The Martial Unity-Chapter 3997: Never

Rui’s eyes grew flared with blinding brightness as the red light within their depths grew grave.

The laminar integument’s words only confirmed his worst fears.

The universe was conscious.

The structure of the cosmos resembled that of a brain to far too much of an eerie extent. He sensed integrated information that allowed the universe to think despite its scale and the limits of the speed of light and the speed of causality.

One of the greatest discoveries in quantum mechanics was that the universe was not locally real. It suggested that the very nature of reality was fundamentally not as rigid as they might have expected. Phenomena such as quantum teleportation, quantum tunneling, and even wormholes and other spatial phenomena allowed the universe to maintain the interconnectivity that it needed to in order to be conscious.

But just the fact that it was conscious was not in and of itself very explanatory of what the virus obtained from infecting it.

The true gains emerged from the power of the universal consciousness.

Consciousness was powerful.

In the past, he used to believe in the Cartesian distinction between mind and matter.

But now, he knew better.

Consciousness was the most powerful force in the entire universe.

And that begged the question.

"How powerful is the most powerful consciousness in the entire universe?"

No matter how much blood he redirected to his brain. No matter how fast the signals of the laminar integument were, neither of their consciousnesses could ever hope to match the full scale of the universe itself. It was virtually infinite in its processing power.

The noosphere, comprising all human thought of the past, could alter the very fabric of reality to its will.

What would the universe be capable of?

The answer came from the laminar integument.

"Universalis. Mensis. Is. Omnipotent. Omniscient. Omnipresent."

The message from the laminar integument sent chills across his entire body as a profoundly intense emotion flared deep within the depths of his heart.

The Fear.

"And..." his quivering voice radiated through the very fabric of space and time itself. "What would happen if the alien virus successfully infected the Universalis Mensis?" 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

The light within the laminar integument’s body grew macabre.

"Unknown."

It was an answer that caused terror to emerge within the depths of each and every single cell in his body.

Suddenly, the ephemeral beauty of the universal consciousness was tainted with the power of horror he experienced in his gut. The chilling horror of the absence of clarity around the greatest power in the entire universe being compromised by the most hostile alien entity in the world.

It was a familiar sensation.

It was the Fear.

BADUMP

BADUMP

BADUMP

BADUMP

BADUMP

Even as his heartbeat, the Fear seemed to come alive, squeezing his heart with a paralyzing terror.

It was everywhere.

And it was beyond his wildest fathoming.

It resonated with the knowledge he had come to possess, confirming the truth in his heart.

"This is it."

Pure certainty hung in his voice.

And pure fear.

Pure Fear.

It was the fear that came from being made aware of an entity and a predator that was vastly greater than anything he was, even at his very strongest. It didn’t matter how strong his fists were. It didn’t matter how strong his techniques were. It didn’t matter if he could manipulate his genes to adaptively evolve, or forge brand new techniques on the spot, or weaponize his body-consciousness.

In the face of an existence that could only be described as God, he was all but powerless.

That was the end goal of the alien virus.

The infection of planets, the terraforming of Gaia, of stars, of the solar system, exploding planets to spread seed to other stars and planets, and across the entire cosmos.

It wasn’t simple to spread.

It was to gain control over the flux of energy that flowed throughout the universe.

His eyes widened as he recalled an adage from the Conqueror of Chaos, conveyed by Zeamer.

"Even the feeblest of elders, even the frailest of babies may split heaven and earth asunder should their bodies, minds, and souls harmonize with the flow of the universe."

Those words took on a much, much different meaning now that he had understood the nature of reality and the truth about the universe itself. Did the Martial Transcendents know about the Universalis Mensis?

He suspected so.

However, given the fact that they didn’t know what the Fear was, he suspected that they might have been aware of the existence of the Universalis Mensis, but did not know that the Fear was connected to it. Compared to him, they had much less information about the world due to being forced into being immobile due to circumstances such as the Eldritch Chimera and the manifold’s immense power and capacity for destruction upon Gaia.

The manifold had impeded even their Transcendent view into the very fabric of reality, further fogging their understanding of the Fear.

But now he knew.

Now, he fully comprehended the true depth of horror they were dealing with.

Now, he understood the dedication that the laminar integuments showed to destroying infected worlds, no matter what. It wasn’t just out of disdain and revenge.

There was too much at stake.

The entire universe was at stake.

"Why doesn’t the Universalis Mensis just destroy the alien virus through its power over the information dimension?" Rui demanded to know.

The laminar integument quivered as Rui’s antithesis cells overwhelmed its defenses, spreading across its entire body. "Price. Of. Source. Realm."

His eyes widened with realization. If the universal consciousness intervened in the very fabric of reality, it would cease to exist temporarily.

Stars, galaxies, and the cosmos itself would cease to exist.

It would destroy any and all life in the entire universe.

"Partial. Infection. Already. Complete. If. Balances. Tip. Over. Alien. Virus. Seize. Control."

Because the alien virus was older than the nexus of energy and information that composed the Universalis Mensis, it had undoubtedly gained a head start. By the time consciousness realized what was happening, it might have already been too late to get rid of the alien virus in such an overt manner.

"If. Understand. Gravity. Of. Situation. Then. Understand. Need. To. Destroy. Infected. World."

The blood-red suns within the depths of his eyes flared with boundless willpower and determination.

"Never."

The jellyfish-like alien quivered, and yet, a hint of resignation could be detected in the depths of the light that emerged from within its body.

"Too. Late."

Rui’s eyes widened with horror at the message that the laminar integument conveyed to him.

"Monsters. Already. Here."

RUMBLE!!!!!

Rui’s expression grew alarmed with shock as the world shook.

The entire solar system shook.

The very fabric of reality shook.

RUMBLE!!!!!

His eyes widened as space and time began curling around the edges of the solar system. Countless gravitational wells emerged along the border of the solar system, tearing holes into reality with force.

It gave birth to countless wormholes across the boundary of the solar system.

And from within their depths emerged endless alien monsters.

RUMBLE!!!!!!!