Chapter 4105: A Terrifying Suspicion

Lu Yin had taken his cultivation of karma along a different path than Greater Sancte Green Lotus. As a result, he needed far more creatures to deduce certain types of information.

If a Thread of Heaven could exist in the Aevum Inch, then he could also create one within the Tianyuan. While the information that could be gleaned from such a place would be extremely limited, that did not mean that it would be impossible to infer further knowledge.

“Senior, have you heard of the Threads of Heaven before?” Lu Yin asked.

Greater Sancte Green Lotus was surprised. “Did those foreigners mentioned that to you?”

Lu Yin nodded, and Greater Sancte Green Lotus sighed in admiration. “You were lucky to encounter creatures of some standing. No wonder you hesitated to eliminate them.

“Since you asked about the Threads of Heaven, then you already know that they exist, as do I. There is no need to belabor the matter. When I went through Obscura's gate to search for Stillstorm, it was like looking for a needle in a cosmic sea. I was more eager to find a Thread of Heaven so that I could see if the words ‘human civilization’ had spread elsewhere in the Aevum Inch.

“If that had occurred, then we would be in grave trouble. The moment that any civilization’s name spreads, they will inevitably attract a fishing civilization, which is the greatest danger.

“Unfortunately, I failed to find a Thread of Heaven.”

Lu Yin was disappointed. “You did?”

Greater Sancte Green Lotus nodded. “It is nothing strange to fail to find one. Creating a Thread of Heaven is extremely difficult, and their locations continuously shift. They are rare places where creatures can speak to beings of other species. They give weaker civilizations a sliver of a chance of surviving in the cosmos, which fishing civilizations will not allow. A Thread of Heaven needs to evade both fishing civilizations and other powerful creatures who would seize it for themselves.

“Don’t assume that only another civilization can annihilate a civilization in the Aevum Inch. Powerful creatures can bring about such doom as well.”

Lu Yin frowned. “Immortals? Don’t they fear increasing their karmic chains and being bound by them?”

“There is no need for them to take direct action. It is quite normal for such beings to keep a few enforcers around. Most weak civilizations that frequent Threads of Heaven do not have any Immortals at all, which means that they are like sheep to the slaughter.”

At this point, Greater Sancte Green Lotus gave Lu Yin a wry smile. “After that last battle, do you now feel that Immortals are found everywhere?”

Lu Yin involuntarily nodded. Beings at that level were far more numerous than he had imagined, and many had recently appeared out of nowhere.

Greater Sancte Green Lotus shook his head. “Out of a hundred civilizations in the Aevum Inch, no more than five of them will have an Immortal. The vast majority have none at all. You have seen so many because our human civilization is being targeted.

“Among those targeting us are Obscura, which is a fishing civilization, and the Nest civilization, which is a quasi-fishing civilization.

“Strictly speaking, calling the Nest a quasi-fishing civilization is still not accurate, as their strength is nowhere near that level. Even so, their behavior is precisely that of a fishing civilization’s. Such a civilization is among the most revolting. They risk their own destruction while dragging others down with them. They claim to do so in order to evolve and develop, but they are far more likely to destroy themselves. I truly don’t know how the Nest civilization has lasted for so long. Their behavior...”

Green Lotus suddenly seemed to remember something, and his eyes narrowed sharply.

Lu Yin grew puzzled. “Senior?”

When Greater Sancte Green Lotus looked back at Lu Yin, his expression was graver than ever. “Don’t you feel that the Nest’s behavior could also be regarded as bait?”

That question caused Lu Yin’s hair to stand on end, and a chill shot up his spine.

Impossible... right?

From beginning to end, he had never considered such a possibility.

Ever since he had first learned about the Nests, he had treated the Nest civilization as a deadly foe. The repeated wars against the Nine Odysseys Megaverse had been the actions of an independent civilization; how could they be regarded as bait?

And yet, the Nest civilization’s way of survival ran completely counter to how other civilizations survived in the Aevum Inch.

