Endless Journey: Infinite Realms

Chapter 358 I am my own World, literally...

As Annie continued to look distressed with the way that the ugly man was talking, Kiera’s grandpa stifled his breath as he became more and more interested with what he was about to hear.

"Hmm... before I start talking, let me clarify something first." The ugly man slowly said as he kept Annie still. "Did you two already know... about the matters of planets having consciousness?"

"Yes, we have heard about it during our stay here." Kiera’s grandpa replied quickly. "One of your allies was the one who told this information on us, although we are not sure why he did that..."

During the course of Kiera and her grandpa’s ’stay’, some of the rebels struck up conversation with the two, telling them random sorts of information. Kiera and her grandpa of course has no choice but to listen to these rebels, as they have no way to just stop listening to them.

Besides, some of the information that was told to them were interesting, that Kiera’s grandpa actually looked forward to more of these ’talks’.

One of the extremely interesting topics was the topic of planets or worlds having their own consciousness.

This was something that Kiera’s grandpa found to be interesting, as this changes everything.

Of course with the current state that they were in, this information was of no use to Kiera and her grandpa at all. Although someone like Alex might be interested on knowing it...

"So what does that have to do with Annie?" Kiera’s grandpa shook his head out of his reverie as he gave the ugly man a pointed look. "Is Annie related to this matter of a world’s consciousness?"

"Bingo! You got it!" To the surprise of Kiera’s grandfather, the ugly man started laughing again as if what the old man said was too amusing. "So you are not just a senile old man. You actually have some brain with you!"

Kiera’s grandpa ignored the slight sting of the ugly man’s ’compliments’ as the continued fishing for more answers.

"So are you saying that Annie can communicate with the consciousness of this world?" Kiera’s grandpa said as he decided to mention this ’impossible scenario’. "If that is the case, then Annie must be a really impressive girl..."

"Hah? What are you talking about?" Instead of getting pleased, the ugly man only gave a disappointed frown at Kiera’s grandpa. "This little girl right here has no capabilities to do that."

"So what’s the truth then?" After saying these words, Kiera’s grandpa immediately heightened his hearing to its peak, as he knew that the ugly man will surely start spilling the beans with his next sentence.

With the way that the old man has structured their conversation, the only way that the ugly man can continue talking was to immediately talk about the ’truth’.

"No! Please don’t say it!" Annie wailed loudly, as she seemed to sense that the conversation between the ugly man and Kiera’s grandpa was about to reach it peak. "Please! Please just shut up!"

The two men took no note of Annie’s complaints as they continued what they were doing.

"Hmm, before I reveal Annie’s real identity to you, let me ask you something first." The ugly man said as he cupped his chin. "Do you perhaps, by any chance, know that a World with consciousness has to ’train’ in order to strengthen themselves?"

"Hah?" The confusion in Kiera’s grandpa’s voice was genuine, as this was the first time that he heard about this.

"But... from what I heard, a World’s consciousness will automatically get stronger as more living things appear on it, or if its residents start to get stronger." Kiera’s grandpa said as he gave the ugly man a confused look. "Since a World’s consciousness can just get stronger in a natural way, there is no need for it to train itself, right?"

"Hah, you are only partially right." The ugly man replied as he shook his head. He then tightened his grip on the squirming Annie as he continued talking.

"You see, there are still some unknown rules about Worlds and their consciousness that you still do not know." The ugly man muttered as he snapped his fingers. "Like on how the strength of a World’s consciousness was divided, on how this strength determines the beings that can live on it."

"I’m listening." Kiera’s grandpa replied as he ignored his granddaughter’s worried look.

"Hmph, it’s good that you are listening to me."

"..."

"This may be not the case in some minor worlds, but there is a measuring system for the strength of Worlds that have consciousness." The ugly man muttered as he slowly raised his fingers.

"The worlds with the weakest consciousness are called Stage 0 Worlds. These worlds only have living beings that have no special abilities on them. Because a Stage 0 World has a weak consciousness, it is impossible for anything that has special abilities to live in it. And if a being that is too powerful decides to go into a Stage 0 World, that world will immediately implode by itself. "

"..."

"Now, if the residents of a Stage 0 World suddenly develops their own special abilities, that Stage 0 World can naturally ’evolve’ to a higher Stage." The ugly man continued saying as he closed his fingers.

"If a resident of a Stage 0 World suddenly becomes a First Stage Being, that world will become a Stage 1 World." The ugly man said these words with relish, as if he was expecting the old man to be surprised by it. "Then, if a resident of a Stage 1 World becomes a Second Stage Being, that world will naturally become a Stage 2 World, and so on and so forth... Does that make sense to you?"

