Chapter 457: Ark Divine Realm

Ark?!

When Leon's words were heard, the three people, including Helusi, were all stunned, and even Taibelos, who always wore a helmet, also emitted a deeply shocked emotional fluctuation.

Because that is the Ark…

It is the main‑universe human civilization's most formidable "battleship" at the current stage, without equal.

Overall it forms a super‑giant, symmetric "lotus", possessing four large and four small, a total of eight symmetric curved "petals".

If one measures the distance between the outermost points of a pair of large "petals", the result is seventy thousand kilometers, more precisely "74336km".

And Earth's diameter is 12756km, meaning the Ark's length is equivalent to six Earths, with actual volume and mass even greater.

After all, the Ark possesses an artificial star whose diameter is compressed to six thousand kilometers, providing energy while also delivering illumination to the Ark's surface natural environment.

In terms of weaponry, it is equipped with the beam matrix most "favored" by the governing civilization, as well as countless stance devices.

It can perform jumps, warp‑speed travel, and also independently open large "teleport gates" akin to star gates.

However, the Ark's primary function is not to serve as a pure weapon, nor as a super‑giant home world.

In fact, the Ark's main purpose is to "devour" terrestrial planets whose mass and volume are comparable to Earth, dismantle them into raw materials, and use those to fabricate a large apparatus ring in an "instant".

Of course, this "instant" is not the colloquial sense of a split second or a blink; traditionally, the engineering department would need "months" to construct a large apparatus ring, but by the Ark's method of devouring terrestrial planets, it can be completed in just three to four hours.

Comparing hours to months indeed qualifies as an "instant".

The news of Ark 001's completion was no longer a secret ten years ago, but what surprised Helusi, Taibelos, and Saimar was that since its completion, Ark 001 had remained docked in the Foundry Star Zone, never undergoing any test activities.

Now, Ark 001's maiden voyage choosing the Zero Five Universe truly astonished the young OriginalBody and the two battalion commanders.

A brief pause.

Helusi immediately replied, "Yes, brother, I will guard the Ark together with the 1st and 2nd battalions."

"Hmm." Leon also responded lightly, not forgetting to instruct, "Once Magnus assists us in completing the Spiritual Energy detection, Ark 001 will, with the aid of Dark Angel's artificial intelligence, automatically navigate toward a star system with intelligent life."

A single warning suffices; if the alien chooses to bow and submit, we will spare them, but if they refuse, we will directly devour their home planet as deterrence.

Understood?

Seeing his notoriously cold, taciturn OriginalBody brother give such an unusually lengthy briefing, Helusi, with a solemn expression, took the order and said, "Understood."

"Very well." Leon then looked at the other two battalion commanders and briefly said, "The Shark and the White Governor will remain in the Zero Five Solar System to continue civil construction and related activities."

"Yes, sir." The two battalion commanders responded in unison.

Leon's order effectively benches the Shark and the White Governor temporarily, but Taibelos and Saimar have no complaints; as vanguards, they have already "snatched" and earned plenty of loot and battle merits.

Moreover, Leon did not directly seize jurisdiction over the Zero Five Solar System; the side implication is that the Zero Five Solar System is privately allocated to the two battalions.

Just this alone is enough to offset any resentment from the Shark and the White Governor.

After giving the instructions, Leon left a line, "Prepare quickly; the expedition is imminent," then rested his right hand on the hilt of the Governing Sword and prepared to leave the audience hall.

Dong, dong.

Immediately after, a group of death‑wing guards dressed as white‑cloaked knights also followed the OriginalBody out of here.

In no time, the vast cathedral‑style hall was left only with Helusi, Taibelos, and Saimar.

They fell silent for a moment.

The youngest, Helusi, glanced left and right at the brothers beside him, and chuckled, "These past weeks have made you worry, and I've learned a lot from the two brothers; I hope you won't let minor issues cause further conflict, after all we are brothers."

"Don't worry, I'm not that petty," Taibelos said lightly, with a breezy demeanor.

"…" Saimar gave a slightly speechless look at Taibelos, shook his head helplessly, then turned to Helusi with a smile and said:

"We have been working with the Shark for nearly a month, and have essentially completed the integration; with our two battalions present, the rear of the expeditionary force will encounter no problems."

