Chapter 361: Level Six Civilization, Green Mountain Civilization. |
Dead End Star System.
At the headquarters of the Human Civilization, the Stellar Train was currently drifting in the depths of the universe. Sitting inside the train, Chen Mang was taking inventory of the resources harvested from this trip, lost in thought as he looked at the available resources on the train's display panel.
Currently.
The Stellar Train possessed a total of:
"414,000 trillion units of iron ore."
A full 414,000 trillion units of iron ore!
There was no need for any preparations. He would begin the upgrades immediately. This batch of resources was enough to stack the train to an extremely high realm.
The first in line was...
The armor.
Chen Mang hesitated slightly, falling into deep thought as he looked at the Overlimit Effects of the armor.
The level 500 Overlimit Effect of the armor provided immunity to all energy attacks, absorbing them entirely. The absorbed energy would then temporarily increase the level of his own train's armor, with no upper limit.
The level 1000 Overlimit Effect granted immunity to all physical attacks and could similarly use the absorbed energy to temporarily upgrade the train's armor.
Both of these were Universe-Unique OP Effects.
With these two Overlimit Effects...
Was there still a need to upgrade the armor?
It was already invincible.
It was impossible for anyone to break through his defenses.
"..."
After pondering for a long while, he still decided to upgrade the armor to level 2000 first to see what the level 2000 Overlimit Effect would be. After all, even though the attack methods of the civilizations he currently encountered were basically all energy-based, with physical attacks being extremely rare.
It was hard to say what kind of methods that higher-dimensional civilization might possess.
Having a higher level could never hurt.
Promptly...
After consuming 20,000 trillion units of iron ore, the Carriage Steel Armor finally reached level 2000!
It consumed nearly half of the train's iron ore reserves.
Back when he upgraded the armor from level 500 to level 1000, it had cost 3,750 trillion. Upgrading it from level 1000 to level 2000 required 20,000 trillion. The higher the level, the greater the consumption.
Moreover...
Most importantly, the AI had calculated that if this upgrade did not utilize the 0-Level Authority and instead relied on Murphy Stones, it would have required a staggering 30 billion Murphy Stones.
This could no longer just be called an astronomical figure.
It was a completely absurd number.
When he had plundered the Kasa Civilization's Gemini Star, he had only managed to sweep up 370,000 Murphy Stones from that planet.
Thirty billion Murphy Stones...
Even if the Kasa Civilization were given this amount of resources, they wouldn't be able to upgrade their armor to level 2000 in nearly ten thousand years. The sheer quantity of Murphy Stones required was an unattainable pipe dream for any level five civilization.
At the very least...
Any civilization below level nine was unlikely to possess level 2000 armor.
As for god-tier civilizations, that remained unclear. Even Qi Ya didn't know. Qi Ya was quite well-versed in some gossip, but when it came to specific data regarding god-tier civilizations, she was somewhat clueless. These weren't exactly bedtime stories, after all.
Following the upgrade.
He once again obtained a new Overlimit Effect.
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"Carriage Steel Armor Level 2000 Overlimit Effect": This train will resist all dimensional reduction and will never be subject to dimensional reduction.
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"This is quite good."
A faint smile appeared on Chen Mang's face. Once the armor possessed those two Overlimit Effects at levels 500 and 1000, its level actually lost much of its significance. No matter the level of an Akhenaten Light Energy Main Cannon, he could face tank it and remain completely unscathed.
What he mainly looked forward to were the Overlimit Effects.
Looking at it now, the return on investment was excellent.
Those 20,000 trillion units of iron ore were well spent!
There definitely wouldn't be a chance to use this Overlimit Effect in the short term, but in the future, when battling advanced civilizations, if the opponent possessed weapons capable of dimensional reduction, such as a Two-Way Foil, this Overlimit Effect would come into play.
The level for the next Overlimit Effect was at level 5000.
Was level 5000 the limit?
A hint of daze flashed in Chen Mang's eyes as he looked at the armor's Overlimit Effect panel. To date, he had learned quite a few of the universe's secrets, but he had never heard anyone mention what the maximum level for components was.
Was it level 5000, or level 10,000?
Or was it even higher? Or perhaps there was no limit at all?
Everything was an unknown.
