Translator: AnubisTL
Niya Star System.
The human civilization's main base of operations, where the Stellaris train now drifted deep within the cosmos. Inside, Chen Mang was reviewing the resources he had acquired, his gaze fixed on the train panel displaying their current reserves.
Currently, the Stellaris train possessed:
[41.4 quadrillion units of iron ore.]
A staggering 41.4 quadrillion units of iron ore!
With no need for further preparation, Chen Mang immediately began upgrading the train. This massive stockpile of resources was enough to elevate the Stellaris to an extraordinary level.
The first priority was:
Armor.
However—
Chen Mang hesitated slightly, his gaze lingering on the "Armor" module's overpowered effects as he pondered.
The Tier 500 Armor's overpowered effect granted immunity to all energy attacks, absorbing them to temporarily boost the Train Armor Tier, regardless of its current level.
The Tier 1000 Armor's overpowered effect granted immunity to all physical attacks, similarly allowing absorbed energy to temporarily enhance the Train Armor Tier.
Both of these overpowered effects were Cosmic Unique Overpowered Effects.
With these two effects in place, was there still any need to upgrade the armor?
It was already invincible.
No one could possibly breach its defenses.
"..."
After pondering for a long while, he decided to upgrade the armor to Tier 2000 first, to see what the Tier 2000 overpowered effect would be. After all, while the attack methods of the civilizations he had encountered so far were primarily energy-based, with physical attacks being rare, it was impossible to predict what methods the High-Dimensional Civilization might employ.
A higher Tier could only be beneficial.
Immediately—
After consuming 20 quadrillion units of iron ore, the Steel Car Armor finally reached Tier 2000!
This depleted nearly half of the train's iron ore reserves.
Upgrading the armor from Tier 500 to Tier 1000 had cost 3.75 quadrillion units, while upgrading from Tier 1000 to Tier 2000 required 20 quadrillion units. The higher the Tier, the greater the resource consumption.
Moreover,
Most importantly, the AI had calculated that if this upgrade had consumed murphy stones instead of Tier 0 Authority, it would have required a staggering 30 billion murphy stones.
This wasn't just an astronomical figure—it was practically an absurd one.
Even when he plundered the Kasha Civilization's Gemini Star, he only managed to scavenge 370,000 murphy stones from the entire planet.
30 billion murphy stones...
Even if the Kasha Civilization were given such a vast resource, they couldn't possibly upgrade their armor to Tier 2000 within ten thousand years. The amount of murphy stones required was simply unattainable for any Fifth-Tier Civilization.
At least—
No civilization below Tier 9 could realistically possess Tier 2000 armor.
As for God-Tier Civilizations, that remained a mystery. Even Kira, who was well-versed in gossip, lacked concrete data on such matters. These details hardly resembled bedtime stories.
After the upgrade, he also gained a new overpowered effect.
[Steel Car Armor Tier 2000 Overpowered Effect: This train will resist all dimensional reduction attacks and never be reduced in dimensionality.]
"This is quite good," Chen Mang said, a faint smile spreading across his face. Once the armor had reached the Tier 500 and Tier 1000 overpowered effects, the tier itself had become largely irrelevant. Regardless of the Arcanon Light Energy Main Cannon's tier, he could withstand it unscathed.
His primary focus now was on the overpowered effects.
And the returns looked promising.
The 20 quadrillion units of iron ore had been well spent!
This Tier 2000 overpowered effect might not be immediately useful, but it would prove invaluable in future conflicts with advanced civilizations wielding dimensional reduction weapons, such as Two-Dimensional Foils.
The next overpowered effect tier was Tier 5000.
Tier 5000—was this the limit?
Chen Mang gazed at the armor's overpowered effect panel, a flicker of bewilderment in his eyes. He had uncovered many secrets of the cosmos, yet he had never heard anyone mention the maximum Tier for accessories.
Was it Tier 5000, or Tier 10000?
Or perhaps even higher, or perhaps there was no limit at all?
Everything remained unknown.
The more he learned, the more he felt he knew less and less.
Afterward—
He turned his attention to one of the Arcanon Light Energy Main Cannons. After consuming 5 quadrillion units of iron ore, the light energy main cannon had been upgraded to Tier 2000.