Apart from fishing civilizations, everyone else tried to stay hidden. The Nest civilization alone did the opposite, roaming around the cosmos and eradicating whatever civilizations they found. They also made use of Luo Chan, which allowed them the ability of teleportation.

Were the bugs not afraid of running into a fishing civilization?

Reasonably speaking, they should have run into such a civilization long ago.

Why had Obscura not acted against the Nest civilization? It was impossible for Obscura to not know about the bugs.

The Nest civilization was like a torchbearer running through a dark forest, and yet no one had struck them down. The situation made no sense, none at all.

How had the bugs survived for so long? How?

Humanity had stepped on eggshells, and yet they had still been forced to fight multiple wars just to survive. Countless civilizations had been utterly erased. The Nest civilization was clearly not stronger than humanity, so how had the bugs lived so well? By relying on Luo Chan alone? Not even that bug was invincible. It had already been trapped in the Terminus Cycle, and there had to be multiple other means in the Aevum Inch that could similarly trap such a creature.

How?

The most reasonable explanation was that there was a fishing civilization behind the bugs.

The Nest civilization as a whole was nothing more than bait released by some unknown fishing civilization, nothing more.

Humanity had always believed that fishing civilizations used bait such as springboards, sourceboxes, Obscura’s gates, and other similar means. The idea that an entire civilization could be bait had never been considered. Only after the Tricolor Skyborne appeared had it become evident that a civilization could attract another. From there, it was only logical to continue on to the conclusion that a civilization itself could be used as bait.

“We’ve treated the Nest civilization as our enemy, ignoring the logic behind their behavior. If we look at things more closely, the chances of the Nest civilization being bait is even greater than those giant snails,” Greater Sancte Green Lotus continued in a low voice, his expression completely transforming.

Lu Yin looked at the other man and asked, his voice dry, “What are the odds?”

Greater Sancte Green Lotus exhaled. “Seventy percent.”

Fully considering a matter led to fear. If something was never even thought of, there would be nothing, but as soon as it came to mind, things would start falling into place.

“If the Nest civilization is nothing more than the bait of a fishing civilization, then how powerful are the ones standing behind the bugs?” Lu Yin felt increasingly nervous. He had not forgotten that Greater Sancte Green Lotus had mentioned that he could not accurately estimate the Immortal Lord’s strength. For such a being, as well as their two Immortal followers, to simply be bait? Then...?

Greater Sancte Green Lotus felt a growing headache.

Any fishing civilization was regarded as an untouchable abyss, and yet it seemed that humanity had already made contact with multiple such civilizations. How had things reached such an extreme?

Could Obscura have lured the others to humanity?

It appeared that they needed a plan of retreat.

That was the same thought running through Lu Yin’s mind; they needed a fallback. Humanity needed some sort of safeguard.

If humanity could somehow become a fishing civilization itself, then they could either defeat the fishing civilizations targeting them or enslave them. They could then stroll through the Aevum Inch unchallenged. Obscura, the Death Megaverse, and their other enemies’ veils would be ripped off, and they would be destroyed or conquered.

War would be waged using the white skeletons of the Death Megaverse.

Obscura's gate could be used to travel.

Swarms of insects could inundate the stars.

They could put one Thread of Heaven in place after another, heralding humanity’s might while ruling over 10,000 civilizations.

They could treat every springboard as a signal fire to send messages across the cosmos.

At dawn, they would tread upon the stars, and at dusk, they would drink to bliss with their head in a beauty’s lap.

That would be...

Lu Yin suddenly gave a wry smile. He had started indulging in wild fantasies.

“We need to carefully consider our path of retreat. If humanity is besieged, that could very well result in an outcome that neither of us wish to see. At the very least, we need to preserve a hope of an inheritance being passed down,” Greater Sancte Green Lotus said. He then let out a sigh. “It seems that I also will not be able to escape from the fate of aeonic defiance.”

