The unseen threads of fate connected the people who had accidentally arrived in this place.
Power surged, one strand after another, linking auras familiar, or unfamiliar.
It formed a dreamlike, star-lit spectacle.
But merely being linked together was not enough, far from enough.
At a moment when no one noticed, yet another thought quietly connected itself to this "network."
The next second, it felt as if a heavy burden had lifted.
Everyone was stunned to find the walls blocking their advance collapsing all at once. Those who reacted quickly had already stepped onto the path, following the signals from the mental link as they rushed toward the gathering point.
The destination was an empty, silent world. No living beings remained within it.
Only when outsiders intruded upon this long-dead place did the world reveal faint traces that someone had once existed here.
"Finally out. That damned place was really annoying." At the front, Boothill rolled his shoulders with an irritated look.
The Galaxy Rangers all varied in appearance, and his tired posture didn't surprise anyone.
Strictly speaking, Boothill was just a mechanically modified cowboy, and among the Galaxy Rangers, the one thing they didn't lack were individuals who deviated from society's norms in one way or another.
Walking up to the Herrscher of Sentience, Boothill grinned and gave a thumbs-up.
"Hey sis, that thing just now, was that you? Not bad."
At that moment, Rappa arrived as well, praising aloud:
"As expected of the Scarlet Plume Ninja. Such exquisite ninjutsu being able to spread across worlds is impressive."
Back on the Screwllum's Ship, they had already learned a bit about the Herrscher of Sentience's abilities.
Her fists and kicks were strong, and beyond that was her very conspicuous special ability, sensing emotional fluctuations and malicious intent.
Screwllum had even specially studied it and opened a research topic dedicated to it.
Consciousness linking wasn't rare in the universe, but linking this many people at once, and even generating an illusion that scrambled vision, that was truly extraordinary.
However, despite how special it was, its effectiveness was limited in front of those with firm conviction.
And as it happened, almost every person who walked a Path was a person of extremely firm will.
Without someone else helping her, the Herrscher of Sentience could never have linked such a large number of people.
"Ahem, this is merely a small trick of this immortal, nothing worth mentioning."
She coughed lightly, waved her hand with composure, and said: "Now that everyone's here, shouldn't we go find the bastard behind all this?!"
The Herrscher of Sentience spoke through gritted teeth.
Knocked out before even seeing the enemy, this was the greatest humiliation of her career!
If she said she would punch his head off, she meant it!
And she wasn't the only one. Everyone present had come for Dr. Primitive.
They wanted to see him close his eyes with their own eyes, some of the more hot-tempered ones were barely restraining their eagerness.
"Please, everyone, calm yourselves."
As the crowd argued about how to locate Dr. Primitive, a serene voice rippled like water, soothing the boiling noise and drawing everyone's attention to its source.
"And you are…?" Rappa looked at the newcomer in confusion.
Having traveled across the Ninja World, she had seen many things. The halo-crowned man should be a member of the Halo Ninja's, was he another Ninja hero who had come to stop the Evil Ninja Osaru's plot?
"I am but a traveller who came here by chance." Sunday stepped calmly to the front of the group and turned.
His tranquil gaze swept over everyone below as he spoke softly: "Now is not the most appropriate time to act."
"Hah? What are you talking about? If not now, are we supposed to wait until he finishes all his preparations?"
Boothill narrowed his eyes, tone unfriendly.
Suddenly, his expression froze. His gaze lifted to the halo above Sunday's head, and he stared for two seconds.
"Heh… so that's who you were. I was wondering. Why're you meddling in this?"
Sunday's expression didn't change. Being recognized was no issue.
His disguise could fool some, but not the experts of the universe, just like how Sparkle had seen through him instantly.
"What do you mean by that?" Rappa asked, confused.
She too recognized that this man was the one who had linked everyone together under the name of Harmony, helping the Herrscher of Sentience connect their consciousnesses.
So she paid extra attention to his opinion.
Sunday did not hide anything.
He explained, "The moment Dr. Primitive entered this 'Quantum Sea,' his body was transformed by its power, becoming a being suited for this place. He cannot be easily found, and we do not yet know what abilities he now possesses."
"Hold up, how do you know that?" Silver Wolf's voice suddenly rang out. The next second, a virtual projection of her figure appeared before Sunday.
The appearance of a Stellaron Hunter stirred a ripple among the crowd.
Some of the Galaxy Rangers present had once hunted Stellaron Hunters.
Still, rangers needed to make a living, and some were inherently righteous. So bounty hunting became a job they picked up again.
Well, with her showing up in person, there would inevitably be some small incidents. Better to stand aside and enjoy the show.
"…Saw it with my own eyes." Though the phrasing sounded questionable, it was the truth, he really had seen it.
In the world he was teleported to, there was a massive hollow through which one could glimpse the outside. The distorted sea reflected into his view.
And Dr. Primitive completed his transformation in the distance. With his sharp eyesight, he managed to witness the moment of transformation.
Unfortunately, Dr. Primitive vanished moments later.
But with his experience as head of the Oak family, Sunday knew the doctor must have done far more than that.
"Saw it with your own eyes, hmm." Another projection appeared, Kafka.
She didn't doubt Sunday's words. But this meant the end of the matter was nowhere in sight.
Elio had never said whether this incident would turn out good or bad.
