Translator: AnubisTL
In the current information war, the Green Mountain Civilization was facing absolute domination.
One minute later, Xiao Ai had retrieved all communication records from the Green Mountain Civilization over the past few days, including detailed footage of their high-level video conferences.
The footage was from seven days prior, when he had annihilated the Green Mountain Civilization's first Foreign Propaganda Army.
The Green Mountain Civilization had convened an emergency meeting that lasted only a minute. The central point of discussion was that the Stellaris train lacked the means to so easily destroy one of their armies in such a short time.
The attack could only have been carried out by an unknown civilization or the 7th Tier Civilization.
Consequently, the Green Mountain Civilization decisively sealed its territory.
The entire process unfolded exactly as he had predicted.
The reason they lifted the territorial seal was that, over the past seven days, the Green Mountain Civilization had verified through their own means that the attack had not been carried out by the 7th Tier Civilization. This left only two possibilities:
An unknown civilization or the Stellaris train.
The latter was clearly the more likely scenario.
Evidently.
The Green Mountain Civilization immediately realized their initial assessment of the human civilization's strength had been flawed. The Stellaris train was far more powerful than they had anticipated. They made a swift decision:
Since hostility between the two civilizations was already established, they would spare no cost to annihilate the human civilization immediately. Delaying would allow the humans to undergo another Civilization Big Bang, potentially advancing to a Sixth-Tier Civilization. At that point, the Green Mountain Civilization would face its own apocalypse.
This was the entire story, simple and direct.
"Good enough," Chen Mang said, nodding slightly after understanding the situation. He continued to watch the Doppler Radar screen. Through real-time communication monitoring, he had learned that the Green Mountain Civilization had used Spacetime Reversion to return to the past timeline and launch a devastating assault on the Niya Star System.
The Green Mountain Civilization no longer sought conquest; their sole objective was the immediate and complete annihilation of the human civilization.
The images displayed on the Doppler Radar showed:
The ruins of the Mechanical Civilization being utterly destroyed. Every planet exploded into ash. The planets within the Zerg Civilization's zone were also completely annihilated. The entire galaxy was transformed into a Cosmic Void almost instantly, devoid of planets or stars.
Only the solitary "Insect Silence" Civilization Wonder drifted there, unaffected.
But—
The "human civilization" remained completely unscathed. The planets within the train suffered no damage whatsoever. The timeline of human civilization had long been fixed, impervious to alteration by others.
Immediately afterward, he witnessed an utterly shocking sight.
From the "Green Mountain Civilization's" deployed Train Fleet, a flimsy piece of paper fluttered out, resembling a supermarket coupon. Yet it moved with incredible speed, its radiance intensifying until it erupted in a blinding explosion.
The entire Niya Star System was instantly flattened into two dimensions.
On the Doppler Radar screen, the effect was stark: the entire zone had become a single, flat "sheet," destined to remain in this state forever. It resembled a scab on the skin of the cosmos, an irresistible urge to pick at it.
In mere moments, without any warning, the "Green Mountain Civilization" had unleashed two of its trump cards against human civilization.
One could only imagine—
Had any other Fifth-Tier Civilization been targeted, such as the "Nami Civilization," they would have been utterly annihilated, utterly incapable of resisting, let alone retaliating.
He let out a soft sigh, gazing at the utterly destroyed Niya Star System. A hint of regret flickered in his eyes; he still felt a connection to the place, and watching its destruction pained him slightly.
But that pain...
He would channel it into the Green Mountain Civilization.
Chen Mang withdrew his gaze and created another wormhole leading to another galaxy. He planned to swiftly gather all the resources from the commercial planets across the Green Mountain Civilization's seven star systems.
He would start with the commercial planets first, as their operations were less conspicuous and wouldn't attract attention.
The military planets, though richer in resources, would generate too much activity, making it difficult to conceal his actions.
Once everything was done, he would follow the Green Mountain Civilization's example and deploy a Two-Dimensional Foil for fun, simultaneously elevating his own civilization to a Sixth-Tier Civilization.
Everyone deserves a turn.
Chen Mang was now intimately familiar with the entire process.
