Lei Ting had known from the very beginning that the void following the shattering of the universe was not another universe.
During his ‘previous’ life, when time and space were warped into chaos and phenomena spiraled backward, he had witnessed the sight of normal spacetime collapsing and silently dissolving into nothingness. It was a scene of primal horror, naturally unacceptable to any creature born of the cosmic order—a spectacle that transcended the boundaries of all cognition.
What exactly had the Caligan civilization encountered that caused the ‘engines’ meant for dimensional breakthrough to explode? What was the destination of their ‘Ascension’? And what reason had driven their primary members or decision-makers to choose a path as notoriously difficult and unstable as ‘Ascension’ during that protracted war?
He didn’t know. He had no way of knowing. The Silver Star Council lacked access to such information, and Lei Ting had been born far too late. The truth of history was already buried on the other side of the tracks, and when the wheels of time rolled forward, no one could do anything but follow.
In the blink of an eye, of the three major crises currently facing the Milky Way—the ‘Great Fungal Incursion,’ the ‘Abyssal Contamination,’ and the ‘Silver Star Council’—one and a half had become clear.
The ‘one’ was Comist; the ‘half’ was the Silver Star Council.
That massive conglomerate of fungi, regardless of whether its origins involved any selfishness, was filled with ‘love.’ Such power, and the ideals once held so firmly by that entire collective, were engraved into every inch of its internal structure. Thus, whether it was the daughter-strains split directly from it to ‘search for survivors’ in various galaxies—the progenitor strains within those galaxies—or the sub-strains split from those progenitors, most were filled with gentleness, joy, love, and humanistic care.
In different worlds, they became similar yet distinct lifeforms, replicating and maintaining different personalities over long periods based on the exact same underlying logic. Perhaps it was preparation for awakening the personalities within Comist, or perhaps it was merely a strange biological instinct...
Interestingly, the Star-Net displayed the title ‘Silent Kingdom’ precisely because every ‘progenitor strain’ possessed the ability to momentarily plunge the starry sky into silence, leaving only a single stream of information flowing. It seemed to be an ability written into Comist’s fundamental code; it was unclear whether it was technology from the old era or a superpower of the new.
But... it didn’t matter anymore.
Comist’s mass was simply too vast. The Milky Way could not wait for the day it woke up. Furthermore, who could guarantee that once it awoke, it would stop its current madness?
Lei Ting did not dare gamble on that possibility. With just a gentle nudge from that thing, the Human Federation would be shattered—territory and people alike—by at least half.
Since facts had proven countless times that fate was reckless, and that everything would one day be placed on one side of the scales... and since those scales never budged for gentle external forces, one had to deliver a blow powerful enough to move them.
Therefore, what he had to do was not stand by as a composed, elegant observer, but to strike that side of the scale with a vicious punch!
Even if the punch was hideous, even if the blow resulted in mutual destruction, even if innocents were inevitably caught in the crossfire. As long as those who should die died, those who should stay stayed, and those who should change changed... the future could not possibly be worse!
Lei Ting’s sword-like brows furrowed. After a moment, he suddenly asked, “Then, what about you?”
【...What?】 the Silver Star Council asked back, as if failing to understand.
“I mean, what about you?” Lei Ting asked slowly. “You’ve provided quite a bit of information... but where is the information regarding yourselves? My intuition tells me that you, too, are related to that war from back then, aren’t you?”
As for intuition—while his intuition did indeed tend to come true—he had actually figured some things out in his ‘previous’ life. He was simply taking the opportunity to bluff the Silver Star Council.
The Silver Star Council actually fell silent, seemingly engaged in an internal discussion. They knew very well that at this moment, if Lei Ting was determined to make them either allies or martyrs, they would have no choice but to accept the latter.
【...We—are—‘tributaries,’ and also—‘tools.’】
Finally, the Silver Star Council gave a difficult answer. Those metaphorical terms likely came from certain personalities among them with artistic inclinations. Probably.
