Chapter 991 Reason to Fight Part One (1/2)
”Get a move on, and stay in queue!”
Back in the world of Mycroft, Roland calmed the crowds as a Legendary champion in the town center of Moldavia. However, upon sensing that chill, he could not help but speak out to urge the queuing citizens to depart through the portal.
That being said, the long columns of people extending through the city moved steadily and without panic. Extraordinary individuals amongst the Moldavian city guards, escorts, and knights moved through the surveillance of an automated spell before stepping into the massive portal at the city's center square to leave Mycroft.
”Don't worry, we're going to someplace safe…the Liege will protect us.” A mother in the queue was soothing her children. Even if she was not an Extraordinary individual, she learned a thing or two about most supernatural powers following instructions in the last few years. From her perspective, the portal in front of her was running stably, with the fragrance of flowers from the other side faintly obvious even to a mortal.
That was precisely why, and in addition to a certain liege's reputation, the queue that was forced to leave home would so readily head for other worlds in seek of refuge.
After Neuper the Ultimate Elf had fled the Zeta Ram system, even the Mycroft homeworld was now categorized as an unsafe region, with localized pockets of the virus spreading.
Though the means through which the virus moved around was determined—it could not transcend worlds without cause and must possess some medium such as sound, images, or simply information clusters which in turn made it preventable, the Legends, including Joshua who was on Stellaris, consented to a Migration plan in consideration of every Mycroft citizens' safety.
***
Joshua had left behind the skill to help human factions of other regions to build corresponding shelter worlds after building one in the Bloodmoon Abyss. All those worlds possessed semi-permanent life support systems to build the Ring World in the future, and also considered the sudden mass migration. That was why it could cater for the billions entering in a short period while completing a recycling of interior resources within three months even if its resources and energy sources were not fully prepared.
And the first one to be opened which was at once complete, stable, and reliable was the Bloodmoon Shelter.
Supervised by the divine artificial intelligence Zero Three and watched over by Light the World Will, even the Ultimate Virus would be immediately discovered and banished. That was why after Roland and the various members of the Liege's Residence had a discussion, they no longer minded the place and teleported off to regulate different regions instead.
There were 23 shelter transfer points in the Northern Empire, with over a hundred of them spread across the world of Mycroft. Roland, who held the key to the shelter portals, teleported over a hundred times in the day, and despite his strong spirit, the many teleportation left him instinctively disgusted. However, when he saw the crowds who had packed up to leave their homeland and hurriedly gathered under the request of Mycroft's united governments, the Holy Knight had to do his best even if it was hard.
”Number fifty-six: Kadmore portal of the West Mountains opened… next should be the seventy-fourth by the Eastern Seas… damn it, are not all citizens following orders?”
Within the borders of the Grand Duchy of the West Mountains, the Holy Knight grimaced after some workers reported the situation to him, clasping his forehead as he sighed. ”I mean, I understand that suddenly being asked to leave land and work to seek refuge in some other world is a bit too much for mortals who are still using human strength to tend to their farms…”
”No…most of those who are reluctant to leave are the elderly who are being stubborn…”
The local regulator was a dwarf, who spoked in slight irritation and was a little lost for words. ”They are saying that it would be bad if their land and equipment (self-automatic arcane machines used for agriculture) are not maintained, and the epidemic won't matter since they are already too old anyway, and that they would still need production when everyone comes home.
”Obsessing over such farms even now…argh!”
What else could Roland say? It was thanks to the proud fact that the leaders had spread knowledge and ethics far and wide that Mycroft citizens possessed such fine attributes, but now, Roland hoped that the exceedingly noble individuals could be a little more selfish and value their life more. For the present civilizations, the value of humans who procreated slowly was irreplaceable compared to machines made ever so simply.
They should have been applying their value more effectively in other places.
Ka-boom…ka-boom!!!
White lightning sparked upon the skies filled with shadows. Amidst rumbling thunder and rain pouring from the dark rainclouds, sunlight was entirely blocked and left the world in complete darkness. Only the lights of the city, along with the massive pale-blue portal at its heart shone.
Unaffected by the torrential rain, the queue to the portal of most regions kept advancing…. Through dimensional spells, airships, promises, or even enchantment by mind spells, 90% of Mycroft's population had delegated their work to the machines and headed for the various teleportation points to the shelter realms, leaving their own home.
Amidst the never-ending downpour, Roland the Holy Knight teleported across the world to find in shock that the rain was not occurring in a single spot, but over the entire world. It was as if the sea was being poured out without end, and Roland's heart grew somber as he took it all in.
He still remembered the chill that he sensed before, and that the Ultimate Virus lurked for a long time and that the world of Mycroft was not assuredly safe.
”Almost every region over Mycroft responded to the Migration on the first call, whereas some cities and zones have been silent and unresponsive even until now, with contact completely lost.”
If not for the current situation, Roland would have imagined that they were plagued by unforeseen circumstances and could not reply initially—now, however, the worst-case scenario came to mind. Closing his eyes in slight pain and opening them again, Roland's eyes were determined and embodied rage.
”They must be completely destroyed. With such sudden rain, it would be the Ultimate Virus—no, it would be the Ultimate Entity.”
”Perhaps it has already appeared.”
In fact, his guess was not wrong at all.
A massive typhoon was wreaking havoc on the distant oceans of the far south. Like a gigantic invisible hand, raging gales sent indefinite volumes of the sea into the skies and moved the rainclouds that subsequently formed, blanketing the heavens over the entire world by indomitable force.
With its parent form having originated from a world of storms with rarely any sunlight, one of the now proven signs of an Ultimate Entity's presence was the ability to alter the world and weather, causing no end to cloudiness and rain.
In the depths of the dim seas, at the bottom layer of reefs and oceanic currents, a great power was extending. It created a downpour over all of the world as if something was existent, wandering across all the seas and covering the land in ice-cold rain.
***
The Sea Dragon City, the Eastern Plains—this was the old dwelling place of the Sage of the Seas and the city of the Sea Dragon Knights, and the location of the twenty-seventh portal to the shelter realm.
With its platforms for marine harvesting and farming built over the last dozen years and the embankments that generated energy, the entire Sea Dragon City resembled a semi-circular harbor. Within the embankment were various stable nurseries for fishes and marine lifeforms, while the outer seas were where the Sea Dragon Knights roamed freely with their sea dragon companions.
But now, neither the nurseries nor the Sea Dragon Knights were visible—there was only the radiant blue portal at the center of town, the only place where the presence of Extraordinary powers was felt.
Being the base of the Sea Dragon Knights and the dwellings of their families, the Sea Dragon City boasted great firepower even if they lacked in populations, including the cities nearby. At present, most of the people had already teleported away, leaving only stationed guards who would close the portal when instructed by Roland, the chief overseer.
With evacuations almost finished at the moment, the entire Sea Dragon City had ceased operations. Arcane generators were turned off and various enchanted facilities hibernating to avoid having everything falling to pieces in a possible conflict. Therefore, after having all dangerous equipment and facilities moved or sealed, there was no hint of anyone around.
Even so, two silhouettes were weathering the rain on the Sea Dragon City embankment and striding towards the central control room.