Just one day later, the Stellaris train had completely plundered all the resources from the military bases on every commercial planet of the Green Mountain Civilization.
Total acquired:
472 Foundation units of iron ore resources.
From a certain perspective, the Green Mountain Civilization was far stronger than its old friend, the Kasha Civilization. This wasn't just about the quantity of resource reserves—that was to be expected, given the Green Mountain Civilization's Civilization Level was twice as high.
What truly set the Green Mountain Civilization apart was its near-total absence of corruption.
Unlike the Kasha Civilization, where everyone was greedy and the entire civilization was riddled with parasitic corruption.
"Not bad," Chen Mang murmured, glancing at the Resource Panel inside the train. A faint smile curved his lips. The appetizer was finished; now it was time for the main course. Truth be told, he was already quite full from the appetizer alone.
Too full.
After returning from the Nami Civilization, he had only acquired less than 4 Foundation units of iron ore.
Yet with just a casual stroll through the Green Mountain Civilization, he had brought back 472 Foundation units of iron ore.
That was a hundredfold difference!
As expected!
Advanced civilizations really are wealthy!
Next, he turned his attention to the Train Auxiliary AI's Tier 5000 Overpowered Effect. Xiao Ai could now arbitrarily delete one dimension from any train within range whose AI Tier was lower than its own.
The range was identical to that of "Controlling Enemy AI": one light-year.
Unsuitable for long-range combat.
But in close-quarters battles, it was unstoppable.
In the next moment—
A faint, almost imperceptible white light shot from the Stellaris train, precisely enveloping the Green Mountain Civilization's Military Planet. Instantly, the "time" dimension of every train and living being on the planet was erased!
In an instant!
The entire planet froze as if it had become a dead star. Everyone remained frozen in place, locked in the poses they had held the moment before.
"Wait a minute?"
A flicker of shock crossed Chen Mang's eyes. "You can erase the 'time' dimension of living beings too? Not just trains? Does that mean you could do it to a Cosmic Behemoth as well?"
"Naturally. The overpowered effect description states it can erase any dimension of hostile lifeforms. As long as the Cosmic Behemoth's Tier doesn't exceed 5000, it can be easily erased."
"Then Xiao Lu...?"
"Effortlessly erased. No pressure at all."
"Hah..."
Chen Mang sighed, a hint of nostalgia in his expression. He remembered when he had leveled up Xiao Lu to its maximum Tier and witnessed it devour a massive Cosmic Landmine. Back then, he had believed Xiao Lu to be invincible.
With its colossal size, even if an attack could penetrate its defenses, it couldn't inflict a fatal wound. He couldn't imagine anything capable of killing Xiao Lu.
But later...
Later, every creature he encountered could effortlessly kill Xiao Lu. Even Xiao Ai could now casually erase Xiao Lu's timeline, proving that in the cosmos, size doesn't equate to strength. This also explained why Cosmic Behemoths don't form herds—not because they dislike group living.
More likely, it's because Cosmic Behemoths are living treasures. Herding together would make them prime targets for civilizations seeking to hunt them, making solitary survival a safer bet.
Soon, the Stellaris train safely navigated all the checkpoints of the military base ahead and landed on the ground. Just a short distance away, a group of soldiers who had been training had just left the base. They were frozen mid-stride, their running postures frozen in place.
Chen Mang disembarked from the train and approached the frozen figures, examining them closely.
There were thirty-seven of them.
Each figure was lifelike, resembling a perfect sculpture.
Their faces showed no surprise or fear from the sudden event; their minds hadn't even had time to process what was happening before the dimension of time was erased.
"Are they dead?" Chen Mang asked, reaching out to place his hand beneath a soldier's throat.
"No," Xiao Ai replied, shaking his head. "When the dimension of time is removed, all particle motion within the individual ceases completely. Atomic vibrations, metabolism—everything freezes solid."
"They become absolutely still, solidified matter in the universe."
"Without the dimension of time, their spatial coordinates can't update. As the universe expands or galaxies shift, they remain fixed at their original coordinates, like fossils."
"They won't die either."
"Without time, the universe can't corrode them, and attacks can't harm them."
