Cataclysm: Undead Dragons and Zero Empire

Chapter 146 The Tide of Calamity

Above the boundary between subspace and the real universe, the giant vortex that Lin Ziming had forcibly torn apart was still expanding, as if the universe was continuously bleeding.

The viscous chaotic psionic energy poured into the real universe like pus oozing from a festering wound, and the darkness at the core of the vortex was unfathomable.

In this psionic catastrophe, there is little difference between powerful interstellar civilizations and weak surface natives; wherever life is abundant, demons will be drawn to it.

On a quiet, habitable planet in the direction of the supercluster's vortex, a local carbon-based civilization has just entered the steam age.

In cities filled with chimneys, the roar of steel and coal replaced pastoral idylls; black smoke from factories obscured the sky; politicians in parliament were still arguing heatedly over the distribution of colonial profits; and the navy's ironclad warships swaggered across the ocean.

They believed they were living in a golden age of civilization's rise, completely unaware of the impending catastrophe.

On the day the disaster struck, the sky first turned an eerie deep purple, as if a naughty child had splashed a bucket of rotten grape juice on the wall.

Immediately afterwards, countless twisted black rifts tore open in the sky, and a large number of demons let out piercing screams as they rushed towards the bustling city on the ground.

Rifle bullets had no effect on the demon; the psionic pollution emanating from it spread like a plague, causing those corrupted to undergo horrific mutations within a short period, turning them to attack their former brethren and unleashing chaos and extreme negative emotions.

It spread to more places.

Cities were reduced to scorched earth, oceans were polluted into thick, stagnant pools, and the planet was gradually covered by a purple mist. Continent 41

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All that remained were the howls of the mutants and the endless slaughter.

This once vibrant planet was completely transformed into a playground for warp demons by the impact of the psionic cataclysm. Only the bloodied and mangled ruins still faintly show traces of the civilization that once existed.

Civilizations like these are dying at an alarming rate in the psionic catastrophe, their vibrant life force being mercilessly extinguished like a campfire in a downpour.

Some civilizations had just entered the space age, built their first space station in orbit around their home planet, and were completely wiped out by the influx of demons while the whole country was celebrating, bringing the symphony of civilization's development to an abrupt end.

Some civilizations are trapped in their home star systems, slowly navigating between stars using nuclear fusion engines. They have spent a long time building a loose colonial system that is vulnerable to psionic catastrophes. They have not even seen interstellar society or provided conclusive evidence of the existence of extraterrestrial intelligent life.

Numerous civilizations perished completely, their territories devoured by demons. The names of these civilizations were not even recorded in interstellar society, just like mayflies that live only a day and die in this universe.

The wave of calamity did not specifically target the weak; it was indiscriminate, and even the civilizations that roamed the interstellar world were not spared.

More and more colonies were reduced to flames in the fierce battle against the demons, and colony star systems fell and lost contact one by one. Such an unstoppable momentum was almost unheard of in the long history.

They died without understanding why their technology, which they had upheld for so long with science and reason, and which they scorned as psychic power that represented consciousness and the soul, was so fragile as a sheet of paper in the face of this sudden disaster.

Those star cluster overlords who don't venture into the realm of psionic energy and rely solely on technological development are all continuously bleeding money in the psionic catastrophe.

While powerful weapons can certainly eliminate the demons' carriers in the real universe, the ubiquitous psionic pollution leaves them helpless. In their struggle, the demons that have devoured countless souls will only return again and again.

Some civilizations destroyed all hyperspace routes connecting their territory to the outside world, activated faster-than-light suppressors across all domains, and ramped up all their production capacity to mass-produce warships and ultimate weapons, attempting to protect their core territory with absolute power.

These actions can only be described as drinking poison to quench thirst. After isolating themselves, they still have to face the demons pouring out from the warp, watching helplessly as the interstellar hegemony they have built teeters on the brink of collapse in the face of psionic calamities.

As time went on, panic spread like a plague throughout the supercluster.

Faced with annihilation, countless civilizations panicked and ran away. Even before the disaster struck them, they couldn't find the source of the calamity or devise a solution. They could only vent their fear and anger on those civilizations skilled in the field of psionic energy.

"This catastrophe is nothing short of a conspiracy by those psionic civilizations!"

At an emergency inter-civilizational communication meeting held within the supercluster, the Grand Master of the Zerra Shadow Council was the first to launch an attack, "I..."

We have long warned that psionic energy is a poison leading to chaos and corruption, a key to unlocking the hell of the warp!

"Those psionic civilizations have been trading with entities in the warp for so long, and now they're using one enemy to devour another, unleashing these hellish monsters and making the entire supercluster pay the price for their madness!"

These words instantly ignited the emotions of all the affected civilizations.

