Translator: AnubisTL
"As long as our strength reaches the required level, everything else will gradually catch up," Xiao Ai explained earnestly.
Chen Mang didn't press further. In truth, he hadn't expected a literal answer. It was clear that while Xiao Ai possessed intelligence comparable to humans—even surpassing them in certain strategic decisions—he still struggled to grasp the nuances of human language.
Seated in the locomotive cabin, Chen Mang gazed at the panel that had popped up on the control panel screen.
The human civilization had officially advanced to a Tier 8 Civilization.
They were now just one step away from becoming a Tier 9 Civilization.
A new Civilization Panel appeared on the screen:
[Civilization Name]: Human Civilization
[Civilization Level]: Tier 8
[Civilization Leader]: Chen Mang
[Civilization Planets]: Aquablue Star, Black Tortoise Star, First-Class Mining Planet, Mining Star Two, Mining Star Three, Mining Star Four, etc.
[Civilization Population]: 61 trillion
[Advancement Conditions]: Peak offensive energy range exceeding 700,000.
[PS: Each advancement beyond Second-Tier Civilization releases an "Advancement Ripple" detectable by all surrounding civilizations. The higher the tier, the wider the ripple's range.]
[Civilization Means]: The generation speed and capacity of resource mines such as Murphy Stone Mines, iron ore mines, and copper ore mines are doubled.
The Civilization Panel remained largely unchanged.
One notable point:
The sole condition for advancing to Tier 9 Civilization was achieving a peak offensive energy range exceeding 700,000, equivalent to a Tier 7000 Arcanon Light Energy Main Cannon—no need for a Tier 10,000 cannon.
This advancement requirement was far lower than he had anticipated.
The Civilization Means, another resource-based ability, doubled the generation rate of Murphy Stone Mines, iron ore mines, copper ore mines, and other resources within the civilization's territory.
The range could be selected.
For example, he could designate a specific galaxy within his civilization's territory to have its resource generation rate doubled.
Otherwise, this Civilization Means would be shared across the entire universe.
If the entire universe were divided among God-Tier Civilizations, wouldn't every corner benefit from this effect, eliminating resource-scarce regions altogether?
In the next moment—
A piercing alarm suddenly blared through the train.
[Warning! Warning! Unknown high-intensity attack detected rapidly approaching!]
[Warning! Warning!]
On the Doppler radar, a comet-like beam of light was rapidly approaching the Stellaris train, crossing tens of millions of light-years in the blink of an eye.
This was an attack originating from 780 million light-years away, having traversed dozens of wormholes to reach the Stellaris train's position almost instantaneously. The warning alarms had barely sounded before the strike arrived.
Boom!!!
A violent burst of fire engulfed the Stellaris train.
When the smoke cleared, the Stellaris train remained suspended in space, completely unscathed. The frantic warning alarms within the train had ceased; the moment of impact had revealed the attack's true strength.
The power of a Tier 7000 Arcanon Light Energy Main Cannon.
This was an assault from a Tier 9 Civilization.
"It's an automated attack from the human civilization," Xiao Ai's voice echoed through the train.
"Triggered immediately upon detecting a civilization's advancement to Tier 8, acting as a kind of cosmic landmine."
"..."
Chen Mang sat on the train, gazing out the window. He recognized the weapon instantly: the Arcanon Light Energy Main Cannon. However, its overpowered effect was clearly different from his own. The Tier 7000 Arcanon Light Energy Main Cannon hadn't created a black hole upon detonation.
Instead, it had Two-Dimensionalized the entire surrounding zone spanning millions of light-years.
Now—
For the first time, he found himself within a Two-Dimensional universe. Looking out the window, it felt like being inside an oil painting. Countless stars and planets lay on a single plane, their light frozen in place, like brushstrokes on canvas.
The Stellaris train stood within this Two-Dimensional universe like a relief sculpture on the surface of the painting.
"Not bad," he murmured, glancing at the information displayed on the train control panel screen.
It was a Cosmic Landmine from the God-Tier Civilization, the human civilization, designed to automatically detect Advancement signals and launch attacks. Since he was within the human civilization's domain, his Advancement had immediately triggered their defenses.
All God-Tier Civilizations swiftly eliminate any Tier 8 Civilizations that attempt to advance within their civilizational territory.
This was perfectly normal.
He understood.
He felt no anger toward his fellow humans for attacking him; he understood their actions.
Of course.
He was certain they would understand his retaliatory strike as well.
