Chapter 329: "Warning, Warning, Warning!" |
"Are you going?"
The young man looked outside the shop at Zhang Yiren's retreating back, then lowered his head to look at the dwarf man.
"Yes, of course I'm going."
The dwarf man nodded firmly. "This will probably be one of the few things in my life worth being proud of, a story I can pass down to my children. I definitely have to go."
"You're still planning on having kids?"
"Of course I am. The only reason I didn't want them before was because I was afraid of passing on my dwarfism, forcing my child to suffer alongside me."
"And now?"
"Now, spending a little money solves the problem. It's very simple."
"That's true."
While the Stellar Train was out waging war.
The internal ecosystem of the Human Civilization was gradually recovering. The overall market environment was thriving, with various commercial shops springing up like mushrooms after the rain.
Many of the goods produced by the Human Civilization would be highly sought after on Xuanwu Star.
Although the Xuanwu Civilization had previously joined the Kasa Civilization Federation, the ordinary people at the bottom couldn't feel the outside changes. This time, it was a complete merging of civilizations. Everyone was now part of the Human Civilization, resulting in an entirely blank, brand-new market.
With such a massive consumer market.
Doing almost anything could make you money.
For the common people, this was the best of times. As long as one wasn't lazy, it was impossible to stay poor. With just a little daring and effort, one could essentially build wealth to last for three generations, ensuring their children would never lack food or clothing.
In this environment, consumer sentiment in the market was incredibly high.
The Stellar Train hadn't introduced any policies to stimulate spending, yet people were still consuming vigorously. The biggest factor allowing citizens to spend with confidence was having a positive expectation of their future income. Subsidies and other measures could only provide a temporary boost; they didn't solve the root issue.
At present, the organizational structure of the Human Civilization was still rather vague.
The highest level of authority.
The Stellar Train.
Any command issued from the Stellar Train was designated as a primary directive and had to be resolutely implemented.
Beyond that.
The subordinate governing bodies were much more numerous, such as the municipal governments of various cities or the major sects on Xuanwu Star. Many gaps in the power structure were still being slowly filled.
Chen Mang had rebuilt the Human Civilization, but he had only established the framework. The more detailed aspects needed to be gradually fleshed out. This would take a tremendous amount of time; it wasn't something that could be completed in just a year or two.
"This is good."
Standing alone without any escorts, Chen Mang gazed out the floor-to-ceiling windows on the top floor of a high-rise building in Taiping City. Overlooking the city below, a smile touched his lips, and his heart was filled with satisfaction and tranquility.
This—
Was the territory he had conquered.
The poor shouldn't easily venture to high places; that was the beginning of disaster.
When a person stood at a high vantage point, the ambition suppressed by everyday life would burn like a bone-consuming wildfire. Desires would surge, dissatisfaction with the status quo would grow, and the urge to risk it all would take over.
And this often meant one's life had entered a Schrödinger's state.
They might soar to the heavens.
Or they might crash and never recover.
He liked coming here to look at Taiping City when he had nothing else to do. Taiping City was the first city he had visited after his transmigration. It was where the dream began, carrying a wealth of his memories.
Perhaps he was just getting older.
He would always catch himself reminiscing about the past from time to time.
There was no specific purpose behind it.
He just watched quietly, not interfering with anything, letting it all grow wildly on its own.
Just as he used to enjoy silently watching his train on the Barren Plains, he now watched the city before him, seeing how it had been rebuilt step by step from a state of ruin to its current glory.
In the distance of the city.
A suspended hovercar tunnel was under feverish construction in mid-air.
This was not technology that Water Blue Star possessed.
This was technology scavenged from Gemini Star after its capture. The future of this planet was slowly being changed by his very hands.
The universe was vast.
So vast that no one could possibly see its edge in a single lifetime.
But—
So what? As long as he had this piece of the world he built for himself in the universe, this life was enough.
The numbers in the universe were simply too massive. The Ore Star that Keke and her backpacker train had traveled to was only a single-digit number of light-years away—just 2.42 light-years, not tens of thousands. Yet, even for such a small number, it took them 12,800 years to make a round trip.
By the time they returned, everything had changed, and there were no longer any traces of the Niya Civilization in the universe.
