The world-devouring dragon

The galactic calendar year is 20549, the end calendar year is 1976, the 400th galactic year of the birth of the World Eater.

"Dear tourists, what you are about to see is the World Devourer..."

Inside the sublight-speed psychic spacecraft, AI's calm voice sounded, while the girl sitting on the passenger seat was lying on the transparent window, eyes wide open, looking at the behemoth, that incredible myth hundreds of millions of kilometers away.

Incredible.

Looking at that huge creature that was difficult to see in its entirety even though it was hundreds of millions of kilometers away, that monster that was wandering in space, the girl only felt horror and awe in her heart.

Even though I have seen it in various images, those vivid three-dimensional images are not inferior to the prototype in terms of realism. But only by getting close in person can you feel the powerful psychic power, the calm posture, and the cold majesty that can scare people into the soul. These incredible and strange feelings of power cannot be simulated by simple images.

"It's incredible. Even though you have read and heard countless stories about it, you are still shocked by it, aren't you?"

Behind him, a soft voice sounded.

sound?

The girl turned her head and looked back. A young man with a silent face stood behind her, staring at the giant snake in space.

"Hello."

He replied to the other party somewhat stutteringly.

In this interstellar age where everyone has psychic powers, it is really rare for people to use sound to communicate. Generally, only some psychic ascetics choose to do so, following their primitive instincts in order to deepen their exploration of themselves.

However, since the other person talks to you through his voice, as the most basic courtesy, you should still say hello to him in the same way.

"Aren't you used to talking? Sorry, it's my negligence. Let's talk with spiritual power."

The young man seemed to react when he heard the girl's stammering voice, and then emitted a gentle wave of psychic energy, with a slight apology.

The girl looked shy, with gratitude in her eyes, and then asked curiously.

"Have you been here many times?"

After the World Devourer appeared in front of interstellar humans, many things happened. The Second Republic tried every means to try to kill this monster, but in the end it was unable to succeed. But as time goes by, as humans throughout the galaxy continue to deepen their understanding of this space monster, a wonderful industry has also been born - the World Devourer's tourism industry.

Through sub-light speed spacecraft, humans from all over the galaxy watch the appearance of the World Devourer from a certain distance away from it.

It's interesting, right, but this is human beings. Even though there are certain dangers, there are still an endless stream of tourists who come here every year just to see this incredible sight.

From the girl's perspective, the young man must have been here many times.

"Many times? No, this is the first time I've come here and the first time I've seen it... this old enemy I knew I was destined to face since I was born."

The young man's eyes were deep, staring at the giant snake in his sight.

I don't know why, although the young man just stood there calmly, the girl felt that there was an invisible sense of oppression on the young man. Although it was very light, it did make people instinctively feel fearful.

It was only then that the girl really carefully observed the young man in front of her.

His eyebrows were slender and sharp, his dark pupils showed no trace of what he was thinking, and his thin lips were downward serious, seeming to say that the owner of the lips had a somewhat indifferent personality.

Age... is it a hundred years old? Or two or three hundred years old? In this era of long life expectancy and generally young appearance, even if the life expectancy approaches a thousand years old, there is no sign of aging, so the girl really doesn't know how old the young man is.

But judging from the feeling, he must be quite young, at least not under twenty like me.

"An old enemy... Indeed, many people think that the World Devourer is the old enemy of mankind."

Turning her head, opening her eyes wide, and looking at the monster in the distant space, the girl thought thoughtfully.

"When I was very young, I heard about it, 'primordial gods', 'eternal monsters', 'the end of mankind', 'holes in the universe'... everyone said that."

"At that time, there would be news from time to time about which galaxy the World Eater was approaching and which star it had swallowed. There were also many military operations of the Second Republic, but they all failed. To this day, it is still there We are moving forward in this vast space, eating the stars, but we can do nothing..."

He stared blankly, his bright eyes a little uneasy.

"Do you think Ring World will really be eaten by it one day?"

Suddenly, the girl asked.

What is the ultimate goal of the World Eater? Everyone will answer "black hole" without hesitation.

This monster likes to feed on stars, and it is predicted that it will eventually reach the supermassive black hole in the deepest part of the Milky Way across countless light-years. And before that, it will also eat another thing - Ring World.