5 quadrillion units of iron ore.
That was the cost to upgrade a standard Seven-Colored Grade Accessory from Tier 1000 to Tier 2000.
A figure that had once seemed astronomically large to him.
Now, it suddenly felt manageable.
[Arcanon Light Energy Main Cannon Tier 2000 Overpowered Effect: Upon detonation, the explosion radius will, under intense energy fluctuations, transform into a two-dimensional space, and this process is irreversible.]
"A Two-Dimensional Foil?"
Chen Mang was momentarily stunned. He had been wary of dimensional reduction strikes from other civilizations, but he never imagined he would possess such a weapon himself.
Against this kind of attack, even the highest Armor Tier would be useless. This was the essence of a dimensional reduction strike.
Most importantly—
A single Tier 2000 Arcanon Light Energy Main Cannon shot cost an astronomical amount: 1 quintillion units of iron ore.
Yes, that's eighteen zeros.
A staggering 1 quintillion units of iron ore.
Little Fatty's father, whose wealth rivaled that of an entire nation, had left him nearly 30 quadrillion units of iron ore.
According to advanced civilization accounting:
10 quadrillion units of iron ore equal 1 Foundation unit.
Once iron ore reaches this quantity, it is considered a "foundation," hence the new unit of measurement. 1 Foundation unit of iron ore is equivalent to 10 quadrillion units.
Little Fatty's inheritance totaled 2.98 Foundation units of iron ore.
An astonishing sum.
After all, the "Foundation" unit is typically reserved for advanced civilizations. An ordinary merchant would normally have no business dealing with such quantities.
The cost of firing this cannon was—
100 Foundation units of iron ore.
Even Xiao Pang's father, with his considerable wealth, couldn't afford a single shot. He would need to multiply his fortune several dozen times over.
This was a capability far beyond what a Fifth-Tier Civilization could possess.
Even if given to a Fifth-Tier Civilization for free, they wouldn't be able to afford to use it.
From annihilating the Extreme Evil Civilization to destroying the Good Cat Civilization, and all the way to the Nami Civilization, he had never seen any civilization fire a Tier 1000 Arcanon Light Energy Main Cannon without resorting to Spacetime Reversion.
The highest he had ever witnessed were Tier 700 or 800 cannons, whose consumption was only slightly higher than Tier 500 models.
But when the light energy main cannon's Tier reached 1000, its consumption underwent a qualitative leap.
A single Tier 1000 Arcanon Light Energy Main Cannon shot required a staggering 100 quadrillion units of iron ore—equivalent to 10 Foundation units.
Only he treated this weapon as a standard attack.
No other civilization would dare use it this way.
After all, his train possessed the Stellar Vault, which provided 99.99% of the energy required for the light energy main cannon. Thus, firing a Tier 1000 Arcanon Light Energy Main Cannon only cost him 100 trillion units of iron ore.
Even a Tier 2000 weapon, a devastating force comparable to the Two-Dimensional Foil, only required 1 quadrillion units of iron ore per shot.
It was practically a steal—cheap and incredibly effective.
However, Chen Mang sighed softly. While the Tier 2000's overpowered effect was a formidable weapon, he preferred to avoid using it whenever possible. It was a completely unprofitable tactic. What was war for?
Resources.
This single shot had collapsed that entire space into two dimensions.
Where would he seize resources now?
Two dimensions meant a flat painting. He wasn't Ma Liang, the legendary painter whose brush brought his creations to life. Once everything was reduced to a painting, how could anyone extract iron ore from it?
Despite this, a faint smile tugged at the corner of his lips.
This was enough for now.
The train had barely managed to function with its original foundation of 4 Foundation units of iron ore. After the upgrades, it was left with only 1.5 Foundation units.
Most importantly—
Human civilization was now a Fifth-Tier Civilization, just one step away from becoming a Sixth-Tier Civilization.
He had once believed that even if Sixth-Tier Civilizations were stronger than Fifth-Tier Civilizations, the difference wouldn't be significant.
Perhaps they would have more advanced Civilization Means, slightly greater overall combat power, larger territories, and more abundant resources.