These numbers always gave a profound sense of emptiness. Human lifespans were far too insignificant in the face of the universe, smaller than even a speck of dust. But here in Taiping City, he could feel a grounded sense of reality.
It was a feeling...
A feeling called peace of mind.
...
Chen Mang stood there silently gazing for a long time before turning and walking into the Refrigerator behind him to leave. There was still business to attend to. This beauty required sufficient strength to protect it; otherwise, it would be nothing more than a fleeting illusion, soon to be shattered.
The more beautiful something was, the easier it was to destroy.
Returning to the train's control room, Chen Mang looked at the images on the Doppler Radar. The Zerg Civilization was still probing, showing no intention of sounding the horn for a general offensive. It looked as if they were waiting for something.
Yes.
Waiting.
At first, he thought the Zerg Civilization was simply unaware that the Kasa Civilization had already fled and were making tentative advances. Now, it seemed that wasn't the case. He wasn't sure if the enemy knew the news, but it appeared they were also waiting for something to be completely perfected before launching their all-out attack.
Good.
Just as he wanted.
He was waiting too. He also needed time. He just didn't know whose trump card would end up being stronger.
It would still take a certain amount of time to completely mine all those Ore Stars.
However—
He glanced at the console screen, shrank the train into a brooch pinned to his clothes, and let himself drift in the cosmos before plummeting into the Refrigerator below. In the blink of an eye, he appeared in another sector of the universe.
He had no idea how far this place was from the ruins of the Kasa Civilization Federation.
He didn't even know which direction it was in.
This was a different region of the universe, the exact place where the Kasa Civilization had fled.
Quickly!
The Stellaris Train once again transformed back. Chen Mang sat back in his chair, his expression calm as he whispered, "I'm back."
He hadn't forgotten that he hadn't finished looting the Kasa Civilization's resources. He had only robbed one planet; there were still many more to go.
When he left last time.
He had dropped a few Refrigerators into space. So far, not a single one had been destroyed; they were all in perfect condition. Although they were constantly drifting through the cosmos and not actually on the Kasa Civilization's planets, it didn't matter. His Doppler Radar had a detection range of a full 100,000 light-years. There was no way the Kasa Civilization could escape him.
Immediately.
The Doppler Radar began operating at full capacity. Civilizations, energy fluctuations, and other anomalies in the entire region appeared on the screen.
The next moment—
"Warning, Warning, Warning!!!"
An incredibly piercing alarm suddenly blared inside the train. This was a commotion the train hadn't made in a very long time!
Looking at the scene on the radar screen, Chen Mang's breathing almost instantly stopped, a flash of horror appearing deep in his eyes.
There was absolutely no trace of the Kasa Civilization anywhere nearby.
The Kasa Civilization had vanished.
Or rather, there was a high probability they had been annihilated!
Instead, a massive red dot was firmly pinned on the Doppler Radar screen. Another monitor displayed a real-time visual of this dot. It was a Star Behemoth, unimaginably colossal, with a body length of a full 2.5 light-years!
2.5 light-years!
This was a distance that took Keke 12,800 years to travel back and forth across!
And this Star Behemoth's body length alone reached that figure. It was a gigantic anomaly entirely unacceptable to the laws of physics. At this moment, the Star Behemoth seemed to sense that it was being scanned.
It was charging toward the Stellar Train, looking furious and ferocious.
It was 7.1 light-years away from the Stellar Train.
At this distance.
Normally, he wouldn't have had to worry at all. Generally speaking, Star Behemoths didn't create wormholes. Even if it just slowly flew over, he could stay parked here for a hundred years and the creature still wouldn't be able to catch him.
But...
Right now, the warning alarms inside the train were shrieking urgently.
Estimated time of arrival: 7,289 seconds, 7,288 seconds, 7,287 seconds...
This speed vastly exceeded the speed of light!
The laws of the universe were being shattered in this very moment.
On the screen.
This Star Behemoth, approximately 24 trillion kilometers long, was sprinting through the cosmos at near light-speed. Its neural signals reached every corner of its body at speeds far exceeding the speed of light.
Just its sheer momentum alone triggered a series of absurdly catastrophic phenomena.