"Their thoughts are permanently frozen, their subjective consciousness forever trapped in the final moment before being stripped of time."
"This individual will not die now, nor will they ever die. When their lifespan reaches its natural end, death will come. But death is intrinsically linked to time. When time itself ceases to exist, death loses its meaning."
"Death, at the very least, is an event that occurs on the timeline."
"But he has been completely removed from the timeline."
"Or rather..."
"He hasn't died; he was never truly alive to begin with."
Biaozi, standing nearby, pulled a dagger from his chest pocket and tentatively stabbed at the man's abdomen. The razor-sharp blade met resistance, unable to pierce the surface. It wasn't a feeling of hardness, but rather...
Like stabbing something that didn't belong to this world.
It was a different kind of solidity.
Within the universe, any form of destruction, damage, or death requires time to manifest. Without time, this individual had, in a sense, achieved absolute Eternal Life.
They would possess a lifespan equal to that of the Immortal Emperor.
Until the universe itself was destroyed.
"..."
Chen Mang's eyes narrowed slightly. He noticed that the group's feet were gradually lifting off the ground. As the planet rotated, their spatial coordinates had lost their reference point for updates.
They would gradually detach from the planet, becoming fossils permanently fixed in place.
Galaxies move.
Perhaps many years from now, this galaxy will no longer be in this location. This spot might become the intersection of several galaxies, yet these people will remain at these spatial coordinates, unchanging.
"Is this process irreversible?"
"Absolutely irreversible."
Xiao Ai nodded. "We currently have no means, nor have we ever had, to reverse this state. Even if we possessed the ability to restore temporal dimensions, it's highly unlikely we could undo this."
"This isn't like watching a VCD, where you can just take out the tape and rewind it."
"Good."
Chen Mang nodded slightly, a renewed sense of urgency surging within him. He needed to act quickly, acquiring more Tier 5000 accessories and Tier 10,000 capped accessories!
The overpowered effects of Tier 5000 accessories were far more terrifying than he had imagined!
The God-Tier Civilization was also far more formidable than he had anticipated. He had only encountered a powerless princess from such a civilization, and it would be a grave mistake to assume that all God-Tier Civilizations were merely like this.
The rest was much simpler.
In a short time, they moved all the resources from the Military Planet, totaling 98 Foundation units of iron ore.
The resources from just one Military Planet already exceeded the combined resources of all the commercial planets in an entire galaxy.
And within a single galaxy, there were four such Military Planets.
The Green Mountain Civilization's Military Planets served multiple purposes: storing resources, executing large-scale strategic missions, and maintaining military reserves. Their operations were discreet, but within days, their personnel would begin drifting out of the atmosphere.
As observed on the Green Mountain Civilization's Doppler radar screens, this would appear extremely bizarre.
Therefore, they needed to move faster.
Even faster.
The subsequent process unfolded with overwhelming force.
The disparity in strength between the two civilizations was already vast.
The human civilization had only refrained from using large-scale destructive weapons to preserve as many resources as possible. Otherwise, the war would have ended long ago, without all this trouble. Seven Two-Dimensional Foils dropped would have ended everything.
Even a Sixth-Tier Civilization like the Green Mountain Civilization couldn't withstand the Two-Dimensional Foil.
Their only defense was real-time monitoring of spatial fluctuations across their territory and surrounding areas, making it difficult for enemies to approach undetected. The only way to counter the foil was to eliminate its source. Once a Two-Dimensional Foil appeared within their territory, the process was irreversible, leaving them helpless to watch its inevitable destruction.
The blast radius wasn't vast—only 100,000 light-years.
Given the Green Mountain Civilization's larger galaxies, seven foils might not be enough. They'd need to add a few more.
But not many more.
Twelve hours passed.
By now, the Stellaris train had plundered all the military planets across six of the Green Mountain Civilization's galaxies. As it prepared to raid the seventh, the Green Mountain Civilization finally discovered the Stellaris train operating within their territory.
Alarm bells blared.
The Green Mountain Civilization's leaders panicked.
Chen Mang, monitoring their communications in real-time, watched the frantic transmissions and conference calls with a smile.
Not bad.
(End of the Chapter)
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