Lu Yin consoled the other man, “Senior, it’s possible that things aren’t as bad as we believe. Even if a fishing civilization is behind those bugs, what of Obscura? Do fishing civilizations not wage war on each other?

“There’s a saying from my home: when the snipe and clam struggle, the fisherman benefits.”

Greater Sancte Green Lotus offered a helpless smile. “Let’s hope so.”

“One more thing, Senior. Have you heard of the Crimson Starshade?”

Greater Sancte Green Lotus started. “Where did you hear that name? Those foreigners again?”

Lu Yin nodded and shared all that he had learned. After listening, Greater Sancte Green Lotus said, “That’s about what I know. The Crimson Starshade were a remnant of human civilization, much like the Tianyuan and the Nine Odysseys. However, they vanished long ago. They were most likely annihilated.”

Lu Yin’s heart sank.

Annihilated? What a pity.

“Human civilization has survived many wars, and it is perfectly normal for there to be holes in our records. Not even I can say for sure whether our present civilization is the most resplendent one throughout all of our history,” Greater Sancte Green Lotus continued.

Lu Yin had another question. “Hong’er, of the Seven Fairies, always wears red. Is she...?”

Greater Sancte Green Lotus chuckled. “Hong’er is not human. To keep Qi Xu’s emotions hidden back then, we had no choice but to bind the emotion that had fled to Hong’er. She only has the appearance of a human because she lives in a human megaverse.”

Lu Yin remembered hearing Qiunan Hongye say that she did not know if her third sister was human or not. All she knew was that the woman was not native to the Nine Odysseys Megaverse.

A short time later, Lu Yin was sitting on the mountain behind the Heavens Sect, blankly staring up at the sky.

He had merely wanted to discuss the best method to deal with the alien creatures and the Crimson Starshade with Green Lotus, and yet their conversation had unexpectedly led to realizing another possibility regarding the Nest civilization.

He did not know whether he should feel relieved or despair.

Given what had been discussed, if a powerful civilization really was behind the Nest civilization, then the bugs’ arrival could no longer be considered surprising.

More importantly, for the time being, they needed to prepare a fallback.

While humanity might appear to be calm and at peace, they were currently standing atop an exceedingly perilous precipice.

Obscura, the Nest civilization, and the civilization being lured over by the Tricolor Skyborne: all of them were watching humanity. A single mistake could bring about the destruction of their entire civilization.

“Summon Wang Wen.”

The Second Nightking hurried off to fetch Wang Wen.

“Greetings, Lord Lu.” Wang Wen bowed when he arrived.

Lu Yin chuckled. “Since when have you been so formal with me? Have a seat.”

Wang Wen grinned and sat down. “Times have changed. A little show of courtesy never hurts.”

Long Xi arrived and proceeded to pour tea for the two men.

“Thank you, Madam.”

Long Xi froze.

Madam?

Lu Yin also looked over at Wang Wen, who blinked. “Thank you, Miss.”

Long Xi gave a small smile before leaving.

Lu Yin sipped his tea. “Be careful how you refer to her.”

Wang Wen sighed. “I was just trying to be clever. I didn’t expect things to become awkward. My apologies.

“So, Your Royal Chesspiece, what did you summon me for?”

Hearing that title felt nostalgic. In the current human civilization, only Wang Wen still called Lu Yin by such an old title. He had dropped it long ago, so hearing it again brought about a strange sense of warmth.

Lu Yin swirled his teacup. “Humanity currently faces too many external threats. I want your opinion...”

After a bit, Wang Wen’s expression grew quite troubled. He stared blankly at the ripples in the tea in his cup, but said nothing.

“What’s wrong? Nothing to say?”

“Not that.”

“Then say it.”

“Promise me that you won’t get upset with me for it.”

“Get upset with you for what? You’re not an enemy of human civilization.”

“Your Royal Chesspiece, when you prepare this safeguard, please take me along. I don’t want to die.”

Lu Yin was speechless. “How pessimistic.”