Chapter 356: Arriving at the Naomi Civilization |
"Huh?"
Chen Mang, who had just stood up, froze slightly and sat back down, staring at the panel popping up on the console screen.
-
"The first simulation has ended. The Overlimit Effects from this Universal Empowerment are as follows!"
"Refrigerator Level 5 Overlimit Effect: Ultimate Preservation. Any food placed inside this Refrigerator will undergo ultimate preservation. When taken out, its taste and quality will remain virtually unchanged."
"Refrigerator Level 10 Overlimit Effect: Can convert monster flesh and blood into a small amount of iron ore."
"Refrigerator Level 20 Overlimit Effect: Inner Universe. The internal storage space is significantly expanded."
"Refrigerator Level 50 Overlimit Effect: Breeding grounds. Placing star-beasts or other creatures with low intelligence inside the Refrigerator for rearing will slightly accelerate their growth rate."
"Refrigerator Level 100 Overlimit Effect: Power independence. It can remain permanently on standby and operational without the need for electricity."
"Refrigerator Level 500 Overlimit Effect: Self-destruction mechanism. The Refrigerator can detonate itself without consuming resources. It charges automatically, and the longer it charges, the greater the power. The maximum yield is equivalent to a full-power strike from a Level 1000 Prismatic-grade firepower component."
"Refrigerator Level 1000 Overlimit Effect: Can absorb all Cosmic Taboo Items scattered throughout the universe, acquiring them at irregular intervals and in random quantities."
(PS: In this simulation process, the Level 1000 Overlimit Effect is a unique Overlimit Effect, the only one in the entire universe.)
(Once any unique Overlimit Effect is confirmed and saved, other civilizations will never be able to roll this specific Overlimit Effect again. Furthermore, once confirmed and saved, the host civilization will permanently lose the ability to reroll the Universal Empowerment for this component.)
"Do you wish to save or reroll?"
-
"..."
Chen Mang stared at the panel on the console screen before him, completely stunned. It took a long moment for him to process it, his expression complex and silent. So this was the Level 1000 Overlimit Effect...
This Overlimit Effect was the very one that had come from the future.
Actually...
Actually, he suddenly felt a mischievous urge to mess around.
What would happen if he chose not to save it right now?
Would the future be changed?
It would definitely change, but the Refrigerator that already existed wouldn't alter. As long as this unique Overlimit Effect hadn't been obtained by another civilization, that Refrigerator located within the Naomi Civilization would remain the only one in the universe possessing this ability.
The next moment—
"Save."
Naturally, he wasn't going to actually sabotage himself. It was just like how anyone standing on a rooftop might feel a sudden, intrusive urge to jump, but no one actually followed through with it.
The results were quite good.
Especially that Level 500 Overlimit Effect. It was actually quite remarkable.
To reach its maximum destructive power, it required a thousand years of charging.
It seemed like an unreachable timeframe.
But...
Actually, all he needed to do was throw it into a Time Fissure, and then have Doba retrieve it. Tossing it into a black hole would work too, though that felt like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut, and retrieving it would be quite troublesome.
If utilized properly, it provided him with another high-quality, low-cost method of attack.
A powerful attack method wasn't necessarily the right one.
Take the Good Cat Civilization, for instance. They had possessed devastating offensive capabilities and had fired several shots into the Dark Abyss. But because the resource consumption was so astronomical, they simply couldn't afford to use it. What was the point? The only good attack was one you could actually afford to deploy.
Afterward—
Chen Mang did not linger. After he set all the remaining Primordial Blueprints to reroll, he stood up and walked out of the train car.
He had been a bit too busy lately.
He needed a day off.
The development speed of the Human Civilization was incredibly fast.
Especially after wiping out the Good Cat Civilization and the Extreme Evil Civilization, the massive amounts of harvested resources not only fully replenished what was lost during the war but also provided a vast surplus. This surplus further propelled the Human Civilization's strength.
Like a snowball rolling downhill, their power was rapidly and continuously expanding.
At this point, the Human Civilization was already a level five civilization, and the leap to level six wasn't too far off.
Stellaris Train, Premium Talent Carriage Number Five.
