Chapter 336: The Great Battlefield? |
"We have researched it."
The chubby young man nodded with a serious expression. "I suppose every civilization that isn't immortal conducts some degree of research on 'death'. And once you study death, the final destination almost always leads to religion."
"So far, no concrete results have been produced."
"We still don't know where we go after we die."
"What kind of entertainment activities do you have within your civilization?"
"That... well, there's quite a lot. For example, organic movies, organic novels, and so on..."
"Organic movies, organic novels?"
"Yeah, organic movies are films shot with real people, and the same goes for organic novels. The opposite would be those generated by AI. AI-generated content is incredibly cheap and meant for the general public to enjoy, while the prices for organic movies and novels are always a bit higher."
"Besides that, there are organic celebrities and the like. AI can create highly charismatic virtual figures to attract fans' adoration and money. Entertainment companies nowadays are far more inclined to cultivate virtual idols."
"For instance—"
The chubby young man tapped on his tablet a few times and brought up a bird's-eye view of a city. "Once, two entertainment companies teamed up with the mayor of this city to launch a competition across the entire net."
"The winning company's flagship virtual idol would appear in every corner of this city for an entire month."
"For example, on street signs, external screens of high-rises, the ground, tunnel entrances, high-altitude holographic projections, and so on."
"In the industry, this is called a city-wide collaboration."
"This competition lasted a full month. Rumor has it that the total amount of donations reached an astronomical figure. Fans on both sides fought bitterly, but from what I know, the boss of both companies was exactly the same person."
"They made an absolute fortune."
"My father painstakingly formed an exploration team to search the corners of the universe for the ruins of fallen civilizations, bringing relics back to the Naomi Civilization to sell just to earn some hard-earned money. But those people can rake in seas of cash just through a few virtual figures."
"This society isn't fair in the slightest."
The young man muttered indignantly, "I still have to guard the Ore Star and diligently mine ore, while they just sit in air-conditioned rooms and easily earn more money than I could make even if I hollowed out this entire planet."
"The government should raise the taxes on that industry to ninety percent."
"No, I think it should be at least ninety-nine percent."
"Only then would it be fair."
A long time later.
Chen Mang sat alone in the Stellar Train, gently rubbing his temples in silence. He had chatted with the chubby young man for a long time, exchanging a wealth of information, until the young man suddenly had something to do and hurriedly said goodbye, bringing their conversation to an end.
This encounter gave him a much deeper understanding of a Level 5 Civilization.
The only regret was...
The chubby young man did not hold a very high status within his civilization. Although he was a second-generation rich kid and had some avenues for information, it was obvious he hadn't delved deeply into the broader affairs of his civilization. Chen Mang had tried asking if he knew about things like a Universe Ge Lei.
The other party said he didn't know.
Thinking that different civilizations might have different names for the same thing, Chen Mang gave a rough explanation of a Universe Ge Lei's functions and the general forms it might take.
After pondering for a moment, the young man replied that he thought The Palace might be a Universe Ge Lei.
When it came to deeper secrets, the young man was completely clueless.
However, he was very knowledgeable about common sense and daily life.
This gave Chen Mang a good grasp of the living atmosphere within a Level 5 Civilization. Despite the massive elevation in overall technological prowess, the people's happiness index hadn't seen a significant rise. Granted, no one would starve to death, nor would anyone be forced to sleep on the streets.
The government provided free housing, free vehicles, free basic medical care, and free elderly care.
But—
Even so, the society's happiness index remained rather low.
Happiness stems from comparison.
When you see masses of people starving to death, masses draining the life savings of their entire extended family just to afford a house, or masses refusing to treat minor illnesses while being unable to afford treatments for major ones, enjoying such welfare would naturally make you feel happy.
Unfortunately...
The people of the Naomi Civilization only saw the high and mighty aristocrats squandering more resources than they could consume in a lifetime. The wages a commoner painstakingly earned over a thousand years couldn't even compare to a single bottle of wine casually opened by a noble during a meal.
Such a staggering wealth gap meant that even with perfectly adequate social welfare, happiness remained low.
Actually, the solution to this was quite simple.
Just don't let the people at the bottom see the disparity.
