While a part of Noah’s existence remained in that beautiful, impossible sanctuary that was his Early Veiled Shore, overseeing the continued growth and the distribution of his impossible harvest, his primary focus had shifted.
His body in the Concordat Amphitheater was about to embark on a new, perilous journey!
He stood upon the deck of a vessel that Elysia Firmhand of the Blue Fields had summoned from the depths of the Wandering Territories.
It was, for lack of a better word, a Barge.
It was not a sleek, elegant ship of war, but a broad, sturdy craft built for endurance and for transporting farming materials.
Its deck was a vast expanse of what looked like petrified, dark green wood, its surface covered in intricate, swirling patterns that pulsed with a faint, verdant light.
It was the size of a small world, perhaps three thousand miles from bow to stern, a floating island of stability in the chaotic sea of existence.
And at its forefront, harnessed by chains of solidified, bronze-hued authority, was a single, colossal Obsidian Ox.
Noah’s gaze swept over the magnificent, impossible sight, his perception dissecting the vessel and its beast of burden.
|The Verdant Ark|
|Classification: Transcendent Fold-Class Barge|
|Distinction: A Vessel of The First Farmer’s Sanctuary|
|Primary Attribute: Can withstand and navigate the environmental effects of Collapse, traversing the spaces between existence.|
|Secondary Attribute: Radiates a passive aura of ’Growth,’ making it less likely to be targeted by predatory concepts.|
...!
|Primordial Obsidian Ox|
|Classification: Early Living Land Lifeform|
|Complexity: 1,200,000,000,000,000 (1.2 Quadrillion)|
|Purity: 1,100,000,000,000,000 (1.1 Quadrillion)|
|Distinction: The Unflinching Navigator. Its purpose is singular: to pull The Verdant Ark through any and all dangers.|
Ho?
An Ox with a power exceeding a single Quadrillion...was the one transporting them through the dangers of the Wandering Territories?!
As he finished his analysis, Elysia Firmhand’s voice echoed out across the deck. "We shall set off."
The Obsidian Ox let out a low, rumbling moo, a sound that seemed to shake the very foundations of the Temporal Folds.
"It seems in that chaos, some might have used it as an opportunity to steal something from our Heart of Origin."
The accusation hung in the air, a palpable, dangerous thing. Elysia Firmhand’s eyes narrowed with interest. "What was stolen?"
Origin Ama Gias shook her head, her gaze still fixed on the Paradoxes. "Nothing of importance. Just a decrepit old woman."
Her gaze was a physical force, a challenge thrown across the deck. But from the forefront of the Living Paradoxes, the massive, serpentine form of Goliath, now in a more compact, humanoid guise, merely turned his head.
He looked at her, and in his gaze, there was nothing. No anger, no denial. Just a calm, paradoxical void. And yet, that simple look was enough.
Origin Ama Gias’s expression became ashen, and she was forced to look away. The mere gaze of Goliath was a threat so profound, so absolute, that even with the Marks of Unity, it felt as if he could act without consequence, that he could collapse her existence before any protection could activate!
Elysia Firmhand watched this silent exchange, her eyes sharp with a caution when she gazed at Goliath as well.
She nodded once, a gesture of acknowledgment, then turned her attention back to the assembled forces.
"It is a long and perilous journey through the Wandering Territories," she said, her voice a low, somber warning. "We are crossing through the spaces between spaces, the gaps between existence. We will be going through endless weavings of Collapse. Frequently, you will come across Living Collapses that will attack anything in sight, but they are even more motivated when they come across Living Paradoxes."
On the Barge, Noah listened to all of this, his gaze calm and analytical. He had noted the interaction between Goliath and Gias, had filed away the information about the stolen "old woman," and was now processing Elysia’s words.
She continued, her voice painting a picture of a realm that was not just dangerous, but fundamentally wrong.
"The First Farmer sought the Wandering Territories because they were unsuitable for any other existence to truly live in. Authority is more chaotic there. Teleportation and movement across space fail constantly; you may even be sent to random locations. It was said that in the Earliest Folds, before The Dead Existences came to be, when any existence collapsed... all shreds of what their beings used to be were transferred to the Wandering Territories. It became a graveyard, filled with countless weavings of Collapse. Now, when unfathomably powerful and complex existences perish, it is said that parts of them still become Living Collapses, while the other parts... cross The Veil and become The Dead. Of course, these are all conjectures. But that is the Wandering Territories."

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