The Record of Unusual Creatures

Chapter 1639: Advancing Into the Umbral Realm

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

As the radiant light veil faded away, Lily raised her hand curiously and saw a green leaf marking on the back of her hand. “...So this is the soul-binding mark? And we can resurrect inside the Umbral Realm now?”

“Yes, but remember, only once,” Hao Ren replied sternly. Even though he had reminded them a few times already, he felt that he needed to emphasize it. “The Umbral Realm is a separate world from the Plane of Dreams, and based on Raven 12345’s calculations, that place is probably within a narrow stretch between the World Barrier and the Void. As the World Tree is only in control of the internals of the universe, its powers cannot fully penetrate the Umbral Realm, therefore we have to rely on this marker to work. Without any ability to recharge, this marker has one use only.”

“...We cannot fully depend on it.” Y’zaks frowned as he looked at the mark. “In fact, I think this may work against us: a one-time resurrection may lead to laxity and numbness. The worst-case scenario is when the mark is consumed unintentionally, and one suffers a second attack before recovery.”

Vivian followed up plainly, “But it is a boon when we are adventuring inside an unknown, warped world.”

“That I agree.” Y’zaks nodded.

“Say, once the mark is consumed can we still leave the Umbral Realm?” Lily asked worriedly, “Didn’t you say that we need the World Tree’s power to pull us out? If the mark is gone, won’t the World Tree not be able to locate us anymore?”

“That you don’t have to worry, as the outward extraction does not need the mark. The energy required for this is minuscule enough and the energies of the World Tree within the Umbral Realm can achieve that. So if we really run into some life-threatening danger and still have time to react, don’t hesitate and slam the recall button. Leaving the instance is better than wiping.”

“Uhhhh...” Lily’s ears moved about, indicating that she still had plenty of thoughts in her mind, and as expected, another question soon popped up, “So where is the resurrection point? By the sounds of things it’s not here, and directly inside the Umbral Realm itself?”

“Of course, if we could resurrect over here, there wouldn’t be a need for a ‘one-use’ restriction.” Hao Ren patiently explained. “Due to the Umbral Realm’s nature, the risk of performing a ‘cross-world resurrection’ is extremely high, and there is a high chance that one’s spirit will be exposed to the void beyond the worlds and get extinguished immediately. So all resurrections will be within the Umbral Realm, and the default location is near me.”

As Hao Ren spoke, he raised his left hand and showed a slightly unique World Tree marking: Along the leaf-shaped marked were a curling vine, and on the vine were a number of tiny leaves corresponding to the number within Hao Ren’s team.

Lily thought for a bit and shot another direct question, “What if Mr. Landlord gets KO-ed first?”

Hao Ren mumbled in his heart that the werehusky was surely not pulling any punches, but he had to cover the topic, so he explained calmly, “If I get offed first, the next default point will be near Vivian. If both of us get killed at the same time, we will respawn randomly near one of you guys...”

Y’lisabet, who had been quiet for a while now suddenly leap before Hao Ren, “Uncle Ren, Uncle Ren! How about if we all wipe at the same time?

Hao Ren slammed a knife-edge chop onto the tiny runt’s head, “If we wipe at pull then what’s left to play on? Once we get resurrected we immediately smash the recall button and bring reinforcements!”

He then shook his hand, “This part is automatic, and it’s preset that if we all die within a short period of time, we will automatically be sent back to this hall once we resurrect. The Petrachelys will be yanked out of the Umbral Realm as well regardless of the mission status. Of course, we may run into the worst-case scenario where the Petrachelys immediately gets attacked the moment we enter the Umbral Realm and the ship gets blown up with us in it before we can do anything. In that situation, the World Tree will activate its ultimate solution: Before we are totally destroyed it will force all its powers into the interior of the Umbral Realm, but this is not something I want to see happening, because even if we survive, the Umbral Realm itself will be exiled into the void, away from the protection of the World Barrier, without any trace. If that happens we would never be able to find that lost kingdom anymore.”

Hao Ren ran through the worst-case scenario in one go, and everyone turned grim. Clearly, that was not a situation anyone would want to see.

Finally, Vivian was the first to speak again, “Any operation has a possibility of failure, but don’t get scared by these would-be scenarios. We have been through plenty of dangerous and bizarre places, and we did not even have this resurrection hack. So have some confidence, and Hao Ren you too, why do you need to make it sound so grim? Morale had hit rock bottom even before we depart.”

Hao Ren could only smile awkwardly.

“But asking beforehand is good since this thing has only one use,” Y’zaks said as he shook his marked left hand. “If there are any other questions, it’s better to ask now before we leave. By the time we get there, it’ll be too late to flip through the guidebook.”

No one spoke further.

Not because there were no other concerns, but the most pertinent questions had already been asked by Lily and Y’lisabet while the rest they would need to adapt as the situation demands.