The leaders of the Naomi Civilization simply needed to keep the conspicuous consumption of the elites out of the public eye. Stop making a huge spectacle of it and consume in secret. But clearly, this was either very difficult to curb, or the people at the top simply didn't care.
'If it were me,'
'At a time like this, I would heavily broadcast news within the civilization about how other low-level civilizations frequently suffer from food shortages and mass starvation. That's how you boost the commoners' happiness.'
'It wouldn't matter even if the news was fake.'
'News is just a tool for public opinion; it doesn't necessarily need to pursue objective truth. It only needs to be politically correct.'
'A white lie is also correct.'
Time slowly flowed by.
In the blink of an eye...
A month had passed.
In the long river of the universe, a month was incredibly insignificant. However, within the Stellar Train, things were different. In this single month, nearly all the Ore Stars had been fully excavated. Massive amounts of resources flowed endlessly, stuffed into a Space Portal specifically created for storage.
The sheer volume of resources surged visibly every single day.
This—
Was also the final glory of the Kasa Civilization Federation's legacy.
"Sigh."
Sitting in the train, Chen Mang looked at the resource panel and let out a long sigh, his eyes full of worry. There were indeed a lot of resources, but the Dead End Star System's resources were pretty much exhausted. Even if he defeated the Zerg Civilization, there wouldn't be that many resources left in their territory.
He was already confined here.
This was the hard limit of his resources.
Next, he would have to go elsewhere.
Fortunately...
The Starlight Civilization was wandering around everywhere, tossing out a Refrigerator every time they visited a new place. Otherwise, wouldn't he be completely trapped here? If only he could find a truly high-density resource zone soon.
-
"2,997 trillion units of iron ore, 389 trillion units of wood, 1,360 trillion units of copper ore, 34.9 billion units of crimson heart rock, 47.97 billion units of titanium crystal ore."
-
That was everything.
These were all the resources mined from virtually every Ore Star available to the Stellar Train. It was likely to be the peak of the Stellar Train's resource wealth for at least the next few years.
It was time to start bulk upgrading.
But before bulk upgrading...
He looked once more at the promotion conditions for a Level 3 Civilization.
"The population of intelligent beings within the civilization must reach 1 billion; peak attack energy must exceed 20,000; must possess at least two planets; civilization warehouse resource reserves must exceed one quadrillion; must construct more than 10 permanent two-way Wormholes."
The total resources he currently had in reserve already far exceeded one quadrillion.
'I should upgrade the civilization first.'
'Otherwise, who knows how long it will take to stockpile this many resources next time.'
The next moment—
The Stellar Train found an area of stable space and created 10 permanent Wormholes, expending less than one billion units of iron ore.
The reason the cost was so cheap...
Was simply because the travel distance of these Wormholes was just a few kilometers—not even a fraction of a light-year. Naturally, the price was rock bottom.
They were essentially novelty Wormholes, completely devoid of any practical use.
If it was solely for leveling up the civilization, there was absolutely no need to build long-distance Wormholes. That would consume too many resources, and the Stellar Train temporarily couldn't afford such a massive drain.
With this!
The final two conditions for civilization promotion had been completely fulfilled.
As for the earlier conditions, they had been met long ago.
After all conditions were satisfied, manual confirmation wasn't even required.
A civilization broadcast quickly centered on the Stellar Train, morphing into a wave of light that rapidly shot out into the depths of the universe.
-
"Level 2 Civilization 'Human Civilization' has successfully promoted to a Level 3 Civilization."
-
This was the civilization broadcast issued every time a civilization ascended.
Its transmission speed was the speed of light.
In the vast expanse of the universe, there was basically no need to worry about this broadcast attracting enemies. By the time other highly aggressive civilizations received this broadcast, there was an eighty percent chance your civilization had already perished, or was on the brink of annihilation.
Ninety-nine percent of civilizations didn't even survive longer than their own broadcasts lingered in the cosmos.
This fact...
Could be inferred through the Level 200 Overlimit Effect of the Car Audio System. Within the Dead End Star System, the number of civilization broadcasts drifting through space far outnumbered the actual existing civilizations.
The ultimate fate of ninety-nine percent of civilizations was destruction.
