Marvel: The other side of the double-passing door is Devouring the Stars

Chapter 434 A Special Celestial Phenomenon
This news filled everyone with despair. They not only had to face the powerful Dark Lord, but also their former allies who had been corrupted.

"How many people are still able to fight?" Hong asked about the remaining fighting force.

“There are fewer than twenty King-level Immortals left who are capable of fighting normally, and most of them are injured to varying degrees,” Victor continued. “The losses to the ordinary fleet and soldiers are even more severe, with more than 80% of their combat strength lost.”

This data deeply shocked the three. Their once formidable lineup of over fifty Immortal-level experts had dwindled to less than twenty, all of them wounded. Such a loss rate was utterly devastating.

"So what's our strategy now?" Rowan asked about the next steps.

“Hold your ground and await reinforcements,” Elena said with difficulty. “We have already requested assistance from the headquarters of the major powers, but reinforcements will take at least another week to arrive. Until then, we can only do our best to stop the Lord of Darkness from continuing his expansion.”

"A week?" Silvermoon said worriedly. "With the Dark Lord's power, will he give us that much time?"

“We have no other choice,” Victor said helplessly. “Our current strength is simply insufficient to confront the Lord of Darkness head-on.”

Just then, the alarm suddenly sounded. A communications soldier rushed into the command post in a panic: "Report! There's unusual activity at the Dark Fortress! The Lord of Darkness seems to be launching a preemptive strike!"

"What?" Elena forced herself to stand up. "He's coming out?"

Through the large screen, everyone witnessed a terrifying scene. In the distant dark fortress, a colossal figure slowly rose. It was a dark giant, hundreds of meters tall, radiating suffocating dark energy; simply standing there caused the surrounding space to distort.

"This is the Lord of Darkness?" Thor stared in shock at the figure on the screen.

“Yes, although it has only recovered 30% of its strength, it is still terrifying,” Elena said solemnly.

The Lord of Darkness began to move, each step causing the entire galaxy to tremble. Even more terrifying, wherever he went, all matter was corrupted by darkness, becoming part of the dark energy.

"He's moving this way," Victor reported anxiously. "At this speed, he'll reach our lines in about two hours."

"Everyone prepare for battle," Elena commanded resolutely despite her severe injuries. "Even if we die in battle, we cannot allow the Lord of Darkness to continue his expansion."

But everyone knew in their hearts that with their current strength, it was impossible to stop the Lord of Darkness. This would be a battle they were destined to lose.

“Wait,” Rowan suddenly remembered something, “the ‘Ancient Demon Record’ we obtained in the secret realm mentions the Heart of Light and Darkness; perhaps that’s our only hope.”

"The Heart of Light and Darkness?" Elena's eyes lit up. "Tell me more details."

Luo Wen quickly retrieved the ancient book and turned to the relevant chapter: "The book records that the Heart of Light and Darkness is the last bit of light power left behind by the Lord of Darkness before his fall. If we can find it, it might be possible to purify the Lord of Darkness, rather than simply destroying him."

"Purification?" Victor asked doubtfully. "Is that even possible?"

“No matter how small the possibility, this is our only hope right now,” Elena said decisively. “Does the book mention any clues about the location of the Heart of Light and Darkness?”

Rowan carefully examined the ancient texts and finally found crucial information in a corner: "There is a cryptic record here, saying that the Heart of Light and Darkness is hidden in 'the tears of stars, the heart of the void, the end of time.'"

"Tears of the stars, heart of the void, end of time?" Several people pondered this enigmatic description.

“It sounds like a specific location,” Hong analyzed, “but this metaphorical description is difficult to understand.”

“We have to try, no matter what,” Elena said firmly. “Silver Moon, contact headquarters’ intelligence department and have them analyze this lead with all their might. Rowan, Thor, Hong, you three go to the possible locations immediately to search.”

"The three of us going?" Rowan asked, somewhat surprised. "But the Lord of Darkness is about to attack; we should stay and fight."

“With your current strength, staying won’t change the course of the battle,” Elena realistically analyzed. “It’s more valuable to search for the Heart of Light and Darkness. Besides, you received special training in the secret realm, which might make you better suited to handle unknown challenges.”

