Translator: AnubisTL
Chen Mang sat on the train, gazing at the coordinates for the Nami Civilization displayed on the control panel screen.
The Nami Civilization was located on the opposite side of the Cosmic Void.
The Level 4987 Arcanon Light Energy Main Cannon currently within the Cosmic Void was likely fired by the Nami Civilization, even though the cannon had been drifting through the void for an extended period.
But—
A Fourth-Tier Civilization possessed the ability to travel back in time, using the Cosmic Void as a barrier to launch a devastating strike against their enemies.
If the Nami Civilization had fired the cannon...
Then...
Why would they do such a thing?
Was it merely for amusement, a rogue act by a train conductor, or was there some hidden motive?
If that were the case...
Wasn't the temporal deviation far too great?
A staggering 80,000-year discrepancy.
Chen Mang shook his head, ceasing his contemplation. The matter was temporarily resolved. He currently lacked the means to travel to the Nami Civilization and reclaim his Heavenly Palace. For now, his primary objectives were to advance to a Fourth-Tier Civilization and secure more resources.
Next—
He began clearing up the resources acquired after the war with the Zerg Civilization.
Before the war, he had over 1 quadrillion units of resources. After the conflict, he seized a massive stockpile from the "Prison," bringing the total displayed on the train's Resource Panel to an impressive figure.
[20.97 quadrillion units of iron ore, 3.89 quadrillion units of wood, 13.6 quadrillion units of copper ore, 34.9 billion units of Red Heart Rock, and 47.97 billion units of titanium crystal ore.]
The resource count had once again reached 20 quadrillion units.
With such vast resources stored within the train, Chen Mang felt a sense of security.
The next step was clear:
Upgrade again.
First, he would upgrade several key accessories to Tier 1000. If the overpowered effects at Tier 500 had already touched upon the Cosmic Rules, then the Tier 1000 effects would essentially allow him to manipulate those rules.
The Train Armor would have to wait.
It was far too expensive to upgrade for now.
Instead, Chen Mang suddenly had an idea. He decided to check the Tier 1000 overpowered effect of the telescope first. The Tier 500 effect allowed him to observe the cosmos, a function he had never fully understood. Though he still didn't grasp its exact purpose or the underlying principles of observation, he had finally found a practical application for it.
What would the Tier 1000 effect reveal?
Without hesitation, he acted.
The telescope was only a white-grade accessory, requiring just 100 trillion units of iron ore to upgrade to Tier 1000—relatively cheap.
Soon enough, the 100 trillion units of iron ore within the train turned to ash, completely merging into the train's structure. Simultaneously, the telescope on the table began to emit waves of white light.
A brand-new overpowered effect materialized.
[Tier 1000 Overpowered Effect: Telescope]: Allows you to peer into any corner of the universe.
"Hmm."
Chen Mang picked up the telescope and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window of the locomotive cabin. He gazed into the depths of space for a long time, but honestly, he couldn't sense any difference from before.
It seemed exactly the same.
No change.
But just then, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a small luminous panel had appeared at the edge of his vision. It had an input field, and after a moment's thought, he typed in the coordinates for the Nami Civilization.
The next instant—
The scene before him transformed dramatically!
Like a god, he now looked down upon the Nami Civilization from an utterly bizarre angle.
It was a unique perspective, unlike any conventional viewpoint.
It was like looking at a three-dimensional object from a four-dimensional perspective, or like a three-dimensional human observing two-dimensional ants—a nearly complete Dimensional Reduction view. He could see the Nami Civilization with perfect clarity.
The Nami Civilization's territory spanned tens of millions of light-years, covering an immense area.
From his perspective, he could see every planet belonging to the Nami Civilization.
With a mere thought, he could zoom in endlessly, until he could clearly observe specific details on any planet. Even a young couple enjoying a romantic night in their bedroom was visible through this bizarre, absolutely transparent perspective.
This was the perspective of the cosmos.
If the universe wished to scrutinize a civilization in detail, this would be the perspective it would use.
Perhaps it could even see past and future with equal clarity.
The experience of this perspective was utterly mesmerizing. Chen Mang was completely absorbed, gazing through the telescope for an extended period.
He finally withdrew with reluctance.
However, he then entered the cosmic coordinates of his own universe and looked again. Soon, he found himself viewing the Stellaris train from an eerie, overhead angle. He could clearly see himself holding the telescope in the locomotive cabin, along with everyone else on board.