“Then let’s get ready to leave.” Hao Ren heaved a deep breath as he turned to Salaman. “I will get the droid swarm ready. How are your men?”

Salaman nodded gently. “Have no worries. The guardians have already been on standby since we got the news.”

Hao Ren looked at the commander before turning to the interface of the World Tree, a tinge of regret reverberated in his voice, “Frankly speaking, if not for its limitations, it would have been great to have every soldier marked for resurrection. Then we wouldn’t have to worry too much when the fighting starts. Once the vanguard clashes and falls, simply resurrect and repeat. Nothing can withstand that.”

“Balance is part of the world, and if a world is to be balanced, such a situation cannot be permitted to exist.” Salaman did not seem to mind it. “Just the few of you would do. Scouting a hostile land without reinforcements is the most dangerous task, and all of you are taking a big risk. Your safety comes first.”

Hao Ren shrugged, indicating that he knows that before turning towards the hall’s exit.

The Petrachelys was docked on a large starport by the Core’s low orbit and was preparing to take off.

She floated silently at the dock, and she was surrounded by the glow of the barriers. The light particles generated by the warp drive became a trail of starlight, beautiful and elegant.

Behind the starship were two assembled armies: the argent hive swarm of the droids, and the imposing guardian fleet.

The two armies were on standby, and once the Petrachelys starts broadcasting the navigation marker within the Umbral Realm, they will immediately leap into the fray.

Hao Ren stood on the bridge of the Petrachelys as he looked at Salaman through the communicator, “We will determine the situation there once we arrive and set up an anchor point if it is safe. If we need the fleet’s support, we will start broadcasting the signal. But there could be other situations that cannot be resolved by the fleet, if that’s the case you’ll have to wait. All in all, if the World Tree does not sound the alarm, that means we have not failed yet.”

Salaman’s projection nodded, “Regardless if you broadcast or not, we will be standing by here, until battle comes, or you return.

He then lowered his head. “Safe journeys.”

With the communication end, Hao Ren turned his sight to the bridge.

“Nolan, prepare to connect the navigation marker.”

A panel from the control console extended up and on the panel was a shiny connection port. Hao Ren pulled out the “god’s kingdom marker” made out of three tiny crystals from his Dimensional Pocket and carefully place them in the slots.

The console then closed itself as Nolan’s clear voice rang across the bridge. “Reading external navigation signal... Signal decoding completed... Calculation complete... Data imported to navigation system. warp drive entering void mode, void engines engaged. Commencing jump in... five, four....”

The space before the Petrachelys started to collapse as ripples appeared and formed into a vortex twice the size of the ship. Within the vortex, it was absolute chaos.

This was not a scene from anywhere within the Plane of Dreams, but a refracted image of the distant Umbral Realm, appearing as a bizarre image in this world.

“Two, one. warp activated.”

The next second, the Petrachelys became an ethereal argent light and dashed directly into the swirling vortex.

She had disappeared from this universe.

“We are passing through a very unstable zone,” Nolan announced loudly on the bridge the current status of the jump. “There may be turbulence, do not leave your seats, do not unfasten your seat belts, keep your tail if you have one so that you don’t touch anything you’re not supposed to!”

The images from the sensors outside were a chaotic mess. It was a bizarre scene fused together with the stars in the background, and after a violent distortion, it engulfed everything. The ship was now passing through an uneven lens tunnel and everything within the lens was consolidated together, and within this whirl of madness, the Petrachelys was the only thing maintaining its form.

The ship started shaking violently, and even the stabilizers and dampeners could not help against the turbulence.

“Space structures disappeared. Time structure disappeared. Sequencing logic disintegrating.” Nolan started reporting again as the light outside disintegrated and disappeared. The ship was now away from an orderly universe and closing in onto the void. “Reaching target marker in nine, eight...”

A strange howl rang within everyone’s minds. This was not a real howl, rather an illusion created by a torrent of information crashing against one’s spirit as they entered the edge of the world.

“Hurry up hurry up hurry up...” Nangong Wuyue had practically curled up on the entire chair as she mumbled. “I’m gonna puke if this shaking does not stop...”

“Three, two, one... Destination arrived!”

The shaking stopped as suddenly as it came and all howling disappeared in the blink of an eye. The entire harrowing journey earlier seemed like a dream.

Only the readings of the violent turbulence recorded on the control console showed how the ship had gone through a terrifying voyage.

“Check the stealth system!” Hao Ren’s first order was for the ship to cloak itself the moment everything stabilized.

“Stealth system normal. The ship is currently hidden.”

“Haahh...” Hao Ren let out a sigh of relief. “Keep the stealth system engaged. Reactivate the external monitors and sensors. We need to find a visible dimensional reference.”

“Boss... the situation is not quite the same as we thought.” Nolan’s tone was slightly weird. “We... are inside an atmosphere, and the environment outside... is very cozy.”