Chapter 321: Good Luck
A cool, sticky sensation on his face jolted Jie Ming back to awareness.
He instinctively reached out and touched itâhis palm held a fist-sized fragment, still faintly wriggling, semi-transparent and gel-like, with chaotic gleams flowing within.
Staring at this substance resembling a high-grade slime, Jie Mingâs heart raced uncontrollably.
His mind instantly blazed with a single scorching thoughtâNest!
His forward-thinking comprehensive cannon fodder unit âNest,â limited by materials and technology, never achieving ideal performance!
If he could thoroughly research the Mycelordâs near-perfect mechanisms of biological aggregation, evolution, adaptive defense, and regenerationâand transplant its essence into the âNestââŠ
Wouldnât his ultimate creation truly escape its current middling awkwardness, becoming a terrifying war machine capable of self-evolution and infinite proliferation?!
The idea had sprouted like weeds upon hearing Mycelord intelligence earlier, but then it was mere unattainable fantasy.
Now, Mycelord remnants fell like heaven-sent giftsâright onto his face!
To let this pass would be intolerable!
Not just Jie Mingânearly every wizard realized these scattering Mycelord fragments were priceless research material.
They excitedly deployed various meansâsealing in special containers, binding with energy fieldsâfrantically collecting these level-8 life secret-laden remnants.
The battlefield brimmed with harvest ecstasy.
Yet amid this jubilation, Jie Ming suddenly felt inexplicable palpitations.
An indescribable unease coiled like a cold serpent around his soul.
This feeling⊠familiar!
Last time: in the airspace plane, when his thoughts were veiled and disrupted by that eerie white mist!
âSomethingâs wrong⊠somethingâs very wrong!â Jie Mingâs vigilance peaked; his gaze swept sharply around.
This time, not necessarily direct mind veilingâbut some undetected issue was occurring!
But⊠where exactly?!
He furrowed his brows, frantically activating his body-tempering method, attempting to adapt and breakthrough the vague interference on his spiritual sense with its innate abilities.
Soul light flickered within; body cells vibrated and adjusted at unprecedented frequency.
But effects were negligible.
Between him and that crucial âsparkââan insurmountable transparent wall.
The answer felt inches away, yet always a hairâs breadth short!
That helplessnessâlike an ant grasping a giantâs thoughts.
He even forgot to store the tempting Mycelord fragment in internal space, standing rigidly frowningâstark contrast to colleagues feverishly gathering spoils.
High above, Dixon and Oboros carefully verified the Mycelordâs core consciousness fully annihilated by the ship-plane main cannon, finally exhaling in relief.
âThe three great world lords slain; Triangular Plane Clusterâs resistance core uprooted.â Oborosâs voice carried post-campaign relaxation. âNext: cleanupâreceive Giant Spirit Realm and Mind Realm remnant populations, systematically recover their knowledge basesâŠâ
Dixon listened while casually storing several larger, stronger-reacting Mycelord samples in his spatial artifact.
Mind received Melistâs request for high-quality Mycelord samples for research; both naturally agreed.
He subconsciously looked down, overlooking wizards below jubilant over victory and bountiful gains, a comforted smile tugging his lips.
War casualties pained, but knowledge gains and civilization victory healed wounds.
Yet as his gaze swept the crowd, he âunintentionallyâ noticed the incongruous figureâJie Ming.
That faceâconfusion, vigilance, struggle contrasting othersâ joyâinstantly sparked Dixonâs fate-series wizard instinctive curiosity.
âHm? This little guyâŠâ
Normally, fate wizards avoided casually probing destinies.
But this time, almost subconsciously, he mobilized fate power.
An invisible fate thread quietly extended toward Jie Ming, seeking what made this standout young apprentice so abnormal.
The instant he switched to fate perceptionâŠ
Dixonâs smile froze, replaced by near-horrified pallor!
He clearly âsawâ his own fate trajectory values plummeting like an avalanche!
Not just breaching safe baselinesâunstoppably crashing past âpositiveâ into ânegativeâ abyss of misfortune and death!
No! Not just himself!
Dixon rapidly expanded perceptionâwizard legion below, Oboros beside, even Melist in the ship-plane!
All wizards, including the three level-7sâtheir victory-elevated fate lines synchronously plummeted, shrouded by invisible terrifying shadow!
âSomethingâs wrong! Weâve been played!â Dixon instantly realized.
