A dense golden radiance suddenly surged deep within Selene's crimson eyes. This was the manifestation of Honkai authority being activated.
The moment the Herrscher sigils appeared, all noise in the starry sky vanished instantly.
Within Selene's vision, the originally silent universe suddenly became vibrant and richly detailed. The cosmos was laid out with absolute clarity.
Amid this colorful perception, the lava-churning planet appeared as though it were a slowly playing frame-by-frame slideshow. Every beam, molecule, atom, and even atomic nucleus released into the surrounding space—particles so minute that even specialized instruments could not precisely observe them—were all perfectly imprinted into Selene's mind.
Observing this vast, vividly rendered microscopic world was only the beginning. Within the particle-boiling expanse of space, Selene sifted through everything, searching for anomalies or fluctuations bearing signs of artificial influence.
Beneath the planet's crust—already scraped away by tens of thousands of meters due to orbital bombardment—multiple layers of artificial structures still existed.
It was abundantly clear that this planet was not naturally formed.
The enormous underground artificial space, which nearly filled the entire core, had not been constructed like typical fortress worlds—dug inward from the surface to create subterranean strongholds. Instead, it resembled something built from the inside outward.
To put it simply, this planet was like a piece of filled chocolate.
The outermost crust, over five hundred kilometers thick, resembled a layer of cream coating. Beneath it lay a hard intermediate layer exceeding one hundred kilometers in thickness. At the very center, however, was a perfectly preserved "core."
Within that core, vegetation, forests, mountains, stone, minerals, oxygen, and water—all the essential elements for sustaining life—were intact.
This, most likely, was the planet's true form. The surface previously bombarded by the Imperial Navy had merely been a disguised outer shell.
"Forerunner... Shield World..."
Shield Worlds were a class of military fortress planets constructed during the height of Forerunner civilization.
Most contained fully functional ecosystems and fleet docking platforms, designed to defend against the Flood and to protect internal lifeforms from the devastating cross-phase neutrino waves triggered when the Halo Array was activated.
But just as what is said to be impregnable will eventually fall, and what is deemed absolutely secure will inevitably prove otherwise...
"This is also a Shield World infected by the Flood."
Selene swept her awareness across the entire structure of this unidentified Forerunner Shield World—the outer surface, upper structures, tunnel systems within the shell, as well as the internal micro Dyson sphere and its miniature artificial sun that provided illumination.
As for the condition of other Shield Worlds, she did not yet know. But from what she could see, this one—located at the edge of the Large Magellanic Cloud—had undoubtedly fallen.
Within the tunnel systems of the planetary shell and the inner surface, countless Flood had evaded the orbital bombardment, sheltered by the robust structural design and defensive measures.
"A Gravemind... still in a relatively primitive state. It has already awakened and is transmitting some kind of information outward..."
"So this is their unique method of communication..."
Very quickly, Selene locked onto a hazy, pale-gold stream of peculiar particles rising through the thick upper layers of the Shield World. It passed through the now lava-scorched outer surface, entered space—and then... was intercepted by her.
Selene's consciousness had already enveloped the entire Shield World, blocking all outgoing information from the Gravemind while beginning the process of decoding and modification.
"As expected—nothing but chaotic impulses of devouring and destruction... awaken, gather, the galaxy..."
The Gravemind was a fusion of Flood Super Cells (FSC) and the complex nervous systems of their hosts. Possessing extraordinary intelligence, it controlled the bodies it created as effortlessly as an individual controls their own limbs.
Although the transmitted information was brief—mostly repetitive and instinct-driven hunger—Selene quickly pieced together the general situation.
"Still, these grotesque beasts have quite the refined taste."
After gaining a deeper understanding of the Flood's nature, Selene shook her head lightly, a faint smile appearing on her lips.
The Flood's targets were always intelligent lifeforms. They would relentlessly attack all thinking beings within the galaxy. Yet toward most plants and animals, they were, paradoxically, almost harmless.
After all, the Flood within the galaxy had largely been purged by the Forerunners. The remnants, having lost viable targets, had fallen into dormancy.
