Chapter 837: Finally Waited for You |
Sometimes, just a single sentence can reveal a great deal of information, just like the sentence the Microscopic Civilization had just spoken, “Xiao Yu, how are you still alive!”
First, from this sentence it could be inferred that the Microscopic Civilization seemed to think Xiao Yu was already dead, that Xiao Yu should no longer exist in this universe at this moment, and that was why the Microscopic Civilization had come here.
Second, extending from the first inference, another question followed, “Why would the Microscopic Civilization think Xiao Yu should already be dead? What reason is there for thinking so?”
It was almost like lightning that Xiao Yu recalled the situation he was now facing. After he left, the Milky Way underwent a time reversal phenomenon, and after he left, the Andromeda Galaxy also underwent a time reversal phenomenon.
These two things, which originally did not seem particularly related, were now linked together by this one sentence from the Microscopic Civilization. Xiao Yu could not help but arrive at a terrifying conclusion, “These time reversal incidents really were directed at me. And the Microscopic Civilization definitely knows some of the inside story, otherwise they would not be this shocked. The final purpose of these time reversal incidents was to kill me.”
But… this seemed to lead to another contradiction. If some civilization, or existence, had the ability to reverse the time of an entire galaxy, then why did they not simply come out and kill him directly? Before an existence that wielded such boundless power, even though Xiao Yu was now a Level 7 Civilization, he would still have absolutely no ability to resist. Trying to kill him by reversing the time of an entire galaxy was like using the most advanced anti-aircraft cannon to swat a mosquito. It was far too excessive. Even Xiao Yu had to admit that using this method against him was truly wasteful.
But after experiencing the white dwarf Alien Beast incident, Xiao Yu had already understood that nothing was absolute. That white dwarf Alien Beast back then had been so powerful. No matter how one looked at it, there seemed to be no basis for thinking it harbored malice toward him, yet it really had been malicious. The true reason was that it had been trapped on the white dwarf for some reason, and so it had no choice but to deal with him through deception.
If the white dwarf Alien Beast could be like that, then this unknown existence naturally could be the same. Perhaps Xiao Yu felt that using time reversal to destroy him was excessive, but perhaps that unknown existence was also subject to some sort of limitation, which was why it had no choice but to use this method. Who could really say for sure?
“But why didn’t I die? Why, after that unknown existence launched such a vast offensive, am I still alive?” Xiao Yu suddenly felt a chill all over his body. He keenly sensed something ominous. Roughly speaking, the Milky Way had undergone the time reversal incident less than two thousand years after Xiao Yu left. And if calculated according to normal time, Xiao Yu at that point should still have been just a little short of breaking through to the Level 7 Civilization stage. In other words, Xiao Yu should still have been in the Milky Way. If that had been the case, the time reversal of the entire Milky Way would absolutely have swept Xiao Yu into an unstoppable torrent and torn him to pieces.
“Now that I think about it, that Star Gate is extremely suspicious…” Xiao Yu’s thoughts raced through his mind. “If there had been no Star Gate, then I would have had to remain in the Milky Way for at least another two thousand years to develop into a Level 7 Civilization. Then I would have needed at least another one thousand years to put Level 7 Civilization technology into practical use and manufacture large numbers of ships and warships. In other words, I would have needed three thousand years before I could set out on a long voyage. And if things had really developed that way, then I would have died before I ever left the Milky Way. And… the supernova explosion in the Milky Way that I detected in the Andromeda Galaxy also seems a little suspicious. One must know that the power of a supernova explosion bursts out along the poles of the exploding star. Across the entire universe, on average, several supernova explosions align their poles toward me every day, but there are no fewer than one hundred billion galaxies in the universe. Only when those countless galaxies are all added together does the frequency reach several times a day, so how could it just happen to be a supernova explosion in the Milky Way that I noticed? Moreover, my records of supernova explosions in the Milky Way’s history are incomplete. Why was it that the supernova explosion in the Milky Way I happened to notice was precisely one of the ones I had recorded?”
At this moment, aside from the Star Gate, Xiao Yu noticed yet another suspicious point. He had inadvertently overlooked this point earlier, and only now, because he had become aware of the Star Gate’s strangeness, did he remember this clue.
