Everyone aboard the starship, including Adrian, turned toward the observation window at nearly the same moment.
What they saw shook everyone. Their galaxy was gone.
Beyond the reinforced viewport, where the vast spiral of the Milky Way should have been, there was nothing but the empty void. There was no gradual fading, no distant outline lingering in the darkness. One moment it had been there, and the next it had vanished entirely. The familiar edge region, the distant star systems, planets, nebulae, everything that had defined their home, had vanished as if it had never existed.
"Where—" Kael's voice caught. "Where did it go?"
Thomas stepped closer to the viewport, "It was just there," he said quietly, "We only crossed the threshold seconds ago."
Selena pulled out her Node, her fingers moving quickly as she attempted to establish a connection. Her expression shifted almost immediately.
"It's not connecting," she said, frowning, "I can't access the Origin Net, and the Lexarian Net isn't responding either."
She tried again, her brow furrowing deeper.
"The status isn't even showing as out of range," she added slowly, "It's like the Milky Way doesn't exist at all."
Lysandra drew out her own Node. Her face went pale as the device remained dark in her palm.
"Mine as well," she confirmed.
"How can an entire galaxy just disappear?" Everyone was confused.
Adrian had already expanded his perception, sweeping outward instinctively, but even he could not see the galaxy. The only thing he could see and sense was faint, delicate rule lines spreading silently through the emptiness.
His eyes narrowed as he activated his Source Eyes.
Slowly, layer by layer, the Source peeled back the illusion, unraveling what should not have been visible. Even then, Adrian could only faintly sense something existing beyond the emptiness, like a ghost impression pressed against reality itself. This confirmed the galaxy was still there, but it was completely concealed, erased from perception itself. The realization sent a quiet chill through him.
This alone showed him how terrifyingly powerful the Void Emperor truly was. To cast a barrier capable of erasing an entire galaxy from perception, and even blocking the galactic network signals was not something an ordinary being could accomplish.
This entire situation struck Adrian even harder as he recalled the discussion from one of their recent preparation meetings. It had been Lysandra who brought up the topic of galactic network range.
She had explained that even the Galactic Net had limits. To maintain the Lexarian Net across the Milky Way, she had to power massive formations using multiple types of essence crystals along with pure mana crystals. The greater the power invested, the wider the range. Even then, maintaining full coverage required the constant consumption of enormous quantities of mana crystals.
She had then explained how that changed after introducing the Origin Ink into the formations. The same range that once required vast energy reserves could now be maintained with a fraction of the cost.
It had been during that conversation that Adrian realized something he had never considered before. Until then, he had assumed that Galactic Net formations created through the Language of Mana simply functioned without limitation. Part of this ignorance came from his own lack of experience, and part of it came from the fact that Origin Ink had solved the problem so completely that he had never been forced to confront the existence of range.
And this new learning changed his plans at that time. Because until that moment, Adrian thought he would remain connected to those back home with the Origin Net, even if he traveled into the universe.
So since he learned about this, he also made preparations to solve this issue. Adrian had reinforced the Origin Net's formation, channeling additional mana power into it, hoping to extend its effective range. He had not been sure if he could cover the entire vast universe, even with all the mana crystals, so his target was at least as far as the Andromeda Galaxy.
Whether the updates he made extended the range till the Andromeda was something he would only know when he actually traveled farther into the universe.
So at the same time, he had accepted the possibility that communication might be severed entirely, and he had prepared for that outcome as well.
What he had not anticipated was this, that the barrier itself would block the network.
They had barely crossed beyond it, still extremely close to the Milky Way Galaxy, yet every signal was cut off completely. It was as though the barrier did not merely hide the galaxy from sight, but isolated it from the universe itself.
So now, even if the updates he worked on the formation extended the network range, it was useless.
Adrian glanced around the command deck and saw panic beginning to spread.
"Don't panic," Adrian said.
The murmurs quieted.
"Our galaxy is still there. The barrier is creating an illusion, and that's why we can't see anything. I believe it also blocks all Galactic Net signals."
He paused briefly, then added, "And we prepared for the possibility of losing contact with home, remember?"
That reminder grounded them.
"Right. We knew this might happen. Varik and the others are handling things," Selena said, "They don't need us watching over their shoulders every day."
