Shen Feng and Jingwei dove from the surface, rapidly descending to the seabed. The silver-gray Nanomechanical Battle Armor he wore completely neutralized the immense external pressure and filtered the water for breathable air. Moving about on the ocean floor in this Battle Armor was no different than when he had the Quantum Force Field Core.
The light from the Space Wormhole had already made the once pitch-black seabed considerably bright. Now, the Nanomechanical Cluster spread across the seafloor also began to glow, bathing the depths in a silver light that was as bright as day.
The blue seawater above now looked like an inverted sky.
The tentacle reaching out of the Space Wormhole seemed to sense something. It began to probe the seabed around the Wormhole, feeling about like a curious cat’s paw.
Upon touching the Nanomechanical Cluster on the surrounding seabed, the tentacle’s owner seemed to realize something was amiss. It stopped abruptly, then began forcefully probing the Gray Tide on the water’s surface.
The squirming Gray Tide must have felt quite interesting to the tentacle’s senses.
After all, humanity had designated this patch of ocean a restricted zone long after their fleet was annihilated. Since arriving on Earth through the Space Wormhole, the creature had never felt a living, moving thing. It was probably quite curious.
Shen Feng let out a dark chuckle. ’Well, if this thing’s so curious, it might as well come over for a closer look.’
With a wave of his hand, the Gray Tide, which stretched for dozens of kilometers across the seabed, instantly coiled around the tentacle and yanked it outward!
The World Beast on the other side of the Space Wormhole clearly hadn’t expected to find something on Earth capable of pulling on its tentacle. It first recoiled sharply, but upon finding it couldn’t retract its limb, it began to struggle and writhe violently. At the same time, it sent more tentacles through the Space Wormhole, which began to lash furiously at the seabed on this side!
Shen Feng raised an eyebrow. ’Even better. A free delivery.’
He immediately commanded the Gray Tide to ensnare all of the tentacles that came through the Space Wormhole, pulling them outward with immense force.
By now, the Gray Tide, stretching for dozens of kilometers across the seabed, had fused into a single entity. Countless tendrils dug deep into the ocean floor, anchoring it as if it had grown roots.
An ordinary World Beast could not hope to resist such immense power. The more tentacles it extended, the more were caught fast. In the blink of an eye, dozens of its tentacles had been forced through the Space Wormhole, all of them gripped tightly by the Gray Tide, unable to struggle free in the slightest.
Seeing he had the World Beast completely trapped, a ferocious grin spread across Shen Feng’s face. He instantly commanded the Gray Tide to unleash its full power.
’Get over here!’
The frenzied power of the Beast Gold-infused Gray Tide erupted. With a sound like a cork being pulled from a bottle—POP!—a six-thousand-meter-long World Beast was yanked by Shen Feng all the way from the Shield UY Star Realm!
The World Beast’s enormous brown eyes were wide with what seemed to be utter confusion as it shot past Shen Feng, not quite understanding how it had just been yanked through.
’What was that, like pulling a radish from the ground!?’
But it had no time to ponder this. Clump after clump of mud-like Gray Tide had already swarmed into its terrifying, lamprey-like maw. Before it could even roar, the Nanomechanical Cluster had stuffed it completely full, causing its body to bulge.
At the same time, the Gray Tide that had entered its body eagerly began to decompose and devour, greedily consuming the World Beast’s internal tissues.
The World Beast struggled for a few moments, but soon all signs of life vanished, leaving behind only its relatively soft outer shell.
Immediately after, the World Beast’s eyes were hollowed out and filled with the silver-gray Nanomechanical Cluster.
Though its exterior was still that of a World Beast, its insides were now completely under the control of the Nanomechanical Cluster.
Shen Feng’s Silicon-Based Brain sifted through his storage, selected a junior artificial intelligence called Licking Fur Elf, granted it partial administrative privileges, and sent it into the Nanomechanical Cluster now inhabiting the World Beast’s body.
The giant, silver eyes flickered, and the creature lowered its head toward Shen Feng.
Shen Feng nodded in satisfaction. He pointed at the Space Wormhole. The Nanomechanical Cluster, now wearing the skin of a World Beast, immediately moved to the portal’s edge. Arcs of electricity crackled across its surface as it plunged back through the Space Wormhole.
As its tentacles whipped about, Shen Feng and Jingwei grabbed the tip of one and followed the newly created Mechanical World Beast through the Space Wormhole.
Behind him, the unending Gray Tide followed its programmed directive, surging into the Space Wormhole and on toward the Shield UY Star Realm.
After a familiar wave of dizziness and a flash of white light, Shen Feng emerged from the Space Wormhole into the Shield UY Star Realm.
He looked up. The red supergiant, Shield UY, was just as magnificent as it had been during the Water World Apocalypse mission. In the Meteorite Belt near the Wormhole, ice asteroids glittered in the starlight like massive diamonds.
Unlike the Shield UY Star Realm Shen Feng had experienced before, this one seemed to have far more World Beasts.
World Beasts frolicked and foraged throughout the Meteorite Belt. Their powerful energy conversion abilities allowed them to absorb almost any form of energy: the light of the star, minerals from the meteorites, ice crystals, cosmic dust—the list went on.
In a way, these creatures were practically perfect.
Now, however, the sudden appearance of the Space Wormhole had captured their full attention. They were gradually realizing that on the other side of it, a far more comfortable world seemed to be waiting for their arrival.
Over there, they wouldn’t have to worry about death and destruction from the cosmic ray flares that suddenly erupted from the Red Supergiant Star. Nor would they have to fear its sudden expansion, which could devour their homes and their very bodies.
But all of that would have to wait for the Space Wormhole to expand enough for their massive bodies to pass through freely.
Today, however, the Space Wormhole seemed particularly strange.
Just a moment ago, a normal-sized World Beast had suddenly forced its way through the Space Wormhole, completely ignoring the damage it would sustain.
Then, just a short while later, that same World Beast had returned from the other side, looking... a little stiff.
At the same time, patches of gray matter began to emerge, completely clogging the Space Wormhole. It came through first as a cylindrical pillar of silver-gray sludge, but as soon as it fully entered this Star Realm, it instantly dispersed into an ever-expanding cloud of dust.
Curious about this sudden development, World Beasts began to leave the meteorites they were perched on, their bodies undulating as they surged toward the Space Wormhole.
Their massive bodies plunged directly into the silver-gray dust cloud, but they found the substance seemed harmless. Even when inhaled, there was no reaction.
It seemed to be just a natural phenomenon of the Space Wormhole.
More and more of the silver-gray sludge squeezed through, and the dust cloud grew ever larger. Hundreds, then thousands, of World Beasts were enveloped. Their bodies were coated in the silvery dust, and they had inhaled a great deal of it.
This strange, silvery dust seemed to be something good. Swallowing it produced a faint, tingling pleasure. As a result, many World Beasts began to inhale the dust frantically, some even swallowing it by the mouthful.
For a moment, the tens of thousands of World Beasts in this region of space seemed to be caught in a rave, furiously inhaling and getting high.
The World Beast that had just returned, however, was acting stranger and stranger. It writhed over to a nearby meteorite and settled on it. Suddenly, its tentacles bloomed like flowers, unfurling silvery, antenna-like structures that aimed toward the depths of the Meteorite Belt!
Standing on the head of the Mechanical World Beast, Shen Feng’s Silicon-Based Brain had already switched its output to the World Beasts’ radio wave communication mode. Through the Mechanical World Beast’s antenna array, it blasted a powerful signal into the depths of the Meteorite Belt:
"Doma... no, what was your name? Whatever, it doesn’t matter... Hey, the big one! I’m here to state my terms!"