Xiao Yu would not forget that it was precisely because he noticed that supernova explosion in the Milky Way that he conceived the idea of coming back to the Milky Way to investigate. And it was precisely because of that that he happened to evade the harm caused to him by the Andromeda Galaxy’s time reversal.
Gradually, a complete line of inference appeared in Xiao Yu’s mind.
First, somewhere in this universe, there were two great existences paying attention to him. One was hostile toward him, while the other was benevolent. These two powerful existences might be in an antagonistic state, each restricted by certain limitations, so neither the hostile existence nor the benevolent existence could use conventional methods either to deal with him or to help him. Then one day, the hostile existence found an opportunity and tried to destroy him through time reversal, but the benevolent existence detected it. So this benevolent existence left a Star Gate in the Milky Way and guided Xiao Yu to discover it.
Thus, he departed the Milky Way by way of the Star Gate and escaped that calamity. After becoming a Level 7 Civilization in the Andromeda Galaxy, perhaps the hostile existence discovered that he had not died, and so prepared another killing move. It tried to kill him by once again triggering a time reversal, this time in the Andromeda Galaxy. But this attempt was once again discovered in advance by the benevolent existence. So this benevolent existence created a supernova explosion in the Milky Way and used that method to warn him, causing him to leave the Andromeda Galaxy ahead of time and once again avoid disaster…
When that hostile existence acted against the Andromeda Galaxy, it very likely concealed from Xiao Yu the changes in the Milky Way. Otherwise, there would have been no reason for him to detect the Milky Way’s changes only after the supernova explosion. No matter how one looked at it, the whole matter carried a strong sense of artificial manipulation.
Xiao Yu did not know whether his guess was right or wrong. Xiao Yu knew only one thing, that this guess could reasonably explain the situation he had encountered, except for one point…
“What was that message I suddenly received when I arrived in the Andromeda Galaxy? Why was I inexplicably appointed as a Sweeper? And what does that mean? Or was appointing me as a Sweeper merely an attempt to delay me in the Andromeda Galaxy long enough to give that hostile existence sufficient time to trigger a galaxy-wide time reversal?”
“Could this hostile existence be the Guardian of the Way of this universe, the invigilator? Could this benevolent existence be Chen Mo? Could this be yet another struggle between the invigilator and Chen Mo, while I merely happened to be a… chess piece caught in the middle of it?”
After the Microscopic Civilization spoke that sentence, in less than one ten-millionth of a second, tens of millions of thoughts flashed through Xiao Yu’s mind, and he rapidly made many inferences. “Xiao Yu! How are you still alive!” This sentence was extremely crucial. It was like a sudden bolt of lightning, giving Xiao Yu a feeling of clouds parting to reveal the sun.
Xiao Yu still could not confirm whether his guess was correct, but he knew that the Microscopic Civilization definitely possessed much information he very much wanted to know. Though Xiao Yu was only an initial Level 7 Civilization, he was war-related. Though the Microscopic Civilization was an advanced Level 7 Civilization, it was non-war-related. And Xiao Yu had once deduced that for non-war-related Level 7 Civilizations, the more advanced their civilization’s technology, the weaker their combat power became.
So Xiao Yu felt no fear of the Microscopic Civilization at all. Thus, even though Xiao Yu currently had only an exploration fleet, Xiao Yu still chose to strike without hesitation. The instant after the Microscopic Civilization sent that sentence, Xiao Yu, having finished his thinking, had already decided on his next move. The space around the Microscopic Civilization suddenly twisted in a strange way, as if it had become a maze. And as the maze gradually took shape, Xiao Yu successfully trapped the Microscopic Civilization inside.
This was a distorted space similar to the interior of a Level 7 Civilization warship. Although the Microscopic Civilization was also a Level 7 Civilization and also possessed a deep understanding of space, once this maze had been formed, the focus of comparison between the two sides was no longer space itself, but the contrast in computational speed. The Microscopic Civilization needed to calculate a path out as quickly as possible, while Xiao Yu needed to keep changing the spatial structure to obstruct the Microscopic Civilization’s actions.
“It is not so easy to kill me.” Xiao Yu sneered as he sent this message to the Microscopic Civilization, and in this message he employed a little trick, “I have already been waiting here for you for several decades. I have finally waited for you…”