Chen Mang sat on Yan Yao's bed, looking toward the foot of the bed where Ji Chuchu was massaging his legs. He remained silent, lost in thought. The biggest hurdle to promoting to a level six civilization was the requirement to upgrade the Akhenaten Light Energy Main Cannon to Level 2000.
Before preparing to head to the Great Desolation Civilization, he could first upgrade the main cannon to Level 2000 just to be safe.
After all, that was an entity that had once annihilated the Niya Civilization. He couldn't act rashly.
And they had done it through the means of Universal Erasure...
He was also a level five civilization now, yet he possessed no such ability for Universal Erasure. Was that truly a method a level five civilization could wield?
In the cosmos, the greatest flaw and the greatest charm were both found in its delays.
When you fired a main cannon into the depths of the cosmos, you had to wait a long time before you could see the flash of the explosion.
When you sent a message to a friend tens of millions of light-years away, it had to relay through several stations, taking an eternity to reach them.
When you gazed into the deep universe with your naked eye, the light you saw had actually been emitted ages ago.
In the cosmos.
No one could see the present with their own eyes; everyone only witnessed the past.
Therefore—
Over a hundred thousand light-years outside the Dead End Star System, in a remote location untethered to any galaxy.
A small Wormhole suddenly materialized on the skin of a star-beast drifting through the void. A moment later, two men wearing work uniforms stepped out of it.
Space fragments continuously sliced through the vacuum around the colossal beast, yet the two men stood on its surface, utterly oblivious to the danger. This was an incredibly hostile environment. Normally, even powerhouse cultivators from Cultivation civilizations would be unable to survive here.
"Let me see..."
A Young Man looked at the tablet in his hands and muttered, "The system shows that a Universe Ge Lei was shot down in this sector seven years ago. It seems there's been another Civilization Great Explosion."
"Normally speaking."
"The system programmed the Universe Ge Lei to only attack targets with a radar range of a hundred thousand light-years. That's the hallmark of a level three civilization. It wouldn't go looking for trouble with a level four civilization. And a level three civilization shouldn't have the means to shoot down a Universe Ge Lei."
"Alright."
The Young Man glanced at the completed progress bar on his tablet and tapped an "Explore" button in the corner. A virtual radar materialized on the screen, rapidly scanning all civilizations within a radius of one million light-years.
However, the process was somewhat slow, estimating to take several minutes.
The completed progress bar indicated that he had successfully downloaded the "travel log" of that Universe Ge Lei right before its destruction.
"Everything looks fine."
"The travel log shows that Universe Ge Lei Number 3 had a 96% internal black hole integrity. Its energy transmission and operation devices were functioning normally. It was in perfect condition. It detected a target on the radar and launched an attack on the coordinates."
"Everything is normal up to this point."
"That civilization is called the 'Human Civilization'."
"What an arrogant name."
"And then..."
The Young Man froze, staring blankly at the historical log on his tablet. He fell completely silent, his mouth opening and closing slightly, unable to utter a single word.
"What's wrong?"
The middle-aged man beside him leaned over with an exhausted expression. His old friend had already retired, and he had long grown sick of this job. The novelty had worn off ages ago, and he was eager to retire himself.
But when he laid eyes on the historical log displayed on the tablet, he was equally dumbfounded.
"Universe Ge Lei Number 3... was swallowed by a star-beast?"
"Swallowed whole?"
"That Number 3 Universe Ge Lei had a damn diameter of nearly two light-years! What kind of star-beast has a mouth big enough to swallow that thing whole? Was it snacking on it like a piece of candy?"
The two men exchanged bewildered glances.
Although it was extremely hard to believe.
The historical log clearly described exactly that.
The middle-aged man gulped slightly. After a long silence, he spoke in a hoarse voice, "This star-beast most likely doesn't belong to that level three Human Civilization. A star-beast of this magnitude isn't something a level three civilization could possibly control."
"The resources required to raise a star-beast to this level would be an astronomical figure. Even if you bled a top-tier veteran level three civilization dry, you wouldn't be able to scrape together that much."
"Universe Ge Lei Number 3 probably wasn't shot down by that level three civilization at all. It was just unlucky enough to run into a slumbering star-beast wandering the universe and got swallowed whole because the beast woke up in a bad mood."
"Is that so?"
