"Boss... I want to move up in the world."
Under the crushing, invisible aura of the Heavenly Hegemon, Genarkrail involuntarily spilled his guts. "To get ahead in life, I... I have to move forward."
"Ah, understandable."
Heavenly Hegemon nodded, then tilted his head slightly, eyeing him. "But everything about you tells me that before you headed out to make your mark, you hadn't done a damn bit of preparation."
"I..." Genarkrail stammered, "I did prepare..."
"I know you've been rushing around like a madman just to pay off your debts, but..."
Heavenly Hegemon cut him off coldly, then smirked. "That's exactly what I wanted to see. Listen, Genarkrail, you're still too green. 'Life advancement'? No. You aren't even qualified for that kind of luxury yet."
Genarkrail sighed inwardly, remaining silent.
Then, Heavenly Hegemon slowly turned his head toward the dazed Coo, smiling warmly:
"Hello, Mr. Coo. I've heard of your name.
If you're interested, you can join my [Heavenly Hegemon Corp] as a world-patrol agent.
I believe with your talent, you'll do much better than this waste Genarkrail. As for the salary, I guarantee it'll be generous."
"Uh..."
Coo said honestly, "Boss, I... actually, I don't have any job plans right now. I was trying to talk about that 5D..."
"I know what you mean."
Heavenly Hegemon waved a hand, casually cutting him off. "I'm glad you're willing to share info on that 6D spatial lifeform. Everyone making money together: now that's the true way of business."
"I..."
Coo wanted to say he didn't want to.
But with the words at the tip of his tongue, his instinctive fear held him back. He could only say helplessly, "Fine, I agree... Wait!"
Suddenly, remembering something, he looked up at Heavenly Hegemon in shock. "Boss, you just said... 6D?!"
"Correct, 6D."
Heavenly Hegemon spread his arms. "The target you've been hunting just ascended due to some unknown reason, becoming something never before seen in the String Swarm: a 6D spatial lifeform.
By the way, that's intel I paid a premium for from the Temple of Omniscience."
"The Eternal String... His Excellency Aoi's Temple of Omniscience?!"
Coo's pupils shrank. "That... True God-level existence who transcends all String Ancestors?!"
"This... how is this possible?!"
Genarkrail added in shock, "The String Swarm has never birthed any 6D lifeforms other than the String race!"
"Exactly, and that's why this new little kid is so valuable."
Heavenly Hegemon clasped his hands, saying indifferently, "Even if we don't know the function of 6D dimensional cells yet, something that only existed in theory and has never appeared in reality will be worth an absolute fortune."
"But..."
Coo hesitated. "This... doesn't that mean His Excellency Aoi knows too? Wouldn't he..."
"Hmm?"
Heavenly Hegemon slowly turned his head toward him, looking genuinely surprised. "What kind of nonsense are you talking? The Eternal String is an existence of boundless greatness. Why would he care about such mundane trifles?"
"True, sigh." Coo nodded and exhaled. "I'm overthinking it. Mundane matters: they couldn't possibly stir greed in the Eternal String. The gap between man and god is just too vast."
"I get it." Heavenly Hegemon patted his shoulder. "You've sunk too much cost into that 6D spatial lifeform.
That's why your inner strings are pulled so tight: you're afraid that all your sacrifice and effort will just vanish into thin air."
"And you too, Genarkrail."
He patted Genarkrail's shoulder. "You've always been skimping and saving, being endlessly harsh on yourself, terrified of falling into even deeper debt, interest piling on interest until you're buried for good.
But this time, the hit was just too big, wasn't it? Your core was shattered, and you're lost."
Genarkrail remained silent, essentially admitting that Heavenly Hegemon had hit the nail on the head.
"It's okay. No big deal."
Heavenly Hegemon slowly withdrew his hands and relaxed them behind his back. "I'll cover your losses."
With that, he snapped his fingers.
BANG!
Suddenly, two clusters of brilliant, shimmering light appeared, landing in the arms of Genarkrail and Coo respectively.
"This is..."
Before they could even ask, Heavenly Hegemon gave a thin smile:
"Non-activated Divine Grade Sacred Descending Forms. I think this should be enough to patch up those wounds in your hearts."