Even the planet he had hidden within the space gate of the locomotive cabin was fully visible.
He could also see Doba and the others busily working on Aquablue Star.
After a long moment, Chen Mang set aside the telescope, sat back in his chair, and nodded in satisfaction. The overpowered effect was truly remarkable, making it perfect for intelligence gathering. He could now observe the enemy's most secret fortifications without being detected.
Except for the lack of sound, he thought.
Almost invincible.
A Tier 1000 overpowered effect is indeed terrifyingly powerful.
But the cost is astronomical.
Upgrading a green-grade accessory to Tier 1000 overpowered effect required 100 trillion units of iron ore. With only 2 quadrillion units of iron ore in his train's reserves, he could only selectively upgrade a few lower-grade accessories with high practicality to Tier 1000. Achieving Tier 1000 for all accessories seemed like a distant dream.
Meanwhile—
On the mining star of the Nami Civilization, Little Fatty's Father received a note from the Mysterious Traveler. A flicker of astonishment crossed his bloodshot eyes as he read the message: Problem solved?
He had shared so much, but he hadn't actually expected the traveler to offer any assistance.
The main reason he spoke was to unburden himself.
These things had weighed on his heart for far too long. Only when civilization was on the brink of destruction, and he had no idea how much longer he would live, did he finally spill everything out in a torrent, as if purging himself.
He was about to say more when the Mysterious Traveler's figure began to fade away.
His Adam's apple bobbed slightly. Though still somewhat incredulous, he pulled out his tablet and connected to the Heavenly Net, the Nami Civilization's most expensive communication network. Its exorbitant price was justified by its unparalleled transmission speed.
Finally, an hour later, he saw the videos everyone had posted. The people in the footage were no longer gazing skyward; they had returned to their normal routines. Yet their perceptions seemed to have been altered. Even when viewing the previously abnormal videos, no one noticed anything amiss, let alone commented on it.
He tried posting comments to alert others to this strangeness.
But no one paid him any attention. Some even called him crazy, saying that this was just how normal people behaved.
But he didn't care.
Instead, he suddenly burst into laughter, tears welling in his eyes as he chuckled.
The Nami Civilization had been saved.
Everything was back to normal.
"Father..."
Just then—
Little Fatty, who had appeared out of nowhere, asked timidly, "Is the world back to normal? Does that make us heroes who saved the world?"
"Absolutely!"
The middle-aged man nodded emphatically, laughing through his tear-filled eyes. "Of course it does! How could it not?"
"But... no one even knows we're heroes. They don't even realize there was a disaster."
"That doesn't matter. We owe everything to the friend you made. If he hadn't resolved our civilization's crisis through some means, who knows what would have happened?"
"Though I still don't understand how he did it."
"He never even came to the Nami Civilization."
"He solved it from afar. This seems like... the methods of an advanced civilization. Could your friend be the Leader of an advanced civilization?"
"I don't know."
"It's alright."
The middle-aged man took a deep breath and put his arm around Little Fatty's shoulder. "Come on, let's go find your mother and celebrate our civilization's rebirth! You did wonderfully this time. You saved the Nami Civilization. You're a hero of the Nami Civilization."
"Okay."
Little Fatty couldn't help but scratch his head and chuckle. He had traveled so far to mine, hoping to earn his father's approval through his own hard work. He never imagined that while his mining venture would fail, the friends he made along the way would achieve such a monumental feat.
Under the setting sun, the two walked toward the distant wooden cabin, smiles on their faces. Their voices faded into the wind.
"By the way, Father, how much does that Private Security Company you hired for me cost per day?"
"A hundred billion."
"A hundred billion?! The entire profit from my mine, even after digging it all out, was only a hundred billion!"
"Oh, didn't I mention before? I'm quite wealthy."
"Are you really that rich? I thought you were just comfortably well-off!"
"Extremely wealthy."
"Then you must earn even more than the fathers of those rich kids I met last time!"
"Those rich kids you met last time were just the children of my company's lowest-tier suppliers. I'm many tiers above their fathers."
"..."
"Why are you so quiet?"
"Just... processing."
In the vastness of space, the transmission of information takes time.
A full six months passed.
Only then did the Kasha Civilization Federation fully grasp the Zerg Civilization's extinction. Those with the means had already obtained footage of the final battle, which was now circulating through various channels.
The events that had occurred six months prior were only now becoming truly known to the masses.
Countless beings fell silent.