Right at that moment—
The radar on the tablet had finished its scan. Civilizations of all sizes within a million light-years were scattered across the screen. The Young Man pointed at the largest and brightest white dot, his expression complicated.
"This is the Human Civilization. It's already a level five civilization now."
"Seven years."
"In just seven years, a level three civilization has evolved into a level five civilization. Have you ever seen this kind of speed before?"
"Even during a Civilization Great Explosion, the speed wouldn't be this absurd, right?"
The middle-aged man fell silent. He had a premonition that a war was about to begin. The civilization he belonged to was a level six civilization, boasting a vast territory of thirty-two million light-years and encompassing seven star systems.
It was incomprehensibly massive.
This location was within their territory. Their civilization could not possibly allow a newly emerged level five civilization to exist within its borders.
Unless...
Unless this civilization was willing to act like the Great Desolation Civilization and completely submit to them, the flames of war were bound to ignite. It was just that their own civilization seemed to be reacting a bit slowly to the threat.
"We're heading back."
The middle-aged man said in a deep voice, "We need to go back and report this to headquarters. A Civilization Great Explosion must be dealt with as soon as possible. If the other party advances to a level six civilization, things will become much thornier. We have to erase them immediately, or there will be endless trouble later."
The Young Man didn't argue. He simply nodded and quickly followed the older man back into the Wormhole, disappearing from the back of the star-beast.
The matter was of grave importance.
It had to be reported without delay.
Meanwhile—
Inside the Stellaris Train.
Chen Mang was roughly calculating the exact cost of creating a Wormhole to cross the Dark Abyss to reach the Naomi Civilization. Before going to war with the Great Desolation Civilization, he intended to take a trip to the Naomi Civilization first.
To take back what belonged to him.
The Palace.
As well as the mysterious safe located inside The Palace.
According to Xiao Pangzi, the Naomi Civilization had discovered a safe inside The Palace. Chen Mang was certain there was something stored inside, and it was likely something he sorely needed.
He didn't waste any time.
There was no time to lose.
Building a Wormhole leading one million light-years away required the consumption of 150 trillion units of iron ore.
Assuming the Dark Abyss was only ten million light-years across, he would only need 1,500 trillion units of iron ore. This was referring to a one-way, single-use Wormhole. Generally speaking, no civilization would ever construct such a Wormhole when exploring uncharted territory.
What was the point of creating a one-way Wormhole with no return trip other than waiting for death?
But he had the Refrigerator, so he didn't care about such trivialities.
The next moment—
As 150 trillion units of iron ore crumbled into dust, a Wormhole was slowly ripped open. The Stellar Train drove into it. When it emerged from the other end, it was already one million light-years deep within the Dark Abyss.
He repeated this process ten times.
Even after consuming 1,500 trillion units of iron ore, the edge of the Dark Abyss was still nowhere in sight.
The Stellaris Train had now penetrated ten million light-years deep.
They were already vastly far away from the Dead End Star System.
There were no stars around, no dust clouds, nothing at all. It appeared incredibly hollow. This was the Dark Abyss, the Sahara Desert of the universe. As far as the eye could see, there was absolutely nothing.
Finally!
On the twentieth jump.
Chen Mang saw the edge of the Dark Abyss on the Doppelganger Radar. He also spotted the signal indicating the Naomi Civilization. He was currently positioned a mere thirteen light-years away from the void's border.
After he opened another, shorter-distance Wormhole and emerged from the other side, he had successfully arrived at the northern border region of the Naomi Civilization.
This was also one of the prosperous regions of the Naomi Civilization.
This was the Naomi Civilization that had been separated from him by an entire Dark Abyss.
He also now knew the exact diameter of this Dark Abyss: almost exactly twenty million light-years.
The total cost of forging Wormholes for this voyage came out to 3,000 trillion units of iron ore.
It certainly wasn't cheap...
That amount could essentially rival the majority of a level four civilization's entire foundation. Even initiating a full-scale war wouldn't cost him this much in resources.
"It seems they haven't detected me."
Chen Mang gazed thoughtfully at the Doppelganger Radar. A Wormhole suddenly materializing within a civilization's territory was extremely conspicuous. The radar showed that nearby fleets were already rushing over to inspect the anomaly.