This was an absolute truth that could not be altered by subjective willpower.
Very soon—
On the train's control console screen, a panel slowly surfaced. This was the civilization panel after ascending to Level 3.
-
"Civilization Name: Human Civilization."
"Civilization Level: Level 3."
"Civilization Leader: Chen Mang."
"Civilization Planets: Water Blue Star, Xuanwu Star, Mining Star No. 1, Mining Star No. 2, Mining Star No. 3, Mining Star No. 4... etc."
"Civilization Population: 5.7 billion."
"Promotion Conditions: Intelligent beings population must reach 1 billion; peak attack energy must exceed 50,000; must possess at least 10 planets."
"PS: Upgrading to a Level 2 Civilization and every subsequent promotion will release an Ascension Ripple detectable by all surrounding civilizations. The higher the level, the wider the area covered by the Ascension Ripple."
"Civilization Ability: Can acquire one random Civilization Tenet."
-
When a Level 1 Civilization promoted to Level 2, the Ascension Ripple's radius was 100,000 light-years.
And when a Level 2 Civilization promoted to Level 3, the Ascension Ripple spanned a massive 1,000,000 light-years.
Theoretically speaking.
Any civilization within a million light-years could receive the Human Civilization's Ascension Ripple.
Of course, that would be a million years from now.
However—
Right now, Chen Mang wasn't in the mood to consider any of that. His eyes were glued to a long string of options that had suddenly popped up on the civilization panel. These options were rapidly scrolling by, and right above them was a stationary needle.
Whichever option the needle landed on, the Human Civilization would acquire that random Civilization Tenet.
No one had ever told him about this before!
No one mentioned that upon promoting to a Level 3 Civilization, he would receive a random Civilization Tenet!
This Tenet would apply to the entire civilization!
Out in the universe, quite a few civilizations possessed their own unique Civilization Tenets. For instance, the Goblin Civilization and the Zerg Civilization. Only the Human Civilization had absolutely nothing, like the abandoned child of the universe. But now that they had reached Level 3, they too would gain one...
There were a massive number of options.
Although they were scrolling by at lightning speed, his sharp eyes still caught sight of a few excellent ones.
-
"There is a low probability of Murphy Stone mines spawning within the civilization." (Gold)
"Based on the citizens' happiness index, the resources consumed for upgrading components will be reduced to a certain extent." (Yellow)
"While the civilization is in a state of war, the consumption of all firepower components will be reduced." (Blue)
"When the civilization is under attack, the consumption of all firepower components is halved." (Pink)
-
These were all utility-type Civilization Tenets.
They were similarly divided into grades, exactly like component grades. From lowest to highest, they were:
White, Green, Yellow, Blue, Purple, Red, Gold, Pink, and Prismatic.
White was the lowest.
Prismatic-grade was the highest.
However, the grade merely represented rarity, not necessarily the actual strength of the tenet. Its practical power depended entirely on the civilization itself. For example, "There is a low probability of Murphy Stone mines spawning within the civilization." This tenet would be absolute garbage for him.
Let alone Gold-grade.
It wouldn't even deserve a White-grade rating in his eyes.
Not unless it was given to him for absolutely free.
Or take the tenet, "When the civilization is under attack, the consumption of all firepower components is halved." An aggressive, war-mongering civilization might not appreciate it, but for a civilization that loved to turtle up and play defense...
Like the Starlight Civilization, it would be no less than a Prismatic-grade boon!
As long as their civilization was under attack, their combat power would instantly double!
Those were all utility-type Civilization Tenets.
Aside from those, there were also economic ones.
For example—
-
"Within the civilization's territory, the spawn rate of Ore Stars will significantly increase." (Gold)
"Within the civilization's territory, spawned Ore Stars will yield higher ore content." (Gold)
-
He finally understood why so many civilizations relentlessly pursued vast territories.
The larger the territory...
The wider the coverage of their Civilization Tenet, which in turn allowed their civilization to develop much faster.
Aside from that.
There were also rule-altering ones.
