The "Genesis" spacecraft, carrying Mu Yun and the others, traversed the black hole, proceeding along the lingering afterglow of annihilated stars, moving towards the unknown abyss. This unfamiliar place had no time, no space, only endless gloom and the intense radiance emitted by the stellar afterglow. They could no longer perceive the passage of time; only those afterglows, or energies, were slowly converging, gradually becoming denser, like white beams of light gathering forward.
"These stellar energies are actually appearing as visible white light beams."
Inside the ship's observation deck, Mu Yun and Jane stood side by side, gazing at the incredible sight outside the window. Behind them were countless experts and scholars, holding their breath and staring intently. Facing this cosmic marvel beyond human imagination, they had long cast aside thoughts of life and death.
"The scanner shows a total of eighty-four thousand energy light beams," Jane broke the silence, her voice filled with uncontrollable shock. "This represents the energy of eighty-four thousand stars." Her throat tightened slightly, her words caught in her mouth, and she finally whispered, "What... what exactly is this?"
At this moment, the cosmic civilization signal monitoring sound, which had been continuously ringing inside the spacecraft, suddenly ceased. Immediately after, an urgent alarm suddenly blared.
"Destination reached!" Mu Yun clenched both fists, his gaze sharp, staring intently ahead.
"Captain, what... what is that?" someone exclaimed in a low voice, slightly trembling, clearly awestruck by the sight before them.
"Oh my God!!"
In the depths of the universe ahead of the spacecraft, a blurry golden humanoid figure floated in the dark, boundless void. Its form was somewhere between human and an unknown creature, difficult to discern. However, the dense white energy light beams, like a tide, surged towards it, ultimately all pouring into its body.
This scene sent shivers through their souls. Inside the spacecraft, some theologians involuntarily knelt, murmuring prayers. Their words were fragmented, yet filled with reverence, as if facing a true creator. Mu Yun remained motionless, his gaze profound. His clenched fists trembled slightly, as if he too was struggling to comprehend the "miracle" before his eyes.
Suddenly, a strange syllable sounded directly, as if not through the ears, but from the depths of Mu Yun and others' souls. This syllable was strange, obscure, and heart-pounding. The peculiar thing was that Mu Yun could actually understand its meaning. The rhythm and cadence of the syllable seemed to align with the language of an ancient Eastern country on Earth, as if traversing billions of years of time and space.
"I..."
"Eighty-four thousand paths in the firmament... will ultimately be complete!"
Then, the tone paused slightly, as if sensing something.
"Huh...?"
This "huh" carried a hint of noticeable surprise, then fell into a deathly silence. In the next few tens of seconds, no more sounds appeared in anyone's mind. The people in the ship's cabin exchanged glances, their eyes intertwined, only the look of shock silently conveying the turbulent waves within their hearts.
However—
The next second, the white noise suddenly reappeared, and all the ship's instruments silently shut down again. That piercing sound, almost tearing at their souls, felt as if invisible hands were gripping everyone's throats, and a suffocating sense of fear washed over them once more.
"Academician Mu Yun, look... look!"
It was the military expert speaking. This man, usually calm and composed, now had a distinctly dry and even fragmented voice. Mu Yun was about to calm everyone down, but hearing his warning, he instinctively followed his gaze to the outside of the spacecraft.
At that very moment—
That golden figure appeared strikingly outside the spacecraft!
Its entire body flowed with golden light. Despite being so close, no one could clearly see its face. The instant Mu Yun gazed upon it, infinite golden light burst forth from within its body. That golden light rapidly spread, like a raging tide covering every inch of this cosmic space.
Time seemed to stand still.
After an unknown duration, the military expert was the first to awaken. As a professional soldier, he instinctively and quickly checked the situation. He found that some of the ship's instruments had returned to normal, but what made his scalp tingle was that some people on board had inexplicably vanished—including their captain, Mu Yun!
"Mu Yun! Jane!" He couldn't help but shout, searching back and forth in the cabin, but found nothing. After a moment, he returned to the main control room, took a deep breath, forced himself to calm down, and issued a command: "Initiate carbon-based life locking program, track Mu Yun, Jane, Mike, Li Liang... use maximum power for coverage distance."
As the program started, the control screen flickered with faint light. Other crew members also began to gradually awaken, looking around in shock. Finally, the carbon-based life tracking program completed, and a cold prompt appeared on the screen: "Carbon-based life lock complete, Mu Yun, Jane, Mike... not found. No carbon-based life found within maximum power coverage distance."
The spacecraft was intact, and all systems were operating normally. However, the sudden disappearance of Mu Yun and the others, without any warning, was as if they had been erased from this space. All of this was beyond the military expert's comprehension, plunging him into deep confusion and fear. However, what made him feel even more despair was that the golden figure remained suspended motionless outside the spacecraft, golden light raging, like an unextinguishable star, emitting an irresistible pressure. What baffled everyone even more was that the system had clearly scanned the vicinity and found no carbon-based life, so... what exactly was the floating creature outside?!
...
