The Dawn Of The New World

Chapter 1280 Gaze Into The Star

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"There is no way the creature would know or even understand the concept of Baracus existing inside my body but still be independent of me. And if its ability is cast over an area rather than an individual person then Baracus would be pulled into the illusion with me!"

Hao Xuan didn't even remember which of the countless lifetimes he was pulling out all this information from but as long as it got the job done it didn't matter. His mind was suddenly racing towards a theory that he currently knew nothing about.

"Wait wait wait, let's break this down one at a time," he started pacing back and forth while talking to himself, completely lost in thought.

"It can conjure things out of nothing to keep the ruse going. If it wanted to kill me then there could have been easier ways to go about it but that's obviously not the case, it wants me or...rather my body for something else. That means it must keep my mind busy no matter what."

"But every action...even just a thought takes energy that has to come from somewhere. Casting an illusion of this level that constantly evolves to cater to the target's thoughts must require an astounding amount of spiritual energy to maintain and...most importantly, it cannot see inside the illusion. Otherwise, it would know that I was already aware of what was going on and then it would not just let me be."

"So, multiple targets, cast over an area, constantly evolving but consuming copious amounts of energy, the illusion cannot break on its own and it cannot see what's happening inside. Then.... it is pretty simple, isn't it?"

All the pieces of the puzzle came together at once and something clicked in his head as he looked at the sky jovially.

"I just have to overload the illusion to the point that it's completely exhausted its internal energy reserves and can't keep it up anymore. Simple as that!"

Hao Xuan's lips cracked into a grin while his imagination ran wild.

"Baracus, take out the tank platoon I ordered you to create!"

It didn't even matter if Baracus could hear him or not, the illusion used Hao Xuan's memories to provide everything he needed.

Followed by the sound of engines whirring four massive tank units materialized behind him, primed and ready to attack.

"Now the second platoon!"

"The troop carrier!"

"The regiment of droids!"

"THE OBSIDIAN ARMORY!"

The world trembled momentarily at his latest request before returning to normal a second later. A whole building appeared out of nowhere and its doors slammed open.

"Drios, arm yourselves!" he ordered and the humanoid men of steel came alive, marching just as he thought they would into the armory.

Hao Xuan looked around but found no other signs of the illusion breaking.

'More...much more! Let's see how long you last!'

"Take out the naval battleship!"

"The Class-1 Desecrator and the Class-2 Star Destroyer!"

Both the ground and the air reverberated as all three ships materialized one by one.

*BAAM*

The naval battleship from earth slammed into the ground while the other two hovered in the air above. There were small white cracks beginning to appear in the far distance.

'Close but still not there...'

Hao Xuan closed his eyes and delved deep into the memories of the other lifetimes before firing off another list.

"The Oranian Battlecruisers."

"The squadron of interplanetary peacekeepers."

"The six golden Gun-Ships of the Kingdom of Brion!"

"THE ENTIRE FLEET OF THE PIRATE KING CRIMSON HOOK!"

*Craaaack*

When he opened his eyes again the sky was in tatters. Large sections of it were disintegrating into nothingness.

'One last push! Something big...something that doesn't even make sense...something like-'

An image suddenly appeared in Hao Xuan's mind of a star-crossed shadow with an eye in the middle. Big enough to dwarf entire planets but nimble enough to move unaided. (Ch 1078)

"I know it...I know you, I have seen your work. Did they bring you back...?"

???d?---n??a| ?om He couldn't recall its name. It surely had one, perhaps many throughout the ages but, right now, he couldn't remember any of them. All he had was a fleeting image that was not getting any clearer. But it was enough, as long as he could see it in his head it would be so.

"Come out," he whispered dryly. He was actually a little afraid that it might actually appear here even though that was not possible.

*TREEEEEMBLE*

The sky broke in half and from the other side Hao Xuan saw the same eye staring at him, directly at him.

*CRAAACK*

Everything began to turn blurry before breaking apart into countless minuscule pieces. Catching just a simple glimpse of something like that was enough to shatter the illusion in its entirety.

Hao Xuan felt a gust of hot air on his face and awoke the next second unable to move.