They had prepared for this outcome. The rulers had left capable leaders behind. Systems were in place. Still, there was a difference between anticipating a scenario and experiencing it firsthand.
Gradually, the tension eased.
Before anyone could speak again, Aerin suddenly darted closer to the viewing panel, her eyes sparkling.
"Wow!" she exclaimed, "The stars out here are so much prettier!"
She pressed her palms against the transparent surface, leaning forward. Her small frame practically vibrated with excitement.
She wasn't looking at where the Milky Way had vanished. Her attention was fixed on distant points scattered across the void, countless lights shining freely without obstruction. Her perspective, unburdened by loss or responsibility, was entirely different from the adults'.
Aurelia moved to stand beside her daughter, "They do shine differently," she murmured.
That was when everyone realized it.
The barrier had not only hidden their galaxy from the outside, but it had also suppressed their view from within. Now, standing beyond it, they were seeing the universe without any filters.
An unrestrained, boundless expanse stretched before them.
"This isn't vast," Draven said, staring outward, "This is infinite."
Once everyone slowly adjusted to the sight, Adrian turned back to the navigation console and entered the destination.
› Location Set: Andromeda Galaxy
› Estimated Reach Time: 9 Months
The vessel accelerated smoothly, and the void blurred around them. Even with the fastest ship ever constructed within the Milky Way Galaxy, reaching Andromeda would take nine months. The realization weighed on them all. If traveling to a nearby galaxy required this much time, then the true scale of the universe was far beyond anything they had imagined.
Thomas stepped closer to Adrian, "You think we'll run into trouble before we arrive?"
"Depends on what's out here," Adrian replied.
Adrian then took out the violet token he had received from the Guardian Spirit. It had said this was UNI-OS, used by all cultivators in the universe. He wanted to understand how it worked and see whether it could offer insight into the wider universe.
He activated the token.
It pulsed once, then projected a blue holographic interface into the void before him.
Selena stepped closer, her curiosity evident, "What is this, Adrian?"
"It's called UNI OS," Adrian replied, "The Guardian Spirit said it's used for communication in the universe."
That immediately drew everyone's attention. They gathered around the projection, studying it carefully.
The interface was written in the Language of Mana, making it readable to all of them.
› UNI-OS Booting…
› Fresh Activation Detected
› Bind Mana Signature To Proceed…
Adrian sent a stream of his pure mana into the token. The violet surface absorbed it instantly, glowing brighter for a moment before settling.
› Device Bound…
Once the binding completed, a new interface appeared. And it was nothing like the Nodes they were familiar with.
— MAIN INTERFACE —
› Free Networks
› Premium Networks
› UNI-Bank
› Auxiliary Systems
› Custom Functions
No one fully understood what they were looking at.
Lysandra frowned, "What's UNI Bank?"
"What do Premium Networks even mean?"
"Seems more advanced," Selena said, her eyes scanning the projection, "The structure's different."
Even Adrian had no immediate answers. He selected Free Networks to see what information it contained.
› Current Region: Intergalactic Void
› Nearest Detected Civilization Network: Andromeda Local Net
› Status: Out of Range
› Searching For In-Range Free Networks…
› None Detected
› Reason: Isolation Zone / Boundary Region
The interface returned to the main screen.
Seeing this, Adrian understood what the UNI OS was doing. The nodes they had in the galaxy were specifically designed to only connect to particular networks; they didn't have any search features, since they were not needed.
But the UNI-OS had this exact feature, mostly designed to accommodate a cultivator, no matter which galaxy they went.
And seeing the Andromeda Local Net listed as out of range made sense. Unlike the Milky Way, Andromeda should not be sealed by a barrier, and so UNI-OS could detect its existence, but the distance was still too great to establish a connection.
"If this works across galaxies, then it means there's infrastructure spanning the entire universe," Selena murmured.
And strangely, Adrian found himself relieved. If the Milky Way had not been protected by a barrier, the Lexarian Net might have been exposed to the universe long ago, drawing attention from intergalactic powers and conflicts far beyond their ability to handle.
Only now did Adrian truly start to understand what the Guardian Spirit meant when it said the barrier existed to protect the galaxy.
The universe was vast, and they had only just stepped into it.