At this exact same time, in an unknown, dark space, Mu Yun's consciousness returned, and he slowly opened his eyes.
"My... my head hurts so much!"
Mu Yun's vision was blurry. He tried to move but found his body unable to budge an inch, as if confined by some invisible force. After a while, he could barely make out his surroundings. This was a very strange space; the walls were covered with huge rune screens, and the light on the screens moved like living things, appearing very eerie. A low, mechanical sound echoed in the air, as if recording his every movement.
He slowly lowered his head to look at himself, only to find his body suspended in a transparent crystal container. That crystal was like a cage, binding him tightly. Understanding his situation, Mu Yun immediately issued a command in his mind.
"Activate nuclear arc reactor!"
Mu Yun, as the foremost scientist on Earth at the time, had pushed Earth's energy application technology a huge step forward through the "nuclear arc reactor". Especially the application of the "nuclear arc reactor" in microscopic weapon science had ushered in a new era of single-soldier armaments. He himself, after years of armament, had become a walking arsenal of cutting-edge weaponry. Compared to Iron Man, the American superhero on screen years ago, he was even more formidable.
But at this moment, the "Zeus Genesis Neural System," the most advanced Earth technology implanted in Mu Yun's cerebral cortex, gave no response. It seemed a mysterious force had shut down the "nuclear arc reactor" within him and severed its physical connection to the "Zeus Genesis Neural System".
...
"Activate Zeus Genesis Neural System!" Mu Yun's heart tightened, vaguely sensing something amiss.
"Activate quantum defense system!"
"Activate superluminal amplitude system!"
"Activate super nano-repair system!"
Mu Yun issued a series of commands, but still received no response from the various technologically advanced amplification systems implanted in his body.
"Activate antimatter armament system!" After a moment of contemplation, he tried to activate the last armament system, which was also the newest, ultra-cutting-edge technological weapon he had developed. The "antimatter armament system" was not a traditional attack or defense system, but a technological weapon for exploring and collecting dark matter or undiscovered substances and energies of the world. Over the years, Mu Yun had turned antimatter theory into practice and applied it to himself. If it were to be popularized, its contribution to humanity would be no less than that of Newton and Einstein in their time.
Upon issuing this command, Mu Yun suddenly felt a warm current flowing through his body, distributing itself through his four main meridians and eight collateral vessels. This warm current was a new, undiscovered mysterious force, suppressing his internal "nuclear arc reactor" and many other technological systems, preventing them from operating normally.
As he pondered, a cold, mechanical voice suddenly spoke in his ear: "Test subject number 9527, activated." The voice was chilling, devoid of any emotional fluctuation. Mu Yun looked up, struggling to gaze towards the source of the sound. He saw a giant metal figure projected from the ceiling, looking down at him. That metal figure had no trace of life; in its hand, it held a long staff carved with runes, its tip flickering with a dark red light.
"You have been chosen." The voice of the metal figure echoed in the laboratory. Mu Yun's heart was filled with confusion; he could not understand the meaning of these words. His body was bound by the crystal container, and this container was, in some way, fusing Mu Yun's internal technological systems with that mysterious energy.
"Experiment about to begin, initiating countdown." The mechanical voice was cold and emotionless, and red lights began to flash all around.
"Ten..."
"Nine..."
"Eight..."
"Seven..."
Each number was like a whisper of death, carrying an irresistible majesty.
"Two..."
"One..."
"Initiating ability stripping program."
Mu Yun's body suddenly trembled violently. He felt his numerous internal technological systems being forcibly extracted like a torrent. The Zeus Genesis Neural System, quantum defense system, superluminal amplitude system, super nano-repair system... all the technological powers he relied on for survival were collapsing and disintegrating one by one.
Ultimately, only the most primitive electrical signal transmission function remained in his body. His technological armaments were forcibly dismantled one by one. Even his appearance visibly aged.
"Initiating spiritual energy integration program."
"Ten..."
"Nine..."
"Eight..."
"Simulating spirit root implantation... Heavenly Spirit Root."
"Three"
"Two..."
"One..."
When the countdown ended, Mu Yun suddenly felt that mysterious warm current within him begin to surge wildly, crashing through his four main meridians and eight collateral vessels like a tempest, as if reshaping and transforming his body. A series of sharp pains originating from the depths of his soul spread, then surged like a tide, and within moments, Mu Yun completely fainted.
Shortly after, the cold, mechanical voice sounded again.
"Universe number 627, lifeform physique incompatible."
"Universe number 627, lifeform physique incompatible."
Suddenly, cracks appeared in the crystal container. Accompanied by a piercing cracking sound, the crystal began to disintegrate, and the power that had originally confined Mu Yun began to lose control.
"Experiment failed! Enable alternative plan?" The rune screens around the laboratory suddenly flickered, and the entire space began to vibrate violently, as if about to tear apart. Above, the giant metal figure looked down upon all of this. It was only at the very last moment before the space was about to be destroyed that its cold syllable was emitted.
"Yes."
Instantly, a fissure spread in the void, and a colossal suction force erupted from the fissure, engulfing Mu Yun.