Furthermore, the Flood originated from the remains of the Precursors—their creators. In a sense, they were a form of biological weapon, born from the Precursors' vengeance against their rebellious "children," the Forerunners.
The Precursors' lingering fixation on a successor species—the inheritors of their "mantle"—continued to influence the Flood's behavior. They sought to orchestrate a trial, a reassessment of life's evolutionary direction, to determine whether humanity was truly worthy of inheriting that mantle.
This was also what distinguished the Flood from something like a purely extermination-driven swarm.
Flood forces would not deliberately target intelligent species of low developmental level—unless those unfortunate enough stood directly in the path of their advance toward more advanced civilizations.
After the galaxy had been reset, newly emerging intelligent species could not awaken the Flood unless they reached a certain level of development.
Seen in this light, it was almost embarrassing—Selene herself was far less selective than the Flood.
The Flood at least targeted developed, thinking species. Under Selene's rule, however, the Empire spared nothing—humans, primitives, beasts alike. Not just intelligent beings, but minerals, flora, and fauna across countless worlds... everything was harvested. With the principle of maximizing utility, even "dust" would be squeezed for every last drop of value.
Clearly, the Imperial Navy's bombardment had already awakened the dormant Flood hidden in this remote corner of the Large Magellanic Cloud.
The Empire's arrival was, in effect, a signal to them:
Look—thinking lifeforms have appeared. Wake up, brothers. Stop sleeping. It's time to eat.
After completing her analysis of the Gravemind's transmission, Selene left behind a coordinate marker before releasing the previously blocked connection between the Gravemind and the Flood.
She had no other intention. Selene simply wanted to see which hidden corners would receive this signal—then follow it to their doorstep and wipe them out.
Even more fascinating, as the pale-gold particle stream churned and drilled into outer space, Selene caught sight of a faint, illusory golden river of stars flashing across the cosmos.
"Star Roads."
Watching the pale-gold particle current guided away by the Star Roads, a flicker of realization crossed Selene's expression.
Once a Gravemind was born, the Flood's strategic-level coordination was completed instantaneously—or nearly so—without any delay caused by distance.
Aside from the telepathic abilities they would develop in later stages, only the extraordinary remnants of their "creators," the Precursors—the Star Roads—possessed the ability to transmit across interstellar distances in an instant.
Star Roads were among the most common forms of Precursor relics. They appeared inert, stretching tens of thousands of light-years in thickness. Through the Forerunners' ancient wars against humanity and the Flood, it had been proven that, aside from the Halo Array, no method could destroy them.
Countless Star Roads spanned the entire galaxy, remaining unmarred for hundreds of millions of years. Near certain planets, they formed orbital and sub-orbital arcs. To a great extent, Star Roads had been used to connect star systems—even the entire galaxy—serving as a means of faster-than-light travel.
Like other Precursor creations, Star Roads were not composed of native matter, but of exotic substances comprehensible only through neural physics—neurotechnology. Thus, in theory, the Flood born from Precursor remains could naturally make use of them.
They are rather similar to my trans-spatial webway. One requires Honkai energy to activate and grant access. The other must be awakened and linked through Precursor neural physics.
"Good. Saves me the trouble of searching one by one."
Szzzt!
Standing before the viewport, Selene clenched her hand. An icy blue radiance flashed through her eyes. Visible to the naked eye, the lava covering the planet's surface cooled and froze instantly, a layer of frost spreading across it.
"Attend me."
Withdrawing her gaze and firmly locking onto a colossal aberrant lifeform within the Shield World's inner layer, a trace of greed curved across Selene's lips.
Drip.
"Your Majesty!" A military officer clad in iron-gray uniform strode without hesitation to the viewport and dropped to one knee.
"Order the orbital bombardment halted. Have the Imperial Forge and the Imperial Science Bureau prepare for planetary landing. It..." She pointed through the viewport at the scarred and ravaged world, her voice brimming with anticipation. "...shall become the Empire's first territory in this universe."
As her words fell, Selene's figure vanished from the spot in an uncanny instant.
At this moment, upon the inner surface of the Shield World, within a massive Forerunner fortress, inside a chamber rotting like a festering cyst, a bloated shadow was rapidly awakening.