Yet, despite the converging fleets, no one had discovered him. There were no target locks, nor were there any warning broadcasts.
It seemed his Level 500 Radar Jammer was working perfectly.
He didn't linger.
Looking at the coordinates Xiao Pangzi had given him on the radar—the coordinates of a planet, specifically where Xiao Pangzi lived—it coincidentally happened to be nearby, merely 1,298 light-years away.
There were quite a few permanent Wormholes constructed by the Naomi Civilization in the vicinity.
This was what a proper level five civilization should look like.
Their territory was filled with permanent Wormholes connecting various planets, facilitating trade, communication, border defense deployment, and resource transportation. Such massive infrastructure projects required an enormous drain on resources.
Compared to his Human Civilization, which didn't possess a single permanent Wormhole built by him within its territory, his development had actually been a bit too extreme.
Who cared about communication and trade?
Any and all resources he acquired were funneled straight into upgrading the train.
Civilization building could be put on the back burner.
Upgrading the train came first. Once the train was powerful enough, he would have everything. Without a sufficiently upgraded train, no matter how well a civilization was built internally, it would still just be a plaything for higher-level civilizations, something they could crush on a whim.
It was just that...
He couldn't use these Wormholes.
Using them required a legal identity within the Naomi Civilization and the payment of their corresponding digital currency.
Chen Mang steered the train toward the nearest Wormhole. Before long, a panel abruptly popped up on his console screen.
-
"External network detected. Attempting to connect to the train."
"Do you consent?"
-
"Consent."
Seven hours later.
Chen Mang piloted the train to the nearest Wormhole, one positioned in orbit above a planet. Several space stations and orbital superweapons hovered in the void outside the Wormhole, and inspectors guarded the entrance.
Numerous trains were queuing up to enter one by one.
He maneuvered his train into the queue as well.
When it was his turn.
A mechanical arm at the Wormhole entrance, clutching a massive scanner, swept over the roof of his train. A large screen nearby slowly displayed the words: "Authentication successful. Cleared for passage."
"Perfect,"
Chen Mang chuckled softly. He had already coordinated with Xiao Pangzi before making the trip.
Xiao Pangzi's father had gone into semi-retirement, and Xiao Pangzi had begun to take over his father's commercial empire and network of resources. Chen Mang had asked Xiao Pangzi to forge a legal identity within the Naomi Civilization for him.
This was no simple task.
The Naomi Civilization maintained an intranet cataloging the data of every train within their society. A train could only pass through if it successfully authenticated. This tied directly into the safety of the civilization; if foreign trains were allowed to freely roam their interior and utilize their Wormholes, the potential danger would be catastrophic.
For Xiao Pangzi to slip his train's data into the intranet... that required some heaven-defying connections.
The intranet was most likely governed by an immensely powerful AI.
And an AI...
Could not be bribed.
He had no idea how Xiao Pangzi managed it. Bypassing or convincing an AI to authorize such an anomaly was anything but easy.
He would ask for the details once they met face to face.
Afterward, much like a prodigal son returning home, Chen Mang's train passed through several successive Wormholes before finally gliding to a halt on a cerulean planet, temporarily ending this twenty-million-light-year journey.
He had finally arrived in the true heart of the civilization.
After driving out of the train port.
The Stellaris Train cruised down the wide transit highways, speeding towards Xiao Pangzi's home. Chen Mang looked up at The Palace still hovering in the sky above the planet. It seemed its position hadn't shifted at all.
It was as if it had become a moon orbiting this planet.
Rotating along with it.
It didn't block the light, though it did have a slight impact on the temperature. Still, it wasn't a major issue; the Naomi Civilization definitely had ways to mitigate such minor inconveniences.
Finally—
As the train slowly pulled to a stop in front of an ordinary-looking house.
Chen Mang, leading Biao Zi and the others, stepped off the train. Spotting Xiao Pangzi standing in front of the house with his father behind him, Chen Mang smiled and nodded. "Long time no see."
"Boss Mang...?"
Xiao Pangzi asked tentatively. After receiving confirmation, he couldn't help but grin widely and stride forward. "I finally get to see you in person! If you hadn't forbidden me from picking you up, I really would've arranged the highest standard of reception to welcome you."