Chapter 376: "You Even Want to Eat Your Own Mother." |
"A level-six civilization."
Chen Mang narrowed his eyes slightly. It was equivalent to the Green Mountain Civilization. Moreover, Xiao Lu's mother was not weak by any means, yet this civilization had the power to kill her just by dispatching a single train fleet. This level-six civilization could be considered relatively strong among its peers.
"Find a viable warp coordinate ahead of Xiao Lu's mother and prepare to open a wormhole."
"Understood!"
Naturally, he had to save her.
At the same time, he could test the waters by firing a level-5000 Akhenaten Light Energy Main Cannon blast, satisfying the conditions for civilization ascension.
His Wormhole Generator was at level 2000.
The maximum span of a wormhole it could create was one hundred million light-years. With just two transits, he could reach the vicinity of Xiao Lu's mother.
After consuming 1.44 Background Units of iron ore.
When the train slowly emerged from the wormhole, they were already close to Xiao Lu's mother. With just the naked eye, he could clearly see a colossal behemoth that almost filled his entire field of vision, traveling through the universe at an extreme speed.
Although that speed was incredibly fast, it definitely had not reached the speed of light.
The immense gravity tore space apart, allowing her to advance by continuously shuttling through fragmented space, thereby achieving a speed far exceeding the speed of light.
He had seen this method before.
The Universe Ge Lei he encountered in the past was just like this.
Meanwhile, the train fleet following closely behind was continuously constructing wormholes to stay hot on her tail.
The extremely massive volume of Xiao Lu's mother, coupled with her ultra-high speed, created a gravitational pull that almost shredded all surrounding space. Any stars and planets encountered along the way were instantly torn apart.
The biggest victims of this pursuit were actually those unfortunate civilizations. Without offending anyone in the slightest, their civilizations were inexplicably annihilated.
And at the same time...
Xiao Lu, who was inside the train, seemed to sense something. Its eyes instantly lit up, and it looked out the window with eager anticipation.
Chen Mang was all too familiar with this look; it was a craving for food.
A Star Devouring Beast's main diet was not planets, but rather giant space beasts. Only a giant space beast of this size could satisfy Xiao Lu's appetite.
However...
"You're truly deranged."
"You even want to eat your own mother."
Chen Mang looked at the eager Xiao Lu with a sigh. The beast showed absolutely no excitement at seeing its mother, only the ravenous desire of seeing a satisfying meal.
But soon after.
Xiao Lu sniffed the air, and the hunger in its eyes instantly vanished. It was replaced by anxiety and restlessness, and it began continuously rubbing its head against Chen Mang's pant leg.
"Tsk."
"Now you know to panic?"
Chen Mang sighed helplessly, then leaned back in his chair. Gazing at the train fleet that had already been locked on by the Doppler Radar, he said casually, "Tell Xiao Lu's mother to move out of the way."
The next moment...
The Akhenaten Light Energy Main Cannon atop the Stellar Train began to slowly gather energy, its intensity set to level 5000!
The iron ore stockpiled within the train began to deplete rapidly.
Just this single shot consumed 10 Background Units of iron ore from the train's reserves.
"Captain, I can actually hack into these trains directly and take complete control over them."
"No need."
Chen Mang shook his head and said, "We still need to satisfy the civilization ascension conditions."
Without further delay, he pressed the red button on the control console!
"Boom!"
The universe was silent, but the sound seemed to echo deafeningly in his mind.
A searing, crimson pillar of light shot out toward the space behind Xiao Lu's mother, resembling a dimensional strike from a higher-dimensional civilization against a lower-dimensional one. At the exact same time, Xiao Lu's mother shrank her massive form, becoming as small as Xiao Lu, and narrowly dodged the attack.
In the blink of an eye, the attack reached the train fleet tailing right behind her.
Their energy shields activated immediately, only to be torn apart in an instant.
Right before reaching the target, the beam of light fired by the level-5000 Akhenaten Light Energy Main Cannon morphed into a terrifying pitch-black black hole that obliterated everything in its vicinity. The fleet of trains was destroyed without nearly any means of resistance.
Extremely simple.
Extremely brutal.
An absolute crush in sheer statistics.
Fifteen minutes later.
Sitting inside the cabin of the Stellar Train, Chen Mang looked down at the two round, green little balls on the floor. One was smaller, and the other was larger. The smaller one was Xiao Lu, and the larger one was its mother.
Neither could speak.
At this moment, the larger green ball was continuously rubbing its body against Xiao Lu. Although it had no facial expressions, he could feel its deep, soul-stirring joy and excitement.