For instance—
-
"The civilization's territory will be permeated with a scent detested by Star Behemoths, discouraging them from approaching." (Blue)
"Grants the 'Planetary Wormhole' technology tree." (Blue)
"Grants the 'Higher-Dimensional Planet' technology tree." (Prismatic)
"The civilization's level will forever remain stagnated at Level 3, but all resource consumption for components and upgrades will be reduced to one percent." (Prismatic)
-
"..."
Chen Mang stared at the screen as that particular Prismatic-grade option flashed by. His breathing quickened, and he unconsciously clasped his hands together, praying that the option would loop back around and land exactly under the needle.
He wanted that one.
He absolutely had to have that one!
To him, the Civilization Level was important, but at the same time, it wasn't that important!
Naturally.
He knew that every civilization promotion unlocked special abilities. The higher the civilization ascended, the more these abilities leaned toward altering cosmic rules. But... he didn't care.
If it just reduced his upgrade costs and resource consumption to one percent...
He could enhance his train's components by thousands of levels in minutes!
When that happened—
He would become a god of the universe!
This Civilization Tenet might actually be somewhat useless for other civilizations. Unless a civilization was on the brink of absolute extinction, they wouldn't want to get stuck at Level 3. After all, upgrades still required Murphy Stones. Even if resource costs were slashed to one percent, where would they find enough Murphy Stones?
But he didn't need them!
It was a Civilization Tenet perfectly tailored for him. He was even willing to trade every last scrap of resource in the train just for this specific effect.
The moment he got it...
He would instantly skyrocket to absolute dominance.
But...
As the needle slowly spun to a halt, Chen Mang let out a heavy sigh, a flash of disappointment in his eyes. It hadn't landed on the Civilization Tenet he craved. What a pity.
Otherwise.
He could have even attempted to go toe-to-toe with a God-level Civilization while remaining a mere Level 3!
The screen displayed the Civilization Tenet he had randomly rolled this time.
-
"For every Civilization Wonder constructed that is recognized by universal rules, obtain a box containing a random mysterious reward. Maximum limit: Nine." (Prismatic)
-
His luck actually seemed quite good.
He had still managed to randomly roll a Prismatic-grade Civilization Tenet.
It was just...
He really couldn't see what specific use it had.
Below it, there was a line of fine print.
-
"Confirm / Reroll. Remaining rerolls: 3. Each reroll costs 1,000 units of iron ore."
-
"..."
Chen Mang thought deeply for a moment with a resolute expression before asking, "Xiao Ai, give me an estimate. If I reroll three times, what are the odds of landing on that specific Tenet I just wanted?"
Xiao Ai's voice promptly rang out through the train.
"First of all, we do not know if the Civilization Tenet options displayed just now represented the entire pool. In all likelihood, they did not. However, if we calculate using only the options shown as the denominator, the probability is approximately three in a thousand."
"And there is no floor limit."
"I estimate the true probability is more likely three in ten thousand, or perhaps even lower."
"..."
After a long silence, Chen Mang looked at the countdown gradually appearing on the screen and ultimately chose to confirm.
He locked in this Prismatic-grade Civilization Tenet.
He gave it some thought.
It was better not to gamble on his luck. Even though he knew acquiring that specific tenet would grant him instantaneous cosmic power, the odds were simply too minuscule. There was no need to force it. This current Prismatic-grade tenet was already quite excellent.
Next up—
He didn't even bother researching his new Civilization Tenet, nor did he upgrade his components. Instead, he strode straight toward the Refrigerator to pay a visit to the Starlight Civilization.
"It's a one-time thing."
Sitting in front of his wooden cabin in the fields, the leader of the Starlight Civilization shook his head in a daze. "Civilization Tenets... what a nostalgic phrase. The memories of countless civilizations slaughtering each other mercilessly over a single tenet still feel like they happened just yesterday."
"Even though many, many people died."
"But back then, every single day was truly filled with passion and drive."
"During a civilization's ascension, you only receive a random Civilization Tenet once, when you promote to a Level 3 Civilization. It's the only time. You won't get another one in any subsequent promotions. At least from what I know, there isn't one for reaching Level 4, and there most likely isn't one for Level 5 either."
"A Level 3 Civilization can be considered a threshold."