The attack had caused him no damage whatsoever. His armor was already at maximum level, equipped with the Absolute Defense Sanctum Overdrive Effect, making him virtually invincible. Even at the heart of a black hole, he would remain unaffected, and the flow of time held no sway over his civilization.
He glanced at the train's remaining resources and the Doppler Radar, which showed signs of the God-Tier Civilization "human civilization" mobilizing. He murmured in a daze, "It seems... we don't need to develop any further?"
The initial attack had failed.
The enemy clearly had no intention of giving up, preparing to regroup their forces for another assault.
In the past, he would have retreated first, focusing on development before seeking revenge—a gentleman's vengeance could wait.
But...
As he glanced at the train's resource panel, he suddenly realized, with a start, that after years of development, he had nearly reached his civilization's maximum potential. There was little need for further expansion.
The train still held 7,475.56 Foundation units of iron ore.
It was enough to upgrade most accessories to their maximum Tier.
Perhaps...
Further development was unnecessary.
Human civilization could formally enter the war. The first battle would begin with their own kind, purging the Human Clan. In the universe, there could only be one civilization called "Human Civilization." That was what the enemy believed, and Chen Mang shared that conviction.
"..."
Chen Mang narrowed his eyes slightly, pulled up a three-dimensional holographic display of the Stellaris train, and began rapidly enhancing the remaining accessories, preparing for a direct confrontation.
First up was the Seven-Colored Grade Accessory, the "SPY-7 Doppler Tail Jet"!
By consuming 1100.5 Foundation units of iron ore, it instantly upgraded from Tier 1000 to Tier 10000—its maximum Tier—granting several overpowered effects in one go.
["SPY-7 Doppler Tail Jet Tier 2000 Overpowered Effect": Speed surges dramatically.]
["SPY-7 Doppler Tail Jet Tier 5000 Overpowered Effect": Speed surges dramatically.]
["SPY-7 Doppler Tail Jet Tier 10000 Overpowered Effect": Speed surges dramatically.]
Three consecutive identical overpowered effects.
Unremarkable.
But—
It was already enough!
When this accessory was at Tier 1000, it allowed the train to reach nearly one-third of the speed of light. With each subsequent upgrade, the speed increased while the overpowered effect further amplified the speed surge.
After reaching maximum tier, the resulting effect was that the train could now travel at ten times the speed of light!
To put it plainly, the Stellaris train, traveling at full speed for a year, could cover ten light-years. This might seem ordinary—ten light-years is a mere speck in the vastness of the universe.
But consider this: Energy Cannons are the fastest weapons in the cosmos, capable of maintaining the speed of light, making them virtually impossible to miss. With the Stellaris now moving at ten times the speed of light, practically no weapon could ever strike it.
Quite impressive.
Of course, the Stellaris train didn't care about being hit; even if it were, it wouldn't matter.
Upgrade!
Consuming another 1,100.5 Foundation units of iron ore, he upgraded the SPY-7 Doppler Radar Jammer from Tier 1000 to Tier 10000.
The resulting Overpowered effects were all null.
The accessory's previous Overpowered effects had also been null.
Boosted by the Civilization Wonder, the accessory's effective Tier was actually 10001. This meant that unless they were permanently undetectable or their resources were exposed, the Stellaris train would become a true ghost in the cosmos.
With the critical accessories upgraded, he moved on to the train's secondary components.
For example, the yellow-grade Accessory, "Space Gate"!
This crucial component, vital to the train's functionality, was still only at Tier 500, standing out awkwardly among the train's many max-Tier accessories.
Upgrade!
After consuming 153 Foundation units of iron ore, he successfully obtained a Tier 10000 "Space Gate."
This accessory was a single-unit component, requiring individual upgrades for each space gate.
Moreover, several new Overpowered effects were added.
[Space Gate Tier 1000 Overpowered Effect: The space gate's volume has been significantly increased, allowing it to simultaneously accommodate ten planets with diameters up to 100,000 kilometers and one star, forming a Planetary Cluster within the gate.]
[Space Gate Tier 2000 Overpowered Effect: The space gate's volume has been further increased, now capable of housing one hundred planets with diameters up to 1,000,000 kilometers and three stars.]
[Space Gate Tier 5000 Overpowered Effect: Planets within the space gate will now generate resources.]
[Space Gate Tier 10000 Overpowered Effect: Creatures that die within the space gate have a chance to be resurrected and imprisoned on a planet, forever unable to leave it.]
