The Oracle Paths

System ZZ831, Planet B847.

Today, a new planet-ship was about to reach maturity. It was the fifth planet-ship produced since the completion of B842 just a year and some months ago, and that alone should raise alarm bells about the unprecedented threat the Mirror Universe was facing.

To put it in perspective, B841 had been completed 4 years before B842, while B840 and B839 had reached their final form almost at the same time, 5 and 5.5 years ago. The final form of a planet-ship was the moment when all assimilated worlds were completely integrated, forming a completely stable mega-planet.

B840 and B839 had recently lost their diplomatic immunity, but strangely none of the neighboring planets had taken the initiative to invade them. That was because there was nothing to conquer. These two planets had become huge battlefronts almost entirely under Digestor control. The Evolvers who had the misguided greed to invade them often ended up being forcibly conscripted by the two desperate Oracle Overseers.

Therefore, Jax, the Overseer of B839, had not lied to Oros back then. Although the question of whether he had betrayed the Oracle and the Mirror Universe was still relevant, he did indeed need "more time."

His recent craze of bribing powerful factions and Oracle Overseers of neighboring planets to invade B842 had several hidden intentions and was not just a clumsy and childish way to compete with his rival.

However, none of this had to do with the new planet B847. At least, not on the surface. Something much worse was brewing there.

At noon sharp, local time of the Mirror Universe, B847 stopped growing permanently, reaching its final form. To mark its inauguration, an incalculable number of living beings snatched from their respective universes appeared all over the planet at the same time, sometimes terrified, sometimes excited.

Not all of these beings were created equal.

Some had sturdy bodies and formidable attributes offset by a primitive brain and equipment. Others had superior intelligence and more advanced technology. In contrast, their bodies were fragile, unsuitable for these wild and unexplored lands far from civilization.

A few more evolved species stood out from the rest with both overdeveloped cerebral abilities and powerful physiques with futuristic equipment. These newcomers, far from showing any surprise or panic, had a calm and confident look, albeit tinged with a hint of vigilance and evident concern.

This concern was because they had lost contact with the military bases and Floating Islands that their governments had built on-site to prepare for their arrival.

Somewhere on B847, one of these aliens from a remarkably advanced civilization had just opened his eyes. His physique was impressive.

Humanoid and over 2.70 meters tall, his skin was a dull black, his muscles were bulging and shredded, and a natural black-onyx scale armor covered 90% of his body, leaving only his face, the inside of his forearms, palms, and soles of his feet vulnerable. In addition to having saw-toothed teeth that would make a megalodon jealous, the alien had long spikes along his back and tail, two long dragon-like horns on his forehead, and claws harder than raw diamonds. His inhuman eyes had no sclera, resembling two emotionless black holes.

When this alien gestured or contracted his muscles, an audible metallic creak could be heard for several dozen meters. One could only imagine the strength such muscle fibers could mobilize.

To top it off, a triple pair of membranous wings folded behind his back, each spanning up to 9 meters, completed the picture.

Despite possessing a body that could be considered a natural deadly weapon, the alien had opted not to fight like a wild beast and was heavily equipped: A plasma rifle powered by a nuclear battery in its right hand, a black ovoid shield in its left, and a long black saber at the belt of its heavy combat suit. An arsenal of grenades, ammunition clips, knives, and other devices completed its equipment.

Undoubtedly, this alien was a powerful specimen of its kind and a seasoned soldier.

As soon as it appeared, the alien's luck turned sour, and a pack of Rank 3 Digestors lurking nearby pounced on it. One, two, three... 38 Rank 3 Digestors with the appearance of giant praying mantises the size and weight of an elephant.

If Jake had fallen into such an ambush back then, he would have been torn to shreds before he even knew where he had landed. Panic and terror would likely have caused him to lose his cool, and only a miracle could have saved him.