Especially those who had once sent Cosmic Broadcasts declaring their allegiance to the Zerg Civilization, vowing to become its subjects and never align with human civilization. These very civilizations now experienced simultaneous and bizarre coups.
Upon seizing power, the new Civilization Leaders immediately overturned their predecessors' orders and issued fresh Cosmic Broadcasts, proclaiming themselves the most loyal subjects of human civilization, eager to return to their ancestral roots, for human civilization was humanity's true home.
There was no other choice.
Cosmic Broadcasts left indelible marks on civilizations, impossible to erase or deny.
The only recourse was to replace the Leader and shift all blame onto the former regime.
Many civilizations had been observing the fates of these defectors.
Some speculated the Zerg Civilization would welcome them with open arms, using them as examples to attract others.
Others predicted the Zerg Civilization would simply annihilate them.
No one had anticipated this outcome.
Huff
Inside a tavern, a man sat alone at the bar, staring at a viral video on his tablet.
The footage showed a train launching several colossal gaseous planets.
Immediately afterward, a massive artificial Gravity Field was created. Through a series of precisely timed launches, the swarming Zerg Monsters were forced into a single straight line, then annihilated by a single, perfectly aimed blast.
A flawless shot with 100% efficiency.
With just that one shot, the Zerg Civilization was extinguished.
What kind of power was this? This civilization far surpassed even the Kasha Civilization in strength.
"Tsk."
The man suddenly chuckled, shaking his head and murmuring, "Even in this remote corner of the universe, such a civilization could emerge."
"The more desperate the hunger, the more likely miracles become."
"Level 500 Armor."
"Intriguing."
Just then, a drunken, burly man stumbled over and shoved him. "This is Laozi's usual spot. Move aside."
The man didn't respond.
A strange purple light flickered in his eyes.
In the next moment...
The burly man suddenly froze in place. Then, before everyone's eyes, he gouged out his own eyeballs and shoved them into his mouth, chewing them with gusto while laughing maniacally, as if devouring some exquisite delicacy.
Not satisfied, he tore open his abdomen and savagely ripped out his internal organs, stuffing them into his mouth.
Seeing this, the man smiled and placed the bowler hat from the bar counter on his head.
The entire bar erupted into chaos as everyone began mimicking the burly man's actions.
In an instant, the bar transformed into a living hell.
As the man stepped out of the bar, the entire city descended into the same madness.
The city became a living hell.
The man glanced up at the sky and vanished without a trace.
Across the entire planet, every living creature uniformly imitated the same gruesome behavior.
In the blink of an eye, the planet became a dead star, devoid of all life.
The man stood in the cosmos, gazing down at the crimson-stained world. He stared at his slender, pale fingers, muttering with feverish awe, "Is this the power of the Divine?"
Then, he turned his gaze toward the Cosmic Void.
"Divine," he murmured.
"Wait for me."
"Your most loyal Apostle is coming to save you."
"Before that, let's kill Chen Mang first. The feeling of destroying a miracle is truly intoxicating."
"Just imagine..."
"Someone born from humble origins, climbing step by step from weakness to reach this point in a resource-scarce zone—it's nothing short of a miracle. Just as they believe their future will only grow brighter, I'll suddenly strike them down. That feeling..."
"It's exquisite."
"The mere thought of it excites me."
"Idiot."
Chen Mang sat expressionlessly in his chair, pointing at the middle-aged man floating in space on the control panel screen. Earlier, the Doppler Radar had detected a powerful, unknown energy fluctuation.
Then, when the radar zoomed in on the area, this scene appeared.
Though the audio was muted, Xiao Yi, who had learned Cosmic Language, easily deduced the man's words from his lip movements.
Apostle of the Divine.
The divine race apostle imprisoned in the Cosmic Void. He seemed to possess an unfathomable power, completely beyond comprehension. Chen Mang didn't know if his armor could withstand an attack of this magnitude.
But that didn't matter.
Originally, the enemy was in the shadows while he was in the light.
But since the enemy had pulled this stunt, the roles had reversed: now he was in the shadows, and the enemy was in plain sight.
"Lock onto him."
"Wait for me to give him a blast."
"Let's see if he can withstand it."
The Doppler Radar had already locked onto the man. Clearly, despite possessing some mysterious and unpredictable powers, his own energy Tier wasn't particularly high. He hadn't even noticed he was being monitored.
This suggested that the power he wielded wasn't his own.