"Becoming a Level 3 Civilization means you have officially stepped onto the grand stage of the 'War of Civilizations'. You can finally make your mark and perform for the universe."
"As to how long you get to sing."
"That remains unknown."
"However—" "Even though you can't acquire more Civilization Tenets through promotions later on, the universe holds numerous fortuitous encounters that grant them. They appear in many ways. For example, you might be cruising through space and suddenly spot an unknown sphere of light up ahead."
"When you draw close, a line of text might pop up on your train's screen."
"'Stay at this coordinate for over 30 days to acquire a random Civilization Tenet for your civilization. However, after staying for more than one hour, the coordinates of this light sphere will be broadcast to all surrounding civilizations. Anyone who meets the condition can claim the Civilization Tenet.'"
"Yeah, and after that, a massive bloodbath is guaranteed to follow."
"It was quite fun."
"The universe was a very lively place back then. It's just that a lot of those opportunities are located in The Great Battlefield. For the most part, I've only heard stories about it. I've never actually been there."
"The Great Battlefield?"
"Yes. Once a civilization reaches Level 4, they can venture into The Great Battlefield. It's a special, higher-dimensional space. No matter where you are in the universe, you can access this realm as long as your civilization is Level 4 or higher. And once you enter, you will only encounter civilizations of the exact same level."
"It is brimming with countless civilization-level opportunities."
"There are three ways to enter."
"The first method: Gambling Luck."
"You enter normally. If you die inside The Great Battlefield, you don't actually perish; you are simply auto-ejected from the dimension. However, the amount of any opportunities or resources you harvest is reduced to only one-tenth of the normal rate."
"The second method: Gambling Life."
"You enter normally. But if you die inside The Great Battlefield, you truly die in reality. In exchange, the opportunities and resources you gather are at the full, normal rate."
"The third method: Gambling the Fate of the Civilization."
"This method can only be selected by the leader of a civilization. If you die inside The Great Battlefield, your entire civilization will be forcibly erased by universal rules through utterly incomprehensible means. A civilization wiped out this way will not leave a single trace of its existence anywhere in the cosmos."
"By entering through this method, all opportunities and resources you acquire are magnified to ten times the normal amount."
"You can easily find chances to earn Civilization Tenets inside The Great Battlefield."
"It's quite fun."
Having returned to his train's cabin, Chen Mang sat in his chair, his eyes narrowed thoughtfully.
This was the very first time he had heard of the concept of 'The Great Battlefield'.
It sounded...
Like it was genuinely quite fun.
But he hadn't heard the chubby young man mention The Great Battlefield. He'd have to ask him if he knew about it the next time they met.
All this time...
Not a single piece of information explicitly stated that the Niya Civilization had been destroyed by some overwhelmingly powerful adversary. Everything he knew about their history pertained to the era right before their destruction, before those Backpackers had set out on their voyage.
Now that he thought about it...
It was entirely possible that the Niya Civilization hadn't been destroyed by another civilization at all.
It might very well have been their leader running into The Great Battlefield to gamble the fate of their civilization, and... losing the bet.
It was certainly a possibility.
He could only guess the exact circumstances. These were all matters to worry about after ascending to a Level 4 Civilization anyway. The universe possessed an obscene amount of resources, but from the perspective of any developing civilization, they were always in a state of extreme scarcity.
When that happened, those civilizations had no choice but to rely on all sorts of methods to obtain resources.
He even suspected that a God-level Civilization would still face resource shortages.
Subsequently—
He turned his gaze toward the control console screen. Once a civilization advanced to Level 3, they could demarcate their own 'Civilization Territory'. There were virtually no restrictions; he could draw the boundaries however he pleased, making them as large as he wanted.
He only needed to satisfy three requirements:
1: The territory must remain within the maximum detection range of the civilization's most powerful radar.
2: If you want a territory that exceeds your radar's detection range, it's simple: just drive your train out beyond the radar's edge and take a stroll. Wherever your train goes, drop a few markers. Connect the dots with straight lines, and that becomes your territory.
3: When claiming your territory, there cannot be any civilization of equal or higher level residing within its boundaries.
It was absurdly simple.
