Chapter 908: The Strange Youth

Rebirth of the Super Battleship

Xiao Yu already knew what kind of mechanism was preventing him from leaving, but as for the principle of this mechanism, the reason for its emergence, and how to break it, Xiao Yu knew none of it.

“Perhaps it really is because the structure of space has been altered.” Xiao Yu silently thought. “Only if the spacetime structure has been altered could a warship reverse instantly without requiring time. The reason I did not observe any abnormality in space before may be that my observational precision was still insufficient. As long as I can understand this spacetime structure, leaving here will no longer be an obstacle.”

If this really was caused by an alteration in spacetime structure, then in principle it would have no essential difference from the space maze technology Xiao Yu had already mastered. The only difference would be that one was technologically advanced and the other technologically crude, while their fundamental principles were the same. Given Xiao Yu’s familiarity with space maze technology, once he clearly detected this distorted spacetime structure, he would be able to pass through it as easily as walking through a maze while looking at a map.

Xiao Yu dispatched a massive scientific expedition fleet, carrying a large number of observation instruments, and sent it out, while the main fleet remained in place as an observer so that he could obtain two sources of information at the same time. After these ships, equipped with ultra-precision spatial observation instruments, reached a certain point, they stopped advancing.

This point was one Xiao Yu had precisely determined after hundreds of thousands of failures. At this point, that mechanism similar to spacetime reversal would not be triggered, but once this point was crossed, that mechanism would be triggered immediately, and Xiao Yu’s fleet would be completely reversed. This point was the critical point.

At the critical point, the precision instruments carried by this fleet began observing the current space. Xiao Yu first carefully measured the influence caused here by the existence of the quasar, then used data calculations to completely remove that influence, restoring a version of space as close as possible to its true current state. After that, he carried out a deep analysis of this original space, trying to find traces that the spatial structure had been altered.

But in the end, the result disappointed Xiao Yu. Even under the highest precision and most accurate observations of Xiao Yu’s instruments, he could not find any abnormality in the spatial structure here.

“Then… does this mean that it is not because of the structure of space that I am being prevented from leaving?” Xiao Yu murmured to himself, giving up the plan of finding a flaw in the spatial structure. The reason was simple. Xiao Yu had already given it his all and still could not find a flaw in this area, which meant that even if it really was because of the structure of space that he could not leave, with his current technological level, he would still be unable to find a breakthrough here. It would be better to completely give up wasting time in this area and turn to searching in other aspects. Perhaps then he might find a point of breakthrough.

Time passed bit by bit. After the attempt to find a breakthrough through the structure of space failed, Xiao Yu began trying another method.

Through on-site probing, Xiao Yu had determined that near this quasar, no matter which direction he attempted to leave in, once he advanced a certain distance, he would encounter the reversal of his direction, turning departure into approach. This showed that what was blocking him was a spherical structure, and this spherical structure completely enveloped the quasar. But this spherical structure also possessed some special property. It did not prevent things from outside from entering its interior, just as the matter coming from the companion galaxy could enter here without obstruction. At the same time, it also did not prevent natural objects inside, such as light rays or rocks, from leaving. It seemed that what it obstructed were only artificial creations such as warships and instruments made by Xiao Yu.

Then a question emerged. This question was very simple. Why could rocks, light, radiation, and the like leave this place, while Xiao Yu’s warships could not? What essential difference existed between his warships and these rocks?

Xiao Yu tried completely destroying a spaceship, turning it into a pile of scrap metal, then giving it a certain initial acceleration. He wanted to see whether doing this would allow it to break through the restriction here.

Not far from the critical point, a ship that had arrived there through curvature flight released this heap of scrap. A conventional accelerator pushed the wreckage forward for a while, accelerating it to ten kilometers per second, after which the accelerator automatically detached. Thus, in this stretch of cosmic space, the heap of wreckage flew straight toward the barrier.

Meanwhile, Xiao Yu’s ship closely observed the area. In Xiao Yu’s field of view, the wreckage slowly approached the place where the barrier existed in observation, but in the next instant, its direction of advance was reversed. It still maintained its forward speed of ten kilometers per second, as if its inertia had not been affected in the slightest.

