Chapter 166: The Features

Liam watched the battlefield through Intangible Spectation, carefully observing every movement of the invading forces as the final stages of the war unfolded.

Countless goblins had fallen, their fortresses had been reduced to ruins, and the armies of the evil constellations continued advancing with overwhelming strength, leaving little room for the defenders to turn the situation around.

Although the invasion had gone far more smoothly than he had anticipated, Liam did not feel particularly relieved. He had learned long ago that the more complicated a situation became, the more dangerous it was to assume that everything would proceed according to his expectations.

’At least the initial plan is working.’

He shifted his attention toward the remaining goblin emperors, watching as they desperately tried to organize their forces against the advancing enemies. Even without directly controlling the battlefield, Liam could estimate how much longer the goblins would be able to resist, and the results were not encouraging.

’That went better than I anticipated.’

He had originally expected the invasion to become a prolonged conflict. Instead, the combined forces had overwhelmed the goblins with such efficiency that the war was approaching its conclusion far earlier than he had expected.

’I think we’re about ninety percent done.’

Liam was about to continue observing the battlefield when something unexpected happened.

The world before him suddenly trembled.

At first, he assumed that one of the invading forces had unleashed an unusually powerful attack, causing a disturbance that even Intangible Spectation could detect. However, the tremor did not originate from the battlefield, nor did it resemble any environmental phenomenon he had encountered before.

Instead, the very image of the goblin planet began to distort.

The ruined fortresses, the scattered armies, and the vast stretches of land gradually faded away, as though someone were erasing the world with an invisible brush. Liam watched as the scenery dissolved into countless fragments of light, leaving nothing behind except an empty, colorless expanse that stretched endlessly in every direction.

"...What?"

He instinctively attempted to reconnect with the planet, but his perception found nothing to grasp. The familiar sensations that accompanied his planetary consciousness had vanished, and even the faint connection he maintained with the battlefield seemed to have been severed without warning.

Liam slowly turned his head.

"White space?"

His voice echoed into the emptiness.

For several seconds, he remained motionless, trying to determine whether he was experiencing some kind of system malfunction. He had encountered countless strange phenomena since becoming a planetary consciousness, but this was different from anything he had experienced before.

’How is this even possible?’

He attempted to access his system interface, only to discover that the familiar information was nowhere to be found. The absence of his usual notifications made the situation even more unsettling, because it meant that whatever had brought him here was operating outside the normal framework he had grown accustomed to.

’How can the white space emerge without me knowing?’

Liam’s thoughts raced as he considered the possibilities.

The white space had always represented a place beyond the ordinary boundaries of a planet, a location associated with encounters and events that could not be explained through conventional planetary mechanics.

Yet he had never expected to be brought here without warning, especially when he was still in the middle of a conquest.

Then, a voice slowly emerged from the emptiness.

"Easy there, Fifth Evolution."

The voice was calm, almost amused, yet it carried an inexplicable weight that made Liam immediately stop moving. It did not seem to originate from any particular direction, instead resonating throughout the entire white space as though the place itself had begun speaking.

Liam turned toward the source.

A strange presence gradually materialized before him, its form difficult to describe. It seemed to consist of countless different elements woven together into a single existence, with portions of its appearance shifting between shapes that Liam could barely comprehend.

For a moment, Liam simply stared.

"...Fourth Evolution?"

"Yes."

The being tilted its head slightly.

"It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Well, in your perspective, of course."

Liam’s expression became more complicated.

He remembered the Fourth Evolution from their previous encounter, when the mysterious being had provided information that even the system had not yet revealed to him. However, meeting it again in the middle of an ongoing conquest was something he had never anticipated.

"Why are you here?"

"What else? I’m here to congratulate you on completing your first conquest."

Liam’s eyes narrowed.

"Completing my conquest? Defeating Double X? It’s not even over yet."