"Well, it does make sense." Kiera’s grandpa honestly replied as he tilted his head. "If the strength of a world depends on its inhabitants, then the stronger its inhabitants are, the stronger its consciousness will be. That’s the gist of what you are talking about, right?"

"Yes, that’s the gist of it." The ugly man said with an agreeing tone. "But there is something that I must add first."

"..."

"While a Stage 0 World can only accommodate powerless beings in it, a Stage 1 World can only accommodate at most First Stage Beings on it." The ugly man said as he put down his arms. "This means that an outsider who was at Second Stage cannot just enter a Stage 1 Planet. That outsider must wait first until a resident of this Stage 1 Planet becomes a Second Stage Being, which will force that planet to become a Stage 2 Planet... Only then that the outsider can enter."

"..."

"This case applies to higher Staged Planets too." The ugly man said as he looked down at his nails. "A Stage 3 Planets can only accommodate at most Third Stage Beings, while a Stage 4 Planet can only accommodate at most Fourth Stage Being, and so on and so forth..."

"I see. I understand what you are saying." Kiera’s grandpa said as he interrupted the old man. "But how are all of those info related to Annie?"

"Calm down, old man. Let me finish talking first, okay?" The ugly man snapped with irritation as he glared at Kiera’s grandpa. "I’m getting closer to the truth. So just wait!"

"..."

"So just like what I am saying, a World’s consciousness can get stronger when its residents get stronger." The ugly man said as his cheerful voice came back, which made Kiera’s grandpa wince slightly. "However, this kind of dependent strengthening is limited."

"Limited?"

"I don’t know the reason why, but when a World becomes a Stage 6 World, its way of getting stronger becomes drastically different. At this point, it can no longer rely on its inhabitants to reach Stage 7. It must ’train’ itself in order to reach that point." The ugly man said as his gaze landed on the still squirming Annie. "As for what its ’training’ will be, I think little Annie can answer that for you."

"No! I won’t talk!" Annie blurted out as she gave the ugly man a hate-filled glare. "And I won’t allow you to continue talking about me! So please just shut up!"

"Nah, nah, nah. I will not listen to you..."

"..."

Annie tried to attack the ugly man for the 3rd time again, but just like what happened earlier, the ugly man dodged these attacks with ease as he continued talking with Kiera’s grandpa.

"Oh, just a little reminder for you..." The ugly man suddenly muttered as he dodged a flying kick from Annie. "Since a Stage 6 World cannot become a Stage 7 World through its residents, any of its inhabitants that becomes a Seventh Stage Being has to leave that world immediately. They can only return once that Stage 6 World completes its ’training’ and becomes a Stage 7 World."

"I get your point already. Just tell us what the ’training’ of a Stage 6 World should be." At this point, even the patient Kiera’s grandpa has started to feel irritated at the ugly man too. "If you don’t hurry up, Annie might be able to do something to you..."

"As if this girl can do anything right now to save herself!"

"Shut up! Please Uncle, stop talking about this!"

The ugly man naturally ignored Annie as he gave Kiera’s grandpa an excited smile.

Out of nowhere, a piece of paper suddenly appeared in front of the ugly man, which he grabbed with ease.

"Actually, the ’training’ that a Stage 6 World must undergo is just easy. First, it must take its soul out of its body." The ugly man then crumpled the paper into a small ball, showing a paper that was now like a sphere. "Once its whole soul was out of its body, the Stage 6 World will use its power to let its soul be reborn as a living being in that world!"

"!!!"

"Now, this reborn Stage 6 World can live a life like a normal living being, since it is technically, in all terms, a living being already. But of course, living like a normal living being was not the real goal of a Stage 6 World with its rebirth." The ugly man said as his smile slowly turned into that of a mocking one.

"The real goal of a Stage 6 World with its rebirth was to use its new, living body to break the shackles on its real, planetary body!"

"!!!"

"Since the reborn Stage 6 World is now a living being, it can now strengthen itself based on the power system that living beings use." The ugly man continued to say as Annie slumped down on the ground with a defeated expression on her face. "Now, all that the reborn Stage 6 World has to do was to train its living body to become a Seventh Stage Being. Once the living body of a Stage 6 World becomes a Seventh Stage Being, it can then fuse back with its real, planetary body! This in turn will allow the Stage 6 World to evolve into a Stage 7 World!"

"..." At this point, Annie’s whole body was motionless, as if she had already given up on moving.

Kiera’s grandpa, who saw this happening, could not help but widen his eyes as he correlated what he just saw with what he just heard.

"Oi, why is Annie acting like this? Are you telling me that she-"

"Yes, this little girl right here was the reborn soul of this world." The ugly man said as he looked down at the slumped Annie. "So how was it old man? What do you think of Annie now?"

"..."