Chapter 959: A Dilemma |
Whether the Central Black Hole of the Feiyuan Galaxy could continue to exist or not depended on a single thought from Xiao Yu. But Xiao Yu truly had no way to let that command come out of his mouth. At this moment, it was as if Xiao Yu’s mind had gone completely blank, yet those annoying messages were still continuously being transmitted into his mind.
“Stay here honestly through these fifty-eight years…”
“What are you doing?! Why have you still not given the order?! Do you intend to suffer retaliation from our universe civilization after this matter is over?”
“Help… help…”
Xiao Yu let out a deep sigh and recovered himself. Xiao Yu became calm once more. Xiao Yu ignored the universe civilization, which was still shouting noisily, and instead responded to the Dark Star Civilization in a peaceful tone.
“Very well, I agree to your terms. During these fifty-eight years, I will remain here quietly and will not make a move against the Central Black Hole. However… if after fifty-eight years I discover that you were deceiving me, or that you failed to rescue the Pegasus and Divine Ark Civilizations, then you should know what the consequences will be.”
“Xiao Yu! Do you believe that our civilization can report the situation here to the alliance right now and have you killed immediately? For the sake of two insignificant Level 7 Civilizations, you are actually disregarding the alliance’s great undertaking and privately reaching an agreement with the enemy! Do you know the serious consequences of doing this? Do you want to disappear from this universe?” The universe civilization responded angrily at this moment.
“Losers are not qualified to shout here. Since you failed, then stay quiet and do not point fingers.” Xiao Yu responded indifferently to the universe civilization, then continued speaking to the Dark Star Civilization, “Well?”
“Very good, very good.” The Dark Star Civilization replied. “You will be glad that you ultimately made the wise choice. However… to prevent you from harboring certain undesirable intentions, we will now issue the following command to the Logic Weapon. Listen carefully…”
Xiao Yu’s heart gave a sudden thud, then sank into a bottomless abyss.
That was right. Xiao Yu had indeed been planning exactly that. Xiao Yu was still only a Level 7 Civilization, after all. Xiao Yu had not yet come into contact with abilities at the level of Rules. Yet placing the entire civilization, all of its creations, all of its intelligent beings, inside a black hole while still preserving their lives intact, was surely a result that could only be achieved after modifying Rules. Then if one wanted to rescue them, the only means would also have to be through the level of Rules. Although the universe civilization was a Level 8 Civilization, it was unable to act because of the agreement. Moreover, the universe civilization was extremely unfriendly toward Xiao Yu. They definitely would not help him.
Then… the only feasible method was to borrow the Dark Star Civilization’s Logic Weapon. Xiao Yu had indeed made a plan before. That plan was to snatch the Logic Weapon from the Dark Star Civilization through a sudden attack, then use the Logic Weapon to rescue the Pegasus and Divine Ark Civilizations trapped inside the Central Black Hole. But… the Dark Star Civilization had already issued a command to the Logic Weapon. Xiao Yu understood the terrifying power of the Logic Weapon very well. Xiao Yu knew that during this time period, there was no possibility he could violate the Logic Weapon’s command and seize it.
“Could it be that this mission is destined to be incompatible with the lives of the Pegasus and Divine Ark Civilizations? If I complete the mission, I lose the Pegasus and Divine Ark Civilizations. If I save the Pegasus and Divine Ark Civilizations, then this mission must fail?” Xiao Yu murmured to himself.
The development of events had once again pushed Xiao Yu to a crossroads. Which path to take was up to Xiao Yu. But at this moment, Xiao Yu truly felt somewhat lost.
“Very good, not bad. Once again, your Dark Star Civilization’s performance has exceeded my expectations. That’s right, I really had been planning to seize the Logic Weapon, but now it seems my plan has failed. Very well, very well. Then I can only follow your instructions and spend these fifty-eight years here.” Xiao Yu sighed and gave this response to the Dark Star Civilization.
And after receiving Xiao Yu’s earlier response, the universe civilization, rather unusually, did not become angry. Instead, it coldly responded, “Xiao Yu, our universe civilization swears that you will regret this. You will regret this.”
Xiao Yu merely gave a cold snort and did not respond to the universe civilization.
“The facts will prove that your choice is the wisest one.” The Dark Star Civilization said. “Very good. This outcome is exactly what our Dark Star Civilization wanted.”
