Translator: AnubisTL
The Stellaris train was unusually lively today.
But it wasn't because they were discussing the next phase of their battle plan. Instead, everyone was excitedly brainstorming names for the soon-to-be-born First Heir of the human civilization, each hoping their suggestion would be chosen.
Such an honor would not only be a tremendous privilege but also a source of immense glory.
Afterward, no one at the drinking table could boast a taller tale than theirs.
Xiao Ai was particularly enthusiastic, generating ten thousand names for Chen Mang to choose from, one by one.
"..."
Chen Mang rolled his eyes at Xiao Ai, who was beaming expectantly beside him. "This is too much trouble. Besides, I have no expectations for the child. Frankly, there's nothing left to expect. Should I hope for him to achieve great things in his career? Or just live a peaceful, uneventful life?"
"Sigh."
"Why is naming a child so complicated?"
As his words faded, the occupants of the locomotive cabin exchanged uneasy glances.
He had a point.
Normally, naming a child reflects certain hopes for their future—perhaps for professional success or a life of peace and security. But with Lord Mang in charge, things were different.
What need was there to develop a career? From birth, he would already be at the pinnacle of the universe's most powerful enterprise.
His sole purpose would be to inherit human civilization.
As for safety...
With the technological prowess of human civilization, even death would be a challenge.
Indeed, there was nothing left to aspire to. From this perspective, Lord Mang's child was also unfortunate. At least their own children would be born with a purpose, a goal to strive for, unlike his, who would have no such ambition from birth.
"How about..." Chen Mang pondered for a moment before suggesting, "Chen Jiang? Symbolizing a great river, embodying the ceaseless flow of life, ensuring the eternal continuation of human civilization?"
"A fine name," Old Pig agreed earnestly. "Simple yet grand!"
The surrounding crowd nodded in approval.
"Then it's settled. We'll use this as his given name for now. We can change it later if we find something better."
Chen Mang mentally repeated the name several times, finding it surprisingly pleasing to the ear. Chen Jiang, Chen Jiang—it sounded both majestic and devoid of any bandit-like air, like the name of a righteous man.
Unlike his own name, Chen Mang, which somehow never quite sounded like it belonged to a good person.
Thus concluded the most symbolically significant conference in the history of human civilization. As soon as the meeting adjourned, Old Pig strode purposefully toward the rear carriages, his pace noticeably faster than usual.
"Hey?" Biaozi called out, watching Old Pig's retreating figure. "Old Pig, why are you rushing off like that?"
"Going to find a woman," Old Pig replied without breaking stride.
"You're crazy," Biaozi muttered, bewildered. Old Pig always seemed completely unhurried. Could seeing Lord Mang's child today have infected him with the desire to have one of his own?
Uncle Li, who had been trailing behind them, his mind wandering, perked up at their conversation. His eyes lit up, and he too hurried toward the rear carriages.
"Uncle Li, where are you going?"
"To find a woman too."
"Hey, what's gotten into you guys today?"
Meanwhile, Uncle Li, already some distance away, struggled to contain his excitement. Trainmaster Zhu had the right idea. If he found a woman now and had a child, that child would be the same age as Lord Mang's!
If it's a boy, he'll be the foundation of Lord Mang's future empire!
A trusted confidant since childhood, destined for the core leadership of human civilization, this would further solidify his own position.
If it's a girl, growing up together as childhood sweethearts, innocent and pure, if they were to develop feelings and marry, his status would rise even higher!
Even if they remained just friends, it would still be a great advantage.
He really should find a good wife quickly—someone cultured, virtuous, and from a scholarly family!
The young man following Uncle Li froze for a moment, then quickly realized what was happening. His face flushed with excitement, he hurried after Uncle Li, determined to find a wife and have a child as soon as possible.
Of course, his child would never be worthy of playing with Lord Mang's child.
But—
His child could play with Uncle Li's child! By ensuring his child always stuck close to Uncle Li's child, wouldn't he be able to replicate success? Who says success can't be copied?
This was how you copy it!
The birth of the First Heir sent ripples through the Stellaris's interior, stirring undercurrents of ambition and intrigue.
It also added a new layer of complexity to Chen Mang's thoughts.