At the same moment—
A panel reappeared on the train control panel screen.
[The human civilization is the first in the entire universe to obtain a max-tier "Space Gate" accessory. This accessory has been automatically upgraded to the "Holy Temple" grade.]
[As a result, the civilization has acquired the Civilization Wonder "New Universe."]
[Space Gate "Holy Temple" Overdrive Effect]: The internal space will become infinitely vast, capable of accommodating countless planets.
"Good."
Chen Mang couldn't help but smile. Although he only had one max-level space gate, it was enough. With this max-level space gate, many of his future concerns were resolved.
The stars he had collected from the Kasha Civilization Ruins were already running out.
He had originally gathered quite a few.
But after firing a Tier 5000 Arcanon Light Energy Main Cannon, he had essentially exhausted the entire batch. Now, when he looked at the screen, almost all the stars were extinguished.
He needed more stars.
Fortunately, while the nearby star was the source of life and extremely precious to an inhabited planet, in the vast universe, stars were as plentiful as grains of sand on a beach—countless and inexhaustible.
Moreover—
He had assumed that these lower-grade accessories would have already been upgraded to max level by others. To his surprise, this accessory, which only required 153 Foundation units of iron ore to reach max level, remained untouched.
In contrast, the Seven-Colored Grade Accessories "Radar Jammer" and "Doppler Tail Jet" had both been maxed out by other civilizations, denying him the Sanctum Overdrive Effect.
"Voyage!"
Chen Mang steered the Stellaris train, swiftly entering a newly created wormhole beside him. He left the two-dimensionalized zone and returned to the territory left to him by the Rugged Civilization.
Immediately!
The Stellaris train began hurtling through the galaxy at breakneck speed, like a ravenous serpent devouring everything in its path. Habitable planets and stars alike were swallowed whole by the Stellaris.
Chen Mang spent another 306 Foundation units of iron ore to forge two more Tier 10,000 space gates. These max-level gates also possessed the Sanctum Overdrive Effect.
His three space gates now served distinct purposes:
One was dedicated to storing stars as energy reserves. Another was specifically for collecting habitable planets, forming his civilization's internal ecosystem within the train. * The third was used to stockpile various mining stars as resource reserves.
This was a monumental undertaking.
Soon—
Xiao Ai provided concrete data:
"The Rugged Civilization controls 37 galaxies. At our current speed, we estimate it will take 879 years to absorb all the stars and high-value planets in the first galaxy into the train."
"To collect all the high-value planets from all 37 galaxies, we project it will require 37,920 years."
"Train Conductor, you needn't worry too much."
"With the current strength of human civilization, your lifespan can easily extend to tens of thousands of years. You'll definitely have enough time."
"..."
Chen Mang stared silently at the data. He had underestimated the scale of the task. A single galaxy alone contained nearly a trillion stars.
Even if he could create countless wormholes and, relying on the train's immense speed, pierce through the galaxy like a needle through fabric to quickly plunder all the high-value planets, the time required would still be astronomical. He couldn't afford to wait that long. He needed a faster method.
He lit a cigarette and pondered in silence, his eyes narrowing slightly. An idea gradually formed in his mind: perhaps he could enlist Xiao Lu's Mother's help? She was exceptionally skilled at destroying entire galaxies.
First, she could swallow all the planets into a copy, and then he could retrieve them through the space gate?
No, that's still too slow. Not fast enough.
Wait—
Perhaps...
He remembered an accessory he had long neglected: the powerful magnet!
If he could use the powerful magnet to pull all the planets in a galaxy into his space gate, the process would be significantly faster.
After upgrading this accessory to Tier 500, he had rarely used it. In the past, he had occasionally employed it to manipulate gravity fields, creating a "monster-gathering" effect.
A major reason for this neglect was that the accessory's overpowered effect had remained non-existent since Tier 200. Even if he upgraded it to Tier 10,000, the overpowered effect would still be non-existent, failing to achieve the perfect overpowered effect he had envisioned!
But...
That didn't matter!
Having this possibility was enough. Chen Mang took a deep breath, his mind made up. He stubbed out his cigarette before speaking.
"Tell Qi Kexiu to drop everything and focus all his efforts on developing the Accessory Blueprint for the green-grade Accessory, the 'Powerful Magnet'. I want to see that blueprint as soon as possible."
"Understood," Xiao Ai's voice echoed through the train, clearly aware of Chen Mang's plan.
Worth a try.
(End of the Chapter)
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