It basically spelled out that as long as you were willing, you could claim whatever you wanted. As long as you could defend it and your train could drive far enough, you could declare the entire universe as your territory, and there would be no issue whatsoever.
Moreover, the borders could be modified at any time.
It wasn't exactly a rigid process.
In the past, the territory claimed by the Kasa Civilization was simply the patch governed by the Kasa Civilization Federation. But for him...
Chen Mang smacked his lips and drew a large circle on the screen with his finger. He swiftly marked out his civilization's territory. The entire Dead End Star System now officially belonged to him, which meant the Zerg Civilization was currently squatting on his turf.
If he possessed a utility-type Civilization Tenet—for instance, one that occasionally spawned small amounts of Murphy Stone mines in his territory...
It would have immediately taken effect.
But since he lacked any such Civilization Tenets, this action...
Even though he had drawn out such a colossal territory, it was fundamentally meaningless...
It was just like a child scribbling with a crayon.
You could draw whatever you wanted.
Wherever you wanted, however you wanted.
The only difference being—
On the galactic map, this massive expanse would be beautifully highlighted as the domain of the 'Human Civilization'. If other civilizations visited, they would see an impossibly vast empire. Aside from looking cool, it had exactly zero practical application.
It felt a bit like playing house.
"So does that mean when those high-level civilizations boast about holding billions of light-years of territory, they just casually scribbled it out like this too?"
"I refuse to believe their radars can cover billions of light-years."
Chen Mang looked at the borders of the Human Civilization on his screen, his expression slightly strange. In the past, when he heard that those high-level civilizations commanded territories spanning tens or hundreds of millions of light-years, he thought they were insanely badass.
It sounded incredibly majestic.
Completely invincible.
But when he started drawing his own borders, the mystical illusion was instantly shattered.
Weren't they just drawing random circles?
Doing whatever they pleased.
The only bottleneck was that he currently couldn't afford those expensive Wormholes. Otherwise, he could instantly claim a territory spanning hundreds of millions... tens of millions... millions... or at least hundreds of thousands of light-years. Wait, no, he really couldn't. There were definitely stronger civilizations lurking in the surrounding areas.
He truly didn't have the strength to back that up just yet.
He glanced again at the promotion conditions. One of the requirements for reaching a Level 4 Civilization was an attack energy exceeding 50,000. That translated to needing a Level 500 Prismatic-grade firepower component.
Exactly as he had predicted.
A Level 200 component was essentially the absolute ceiling for a Level 3 Civilization.
But at Level 500, one could officially cross the threshold into a Level 4 Civilization.
From this perspective...
The speed at which the Human Civilization broke through to Level 4 would be insanely fast.
In the universe, there was a phenomenon known as a 'Civilization Great Explosion', denoting a situation where a train-based civilization suddenly acquired vast resources, allowing for rapid ascension. But... he felt that from now on, whenever anyone mentioned a Civilization Great Explosion, the Human Civilization would inevitably be part of the conversation.
Since he didn't require Murphy Stones, he could explode even faster.
He made a quick estimation.
Wiping out the Zerg Civilization and promoting to Level 4 within three months would be a total walk in the park.
Even at his current pace, he was already fast enough. Ascending from an unranked backwater to a Level 3 Civilization in just a few short years—this speed far outstripped that of both the Kasa Civilization and the Mechanical Civilization.
As for the Zerg Civilization...
Those guys were still just a Level 2 Civilization. If their combat prowess didn't vastly exceed a normal Level 2, they wouldn't even be worth bringing up.
Following that—
He finally took a close look at the effects of the Civilization Tenet he'd just obtained.
-
"For every Civilization Wonder constructed that is recognized by universal rules, obtain a box containing a random mysterious reward. Maximum limit: Nine." (Prismatic)
-
There was only this single, simple sentence.
Nothing else.
"Civilization Wonder..."
Chen Mang furrowed his brows slightly, deeply pondering the phrase. What exactly did it mean to be 'recognized by universal rules'? His first thought was the Great Wall from his previous world, but upon further reflection, he figured that wouldn't cut it.
Firstly, the true awe-inspiring nature of the Great Wall lay in its context: a colossal landscape constructed through sheer human labor and spirit during an era of extremely primitive productivity.