The great ring world, the glory of mankind, the supreme brilliance, a miracle that took thousands of years to create, a unique miracle in the entire universe.

On top of this miracle live interstellar humans, whose total population accounts for more than half of the entire galaxy. It is the permanent capital of the Second Republic and the pride of all mankind, but the monster is trying to swallow it into its belly. .

The World Eater is advancing at nearly the speed of light. According to human predictions, after 1976, the World Eater will arrive in the Sumor star system, and then swallow more than half of the human beings in the ring world and the entire galaxy.

According to this date, something called the "Doomsday Calendar" was born. Every galactic year passes, the number of years decreases by one. When the Doomsday Calendar reaches year 0, it is the end of the world... Or the end of all mankind.

Of course, time is still very far away, there are still two thousand years to go, and countless capable people are still struggling for this, trying to prevent the emergence of the end of the calendar year 0.

Right now, the Second Republic is trying its best to unify this chaotic galaxy. Every moment, administrative planets are brought under the rule of the Second Republic. Every moment, wonderful inspirations are born on the Ring World. Human beings are all working hard for this.

These were glorious times.

The unification of mankind is already foreseeable. All kinds of rapidly changing technologies are exploding. The interstellar humans who have occupied the entire galaxy are trying to explore further extragalactic galaxies under the guidance of the Second Republic. The spacecraft flying to the Andromeda Galaxy was as early as two hundred years ago. Then we set out. Human beings will not be limited to this small galaxy. Human beings will not stop, and they will never stop.

But under the dazzling stairs, at the feet of human beings climbing forward, a small black shadow has appeared. It is slowly eroding this glorious road, as if it wants to swallow human beings into darkness.

Although this process is slow, it is unshakable, just like... just like...

"It's like longevity."

Just as the girl was thinking wildly, the young man seemed to see through her thoughts and spoke calmly.

"Woo..."

The girl who had her thoughts read was stunned at first, but then she reacted, feeling ashamed and annoyed, and couldn't help but emit angry spiritual energy fluctuations.

"I'm so rude, so rude! How could you...how could you peek into my inner world..."

Powerful psykers can indeed peer into the minds of others, but this behavior is obviously extremely disrespectful and against the law. The young man revealed what she was thinking with one word, and he obviously used his spiritual power to peek into her inner world.

But the young man shook his head.

"No, I didn't peek into your heart. I just guessed it from your expression. You see, the spacecraft AI didn't issue a warning, right?"

After hearing this, the girl realized that the spacecraft AI was equipped with psychic detection devices. If someone really used psychic powers, it would be impossible not to be discovered.

After realizing that she had misunderstood others, the girl blushed, stood up hurriedly, and kept bowing and apologizing.

"I'm sorry! I'm really sorry! I...I thought..."

"It doesn't matter."

The young man was not angry, he just chuckled.

The seemingly indifferent and solemn young man turned out to be unusually hearty when he smiled, which made the girl involuntarily feel at ease.

Just like that, the two of them chatted from time to time on the spaceship. After a few hours, the short trip came to an end.

Spaceport.

"Well...if it's possible, can we come out to play together again next time?"

Among the intertwined crowd, the girl clasped her hands behind her back and lowered her head. She looked a little embarrassed and asked cautiously.

The young man looked at the girl in front of him calmly and chuckled.

"sure."

"Really?"

The girl suddenly raised her head, stars twinkling in her bright eyes.

"certainly……"

…

The excited girl drove her space shuttle and left the space port happily, while the young man watched his new friend leave. And I don't know when it happened, but there was an old man wearing a burqa beside Qingniao.

The old man stood beside the young man, waiting quietly.

The chuckle on the young man's face had long since faded, leaving only indifference. There are all kinds of strange brilliance in those dark pupils. If you look carefully, you can vaguely see countless nebulae emerging and dying in them, and the entire universe seems to be hidden in the eyes.

"Is it an era when everyone has psychic powers and uses psychic powers to talk... It is an era beyond imagination, Husoluan, you have done a good job."

A deep voice sounded.

Unconsciously, there was no crowd of people around them, only the vast void and dots of starlight.