He knew more and more, yet he felt as if he knew less and less.
Afterward...
He shifted his gaze toward one of the Akhenaten Light Energy Main Cannons. After consuming 5,000 trillion units of iron ore, this main cannon was upgraded to level 2000.
5,000 trillion units of iron ore.
That was the standard cost to upgrade a regular Prismatic-grade component from level 1000 to level 2000.
This astronomical figure that had seemed so daunting to him a long time ago...
Now suddenly felt quite manageable.
-
"Akhenaten Light Energy Main Cannon Level 2000 Overlimit Effect": Under intense energy fluctuations, the blast radius will be transformed into a two-dimensional space, and this process is irreversible.
-
"...A Two-Way Foil?"
Chen Mang was slightly taken aback. He had always been on guard against potential dimensional reduction strikes from other civilizations, but he never expected that he would come to possess such a method himself.
Under this kind of attack...
No matter how high an armor's level was, it wouldn't be able to withstand it.
This was exactly what a so-called dimensional reduction strike was all about.
Most importantly...
The cost of firing a level 2000 Akhenaten Light Energy Main Cannon was extremely expensive. The price to shoot this cannon required a massive 1,000,000 trillion units of iron ore.
Yes, six zeroes.
A full one million trillion units of iron ore.
Xiao Pangzi's father had wealth that rivaled entire nations, and the vast resources he left behind amounted to nearly 30,000 trillion units of iron ore.
According to the counting system of advanced civilizations.
10,000 trillion units was equivalent to 1 Background Unit of iron ore.
When iron ore reached this quantity, it could already be considered a foundation of wealth. Therefore, a new unit of measurement was created: 1 Background Unit of iron ore was equivalent to 10,000 trillion units of iron ore.
Xiao Pangzi's fortune totaled 2.98 Background Units of iron ore.
It was astonishingly vast.
After all, the term "Background Unit" was typically applied to advanced civilizations. A regular merchant theoretically shouldn't have any right to touch this unit of measurement.
And the cost required to fire this one shot was...
100 Background Units of iron ore.
Even with the foundation left by Xiao Pangzi's father, he completely couldn't afford to fire this shot. His wealth would need to be multiplied dozens of times over.
This simply wasn't a method that a level five civilization could possess.
Even if it were given to a level five civilization for free, they wouldn't be able to afford to use it.
From exterminating the Extreme Evil Civilization to wiping out the Good Cat Civilization, all the way to heading to the Naomi Civilization, he had never seen any civilization normally fire a level 1000 Akhenaten Light Energy Main Cannon without using Chrono-Retrogression.
At most, they fired level 700 or 800 ones, which didn't cost much more than a level 500 one.
But when the light energy main cannon reached level 1000...
The consumption would undergo a qualitative change.
Just a single shot from a level 1000 Akhenaten Light Energy Main Cannon required a full 100,000 trillion units of iron ore, which was 10 Background Units.
Only he would use this thing as a basic attack.
Other than him...
Not a single civilization would use it like this.
After all, his train possessed a Stellar Cabin. The Stellar Cabin provided 99.99 percent of the energy consumption for the light energy main cannon, meaning a single level 1000 shot from his Akhenaten Light Energy Main Cannon only required 10 trillion units of iron ore.
Even for a level 2000 weapon of mass destruction comparable to a Two-Way Foil!
Firing a single shot would only cost him 100 trillion units of iron ore.
It was practically a bargain.
Cheap and highly effective.
However...
Chen Mang sighed softly. Although the level 2000 Overlimit Effect was considered a weapon of mass destruction, he would try not to use it if possible. It was a completely loss-making tactic. What was the purpose of war?
For resources.
If he fired this shot, that entire space would collapse into two dimensions.
Where would he go to seize resources then?
What was two-dimensional space? It was just a painting. He wasn't some magical artist who could draw things to life; once everything became a painting, who could pull a piece of iron ore out of it?
Even so.
He still couldn't help but let the corners of his mouth turn up slightly.
This was enough.
Originally, the train could barely qualify to use the Background Unit measurement, possessing over 4 Background Units of iron ore. But after this round of enhancements, he was left with only 1.5 Background Units.
Most importantly...
The Human Civilization was currently a level five civilization, just one step away from becoming a level six civilization.
