level of spacetime turbulence is already far beyond the teleportation pod's capacity, isn't it?"

Randy, speechless, paused for a moment, but then, as if remembering something, he immediately turned to the executioner and asked:

"Even if you can make a hole to go in, what will you do to come out?"

If it were simply a world occupied by the Abyss Hole, that would be one thing. But according to the information obtained by Xin Lailai from searching for soul fragments and the test results transmitted back by the Seventh Legion at the front line, the 'Macrophagocytic World Cluster' has apparently devoured countless worlds and planets in the Abyss. This is why they named it 'Macrophagocytic'.

This massive amount of world-devouring indirectly caused the spacetime barrier outside the 'Macrophagocytic World Cluster' to reach an outrageously thick level. Even using the most advanced spacetime barrier-breaking technology within the fortress, at most, one could only drill a small hole and insert two devices. As for bringing living people through a spacetime barrier of this magnitude...

"There is a way to address this. If I remember correctly, the Legion should have a 'World-Class Space Bombardment Device' specifically designed for this situation, right?"

This time, before the executioner could answer, Xin Lailai, who was opposite the major, spoke directly. She looked at the major, who was squinting and staring at her group, and asked calmly.

"Hehe, Black Sword Sir is right. If we use the 'World-Class Spatial Bombardment Device,' we can indeed break through the spacetime barrier of that intensity together, but..."

"Black Sword Sir, are you sure you want to do this?"

As the major spoke, he squinted at Xin Lailai and the Death Slayer in front of him, as well as Yamlai, who had been whistling softly to the side at some point, looking completely indifferent. Randy, watching this scene, blinked and suddenly realized something.

"Hey, you guys, you weren't planning this all along..."

"I just prepared for the worst from the beginning. If there were other ways to solve the problem, I wouldn't have chosen this risky approach."

Xin Lailai answered calmly, glancing at the pages of reports laid out on the table.

In fact, the outcome regarding the 'Macrophagocytic World Cluster' could be considered finalized the moment the sixth operational meeting concluded. The reason for this seventh operational meeting is solely for one reason—

"However, since things have come to this point, the only way to resolve this is through pioneering efforts. At the very least, before we finish dealing with the matters of Expedition Route 1 on Yan Yi's side, we must thoroughly investigate the intelligence within the 'Macrophagocytic World Cluster'."

"Of course, I'm not planning to just rush in and die for nothing."

As Xin Lailai spoke, she glanced at the major beside her, her gaze sharpening slightly, and said in a heavy tone:

"Three days—"

"No matter what happened or what we gained inside, if we haven't come out after more than three days, Commander, please request assistance directly from Lord Yan Yi, who is located in the First Battlefront area. The reason given should be that all members of the Guixu Squad's Pioneers have lost contact and urgently need rescue."

As the powerful words fell, the major's gaze flickered slightly. He glanced at Xin Lailai, narrowed his eyes, and chuckled softly:
"I see, that's a very cautious approach, but—"

"The right decision, Black Sword Sir. In that case, this operational meeting can be announced in this manner, right?"

"Yes, of course, no problem."

Xin Lailai glanced at the information displayed by the major and nodded slightly, while the major looked at the report on the branded interface, his eyes narrowed, a deep glint flashing in his dark golden pupils, before uploading the content from the branded interface to the World Fortress terminal:
"At 67:48:22 after the 'Retrospective' anomaly outbreak event ended, the 7th Operational Meeting against the Macrophage World Cluster concluded. The meeting results are as follows—"

"Suspend all external intervention plans and have the Pioneer Team 'Gui Xu' directly enter the 'Macrophagus World Cluster' to conduct exploration seven days later."

……

(End of this chapter)