Hiss!
Coo and Genarkrail were struck with shock, exchanging looks.
Two Divine Grade Sacred Descending Forms worth a full 45 units of Spirit Crystals... just given to them like that? (Note: 45 units of Spirit Crystals = 10^45 semi-materialized Spirituality).
This was beyond generous!
Genarkrail was the one hit hardest by the shock.
To him, a Divine Grade Sacred Descending Forms was the ultimate, high-end luxury. It was so expensive that even if he managed a hundred million Gluttony industrial parks, harvesting them every quadrillion years for an eternity, the wealth he gathered wouldn't reach one-hundred-millionth of its price.
He had always assumed that even his terrifying Boss: Heavenly Hegemon... would bleed cash and feel the sting of buying such an item.
In his mind, his metric for success and the standard for standing as an equal to Heavenly Hegemon was simply owning one of these.
But now... this Divine Artifact...
It was produced so effortlessly and tossed to him like it was nothing.
"Genarkrail, you have to understand, you're just a lowly candidate agent," Heavenly Hegemon chuckled, as if reading his thoughts. "Your understanding of wealth really isn't that high."
After the jab, he shifted the topic casually. "Right, before the hunt begins, I'll set some work assignments for you two. After all, before any operation starts..."
"Hold on!"
Coo suddenly stood up, frowning in doubt. "Boss, didn't you just say everyone makes money together? Why are you giving me assignments now? We're supposed to be partners..."
"50 units of Spirit Crystals," Heavenly Hegemon cut him off, raising five fingers without even glancing at him.
"..." Coo froze for a moment, then continued, "It's not about the money, it's about control..."
"70 units of Spirit Crystals," Heavenly Hegemon interrupted again, without a second thought.
"... What I'm saying is," Coo's eyes widened as he stammered, "We have an equal relationship, so..."
"100 units of Spirit Crystals," Heavenly Hegemon cut him off yet again.
"... Fine."
Coo let out a long breath and slumped back down. "Boss, whatever you say, goes. I'm all in."
Genarkrail, sitting to the side, was practically turning red with envy.
100 units of Spirit Crystals...
A Googol of semi-materialized Spirituality.
Compared to that figure, even the value of a Divine Grade Sacred Descending Forms instantly shriveled into insignificance, like a speck of dust.
Too bad this mountain of cash didn't belong to him.
The thought made Genarkrail feel even worse.
But as he felt the radiant orb in his arms, his mood instantly brightened:
"At least with this Divine Grade Sacred Descending Forms, my debts and gambling arrears are finally handled."
Meanwhile, Coo muttered in his mind: "It's not that I'm lacking backbone, it's just that he's offering way too much."
"Right, let me make one thing clear."
Heavenly Hegemon continued, "These 100 units are a one-time buyout for the exclusive rights to that 6D spatial lifeform. You'll get the payout once the capture operation is over."
Coo didn't voice a single objection.
Clearly, under the bombardment of such massive wealth, he no longer had the mental capacity to care about anything else.
Then, glancing at the expectant, silent Genarkrail, Heavenly Hegemon added: "As for you, once the operation is done, I'll wipe all your debts and interest. I'll also waive the fines for your breach of contract regarding that side hustle you were hiding from the company. On top of that, your pay and title will be bumped to official status. Oh, right: I'll throw in a 60 Spirit Crystal bonus for this run."
Upon hearing this, Genarkrail practically vaulted to his feet, bowing repeatedly to Heavenly Hegemon. "Thank you, Boss!
Thank you, Boss!"
"Just work hard, and that's enough."
The latter patted his shoulder. "I'm the kind of person who's very harsh when I'm angry, but very good to my people when I'm not. As long as you don't screw up and keep creating value for the company: for me: then I won't get angry. I, for one, appreciate talent above all else."
"Yes, yes, sir!" Genarkrail nodded continuously with utmost respect.
"Alright, the talk is over, and everything that needed to be said has been said." Heavenly Hegemon casually pulled out a bundle of multi-dimensional information, a data pouch. "The two of you, sign this contract. No regrets once it's inked."
Coo and Genarkrail looked at the data pouch and saw that the information encoded within was exactly the terms they had just agreed upon.