But now, he realized how utterly wrong he had been!
Even the most pathetic Sixth-Tier Civilization was dozens, if not hundreds, of times stronger than a well-established Fifth-Tier Civilization.
They existed in entirely different dimensions!
Firstly—
The sole requirement for a civilization to advance to Tier 6 was to achieve a peak attack energy range exceeding 200,000 units and possess a Civilization Wonder.
A peak attack energy range exceeding 200,000 units meant requiring a Tier 2000 Seven-Colored Grade Firepower Accessory.
Upgrading to Tier 2000 would consume astronomical quantities of resources and murphy stone.
But more importantly—
Simply possessing a Tier 2000 Seven-Colored Grade Firepower Accessory was useless. The civilization had to fire it, have the launch detected by the cosmos, and only then could it successfully advance to Tier 6. For civilizations lacking a Stellar Vault, launching a single Tier 2000 Seven-Colored Firepower Component would require consuming 100 Foundation units of iron ore.
An absolutely astronomical figure.
A civilization capable of affording such a quantity of iron ore would undoubtedly possess a foundation hundreds of times stronger than a Fifth-Tier Civilization.
Every Sixth-Tier Civilization—
Even the weakest among them—could effortlessly crush any Fifth-Tier Civilization.
This was a dimensional reduction strike!
"Good stuff..."
Chen Mang exhaled softly, feeling relatively safe for the moment. The only unexplored territory within his range was the "Mediocre Civilization" below—a Fifth-Tier Civilization with no Tier 6 presence in its vicinity.
He was still safe.
He could continue developing for a while longer.
But just then—
The train's alarm system suddenly blared to life.
[Warning, warning.]
[Unidentified spatial fluctuations detected. All space within the Niya Star System has been locked down. Wormholes and spacetime reversion, as well as any other spacetime-based methods, are now unusable.]
[The entity imposing the lockdown has identified itself as the Sixth-Tier Civilization, "Green Mountain Civilization."]
Chen Mang's expression darkened. He had just remarked that it was fortunate no Sixth-Tier Civilizations were nearby, and now one had suddenly appeared.
Where did this come from?
It wasn't on the radar screen.
Still, it seemed to underestimate human civilization. This Space Lockdown meant nothing to him. A refrigerator wasn't subject to spatial fluctuations. If he wanted to leave, nothing could stop him.
Just then—
A forced private communication appeared on his train radio.
"Greetings, leader of the human civilization. Your civilization is truly remarkable. After studying it in detail, I've come to realize just how formidable you are, and how astonishingly rapid your development has been."
"You possess unparalleled defenses, devastating offensive capabilities, and, most troubling to our civilization, an insatiable ambition."
"You've even mastered the ability to freely enter and exit Space Lockdown. In fact, we sealed off the Niya Star System days ago, but couldn't locate your train. We assumed you were hiding, only to discover you weren't even in the system."
"When we finally detected your train's signature, we realized you had somehow breached our Space Lockdown and reappeared in the Niya Star System."
"At that moment—"
"We understood that Space Lockdown is useless against you. You can move freely through space."
"We've scoured the entire Niya Star System but found no planets bearing the mark of the 'human civilization.' This is truly astonishing. This is your civilization's territory, yet there are no planets belonging to your civilization."
"I suspect you've stored all your planets inside 'space gates,' haven't you?"
"This isn't good for the development of civilization. Obsessively trying to be a 'good parent' won't raise good children."
"But it's understandable. In a universe teeming with dangers, being cautious during the process of wild growth isn't necessarily a bad thing."
"It's a matter of human kindness."
"The Green Mountain Civilization is willing to help the human civilization. All we ask is that you submit to us as the Mediocre Civilization did—castrate your technology and regularly pay a fixed amount of resources. There will be no war."
"Your civilization will continue to exist, and you will continue to live."
"Of course."
"However, if you cling to your hard-won power out of selfish desire, then regrettably, your civilization will perish with you, reduced to cosmic ashes. Even if you escape the Niya Star System, can the Niya Star System escape?"
"We will travel to the Niya Star System's past timeline and destroy the entire system. You should be aware of the consequences."
