Chapter 363: Hear the Dao in the Morning, Die Content in the Evening |
"That makes no sense..."
Standing to the side, Lao Zhu furrowed his brows in deep confusion. "What is going on here?"
"Normally speaking, we haven't exposed an overwhelming amount of power. The Green Mountain Civilization is a sixth-rate civilization, after all. They are considered absolute overlords in this region. Yet, the moment their expeditionary army encounters some danger, they don't even bother scouting the situation? They just seal off their entire civilization and hide like turtles retreating into their shells?"
"Isn't that a bit too cautious? Or did we accidentally expose something?"
"..."
Chen Mang pondered for a moment before speaking softly. "We might have underestimated our own strength. Even though we tried our best to hold back, the fact remains that we annihilated a main army of the Green Mountain Civilization in less than ten minutes."
"That level of strength alone explains a lot."
"Most importantly—"
"Within a radius of a hundred million light-years, the Green Mountain Civilization is the only sixth-rate civilization. The other fourth and fifth-rate civilizations simply do not possess this kind of power. The only one capable of such a feat is that... seventh-rate civilization."
"From the perspective of the Green Mountain Civilization, a train belonging to that seventh-rate civilization appeared on the outskirts of the Dead End Star System and wiped out one of their armies."
"Whether they came to aid the Dead End Star System, were simply passing through, or were specifically targeting the Green Mountain Civilization."
"The Green Mountain Civilization chose to abandon their conquest of the Dead End Star System. They immediately sealed all space within their territory to ensure that the seventh-rate civilization's army or attacks could not descend upon or near their borders."
"Thinking about it from that angle, there is absolutely nothing wrong with the Green Mountain Civilization's approach."
"This Green Mountain Civilization's territory is by no means small. They control a massive expanse spanning thirty-two million light-years and seven star systems."
"Sealing off the space of such a vast territory must consume an astronomical amount of resources. The Green Mountain Civilization is truly wealthy,"
Chen Mang muttered softly, slightly amazed.
By a stroke of sheer coincidence.
The Green Mountain Civilization had actually made the most correct choice.
Even he was now completely unable to enter the interior of the Green Mountain Civilization.
The closest he could get was constructing a Wormhole about seventeen light-years away from the edge of their territory. Seventeen light-years sounded small, but without relying on Wormholes and depending solely on conventional speed...
Even with the Stellar Train's maximum speed having reached one-third the speed of light, traveling seventeen light-years would still take decades. That was not an insignificant amount of time.
It was safe to say—
Currently, no civilization could reach the Green Mountain Civilization.
At least, he couldn't do it.
Perhaps higher-level civilizations had their own advanced methods.
"Whatever."
Chen Mang glanced at the Doppelganger Radar. A flaw had appeared in his plan, causing his strategy of besieging the enemy to strike their reinforcements to fail completely. In reality, whether he spent ten minutes or an hour annihilating that army, the result would have been the same.
The Green Mountain Civilization was absolutely certain that the only entity in the universe brave enough and powerful enough to destroy their civilization's train was that seventh-rate civilization.
The moment something went wrong.
They immediately locked down their entire territory.
No hesitation whatsoever.
After spending a hundred trillion units of Iron Ore, he had created a Wormhole leading to the Great Desolation Civilization. This was a fifth-rate civilization directly subordinate to the Green Mountain Civilization, essentially acting as their lackey.
Naturally, he couldn't head to the Green Mountain Civilization for the time being.
So, he would visit this civilization first.
He just needed to wait patiently for the Green Mountain Civilization to lift their territorial lockdown. He refused to believe they could keep themselves sealed off forever.
From the AI databases stolen from those trains, he learned that the Green Mountain Civilization possessed a method to seal a region of space. This method required a constant, draining consumption of resources. The longer the seal remained, the more resources it burned through.
It was impossible for the Green Mountain Civilization to keep themselves sealed away indefinitely.
An hour later.
On a planet within the Great Desolation Civilization.
Chen Mang, accompanied by Biao Zi, Lao Zhu, and a few others, casually strolled down the streets of the planet. The Wormhole they had created generated absolutely no spatial fluctuations, which meant they could freely enter and exit other civilizations without being detected.