Which meant… either was possible. Or neither.
"So what do we do now?"
"We wait."
"…Wait?" Boothill blinked, eyes full of confusion.
Wait… wait for him to finish developing?
...
After a moment of silence, Kafka hopped down from the coral she had been standing on and slowly walked to Silver Wolf's side. She braced her hands on her knees, lowering herself to Silver Wolf's level.
Her voice was gentle.
"What's wrong? Still thinking about that feeling?"
Silver Wolf was currently leaning against a giant coral, her hands tapping rapidly on her game console.
When she heard Kafka's words, she finally slowed down a little, lifting her head slightly. Her small face was filled with seriousness.
"I just feel it's really familiar. I can't be mistaken about that feeling, I must have seen it somewhere before!"
"Alright, alright." Kafka let out a soft sigh and shook her head helplessly.
She trusted Silver Wolf's intuition a lot. A top-tier hacker needed more than just extraordinary skill, intuition was just as important.
Otherwise, with such top-tier skills, it would be too hard not to get itchy fingers and poke around the databases of some powerful organizations.
For example: the Interastral Peace Corporation.
Silver Wolf had visited that place more than once.
Forget it. Since Silver Wolf wanted to try, they might as well try.
….
In the dead-still world, noise suddenly returned.
Familiar people gathered in small groups, chatting with each other, occasionally bursting into laughter.
A lively atmosphere gradually spread, vitality filling this empty world.
Even if they didn't know how long this vitality would last.
Having this brief moment of peace was enough. But this peace was destined to be broken.
"On the way here, I heard the IPC already sent people over. No clue where they are now. I'd love to see the look on those cuties' faces when they arrive and find nobody around."
Boothill rested both hands behind his head, lying on the ground like an old man sunbathing, legs crossed.
"What do you think that Dr. Primitive guy will turn into? Tsk. If only your eyesight were better. Hey man, I know a great doctor with tons of good-grade parts, want to replace your eyes?"
Let's put aside Boothill's attempt to tempt Sunday into replacing their eyes.
On the other side, the Herrscher of Sentience was experimenting with Rappa.
"Dazzling Ninja Arts! Ultimate technique! Dazzling Ninja Punch!"
Rappa stood there foolishly, giggling and posing, her ninja boots constantly shifting positions as if she were fighting an invisible, powerful enemy.
Soon, as the Herrscher of Sentience linked to her consciousness, Rappa's eyes became clear again, her expression excited.
"As expected of the Red Plume Ninja's ninjutsu! I feel my understanding of Dazzling ninja technique has risen once again! I shall train harder and bring honor to the Ninja world!"
"Heh-heh, it's nothing. Just a small favor."
The Herrscher of Sentience puffed out her chest slightly, her small face lifting proudly as she waved her hand dismissively.
Nothing more needed to be said.
Honestly, she still preferred solving things with her fists. When Rappa came asking for help with her ninja training, she had originally wanted to just punch her way through it.
Well… she wanted to, anyway.
Similar scenes were happening all around this world. Everyone had things they needed to do, and things that needed them. Everything was in motion.
….
Dr. Primitive was very happy. He had never been this happy.
Countless worlds, worlds that had proven themselves lost and misguided, were laid out before him, ready for him to reshape.
What an opportunity! At this moment, half his body had already merged into the Quantum Sea.
But he didn't mind. This was the exact result he wanted.
He had become a lifeform capable of free movement within the Quantum Sea.
And it proved his recklessness had not been wrong, his direction had not been wrong.
Bathed in the Quantum Sea, he constantly felt the gentle embrace of the sea.
And also, the countless worlds he was currently transforming.
In the world where the people who had chased him were gathered, countless beings were being reverted into apes.
They could not witness their ancestors' journey from ape to human, but they could witness themselves devolving step by step back into apes.
Even as they sank into the Quantum Sea,
Even as their world crumbled, they never gave up. As long as they didn't give up, their world still existed.
But this time, the world truly changed.
They were powerless, unable to reverse fate, forced to watch their dexterous hands become furry ape hands.
And the culprit was joyfully observing his results.
The number of beings he had devolved here surpassed all the planets he had devolved in the past combined.
And unlike the outside world, here in the Quantum Sea, nobody cared about what he was doing.
Well, maybe someone did. Those few standing at the fixed convergence points of power.
But everything was already set in stone. Now he wanted to see what changes would occur if he devolved these humans into monkeys.
This was the true meaning of his Atavim experiments:
To return worlds that had exhausted their potential back onto the right path,
To make people wasting their potential stop before it was too late.
….
Still racking her brain trying to recall something, Silver Wolf suddenly twitched her eyelid.
"Uh-oh." Her small mouth parted slightly as she blinked.
"What's wrong?" Kafka and Blade turned their gazes toward her.
"Trouble's here." After speaking, Silver Wolf lifted her head and looked at the sky, the sky slowly opening like a giant, gaping maw. Her expression grew solemn.
"It's here." Everyone understood what she meant.
Blade slowly drew his sword, his face without a trace of fear, only the familiar madness.
At the same time, the Herrscher of Sentience and the others also noticed the change in the sky. They reacted in unison.
….
Outside, under the confused stares of Screwllum and the three family heads, Herta suddenly slapped her forehead as enlightenment struck.
"So that's why that place looked so familiar!!!"