Chapter 211 Cosmos Union
However, the Cosmos Union, despite their prestige in this universe, was nothing but a small force Dante could crush given his current power. Whether the union itself knew this or not, Dante did not know.
What was more interesting about what he found out was finally the answer to how many superpowered beings existed in the universe and why everyone was sequestered near the Zero Gate like this.
When Dante first absorbed the information, he was left stunned and thoroughly speechless for over 10 minutes. In truth, he should have also thought of it, but he had seen things from the perspective of the Eternal Universe and neglected that his universe was more than 8000 years behind in development and information.
Essentially, the problem began from the fact that the denizens of this universe did not even understand what superpowers were and did not even call them 'superpowers.' That name was obviously created by humanity in the Eternal Universe after they became rulers due to its resemblance to the type of abilities seen in comics and movies.
They called superpowers 'Divine Abilities,' which made more sense since they were very randomly distributed among races and had nothing to do with biology, fate, or even power. They were simply bestowed upon those chosen by the gods above who controlled the universe.
Even with the Cosmos Union's domination of the 'civilized' universe, superpower wielders were a distinguished class of being and were immediately named as nobles by the Cosmos Union and given various benefits right away for 'free.'
It was kind of like the Eternal Universe in this regard, which - then again - was something that ran through all sentient beings.
Later the Zero Gate was discovered by a passing pirate ship, and its marvel was reported to the growing union who sent investigators. Soon, they incidentally discovered that those with superpowers could resonate with the gate and seemingly strengthen their abilities, which made the value of the gate soar.
Suddenly, superpower wielders seemed on the verge of civil war to fight for ownership of the gate, but the Cosmos Union came in and broke them up.
After having incorporated them into their society, they were much easier to control, and because everyone's superpower was unanimously at the F rank, the current technology of the Cosmos Union posed a significant threat to most of them.
Eventually, slots were decided for superpower wielders, and they eagerly began to spend their days squatting in front of the Zero Gate while absorbing Zero Energy. Naturally, the difference in quality and talents between superpower users was recognized, and a grading system that was not as accurate as the Eternal Universe's was created.
This made things subtle because previously, all superpower wielders had the same level of status and importance, but with a grading coming in, the powers of some waned greatly while others soared due to their grade.
There was a great upheaval in the 'noble' society as many things shifted around and classes formed between even the nobles now. This went on for a few decades until one stupid rumor set everything aflame.
A child of a superpower user who accompanied his parent to the Zero Gate as a plus one suddenly discovered that after absorbing Zero Energy, they had a superpower!
This caused the entire universe to blow up with shock and excitement. Did that mean that if one absorbed this miraculous energy, one could unlock a superpower over time? It was no wonder those superpower users could become strong!
Immediately, bloodshot eyes were directed at the Zero Gate, and the once-exclusive resource for the superpower users was now about to be contested by the entire universe. Threats and warnings didn't work, as the sheer numbers bore down on them; superpower users realized just how fragile their powers were in front of so many.
As such, they could only shrink their necks and acquiesce, opening up slots for the public. The Cosmos Union, a power that was based on commercial control, did not pass up this chance to make the slots even more valuable by attaching a steep price tag.
With so many numbers, the previous unity fell as some were rich enough to afford and broke off from the poor who still wanted to fight. This caused the poorer ones to lose their power and have to accept the system in the end.
This system had continued on until now, when Dante forcefully barged in and claimed the Zero Gate for himself using martial force.
What left Dante thoroughly speechless was the fact that - and you probably guessed it - there was no such nonsense as absorbing Zero Energy to gain superpowers. It was simply the case that the people who did 'luck out' simply did not know they had superpowers as they never manifested or they had not yet awakened them, and their awakening was triggered by Zero Energy.
So the millions of beings he saw here were just inflated numbers; not even 200 of them truly had superpowers. This universe was nowhere near developed as the Eternal Universe, and only those who naturally awoke their superpowers and recognized them were registered.
As Dante had already ascertained from the reaction of the various beings when he released 'obvious' information about the fruits, none in this universe actually knew you could enter the Zero Gate!!
Actually, it was not that no one knew, but those who entered had never come out. After all, they were not prepared for what was on the other side, and without going in during December, they were likely slaughtered and their bones not even left behind.
So to others, it was simply like a black hole of death where anyone who entered would die. Ironically, the Eternal Universe went through a period of similar ignorance, but you already knew how humanity was, wanting to 'penetrate' everything they saw.
When humanity became the rulers of the Eternal Universe, they set up a research institute on the gate that later grew to be the academy today, and many alien lives were tossed in to test various things in the name of progress.
It was then that they found about the fruits and all that. However, this universe was still in the ignorance phase, so they were using this clumsy and barbaric method to unearth their superpower users.
Well, now that Dante had released that information, he could achieve the reason why he spread it in the first place; as bait.
Well, you only had to think of it to realize it. The universe was a big place, far wider than any mind could reasonably comprehend. The sheer number of powers and species that existed within did not have a number that could be written down or spoken.
It took humanity over 8000 years to conquer more than 40% of their universe in the Eternal Universe. Even now, the Eternal Universe was constantly discovering new planets, lifeforms, and civilizations in different areas, which was why there was an existence like The Pioneer World in the Eternal Academy's database which detailed how to find and explore new planets.
Dante simply did not have that time. As such, rather than wait and find everybody one by one, it was better to release irresistible bait and let them all come to him at once so he could decimate and then subdue them.
The bait of the fruits was so potent that it formed the basis of society in the Eternal Universe despite their development, so how much more in this universe where the concept was not known before today?
The only way to get those fruits was going through Dante, who had thoroughly secured and monopolized the gate, so how could the other factions tolerate this? While there was a risk in fighting Dante due to his strength, such logic never stopped sentient beings from doing crazy? things before.
This left Dante amused, and he was not worried. As the space base had long been completed and become operational, it meant that he would have an endless supply of troops right here at the frontline to deal with all comers.
Currently, in terms of energy, the species of the universe had only mastered controllable fusion at best. Compared to Dante, who could close his eyes and pick between psionics, dark matter, anti-matter, and quantum diffusion - among others - they were lacking in means and power.
Dante closed the report and showed that he was up to date. He only left some basic instructions behind and teleported to the Eternal Universe. He was in constant connection with his quantum clone that was now leaving the virtual world to handle the aftermath of the first mock exam.
However, he - Dante - was going into the Magus World to deal with the resurrection resource. Jameson was no longer needed because it would take such a person too long to find the information Dante needed, so he planned to exert influence and power in order to get it.
As such, he directly quantum teleported into the Magus World. After all, he did not want to attach his virtual identity to his current activities in the least. His next actions were going to be explosive after all.
Updat𝓮d fr𝙤m fre𝒆webnov(e)l.com