Stripping away the complex technicalities, the core of the contract was:
Coo and Genarkrail would each receive a Divine Grade Sacred Descending Forms and 100 units / 60 units of Spirit Crystals respectively.
In exchange, both were required to cooperate in the capture of the 6D spatial lifeform.
Any breach of contract would result in a penalty of a hundred million times the original amount.
If the capture failed after "repeated attempts," the penalty would still be a hundred million times the original amount.
"Boss..." Coo asked hesitantly, "What exactly does 'repeated' mean? How many times are we talking about?"
"Don't worry about it," Heavenly Hegemon said dismissively. "That phrasing is just a standard contractual term. This is clearly a mission that will succeed on the first try; there won't be any need for 'repeated' attempts. Don't sweat the small stuff."
"Uh... okay." Coo hesitated for a moment but didn't press further.
Following that, Heavenly Hegemon gave the two of them a simple briefing on their roles for the capture operation.
It was the same old routine.
Genarkrail would act as the "base station" for the causal network, while Coo would serve as the space-time tracker.
"Alright, the company will be sending an expert shortly to execute the capture."
After finishing the arrangements, Heavenly Hegemon added, "Stay here and wait. When he arrives, just cooperate with him and you'll be fine. I've got too much on my plate, so I'll be taking my leave now."
With that, his projection began to shimmer and fade, as if about to vanish instantly.
"Boss!"
Genarkrail suddenly shouted, "Who... who are you sending?"
"Lavender."
Along with a faint, echoing voice, Heavenly Hegemon's blurring figure completely vanished from the radiant continent.
"The Esoteric Grinder..."
Genarkrail murmured, "It's him again."
"Who's that?" Coo asked curiously from the side. "What Esoteric Grinder?"
"The guy... his title is the Esoteric Grinder, but his real name is Lavender."
Genarkrail mused, "He's one of Heavenly Hegemon's star debt collectors. He's a genius, only barely ten billion years old."
"Ten billion years old?!" Coo exclaimed. "Striking out into the world at such a young age? The 90-quadrillion-year compulsory education period isn't anywhere near finished, is it?"
"Lavender didn't receive a standard compulsory education," Genarkrail shook his head and explained. "Because of his extraordinary talent, he was sent to the [Sea Sand Swarm] early on an exchange program, and he hasn't even graduated yet.
His work at Heavenly Hegemon Corp... it's more like a student internship."
"Hiss—"
Coo's eyes widened. "A cross-Swarm exchange student? Then doesn't that mean... aside from Jormungandr's Loop, he might master other powers?
Hey! I vaguely recall that the Sea Sand Swarm... is somehow connected to the legendary State of Enlightenment, isn't it?"
"Correct." Genarkrail nodded. "Even though I haven't had much contact with Lavender at the company, I've heard stories.
Apparently, he learned a type of power in the Sea Sand Swarm... called [Idealistic Rotation]. They say its power is absolutely terrifying."
"That's not right."
Coo was still puzzled. "Only ten billion years old? Even for an exchange student, how strong could he possibly be? Does he really have the ability to be a star debt collector?"
"He does," Genarkrail said deeply. "He has already reached the level of Ancient String." (The 6th stage of the String race system).
"Uh?" Coo was instantly stunned.
Consider Dimensional Artist Coo: he was already twenty-three quadrillion years old, yet he was only a Sky String. (The 5th stage of the String race system).
Genarkrail, who was about the same age, was merely a Mystic String. (The 4th stage of the String race system).
But this Esoteric Grinder Lavender... was clearly over 23 million times younger than the two of them.
Yet in terms of strength... he surpassed Coo by quindecillion times, and Genarkrail by septemvigintillion times.
This comparison... suddenly made the two of them look incredibly pathetic.
While the two were lost in speechless silence, the space-time a hundred trillion light-years away suddenly warped, revealing a towering figure with bulging muscles, a freakish man glistening pitch-black all over.
He was freakish because his head and face... were shaped like a half-man, half-shark.
The face had human features, extremely sharp and rugged.
But the overall shape of the head was exactly... like a whale shark.
"Lavender?!"