Indeed, after Qingyunzi's training, the three of them have greatly improved their strength and mental state. Although they have not yet reached the level of becoming Kings and Immortals, they have already surpassed ordinary strong individuals in some aspects.

“Then let’s set off now,” Rowan said resolutely. “Time is of the essence; we can’t delay any longer.”

“Wait, take this,” Elena said, taking an exquisite badge from her person. “This is the company’s highest-level access token, which allows us to access resources across various star systems.”

“Thank you, CEO Elena,” Silver Moon said as she accepted the badge, feeling a heavy sense of responsibility.

“And this,” Victor said, pulling out a special communicator, “is a direct communication device with headquarters. Report any findings immediately.”

"Understood," the three replied in unison.

Just as they were preparing to leave, the oppressive aura of the Lord of Darkness intensified. Through the windows of the command center, they could see that the distant sky was completely shrouded in darkness, as terrifying as the end of the world.

"Hurry," Elena urged. "The Lord of Darkness has a strong sense of perception. If he discovers you are searching for the Heart of Light and Darkness, he will definitely try to stop you."

"Then what will you do?" Hong asked worriedly.

“We will do our best to hold him off and buy you time,” Elena said firmly. “That’s the greatest contribution we can make.”

Seeing Elena's resolute expression, the three were filled with respect. These powerful individuals knew they were no match, yet they still risked their lives to buy them time.

"We will definitely find the Heart of Light and Darkness," Rowan solemnly promised, "and we will not let everyone's sacrifices be in vain."

“Go, young heroes,” Elena concluded, “the fate of the universe rests in your hands.”

The three quickly left the command post, piloting a small, fast airship out of the battlefield. Behind them, the combined fleet was making its final battle preparations, bracing for the attack of the Dark Lord.

"Where do we go now?" Thor asked, inquiring about their destination.

“Let’s get back to the safe zone first, then analyze that clue,” Silvermoon formulated a preliminary plan. “‘Tears of the Stars, Heart of the Void, End of Time’—these three descriptions definitely correspond to a specific place.” “And we need to be quick,” Rowan said, looking at the approaching dark energy behind them. “Once the Lord of Darkness has destroyed the Allied Fleet, he will definitely come after us.”

The three piloted their small, fast spaceship and quickly disengaged from the battlefield, finding a relatively safe hiding place about a thousand light-years from the combined fleet's defenses. This was an abandoned asteroid belt, and the complex terrain effectively concealed their movements.

“We’re safe for now,” Silvermoon said, checking the detector’s data. “The electromagnetic interference here is very strong; it should be able to block our signal.”

“Then let’s hurry and analyze the clues,” Rowan immediately took out the “Ancient Demon Records,” turned to the page that recorded the Heart of Light and Darkness, and said, “‘Tears of the stars, the heart of the void, the end of time’—these three descriptions are definitely not random.”

“Ancient sages often used metaphors to conceal important information,” Hong analyzed. “Each word may have a specific meaning. We need to understand this from the perspective of ancient cosmology.”

Thor activated the spaceship's database system, beginning a search for relevant celestial phenomena and ancient legends: "Let me see if there's any record of 'Tears of the Stars.'"

Soon, a large amount of relevant information appeared in the database. However, most of it consisted of poems, legends, or metaphorical descriptions, making it difficult to determine their specific meanings.

“Here’s an interesting discovery,” Thor said, pointing to a record on the screen, “In ancient Elven legends, ‘tears of the stars’ was used to describe a special celestial phenomenon.”

"What phenomenon?" Rowan asked immediately.

“Neutron stars are formed when a star dies,” Thor read from the documents. “The Elves believe that when a star's life ends, it sheds its final tears, which condense into extremely dense neutron stars.”

“A neutron star?” Silver Moon mused. “That certainly fits the description of ‘tears of the stars.’ The death of a star truly resembles weeping, and a neutron star is the crystallization of those tears.”

"But there are countless neutron stars in the universe, so how do we determine which one it is?" Hong raised the key question.

“Continue to look at the clues,” Rowan continued studying the ancient text. “'The Heart of the Void'—this should further specify the location of the neutron star.”