Its gravity almost instantly tore apart the surrounding celestial systems.
Countless stars and planets were ripped to shreds and caught in its gravitational pull, forming a debris field around the behemoth that acted like defensive armor. Furthermore, such colossal mass moving at such extreme velocity caused space-time to warp violently.
This wasn't just some Star Behemoth!
It was a mobile, galaxy-level natural disaster!
If this behemoth appeared in any galaxy, it would spell the absolute apocalypse for that star system.
As it advanced.
The behemoth's extreme mass and near-light-speed velocity caused severe local space-time distortions, forming massive, instantaneous wormholes. These consecutive wormholes allowed the beast to close in on the Stellar Train at a terrifying speed!
"Lovely."
Chen Mang said blankly. Then, without a moment's hesitation and before the shockwave could reach him, he immediately shrank the train and ducked back into the Refrigerator. There was absolutely no need to wait for the countdown to finish.
This Star Behemoth didn't even need to use physical attacks. Just by continuing its sprint, the horrific crises it triggered were enough to annihilate him in an instant.
Having returned to the 27th Galaxy.
Chen Mang sat in his chair and let out a long breath. He lit three cigarettes and stuck them into a nearby flower pot, as a tribute to the Kasa Civilization and an offering for the fortune in resources he just lost.
The Kasa Civilization was completely finished.
That was an incredibly tyrannical Star Behemoth.
It seemed that the moment it detected it was being scanned, it flew into a rage and would destroy the source at all costs.
Level: Unknown.
The Doppler Radar couldn't detect the Star Behemoth's level. He finally understood how Star Behemoths managed to dominate the universe. Many civilizations had records of Star Behemoths in their histories, and even the history of the Niya Civilization documented their terrors.
He had witnessed Xiao Lu's terrifying power with his own eyes.
But he had always held a lingering doubt.
The universe was so unimaginably vast that without wormholes, a distance of one light-year was like an uncrossable chasm. How could a Star Behemoth possibly threaten an entire galaxy?
Now he knew.
The principle behind humans creating wormholes was simple: liken the universe to a blank piece of paper. Fold the paper, poke a hole through it with a pencil, and then unfold it. Those two holes would be the entrance and exit of the wormhole.
This was the method used by the Zerg Civilization and most other civilizations to create wormholes.
A head and a tail.
Corresponding to each other.
Relying on wormholes, they set out to conquer the universe.
But the way a Star Behemoth traveled through the universe was quite different. Through its massive mass and terrifying near-light-speed velocity, it instantly shattered local space-time.
It was equivalent to taking a flat piece of paper and instantly crumpling it into corrugated waves, like the structure of roof tiles. Then, relying on its immense mass, it would crash straight through, achieving the effect of creating a wormhole—something akin to a warp bubble.
These wormholes would dissipate instantly, but they lasted just long enough for the Star Behemoth to pass through.
This method of advancement was a devastating blow to the local universe. Any planets along its path would be utterly annihilated, and the resulting bursts of radiation would destroy entire star systems in its wake.
"Truly terrifying."
Chen Mang sighed deeply, gently rubbing his temples. When did that Star Behemoth wander into that sector? It wasn't on the radar the last time he visited. Also, wasn't this guy a little too ill-tempered? It only got scanned by a radar, right?
He hadn't even done anything yet!
He wasn't even allowed to look at it?
In the records of the Niya Civilization, he had read about the laws of survival in the universe. The first law was...
The first law of cosmic survival: To observe is to show the greatest malice.
This was the first time he had so viscerally felt the true meaning of that phrase.
"Wait!"
His eyes suddenly narrowed as he looked at the playback on the Doppler Radar screen. "Xiao Ai, zoom out the image. Keep zooming out."
After zooming out to a certain degree.
He spoke hesitantly.
"Do you think... he looks a bit like Xiao Lu?"
"The similarity is at 67%." Xiao Ai's voice echoed in the control room. On a side screen, full-body images of the Star Behemoth and Xiao Lu appeared, with countless white dots connecting into lines to perform a rough comparison.
"Are they the same species? Is it also a Star Devouring Beast?"
"The radar screen doesn't display any data on this Star Behemoth. However, there's a high probability it doesn't devour stars. With its method of movement, all planets are completely destroyed before they even reach its mouth. It would never get to eat a single star in its life and would end up starving to death."
