Building Interstellar Empire With Universal Synthesis

Chapter 204: Chapter 204: Dungeon Trials

Neo completed the first trial within another thirty minutes by facing a boss monster.

​After defeating it, a shiny green crystal dropped onto the floor.

​He went to pick it up immediately.

​[ Law Fragment - Time ]

​The system appraisal made him smile.

​He still didn’t know what exactly a law fragment was, but if his father had left it here, he knew this was going to be very important.

​After storing it in his ring, he headed toward the next cave.

​A different environment hit him instantly.

​All around him were roaring oceans and gigantic fish.

​Fortunately, he had his [Water Breathing] passive skill to help him breathe easily.

​Suddenly, a terrifying, deep oceanic roar echoed from below.

​His eyes narrowed as a massive Sea Leviathan, shaped like a coiling sea serpent with jagged fins, emerged.

​It was 500 meters long and 50 meters wide.

HISSSSSSS!

The gigantic serpent suddenly coiled through the dark waters, displacing the ocean with every heavy movement. Its glowing yellow eyes locked onto Neo, viewing the tiny human as nothing more than a quick snack.

​Without warning, the Leviathan opened its massive jaws.

And the surrounding water violently twisted and accelerated, forming a high-speed whirlpool.

It was a massive Water Tornado, ripping the seabed apart and pulling everything toward the beast’s gaping maw.

​Neo felt the crushing pressure dragging him forward. He immediately activated his [Hydro Manipulation] skill.

AIt helped him pushed back against the violent streams to stabilize his position. His restricted stats made the effort incredibly taxing, but he managed to stop himself from being sucked directly into the monster’s teeth.

​"You are huge, but you are predictable," Neo muttered.

Thanks to his [Water Breathing] passive, his voice traveled perfectly through the water.

​Failing to pull him in, the Leviathan grew enraged.

"SSSSSSS!"

It lunged forward like a fired torpedo, attempting to swallow him whole.

​Neo reacted instantly. He called upon his [Journey Of Void].

Even with the dimensional restrictions placed upon him by the dungeon, the S-rank skill allowed him to warp a short distance.

He completely vanished from the tornado’s center and reappeared directly above the serpent’s massive head.

​He needed a decisive strike. Neo channeled his mana and activated his [Sunfire Judgment Blade]. The radiant golden flames erupted from his hands, hissing violently against the cold ocean and creating a massive, blinding cloud of boiling steam.

​The Leviathan thrashed wildly, blinded and burned by the sudden intense heat.

​Using his [Greater Strength], Neo gripped his blazing weapon with both hands and drove it straight down into the thick scales of the beast’s skull.

To ensure the kill, he rapidly fired a compressed [Wind Blade] point-blank into the open wound, tearing the monster’s internal armor apart.

​The Leviathan let out a final bubbling shriek.

"Ssssssss!"

Its colossal form went rigid, then shattered into countless blue pixels that dissolved entirely into the ocean current.

All of a sudden, a glowing blue book floated gently downward through the water, landing perfectly in Neo’s waiting hand.

​[ Skill Book : Water Tornado (E) ]

​Neo smiled as he read the system prompt. It was the exact same devastating ability the giant beast had just used against him.

He crushed the book in his grip, absorbing the knowledge instantly into his mind.

Adding a heavy area-of-effect water attack to his arsenal was going to make exploring the rest of this aquatic dungeon much more entertaining.

Neo swam past a ridge of glowing blue coral and stopped dead in his tracks.

​Before him stretched a massive underwater basin. On the left, an army of heavily armored crab-men clicked their enormous claws.

On the right, a legion of spear-wielding mermen floated in tight formation.

​In the exact center of the basin rested a carved obsidian pedestal.

A familiar green crystal hovered above it.

​Another Time Law fragment.

​"Give up the Divine Stone, Krag! It belongs to us Merfolk tribe!" a merman with a golden crown shouted across the divide.

​"No. The stone belongs to us Strongmen Tribe! We will crush your fragile bones to dust if you try to take it!" a towering crab-man bellowed, clacking his claws.

​Neo sighed, watching the two massive armies prepare to slaughter each other over a training prop his father had left behind. He remembered his restriction. He needed to resolve this without using force.