"Then I entrust it to the two brothers." Helusi raised both hands, placed them on the shoulders of the two commanders, and gave a light pat.

Next, the three giants also walked out of the audience hall and, in turn, boarded transport vessels to leave the Absolute Rationality.

Taibelos and Saimar returned to their respective battalion flagships, while Helusi's transport vessel headed to low Earth orbit, entering the Dark Angel's 1st battalion Titan‑class flagship.

Subsequently, the 1st battalion fleet, already prepared to continue, immediately entered a fold‑jump navigation state, and soon arrived at the Kuiper Belt on the outskirts of the Zero Five Solar System.

Here lies a Space Gate with a diameter of two hundred thousand kilometers, and alongside the expeditionary force that arrived in the Zero Five Universe, six UNSC fleets are currently responsible for garrison and patrol; the side of the Space Gate facing the primary universe is overseen by Arcadia and the White Governor.

Besides that, the most eye‑catching is the Ark, more than thirty times larger than Pluto.

Set against a backdrop of darkness yet surrounded by dazzling stars and nebulae dozens, hundreds, even hundreds of thousands of light‑years away, the "lotus" Ark, equipped with an atmosphere, oceans, jungles, fields, and an artificial star, stands out prominently.

It must be said, if Helusi had not initially known what this massive object could do—that it is a "battleship"—he would only think the Ark is a celestial masterpiece carved by humanity, exquisitely beautiful.

On the Ark's surface lies an optimal self‑sufficient ecology and recycling system, as well as machines capable of flawlessly executing commands for "farming", "livestock", "construction", and other tasks.

One could say, once the Ark's functions are understood, without needing to know Umbrella's higher‑ups or the decisions of humanity's ruler, it is clear that each legion's future flagship and home world will inevitably be replaced by the Ark.

One Ark equals one fleet.

Moreover, the Ark's devouring device, even if it cannot build a large apparatus, can likewise construct battleships and shield worlds of the models and grades already possessed by Umbrella.

Thus, sending an Ark to a universe, combined with Umbrella's research and production, and under the supervision of the Red Queen and White Queen, equipped with mature advanced artificial intelligence technology, can achieve conquest alone even without human oversight.

However, for main‑universe humanity, or rather for Sui Bian's cautious style, it is impossible to dispatch a single unmanned Ark to conquer a universe alone.

Afterwards, the Dark Angel 1st battalion fleet entered the surface atmosphere of Ark 001 to halt broadcasting.

Then…

Swish—!

A shallow red‑pink Spiritual Energy orb suddenly materialized "out of thin air" within the visual range of the Ark and the UNSC fleet.

But without close inspection, or lacking sensitivity to Spiritual Energy, it is hard to notice that the orb is only about a hundred or so meters in radius.

Boom—!!!

Yet the orb's instantaneous burst, defying the physical laws of the material universe and radiating faster than light across the entire Solar System, the galaxy, and the whole Zero Five Universe, only gave the Ark and UNSC a fleeting glimpse of a "red flash."

But it was merely a blink; honestly, the humans on Zero Five Earth didn't even know what happened before being "scanned" by that red‑pink Spiritual Energy.

In reality, this was Magnus, temporarily seated at a Spiritual Energy amplification device, inadvertently causing the action while helping brother Leon release Spiritual Energy to dispel the Zero Five Universe's "mist", aiming to aid the expeditionary force in smoothly achieving its objective.

Shortly after the Spiritual Energy burst, the docked Ark unfolded eight rhombus‑shaped metal pillars beneath the "petals" and emitted eight cyan‑blue light columns roughly a hundred kilometers wide.

Only saw these eight light pillars form a matrix, gathering together beneath the ark…

With a whoosh~!!!

Generated a sphere with a diameter comparable to the ark, but apparently due to gravitational anomaly it emitted no light, yet it distorted the surrounding light, a "spherical celestial body".

Afterward, the ark, seemingly slow but actually moving quickly downward, was instantly "devoured" by the spherical celestial body, vanishing without a trace.

As for the celestial body that performed the "devouring" action, it also dissipated along with the ark's disappearance.

This so-called spherical celestial body is actually a "pseudo-wormhole" developed by main universe humans using technology left behind by the administrator civilization; in terms of efficiency and transmission distance, it far surpasses the existence of star gates.