"Plus, there are definite differences."
"In fact, the differences might be quite significant."
"Based on the data the train has collected, this behemoth charges with its mouth wide open. The space-time around its mouth is completely warped, forming bizarre vortexes of light. Furthermore, parts of its surface glow like veins of magma. These traits suggest that there is a black hole inside this Star Behemoth's body, and a rather large one at that."
"This black hole is very likely responsible for its energy supply. Otherwise, the energy consumed by this Star Behemoth's instantaneous outbursts while sprinting would be astronomically immense. If converted to iron ore, it would cost at least tens of quadrillions of units."
"I didn't spot any other anatomical features responsible for energy production. It has to be that black hole."
"Normally speaking..."
"I say 'normally' because the universe is just too bizarre. Normally speaking, a living creature wouldn't have a black hole in its stomach, nor should it be able to organically grow one. I suspect that this Star Behemoth might be a strategic-level weapon modified by some advanced civilization."
"And its prototype was likely a Star Devouring Beast."
...
Chen Mang's eyes narrowed slightly. He remained silent in deep thought. That explanation made sense.
Xiao Lu was a Star Devouring Beast with S-Rank Potential.
Such a Star Behemoth would reach level 180 upon maturity. If it hadn't appeared on the Stellar Train and instead grew freely in the cosmos, assuming no accidents, there was a good chance it could reach level 200 or even 220.
But growing to a higher level than that would be highly unlikely.
To attain a higher level, it would have to rely on external forces.
For instance...
The Behemoth Carriage of the Stellar Train, or perhaps like this Star Behemoth that had been modded into an absolute abomination.
Compared to Xiao Lu, aside from superficial resemblances, there were no real similarities.
Just then—
He looked at the console screen. It showed that the Refrigerator he had left in that sector of the universe had been completely destroyed. This meant he no longer had any means of traveling to that region. Regardless of whether the Kasa Civilization had been entirely wiped out, they had absolutely nothing to do with him anymore.
A third-level civilization, the Kasa Civilization.
After managing to evade the Zerg Civilization, they perished in the cosmos in such an inconspicuous manner.
Hardly anyone even knew about it.
As a third-level civilization, they had been the most powerful entity in this sector of the Dead End Star System. Yet, after leaving the Dead End Star System, they were squashed as easily as a bug by the side of the road.
Rewind to a few days ago.
After fleeing back to their homeland and losing Gemini Star to Chen Mang, the Kasa Civilization leaders ordered that all Murphy Stones be pooled together to prioritize upgrading the Doppler Radar to level 200.
The previous loss of Gemini Star.
Had made the leaders of the Kasa Civilization profoundly aware of the importance of radar level.
Even if this component consumed far more Murphy Stones than any other prismatic component.
It still had to be upgraded.
They couldn't afford to suffer the same loss twice.
Soon after, under an official decree, the Kasa Civilization finally pushed the Doppler Radar to level 200. This was a crucial milestone. Before the radar was activated for the first time, the leaders of the Kasa Civilization even convened a special summit, preparing to turn on the Doppler Radar for the first time with everyone as witnesses.
The level 200 Overlimit Effect of the Doppler Radar allowed it to see through stealth and display all major energy fluctuations within a 100,000 light-year radius, providing visual footage of them as well.
This filled countless people with extreme elation!
100,000 light-years!
This meant that in all future wars, they would possess the absolute initiative!
They would be able to gather far more intelligence.
Finally...
With the high-ranking officials of the Kasa Civilization gathered together as witnesses, they activated the Doppler Radar for the very first time. Shortly after, all the star systems within a 100,000 light-year radius appeared on the massive screen suspended high in the conference room!
This triggered cheers from countless individuals.
The Kasa Civilization had originated in this barren, resource-poor region. After years of hard work, they had finally fought their way into a resource-rich sector. Although they had fled back here in defeat, they believed that it wouldn't be long before they fought their way back again!
However—
When everything appeared on the screen.
The leader of the Kasa Civilization stood frozen in bewilderment. The screen showed that the number of planets and stars within 100,000 light-years was incredibly sparse. There were practically no civilizations, and the number of Ore Stars was also abysmally low.