If he were an Immortal Emperor or someone of similar stature, whose power truly belonged to them, they would sense not only being monitored but even if someone merely thought of their name.
Chen Mang frowned slightly, gazing at the man on the control panel screen.
This man...
What exactly was a Divine Apostle?
Was he truly this powerful?
His strength seemed even greater than that of the divine race itself.
The divine race member imprisoned in the Cosmic Void had been contained with just a few pieces of equipment. But this Divine Apostle didn't look like someone who could be restrained by mere devices, especially considering his...
Method of movement.
It was the first time Chen Mang had ever witnessed such a means of traversing the cosmos.
In the universe, the fastest thing is the speed of light. Under normal circumstances, nothing is allowed to exceed this limit. However, by employing special methods, it's possible to achieve speeds far surpassing the speed of light.
Take, for example, the "Cosmic Landmine." By continuously destroying space, it creates frequent instantaneous jumps, allowing it to move at speeds far beyond the speed of light.
Or consider the man locked onto Chen Mang's radar.
A method Chen Mang couldn't comprehend at all.
On the control panel screen, the man stood with his arms outstretched and eyes closed, drifting through space like a kite. Then, accompanied by waves of energy, he began to accelerate away at an astonishing speed—far exceeding the speed of light.
Moreover, he had entered a phased state. Even meteor fragments passing through his body simply passed right through him.
"What the fuck is this?!"
Chen Mang stared at the screen in bewilderment. How could someone surpass the speed of light through sheer speed alone?
What did this mean?
To reach the speed of light, one would need infinite energy. Where was this energy coming from?
And this man was far exceeding the speed of light.
Most importantly—
His Arcanon Light Energy Main Cannon fired at the speed of light. At this speed, there was no way he could hit the target.
The enemy seemed to know his exact coordinates, flying straight toward him.
Estimated arrival time: 17 minutes.
This is a thousand times more terrifying than the Cosmic Behemoth! Even a wormhole would take about 17 minutes to traverse tens of thousands of light-years. How could this old geezer cover such a distance in just 17 minutes by flying alone?
Is this even remotely reasonable?
"Wait, is this for real? What kind of cheat is this? This has to be a bug, right?"
"Did the Cosmic Rules give the divine race some kind of cheat code?"
"Is there even a shred of logic here?"
"Forget logic! Just get stronger, right?"
Chen Mang rolled his eyes in exasperation. This was utterly absurd. He wasn't worried about being caught, but if he didn't find a solution soon, things would get very tricky.
In the blink of an eye, fifteen minutes had passed.
He still hadn't come up with a good solution.
The man was now extremely close.
Without further hesitation, Chen Mang used the refrigerator to return to the Territory of the Mechanical Civilization Ruins. On the radar, the man immediately turned around and began drifting toward him again.
To the naked eye, his movements appeared agonizingly slow, like a fallen leaf caught in a gentle breeze.
But the speed on the radar was the fastest he had ever seen, countless times faster than any Cosmic Behemoth.
"What's the solution?"
Chen Mang sat in his chair, his gaze fixed on the radar's countdown, which showed an estimated arrival time of 37 minutes. His brow furrowed in deep thought. Facing such a formidable enemy, even setting aside the opponent's defenses...
At this speed...
To even have a chance of hitting him...
He would need to deploy tens of millions of Arcanon Light Energy Main Cannons in an extravagant area-of-effect attack.
And even then, success would be far from guaranteed.
The enemy's speed wasn't merely exceeding the speed of light; it far surpassed it.
Or perhaps that wasn't quite accurate.
Perhaps...
The enemy wasn't actually exceeding the speed of light, but rather drifting through the cosmos in a way Chen Mang couldn't comprehend. After all, he hadn't detected any propulsion system—the enemy seemed to be moving purely by drifting.
"Wait!"
Just then—
Chen Mang's eyes narrowed slightly. Why had the estimated arrival time suddenly changed to 37 minutes?
The distance between him and the man was nearly identical to their initial separation. How could his speed have decreased so drastically?
Could it be...
He's exhausted?
The thought struck him.
Lost in thought, he patiently waited for thirty minutes. Just as the man was about to close in, he used the refrigerator again to return to his starting position.
It was clear.
The man on the screen was visibly frustrated, his face contorted with rage as he opened and closed his mouth repeatedly, cursing something in the vacuum of space.
This time—
The estimated arrival time had reverted to seventeen minutes.
The same distance.
