Chapter 2877: And It Starts
That same day, Flavio met with Lucas in his spaceship. "We haven't seen each other face to face for a long time already, have we? How long has it been, ten thousand years?" The weight of their shared history hung heavy in the air.
"I wouldn't see you again for the next ten million years if I could help it," Flavio commented, not feeling very happy. "I see you brought another Omni Vortex."
Lucas nodded. "Yes, I just so happened to have one at hand."
"It is useless, though," Flavio commented. "You should have read the reports."
"I did," Lucas was aware of the problem. "According to the reports, the enemy somehow put their hands in our Garisan Universe encryption key. After they managed to hack into our signal, they used that key and got your Omni Vortex destroyed. Wasn't it?"
"So?" Flavio narrowed his eyes.
"I managed to create a completely new encryption key for this Omni Vortex," Lucas answered straight away. "Not only that, I'm the only one with access to it. Not even the higher-ups would be able to take control of this Omni Vortex now since they also don't have the key."
"What?!" Flavio didn't believe it. "How did you convince them to let you add a different encryption key? That makes no sense!"
Lucas wasn't about to share his secrets, though. "Let's just say I have my own ways." He then laid back on his chair and asked with a smile. "So, do you want it? As I mentioned before, my orders are not to intervene, so it is up to you to use this Omni Vortex or not."
Flavio definitely wanted to have it, especially since it was guaranteed no one would be able to access and destroy it like Soul Gem did. They would need to be able to read Lucas's memories for that. However, he also knew that there was no such thing as a free lunch in the Great Void. "What do you want?"
"Hahaha!" Lucas laughed out loud, satisfied. "That's why I like you, Flavio. You always go straight to the point. For now, let's say I don't want anything. BUT! You will owe me one. How does that sound?"
For Flavio, not knowing what Lucas would require in the future was worse than any possible request he could do now. Nonetheless, he had already lost once to Lisan Universe's plans. And after finding out about the Cultivation Sacred Land, he just wasn't completely confident he could win next time.
"Fine!" Finally, Flavio accepted. "But if this thing ends up destroyed, you will take the blame. This Omni Vortex was not supposed to be here, so that's your problem."
Lucas already expected that. "Naturally. You don't need to worry about me. Just go ahead and use it as you see fit. Anyway, I'm going back to my room. All the ships and experts I brought are in your hands now. Use them as you want." And so, Lucas left after passing all the authority to Flavio.
Flavio didn't dwell inside that spaceship and immediately came out. He cast a look at the Omni Vortex and couldn't help but faintly smile. Lucas's favor could be dealt with another time. This was the one thing that Lisan Universe couldn't get rid of before on their own. Now, after the war that happened between them, the number of experts they had in hand was even smaller. It was the perfect moment to have the Omni Vortex do its job without interruption.
Once back in his own spaceship, Flavio opened the communications and passed his orders. "Have all the personnel currently inside Lisan retreat from the Universe. They have ten days to come out before the Omni Vortex is sent inside. Once that happens, they will be on their own."
Unbeknownst to the Garisan Forces, the Lisan Universe knew more about them than they expected. Kafan made sure that few, including the Semi-Celestials, knew about Rean's capability to get past the seal in the Garisan experts' memories. Thanks to that, they found one through the memories of one of those experts that Flavio's Reinforcements would be arriving around now.
Because of that, the Semi-Celestials from Lisan made preparations in secret for this day. Every time they captured another spy, the guy would be sent into the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm, where Rean would get rid of the seal in their memories.
With just a month to the Garisan Reinforcement's arrival, the Lisan Universe was even more certain about the specific date. Finally, on the day that the reinforcements got to Lisan, an announcement was made through the communication system.
The experts inside the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm were instantly exited back into Rambram Sect. Rean, Roan, and Luan then separated, each of them traveling to a different location in the Universe.
The Realm of Gods was relatively safe since Hyeoumu was there. So, Rean went to the Universe Foundation Pillar, Roan went to the Underworld, and Luan went to the Heavens. That way, they would have instant access to all these three places.
The armies of each of these realms were positioned near the three of them. Only the Semi- Celestials were aware of the fact the twins could transport everyone at once, so it was secret well kept that Garisan had no way of knowing.
Their plan was very simple. Garisan most likely expected the Lisan Universe to have its forces spread through the three realms. Normally, that would indeed be the best case, and that's exactly what is happening now. However, once they found one of the Garisan Armies, the twins' group would use the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm to move the entire Universe Armies to ambush Garisan.
The best part was that those armies could be sent back from where they came instantly since Rean, Roan, and Luan wouldn't leave their places. A connection to those three places would always be open. And even if Garisan didn't come for any of those, the Semi-Celestials only needed to bring one of them, Rean, Roan, or Luan, to have all their forces teleported anytime they wanted.
Too bad, though. Several days went by since the supposed day that Garisan Reinforcements arrived. And yet, no sign of Garisan could be found anywhere in Lisan Universe.
'Could it be the memories of those spies we caught were false? Did they know we had someone that could get rid of their Memory Seals?' Gragatou couldn't help but ask the others with his communication badge.
'Perhaps,' Himmel didn't doubt anything. 'They were supposed to have arrived already. If the Garisan's reinforcements are already outside, I don't see why they haven't attacked yet.'
The twins were included in that conversation through the communication badges, so Sofrixa asked Rean. 'Boy, are you sure you truly got rid of the right seal in those spies' souls?' Rean nodded. 'Absolutely. But that doesn't mean the information they had was the real deal. Perhaps they were told lies in advance. Who knows?'
Kafan decided to leave that aside. 'Forget it. The question now is: Should we still keep ourselves in this state of readiness, or should we disperse and continue preparing? Keeping all the armies ready does cost a significant amount of resources.'
Those in that conversation went silent. It was a hard decision to make. If Garisan suddenly attacked, they would be ready. But if they dispersed and Garisan came, then it would take time to put everyone together again. After all, Rean, Roan, and Luan were only three people. They could only be in three places at the same time.
That doubt didn't last long, though. Suddenly, the same sense of urgency and death struck everyone in the Universe who was in the Space-Time Realm or above. That sensation was very familiar to each one of them.
'It can't be...' The Semi-Celestials became nervous and quickly opened Spatial Gates, leaving
their bases.
It didn't take long for all of them to understand that their fears were real.
"Another... Grape Vortex..."