This was a resource-poor region to begin with; he knew that.
But... he recalled that there used to be a decent number of civilizations here. Why were there so few left now?
Then, very quickly, a red dot was detected a few light-years away. A colossal Star Behemoth was leisurely drifting through space, looking as if it had just eaten its fill. But the very next moment, as if sensing the scan, its expression turned furious, and it charged straight toward the Kasa Civilization!
With a body spanning a full 2.5 light-years in length and sprinting at near light-speed, it tore through the cosmos, shredding everything in its path!
At the same time—
A blaring alert instantly echoed throughout the entire conference room, as well as on every single train of the Kasa Civilization!
"Warning, Warning, Warning!"
Everyone's expression changed drastically, but there was absolutely nothing they could do. This was a galaxy-level natural disaster that their civilization had zero chance of resisting!
Their galactic wormhole network could not be used again for a short time.
...
Inside the Stellar Train, Chen Mang leaned back in his chair and looked at the screen. Although he hadn't seen the Kasa Civilization's demise with his own eyes, he could vaguely guess what happened. Furthermore, he felt his guess was probably quite close to reality.
That unknown Star Behemoth was the main culprit.
Prior to this.
He knew the Kasa Civilization hadn't possessed a level 200 Doppler Radar. It was highly likely that his sudden appearance had made them realize the importance of the radar's level. After upgrading it at all costs, it just so happened that the Star Behemoth was wandering within their detection range.
And so, disaster struck.
The second law of cosmic survival: The light of a feeble candle must not attempt to measure the dark heavens.
A higher radar level wasn't necessarily always better.
If he were to possess a level 5000 radar right now, what awaited him would likely be instant annihilation—a higher-dimensional civilization or entity would simply crush him in a dimensional strike. However, having a radar level that was too low was unacceptable too, as he wouldn't be able to spot anomalous attacks in time. There was a delicate balance that one had to carefully manage.
However...
He figured the Kasa Civilization might not have been entirely wiped out. After all, they had the means to escape via galactic wormholes. Even if they couldn't evacuate everyone like they did last time, surely a monster of that size couldn't attack instantly, right?
Shouldn't it require some sort of wind-up time?
Just then—
Xiao Ai's voice echoed in the train. "Captain, after running a recalculation just now, I found some inconsistencies. This information might be somewhat helpful to you."
"Go ahead."
Chen Mang raised an eyebrow, listening patiently.
"The first time we traveled to that sector and arrived at Gemini Star, the Star Behemoth was nowhere to be found within our radar's detection range."
"After returning from Gemini Star, we spent seven days collecting the remaining Ore Stars from the Kasa Civilization, and another three days organizing the history of the Niya Civilization. It took a little over ten days in total."
"During our encounter with the Star Behemoth just now, it was 7.1 light-years away, and the train's warning estimated its arrival in 7,289 seconds."
"This is an insanely fast speed."
"It would only take a little over two hours to cross 7.1 light-years."
"That is equivalent to 30,700 times the speed of light. Of course, this doesn't mean the Star Behemoth's actual velocity is that fast; it achieves this by relying on its mass and speed to destroy and warp local space."
"But—"
"Even so, if the Kasa Civilization had upgraded their radar to level 200 and the Star Behemoth just happened to appear within a 100,000 light-year radius, it would take the behemoth 3.26 years to cross 100,000 light-years to reach them at that speed."
"Yet, only ten days later, when we returned to that sector, the Star Behemoth was already there, and the Kasa Civilization had vanished."
"This means the Star Behemoth didn't charge all the way from the edge of the 100,000 light-year radius to find the Kasa Civilization. It's far more likely that it was directly dropped right on top of their heads."
"Like dropping a bomb."
...
Chen Mang remained silent, his eyes narrowing slightly as he said nothing. He didn't actually have a concrete grasp of how far 100,000 light-years was. A person only truly understood a distance if they had walked it themselves.
He understood 100 meters, because he had run the 100-meter dash.
He understood 1,000 meters, because he had run the 1,000-meter race.