He had been monitoring the battlefield moments ago, and although the goblin forces were losing badly, there were still enemies alive and resisting. More importantly, he had never received a notification indicating that the conquest had been completed.

The Fourth Evolution merely smiled.

With a slow movement of its arm, the empty space before them began to shimmer. A vast image gradually appeared in the distance, displaying the goblin planet and the ongoing invasion as though someone had projected the entire world onto an enormous screen.

"Do you know how a player gets defeated?"

Liam looked at the image before answering.

"In the previous timeline, the system said that a player could be defeated by destroying the core located at the center of their planet, right?"

"That is one method, yes. But there are actually five."

Liam turned back toward the being.

"Five?"

"First, the traditional method. Destroy the planetary core, and the player’s existence as a planetary consciousness comes to an end. Without the core that sustains their planetary authority, they can no longer maintain their world as an active participant in the selection."

The image shifted, displaying a planet surrounded by cracks that spread across its surface before the entire world collapsed into darkness.

"Second, the universe itself can eradicate a player. If a player’s actions violate certain fundamental restrictions or provoke a force capable of issuing such a judgment, their existence can be terminated without requiring another player to destroy their core."

Liam’s expression grew serious.

He had already suspected that the planetary selection system operated under rules far beyond his understanding, but hearing that the universe itself could directly eliminate a player made him reconsider the limits of his own freedom.

"Third, a player can surrender and agree to be absorbed by another player. In that case, the defeated player relinquishes their position, and their world can be incorporated into the victor’s domain according to the rules governing the selection."

The image changed again, showing one planet gradually merging with another until the two became a single entity.

"Fourth, a player can become a puppet state. Rather than being completely absorbed, they retain some degree of existence while surrendering their independence to another player. Their world may continue to function, but their freedom to make decisions is restricted by the terms of their submission."

Liam listened without interrupting, carefully memorizing each condition.

"Finally, a player can be defeated by having all intelligent creations they have established eliminated. If a player’s intelligent civilizations are completely wiped out, their position can be considered lost even if their planetary core remains intact."

The image displayed a barren world, devoid of cities, creatures, or any sign of civilization.

"Of course, this condition concerns the intelligent creations recognized by the selection system, not every ordinary organism living on the planet. The exact judgment depends on the system’s classification and the circumstances surrounding the player’s creations."

Liam remained silent for several moments.

"...There are things like that?"

He had spent a considerable amount of time experimenting with his abilities, creating civilizations, and attempting to understand the system’s mechanics. Yet five separate conditions could determine a player’s defeat, and he had only known about the most obvious one.

"But why didn’t the system tell us about this?"

"It should have informed you around this stage of the selection."

The Fourth Evolution paused before continuing.

"However, you have become an anomaly. Your development does not follow the ordinary progression, and the system’s usual notifications do not always apply to you. As a result, you missed information that other players would normally receive."

Liam felt a slight headache forming.

Being an anomaly had provided him with advantages, but it was becoming increasingly apparent that it also came with considerable disadvantages. If the system continued withholding information because of his abnormal status, he might eventually make a mistake that could cost him everything.

He decided to remember the five defeat conditions above all else.

’Destroying the core, universal eradication, surrender and absorption, puppet state, and eliminating all recognized intelligent creations.’

He repeated them in his mind, ensuring that he would not forget any of them.

However, another question quickly emerged.

"Wait. I still don’t understand something. How can you communicate with another player, and how can you absorb them? Is it through the chatroom?"

The Fourth Evolution nodded.

"You must have realized by now that direct intervention skills are prohibited when players come into close proximity with one another. The system enforces certain restrictions to prevent planetary consciousnesses from freely interfering with their opponents."

Liam nodded slowly.

He had already experienced the restrictions imposed on direct intervention, and the inability to freely interfere with another player’s world had become one of the most frustrating limitations he faced. Still, he had assumed that communication and agreements would follow similar restrictions.

"However, there are specific features designed to allow players to interact without violating those restrictions. One of them is called World Convention."