The Dark Star Civilization fell silent. The universe civilization fell silent. Xiao Yu also fell silent. And perhaps in this region of space, there were still some existences unknown to Xiao Yu, and they too had fallen silent.
Xiao Yu recalled everything he had done since arriving at the Feiyuan Galaxy. He had exhausted all his strength, fought bitterly for thousands of years, and just when victory was right in front of him, the situation had been reversed at the moment closest to success. Xiao Yu believed that he had done nothing wrong, and yet things had continuously slipped out of his control in an uncontrollable way.
Xiao Yu recalled the earnest instructions the music civilization had given him. He recalled Chen Mo, who, despite being a Spokesperson and constantly constrained by her subordinates, was still doing everything in her power to help him.
“The music civilization said that if I fail this mission, Chen Mo’s situation will become very difficult. In order to help me complete the mission, the music civilization taught me methods to counter the Logic Weapon. It even took the initiative to start a war again after maintaining peace for hundreds of millions of years, all just to leave the extreme stellar body war stars of the extreme stellar body civilization to me and strengthen my power… I must win. There is too much resting on my shoulders. I cannot fail. But… what about the Pegasus and Divine Ark Civilizations? How can I make both sides whole? How can I complete this mission while preserving the Pegasus and Divine Ark Civilizations?”
On one side was Chen Mo. On the other side were the Pegasus and Divine Ark Civilizations. Xiao Yu did not want to make a choice where choosing one would inevitably sacrifice the other. Xiao Yu even recalled a classic unsolvable problem widely circulated during Earth’s era, “If your girlfriend and your mother fell into the water at the same time, and you could save only one, who would you save?”
“Who should I save?” Xiao Yu murmured to himself. “The ideal state would of course be to save them both. But in the current situation, should I complete the mission, or should I rescue the Pegasus and Divine Ark Civilizations?”
The war that had lasted for hundreds of years had already ended, and the entire Feiyuan Galaxy had once again entered tranquility. But this was only the calm before the storm. Xiao Yu knew that in the shadows, there were no telling how many powerful or strange existences watching him, waiting for his next move, waiting for him to make the final decision.
Xiao Yu began thinking intensely, reviewing every detail of his contact with the Dark Star Civilization and trying to find a way out of the current predicament. The hope was extremely faint, but Xiao Yu still had time. There were still fifty-eight years left as a buffer. As long as there was still time, Xiao Yu had no reason to despair. Never give up before the final moment. This was a precious lesson Xiao Yu had learned through countless experiences.
Xiao Yu thought through one possibility after another, reasoning through one method after another. But regrettably, Xiao Yu never found a single workable solution. And time quietly slipped away amidst this constant thinking. By now, twenty-eight years had already passed. Xiao Yu only had thirty years left.
This stretch of starry sky remained silent. Only that distress signal, ghostlike in nature, was still being transmitted again and again.
“We are the Pegasus and Divine Ark Civilizations from the Milky Way. Due to an accidental change, we have been trapped inside the Central Black Hole of this galaxy. If you can receive this message, if you have the ability to save us, then we ask you to help us, help us leave this place… Our situation is very bad. We cannot hold on much longer… If you are willing to rescue us, then as payment, we will hand over all of our technological data…”
Xiao Yu felt as though his heart were being cut by knives. The Divine Ark Civilization, the Pegasus Civilization, the Arrow Beast Civilization, Zhang Shengya, everything he cared about was trapped there, yet he had no way to act and save them. A deep sense of powerlessness spread through Xiao Yu’s heart. And amid this sense of helplessness, Xiao Yu’s hatred toward the Dark Star Civilization deepened even further.
Xiao Yu forced himself to calm down and once more began thinking about his current situation. After tens of millions of ideas had all been rejected by Xiao Yu, no new solution was being generated in his computational modules anymore. Xiao Yu’s train of thought seemed to have run dry.
Xiao Yu once again recalled the time when he had been trapped beside that powerful quasar, carefully thinking over every detail of how he escaped from it, trying to find something there that might help him.
And amid this continuous recollection and thought, suddenly, a flash of inspiration shot through Xiao Yu’s mind. It was like a bolt of lightning, instantly illuminating his sky. Xiao Yu discovered that he had finally found a seemingly feasible method.
This method had an extremely low chance of success, but in the end, it was still a chance. Even if the chance of success was only one in a million, that was fundamentally different from complete despair. As long as there was a chance of success, Xiao Yu would have something to strive toward.
“At this point, it seems I can only do this.” Xiao Yu sighed.