But he certainly had no concrete concept of 100,000 light-years. He hadn't even thought about it in those terms just now. Xiao Ai, however, only looked at the numbers. For an AI, data was the most direct representation of reality. Once the data was cross-checked, many contradictions immediately became apparent.
This meant—
The Kasa Civilization had gone from being mere victims of bad luck to a civilization that was premeditatedly murdered.
To him, these were two completely different pieces of information.
After a long time, he let out a soft sigh and glanced at the mining progress on the train's screen. Another advanced civilization had popped out of god knows where, hadn't they?
Right now, he only had one thought!
Mine faster!
Hurry up and acquire the methods only advanced civilizations possess!
Otherwise, he had absolutely zero sense of security.
These advanced civilizations were like total psychopaths, tossing bombs around the universe all day. Who knew if one might get dropped on his head someday?
When he upgraded the Spider Legs to level 500, he thought he was invincible. He could hide in a pseudo-four-dimensional space and launch attacks on his enemies. Even if he wasn't invincible in the whole universe, at least no one could threaten him, right?
But now, he felt...
He had viewed the word "invincible" a little too simply.
Just then—
Xiao Ai's voice rang out again.
"Captain, the Pavilion Master of the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion requests an audience."
Chen Mang adjusted his clothes and his mood, sat back in his chair, and said softly, "Let him in."
Soon after.
The Pavilion Master of the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion pushed the door open alone. He walked up behind Chen Mang, respectfully lowered his head, and greeted, "Master Mang."
"Mm."
Chen Mang swiveled his chair to look at the Pavilion Master, gesturing for him to sit. He smiled and asked, "How is it? Have the recent exchanges between Xuanwu Star and Water Blue Star been harmonious?"
"Everything is wonderful."
The Pavilion Master nodded with a face full of gratitude. After exchanging a few pleasantries, he finally spoke up with a hint of hesitation, "Master Mang, I've had a thought recently that might help the Human Civilization develop even better."
"Xuanwu Star once had Immortals."
"They possessed the power to split the heavens and cleave the earth."
"However, we've been suppressed by the Kasa Civilization for so many years that the Blessed Land of Immortals was completely slaughtered. I was wondering if the Human Civilization could allocate a portion of resources to rebuild the Blessed Land of Immortals. This would allow a fraction of cultivators to ascend and become Immortals, thereby enhancing the overall strength of the Human Civilization and adding to our high-end combat power."
"That sounds interesting. Explain specifically what you mean by 'the power to split the heavens and cleave the earth.' Be straightforward; don't use enigmatic terminology."
"Understood."
The Pavilion Master nodded with a serious expression and said in a deep voice, "Currently, the highest cultivation level on Xuanwu Star is the Nascent Soul stage. If one's cultivation reaches the Soul Formation stage, they can move freely through the cosmos without relying on any external force."
"If they reach the Tribulation Transcendence or Mahayana stages, they can soar through the universe endlessly and even travel to other planets."
"But once their cultivation reaches the Human Immortal or Earth Immortal stage, they can easily destroy a planet with a casual wave of their hand."
"A Celestial Immortal can fold space with their physical body, traversing a distance of a few light-years with just a snap of their fingers."
"A True Immortal, striking with full force, can instantly reach dozens of light-years away."
"A Golden Immortal can eradicate all living beings within a radius of hundreds of light-years with but a single thought."
"And if one can cultivate to become an Immortal Emperor, securing the throne of an Immortal Emperor and truly achieving the Dao, they will grasp the laws of the universe. As long as the universe exists, their physical body will remain immortal. They will transcend karma and stand above the River of Time."
"That sounds pretty good."
Chen Mang nodded with a light smile. "Once their cultivation reaches the True Immortal stage, they can eradicate all living beings within a radius of hundreds of light-years with a single thought. This stuff sounds like a civilization-tier ultimate weapon."
"Good."
"Tell me how many resources and how much time is needed to accomplish this."
"Er..."
The Pavilion Master said softly, somewhat embarrassed, "This is mainly a matter of destiny. The most powerful individual recorded in Xuanwu Star's history was a Celestial Immortal; a True Immortal has never appeared. The realms above that are conclusions drawn from exchanges between past Xuanwu Immortals and Immortals from other cultivation civilizations."
