Chapter 904: Another Quasar |
This was a very dangerous place. If he continued staying here, even Xiao Yu’s fleet might suffer accidents. The most violent forces in the universe seemed all concentrated here, where they could recklessly display their brutality and power. This was a special existence formed by the natural laws of the universe. Intelligent beings were better off staying far away from it.
Yet in such a harsh environment, Xiao Yu remained here for nearly a year. Only after obtaining a vast amount of observational data did he set out on the journey away from this place. Observing a quasar at close range was an extremely precious experience. It would greatly improve Xiao Yu’s theory of cosmic evolution.
For this one year of observation time, Xiao Yu also paid an enormous price. Of the tens of billions of warships, spaceships, and various other flying instruments in his possession, at least about five percent were destroyed over the course of this year due to various accidents, either struck by energy eruptions or smashed by all kinds of violent celestial bodies. The component damage rate of his other warships during this period also surged by more than a thousand times. In other words, a certain component that could normally be used for one thousand years would break after only one year in this environment.
This showed just how harsh the environment here was. And this was with a Level 7 Civilization spacecraft. If it had been a Level 6 Civilization fleet, it probably would not have been able to remain here even for a short while before being directly destroyed by the violent energy.
Because space was too unstable, carrying out curvature flight here was extremely dangerous, so even Xiao Yu had to be careful and focus all his attention on controlling his spacecraft, not daring to relax in the slightest. Any moment of carelessness could lead to the destruction of even a large Planet-Class or Star-Class spacecraft. As the distance from this quasar grew greater and greater, space gradually became stable again, and Xiao Yu could not help but secretly let out a sigh of relief.
The quasar was too powerful. During this one year of close observation, Xiao Yu had been tense at all times, prepared to deal with any sudden situation. Fortunately, however, no major accidents had occurred during this period. If a few small spacecraft or instruments were destroyed, then so be it. For Xiao Yu, that was nothing.
“I’ll go to its companion galaxy. I’ll rest there a little and replenish supplies. Then it will be time to continue my journey.” Xiao Yu thought silently to himself as he gradually moved farther away from this place.
Once the violent quasar behind him was ignored, the vast and tranquil cosmic starry sky appeared before Xiao Yu once more. It was quiet, mysterious, and profound. In the endless flow of time, it seemed that no one had ever set foot here before. Even Xiao Yu, who had arrived here now, was merely a hasty passerby. Tranquility was eternal, while noise was only temporary.
Xiao Yu’s mind gradually calmed down as well, and he began to devote himself completely to feeling this peace. But very soon, Xiao Yu could no longer remain calm, because he observed something abnormal.
But for some reason, Xiao Yu observed that while space had become more and more stable as he moved farther away from the quasar, it actually began fluctuating again.
Not only had space become abnormal, Xiao Yu observed that various other signs had also started becoming abnormal. For example, the positions of distant galaxies seemed displaced in his observations, the dosage of various radiation began increasing again, and even the gravitational detector detected a very powerful gravitational source ahead.
Xiao Yu grew increasingly puzzled. “Could it be that near this quasar there actually exists another celestial body with extremely high mass? Judging from this gravitational strength, what exists ahead of me is a giant not much worse than that previous quasar in mass… How could I possibly not have observed such a thing earlier?”
This was basically impossible. Xiao Yu’s detection instruments could not make such an error. It would be like there being two moons in the sky, yet Xiao Yu’s instruments only saw one and ignored the other. If such a thing really happened, Xiao Yu would have to consider carrying out a major internal investigation within his fleet to see whether some surviving virtual life had infiltrated his fleet and was causing trouble.
And yet this was exactly the current situation. A thing with this level of mass, on a scale of just a few light years, would definitely be as conspicuous as the sun. There was no way Xiao Yu could have overlooked it.
The moment Xiao Yu observed the abnormality, he had already diverted some of the observation instruments that had been monitoring the quasar behind him to begin observing the scene ahead. What he saw instantly gave Xiao Yu a violent shock.
No matter what he might have seen ahead, Xiao Yu would not have been so shocked. Even if there had been an enormous monster ahead waving at him, Xiao Yu would not have been so shaken. The scene he was now seeing had completely exceeded the limits of Xiao Yu’s imagination and acceptance, so much so that he was frozen in place.
“Wh-what is going on? How is there another quasar ahead? Something this enormous and conspicuous, I could not possibly have failed to see it when I was previously observing this region of space… How did it escape my observation? Or… did it just form now, so I did not see it earlier? But how is that possible? Its total mass should remain the same, right? With such a huge mass here, how could I possibly not see it?”
Xiao Yu was very familiar with the thing before him, because he had already observed it for a full year. He could recognize the two enormous and magnificent jets shooting straight into the infinite depths of the universe. He could observe the ultra-high-speed high-energy particles roaring out of it, more violent than the fiercest ocean waves by countless times. From its spectral classification, he could also confirm that it was exactly the same quasar he had previously observed. Its mass, material composition, angular momentum… every physical quantity was telling Xiao Yu that the quasar before him was precisely the one he had observed before.
It was as if somewhere in the universe there existed a copying machine, and while Xiao Yu was not paying attention, it had suddenly copied the entire quasar and then placed the duplicate in front of Xiao Yu.
Xiao Yu still could not quite believe it. He wanted to turn back and look again at the quasar he had left behind, but then he suddenly discovered that the quasar behind him had disappeared.
Yes, a huge quasar, a quasar whose brightness exceeded that of an entire galaxy, a quasar Xiao Yu had observed for a full year, had suddenly disappeared at this moment. And just an instant ago, Xiao Yu had still been using observation instruments to monitor it. It had simply vanished from his instruments.
“No, it’s not a copying machine, it didn’t copy the quasar…” Xiao Yu murmured to himself. “It suddenly ran in front of me… What kind of fellow is playing tricks on me?”
It seemed that in this very instant, heaven and earth had reversed, front and back had reversed, time had also reversed. Everything became so strange and unbelievable. The universe, which had been completely normal just a moment ago, was suddenly shrouded in a layer of mist.
The current situation was as if, after Xiao Yu left the quasar, some unknown being had suddenly picked it up and moved it from behind Xiao Yu to in front of him. Xiao Yu had originally been moving steadily away from this quasar, but now it looked as though he had instead been continuously approaching it.
Questions surged rapidly through Xiao Yu’s mind. But this event alone was not enough to make him lose his composure. He had seen too many bizarre and strange things in this universe. No matter how inexplicable something was, Xiao Yu was confident that he could discover the truth hidden behind it. Xiao Yu had always believed that anything could be explained. That was the attitude and mindset a true scientist should have.
Still, the current situation was indeed too bizarre. Xiao Yu even began to wonder whether he had somehow traveled back to the time when he had first begun approaching this quasar. Otherwise, who could explain why he had clearly been moving away from it, yet now seemed to be inexplicably drawing closer to it again?
Or had some existence secretly interfered with his fleet’s navigation instruments and silently reversed his direction of travel? But what level of technology would be required to achieve that without Xiao Yu noticing anything at all? Or was everything ahead merely an illusion, a deception deliberately created by some existence? Or was this simply some natural phenomenon that Xiao Yu did not yet understand?
Xiao Yu was rapidly thinking through the matter. But at this moment, his fleet did not stop. Xiao Yu continued advancing. Since this quasar had inexplicably moved from behind him to in front of him again, then he would go and look at it, and see exactly what was causing trouble.
Thus, within this deep and boundless cosmic space, Xiao Yu’s fleet, using high-speed curvature flight, rapidly approached the bizarre quasar that had appeared ahead.