Lord of the Truth

Chapter 1773 Black plague

Somewhere within the Mid-Sector 101-

Shhhk Shhhk

A girl advanced through dead, brittle grass, her steps slow and deliberate, her wide eyes staring intensely ahead, her soul sense fully alert-like a cat stalking its prey with unwavering focus. Even the faint wind brushing past her seemed insignificant compared to the sharp concentration radiating from her entire posture.

Right behind her, a young man with white hair followed slowly as well, trying his best to mimic her cautious movements. A satisfied, almost goofy smile filled his face, as though simply accompanying her was enough to make him feel accomplished. He wasnʼt staring at anything in particular, nor was he sending his soul sense outward like she was. Instead, he was merely observing her movements with patience and quiet amusement, content with merely being there, as if the journey itself mattered more to him than whatever danger awaited them. ”Shhhh- weʼre here.”

The girl sank silently to her knees, the motion so smooth it barely disturbed the dead grass. Then she signaled for the young man behind her to crouch as well. She pointed forward, eyes gleaming, and whispered with excitement barely held in check, ”This is it, Richard... I paid a lot and pulled many strings to get information that led us here. This is the largest Black Plague hotspot in the entire starfield!” ”Hm?”

Richard finally looked in that direction. At first he didnʼt seem interested and kept his calm, gentle smile... but moments later, he opened his mouth and let out a faint whistle as the scene revealed itself to him more clearly.

He was staring at the same bleak spectacle he had seen on every world plagued by those things. After visiting dozens of planets infected by the Black Plague- fighting them, hunting them, killing them over and over-he no longer believed anything about them could surprise him. He had convinced himself he had seen every form of devastation they could cause.

But apparently, he was wrong.

Based on what they had read about the planetʼs history before coming here, what he was looking at was once supposed to be an immense forest, filled with hills, lakes, rivers, and living greenery-just like any thriving world. A place where life once flourished in abundance. But what he saw now... was nothing like that.

He was staring at blackness.

The ground was pitch-black like charcoal, as if fire had burned through it for a thousand years without pause or mercy. Thick black smoke constantly drifted upward in slow, suffocating waves, as if a savage inferno was still raging beneath the soil, eternally alive.

But from experience-bitter, unforgettable experience-Richard knew very well:

This wasnʼt coal.

And that wasnʼt smoke...

All high terrains-mountains, hills, slopes, even the tallest natural elevations- had collapsed into utter flatness. If the smoke ever cleared, Richard knew he would be able to pierce the horizon for hundreds of miles in any direction without encountering a single obstacle. The land looked as though it had been crushed under a cosmic hand.

He had seen this phenomenon before-massive mountains and colossal ancient trees turning into a fragile, wool-like substance, collapsing into nothing with just the slightest touch. As if the Black Plague drained the essence of matter itself.

Lakes and rivers? Gone completely.

What remained were massive pits carved brutally into the ground, their bottoms charred black and full of cracks, as though the planet could no longer bear the weight of water and simply collapsed inward from exhaustion.

Everything about this land had become as brittle as a burnt sheet of paper. This planet-or at least this entire region-could no longer support life... in fact, it could barely support itself without falling apart.

And all of this was because of those creatures...

Blup Blup

Amid the sea of darkness and ruin, silence did not dominate. The land trembled faintly with shifting shadows. Soft flickers of movement whispered through the air like dying breaths.

Richard began to see them through the thick smoke...

Creatures that, at first glance, resembled the Treant race.

The closest one had two arms and two legs, comparable to humans or mutants, but their heads were bizarre-completely smooth, with no eyes, no mouth, no ears, no nose... just a rounded dome shaped like an oversized mushroom cap. Their bodies were pitch black, decayed, and collapsing with every step. Each movement they made seemed to cost them half their remaining life, as though simply existing dragged them closer to disintegration.

They looked, in a way, like zombified Treants-hollow imitations of what they once were, empty shells animated by the plague rather than life.

With a single, concentrated, sweeping glance, Richard managed to spot at least nine of them lurking within the smoky darkness. Some were merely the size of ordinary humans, their silhouettes shaky and thin, while others reached heights close to ten full meters, towering like withered giants. And then-finally- Richard was forced to lift his gaze much, much higher to see one of them. Its height exceeded ninety meters, an overwhelming monolith of decay and unnatural stillness.

That colossal creature did not advance on legs at all. Instead, its lower body had transformed into twisted root-like formations, gripping and crawling across the dead terrain. Its forward motion was excruciatingly slow, almost imperceptible... yet undeniably steady, carrying a dreadful sense of inevitability. ”We actually came at the perfect moment-theyʼre just about to expand.” Serene said with unmistakable enthusiasm, her voice trembling slightly with both tension and fascination.

The Black Plague almost never moved. And when it did, it meant only one thing: the infected zone of the planet was about to grow, swallowing whatever remained of the land.

And indeed-blup-

After advancing a specific distance, the Plague creatures all halted in a perfectly straight, unnatural line. Then something began to unfold.

Crkkk-

Their legs suddenly drilled into the ground with alarming speed, burrowing so deep that they vanished entirely. Their torsos followed right after, being pulled downward as the earth swallowed them. When the sinking reached their arms, the limbs pierced into the soil as well-yet instead of descending, they spread sideways, branching outward like corrupted roots.

Within only a few short minutes, nothing remained above the surface except their dead, fungus-like heads, which sat lifelessly atop the ground like rotting, oversized mushrooms.

As for the titan among them-the massive one-it required slightly less than an hour to complete the process and anchor its entire body deep within the planetʼs crust.

And from that moment onward... the Black Plague began its true work.

Kshhhhh-

The ground, already fragile and blackened like crumbling charcoal, started spreading outward toward Serene and Richard with a speed clearly visible to the naked eye, consuming the land grain by grain. ”Theyʼve started. This is the moment when theyʼre at their absolute weakest. We either strike now or retreat immediately... because this entire spot weʼre hiding in will turn completely barren within seconds, and once that happens, weʼll be exposed instantly.” Richard spoke with his brows drawn tight, his voice heavy. Even he struggled to maintain composure in front of the catastrophic sight before them.

It was, after all, the first time he had ever seen a planet pushed this far-where the plague had advanced to such an extreme, irreversible state. ”Mhm, Iʼll start now.” Serene nodded firmly. ”But I want you to fall back a little and observe this time. That massive one over there... its strength is brushing right against the Nexus State.” ”Will you be alright?” Richardʼs expression tightened the moment he heard that, his concern slipping through despite himself. ”Hehe, Iʼll be careful, promise.” Serene winked at him with innocent confidence, then rose to her full height, planting her hands on her hips with theatrical pride. ”Alright, Plague... today is your very last day!”

Blup blup

The Black Plague creatures finally noticed the presence of the unwanted intruder. Their decayed bodies twitched violently as they struggled to tear themselves free from the self-induced rooting process.

But Serene gave them no time to escape-

Bliiiiiishhhh-

The thick black clouds blanketing this half of the planet shattered apart, torn like fragile paper, and through the split descended a blinding, concentrated beam of radiant light that struck the Plague creatures across the entire region.

Rumble Rumble