Three days later, the Crossroads finally appeared on the horizon. I had expected another city.
Perhaps a large trading hub floating above the Soul Sea. What I saw instead looked more like an artificial world.
The structure hung in the emptiness above the silver ocean, rotating slowly around a massive central core that glowed with pale golden light. Countless rings surrounded it, and every ring moved at a different speed. Ships entered and exited continuously through designated lanes while rivers of soul force flowed between the rotating structures like glowing arteries supplying life to a gigantic organism.
The closer we approached, the more impossible its scale became. Entire living spaces had been built upon the rings. Everything revolved around the central core. The movement never stopped.
Millions of souls traveled between the structures every day, and even from a distance I could sense the enormous network of formations operating beneath the surface.
This place was not merely a city.
It was infrastructure. The type of infrastructure civilizations built only after surviving for thousands upon thousands of years.
Commander One’s flagship did not approach directly.
Instead it slowed several hundred kilometers away from the Crossroads before deploying a much smaller transport vessel. I boarded alongside a handful of souls while the flagship remained outside the primary traffic zone.
Apparently even the Dex Armada had limits regarding how much attention it wanted to attract. The journey from the armada to the Crossroads took nearly two hours.
The closer we moved, the denser the traffic became. Ships of every shape imaginable surrounded us.
Some resembled ordinary vessels. Others looked like floating islands. One appeared to be nothing more than an enormous skeleton wrapped in black chains and moving under its own power.
Nobody seemed particularly bothered by it.
Eventually we reached the first checkpoint. The process immediately proved far more thorough than anything I had encountered since entering the Null Realm.
The transport vessel docked within a massive floating platform suspended between two rotating rings. Thousands of travelers moved through the facility while enormous formations hovered overhead. The moment I stepped onto the platform, I felt several layers of perception sweep across me.
Dozens of officials monitored the process from elevated stations while travelers passed through various inspection points.
I watched a merchant spend nearly twenty minutes arguing about paperwork for a shipment of memory crystals. Apparently bureaucracy existed even after death.
That realization was somehow comforting. My own inspection lasted significantly less time.
The officials clearly noticed I was alive. Their reactions ranged from confusion to outright disbelief.
Several stared openly. One of them even called a superior. Yet after verifying the documents Commander One had provided, they ultimately allowed me through.
I had the feeling her influence had smoothed over many potential complications.
The second checkpoint was stranger.
Instead of paperwork, travelers walked through a corridor made entirely from condensed soul force. The walls shifted continuously while ancient runes moved beneath the surface.
The corridor seemed designed to identify individuals disguising themselves as someone else.
Fortunately, I had never lied about my identity.
The corridor remained silent.
A few minutes later I emerged into the main transit sector. The sight waiting beyond nearly made me stop walking.
Massive tunnels stretched throughout the Crossroads. Rotating passageways suspended through open space. Each one resembled an enormous cylinder composed of moving platforms, bridges, and transit routes. The walls rotated slowly around a central axis while countless travelers moved through them.
The engineering involved was absurd. And somewhere inside that chaos was my contact. Finding him turned out to be easier than expected. A giant figure stood near one of the transit gates holding a sign.
An actual sign.
The moment I saw the words "Living Human" written across it, I knew I had found the correct person.
The figure holding it was enormous.
Nearly three meters tall.
Broad shoulders.
Dark fur.
Massive horns.
The body of a Minotaur mixed with distinctly Feran features.
His soul carried a faint bronze glow and despite his intimidating appearance, there was something strangely friendly about him. The moment his eyes landed on me, surprise spread across his face.
"Well I’ll be damned."
I stopped in front of him.
"That happens often?"
The giant blinked.
Then laughed.
"No. Seeing living people in the Null Realm never happens."
His gaze swept across me.
"You’re really alive."
"So I’ve been told."
The Minotaur continued studying me for several seconds.
Then he extended a hand.
"Morrow."
I shook it.
"Billion."
Morrow folded the sign and tucked it away.
"Come on. We need to move."
Then he stepped toward one of the rotating transit tunnels.
I followed.
The interior was even stranger than it appeared from outside.
Platforms moved continuously along the walls while streams of soul force carried travelers between different levels. Entire sections rotated independently, creating the impression that gravity itself had become confused. Morrow navigated through it effortlessly.
Clearly he had done this many times before.
As we traveled, I glanced toward him.
"Where were you from?"
The question seemed to catch him off guard.
"Before I died?"
"Yeah."
A nostalgic smile appeared on his face.
"Varken Galaxy."
I frowned.
Never heard of it.
Morrow noticed immediately.
"Not surprising. Most people haven’t."
He looked ahead while speaking.
"It was a small galaxy near the outer regions of the Prime Universe. Nothing special. Lots of mining colonies. Lots of trade stations. Too much dust."
His smile widened slightly.
"And terrible politicians."
I chuckled.
"What was your planet like?"
The giant remained quiet for a moment. Long enough that I wondered if I had asked something personal.
Eventually he answered.
"Beautiful."
The word came out softly.
"Two moons. Purple oceans. Mountains so tall they disappeared into the clouds."
His gaze drifted toward the rotating structures surrounding us.
"It’s been centuries since I died, but I still remember the smell after the rain."
"And now you’re smuggling people."
Morrow laughed.
"Life takes strange turns."
"Death too apparently."
That earned another laugh.
Eventually his expression became more thoughtful.
"Can I ask something?"
"Sure."
He glanced toward me.
"Why do you want inside the Prime Territory?"
I had expected that question.
"Work."
The giant groaned immediately.
"That’s the answer everyone gives."
"Because it’s true."
"Usually it isn’t."
He shook his head.
"You know that’s one of the most heavily monitored regions in the Null Realm, right? The Eternals practically own it."
"Apparently."
After several more minutes traveling through the rotating tunnels, another question surfaced.
"Where can I find humans once we’re inside?"
Morrow looked surprised.
"Humans?"
"Yes."
The giant nodded slowly.
"Actually that’s easy."
He raised two fingers.
"There are two major human clusters inside the Prime Territory."
"Only two?"
"Yes, only two. Both of them are in different regions. We have 7 regions and the 3rd and 5th region have humans."