But for the current Human Civilization...
What difficulty would there be in building a wall a million miles long? Stripped of that heavy historical weight, it lost the very essence of a Civilization Wonder.
"Xiao Ai, what kind of Civilization Wonder do you think qualifies as being recognized by universal rules?"
"I have no idea."
Xiao Ai's voice echoed through the train. "There's no explicit guideline. However, why not let Doba and his people tinker with it first? The Goblins have dumped quite a lot of talent points into the construction field."
"Makes sense. I'll leave it to them."
Chen Mang nodded. He would let Doba's crew slowly figure it out while he asked his good buddy, the chubby young man, about it tomorrow.
Over these past days, he had been chatting with the chubby young man quite frequently.
The two had genuinely developed a bit of a bond.
At first, he merely viewed the young man as an informational tool. But as time went on, he found that the boy was almost overly sincere in his dealings with others. Initially, Chen Mang didn't like this kind of person, because it made someone like him—who approached people with ulterior motives—feel a pang of guilt.
He much preferred dealing with absolute bastards.
It made his conscience feel significantly more comfortable.
But over time, he grew to like the chubby boy's sincerity, even if the guy's brain was admittedly a bit strange, often spouting oddities.
Inside the Stellar Train.
"Huh?"
Doba, who was staying inside the city, was entirely dumbfounded upon receiving the order from Boss Ai. He tilted his head toward Pluplu beside him. "You're well-traveled and knowledgeable. Tell me, what exactly constitutes... a Civilization Wonder recognized by universal rules?"
He didn't understand this command at all.
When he asked Boss Ai to elaborate, she simply replied: 'Master Mang says you have free rein.'
"Mmm..."
Pluplu sat in silence for a long time before forcing an answer, "I think, since it's a Civilization Wonder, it must definitely be entirely unique, right?"
"Right!"
Doba nodded with profound seriousness. "Anything worthy of being called a cosmic wonder has to be totally unique."
"But the universe is so vast. How can we guarantee that whatever we build is absolutely one-of-a-kind?"
"That's why it has to be weird!"
"Weird?"
"Exactly!" Pluplu grew excited, seemingly grasping a solid line of thought. "The weirder the better! It's the only way to ensure our constructed Civilization Wonder is unparalleled. What is the rarest thing in the universe? Being absolutely unique!"
"That makes sense. Let me think..."
Doba pondered with a solemn expression. He attached great importance to this order. It hadn't been long since Master Mang saw the palace they had built, and he was already trusting them with such a monumental task!
This proved...
Master Mang valued their construction talents! Naturally, he had to seize this golden opportunity!
And build the absolute greatest Civilization Wonder!
Meanwhile—
In the southern frontier of the Naomi Civilization, upon an unknown Ore Star.
The chubby young man, who had already packed up all his belongings, looked across the empty mining site, glancing around somewhat reluctantly. He was about to leave this Ore Star. The entire mine had been thoroughly gutted.
He had gotten too caught up in their conversation yesterday.
He'd completely forgotten to tell his mysterious friend that he was departing today.
He wanted to say goodbye to his friend before he left.
They might never get the chance to meet again.
Right at that moment!
A familiar figure suddenly materialized in the barren mine. The chubby young man immediately hurried over, grinning from ear to ear. "Chen Mang, you're finally here! I'm leaving this Ore Star today. We might never see each other again."
Over these past days, he had learned the other party's name.
He even knew the man was a civilization leader.
The familiar figure handed over a slip of paper, just like always.
"If you continue contracting mines, we'll probably see each other again."
"Do you know about 'The Great Battlefield'?"
"Of course I do! It's incredibly dangerous, but many people still go in there to try their luck. If you manage to make it out alive, the profits are massive. Some even receive commendations from the government and become heroes of the civilization."
"Oh right, since you suddenly asked about it, I actually remembered something. My father back then..."
"..."
Chen Mang talked with the chubby young man for a very long time.
By the time the cyber-miner woke up...
The dream had closed, and the connection was severed.
What the chubby young man didn't know was that the only reason they could interact was because the Telescope in his hands shared an intimate connection with one of the cyber-miners inside the train. This was the sole basis allowing their continued meetings.