"That's right! It's those psionic civilizations!" the leader of a civilization on the verge of collapse amidst the psionic catastrophe roared. "We've never touched psionic energy; it was those charlatans and madmen who summoned the demons into the real universe!"

"Those psionic civilizations must pay the price! At the very least, they must suffer destruction equivalent to ours in this catastrophe."

"Yes, blood for blood! Make them pay for the lives of the billions who died!"

Almost all the non-psychic civilizations that suffered the disaster turned their anger towards those civilizations that were skilled in the field of psychic energy. Faced with the fear of annihilation, they needed an outlet for their anger and someone to take responsibility for the disaster.

Although most of the civilizations that have voiced their accusations know that these psionic civilizations do not have the ability to trigger such a catastrophe, they cannot stand idly by while their own civilization suffers heavy losses, while those psionic civilizations are less damaged or even unharmed.

The balance of power between interstellar societies cannot be broken. After suffering a disaster themselves, their first thought is to drag other unaffected civilizations down with them.

The Pilgrims were the first to respond to these accusations, followed by the Star Speakers and the Valorian Holy See.

These well-known psionic civilizations within the supercluster all possess their own means of resisting demonic invasions. Just as other civilizations feared, these civilizations skilled in the psionic field suffered the least damage in this psionic catastrophe that swept across the entire supercluster.

"Letting these demons run rampant in other civilizations is not a long-term solution."

On the homeworld of the Pilgrims civilization, the high priests are gathered together to discuss how to communicate with other psionic civilizations through inter-galaxy cluster communication. "These demons feed on souls, and their power grows stronger with each billion souls they devour from a civilization."

"We can easily defend against their attacks now, but once they absorb enough souls, there's no guarantee that even more powerful individuals won't emerge. At that time, even the gods we've enlightened might not be able to withstand their onslaught."

“That’s right,” the Pope of the Holy See of Valorian continued, “We have detected the emergence of higher-level demons in several galaxies near the Maelstrom, for whom the real universe is a feast.”

"The demons are still devouring each other. Before long, a true demon lord will emerge from the vortex and unite the scattered demons into an army."

"Those civilizations that criticize us—who know nothing of the greatness of psionic energy and are completely unprepared for the dangers of the warp—are now biting us first when disaster is imminent. How ridiculous."

"But we cannot stand idly by," the Grand Chieftain of the Star Speaker civilization slowly began. "Other civilizations have been destroyed, and we will be next. Besides, the root of this disaster was not caused by us."

This statement instantly silenced the meeting. All the leaders of the psionic civilizations understood that this event, which was sweeping through the supercluster...

The disasters were far beyond the capabilities of their civilization.

The only explanation for such a terrifying dimensional tear, causing the psionic energy concentration throughout the supercluster to continuously rise, is that an extremely powerful psionic being single-handedly ripped apart the veil between the warp and the real universe.

After a brief discussion, all the major psionic civilizations within the supercluster jointly issued a public statement.

They first distanced themselves from the psychic civilization and stated explicitly that the catastrophe was an unprecedented dimensional rift.

Secondly, all psionic civilizations that signed the declaration are willing to provide psionic suppressors free of charge to all affected civilizations in the supergalaxy to help them resist psionic pollution and demonic invasion.

They clearly stated that the current power of psionic civilization is simply insufficient to shut down that vortex, and that there are currently only three possibilities and two feasible solutions to end this psionic catastrophe:

It is unrealistic to wait for the real universe to repair itself. The universe itself does have a powerful self-healing ability, and this vortex will be slowly smoothed out and healed by the real universe over a long period of time, eventually closing completely. However, few civilizations can survive until the day when the universe heals itself.

The first feasible solution is to find the being that tore apart the warp veil and created the Great Vortex. Only this being has the ability to close the dimensional rift he left behind and end this psionic catastrophe at its source.

The second feasible option is more uncertain: to approach that person within the supercluster who has always maintained a low profile...

A mysterious, lost empire, isolated for countless years, has been sought after by the Tute Think Tank Empire. Hopefully, this "recluse" possesses the power to forcibly close its doors.

The technology and power to close the vortex.

In any case, waiting to die would only lead to certain death. Under immense pressure of life and death, the entire supercluster of civilizations began to implement both plans simultaneously.

A large-scale search operation was officially launched, with countless civilizations dispatching their most advanced probes to search for the powerful psionic being that had torn the veil within the supercluster, even though they had no idea who this being was or where it was.

On the other hand, the supercluster's dominant civilizations jointly dispatched a diplomatic mission to the vassal states of the Tute Think Tank Empire, requesting that they contact the suzerain state on their behalf and plead with the ancient, lost empire to intervene and resolve the psionic catastrophe that has engulfed the entire supercluster.

The fate of the entire supercluster rests on these two faint hopes.

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