Chapter 58: The Distortion Nexus
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 58: The Distortion Nexus
After his initial amazement, Brandon realized there was a problem.
"But doesn't this power of his have any limits? This ship's propulsion system is clearly trashed. How on earth is he actually flying this thing?"
Thanatos considered Brandon’s question for a moment.
"Perhaps he is lifting it by drawing upon the power of the Void."
With that, Thanatos turned to look at Xie Bai.
"My Lord, the ship is ready. Please, step aboard."
Hearing Thanatos's request, Xie Bai looked at the ship with a healthy dose of skepticism.
"Can this thing really be piloted? And that massive hole in the middle doesn't exactly look safe."
"Hmm... If you mention that to Strife, he could probably fuse the front and back sections together. But there is no need to worry. As long as he believes the ship is intact, that breach is essentially just a controllable entrance."
Xie Bai pressed a hand to her forehead.
"That actually works?"
Though Xie Bai shared Brandon’s doubts about the scene before her, she decided to let the matter drop, operating on the principle that if it worked, it worked.
Led by Thanatos, the group made their way to the bridge of the Golden Dragon.
Seeing them arrive, Strife called out to Brandon.
"Oi! Immortal brother! Come help me figure out what these control panels mean. Why are there so many switches and buttons? I don't remember ships looking like this back in the day."
Hearing the shout, Brandon stepped up to the console.
"These are new gadgets from this era. It’s a bit of a pain to explain—it’ll be faster if I just take the helm."
With that, Brandon took command of the ship.
With a flurry of inputs, Brandon activated the ship's entire operating system. Suddenly, a thought struck him.
"Wait... if Strife doesn't know how to use the controls, how did he just lift the ship while staring at these panels?"
For a moment, the habitually rational Brandon found himself questioning the fundamental logic of the world once again.
A short while later, the Void Insect Hive opened an exit, allowing the ship to sail out into the open Void.
They can actually fly into the Void without anything going wrong... I guess these people really do have some extraordinary tricks up their sleeves, Xie Bai thought.
She opened the Poem of the Void.
[Do you wish to designate the "Golden Dragon" as an Expedition Unit and begin a Void Expedition?]
"Begin."
[Void Map opened. A friendly reminder: During transit, please follow the route strictly. Be careful not to lose your way.]
In the next instant, the Golden Dragon was enveloped in Void energy, turning pitch black.
Simultaneously, a massive swarm of Void Insects surged out from the Void Insect Hive, filing into the rear section of the ship to stand by.
[Reinforcements provided.]
Looking at the now diverse variety of Void Insects, Xie Bai turned to Thanatos.
"By the way, do we need all these troops to fight someone? Logically speaking, shouldn't Void creatures be on our side?"
Thanatos explained, "Strictly speaking, you are correct, My Lord. However, the Void contains more than just native Void creatures; there are also countless castaways who have been sucked into the Void. These Void Insects serve as an insurance policy for when you are not present. You needn't worry too much about them."
Thanatos pointed to the Poem of the Void in Xie Bai's hand.
"Now, My Lord, you may have the Poem of the Void designate a location. I must warn you, however, that the spatial properties of the Void are extremely chaotic. Concepts like 'forward' and 'backward' don't really exist here, so the route displayed might look a bit... strange."
Xie Bai looked at the Poem of the Void thoughtfully.
"Alright, let's see how this works."
Sensing Xie Bai's intent, the Poem of the Void automatically flipped to a new page.
[Please confirm your destination.]
"Destination... hmm... My Godhead?"
[Search complete. Location matching requirements found: Distortion Nexus.]
[Confirm this as the final destination?]
"Yes... confirm."
[Route marked. For your safety, please follow it exactly.]
The next second, a complex and bizarre route map appeared on the ship's navigation system.
Seeing the instructions displayed on the screen, Brandon rubbed his eyes in disbelief.
"What does it mean, 'Move one centimeter to the left, then perform three and a half rotations within three seconds, followed by playing a song exactly four minutes and twenty seconds long'?"
Thanatos walked over to Brandon’s side.
"Don't question it. Just do it."
Brandon’s face was a mask of exasperation. "Fine... whatever."
Though he couldn't fathom these bizarre flight requirements, Brandon had a passing understanding of the Void's chaos. Ultimately, he chose to respect the instructions.
Under Brandon’s expert control, the ship completed the series of maneuvers in mere seconds. He even managed to find a four-minute and twenty-second orchestral piece in the database to play.
Once the requirements were met, Brandon noticed that the ship's relative coordinates were rapidly moving away from the Void Insect Hive.
"It actually works."
Seeing that these ridiculous demands were legitimate, Brandon simply threw his prior piloting experience out the window. Relying solely on his high-precision manual control, he began to execute every requirement the navigation system threw at him.
A short while later—after the ship had traveled in a figure-eight, spent eighty-two seconds tracing an equilateral triangle, mimicked a ballet dancer’s movements, and hosted a cricket-fighting tournament for the Void Insects—they finally reached their destination.
"I still don't understand how we flew here, but seeing that vortex, I assume we've arrived."
At Brandon’s prompt, Xie Bai glanced at the Poem of the Void.
"Yeah, we're here."
Xie Bai looked over at the two knights, who were still engrossed in the insect-fighting tournament.
"You two... ugh... never mind. Just guard this place. I'm going out for a bit."
"Understood, My Lord."
"No problem, My Lord! we'll keep a sharp eye on things. Hey, pilot brother! You've worked hard. Come over and help me analyze these Agility-type and Strength-type insects. Which one should I bet on for the next round?"
"Oh? It seems my two thousand years of experience studying the Insect Race is finally going to be put to good use. If you ask me, you should have started with the Strength-type, because..."
Seeing the "cricket" match get even rowdier, Xie Bai massaged her temples.
"Forget it. I'll have to see if I can find them a better form of entertainment later."
Leaving the insect fighting behind, Xie Bai stepped out into the Void.
Protected by the Poem of the Void, she could ignore any threat the Void posed.
As she approached the vortex, a notification popped up.
[Distortion Nexus Lv.100]
[Difficulty: Dusk]
[Entry Requirement: Cannot Enter (Ignored)]
[The intersection of all distortions within the Void. Under normal circumstances, entry is impossible.]
"As I thought, this place is a Dungeon too."
After a quick scan of the information, Xie Bai checked the Poem of the Void one last time.
Confirming everything was in order, she chose to enter the Dungeon.
Vwoom—
As her vision shifted, Xie Bai found that she hadn't arrived in a dangerous wasteland.
On the contrary, she was standing in an exceptionally quiet, vast plain.
In the very center of the plain stood a bizarrely shaped blue tree with two swings hanging from its branches.
Before Xie Bai could even begin to look for her Godhead, a small hand poked her in the back.
Xie Bai: "?"
Turning around, she saw two girls with blue-white hair. They were roughly her height and looked almost exactly like each other.
Before Xie Bai could react to who they were, the two spoke in unison, their voices filled with identical surprise.
"Whoa! It's a super pretty girl! Let's give her a hug!"
"Whoa! It's a super pretty girl! Let's give her a hug!"