Just like right now.
The Great Desolation Civilization was completely oblivious to their arrival.
If they had come with fierce malice, the Great Desolation Civilization would have already been wiped out.
"Tsk."
Walking down the street, Chen Mang chuckled lightly as he looked at the radar screen on his tablet. If his guess was right, the Green Mountain Civilization was currently doing everything in their power to monitor the regions near their borders, watching for any newly opened Wormholes.
The less they found, the more terrified they would become.
After living in terror for a while, they would gradually calm down, and the seal could finally be lifted.
"Boss Mang."
Just then—
Lao Zhu, walking beside him, suddenly asked out of curiosity, "Let's assume something. If we were a seventh-rate civilization, and we had a sixth-rate civilization within our territory, no one would know when that sixth-rate civilization might suddenly advance to the seventh-rate."
"What should we do in that situation?"
"Shouldn't we wipe out this sixth-rate civilization ahead of time to eliminate the threat?"
"But why has the Green Mountain Civilization existed for so long without that seventh-rate civilization making any move against them? Given how massive the territories of those seventh-rate civilizations are, they almost certainly possess level 2000 radars. They definitely know the Green Mountain Civilization exists."
"There can only be one reason."
Before Chen Mang could respond, Lao Zhu answered his own question. "That is, for that seventh-rate civilization, they must have had something far more important to deal with all these years. The priority of this matter must far exceed wiping out a sixth-rate civilization in their territory. Furthermore, this matter must be extremely tedious, draining all of their energy and leaving them with no free hands."
"Mm."
Chen Mang nodded slightly, replying casually, "That's a strong possibility. But we have too little information right now. Guessing out of thin air won't yield much. Let's just wait patiently for the Green Mountain Civilization to lift their seal."
Ever since he upgraded the Resource Survey Radar to level 100, he hadn't leveled it up further.
Mainly because there wasn't much point to it.
The level 100 Overlimit Effect of this component was useless. The Human Civilization no longer needed to scout individual mines; they directly surveyed Ore Stars. And locating Ore Stars didn't require the Resource Survey Radar—the Doppelganger Radar was more than capable of doing that.
This component hadn't been used for a very long time.
However—
For this exact component, which had essentially been phased out by the changing times, Xiao Ai had just informed him that Qi Ke Xiu's team had successfully researched its Primordial Blueprint.
Not bad.
Chen Mang nodded in deep satisfaction.
Although the component was obsolete, it was still a green-grade item. This marked another breakthrough for the R&D center. Over time, they would eventually be able to research the Primordial Blueprints for prismatic components.
With his ability to infinitely re-roll, the higher the grade of the Primordial Blueprint, the more valuable it was to him.
Right at that moment!
"Hm?"
Chen Mang raised an eyebrow, looking down at the tablet Xiao Ai had handed him. It was a pleasant little surprise.
A few days ago.
Qi Ke Xiu had developed the Primordial Blueprints for the Refrigerator and eight other components. Aside from the Refrigerator, which miraculously landed a Universe-Unique OP Effect on the very first try, the other blueprints had been constantly re-rolling over the past few days.
His goal was to stop re-rolling only when he secured a Universe-Unique OP Effect.
After all, the train already had a perfectly good set of these components equipped. It was just that their current Overlimit Effects had been determined by the Mechanical Civilization. He didn't desperately need these new components to have game-changing, fate-defying effects; simply having something unique was the best outcome.
And now—
He had finally rolled another Universe-Unique OP Effect.
However...
The component was the Moldy Bread Slice Production Line.
-
"Simulation #239,293 complete. The Overlimit Effects generated by this Universal Empowerment are as follows!"
"Moldy Bread Slice Production Line Level 5 Overlimit Effect": Can produce fresh bread.
"Moldy Bread Slice Production Line Level 10 Overlimit Effect": Bread contains jam filling.
"Moldy Bread Slice Production Line Level 20 Overlimit Effect": Eating just one slice ensures the consumer will not go hungry for a week.
