My Talent's Name Is Generator Chapter 838 Last Base

As I passed through the portal, it blazed brightly behind me, the usual twist of space straightening out to reveal the battlefield stretching out before me.

Yet another Hollow Star outpost hovered in the distance.

Similar to the previous ones, it was etched deeply into a wandering asteroid. From the heart of the stone protruded a tall ebony spire, encircled by compact auxiliary edifices forming a dense ring.

No sooner had my boots hit the surface than the sirens wailed to life.

Crimson beacons pulsed across the spire and nearby constructions as the Hollow Star inhabitants detected an intruder emerging from the gateway.

Specters streamed out from the facilities in a rush, accompanied by a pair of Eternals.

The specters hurtled ahead the instant they spotted me isolated on the landing area, their forms racing over the terrain with wisps of deathmist streaming in their wake.

While observing their advance, an odd feeling washed over me. It was as if I had detached from the immediate action, viewing the chaos from an elevated perspective instead of being immersed in the fray.

This sensation struck abruptly.

The surroundings appeared to decelerate to a near standstill.

I noticed the Eternals' obsidian, glassy gazes scrutinizing me intently. The deathmist encircling the specters uncoiled languidly like sluggish vapor, and the subtle linear luminescence on their visages intensified as their power amassed. I perceived the laws swirling throughout the outpost, faint flows clashing subtly in the encompassing void. The ongoing clash between the System and the outpost's protective shield also sharpened in my awareness, with the unseen System force battering relentlessly against it while the barrier pushed back its intrusion.

For an instant, I remained rooted, perceiving all with utter precision.

Then comprehension dawned: my level had ascended to four hundred and ninety-nine. I teetered on the brink of Saint rank. This insight flashed through my thoughts as swiftly as the peculiar perception had emerged.

And in one mere flutter of eyelids, normalcy resumed.

I lifted my arm deliberately.

A gentle undulation emanated from me, understated yet unyielding, causing the whole asteroid to quiver beneath the weight of my intent. The foes sensed it right away, their actions faltering under the unseen power bearing down on the area encircling them.

I whispered.

"Stop."

Every specter, monstrosity, and even the Eternal froze in their tracks. Some were caught in full assault, others midway through unleashing strikes. They all became immobilized as though encased in unyielding rock.

This time, I didn't bother invoking my domain. Merely the aura of my determination swept over the field and pinned everything down. The lunging monstrosities ceased abruptly, their malformed shapes fixed precisely in their prior momentum. The betrayers dispersed around the outpost were likewise ensnared, their arms partially lifted and faces still twisted in a mix of fury and shock.

Countless monstrosities dotted the landscape without stirring. Scores of betrayers lingered in utter rigidity. None could budge a fraction.

For a short while, I just lingered there, sensing the full scope of my transformation.

Strength surged within me in even pulses, serene yet dominating. The void nearby yielded effortlessly to my command.

At that juncture, I sensed immense might. In that fleeting second, near invulnerability coursed through me.

An unfamiliar emotion stirred in my heart, subdued initially but intensifying steadily. It wasn't premeditated, nor deliberately conceived. It arose as an innate urge from my depths.

And yielding to it without hesitation, I acted.

"Return," I uttered.

The impact rippled out immediately.

The immobilized forms on the field began to alter. Sequentially, the monstrosities and betrayers held fast started to disintegrate, yet not into powder this time. Rather, their shapes fractured into myriad minuscule fragments of unadulterated Essence, floating airborne like shimmering specks of radiance.

The specters underwent the same fate.

The deathmist comprising their essences imploded suddenly, shattering and unleashing a tremendous surge of Essence as the haze scattered. What was once shadowy and tainted morphed into rivulets of pristine power that merged into the ascending torrent encircling me.

With a slight gesture of my fingers, the floating Essence obeyed.

The flecks converged and rushed to me in a spiraling torrent. Verdant glow inundated my form and channeled straight into the Dawn Core, where the Abyss Core resided.

Upon entry, the Essence was devoured.

Absorption occurred in a flash. The massive volume of Essence merged into the core, vanishing seamlessly as if it had originated there.

In mere heartbeats, the outpost lay deserted. I stood in hushed contemplation, gazing at the quiet field, still absorbing the feat I had accomplished. The sirens persisted in resounding through the buildings, though their activators had vanished.

I shifted my attention inward, peering into the Abyss Core.

The core blazed akin to an obsidian star amid the Dawn Core, its exterior roiling perpetually as dense flows of deathmist erupted and recoiled into it repeatedly. The activity never ceased, resembling a shadowed sea ensnared in perpetual tempest.

Yet now, a novel element dwelled within. A minuscule patch of verdant essence hovered inside the immense expanse of eddying deathmist. It was minuscule against the colossal forces enclosing it, nearly negligible, but it persisted vividly separate rather than blending into the dark eddies nearby.

I blinked, taken aback.

"What is going on…" I murmured softly.

Experimenting, I extended my hand and pulled in ambient essence from the space beyond the asteroid. The verdant streams complied readily with my desire, amassing before my hand prior to streaming into me. I directed that force straight to the Abyss Core.

However, as it neared the core, an unforeseen occurrence unfolded.

The Abyss Core disregarded it entirely. The ambient essence lingered briefly then glided past unabsorbed, as though the core held zero regard for it.

I creased my brow faintly.

"Are they different?" I muttered.

Previously, I had presumed the verdant essence I had taken in was merely ambient essence liberated from the foes' remains. But maybe not. Since the Abyss Core embraced one while spurning the other, the power I had consumed moments ago had to be a distinct entity altogether.

"I will need to test it further," I said softly.

The notion persisted in my thoughts as I set the finding aside temporarily. Regardless of the true nature of that verdant essence, it evidently operated unlike the ambient essence permeating the surroundings.

That puzzle could wait.

I averted my gaze from the barren field and regarded the contingent that had traversed the portal alongside me.