Lu Yin had learned that Obscura communicated by using the lines to permanently carve patterns on the inside of the floating coffins. Summoning one of Obscura’s gates was done in the same manner; he had to use the red line to draw a gate on the outside of the coffin lid. The red line served as the pen, while the coffin’s lid acted as the paper. This was how different members of Obscura contacted each other and cooperated.
Even Lu Yin found it a miraculous system.
Greater Sancte Green Lotus and the others had all studied the red coffin, but they had not been able to learn anything from it. Despite their failures, it turned out to be immensely useful.
Lu Yin somewhat regretted letting the silver coffin be destroyed. If its lid had not been shattered, it might have also been incredibly useful, given that he still had the silver line.
He quickly finished drawing the gate, and as soon as it was finished, the etched image of the gate moved like flowing water. It gradually spread across the entire surface of the coffin’s lid. As that happened, Lu Yin carefully watched as the drawing of the gate took on more details. Various creatures started to appear in the drawing, and a mournful aura slowly spread out. Ultimately, the entire drawing peeled away from the red coffin, and an actual gate appeared. There was no mistaking one of Obscura’s gates.
As Lu Yin and Green Lotus watched one of Obscura’s gates take form before their eyes, they had no way to understand how it was accomplished. All they could say was that the entire process used a different kind of power.
Many people could not comprehend things like Heartrift Power or Extremes Must Be Reversed either. It was perfectly normal for someone to not be able to understand another’s power.
“We should go. From here, we leave this to destiny,” Greater Sancte Green Lotus said.
Lu Yin’s heart stirred. Destiny?
He had no idea where Destiny might be. She and the God of Death were far too mysterious, and there was still no news of either one.
A moment later, Lu Yin and Greater Sancte Green Lotus vanished, leaving only Obscura’s gate behind.
The technological civilization’s attacks posed no threat to the gate as one had already withstood a blow from Greater Sancte Awe Gate. Only an attack as powerful as an Immortal’s could possibly destroy it.
Such a strike was also not something that the technological civilization could quickly unleash.
“Beep. Lifeforms have vanished... Beep. Lifeforms have vanished...”
“Vanished? They fled? Initiate absolute analysis.”
“Beep. Absolute analysis initiated... Beep. Absolute analysis in progress... Beep. Absolute analysis in progress... Beep. Analysis complete. No change in matter. No change in space. No change in time.”
“Impossible. How can there not be any change at all? If they fled, then even the smallest movement should have affected their surroundings. That cannot be avoided. How could there be no change? Continue the analysis.”
“Beep. Absolute analysis in progress... Beep. Absolute analysis in progress... Absolute analysis complete. No change in matter. No change in space. No change in time.”
“Previously, the Third Fleet speculated that they might have escaped using the power of time or space. A support ship couldn’t analyze what happened, but a mainship shouldn’t fail. If nothing has changed at all, then could it be... teleportation?
“Send a report to the Empire now!”
“Beep. Foreign object detected. Should it be cleared?”
“There’s still something there? Analyze it.”
“Beep. Analysis initiated... Beep. Analysis complete. Perfect match with the previous lifeforms.”
“A match? Is it still them? How did they return? Absolute analysis.”
“Beep. Absolute analysis initiated... Beep. Absolute analysis in progress... Beep. Absolute analysis complete. Target vanished. Time reversed. Warning: temporal revision detected.”
“By how much?”
“Three seconds.”
“Three seconds? They vanished again, but this time there’s a temporal alteration, which means that something has changed. This means that their previous disappearance might not have been them leaving, but rather them making themselves unobservable to us while they actually remained in place. This time, they truly departed, and they did so by rewinding time by three seconds. That fits. Immediately send a full report to the empire and request an imperial analysis.”
“Beep. Foreign object detected. Should it be cleared?”
“Again? Is it them again? Analyze.”
“Beep. Analysis in progress... Beep. Analysis in progress... Beep. Analysis complete. Image transmitting. Height, thickness, degree of material alteration...”
“Is that... a gate?”
“Beep. Should the object be cleared? Beep. Should the object be cleared?”
“Of course not. Those two creatures clearly left this gate behind. Could they have been hiding inside the gate just now? Send a full report to the empire at once.”
“Beep. Transmitting report... Beep. Transmitting report... Beep. Transmission complete.”
“Very well. We will wait for the empire’s response. By the way, how long until the third mainship arrives?”
“The third mainship is in transit. Five jumps remaining.”
“Then it won’t be long. By that time, we should have received the empire’s reply.”
Elsewhere, Lu Yin and Greater Sancte Green Lotus reappeared a short distance from the Gate of Laws. Looking back, Lu Yin gave a wry smile. “We almost made a huge mistake. That would have greatly reduced our chances of successfully using this technological civilization.”
Greater Sancte Green Lotus matched Lu Yin with a shrug. “I am used to such things. There is nothing that we can do.”
Lu Yin had initially fled as soon as he summoned Obscura’s gate, but right after, he had felt that something was off about the situation. If they escaped while leaving no traces that could be detected, would it not lead others to suspect teleportation? Even if not teleportation, then anyone who could instantly escape beyond the detection range of a technological civilization would have to be a top-level powerhouse. Such strength would invariably cause heightened wariness.
With no other choice, Lu Yin had gone back and staged a second escape.
The second time, he had deliberately reversed time with Lightstream.This created some flaws in their escape that the enemy could use to understand how Lu Yin and Green Lotus had left.
It was not difficult for an Immortal to escape beyond an opponent’s detection range, but doing so in a manner that left absolutely no traces behind was something else entirely, and that would push the technological civilization to extreme caution.
Lu Yin’s goal was to lure them through the gate, not to engage in psychological warfare in a location that did not matter.
At this juncture, everything depended on whether the technological civilization would pass through the gate and discover the Thorn Civilization on the other side.
Lu Yin peered into the distance with a complicated expression. He had never crossed paths with the Thorn Civilization before. They were neither an enemy nor an ally, and yet he was attacking them with a technological civilization. That was not an easy thing for Lu Yin to accept.
And yet this was simply the way of the cosmos. No one knew who might be the next to be destroyed.
The Nine Odysseys Megaverse had destroyed many of their neighboring civilizations. They had shown no mercy. Mercy was nothing more than hypocrisy.
Everything was for the sake of survival.