From that vast distance, Genarkrail's pupils shrank, and Coo was equally stunned.
Good grief, speak of the devil and he appears.
"Hiss—"
Standing on the endless, radiant continent, Lavender looked at Coo and Genarkrail from afar, saying coldly, "Genarkrail, is it? I've heard your name. A nobody."
As he spoke, he took a single step, crossing the vast distance of a hundred trillion light-years, instantly arriving right in front of them.
"Hahaha."
Genarkrail instantly flashed an incredibly respectful smile. "Lav... Lavender, look, when should we start the capture..."
"Ignorant dog."
Lavender glanced at him sideways. "Since when are you qualified to address me by my name?"
"Uh..." Genarkrail froze, awkwardly unsure how to respond.
"Then..." Coo, who had been watching coldly from the side, asked, "How should we address you?"
"Call me Lord Grinder."
Lavender sat grandly on a massive chair that appeared out of nowhere, resting his cheek on his hand. "Boss said you two can lead me to the target, right?"
"Yes, yes, exactly," Genarkrail nodded repeatedly. "Then shall we..."
"What the hell are you in such a rush for?!"
Lavender, hands on his knees, barked. "Wait for my orders."
"Uh..." Coo and Genarkrail exchanged glances, feeling somewhat helpless.
The Esoteric Grinder felt a bit difficult to deal with.
"Hmm..."
Lavender looked them up and down, scowling. "You two wastes: why the hell are you still using such trashy Sacred Descending Forms?"
"Uh..." Once again, they looked at each other, not knowing how to answer.
They couldn't exactly say it was because they were broke.
Speaking of which, they noticed that Lord Grinder was actually using a Divine Grade Sacred Descending Forms.
Hoping to build some rapport, Genarkrail gave a sycophantic, dry laugh. "Lord Grinder, are you using a Divine Grade? Heh heh, Boss actually just gave us two sets as well..."
"Divine Grade?"
Lavender glanced sideways at the glowing orb in Genarkrail's hand and sneered. "Pure country bumpkins. That trash in your hand is nothing. I'm using a [High-End Custom] Divine Grade."
"Custom... Divine Grade?" Genarkrail was dazed: he had never heard the term before.
Beside him, Coo was equally stunned: the term was completely new to him as well.
"A Standard Divine Grade is also called a [General Custom]. At most, it allows a Sky String level user to channel their full power. Once the user surpasses Sky String and reaches Ancient String, the power channeling ratio drops to a Luxury Grade level. When the user reaches Ultimate String, it drops to Excellent Grade. At Prime String, it falls to Standard Grade. If a King String forces its use, the Sacred Descending Forms will explode into fragments. As for what I'm using..."
Lavender, with a hint of showing off, patted his glistening black chest and bared a mouth full of shark teeth, grinning. "I'm using a [High-End Custom] Divine Grade, and a top-tier one at that. It's worth at least 80 units."
Upon hearing this, Genarkrail and Coo were frozen in place.
80 units...
That meant the Sacred Descending Forms Lord Grinder was using was 100 decillion times more expensive than the two Divine Grades they had just been treating like priceless treasures!
Dammit, why did it feel like their worlds and Lavender's were on completely different levels?
General Custom... High-End Custom... They hadn't even heard of these concepts before.
"If there's a high-tier, then there must be a lower-tier," Coo asked curiously. "So, Lord Grinder, how much does a lower-tier [High-End Custom] cost?"
"Lower-tiers are a bit cheaper," Lavender said casually. "You can pick one up for about 60 units."
'60 units isn't cheap either,' Coo thought, clicking his tongue inwardly.
"What about something better than the top-tier?" Genarkrail chimed in.
"That would be the supreme-tier," Lavender replied lazily. "Starting price is 120 units."
"Hiss—"
The two were so shocked they inhaled a massive lungful of Vacuum Zero-Point Energy.
120 units... that's novemtrigintillion Spirit Crystals!
Where the hell would anyone get that much money?
"I never thought~"
Genarkrail muttered to himself, "The Sacred Descending Forms Boss uses would be that expensive?"
"What kind of dog-farting nonsense is that?! Shut up!"