Looking down at the spaceport below him, the young man was very interested.

On the side, the old man who heard the words lowered his head and said humbly.

"Your Majesty the Emperor, I am terrified."

His Majesty the Emperor? In this era, there are still many divided human warlords, but there is only one who can be honored as the Emperor by a psychic master: the legendary psychic emperor, the demigod who single-handedly created the First Empire.

The emperor's face was as calm as ever.

"It doesn't matter, this is not an era of empire. I am a person from the past, and I am a guest in this future era. You are the host and I am the guest. Guests do as they please. It doesn't matter who the king or minister is."

As he spoke, the emperor looked at the dots of light in the distance in space. Even though they were so far away, the light emitted by that behemoth was still so bright. And as the most powerful psyker who ever lived, the Emperor was aware of much more.

"Husoluan, that girl called the snake life span, what do you think?"

"I dare not lie."

"I think it's appropriate. Everyone knows that they will die in the end. It doesn't matter how long it is. The pace of life is slow but steady. No matter happiness, anger, sorrow, or all kinds of life, life will come, just like the progress of this snake. Two thousand years, this Is this the remaining lifespan of human beings... Husoluan, summon the psychic troops, it’s time to kill the snake."

Facing the emperor's words, the psychic master remained silent.

"Your Majesty, the era you came to was 17653 in the Galactic Calendar. That year... was exactly the year before you died of illness. With all due respect, I am afraid that no matter you win or lose after this battle, you will die of your injuries."

In the year 17654 of the Galactic Calendar, the psychic emperor, who was only 2,300 years old, suddenly became seriously ill and died in the prime of his life. It was precisely because of this that the Second Republic came into being.

The lifespan of powerful psykers is often difficult to estimate, and it is not impossible to live for tens of thousands of years.

There are many different opinions as to why the most powerful psychic emperor in history died suddenly and suddenly. Some people think that the dissidents are conspiring to assassinate him; others think that the psychic emperor has gained too much power, which has exceeded the limit that humans should bear. And from the current point of view, it seems that it is precisely because of this current action.

The emperor's expression was calm, as if he was not surprised, and then he seemed to be lost in memories.

"Husoluan, since I was born, I have known that I have a mission, my destined enemy. I have been to the old earth era, to the early galactic calendar, and to met many scholars from the Supreme Council of Science. I have tried It blocked its awakening and founded the Priory of Sion together with the Holy Grail Knights; it also helped Leonardo da Vinci find fish, angels and people; it blocked it from destroying the snake-man civilization... But all of this was powerless. Still awake."

The emperor said, many of them were secrets that even the psychic master had never heard before, but he said them calmly. Husoluan did not interrupt, but remained silent. The emperor didn't need an answer at the moment, he just wanted a listener.

He could feel that the emperor was also uneasy. Maybe even he, who was regarded as a demigod by the world, didn't have much confidence.

"Husoluan, I can't change the past. All I can change is the future. I will die after this battle, but who can say whether I will take something with me before I die? Maybe it is the life of the snake... …”

The emperor said to himself, then fell silent, but his heart was determined.

"Let's go."

Suddenly, he remembered what the girl asked again.

"Do you think Ring World will really be eaten by it one day?"

At that time, he did not answer, but changed the topic, but now, he felt that he could definitely answer the girl.

"No, absolutely not."

How could the ring world that I worked so hard to build fall into the mouth of a beast like you.

…

Ring the world.

"The day before yesterday, the largest psychic force in history organized by the Second Republic was..."

In the psychic network, all kinds of information circulates. For example, the Second Republic, which has been very popular recently, formed the largest psychic force in history and tried to attack the World Eater. As a result, the entire army was wiped out. There were many discussions. Most of them not only lamented these precious psychic troops, but also denounced the Second Republic. of incompetence.

But for a girl who is in love, she doesn't care about this.

The girl lay happily on the bed, crossing her legs, looking at the strange landscapes on various planets, and dreaming about how great it would be if she could go there with the young man.

"Well...what should I wear then?"

Thoughts swirled in her mind, and as she thought about it, the girl's face gradually turned red, and she finally buried herself in the quilt...

"Ahhhhhh... I can't bear it anymore, it's so shameful..."