But the speed was different. If the previous slowdown was due to exhaustion, what explained this sudden burst of speed? A surge of Cosmic Energy?
He decided to test his theory again.
As the man approached, Chen Mang teleported to the Mechanical Civilization Ruins. The estimated arrival time jumped to thirty-seven minutes.
When the man was about to catch up, Chen Mang returned to his original position. The arrival time immediately reverted to seventeen minutes.
"So that's how it works," he murmured.
"The Apostle of the Divine."
Chen Mang glanced at the information on the screen and suddenly chuckled. He understood now. This so-called Apostle of the Divine moved at extreme speed when traveling toward the Cosmic Void.
But when heading in the opposite direction, his speed gradually decreased.
If his theory held true, he knew what was happening.
The gods of the divine race likely possessed an unknown magnetic field.
This magnetic field allowed the Divine Apostles to sense it, their power increasing the closer they were to its core and diminishing as they moved away.
Apostles were beings whose absolute power could only be unleashed in proximity to the Divine.
He suddenly understood why the Divine of the "divine race" had been imprisoned by the Fourth-Level Civilization, the "Niya Civilization." Perhaps the Divine themselves needed Apostles to manifest their power, unable to exert it directly?
A symbiotic relationship?
These were all speculations.
But one thing was certain!
For countless years, no Divine Apostles had ever appeared in the "Niya Star System." Why now?
Find the variable by examining the variables.
The most recent and obvious variable was that the Divine imprisoned within the "Cosmic Void" had been briefly released. During that moment, their aura must have leaked out and been detected by the Apostles. Moreover, he had taken a significant amount of resources from the "Prison," suggesting the suppression might have weakened.
If that were the case, an experiment was needed.
In the next moment—
He used the refrigerator to travel to the prison within the "Cosmic Void."
He retrieved all the resources from the train and scattered them across various zones on the prison's surface.
So fast!
On the target acquisition radar, the "man's" silhouette visibly slowed down, gradually dropping below the speed of light until it was moving at roughly the speed of a car at full throttle.
In the vastness of space, this speed was slower than an ant.
"Just as I thought," Chen Mang grinned.
The reduction in suppression resources had allowed the Divine's aura to leak out, attracting the Apostle's attention and providing it with a power source.
At this point, the Apostle probably no longer possesses the ability to annihilate an entire planet with a single thought, right?
Immediately afterward, the Stellaris train reappeared in its original position. Without hesitation, it locked onto the divine race apostle drifting nearby in space and pressed the red button on the control panel.
As the Arcanon Light Energy Main Cannon atop the train slowly charged, a searing beam of light slashed across the cosmos.
The divine race apostle, its eyes wide with terror, stared helplessly at the unavoidable attack, watching as it slammed into its body.
Unable to phase through the energy, it was annihilated.
"Is it dead?"
Chen Mang watched the slow-motion footage on the Doppler Radar. This time, the target hadn't phased through the attack. He hadn't captured it alive to interrogate it about the Apostles; its abilities were too bizarre. Who knew what strange phenomena might occur if he brought it back to the train?
He preferred to avoid close contact.
He simply wanted to eliminate this menace as swiftly and decisively as possible.
"Dead."
Only then did Chen Mang sit down to ponder. Was there truly no way to completely kill a god? What did it mean for the divine race to be immortal and indestructible? Even when the Cosmic Rules annihilated them, they were merely cast into black holes, never truly destroyed.
Could they only be suppressed?
Never killed?
Leaving that god in the Cosmic Void alive was a constant threat. He couldn't keep diverting resources there indefinitely, but without that investment, endless waves of divine race apostles would keep coming to harass him.
Perhaps he should try something new.
After resolving this matter, Chen Mang reappeared above the prison within the Cosmic Void. The light energy main cannon was out of the question; damaging the containment device would release the god instantly, effectively granting it unconditional freedom.
He realized he might have something useful: the strand of hair he had once brought back from a dream.
He hadn't known whose hair it was back then.
Now he did.
It was likely from the divine race.
Could he use the hair of the divine race to kill one of their own?
But...
The gravity in the cavern beneath the prison was crushing. A machine dog sent down was instantly flattened. Humans certainly couldn't survive the descent. Who could carry out this mission?
Three days later.
"Come on, give me a hand over here!"
"President Ai, does this section look right?"
The prison surface buzzed with activity as countless humans and robots scurried back and forth.