Thump.
In the blink of an eye, a flower of flesh blossomed like a blood-soaked bud. Its swollen, fang-lined "petals" slowly parted. Within the mucus-slick "stamen," a massive tentacle traced an arc through the foul air.
"Roar!" A low-frequency bellow.
If one could understand the internal communication of the Flood, it would roughly translate as: "Intelligent species have invaded." "After hundreds of thousands of years of slumber, the galaxy lives again." "Devour them. Exterminate them." "They are human?" "Grant them the trial of the mantle..."
Crack!
Suddenly sensing something, the massive tentacle burrowed downward. The "petals" snapped shut as countless tendrils burst from the dark underground walls, coiling around it layer upon layer.
The next instant—whoosh!
A violent shockwave tore through the air. Though the internal space remained intact, as if a meteor had fallen, overwhelming force erupted across the ground.
BOOM—!
In less than the blink of an eye, the Forerunner fortress—preserved for hundreds of thousands of years—was reduced to ruin. Flames roared. The air itself seemed to congeal. Charred gravel and fragments of unknown metals were swept away like dry leaves.
At the same time, a vast section of the inner surface spanning tens of thousands of meters collapsed instantly, forming a colossal crater.
Flood forms engulfed in fire were vaporized and incinerated at the heart of the explosion. Even from tens of thousands of meters away, Selene could see—and hear—their grotesque bodies and the shrill, overlapping screams that followed.
Clatter—!
Within the fortress-turned-ruins, polluted pus and charred, carbonized flesh littered the crater.
"You cannot escape."
Snap!
Stepping into the circular impact crater, Selene flicked her fingers with casual elegance. A purple-crimson radiance spread rapidly from beneath her feet. Before long, as far as the eye could see, the inner surface of the Shield World began to writhe like shifting blocks.
As though corroded by potent acid, the twisted abominations surging toward her under the Gravemind's command collapsed one after another.
Splurt! Splurt!
Disgusting blood and mucus sprayed outward. Without even a scream or struggle, their profane bodies dissolved upon the purple-crimson "mycelial carpet."
Selene's expression did not change.
A black mist devoid of emotion surged within her eyes. In the next instant, the purple-crimson ground split apart.
Bang!
A bloated mass—like an enormous venus flytrap of flesh—was thrust out from the labyrinthine underground tunnels of the Shield World's inner shell by sharply proliferating prismatic spikes. It crashed heavily onto the ground.
From its appearance, it stood roughly five or six stories tall. The Gravemind's vocal organ resembled a massive tentacle with a mouth at its end. It was a gigantic, solid entity with feelers, a thick, swollen neck and a vague head. Its cavernous maw, lined with slender tendrils, could produce speech in an eerily low tone.
"Roar!" Who are you?
"Raaah!" You are not human!
Listening as the fleshy tentacles shifted languages—from Forerunner tongue to ancient human speech, then to obscure, long-extinct dialects—Selene let out a soft chuckle.
"Quite the extensive palate you have."
She forcibly tore open the Gravemind's mental barriers and poured her intent directly into its consciousness. In an instant, even its writhing tentacles froze in place.
"The Precursor legacy has remained unclaimed for far too long. What a waste."
Beastlike instinct allowed it to sense the profound malice within Selene's message at once... unfortunately, sensing it changed nothing.
Thrust!
Countless purple-crimson prisms pierced through its body. And in the final moment before its consciousness sank forever into darkness, the Gravemind dimly realized that this "human" was a being colder and more arrogant than either the Flood or the Precursors.
"Well done. One of the earliest primitive Graveminds. The locations of Precursor remnants, control over the Star Roads, the Shield Worlds of the Forerunners, the coordinates of the Greater Ark—I have them all."
"Heh... the meaning of the mantle, the origin of the Flood, the birth of ancient humanity, the Forerunners not being its heirs, humanity inheriting it after passing the test?"
"The mantle? How laughable. I am the greatest 'inheritance'."
"As for you—obsessions born from the corpses of the Precursors—follow your ancestors into eternal sleep. Once dead, do not crawl back out to frighten the living..."
Crack.