【The other—end—of the poles—of the ancient—Calamity War—was named—‘Star.’ We—were born—as their—servants... There were—thousands—of similar—servant races. But—only—we—survived.】
In that instant, a flash of light went off in Lei Ting’s mind, and everything became clear.
On the cross-section of the Ring World, the ‘Star’ emblem—with its seemingly infinitely growing branches—surfaced in his mind. A startling fact followed: the ‘Star’ civilization did indeed exist... but was it possible that ‘Silver Star’ was merely a tiny branch, a byproduct of vassalage, a collection of experimental subjects?!
No wonder. No wonder ‘Star’... no, rather ‘Silver Star’—had never displayed the specific technical capabilities or wisdom worthy of a space paradise like the ‘Ring World.’
This place likely wasn’t built by them at all... The true masters of the ‘Ring World,’ the civilization that could truly be called ‘The Stars,’ was never ‘Silver Star’!
【We—are—experimental subjects, attempting—to unlock—the shackles—of genetic coding, to evade—unified—destruction.】
The Silver Star Council seemed to have given up on hiding any information.
【‘Star’—was—the original—‘Perfect Man,’ and has—left—this universe. Now—we—are—legacies. You—are too.】
“Man...” Lei Ting’s brow furrowed slightly as he murmured, “...So, the form of ‘Star’ is somewhat similar to ours?”
【Yes,】 the Silver Star Council answered. 【Caligan—was—the same, though—their—form—leaned—more toward—aquatic creatures.】
Humanoid aquatic creatures... The Abrissacs??
Fine... fine. It wasn’t surprising.
Lei Ting’s gaze remained calm as he backhandedly sent a message to the Federation’s Genetic Engineering Research Institute. He demanded they use his digital signature to requisition a portion of Abrissac heavy/death-row convicts, insisting they thoroughly clarify the similarities and differences between them and the Orionites to prepare for subsequent plans.
As for the matter at hand... ha, the fact that ‘the primary civilization of the first era after the birth of the universe already looked like this’ really wasn’t that surprising.
Design.
Indeed, this universe was full of a sense of design... and such ‘design’ was reflected in every aspect.
The strangeness of Pi, the predetermined data of the Golden Ratio, the Periodic Table so neat and beautiful, the stars influencing each other as they carved their spiral orbits through space. And amidst all this, there existed a set of biological design templates full of errors, oddities, and ‘this’ll have to do!’ attitudes.
Millions of years before every embryo appeared, a set of predetermined developmental programs had been written. Then, over the long ages, it brought life and the vessels of life to soul after soul, along with a series of bizarre gifts.
The crossed optic nerve links of the left and right brain. The skull, clearly the protective framework for the most important processor component, yet possessing dangerous fatal points like the ‘temples.’ The heart, as the central engine of a symmetrical structure, was actually asymmetrical and extremely prone to problems. The neck sacrificed a massive amount of safety for flexibility, yet it wasn’t even that flexible. The thorax and abdomen, which housed the internal organs, lacked a complete protective framework. Sometimes, unnecessary teeth would grow for no reason. The body couldn't synthesize certain vitamins on its own. Once the immune system was activated, it could fast-forward to ‘I shall destroy myself’...
And then there were the error-path judgment mechanisms... like the urge to find a sense of security by ‘jumping down’ to take a shortcut when looking from a height.
Overall, all these designs practically screamed ‘perfunctory’ and ‘stupid.’ They likely only proved that biological evolution truly relied mainly on random mutations following external stimuli; the mutants that chose the wrong direction died out, while only those who chose correctly were fit to leave their genes behind.
And besides that, think about it...
Humans were like this. Though the Orionites had some changes, they were no different. So, were the other races in the Milky Way, the other humanoid intelligent beings, any different?
The same. They were all the same.
Similar yet different design flaws, the same laziness, the same selfishness, the same coldness, the same mediocrity... Amidst the same perfunctory lives and the same sins, one could hardly find a few saints or arch-villains. Looking around, there were only ordinary lives with their own independent psyches.