Xiao Lu was a bit at a loss at first, but gradually sensing the aura full of maternal love, it leaned in to accept the affection.
"This is nice."
Sitting in his chair, Chen Mang watched the scene unfold. It was a perfect ending for Xiao Lu to finally reunite with its long-lost mother at the end of the story, and for this mother to finally find her child.
It was just quite a tragedy for others.
During her search for her child over the years, who knows how many civilizations were buried alongside her desperate hunt.
"Xiao Ai, can you communicate with Xiao Lu's mother?"
"Not exactly communication, but more of a deep spiritual exchange. I can only convey simple information, such as showing goodwill, letting her know we mean no harm, or asking her to step aside. I can't transmit overly complex commands, and even if I could, she wouldn't understand them."
"The intelligence of giant space beasts is still somewhat lower than that of humans."
"Hmm."
Chen Mang nodded. "From now on, Xiao Lu's mother is also a member of the train. Have Xiao Lu teach her the rules of the train. The most important rule of all is that she cannot transform randomly while inside."
Up until now.
Xiao Lu had never transformed inside the train.
So he was actually quite curious.
His train's armor was absolutely indestructible. It possessed Absolute Defense not only against external threats but internal ones as well. If Xiao Lu or its mother transformed into their feeding forms inside his train, expanding to 0.1 light-years in width in an instant...
His train definitely wouldn't explode.
Then...
Only they would explode.
That would also be a tragedy.
"Understood."
"By the way, ask her how she lost her child in the first place. It wasn't an egg; it had already hatched. How could it inexplicably go missing? And where did the father run off to?"
"Will do."
The matter was perfectly resolved just like that.
The Stellar Train gained another giant space beast.
Xiao Lu gained a mother.
Xiao Lu's mother showed absolutely no resistance to joining the Stellar Train. After all, her child was here, and her child liked it here very much, among other reasons. Of course, the most important reason was that she had witnessed the power of the Stellar Train with her own eyes. She wouldn't dare defy it in the slightest.
Although giant space beasts possessed lower intelligence, they clearly understood one thing: the strong could not be defied.
"..."
Chen Mang sat in the train cabin and gazed at the boundaries of the universe. At this moment, apart from the 400 billion light-year observable universe itself, the total diameter of the entire universe was 1.928 trillion light-years. But before he could observe it further, it shifted to 293.9 billion light-years.
The numerical values of the higher-dimensional universe outside the main universe were simply too chaotic, utterly random, and uncontrollably erratic.
Whenever he had free time...
He liked to pay attention to the changes in the higher-dimensional universe.
He felt that...
The actual changes in the higher-dimensional universe might not look like this at all. It was just that trying to represent it using three-dimensional data resulted in a scene of severely chaotic numbers. One day, he definitely had to go and see it for himself.
To see exactly what the higher-dimensional universe outside the main universe looked like.
And then to pass through the higher-dimensional universe to see what lay beyond it.
He now understood why not a single civilization had ever left the universe. Even if their speed reached the speed of light and surpassed the rate of the universe's expansion, it was meaningless. The higher-dimensional space enveloping the main universe was like an eggshell, firmly protecting the universe within it and making it nearly impossible to break through.
Out there...
Time and space lost all meaning, shifting and changing at will.
"Phew..."
He let out a long breath and retracted his gaze from the radar screen, looking instead at the information displayed on the control console.
After he fired that shot just now.
Several panels popped up in succession on the screen.
-
"Human Civilization has met the ascension conditions and is automatically ascending."
"The range of this Ascension Ripple is ten billion light-years."
"All living beings within level-one civilizations and above will receive this Ascension Ripple in their own ways."
"The transmission speed of the Ascension Ripple is the speed of light."
-
"The level-six civilization 'Human Civilization' has successfully ascended to a level-seven civilization."
-
At this moment!
Human Civilization officially ascended to a level-seven civilization!
It had formally joined the ranks of the universe's top-tier civilizations, essentially acquiring a ticket to become a god-tier civilization. From this moment on, his civilization had only one goal: to become a god-tier civilization.
Under the obstruction of other civilizations.
The resources and territories in the universe had already been entirely carved up.
There was no new territory left for him to occupy.
If he wanted to become a god-tier civilization, he would have to drag an existing one down from its throne.
Through the "Doppler Radar," he could see the distribution of all factions across the entire universe. Of course, he didn't have the free time to examine the distribution of every single civilization; he focused mainly on the god-tier and level-nine civilizations.
In a certain corner of the universe.
