"Smashed to pieces with a single slap?"
Watching Goku—now transformed into a giant—obliterate a Monarch-class Phage Beast with just one slap, everyone present was utterly dumbfounded.
That was a Monarch-class Phage Beast—the most powerful type discovered to date—yet it had been killed instantly by a single blow.
"Let's go! We need to make contact with this friend."
Bai Yuekui was the first to snap out of her shock; she immediately took a few of her subordinates and dashed toward Goku.
The stranger's strength far exceeded her expectations.
If he could kill a Monarch-class Phage Beast with a single slap, there was no need for the arduous "Operation X" strategy—they could simply steamroll the opposition.
Besides, now that Mark was in charge, the Lighthouse was no longer what it used to be; they, too, were attempting to resolve the problem of the Mana ecosystem. Their goals were aligned.
"I guess I shouldn't use the Giant Magic next time; the Breathing Technique should be enough."
Deactivating the Giant Magic and returning to his normal size, Goku reflected on the mistake he had just made.
Fortunately, there were plenty more cities like this one, and likely more Monarch-class Phage Beasts, so he would still have sparring partners.
"On to the next city."
Just as Goku was preparing to leave, he sensed something and turned his head to the right.
He detected six distinct energy signatures rushing toward him, one of which was exceptionally powerful.
While it didn't quite match the Monarch-class Phage Beast, it far surpassed the Dominator-class ones.
"It's you!"
Soon, the figures of the six individuals appeared before him, and he recognized the one leading them.
"You know me?"
Bai Yuekui stopped and looked at the boy before her with a puzzled expression.
Goku replied:
"I know you're the high-ranking pilot who wears the 'Abyss-Walker' suit."
"'Abyss-Walker'—I see."
Bai Yuekui instantly understood; she realized that Goku must have seen the videos of her recorded by the Lighthouse.
"Hello, I'm Bai Yuekui!"
"Hello, I'm Son Goku!"
Goku sized Bai Yuekui up: "You're quite strong. Could we spar sometime?"
"I'm nowhere near your level, and besides, I can't just unleash my full power."
Bai Yuekui politely declined the invitation to spar and instead asked:
"Do you plan to clear out all the Phage Beast city by city?"
"Yes, that's the plan."
Goku nodded; he could sense that these people harbored no ill intent.
Bai Yuekui sighed:
"That won't work."
Before Goku could ask why, she explained: "Even if you kill every single Phage Beast, unless you completely eradicate the Mana ecosystem, it will keep spawning new ones endlessly."
It was precisely because the Phage Beast were endless—impossible to wipe out completely—that the Coastal Alliance abandoned this planet and migrated to others.
Although that migration didn't succeed either; in the end, they were all shot down by acoordinated attack from Monarch-class Phage Beast.
"Then how can we completely destroy the Mana ecosystem?"
Goku asked.
Bai Yuekui didn't answer immediately; instead, she glanced at the Lighthouse, which was currently landing:
"If you're interested, we can discuss it in detail at Dragon Bone Village—bring your friends along."
The new plan for a direct assault on the Scarlet Vortex involved so many factors that it certainly couldn't be explained in just a few words.
"Boom!"
The Lighthouse touched down steadily. Mark, clad in his heavy-duty mech "Dawn," rushed toward Goku with the Lighthouse's elite team.
Before disembarking, he had already spotted Bai Yuekui and her group via the Lighthouse's sensors and recognized her as the woman piloting the Abyss-Walker in the video.
To his astonishment, despite the passage of so many years, her appearance hadn't changed in the slightest.
At the same time, the appearance of this woman and the five people behind her confirmed that there were indeed other survivors on the surface.
"Goku, are you alright?"
Mark first checked on Goku, then turnedhis gaze toward the six people led by Bai Yuekui.
"Who are you?"
"Bai Yuekui, Guardian of Dragon Bone Village."
Bai Yuekui repeated what she had just told Goku.
Mark's brows furrowed upon hearing this.
If what Bai Yuekui said was true, then the situation was troublesome.
No matter how powerful Goku was, if the Phage Beast kept appearing endlessly—emerging in a new city right after one had been cleared— then their efforts would essentially be in vain.
"Alright, let's go to your village to discuss this further."
After a moment of thought, Mark accepted
Bai Yuekui's invitation.
With Goku there, he wasn't worried about it being a trap.
If even a Monarch-class Phage Beast could be slapped to death by Goku, what kind of trap could possibly threaten him?
Even if there were a genuine threat, Goku could simply teleport back to the Lighthouse.
The group opposite them knew of Goku's immense strength, but they were unaware of his ability to teleport.
"Ran Bing, you take command of the Lighthouse for now."
Leaving the Lighthouse in Ran Bing's hands, Mark and Goku followed Bai Yuekui's group toward the Dragon Bone Village base.
Dragon Bone Village was located amidst snow-capped mountains; it was a long journey from the city they were leaving.
However, Bai Yuekui and her team had clearly prepared suitable vehicles for the trip.
Consequently, they reached their destination in less than three hours.
Throughout the journey, the Lighthouse followed closely overhead, and Bai Yuekui made no move to stop it.
"You live on the surface—how do you protect yourselves from being detected by the Phage Beast?"
After parking the vehicle, Mark jumped out and looked at the vast, snow-white landscape surrounding them, a puzzled expression on his face.
Research from the Lighthouse had shown that no matter how remote a location was, if humans were present, it was impossible to escape the detection of the Phage Beast.
"As long as you learn to control your life essence and maintain the 'State of Return to Origin,' you can block the perception of the Phage Beasts."
The girl in the short skirt replied enthusiastically.
"State of Return to Origin?"
Mark looked completely bewildered; he had never heard of such a thing.
"It means calming emotional fluctuations to keep the spiritual essence within your body stable, thereby reducing your visibility to the Phage Beasts' senses.
However, maintaining this state requires relaScarlet Miasmar body to sense the flow of spiritual essence. You must remain absolutely focused while doing so; emotional swings or sudden, violent movements will cause it to fail."
The girl in the short skirt explained in detail.
Hearing this, Goku, who was standing nearby, suddenly looked as if he had a realization:
"No wonder I couldn't detect you at first—so you have a technique like that."
In his understanding, the "State of Return to Origin" was similar to the technique of completely concealing one's ki that Popo had described, or the "Transparent World" state he had mastered himself.
Perhaps, instead of seeking out so many Phage Beasts for sparring practice, he could learn this technique used by Dragon Bone Village.
By drawing parallels, there was a good chance he could master the ability to maintain the "Transparent World" state continuously.
"Does everyone in Dragon Bone Village master this 'Return to Origin' ability?"
Mark finally began to grasp what the state entailed.
However, he felt that such an ability likely wasn't easy to master; Dragon Bone Village probably had other methods for evading the Phage Beasts as well.
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