Xiao Yu’s attempt failed again.

“Could it be that any non-natural creation is forbidden from leaving here?” Xiao Yu thought unwillingly. A new idea then emerged.

Xiao Yu captured a rapidly incoming meteor fragment. Based on its atomic and molecular structure, he used the materials aboard his ships and his advanced technology to manufacture a rock exactly identical to that meteor fragment, then threw this rock over as well, wanting to see whether it could leave this place.

If this rock was called a natural object, it had in fact been manufactured by Xiao Yu using highly advanced technology. If it was called a technological creation, it possessed a structure completely identical to a natural object. It was a contradiction, and what surprised Xiao Yu was that such a contradictory object actually passed through the barrier here smoothly and entered the outer universe.

Xiao Yu could only sigh helplessly. Even artificial creations could leave here, but could he really forge all of his warships into stone? If they were all turned into stone, how would he survive?

This experiment could be considered successful, yet it succeeded in a way that had no meaning at all. Xiao Yu still had no clue how to leave this place.

Xiao Yu began another new attempt. This time, Xiao Yu tried to use the method by which the half Four-Dimensional Taihao had created a barrier to help him leave. Xiao Yu attempted to create a Klein bottle, or a four-dimensional object that could only be fully displayed in five-dimensional space, the Loya Round Cup. But without exception, all of these attempts failed.

Xiao Yu did not lose heart. After thinking for a little while, he carried out another new attempt…

And so, before the most violent celestial body in the universe, Xiao Yu carried out attempt after attempt. Many times, when some new idea occurred to him, Xiao Yu was practically overjoyed, convinced that he had absolutely found a method that could succeed. But regrettably, the final result was always failure.

Failure, failure, and still failure.

“What exactly is going on?” Xiao Yu thought in some despair. “Could it be that I really am going to be trapped here forever, unable to leave? I have already tried every method I can think of. I have also tried every method that can be accomplished within my current technological level… I have integrated the technologies of the microscopic civilization, computational civilization, architectural civilization, and space civilization, and even then I still cannot solve the problem here. Just who created such a barrier?”

By the time Xiao Yu had gone through all these attempts, nearly ten years had already passed. Xiao Yu had even tried using a supermassive chain-reaction Spatial Bomb, but aside from making this region of space even more violent, it still had no other effect.

“Whether from the standpoint of logic, theory, or physical observation, no matter from which perspective, I should be able to leave here. But why is it that I simply cannot leave? Why am I still trapped here?”

There was simply no way to explain this situation. Even after working busily for so long, Xiao Yu still did not know what exactly it was, or what cause it was, that was preventing him from leaving.

Xiao Yu’s fleet remained parked at the critical point, staring blankly at the starry sky outside that showed no abnormalities at all. It seemed as though there were no abnormalities here, but Xiao Yu knew that as long as he advanced just a little farther, his direction of advance would be reversed, and once again he would change from leaving this quasar to approaching it. This scene had repeated itself here no fewer than a million times.

Xiao Yu no longer had any methods left, because he had tried every method he could think of, no matter how absurd. Yet Xiao Yu still had no intention of giving up. After venturing through the universe for so many years, he had encountered dangers far worse than this. No matter how dangerous the current situation was, could it really be more dangerous than dying immediately?

He shook his head slightly in his heart. Xiao Yu calmed himself and once again began a new round of calculation and research, continuing to look for the next method.

But at this moment, a kind of ethereal ‘music’ was sensed by Xiao Yu. Calling it music did not seem quite right. It was only a stream of information, yet it gave Xiao Yu the feeling of music. Moreover, Xiao Yu could very smoothly parse information out of this ‘music.’

“Near my home there lives a strange youth. His hair grows shorter and shorter. He cut off his arm only to discover that the arm was still growing on his body. He filled his stomach, yet his stomach was still flat with hunger. He turned on the lamp, yet the room remained pitch black. Oh, near my home there lives a strange youth. I want to know why everything observed in this world is reversed when it comes to you, strange youth, strange youth…”