A level-nine civilization named "Starry Sky Civilization" was engaging in a final decisive battle with a god-tier civilization. Furthermore, all the surrounding god-tier civilizations were lending their aid to this defending god-tier civilization.
The battle was extremely fierce.
Light cannons flew across the sky in overwhelming numbers.
Two-Way Foils were tossed around casually, unfolding like oil paintings.
It was a scene of utter chaos and devastation.
They fought until the heavens and earth turned dark.
That "Starry Sky Civilization" actually had some history with him. It was the main branch to which the "Rugged Civilization" had returned. This was the core civilization of the Star Arrow Clan, and right now, they were pouring out all their foundational strength to launch an all-out assault against the "god-tier civilization"!
If they succeeded, they would become a god-tier civilization!
If they failed, they would die without a burial place!
The surrounding god-tier civilizations tacitly deployed troops to support the defending god-tier civilization. In a sense, it was a one-versus-many battle.
The difficulty of ascending to a god-tier civilization was truly staggering.
It was worth mentioning that...
Only groups like the "Star Arrow Clan" or Cultivation civilizations could use a "Bloodline Wormhole" to gather all their clansmen together and rapidly expand their forces. If it were a train-based civilization, even if they managed to bring in a massive number of clansmen through a Bloodline Wormhole, it would be useless since they couldn't bring their resources with them.
Only those civilizations that concentrated almighty power within their own bodies could use this method to drastically increase their civilization's strength in a short period.
However...
When this method was employed, it essentially marked a final, desperate stand, completely exhausting the clan's foundations. Once defeated, the entire race would be practically erased from the universe. Let alone rising again in the future, the race wouldn't even exist anymore—an absolute and thorough extermination.
The risk was astronomically high.
It was a true all-or-nothing gamble.
In the short term, it was impossible to tell who would have the last laugh. A civilization war of this magnitude would not end quickly.
"The battlefield of god-tier civilizations is still the most exciting."
Chen Mang's hands itched as he watched. He really wanted to join the fray, but he wasn't strong enough yet. At the very least, he wasn't absolutely invincible. After developing for a bit longer, he would practically be truly peerless!
When that time came, he could officially step onto the grand stage.
Another panel slowly surfaced on the screen.
-
"Civilization Name": Human Civilization.
"Civilization Level": Level 7.
"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": 61 trillion people.
"Ascension Conditions": Maximum attack energy range exceeds 500,000.
"P.S.: Upgrading to a level-two civilization and every subsequent ascension will release an 'Ascension Ripple' that can be detected by all surrounding civilizations. The higher the level, the wider the range of the released 'Ascension Ripple'."
"Civilization Perks": The generation speed and capacity of resource mines such as Murphy Stone mines, iron mines, and copper mines are doubled; their generation probability is doubled; the birth probability of special items is doubled.
-
This was the new Human Civilization panel.
The conditions for ascending to a level-eight civilization were remarkably simple. There were not even any restrictions on territory or the number of Civilization Wonders. The only requirement was the limit on maximum attack energy. In other words, as long as one possessed a level-5000 Akhenaten Light Energy Main Cannon, they could ascend to a level-eight civilization.
The condition for ascending to a level-seven civilization had been a level-3000 Akhenaten Light Energy Main Cannon.
The perk of a level-eight civilization was resource-based.
It could help a civilization acquire more resources during its development.
This wasn't important.
It merely belonged to developmental aids.
What was truly important was...
The shot he had fired just now to rescue Xiao Lu's mother was a blast from a level-5000 Akhenaten Light Energy Main Cannon, not a level-3000 one...
Therefore.
Several more panels slowly emerged on the train's control console screen.
-
"Human Civilization has met the ascension conditions and is automatically ascending."
"The range of this Ascension Ripple is one hundred billion light-years."
"All living beings within level-one civilizations and above will receive this Ascension Ripple in their own ways."
"The transmission speed of the Ascension Ripple is the speed of light."
-
"The level-seven civilization 'Human Civilization' has successfully ascended to a level-eight civilization."
-
Yes.
Human Civilization had successfully completed a double leap in ascension, vaulting from a level-six civilization straight to a level-eight civilization in a single breath.
This was a civilization upgrade!
The speed was even faster than when he had upgraded the train in the past.
It was extremely absurd.
"..."
Chen Mang rubbed his nose and muttered softly, "We're a level-eight civilization just like that? By the way, Xiao Ai, apart from raw power, is there a single aspect of our civilization that resembles a level-eight civilization?"
"We've developed so fast that even I feel a little unaccustomed to it..."