He used to think that even if a level six civilization was stronger than a level five one, it wouldn't be by much.
At most, they would have a few more civilization methods, a slightly higher overall combat power, a larger territorial range, and a bit more resources.
But!
Now...
He knew just how ridiculously wrong he had been!
Even the weakest level six civilization was dozens, or even hundreds of times stronger than a veteran level five civilization!
They weren't on the same dimension at all!
First of all...
For a civilization to advance to level six, there was only one condition: their strongest attack energy range had to exceed 200,000, and they needed to possess a Civilization Wonder.
An attack energy range exceeding 200,000 meant they required a level 2000 Prismatic-grade firepower component.
Upgrading to level 2000 consumed an astronomical amount of resources and Murphy Stones.
But more importantly.
Just having a level 2000 Prismatic-grade firepower component was useless. They actually had to fire the shot and have it detected by the universe to successfully advance to a level six civilization. And for a regular civilization without a Stellar Cabin, firing a single shot from a level 2000 Prismatic-grade firepower component would consume 100 Background Units of iron ore.
That was an absolutely astronomical figure.
To be able to afford that quantity of iron ore, it was no exaggeration to say their civilization's foundation was at least hundreds of times stronger than a level five civilization.
Every single level six civilization...
Even the weakest among them, was absolutely not something a level five civilization could withstand.
It was a literal dimensional reduction strike!
"Fortunately..."
Chen Mang let out a soft breath. For now, he was still relatively safe. Within his range, only the Great Desolation Civilization below him was a place he hadn't visited yet, and that was a level five civilization. There were no level six civilizations in his immediate vicinity.
He was still quite safe.
He could continue to develop for a while longer.
But right at this moment, a beeping alarm suddenly echoed throughout the train.
-
"Warning. Warning."
"Unknown spatial fluctuations detected. All space within the Dead End Star System has been locked down. It is no longer possible to use any Wormholes, Chrono-Retrogression, or other space-time manipulation methods."
"The party responsible for the lockdown has not concealed themselves. They are the level six civilization, 'Green Mountain Civilization'."
-
"..."
Chen Mang's expression changed slightly. He had just said it was fortunate there were no level six civilizations nearby, so how did one suddenly pop up?
Where did they come from?
They clearly hadn't been within radar range.
However, it seemed they didn't understand the Human Civilization very well. This spatial lockdown meant nothing to him. The Refrigerator did not rely on spatial fluctuations; as long as he wanted to leave, they couldn't stop him.
Right at this moment...
A forced private message appeared directly on his train's radio terminal.
-
"Greetings, leader of the Human Civilization. Your civilization is truly fascinating. After thoroughly studying your civilization, I found that you are incredibly impressive, with an exceedingly rapid development speed."
"You possess exceptional defense, exceptional offense, and an exceptional ambition—something our civilization dislikes the most."
"You even have the ability to come and go freely under a spatial lockdown. In fact, we locked down the Dead End Star System several days ago, but we couldn't find your train. We thought you were in hiding, only to realize you weren't in the Dead End Star System at all."
"When we finally spotted the traces of your train, we realized that you had somehow bypassed our spatial lockdown and appeared back in the Dead End Star System."
"At this point—"
"We already knew that spatial lockdown methods are useless against you. You possess the ability to come and go as you please."
"We searched the entire Dead End Star System but couldn't find a single planet bearing the mark of the 'Human Civilization'. This is truly marvelous. This is your civilization's territory, yet there are none of your civilization's planets here."
"I imagine you must have stored all your planets inside a 'Space Portal', correct?"
"This is not a good thing for the development of a civilization. Trying too hard to be a protective parent will not raise strong children."
"But it is understandable. In a universe fraught with danger, being a little cautious during a period of wild growth is not a bad thing."
"Out of the kindness of being fellow humans."
"The Green Mountain Civilization is willing to help the Human Civilization. You only need to submit to the Green Mountain Civilization, just like the Great Desolation Civilization did. Voluntarily restrict your technological advancement, and regularly hand over a set quota of resources, and no war will occur."
"Your civilization will continue its legacy, and you will continue to live."
"Of course."