Lavender barked, scowling. "Boss is at the King String stage. A [High-End Custom] Divine Grade isn't even qualified to carry that level of tyrannical power. For someone as crazy strong as him, he obviously uses a Divine Grade Collaboration Edition!"
"Huh?" The two were dumbfounded again. "What the hell is a Collaboration Edition?"
"At the King String stage, a single glance can instantly wipe out the entire Matter Sea of a 3D Great Boundary. If they go all out, they can even shatter the entire Great Boundary along with the 3D space-time supporting it, leaving nothing but meaningless negative dimension nothingness."
Lavender explained leisurely, "So, even a [High-End Custom] Divine Grade, made purely from 5D dimensional cells and high-grade materials, can't handle a single shred of Boss's power. It would just explode.
To truly and stably handle that kind of force, one must use a Divine Grade Collaboration Edition: personally endorsed by a String Emperor, and containing a hollow projection of their own Divinity."
"Divinity... String Emperor... Collaboration endorsement..."
The two, now completely dazed, felt like country bumpkins who had just stepped into a major metropolis for the first time: they knew nothing, and everything they saw was a marvel.
"So..." Genarkrail asked, somewhat timidly, "How much does a Collaboration Edition Divine Grade cost?"
Upon hearing the question, Lavender's eyebrows twitched. He held up two fingers and said: "At least 200 units."
"..."
The two were instantly petrified.
200 units... that's a one followed by two hundred zeros.
"That..." Genarkrail stammered, "Would you have to squeeze an entire 3D Great Boundary dry just to get that much money?"
"Not necessarily."
Lavender shook his head. "With Boss's sharp methods, the wealth gained from squeezing a single Great Boundary dry is far more than that."
He then added another sentence: "So, Boss has at least thousands, maybe tens of thousands, of those Collaboration Editions. He has more than he can even use: most of them are just kept as a collection."
The highest-tier Collaboration Editions... piled up like mountains...
The two were utterly dumbfounded, once again shaken by Heavenly Hegemon's financial power.
"Alright, chat time is over."
Lavender's voice boomed like a brass bell, "According to the intel from the Eternal String, His Excellency Aoi, the target has extremely strong cross-space-time observation and escape abilities.
So, during the upcoming capture operation, aside from being responsible for tracking and locking onto the target, you two will also need to use the [Boundary-Sealing Mist] to completely lock down the target's 3D Great Boundary from every angle. We need to blind the target so she has no chance to run.
And I, the Esoteric Grinder, will act as the main force for this operation, responsible for a satisfying battle.
Furthermore, the intel clearly states the target is currently in a metamorphosis phase following a dimensional ascension. Once that metamorphosis ends, she will possess a level of strength growth that far surpasses Jormungandr's Loop.
This metamorphosis takes about an hour. We must value this time above all else: otherwise, once the metamorphosis ends and the target's strength surges, skyrockets, and explodes on the spot, we'll be in deep trouble."
Having said that, Lavender produced a strange, vibrating crystalline sphere out of thin air: the [Boundary-Sealing Mist].
Holding the crystal, he looked at the still-shaken Genarkrail and asked deeply: "You should know how to use this, right?"
Genarkrail pulled his attention back from the intel Lavender had just shared. Looking at the massive crystal before him, he nodded: "I know. I've collected the raw materials for this before. It's made from high-quality Singularity-like Crystals from the Negative Boundary. You just have to input a few Singularity-like points into it, and it'll activate its all-directional boundary-sealing function."
"Good. Not a total waste then." Lavender nodded with satisfaction, tossing the crystal to Genarkrail.
Then, he turned to Coo standing nearby and ordered: "Let's get moving, long-hair."
"?"
Coo was momentarily confused, but once he realized what Lavender meant, he began to work with a darkened expression.
At the same time, he faintly asked himself in his mind: "Should I have... not been so greedy? Should I have avoided this mess?"
Coo had an inexplicable premonition that this operation... might not go smoothly.
'Sigh: No point dwelling on it now. The contract is already signed.'
After a silent sigh, he steadied himself. Using Genarkrail as his signal "base station," he began rapidly searching for the target's space-time coordinates.
...
When it comes to the universe, people generally hold a certain concept——
No beginning, no end, infinite and boundless.