"You have three months."
"Within three months, I want to see genuine sincerity in your surrender."
"After three months..."
"If your sincerity proves lacking, that will be the day the human civilization is annihilated."
Chen Mang calmly gazed at the warning from the Green Mountain Civilization displayed on the screen. After a long silence, he suddenly chuckled softly.
The thinly veiled threat hidden within the polite surrender request was almost palpable.
Good.
But...
Too bad. As the saying goes, "forewarned is forearmed." He had already made thorough preparations, rendering these threats utterly useless.
Destroy the past timeline?
The first effect of the Hell Set guaranteed that his civilization and its past timeline would remain eternally indestructible, impervious to any Civilization Means.
As long as it belonged to the human civilization, the past timeline would remain eternally indestructible.
Threatening him with this?
He had long since ceased to fear such threats.
The Niya Star System will be destroyed? Destroy it if you wish. He had already taken all the people and resources from the Niya Star System, leaving behind only an empty shell. The only things left were the Civilization Wonder and his years of emotional attachment to it.
But as long as the Civilization Wonder within the Cosmic Void remained untouched, it wouldn't matter.
He had to preserve at least one Civilization Wonder.
Otherwise, advancing to a Sixth-Tier Civilization would be impossible. Advancement to a Sixth-Tier Civilization required possessing a Civilization Wonder.
He glanced at the resources currently available on the train:
1.5 Foundation units of iron ore, equivalent to 15 quadrillion units.
Sufficient.
This Sixth-Tier Civilization must be the one that destroyed the Niya Civilization, right?
In the next moment—
He spent 2.1 quadrillion units of iron ore to upgrade both the Seven-Colored Grade Accessory "Doppler Radar" and the Seven-Colored Grade Accessory "SPY-7 Doppler Radar Jammer" to Tier 1000!
And he instantly gained three overpowered effects.
[SPY-7 Doppler Radar Jammer Tier 500 Overpowered Effect]: None.
[SPY-7 Doppler Radar Jammer Tier 1000 Overpowered Effect]: None.
The Radar Jammer's overpowered effects were all "None."
But this was inconsequential.
The most crucial aspect of this accessory was its Tier. Once the Tier was high enough, whether it had an overpowered effect or not became irrelevant. At its current state, even a Tier 1000 radar couldn't detect it—only a Tier 1001 radar or higher could.
In a conflict between equal-Tier systems, the Radar Jammer's priority always superseded the radar's.
[Doppler Radar Tier 1000 Overpowered Effect: Counteracts all stealth technologies and, through quantum entanglement, accurately predicts enemy movement trajectories even at extreme speeds.]
Chen Mang narrowed his eyes, surveying the train's remaining resources. He had 12.9 quadrillion units of iron ore left.
Not enough.
His radar level wasn't high enough.
When his radar reached Tier 1000, its range expanded to a staggering 10 million light-years, increasing his field of vision tenfold. Where he had previously detected only three galaxies, the upgraded radar now revealed numerous additional galaxies and civilizations.
Among them was the Sixth-Tier Civilization, the Green Mountain Civilization, located directly below the Mediocre Civilization.
What he could now confirm was this:
The Green Mountain Civilization definitely possessed Tier 1000 Doppler Radar, but they likely lacked Tier 1000 Radar Jammers—at least, the train stationed around the Niya Star System didn't have them.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to detect it at all.
However, they certainly had Tier 500 Radar Jammers. Otherwise, he wouldn't have completely failed to detect the train when he returned to the Niya Star System.
Before encountering the Green Mountain Civilization, Chen Mang had never been overwhelmed by information. His radar level had always been sufficient.
The Green Mountain Civilization had given him a rude awakening. Every move he made was under their observation, yet he knew nothing about them. For a long time, he had been afraid to upgrade his radar, fearing he might trigger some advanced civilization's Cosmic Landmine.
But now—
He understood.
This was essentially self-castration.
Out of fear of what he might encounter, he had voluntarily crippled himself, putting him at a disadvantage in information warfare.
He refused to hide any longer.