Sitting in the locomotive cabin, he gazed at the Political Mother Planet of the God-Tier Civilization, the human civilization, looming in the distance. After a long silence, he couldn't help but smile faintly. "Having a child suddenly feels a bit strange. I hope Xiao Fang has a smooth delivery."
"Train Conductor, you're worrying unnecessarily," Xiao Ai's cheerful voice echoed through the cabin. "With our civilization's current technological level, a smooth birth is guaranteed—a hundred percent certainty. There's no possibility of complications."
"I'd stake my life on the safety of mother and child."
"Even in the unlikely event of an emergency..."
"...we could retrieve them from the Second Universe."
"Of course."
Chen Mang chuckled softly. "I know all that, but it's still our first child. I can't help but feel a little anxious."
In truth, he harbored little genuine affection for Xiao Fang. There was fondness, but not love. Now that she was carrying his child, he had no choice but to accept it, though he intended to maintain his current lifestyle with her.
Love.
That was a relic of a distant past.
Lost to him long ago.
"Treat Xiao Fang with extra consideration from now on."
"Understood."
"Next, send a surrender ultimatum to the God-Tier Civilization, the human civilization. Let's see how they react. If they're willing to surrender, it'll save us some trouble."
"Yes, sir!"
Ten minutes later, a panel slowly materialized on the train control panel screen.
"Cosmic Grand Stage—come if you wish to die."
"Train Conductor, the enemy has refused and sent you a declaration of war."
"I see that."
Chen Mang shook his head, saying nothing more. Now that things had come to this, the next steps were much simpler. He glanced at the train's remaining resources.
There were still 3,511 Foundation units of iron ore.
Enough to wage war.
In the next moment—
He lightly pressed the red button on the control panel. Simultaneously, the Arcanon Light Energy Main Cannon atop the Stellaris, cloaked near the Political Mother Planet of the God-Tier Civilization "Human Civilization" and undetected by anyone, began to glow faintly along its intricate patterns.
Then—
A blinding light enveloped the surrounding space almost instantly.
This was a Tier 10003 Arcanon Light Energy Main Cannon, a single shot of which consumed 200 Foundation units of iron ore, even with the Stellaris's "Stellaris Cabin" bearing 99.99% of the energy burden.
Within the Stellaris Cabin, billions of stars were rapidly collapsing.
War had begun.
This was the Stellaris's most devastating strike, not merely aimed at destroying the Political Mother Planet of the God-Tier Civilization "Human Civilization," but also to declare their existence to all civilizations in the cosmos and prove their might!
A massive black hole instantly engulfed the Political Mother Planet.
The Political Mother Planet was obliterated on impact, leaving not a trace of debris. Immediately afterward, countless crimson beams erupted from the surrounding cosmos—not the aftereffects of his main cannon, but the defensive measures of the God-Tier Civilization, the human civilization.
However, against the Level 10003 main cannon, these defenses proved utterly futile.
They couldn't even slow it down.
A full-tier main cannon was the most formidable weapon in the universe, bar none. Such firepower was unstoppable; the only countermeasures were escape or higher-tier defensive components.
"The enemy hasn't collapsed," Xiao Ai reported swiftly. "They immediately entered maximum combat readiness, issuing commands from multiple locations across their territory. The Political Mother Planet wasn't their sole command center."
"Multiple radar systems are operating at full capacity, desperately trying to detect our presence, but all attempts have failed."
"However, I've located their other command centers."
"Eliminating these targets would effectively cripple their civilization."
Seated in his chair, Chen Mang gazed at the dozen or so bright red dots on the screen. Without a word, he tapped a few commands on the control panel, and the Stellaris train initiated high-frequency space jumps.
Each jump destroyed one red dot.
The entire process was swift and decisive, utterly without resistance.
The enemy couldn't detect them, nor could they withstand their attacks. They didn't even need armor; this was a one-sided slaughter from the start.
Since the apocalypse began, everyone had been characterized by high attack power and weak defenses.
Even among God-Tier Civilizations, this remained true. While individual civilizations might differ in other aspects, when it came to firepower, everyone was maxed out.
No one could truly stop anyone else.