"Moldy Bread Slice Production Line Level 50 Overlimit Effect": Consumption grants a minor boost to memory.
"Moldy Bread Slice Production Line Level 100 Overlimit Effect": Consumption grants a major boost to physical constitution.
"Moldy Bread Slice Production Line Level 200 Overlimit Effect": Consumption drastically enhances overall physical capabilities.
"Moldy Bread Slice Production Line Level 500 Overlimit Effect": Consumption grants a random racial talent from any species in the universe. The talent can be removed but not replaced. Each person can only receive this effect once.
"Moldy Bread Slice Production Line Level 1000 Overlimit Effect": Consumption guarantees that if the user dies within twenty-four hours, their soul will remain completely intact regardless of the cause of death.
"Moldy Bread Slice Production Line Level 2000 Overlimit Effect": Consumption allows the user to randomly pull one inanimate object from tens of thousands of their future timelines. Each person can only use this effect once.
(PS: In this simulation process, the level 200, 500, 1000, and 2000 Overlimit Effects are unique Overlimit Effects, meaning they are Universe-Unique.)
(Once all unique Overlimit Effects are confirmed and saved, no other civilization will be able to roll these effects again. Furthermore, upon saving, the host civilization will be permanently unable to re-roll this component's Universal Empowerment.)
"Save or Re-roll?"
-
In this long list on the interface.
The text for the final four Overlimit Effects was bathed in a radiant, prismatic glow, looking exceptionally gorgeous!
Levels 200, 500, 1000, and 2000!
These four Overlimit Effects, each capable of triggering a qualitative transformation, were all Universe-Unique OP Effects!
Four Universe-Unique OP Effects in a row.
"..."
Chen Mang stood frozen, utterly dumbfounded. Xiao Ai had initially only mentioned rolling a Universe-Unique OP Effect, but she never said there were four of them! He had rolled over two hundred thousand times without seeing a single one, only to hit the jackpot and land four at once?
His expression right now was incredibly complex.
Even slightly contorted.
On one hand, all four of these Overlimit Effects were fantastic. No matter how you looked at it, they were incredible assets.
But...
On the other hand, it made his heart ache. Luck was a finite resource. Now that he had burned it all to land four unique Overlimit Effects on a single component, it was highly probable he would never experience a windfall like this again.
If only this Quad-Unique attribute had landed on the Armor or the Light Cannon! How amazing would that have been!
Wasting it on a Moldy Bread Slice Production Line was such a shame!
A massive waste!
What a total fucking waste!
Chen Mang took a deep breath, immediately leading Biao Zi and the others back to the train at top speed. With a heavy heart, he forged the component.
After consuming two hundred trillion units of Iron Ore, he upgraded the component straight to level 2000 in one go. After all, it was only a white-grade item, so it didn't burn through an excessive amount of resources.
This became the fifth level 2000 component aboard the train.
Upgrading the component wasn't overly expensive, but the cost of producing the bread certainly was. Baking a single level 200 bread slice required two hundred thousand units of Iron Ore.
It was understandable.
After all, the level 200 bread provided a massive boost to physical constitution. A mere two hundred thousand units was an absolute steal. It was so cost-effective that he could feasibly distribute one to every single person on Water Blue Star, granting the entire civilization a dramatic physical enhancement.
This wasn't just a boost in raw strength, but an overall upgrade to one's biology—increased speed, stronger immunity, faster wound regeneration, disease resistance, higher stress tolerance, and more.
Producing a level 500 bread required two hundred million units of Iron Ore.
The price had multiplied by an astronomical margin.
But it was justifiable.
After all, it could grant a person a racial talent. Humans intrinsically possessed zero racial talents; it was something a species was either born with or lacked entirely. Gaining one was tantamount to defying fate itself. In that light, two hundred million units of Iron Ore wasn't expensive at all.
Baking a level 1000 bread cost twenty billion units of Iron Ore.
Also perfectly reasonable.
This was basically a miraculous life-saving elixir. Even in the face of a universal Big Bang, it guaranteed you would safely and undeniably transition into the Second Universe to live a second life. The price tag was undeniably appropriate.