Over the past three days, they had focused on two main tasks: constructing an incredibly complex mechanical arm and digging a well.
The plan was straightforward:
Dig a straight tunnel from the surface directly above the cavern where the divine race member was imprisoned.
Then, using the mechanical arm, lower the God's Hair into the cavern.
Fashion the hair into a noose.
And attempt to strangle the divine race member.
It sounded absurdly far-fetched.
If even the Cosmic Rules couldn't kill the divine race, how could anyone else?
"It's useless," someone muttered.
Kira stood nearby, watching the flurry of activity with a resigned expression. "The divine race can't be killed," she said. "Their only means of death is the destruction of the universe itself. They're born and perish with the cosmos."
"This is all pointless."
"They're absolutely immortal."
"Kira."
Chen Mang turned to her with a smile. "Have you ever killed a god?"
"No."
"How do you know the divine race can't be killed?"
"My father told me."
"Has your father ever killed a god?"
"He tried, but he failed."
"So your father can say gods are immortal because he's tried and failed himself."
Chen Mang's smile widened. "What I mean is, we can't rely solely on hearsay to understand this world. We need to try things ourselves, even if we know it's unlikely to work. Only then can we form our own conclusions, right?"
Just then—
Xiao Ai strode over. "Train Conductor, everything's ready."
"Good."
Chen Mang took the mechanical arm's control handle from Xiao Ai with a serious expression. The plan was simple: the mechanical arm would lower the God's Hair. Whether it would work depended entirely on whether the God's Hair could harm the Divine.
This sounded utterly absurd.
Snakes can't be poisoned by their own venom.
But...
Most venomous creatures are immune to many toxins. However, if the organ storing their venom were to rupture, they would quickly succumb to organ failure and die.
Chen Mang had always believed that if a creature were entirely without flaws, its greatest weakness would lie in its defining characteristic.
He had to try.
He had never liked Houttuynia cordata.
This wasn't hearsay.
He had tried it himself and concluded he'd rather eat shit than that stuff.
"Hearing" was one way to understand the world.
But one's understanding of the world couldn't rely solely on hearsay.
The next moment—
As the mechanical arm slowly descended along the well wall into the cavern, it soon reached the cavern's ceiling and could go no further. Below lay a high-gravity space; any further descent would instantly crush the arm into fragments.
Through the camera on the mechanical arm, Chen Mang clearly observed the cavern's interior and pressed the long button on the side of the controller.
The arm's head opened, and a strand of God's Hair slowly drifted downward.
It floated gently through the air as it fell.
The divine race member, nailed to the pillar, twisted her head upward, her face contorted in a ferocious roar. Purple, eerie light flickered in her eyes.
"I've always been good at claw machines," Chen Mang muttered, his breath nearly frozen as he performed minute adjustments, constantly tweaking the angle of the hair. After multiple attempts...
Finally.
The noose formed at the end of the hair successfully looped around the divine race member's neck.
"Perfect!"
He exhaled sharply.
Then, he slammed the control lever forward. The mechanical arm, mounted beneath the Stellaris train, shot upward. As the train ascended rapidly, the strand of hair stretched taut.
This strand of hair was peculiar.
Before reaching a certain threshold, it would extend infinitely.
Soon, as the Stellaris train climbed to a critical altitude, the hair reached its maximum length. Yet the train continued its slow ascent.
In the next moment—
Chen Mang saw the divine race member, still nailed to the pillar below, struggling like a hanged man, her furious roars muffled by the noose.
"It's working?"
His eyes lit up. He increased the force, determined to hang this so-called Divine alive!
Your Apostles are all dead.
You should die sooner too.
The divine race's expressions grew increasingly grim and hideous.
This process lasted a full seventeen minutes.
Chen Mang remained glued to the screen, his eyes never leaving the scene.
Just then—
BOOM!!!
A thunderous roar erupted, and the boundless dark clouds overhead suddenly crackled with lightning, their crimson hue intensifying.
The Stellaris train, now orbiting the planet, displayed countless Scarlet Nebulae swirling around the shattered fragments of the planet, as if the cosmos itself were weeping.
The Divine's severed head lay on the ground, rolling into a corner.
The Divine...
Was it truly dead?
"Is it really dead?"
Chen Mang stared at the scene in disbelief. Though he had hoped for a miracle, he never imagined it would actually happen. Weren't the Divine supposed to be absolutely immortal? Even the Cosmic Rules couldn't kill them. Yet he had slain one?