Looking at the scientific development history of countless intelligent civilizations across various space-times, it's not hard to see that a vast majority of their energy is focused on debating and reflecting upon the universe.
The reasons for this observation and study generally fall into two categories:
First, it stems from the innate curiosity for the unknown inherent in intelligent life.
Second, it's because investigating such questions can alleviate the feelings of insignificance and loneliness that intelligent life faces when confronting the vastness of the cosmos.
Simultaneously, the study of the universe triggers many even more difficult scientific questions.
One of those questions is... what is the shape of the universe?
This question has been raised continuously over endless ages, and civilizations across various Static 3D space-times have provided their own answers.
In primitive eras, these intelligent civilizations believed the universe was a flat earth under a dome. Others believed it rested on the back of a giant beast, carried as it wandered continuously.
But these models of the universe can only be seen as the fantasies of intelligent life in an era of underdeveloped technology: they don't hold up under closer scrutiny.
Upon entering the era of space travel or the cosmic age, endless civilizations across infinite 3D space-times discovered through powerful equipment and various scientific disciplines that on an immense spatial scale, straight lines could intersect, and the sum of the interior angles of a triangle did not remain at 180 degrees.
This meant the universe was a closed, finite yet boundless hyperspherical surface.
But this triggered yet another question.
That is, if the universe remained absolutely straight on an overall scale... what kind of shape would it have?
Regarding this question, there are many conclusions.
One of those conclusions is:
If the universe is overall absolutely straight, then it would be an open, infinitely extending hyperplane.
And such a hyperplane universe, in its overall size, would tend toward being Infinitely Large.
Or rather, such a universe... would continuously expand toward the goal of being [Infinitely Large] without ever ending.
This was the content Seraphine read as she waited for the fine-tuning of her 6D core, while "browsing" the information on the [Non-Static Global-Inflation 3D Great Boundary] from Genarkrail and Coo.
Indeed, a Non-Static Global-Inflation 3D Great Boundary is an eternally inflating universe.
According to the records, because the quantum field fluctuations driving its eternal inflation would never cease, once such a universe is born, its overall inflation will never stop.
But it is different from what ordinary people imagine.
The inflation of a Non-Static Global-Inflation 3D Great Boundary isn't uniform everywhere.
Its overall growth is relatively "slow," while local areas undergo "super-super-super... super-speed" inflation. Because this local inflation rate is so terrifying, it forces the entire universe into an unstoppable, eternal expansion.
Those local areas are referred to as [Coordinated Foam] mass-energy accumulation regions.
Indeed, even though a Non-Static Global-Inflation universe is in a state of eternal expansion, it isn't absolutely empty, as if in a state like the Big Rip. To understand these regions, one can compare them to the "Matter Sea" within a Non-Static 3D Great Boundary.
However, completely unlike the Matter Sea in a Static 3D universe, these Coordinated Foams in a Non-Static Global-Inflation universe are much, much, much larger.
The average scale or diameter of one suddenly reaches a massive 10^130 light-years. This value is only a hundred times smaller than the diameter of a static-type universe, and its overall volume is only a million times smaller.
This gap is considered very small.
But because these Coordinated Foams lack a "Dark Ocean" internally, the density and number of their star systems are actually far greater than in any Static 3D universe.
According to the data, Seraphine learned that on average, the total number of galaxies in each Coordinated Foam is over 10^370.
The number of galaxies in the observable universe is 6×10^12.
The number of Matter Seas in a Static 3D Great Boundary is 10^252.
And each Matter Sea contains an average of 10^14 "observable universes."
Therefore, the entire Matter Sea of a Static 3D Great Boundary is roughly equivalent to 10^266 observable universes.
This figure is over 10^91 times smaller than a Coordinated Foam.
"The two are clearly not that different in terms of volume, yet the gap in the number of galaxies is so massive it defies comparison," Seraphine sighed.
Then, she saw in the data that such a colossal Coordinated Foam was merely the smallest inflation unit of a Non-Static Global-Inflation 3D universe.
And this "smallest" unit, driven by the eternal inflation of the quantum field, would actually give birth every single second to... 10^372183838819776444413065976878496481280 new Coordinated Foams of equal size.