"If, out of your own selfish desires, you are unwilling to relinquish the power you worked so hard to obtain, then it is truly a pity. Your civilization will be reduced to cosmic ash along with you. Even if you manage to flee the Dead End Star System, can the Dead End Star System itself run away?"
"We will travel to the past timeline of the Dead End Star System and destroy the entire galaxy. You should be well aware of the consequences."
"You have three months."
"Within three months, I expect to see a sincere surrender."
"After three months."
"If your sincerity is lacking, it will be the day the Human Civilization is annihilated."
-
"..."
Chen Mang looked calmly at this line of warning on the screen from the Green Mountain Civilization. After a long silence, he suddenly chuckled.
The threats hidden within this seemingly polite letter of persuasion were practically overflowing.
Very well.
But...
Unfortunately for them, as the saying goes, one must prepare for a rainy day. He had already made full preparations, and right now, none of their threats were of any use against him.
Destroy the past timeline?
The first effect of the Hell Set guaranteed that his own civilization's and his own past timelines were eternally solid, incapable of being destroyed by any means.
As long as it belonged to the Human Civilization.
Its past timeline would forever remain impregnable.
Threatening him with this?
He hadn't feared that for a long time.
The Dead End Star System being destroyed? If they wanted to destroy it, let them. The people and resources of the Dead End Star System had all been taken away by him. It was just an empty shell now, so what did it matter? The only things left were that Civilization Wonder and his sentimental attachment over the years.
But as long as the Civilization Wonder in the Dark Abyss wasn't affected, it wouldn't be an issue.
He absolutely had to preserve a Civilization Wonder.
Otherwise, advancing to a level six civilization would be a difficult task. Advancing to a level six civilization strictly required the possession of a Civilization Wonder.
He looked at the existing resources within the train.
1.5 Background Units of iron ore, which equated to 15,000 trillion units of iron ore.
It was enough.
This level six civilization was likely the very same one that had destroyed the Niya Civilization, right?
The next moment...
He took out 2,100 trillion units of iron ore and upgraded both the Prismatic-grade component Doppelganger Radar and the Prismatic-grade component Spy-7 Doppler Radar Jammer to level 1000!
And in one go, he acquired three Overlimit Effects.
-
"Spy-7 Doppler Radar Jammer Level 500 Overlimit Effect": None.
"Spy-7 Doppler Radar Jammer Level 1000 Overlimit Effect": None.
-
The radar jammer's Overlimit Effects were all 'None'.
But it didn't matter.
The most important aspect of this component was its level. Once the level was reached, whether it had an Overlimit Effect or not was harmless. With the radar jammer at this stage, any radar below level 1001 would be utterly unable to detect him; even a level 1000 radar would fail.
At the same level, a radar jammer's priority was higher than that of a radar.
-
"Doppelganger Radar Level 1000 Overlimit Effect": Counters all stealth technologies, and through quantum entanglement, can accurately predict the enemy's trajectory even at ultra-high speeds.
-
"..."
Chen Mang's eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at the train's current resources. There were 12,900 trillion units of iron ore remaining.
Not enough.
The radar's level was not enough.
When the radar reached level 1000, his radar range expanded to a staggering 10 million light-years, immediately broadening his field of vision tenfold. Originally, there were only three star systems around him, but after the radar upgrade, many more star systems and civilizations suddenly appeared.
Among them was the level six civilization, the Green Mountain Civilization, situated directly beneath the Great Desolation Civilization.
What he could be certain of now was this.
The Green Mountain Civilization definitely possessed a level 1000 Doppelganger Radar, but they shouldn't have a level 1000 radar jammer. At the very least, the fleet of trains stationed around the Dead End Star System did not.
Otherwise, he shouldn't have been able to detect them.
However, they definitely had level 500 radar jammers; otherwise, he wouldn't have completely failed to detect this batch of trains when he returned to the Dead End Star System.
Before encountering the Green Mountain Civilization, he had never been crushed in terms of information gathering. His radar's level had always been perfectly adequate.
But the Green Mountain Civilization had given him a stark reality check. All of his actions had been under their observation, yet he had remained completely ignorant of their presence. For the longest time, he hadn't dared to upgrade his radar, deeply afraid of triggering a Universe Ge Lei set by some advanced civilization.
But—
Now, he understood.