"The most powerful Celestial Immortal in our history was named 'Xuanwu True Immortal'."
"Xuanwu Star was named after him."
"He possessed the best talent on Xuanwu Star. It took him over 5,000 years to successfully attain the position of a Celestial Immortal. The amount of resources consumed to reach that stage is unknown; no one knows. If one wished to reach the True Immortal stage, assuming their talent was as peerless as his and they were provided with massive amounts of resources, 7,000 years should be enough."
"Mm."
Chen Mang nodded calmly. "In other words, with a massive supply of resources, 7,000 years is enough, right?"
"Not exactly..."
The Pavilion Master's voice grew weaker and weaker. "Fostering someone like that isn't as simple as just finding them and raising them. We first need to improve the cultivation environment of Xuanwu Star. Furthermore, a genius of that caliber only appears once in ten thousand years."
"Factoring in all the odds and ends..."
"It would conservatively take 100,000 years to produce one."
"Lovely."
Chen Mang replayed the footage of the Star Behemoth they had just encountered on the screen. "Suppose someone actually cultivated to the True Immortal stage. Do you think they could defeat this Star Behemoth?"
"This..." Looking at the terrifying scene on the screen, the Pavilion Master felt his scalp go numb and his eyelids twitch. "Perhaps... perhaps they would be able to put up a fight?"
"That's enough."
With a faint sigh, Chen Mang stood up, walked over to the Pavilion Master, and patted his shoulder. "I remember the favor you did me by giving me that batch of resources, but you can forget about this idea."
"Times have changed."
"Your cultivation civilization is no longer the mainstream civilization format of the universe."
"Admittedly, if someone managed to cultivate to become an Immortal Emperor, they would still be among the absolute elite. Going solely off your description, I think they wouldn't have any problem crushing a sixth-level civilization. They might even rival the strength of a god-tier civilization."
"But—"
"How exactly are you supposed to cultivate to that point?"
"In the universe, time is the most worthless thing, yet it is also the most precious. A hundred thousand years is simply too long; I probably won't even live to see it. In a train civilization, as long as I expend enough resources, I get immediate feedback."
"But in a cultivation civilization, everything relies too much on destiny."
"Unless..."
"Unless you can actually find me a peerless genius. If you do, I wouldn't mind finding a way to create a Time Fissure for him, just to see if we can try to shorten his cultivation time."
"But this genius's cultivation speed must be many times faster than that Xuanwu True Immortal's."
"You may go."
Chen Mang watched the back of the Pavilion Master, his expression remaining perfectly calm without another word. His words had actually just been to comfort the man. The core reason was that he wasn't really willing to let such an overwhelmingly powerful individual combatant exist within the Human Civilization.
If that happened.
He would feel like a knife was pointed at his back.
Once the Zerg Civilization was dealt with, he planned to go to the ruins of the Mechanical Civilization and thoroughly excavate it. Although the Mechanical Civilization suffered from intense internal conflicts, under the pressure of those exact conflicts, both sides had pushed to suppress the other, thereby giving birth to a great deal of brilliant technology.
For instance...
The Time Fissure.
Through his experiences on Water Blue Star, he learned that the Mechanical Civilization was capable of actively creating Time Fissures. Before that, Time Fissures would only appear out of thin air by pure chance. This piece of technology was actually borderline manipulating the River of Time.
If not for the Zerg Civilization, perhaps the Mechanical Civilization could have one day advanced into a fourth-level civilization.
But he had to admit.
An Immortal Emperor certainly sounded incredibly powerful.
He might encounter many civilizations in the future. It was possible that in some corner of the universe, there was a cultivation civilization hiding in a high-level, uncharted resource zone, continuously developing. If someone actually managed to cultivate into an Immortal Emperor, then that cultivation civilization would definitely rank among the top-tier civilizations.
Creatures in the deep sea often came in all shapes and sizes.
There were many theories behind this.
One theory was that because it was pitch-black in the deep sea and no one could see anyone else anyway, it didn't matter what they looked like. They just evolved haphazardly.
He increasingly felt that the universe was also a massive black box.
Various civilizations and beings were evolving and developing haphazardly within it. In this kind of environment, all sorts of bizarre things would inevitably pop up. Perhaps a long time ago, cultivation civilizations really were the mainstream civilization format of the universe.