It was a profoundly unique and near-impossible-to-replicate phenomenon.
Moreover, it had to happen inside a mine. For some unknown reason, he had instructed Xiao Ai to try generating different dream scenarios for the cyber-miner to encounter the young man, but none of them worked. It only triggered in the mining setting.
As long as the chubby boy continued to contract mines, they would eventually have a chance to meet again.
During these days.
Whenever he had free time, he would chat with the chubby young man and the leader of the Starlight Civilization. He had gleaned a wealth of information from them, significantly broadening his horizons. In this vast universe, having a few friends like this wasn't easy.
It was actually a rather luxurious indulgence.
There was also access to The Great Battlefield within the Naomi Civilization. All Level 4 Civilizations could enter to gamble for their fortunes. But from the young man's lips, he learned that the 'encountering only equal-level civilizations' rule the Starlight Civilization's leader had mentioned merely applied to the outer fringes of The Great Battlefield.
Deep inside the inner zone...
Civilizations of absolutely every level could be found locked in a chaotic, free-for-all bloodbath.
Furthermore, every train entering The Great Battlefield was spawned at completely random locations. This meant fleets couldn't swarm in to crush enemies through sheer numbers. Large-scale group combat lost all its advantages there. The realm heavily prioritized the pure, individual strength of a single train.
But—
That was exactly his greatest advantage!
The Human Civilization was rather peculiar. They had already ascended to a Level 3 Civilization, yet they possessed zero legionary forces. The civilization's solitary source of combat power was his Stellar Train.
He funneled absolutely every scrap of resources into forging his own personal train.
A single train was more than enough.
One supreme train could shatter ten million disorganized rabble.
Once he leveled up to a Level 4 Civilization, he definitely wanted to go into The Great Battlefield and take a good look around.
As for Civilization Wonders...
The chubby boy also knew about them. Supposedly, the Naomi Civilization currently housed three Civilization Wonders. Once a Civilization Wonder was built and acknowledged by the universe—becoming a universally recognized cosmic wonder—it would manifest special effects.
For instance, one of the Civilization Wonders within the Naomi Civilization was the Train Graveyard.
Its creation had been purely coincidental.
Back then, after a devastating war, the Naomi Civilization gathered massive amounts of wreckage and ruins into one sector of space, preparing to incinerate it all at once. Yet, for some inexplicable reason, it abruptly gained the acknowledgment of universal rules and transformed into a Civilization Wonder.
Its effect was—
"Within this zone, there is an extremely low probability of incubating a 'Soul of the Train'. Embedding the Soul of the Train into a train allows its Train Auxiliary AI to obtain an additional Overlimit Effect."
Furthermore, ever since that day, the mangled wreckage in that region began assembling itself. It formed several derelict phantom trains that mindlessly prowled the Train Graveyard day in and day out. They didn't attack humans, instead becoming a scenic spectacle that drew endless throngs of tourists.
Upon learning this...
His heart was filled with despair...
The Naomi Civilization was a majestic Level 5 Civilization, yet even they only possessed three Civilization Wonders! It would be a miracle if he managed to cobble together just one. Getting nine was nothing short of a pipe dream!
Even though this Civilization Tenet was Prismatic-grade.
Truly top-tier.
The difficulty of actually cashing in on its benefits... was astronomically high.
Forget it.
He'd just let Doba and the others fumble around with it. Whatever they managed to throw together, so be it. He would treat the whole thing as if it didn't exist. If they succeeded, it would be a pleasant surprise. If they failed, he wouldn't lose anything anyway.
However—
He had slowly come to a realization over these past few days.
The strength of those high-level civilizations was a multi-dimensional strength, continuously fortifying themselves from every possible angle.
Simply having terrifyingly destructive attacks wasn't enough to make a high-level civilization.
Foundations, culture, and deep-rooted legacy—these required vast spans of time to accumulate. The Human Civilization, in this regard, was as blank as a piece of white paper. It had virtually zero foundation.
But those were all matters for the future.
As for right now.
Chen Mang shifted his gaze back to the resource panel on the control console. First things first, he needed to heavily squander this massive influx of wealth. Every single component on the train was long overdue for an upgrade.