With the train's current capabilities, he believed that even if they encountered some advanced civilization's Cosmic Landmine, they could either fight their way out or escape. At worst, he could flee to the Second Universe. No matter how powerful an advanced civilization might be, they couldn't possibly chase him there!
In the next moment—
After consuming another 5 quadrillion units of iron ore—
The Doppler Radar was upgraded to Tier 2000!
Tier 1000 wasn't enough!
He didn't just want to match their information-gathering methods; he wanted to crush them. In war, information was paramount!
This upgrade granted him the Doppler Radar's Tier 2000 Overpowered Effect.
This marked the third accessory on the train to reach Tier 2000, a significant milestone.
The three components were: Armor, Main Cannon, and Radar.
These were arguably the train's most crucial components, without exception.
[Doppler Radar Tier 2000 Overpowered Effect: Capable of detecting all communication traces within its radar range. If the Radar Jammer's Tier exceeds the radar's Tier, detection fails. Additionally, it conceals all spatial distortions caused by the train itself, including wormhole creation and Spacetime Reversion.]
"Powerful."
That was Chen Mang's first reaction.
The Tier 2000 Radar's overpowered effect was extraordinary. Though less visually striking than armor or main cannons, it granted him absolute strategic priority in warfare and allowed him to appear anywhere undetected.
Even if he opened a wormhole right next to the Green Mountain Civilization's Political Mother Planet, no one would discover him.
The universe was vast beyond comprehension.
Even if something was right under their noses, if it couldn't be detected by radar, spotting it with the naked eye would be utterly impossible.
In other words, becoming invisible to radar was equivalent to true invisibility.
This was the power of the Tier 2000 Radar—a truly overpowered effect.
Most importantly—
Chen Mang's breathing quickened slightly as he stared at the radar screen. After a long moment, he let out a relieved sigh. With the radar's latest upgrade, its range had expanded to a staggering 100 million light-years!
An utterly absurd figure.
Civilizations and galaxies within a radius of 100 million light-years appeared on the radar. His own Niya Star System, including the several star systems of the Green Mountain Civilization, actually lay within the territory of an advanced civilization—a Tier 7 Civilization.
This entire 100 million light-year region was the territory of that Tier 7 Civilization, and it stretched far beyond.
He was terrified of triggering the Tier 7 Civilization's Cosmic Landmines, or even the radar waves themselves alerting them. After all, he had clearly detected numerous advanced Cosmic Landmines deployed by this Tier 7 Civilization on the radar.
But then...
The Tier 2000 Radar seemed capable of not only concealing spatial distortions but also completely masking the radar's own scanning waves.
Neither the Tier 7 Civilization nor its Cosmic Landmines detected the Stellaris train's presence.
Chen Mang let out a long sigh of relief.
Good.
He might dare to tangle with a Sixth-Tier Civilization, but a Seventh-Tier Civilization truly intimidated him.
He knew nothing of the methods a Seventh-Tier Civilization might possess—it would be a completely unknown battle.
Meanwhile...
The Tier 2000 Doppler Radar also intercepted the communication between the Green Mountain Civilization's train fleet guarding the outer reaches of the Niya Star System.
"Report: The Stellaris has disappeared from radar again. Preliminary assessment suggests they have already left the Niya Star System."
"No matter. Continue guarding the Niya Star System. They'll return eventually. What good is running? The Niya Star System isn't going anywhere. You can run from the temple, but you can't take the temple with you. Within three days, they'll come crawling back to beg for our mercy."
"Understood!"
A brief exchange.
"..."
Chen Mang leaned back in his chair, lit a cigarette, and glanced at the radar screen showing the cost of creating a wormhole to the Green Mountain Civilization. He hadn't left the Niya Star System; his Radar Jammer was simply of a higher Tier, making him undetectable.
Three days?
Three days would be more than enough.
Enough time to scrub the place clean dozens of times over.
TL/N: This was one of the most difficult chapters so far, because the author was using different notations for different values and it took a lot of effort to make everything make sense. One thing you might have noticed is that the time given to MC by the Sixth tier civilization was three months, but here at the end it mentions three days, it is an error by the author, will have to read ahead to see what's correct.
月 → "month"
日 → "day"
(End of the Chapter)
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