This was actually equivalent to castrating oneself.
Because of his worry about encountering something dangerous, he had actively crippled his own capabilities, causing himself to be a step behind in information warfare.
At this point, he didn't plan to hide anymore.
With the train's current strength, he felt that even if he encountered a Universe Ge Lei from an advanced civilization, if he couldn't win, he could definitely run away. At worst, he would escape to the Second Universe. No matter how incredible your advanced civilization was, could you chase him all the way into the Second Universe to hunt him down!?
The next moment...
After consuming another 5,000 trillion units of iron ore.
The Doppelganger Radar was upgraded to level 2000!
Level 1000 was not enough!
He didn't just want to be on equal footing with the enemy's information-gathering methods; he wanted to completely crush them. In a war, information was of vital importance!
And because of this, he obtained the level 2000 Overlimit Effect for the Doppelganger Radar.
This was the third component within the train to reach level 2000.
It could be considered a milestone.
They were the armor, the main cannon, and the radar.
These three items were arguably the most important things for a train, bar none.
-
"Doppelganger Radar Level 2000 Overlimit Effect": Can capture all communication traces within radar range. If the target's radar jammer is of a higher level than this radar, the capture will fail. Additionally, completely hides all spatial fluctuations caused by the train itself, including the creation of Wormholes, Chrono-Retrogression, and so on.
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"Powerful."
This was Chen Mang's first reaction.
This Overlimit Effect of the level 2000 radar was not just ordinarily powerful. Although it didn't seem as intuitively strong as the armor or the main cannon, in reality, it meant that he could hold absolute initiative in warfare and could appear anywhere without anyone noticing.
Even if he opened a Wormhole right next to the political home planet of the Green Mountain Civilization.
No one would discover him.
The universe was too massive.
Even if he were right in front of them, as long as he couldn't be detected on radar, trying to find him with the naked eye was simply a fantasy.
In other words.
Being invisible on radar was equivalent to true invisibility.
This was the effect of a level 2000 radar, a truly overpowered Overlimit Effect.
Most importantly...
"..."
Chen Mang looked at the radar screen, his breathing slightly ragged. Only after a long time did he let out a breath of relief. Following the radar's upgrade, its range had reached a staggering 100 million light-years!
An absolutely exaggerated number.
All the civilizations and star systems within a 100-million-light-year radius appeared on the radar. His Dead End Star System, along with several star systems belonging to the Green Mountain Civilization, were actually all located within the territorial borders of an advanced civilization. It was a...
Level seven civilization.
This entire 100-million-light-year expanse fell under the territory of that level seven civilization, and there was no end in sight. That level seven civilization's territory extended far beyond just 100 million light-years.
He had been terrified of triggering a Universe Ge Lei from this level seven civilization, or having his radar waves set one off. After all, he did see many advanced Universe Ge Lei planted by this level seven civilization on his radar.
However...
It seemed the level 2000 radar could not only conceal spatial fluctuations but also completely mask the pulses of its own radar scans.
Neither that level seven civilization nor those Universe Ge Lei noticed the existence of the Stellar Train at all.
Chen Mang let out a long sigh of relief.
That was good.
He still dared to tangle with a level six civilization, but a level seven civilization truly made him a bit apprehensive.
He had no idea what kind of methods a level seven civilization possessed. That would be an entirely unknown battle.
And at this moment...
The level 2000 Doppelganger Radar also captured the communication contents of the Green Mountain Civilization train fleet stationed just outside the Dead End Star System.
-
"Report! We have detected that the Stellar Train has vanished from the radar once again. Preliminary judgment is that the target has likely left the Dead End Star System."
"It matters not. Continue to hold your position in the Dead End Star System. They will come back eventually. What use is the train running away when the Dead End Star System cannot? The monk can run, but he can't take the temple with him. Within three days, they will obediently return and beg us."
"Understood!"
-
A brief exchange.
"..."
Chen Mang leaned back in his chair, lit a cigarette, and looked at the radar to calculate the cost required to create a Wormhole straight to the Green Mountain Civilization. He hadn't left the Dead End Star System at all. It was just that with the high level of his radar jammer, the enemy could no longer detect him.
Three days?
Three days was more than enough.
Enough to wipe the floor with them dozens of times over.