The three began to analyze the description "the heart of the void" in more detail. The void usually refers to an empty region in the universe, while the heart implies some kind of core location.

"Could it refer to the center of a galaxy or star cluster?" Thor guessed.

“No,” Silvermoon shook her head, “If it were the center of a galaxy, there would usually be a supermassive black hole there, not emptiness.”

Just as the three were racking their brains, Silver Moon suddenly remembered the access token Elena had given her. "That's right, we can contact the expert team at headquarters and ask them to help analyze it."

Silvermoon immediately initiated direct communication with the headquarters of the Virtual Universe Corporation. Soon, a holographic projection appeared inside the spaceship, showing the chief analyst of the headquarters' intelligence department.

“Silver Moon Specialist, this is Carol Stone, the lead analyst,” a middle-aged woman appeared. “CEO Elena has briefed us on the situation. We are also urgently analyzing the clues regarding the Heart of Light and Darkness.”

"Great! Have you discovered anything?" Silvermoon asked eagerly.

“Our analysis of ‘Tears of the Stars’ yielded similar results to yours, most likely referring to neutron stars,” Carol quickly reported, “but the description of ‘Heart of the Void’ is more complex.”

"What do you mean?" Rowan asked.

“We consulted a large number of ancient documents and found that the ‘heart of the void’ had different meanings in different civilizations,” Carol said, pulling up a complex star map, “but they all have one thing in common: they all point to certain special regions in the universe.”

The star map is marked with dozens of twinkling points of light, scattered throughout the Milky Way.

"Are these all possible locations?" Hong asked, looking at the densely packed markers.

“Yes, but we can further refine our search using a third clue,” Carroll explained. “The description ‘the end of time’ is crucial.”

"The end of time?" All three were somewhat confused. How could time have an end?

“In ancient philosophy, the end of time usually refers to a place where the flow of time undergoes extreme changes,” Carroll continued, “such as near a black hole, in a region of strong gravitational fields, or at certain special points of spacetime distortion.”

This explanation gave the three of them a glimmer of hope. If they combined the three clues—the tears of stars (neutron star), the heart of the void (a special location), and the end of time (spacetime distortion)—then the answer would become obvious.

“I understand,” Rowan said excitedly. “It must be a neutron star located in a special spacetime environment, where time flows differently than in normal space.”

“That’s right,” Carroll agreed. “Based on this criterion, only three positions meet the requirements.”

The number of markers on the star map instantly decreased to three, each located in a different region of the Milky Way.

“The first is the ‘Time Vortex,’ located in the outer ring of the Milky Way,” Carol explained, introducing the first candidate location. “There is an extremely ancient neutron star there, where spacetime is extremely distorted, and the flow of time is only one-thousandth of that in normal space.”

“The second is the ‘Eternal Silence Zone,’ located in the inner ring of the Milky Way,” she continued. “There, neutron stars exist in a peculiar spacetime bubble, where time is almost completely frozen.”

"The third is the 'Teardrop Nebula,' located in the south-central part of the Milky Way," Carroll concluded. "There lies a neutron star there known as the 'Star of Sorrow,' which, according to legend, was formed by a massive star that self-destructed to save its planet."

The three candidate locations each have their own unique characteristics. But which one is the true "Tears of the Stars"?

"Are there any more clues that can help us make a judgment?" Silver Moon asked.

"Let me check if there are any other descriptions in the ancient books," Rowan said as he carefully flipped through the "Records of Ancient Demons" and finally found some extra information in an inconspicuous corner.

“Here’s a small note,” Rowan read, “'When despair devours hope, when darkness obscures the light, only tears of sorrow can wash away sin, only the purest love can conquer the deepest hatred.'”

“The purest love is found in the tears of sorrow,” Hong repeated these words. “It sounds a lot like the legend of the ‘Star of Sorrow’ in the ‘Tearful Nebula.’”

“Yes,” Carol agreed, “the legend of the ‘Star of Sorrow’ does indeed fit this description. It is said that the star deliberately destroyed itself to save a planetary civilization from being swallowed by a black hole; this self-sacrifice represents the purest form of love.”

(End of this chapter)