His earlier âunintentionalâ notice of Jie Ming and rising curiosityâfar from coincidence.
It was his fateâs final warning before catastrophe!
âWhatâs happening?!â
Oboros immediately sensed Dixonâs drastic change and chaotic terrifying aura, shadow-condensed body entering peak combat stance.
âAlert! Highest alert!!â Dixon nearly roared.
No time for explanations; intense crisis screamed in every cell.
Absolute trust in fate-series wizard abilitiesâMelist and Oboros acted without hesitation!
Melist instantly maxed ship-plane defensive arrays; reconnaissance systems scanned Triangular Plane Cluster corners and surrounding chaotic void at unprecedented intensityârepeatedly!
Oborosâs vast perception flooded like mercury into remnant Giant Spirit Realm and Mind Realm, missing no anomalous energy or life signs.
Nothing!
Scans showed only wizards themselves and collapsing native remnantsâthis void⊠empty!
Yet this âemptyâ result sank Melist and Oborosâs hearts.
They knew high-tier fate wizards too wellâdangers they couldnât detect often exceeded current cognition and countermeasures!
Melist unhesitatingly smashed the blood-red highest-emergency button on the console.
A hyperspace distress signalâbearing Triangular Plane Cluster coordinates and highest crisis codeâshot across endless void.
But⊠higher-tier aid, even by higher wizardsâ means, required time!
Dixon endured plummeting fateâs dizziness, frantically reviewing trajectories for the crisis source.
Suddenly, he noticed an overlooked detail.
Why⊠were Giant Spirit Realm and Mind Realm remnant nativesâ fate values⊠zero?!
Living beingsâ fates, even planesââcould be positive (prosperity) or negative (decline).
But absolutely, absolutely never zero!
Zero meant ânothing.â
Meant no fate trajectoryâŠ
Only lifeless dead matter fit!
A joltâlike ice waterâsnapped Dixon awake!
His earlier thoughts⊠very wrong!
Why subconsciously think âreceive remnant populationsâ?
This was a highest-level âexterminationâ mission!
Goal: physically and soul-level erase all Triangular Plane Cluster threatsâexcept valuable knowledge/tech, all life on purge list, no captives!
Something⊠silently influencing their thoughts!
Twisting judgments!
Even he, level-7 fate wizard, nearly fell!
Seeing below still oblivious wizards with plummeting fates, and colleaguesâ grave gazes, decisiveness flashed in Dixonâs eyes.
No hesitationâhe mobilized all âluckâ accumulated over eons, burning it fully into his precarious fate trajectory!
Buzzââ!
The areaâs fates violently shook.
Dixonâs values forcibly peaked at unimaginable, near-reason-defying heights.
Under this brief âheaven-mandatedâ fortune, he relaxed partial body control, surrendering to the momentâs âcoincidenceâ and âinevitability.â
Under myriad coincidences, his throat vibrated uncontrollably, vocal cords trembling at odd frequency.
Mouth opening/closing, laboriously uttering five blurred syllables:
âDâŠrop⊠the⊠loâŠotâŠâ
The instant words fell, forcibly elevated fate crashed like burned-out firewoodâeven backlash spurting golden blood.
But he ignored, roaring with full strength, voice shaking wilds:
âAll! Immediately discard all spoils! Discard every spoil from this war!!â
Oboros and Melist, though bewildered, trusted Dixonâacted without doubt.
Mandatory order instantly reached every wizardâs mind via magic network, absolute priority.
Simultaneously, the two level-7 wizards frantically emptied spatial equipmentâtossing Korg metal remnants, Sylas mental core fragments, and most criticallyâMycelord tissue samplesâoutward!
Wizard legion erupted in uproar; many stared at precious spoils with reluctance and confusion.
But under mandatory orderâs absolute effect, they gritted teeth and complied.
Discarding collected materials, even enemy gear seized in battleâlike hot potatoes.
Hearing the order, Jie Mingâs taut string instantly relaxed.
Though still unclear on crisis specifics, intuition screamed: correct action!
He unhesitatingly tossed the Mycelord fragment, then emptied internal space of all spoils.
Even more thoroughlyâauxiliary devices once using this planeâs energy crystals as powerâremoved and discarded without regret!
Momentarily, the battlefield rained an alternate âwealth showerââcountless precious materials, equipment painfully abandoned by wizards, piling into mountains.