Mutual deterrence was the only thing maintaining the balance.
Now that the enemy couldn't deter him, the slaughter continued unabated. Military Star Systems were crushed one by one, the combat astonishingly easy—even simpler than his battles during the early days of the apocalypse.
But just then—
An unexpected development occurred.
"Train Conductor, I've detected the activity patterns of the human civilization's Full-Tier AI. I've transmitted its precise location to the control panel. We can reach it immediately and seize absolute control of this AI."
"But just now..."
"Due to our attacks, vast swathes of the God-Tier Civilization 'Human Civilization's' territory have fallen, triggering the 'Celestial Vault' system they left behind. This system is irreversible and cannot be stopped."
"I only managed to capture this information through traces leaked by the Human Civilization's Full-Tier AI moments ago."
"The system's sole function is to deploy all high-yield weapons against every God-Tier Civilization—without exception—when the Human Civilization is on the verge of collapse. The system has already been activated, and the remaining 26 civilizations are about to face the Human Civilization's dying, desperate strike."
"How powerful are these weapons?"
"Extremely powerful. Theoretically, these high-yield weapons could strip a layer of skin from all 26 remaining God-Tier Civilizations. After all, the Human Civilization was among the strongest of the God-Tier Civilizations."
"These weapons were originally meant to fall on us."
"But they can't lock onto us."
"Regardless, let's capture that AI first."
"Understood."
Thirty seconds later.
The Stellaris train executed a space jump, arriving in a Cosmic Void. The only thing present was a desolate, abandoned mining star.
Who could have imagined?
The God-Tier Civilization, the human civilization, had concealed their Full-Tier AI at the heart of a Cosmic Void. This was indeed an absolutely secure location, unlikely to attract attention.
But unfortunately, they had been found.
Just then—
The solitary, abandoned mining star suddenly erupted into a dazzling fireworks display before his eyes.
The enemy had self-destructed.
"Train Conductor, the Full-Tier AI cleared its database and self-destructed before I could infiltrate it."
"Before self-destructing, it issued one final command."
"Activate the self-destruct protocols for all Resource Repositories within the civilizational territory."
"However..."
"I intercepted the command in real-time, but I couldn't prevent the self-destruction. Since the AI cleared its database before detonating, I can't currently retrieve any information from it."
"Understood."
Chen Mang nodded slightly, gazing at the distant, brilliant fireworks. With the explosion of that planet, the God-Tier Civilization known as the "human civilization" had been utterly annihilated, bringing the war to an unexpectedly swift conclusion.
It was that simple.
When two sides exist in different dimensions, wars end quickly. His forces suffered zero casualties; their armor was barely used, except once when preparing to destroy a Military Star System.
Though the enemy couldn't pinpoint their location in their desperate last stand, they launched a massive area-of-effect weapon into their own galaxy, hoping to blanket the region with destruction and catch them in the blast.
Naturally, his forces were unharmed.
But that galaxy was destroyed by its own people.
Once they had inherited all the resources of the "human civilization" and eliminated the other God-Tier Civilizations, his civilization would become the undisputed leader in the cosmos, achieving its ultimate goal.
"Now, countless civilizations will be observing this battlefield. We should broadcast a Civilization Broadcast from the 'human civilization'."
"Civilization Broadcast: Within fourteen days, all God-Tier Civilizations must surrender seventy percent of their resources to the human civilization and submit to its authority."
"Let's finish these civilizations quickly."
"Understood."
The God-Tier Civilization, the human civilization, was thus extinguished.
A new God-Tier Civilization, the human civilization, was born.
The battle concluded so swiftly that it barely warranted a mention in historical records. The citizens of the former God-Tier Civilization, the human civilization, remained oblivious to the cataclysm, continuing their lives on their planets as if nothing had changed.
This was perfectly normal.
The vastness of a civilization's territory often meant that while one region was engulfed in war, another remained in blissful ignorance, enjoying peace and prosperity.
"The story is nearing its end," Chen Mang murmured, sitting before the control panel and gazing at the information on the screen. His thoughts drifted back to his life.
I'm getting old, he mused. I find myself longing for the past more and more.
(End of the Chapter)
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