Producing a level 2000 bread required two trillion units of Iron Ore.
Now, this price was a bit steep.
Being able to randomly extract an inanimate object from the future was a complete wildcard. It could be incredibly powerful or utterly useless; no one knew what it would pull back.
"..."
Chen Mang stared blankly at the four pieces of bread in his hands. After a brief pause, he popped the level 200 bread, worth two hundred thousand Iron Ore, into his mouth.
He nodded in approval as he chewed slowly.
He had to admit...
For a piece of bread worth two hundred thousand units of ore, both its texture and flavor were absolutely flawless. Even without the magical effects, it would still qualify as exquisite cuisine.
As the bread settled in his stomach.
He could palpably feel his overall physical capabilities surging. He didn't have an Iris Chip implanted, otherwise he could have tracked these changes with crystal-clear data metrics. The level 200 bread could also only be consumed effectively once.
Only the first bite carried the effect. Any subsequent consumption would simply be a culinary delight with no special bonuses.
Immediately after.
He shoved the second piece—the level 500 bread worth two hundred million Iron Ore—into his mouth.
Soon—
A notification panel flickered across the screen.
-
"You have consumed a Level 500 Moldy Bread Slice. You will gain a random racial talent from the countless species across the universe. Drawing in progress."
"Please wait patiently."
"Estimated time required: 24 hours."
-
Chen Mang gave a small nod, feeling no rush. Even if he wasn't satisfied with the random racial talent—if it turned out to be detrimental rather than beneficial—he could just remove it. The only downside was that he wouldn't be able to obtain another racial talent afterwards.
He figured his luck couldn't possibly be that rotten.
Any decent, usable talent would do; it was an upgrade regardless. Worse comes to worst, even a Gopher racial talent would be acceptable. Nothing was truly off the table.
This process required waiting.
He wasn't in a hurry.
This was the true value of a Universe-Unique OP Effect!
His fondness for the Universe-Unique OP Effect wasn't solely due to its exclusivity. After all, this uniqueness was restricted to his civilization alone; it wasn't absolute across all existence.
Even if he locked away this Primordial Blueprint and refused to duplicate any copies of it.
If someone within the Human Civilization independently researched the blueprint for the Moldy Bread Slice Production Line in the future, the Overlimit Effect they would receive would mirror his exact roll. It could not be changed or re-rolled.
The primary reason he prized them was—
The "Universe-Unique OP Effect" was inherently overpowered to the extreme. The effect itself was absurdly strong; the unique label was merely an added bonus, not the main attraction.
Finally, Chen Mang popped the bread worth two trillion units of Iron Ore into his mouth.
This was the most expensive slice.
As for the level 1000 bread, there was no need to eat it just yet. He only baked it to keep as a failsafe.
To be completely honest.
The shape and taste of all four levels of bread were practically identical. There was nothing particularly outstanding about them aesthetically.
In fact...
He felt the level 2000 Overlimit Effect fell short compared to the previous tiers. It sounded far too abstract. Plucking a random inanimate object from the future? Who knew what it would be. It could easily be a wad of used toilet paper or a discarded cigarette butt.
The variance was just too high.
For instance, dozens of seconds had already passed.
He didn't feel a thing. It was as if absolutely nothing had happened.
Sitting inside the train, Chen Mang scanned his surroundings. Nothing had changed. No new objects had suddenly materialized out of thin air. It felt as though he had merely eaten a perfectly ordinary piece of bread.
However, right at that moment—
"Beep beep beep!!!"
A piercing alarm suddenly blared through the train.
He immediately checked the source of the alarm.
The Doppelganger Radar was warning him that something utterly massive had appeared just inches away from the train. He instinctively looked outside, only to see a colossal entity—something comparable to a planet in size—hovering directly above the Stellar Train parked on the outskirts.
It was none other than...
Exactly...
The Palace!!!
That damned level 2000 bread had randomly summoned an inanimate object from his future timeline, and it was the fucking Palace!
Without a split-second of hesitation.