Who could say for sure?
Just then—
Xiao Ai's voice rang out inside the train again.
"Captain, there's been an incident at the Cyber Mine. You might need to head over there."
"Oh?"
Chen Mang frowned slightly. It had been a long time since any issues had cropped up over there; things had been progressing smoothly. What could have happened now? He immediately stood up and strode out of the control room.
Ever since they had been promoted to a first-level civilization, the maximum limit of Dream Stones the civilization could store had increased. The Cyber Mine had been expanded once again, and its current daily mining output was extraordinarily impressive.
Of course, it still couldn't compare to the extraction volume of those Ore Stars.
But the Ore Stars weren't a daily guarantee, whereas the Cyber Mine provided a stable daily yield.
The word 'stable' alone meant a great deal.
Quickly—
Chen Mang arrived at the Cyber Mine. One of the cyber miners was recounting what had just happened to Lao Zhu.
"Master Mang."
Seeing Chen Mang approach, Lao Zhu hurried over and explained, "Just like last time, a miner encountered an armed robot while mining. Except this time, the armed robot didn't attack our miner; instead, it delivered a piece of paper."
"A piece of paper?"
"Yes. The miner has already drawn it out from memory. It's just... we can't understand what it means."
Chen Mang took the paper Lao Zhu handed him and looked at the chicken scratch on it. He frowned, staring at it for a long while without making heads or tails of it. Lines were jumbled together; it hardly looked like text. If he had to say, it felt more like Arabic.
"It might be Cosmic Language. Xiao Ai, take this and ask Keke to see what it means."
"Right away."
The sensor in the eye socket of Xiao Ai, who was standing to the side, flashed a faint red light. She quickly scanned all the information on the paper. A few seconds later, she spoke again. "Keke confirms this is indeed Cosmic Language. The specific meaning is..."
"'Dad, you're my literal biological dad. I'm begging you, okay? Could you please go to another mine? I have elderly to care for and kids to feed. It wasn't easy contracting this mine. You come in here every day like it's your 9-to-5 job and dig out a Level 9 Ore. What exactly are you trying to do?'"
"'You never even take that much each time, just one single piece. You really aren't greedy, sir, but you can't keep coming every day like you're punching in for work! Seriously, I'm begging you, give me a way out. If you have any demands, just name them. I'll fulfill whatever I can, alright?'"
...
Chen Mang had a rather odd expression as he looked at the translated message on the tablet Xiao Ai handed him. He had to admit, Cosmic Language was incredibly concise. Just a few random strokes could convey that much information?
"Xiao Ai, pull up this miner's mining records from the past few days."
"Done."
Very soon, the miner's records appeared on the screen.
For the past fourteen days, he had dug up one Level 9 Iron Ore every single day. This mining rate was completely off the charts; it was even a little abnormal. Generally speaking, a cyber miner digging up one piece every ten to fifteen days was considered normal.
This guy...
He tilted his head toward the visibly anxious miner standing nearby and asked, "After you entered the dream these past few days, have you been going to the same mine?"
"Well..."
The miner answered cautiously, "To answer Master Mang, I don't feel like there's been any difference from before. Aren't the mines in the dreams all created by Boss Ai?"
"I didn't do a thing."
Xiao Ai, standing on the side, immediately threw her hands up and explained. "It's exactly the same as before. The process hasn't changed at all. It's highly likely that the real-world mine corresponding to this cyber mine shares some sort of connection with this miner."
"Like quantum entanglement, it brings this miner to that specific mine every single time. And under this deep connection, it allows him to bring out one iron ore every trip."
"According to the Pavilion Master of the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion, this is all destiny."
"His destiny has arrived."
...
Chen Mang pondered for a long time before looking up at the miner in front of him. "Do you have parents?"
"No. I've lived in an orphanage since I was a kid. I was abandoned; I've never met my parents," the miner answered carefully.
Chen Mang's expression gradually grew stranger.
This guy...
Could he be some illegitimate child stranded in the universe, or perhaps a transmigrator?
Was the contractor of that mine actually his dad?
Otherwise, why would two completely unrelated people have such a deep connection spanning across the universe?