​Neo calmly propelled himself forward, swimming directly between the two charging front lines.

​"Halt!" Neo commanded, infusing his regal authority and a touch of his [Beast Empathy] into his voice.

"Huhh??!!!

​The sheer audacity of a tiny human swimming into the center of a tribal war caused both leaders to signal a sudden stop.

​"What is this hairless creature?" Krag the crab-leader grunted.

​"A surface dweller?" the merman king asked in sheer confusion. "How are you breathing down here? Step aside, little fleshling. You are blocking the path to the Divine Stone."

​"I am not stepping aside. And this is not a Divine Stone. It is a fragment of Time Law. And it belongs to me." Neo said, crossing his arms and floating comfortably in the water.

​"Hahaha..." The merman king laughed, a bubbling sound that echoed through the water.

"You are insane. That stone radiates pure divine power! It is a gift from the Sea god!"

​"Is it?" Neo asked, raising an eyebrow. "Tell me, King of the Mermen. Since that stone appeared in your waters, have your tides flowed properly? Have your injured warriors healed at their normal rate?"

​The merman king frowned, exchanging a worried glance with his royal guards.

​Neo turned to the armored crab-leader. "And you, Krag. Have the young in your hatcheries grown at all since you brought this stone to the basin? Or are they stuck exactly as they were?"

​Krag shifted his heavy plates uncomfortably. "How do you know about the hatcheries?"

​"Because I actually know what this stone does. It is a Time fragment. It freezes the temporal flow of everything around it. You are fighting a war over a rock that is actively paralyzing your entire ecosystem."

​"Lies!" the merman king shouted angrily. "If it is a curse, why do you want it?"

​"Because I am a collector of curses. I have the container needed to safely seal it away."

​Neo reached into his spatial ring and pulled out the first Time Law fragment he had collected.

Humm!

The moment the two green crystals were exposed to the same water, they began to hum loudly.

​Seeing this, both armies gasped in unison, dropping their weapons slightly in awe.

​"You hold a piece of the Divine!" Krag whispered, his bulky knees buckling.

​"No. I hold the key to saving your tribes. If you fight over this fragment, whoever wins will doom their own people to an eternity of frozen time. Your children will never grow. Your wounds will never close. Is that the victory you want?"

​The two leaders stared at the glowing pedestal, suddenly looking at the green crystal with absolute terror instead of greed.

​"Take it. We want no part of this temporal curse," the merman king said quickly, swimming backward.

​"Yes, remove it from our basin immediately, surface Emperor!" Krag agreed as well.

​"Humm, then I will carry this burden for you both," Neo said with a solemn nod.

​He swam up to the pedestal and calmly placed the second Time Law fragment into his spatial ring.

The ominous hum vanished instantly, and the oppressive energy in the water dissolved.

​The two tribes let out sighs of relief.

Without another word, the crab-men and the mermen turned their backs on each other and retreated to their respective territories, completely abandoning their senseless war.

​And with that, the second dungeon trial was complete.

​He immediately headed to the next.

​Days turned into nights, but there was no true sense of time in this Treasure World.

​Hypermech Elena and Hypermech Clark watched Neo take on the relentless trials without blinking.

​"Doctor, do you think we are Master Neo’s best creations?" Elena asked, her synthetic eyes glowing softly in the dim cavern light. "I mean, we are able to talk and think like humans because of him, right?"

​"No. We are his most complex mechanical achievements," Clark replied.

"But I would not classify us as his ultimate creations."

​"Why not?"We possess self-awareness. We understand complex emotions. We can even feel awe when we watch him fight."

​"That is exactly the point. He gave us the capacity to learn and evolve. But the Master is constantly evolving himself. His greatest creation will always be whatever he chooses to build tomorrow."

​Elena processed the logic for a moment, then asked:

"Do you think he actually needs us? He is conquering the trials of a True-God entirely on his own."

​"No. He does not need us to fight his battles. He built us so he would not have to walk this long, lonely path in total isolation."

​Elena looked down at her intricately designed metallic hands.

"So we are just companions."

​"Negative. We are witnesses. We are here to record the rise of a supreme sovereign. And perhaps, to make sure he remembers his humanity along the way."

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