However, the drawback is also very obvious: it requires a star whose mass is not less than the Sun's, or a massive artificial star, in order to open a stable pseudo‑wormhole.

Therefore, among the vessels capable of opening a pseudo‑wormhole, only Ark 001, which took more than ten years of construction by the main‑universe humans, can do so.

When the Ark disappears, the vortex Space Gate instantly becomes empty, and the near‑Earth orbit of Earth 05, as well as the edge of its gravitational sphere, are likewise empty.

The main force of the expeditionary army, composed of over twenty‑thousand vessels, together with three large device rings, entered the Rift Space and began jump travel toward their respective target star systems for "handling."

At this moment, the outer space of Earth 05 becomes much more "quiet," yet the humans of Earth 05 become very "lively."

Because the main universe that has taken over the ruling class truly, as the internet, media and other channels claim, possesses an unmatched "steel tide" and artificial celestial bodies!

Just the fleets of the man‑eating sharks and the White Governor are enough to give the humans of Earth 05—especially men who favor firearms, the military, and political discussion—more topics, public opinion, and even arguments.

Now tens of thousands of warships have arrived, and with improved treatment, environment, and security, the rapid development and stability touted by the main universe give the humans of Earth 05 an increasing sense of "security."

Primarily, the main universe can take concrete action, and the White Governor's overt or covert propaganda stabilizes public sentiment in a very short time.

At this moment online, people are speculating whether the expeditionary force can resist the galaxy‑wide alien hordes and how long the expedition will take, since the real existence of extraterrestrials is no longer a horror story for the humans of Earth 05.

Such remarks not only show people's natural penchant for gossip and idle chat, but also indicate that the humans of Earth 05 are, unknowingly, becoming increasingly "martially virtuous."

———————

…

At the same time.

In the pitch‑black deep‑space realm, there surprisingly exists an "island" with lakes, mountains, forests, and towns.

Upon close inspection, rivers and lake water flow to the island's edge, then cascade like a waterfall down toward the island's underside—that is, into the boundless black void of space.

Strangely, no matter how the rivers and lake water flow and fall, they never become clean.

Combined with a clear sky and exquisitely beautiful natural scenery, the island resembles a hidden utopia deep within the universe.

This island, whose area is roughly comparable to a dwarf planet, is classified by the main‑universe humans as alien debris, and is also the homeland of Loki Odinson and Thor Odinson, who were slain by Helusi—

Asgard Divine Realm.

In the Earth 05 universe, Asgardians call themselves the Nine‑Realm Administrators, a race that considers itself at the pinnacle of civilization and even claims to be gods.

The word "god" is, one could say, the thing the main universe despises and detests most.

Nevertheless, it must be said that Asgardians indeed have the credentials to claim godhood; even their most ordinary citizens live for about a thousand years, are unafraid of low‑intensity physical attacks, and virtually never suffer disease.

In terms of physical condition alone, Asgardians would be genuine god‑kind compared to certain lower civilizations, such as Earth 05, which has had no contact with the main universe.

At this moment, if one draws the "gaze" toward the center of the Asgard Divine Realm, within the palace that shines with gold and jade and boasts magnificent grandeur…

"My king! Even if Prince Loki is guilty, only we Asgard may conduct the trial! Humans have no right to intervene! Moreover, humans killed Prince Thor!"

"Indeed, my king! Initiate the judgment to destroy Earth! Destroy humanity!"

"Judgment!!"

In the palace's council hall, a group of Asgardian generals clad in golden helmets, golden armor, and golden cloaks each roar with barely contained anger.

Sitting on the throne, the "old man"—also dressed in splendid armor and a bright red cape, with an eye patch over his right eye—remains unusually calm.

However, looking at his only remaining left eye, its sclera streaked with red veins and the socket darkened, one can tell that the "old man's" mental state is not as calm as it appears.

And this "old man" is Odin Baolsen, the Father of the Gods and King of All Life.

Odin lifts his left hand slightly, causing all the generals to fall silent, restoring quiet to the council hall, then he says:

"Loki and Thor's deaths are humanity's contempt toward me, toward Asgard; only death and destruction can quell our fury…

Then we shall destroy everything humanity possesses, to proclaim Asgard's absolute sovereignty to the universe."

(End of Chapter)