In the very center of the fleet, within a flagship that was the largest in size and shaped like a twisted heart, a creature's consciousness awakened.
It was the supreme commander of this fleet.
"Hmm..."
Its will swept across the entire fleet channel like an invisible breeze.
"We have returned."
Immediately after, it attempted to activate the tiny surveillance "seeds" it had casually scattered throughout the Milky Way tens of millions of years ago.
However, the only response it received was dead silence.
"Look, what have I found?"
The commander's thoughts carried a heavy trace of mockery and amusement.
"Those little 'eyes' and 'ears' we left behind have actually all failed."
"It seems a nest of self-righteous bugs has grown in this galaxy."
Inside the flagship, the minds of the other Qu members immediately emitted bursts of bizarre thought fluctuations, representing extreme excitement.
To them, simple destruction was the lowest form of entertainment.
Only by taking a powerful civilization full of hope and the will to resist, meticulously playing with it in the palm of their hands, and thoroughly transforming it from matter to soul into an artwork of eternal agony, could they achieve their ultimate, supreme enjoyment.
"Don't rush," the commander's will soothed its restless subordinates.
"Let us see what kind of welcome ceremony these little bugs have prepared for us."
Soon.
A signal source was captured by their probes.
It was an inconspicuous blue planet located directly in the fleet's flight path.
Upon discovering the fleet and the dead, shattered space left in its wake, this planet immediately began launching hundreds of primitive iron lumps trailing long exhaust flames.
They were nuclear bombs.
The most primitive, yet most powerful weapons on that planet.
They were launching a suicidal, utterly futile attack against the Qu fleet.
"Hahahaha..."
The commander's will sent out a tremor of absolute delight.
"A little dessert before the main course!"
"What beautiful despair!"
"What a magnificent, futile struggle!"
"Look! They think they have ignited the torch of hope, not knowing it will only be used to cook them!"
It issued a command, its tone like a child deciding how to play with a new toy.
"Activate 'Genetic Weaving'."
"Do not destroy them, that would be too boring."
"Turn them into... hmm, turn them into a single worm with everyone connected together, so they can share each other's pain for eternity. Yes, that will do nicely."
The order was given.
The Qu fleet didn't even bother to make any evasive maneuvers.
The moment those hundreds of nuclear bombs, carrying the last hope of a civilization, approached the fleet, they were effortlessly crushed into cosmic dust by an invisible force.
Not even a decent firework managed to bloom.
Immediately after.
A seemingly gentle, pink light shot out from the flagship, instantly enveloping the blue planet.
Under the light, a bizarre and unparalleled mutation began.
The bodies of all the living beings running, crying, and praying on the planet instantly collapsed and disintegrated at the exact same moment!
Their flesh, bones, and genetic chains were forcibly shattered, then rewoven and reassembled in an unimaginable way.
They were transformed into a giant creature that wrapped around the planet several times.
Every segment of the creature retained its nervous system and ability to think, capable of feeling the most extreme agony.
The beings of an entire civilization were thus wantonly toyed with.
Every member of the Qu fleet was "tasting" this appetizer.
The endless, pure psionic fluctuations of pain and despair radiating from the planet were a supreme delicacy to them.
"Not bad, not bad," the commander sent out a deeply satisfied thought.
It had completely lost its patience.
"Disperse the entire fleet!"
"Search the entire Milky Way from end to end!"
"I want to find that 'powerful' civilization that is hiding! I can't wait to see what they will look like after being transformed!"
With a single command.
The massive biological fleet split into countless small squadrons, spreading out like a giant net and arrogantly plunging into the depths of the Milky Way.
However, they were completely unaware.
That the array suspended in the center of the Milky Way had already silently activated.
[Sentry Array], operating at full power.
Its scan was silent, yet it pierced through everything.
The Qu fleet's massive formation and self-righteous behavior were nothing more than a foolish target actively exposing every detail before it.
The biological structure of every living warship.
The genetic sequence and soul fluctuation frequency of every Qu member.
The dimensional parameters contained within their unique, space-tearing method of navigation.
All the data was instantly captured, analyzed, archived, and then transmitted to the Solar System.
The super AI of the Imperium of Man was operating at breakneck speed with unimaginable computing power.
In the secret shipyards orbiting Jupiter, the newly unsealed [Dimensional Folders] were undergoing their final parameter calibrations based on this real-time data.
The Qu fleet swarmed into the fertile fields of the Milky Way like a plague of greedy locusts.
Tens of thousands of small formations, each consisting of dozens to hundreds of biological warships, followed the supreme commander's orders and began a carpet search of the entire galaxy.
Their mission was to find the "civilization" that dared to erase their beacons and hide.
However, a week passed.
"Report, Sector C-78 scan complete. Aside from a planet with primitive moss-like life, there are no signs of intelligence."
Two weeks passed.
"Report, Sector G-991 sweep complete. Discovered an abandoned industrial planet, desolate for at least three million years. No value."
A month passed.
"Report, we have explored over half of our spiral arm sector. Aside from a few nests of primitives who haven't even discovered fire, there is nothing! Not even a decent resistance!"
The continuous reports in the communication channel gradually shifted from initial anticipation to confusion, and finally evolved into uncontrollable frustration and impatience.
They were like a group of gladiators charging enthusiastically into the arena, only to find it completely empty, save for a few crawling ants.
"Where exactly are these bugs hiding? There are absolutely no traces of them in this entire half of the galaxy!"
Inside the flagship, the supreme commander's will carried the anger of being played for a fool for the very first time.
It pulled up the real-time scan map of this half of the Milky Way.
On the map, tens of thousands of light dots representing their own fleet had already covered nearly a third of the galaxy.
But all they found was desolation upon desolation.
That 'powerful' civilization seemed to have vanished into thin air.