His face drained of all color as he desperately shoved the level 1000 bread into his mouth at lightning speed. This item guaranteed that no matter what catastrophic event unfolded next, his soul would remain perfectly intact upon entering the Second Universe!
It was over!
Everything was completely doomed!
He would have gladly accepted a piece of used toilet paper over this blasted monstrosity!
When the Present State and Past State of a Cosmic Taboo Item collided, an apocalyptic explosion would occur. The larger the mass of the object, the more catastrophic the blast. An explosion caused by the collision of the Past and Present States of something as unimaginably huge as The Palace would be universe-shattering!
Right now, The Palace he had stolen from the Naomi Civilization was sitting inside his train.
Fearing exactly this sort of scenario, he had explicitly ordered Doba and the others to halt all construction on their version of The Palace.
He never expected...
He never expected that he would still run into this very disaster.
God fucking damn it!
However...
Several seconds passed, and absolutely nothing happened.
Chen Mang slowly regained his composure. He tentatively pushed the control stick to generate a Wormhole and quickly escape. Perhaps because the Palace inside his train was stored within the Space Portal, the two entities couldn't sense each other?
But right then—
Xiao Ai's voice chimed through the train.
"Captain, I am not detecting any traces of temporal displacement from the Palace above us. This means it is not a Cosmic Taboo Item."
"Not a Cosmic Taboo Item?"
"Correct. After all, you pulled it directly from the future. It never passed through a Time Fissure. The primary requirement for an object to become a Cosmic Taboo Item is transiting through a Time Fissure. Even if it physically touches the Palace stored inside the train, it will not trigger an explosion."
"Hmm?"
Chen Mang's brow furrowed, but before he could voice his thoughts.
Xiao Ai continued her explanation.
"Regarding a Cosmic Taboo Item, once it passes through a Time Fissure and returns to the past, the version residing in the past becomes the 'Past State'."
"When the object is first manufactured on its own original timeline, it is known as the 'Present State'."
"As is well known—"
"The Past State and Present State will only encounter each other under extraordinarily rare circumstances, resulting in an explosive collision."
"Meanwhile, the object residing in the future timeline—before the exact moment it passes through a Time Fissure to return to the past—is known as the 'Future State'."
"Theoretically speaking."
"It is virtually impossible for all three states of a single object to exist simultaneously on the exact same timeline. The probability of this occurring is even lower than the probability of the Big Bang spontaneously giving birth to life."
"However—"
"You are incredibly fortunate, Captain. Right now, you successfully possess both the Past State and the Future State of The Palace. Once Doba and his team finish constructing their version, you will successfully hold the Past State, Future State, and Present State—all three distinct incarnations of The Palace."
"This is an achievement that eludes even the most powerful god-tier civilizations."
"Are there any benefits to this?"
"That remains unclear. Most likely, there are no practical benefits whatsoever."
"Then what's the point of it?"
"There isn't any real use. It is simply unimaginably rare. If you so desired, Captain, The Palace could undoubtedly become the most dazzling, eye-catching collectible in the entire universe."
"..."
"What a headache..."
Chen Mang let out a long sigh, gently massaging his temples. Truthfully, he had never even considered such a scenario, yet he had inexplicably managed to gather all three states of The Palace.
This was truly...
Completely absurd!
The good news was that the convergence of the Future State and Past State wouldn't trigger a detonation.
"Didn't you absorb the databases of all the AIs that perished within a hundred-million-light-year radius recently? Was there no mention of what happens when these three states collide?"
"Not a single mention."
"Ask Qi Ya."
After a brief moment, Xiao Ai spoke up again. "Qi Ya claims she has absolutely no knowledge of this either. However, Captain, the Human Civilization has an old proverb: true knowledge comes from practice. Why don't we..."
"Alright, you can shut up now."
Chen Mang waved his hand dismissively in exasperation. "If a practice like that goes wrong, both you and I will end up buried alongside it."
"If one hears the Dao in the morning..."
"Stop right there. This isn't 'Hear the Dao in the morning, die content in the evening'. This is 'Hear the Dao in the morning, die violently in the morning'."
"We'll wait until we wipe out the Green Mountain Civilization to see if their database holds any relevant information."