If an Evolver like Jake, armed and relatively athletic upon arrival on B842, had no chance, then it was the same for 99% of humanity and other ordinary races. On this point alone, unless this alien was terribly unlucky, one could already sense that the situation on B847 was abnormal.

Seeing all these insectoid monsters rushing towards it, the alien admirably did not panic and, pointing its plasma rifle at the enemy, opened fire, spraying them with incandescent bullets with surgical precision.

Tatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatataattatatataata!

The firing rate of the rifle was just prodigious, and less than two seconds later, the alien ceased firing and lowered its weapon, the barrel red-hot and smoking. Activating some kind of earpiece, it dialed a series of numbers on its electronic watch as if making a phone call.

The soldier waited for several long minutes and then tried again. At that moment, the previously serene alien became solemn.

At that moment, it had just tried to contact the nearest base that its species had established in advance on this planet to welcome them. Its electronic watch was incredibly advanced, able to make calls over distances spanning several hundred light-years.

Even if the nearest base was out of range, thanks to its Oracle Device, it could have at least contacted it using an Oracle Shelter as a relay antenna. It would have cost it a certain amount of Aether, but its people were not a superior species for nothing. Each of its kind carried several million points of Aether on them.

With Plan A having failed, the alien remained calm and went straight to Plan B. A superior species like its own never put all its eggs in one basket. Being lucky enough to appear at the top of a hill, it searched for a characteristic blue light pillar serving as a rallying point for new Evolvers that had just appeared in the vicinity.

But soon its mood deteriorated.

"No light? So no Instructors..." the alien realized grimly.

Plan C then.

Dialing another number on its watch, it released a kind of sonar around it, revealing vital signatures that could correspond to other sentient species.

Comparing them to its database and with the help of its Oracle AI, it smiled upon detecting several of its kind among them. Then its face immediately turned ugly, becoming livid.

These vital signatures were extinguishing one after the other at an alarming rate. In contrast, another kind of vital signature that did not appear on its radar, but that it could smell and hear approaching rapidly, was multiplying.

"Digestors? How can there be so many?" the alien muttered lowly, increasingly worried.

Harvesting and absorbing the Aether from the defeated Digestors, the alien disregarded their valuable carcasses and activated the invisibility of his combat suit. Then, contracting his powerful leg muscles, he sprinted towards the nearest Oracle Shelter at the speed of a race car.

As he descended the hill, he caught a glimpse of another of his kin armed to the teeth trying to escape by air.

Covered in blue blood, the alien quickly climbed a tree in a few bounds, anxiously spread his wings, and leapt over eight meters into the air. He seemed well on his way to take off, but before he could flap his wings, dozens of silver lianas, faster than a sniper bullet, shot out from the canopy below and impaled him from top to bottom, one piercing him through the groin and exiting through the top of his skull.

Reflexively, the soldier squeezed the trigger of his plasma rifle, and a spray of blue blood accompanied by blaster fire rained down from the sky, forming a gruesome bi-colored fireworks display.

Watching from below, the first alien congratulated himself for not trying to fly, thinking it would save him time. He was a seasoned warrior, and with his invisibility, strength, equipment, and experience, he managed to navigate and orient himself in this hostile environment, traversing a tropical forest, a tundra covered in dry ice, and then a savanna teeming with Digestors.

When the veteran alien finally arrived at the location of the nearest Oracle Shelter, he was covered in blue and silver blood, his and his enemies'. Despite his sturdy constitution and vitality, he could barely stand.

Exhausted and lifeless, the alien limped until he touched an invisible wall marking the entrance to a canyon. It was the Black Cube camouflaging the Oracle Shelter.

Shrrriiii!

Hearing the shrill cries approaching rapidly, the alien paid the Aether fee without hesitation, then entered the Black Cube without looking back. Once on the other side, relief washed over him as he collapsed to the ground.

The alien was ready to coma for a few hours to regain his strength when suddenly his scales bristled.

"It's too quiet."