"Huh?"
Kira stood frozen beside him, her eyes wide with horror. If her father were to witness this, he would never believe it. This defied the Cosmic Consensus entirely.
How could a Divine be killed?
They were supposed to be coeternal with the universe itself!
This was utterly impossible!
Could it be that strand of... pitch-black hair?
What was that thing?
How could it possess the power to kill a Divine?
At that moment—
Sensing something, Chen Mang swiftly returned to his own train via the refrigerator. On the train's control panel screen, a new panel was slowly materializing.
[Human Civilization, Civilization Empowerment: For each Civilization Wonder recognized by the Cosmic Rules you construct, you will receive a chest containing a random mysterious reward, up to a maximum of nine chests.] (Seven-colored)
[The Human Civilization has successfully created a Civilization Wonder recognized by the Cosmic Rules. The cosmos has named it 'Divine Silence.']
[Successfully obtained a chest containing a random mysterious reward.]
Immediately afterward, a new panel appeared:
[You have slain a member of the divine race]
[This is the first divine race member to fall in this universe.]
[You will now receive the exact coordinates of all divine race members. For each divine race member you slay, you will receive a cosmic reward.]
The first part promised him substantial rewards.
The second part, however, delivered a staggering amount of information.
This panel likely originated from the current Cosmic Rules. Devoid of emotion, the panel merely registered the death of a divine race member and issued this notification.
The Cosmic Rules likely harbored a desire to eliminate the divine race, yet had always been powerless to do so.
But he had succeeded.
When he reappeared on the prison surface, Kira couldn't help but stride over, her eyes wide with shock. "Grandpa Mang, what did you use to kill the divine race member?"
"Another divine race member's hair."
"Impossible."
"Why is it impossible?"
"My father conducted experiments. Whether using divine race hair, nails, or anything else, it's impossible to harm them. There's no way you could have killed one with another's hair."
Chen Mang remained silent for a long moment before finally speaking.
"Then it must have been her Mom's."
To be honest, he had always believed he had killed the Divine using the divine race's hair. But Kira's reminder made him realize that in a universe teeming with intelligent beings, it was impossible no one had ever tried using divine race hair to kill one of their own.
They must have all tried it.
And failed.
So why had it worked for him this time?
He recalled a dream he once had, a dream he had entered through a Dreamstone.
In a deep lake, he had seen a woman squatting by the shore, washing her hair. Feeling like he was about to drown, he had frantically struggled and grabbed a strand of her hair.
Only to discover...
The woman wasn't washing her hair at all. She was squatting by the shore, taking a shit.
And what he had grabbed wasn't hair, but anal hair.
In his dazed state, he hadn't seen the woman's face clearly, but a fleeting impression remained: her features bore a striking resemblance to the Divine he had just killed. Their appearances were so similar that he had subconsciously assumed she was also a member of the divine race.
Could it be that the woman squatting by the lake in his dream wasn't actually a member of the divine race?
Or...
Could it really be the divine race's Mom?
"No!"
Just then, Kira suddenly realized something and said, enunciating each word carefully, "Every God-Tier Civilization has tried to kill the divine race."
"None have succeeded."
"Not even the Cosmic Rules could do it!"
"After numerous attempts, my Father hypothesized that there was only one way to kill the divine race. As I mentioned before, when the Pre-Cosmic Rule created the divine race, it used a human woman as its template, right?"
"No one knows who that woman was or where she went."
"Not even the current Cosmic Rules know."
"But my Father theorized that only this woman could kill the divine race, since their very existence originated from her. However... this is just a theory, and no one has ever been able to find her."
"..."
Chen Mang remained silent for a long time before finally turning to Kira. "Why was your father the Zerg Queen Mother? Shouldn't it be the Zerg King?"
"The Zerg Queen Mother is a position, not determined by gender."
"This isn't the time to discuss that. I'm saying that the hair you're holding might be the hair of the 'Mother of the Divine Race'."
"What then?"
"It will be very valuable."
"Other civilizations will covet it, right?"
"Yes."
"Sigh."
Chen Mang sighed softly. "That's normal. I'm used to it. We just have to keep it secret. Would you leak this information?"
"No."
He didn't say anything more to Kira. After gathering all the people and resources back onto the train, he planned to retrieve the divine race corpse for examination once the instruments below stopped functioning.
The Cosmic Rules had already declared it dead.
It couldn't suddenly come back to life, could it?
(End of the Chapter)
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