Recalling certain things he had been forced to know while expanding his perception over the years, Lei Ting realized that if he still had strong emotional fluctuations, he would surely look like a twisted, cruel, violent paranoid who wanted to burn the entire Milky Way to ash.
But, firstly, he didn't, and secondly, he wasn't.
Lei Ting remained silent. Eighty percent of his redundant computing power was now allocated to this matter.
Setting aside all unnecessary factors, he considered the impact this information and the underlying truth might have on the Human Federation, as well as the potential aftermath of the war from the stars. What would it turn the Federation’s future into? And would that conceptual weapon, presumably deployed by ‘Caligan,’ cause harm to the lives and safety of countless innocent civilians, much like the ‘He Who Resembles Me Dies’ effect? These were questions that needed thought.
To maintain the Human Federation and its continuity, and to help those in need while ensuring the former held true. This was his duty; it had merged with a part of the ideals and beliefs of the previous Lei Ting. Now, for the sake of this duty, everything else was no longer so important. Neither personal likes and dislikes, nor benevolence and morality.
After sending several different orders to the Federation once more, Lei Ting slightly closed his eyes.
On the far side of the galaxy, in a place extremely close to where Comist had originated, inside a silent giant ship, within the only space capable of hiding a person, the face of an upright metal statue fluctuated slightly and opened its eyes.
That was one of Lei Ting’s metal ‘avatars’—though he used such a fantastical term, it was essentially just a superpower signal relay.
In the next instant, this ‘avatar’ transformed directly into a sharp arrow, streaking across the sky in a brilliant golden light, piercing into a starry sky that seemed completely normal!
Then, the cold silver arrow vanished. The fungal canopy writhed slightly, maintaining its perfect external mimicry as it easily swallowed it.
Lei Ting’s mental strength immediately extended along with it, rapidly searching for information regarding the ‘Ancient Interstellar War.’ But within this gargantuan fungal mass, something else seemed to have just ‘awakened.’
Lei Ting heard a mechanical yet gentle voice, transmitted via the peaks of electronic signal waves.
—【Linking to Star-Net...】
—【Warning: Star-Net is offline. Unable to link.】
—【Linking to Central Database...】
—【Warning: Core server is offline. Unable to link to Central Database.】
—【Backup plan initiated. Searching for nearest interstellar network channel.】
—【Search successful. Retrieving corresponding language pack for transcoding...】
—【Transcoding successful. Available network options are as follows: Silver Star Ring Public Network (81.956220...%), Silver Star Ring Internal Network (77.139376...%), Torsolins Local Area Network (53.644151...%), Macrophage Insect Information Network (21.498434...%), Orion Arm Human Federation Local Area Network (9.181548...%), etc...】
...Orion Arm Human Federation? And what did those numbers mean?
‘Listening’ to the electronic transmissions that could be understood seamlessly by all intelligent species like a mental link, Lei Ting frowned. But before he could figure out the meaning of those numbers, in less than a microsecond, new information appeared.
—【Automatically linking to environment-similar network. Option: Silver Star Ring Public Network.】
—【Searching network information... Filtering information... Star chart updated. Similarity of cosmic environment to previous version: 46.600292...%.】
—【New technology discovered. Integrating technology... Integration complete. New technology incorporated.】
—【New intelligent life detected joining the ‘Pan-Mycelium’ network. Assimilation program executing automatically.】
—【Linking to local galactic ‘Mycelium’ network... Link successful.】
—【Searching network information... Filtering information... Detected local galactic strain in violation of protocol. Preparing targeted strike.】
—【Strike target set: ‘Fungal Carpet’ network and its members.】
—【Strike target location locked: ‘Star’ Biotechnology Research System, Milky Way Branch.】
At that moment, somewhere on the ‘Ring World,’ ‘Yan Miao,’ who had spread his fungal carpet over thousands of kilometers, ‘looked up’ in a daze. The thin fungal strands seemed to sense something, yet found it difficult to distinguish exactly what it was.
Lei Ting sensed that the avatar he had thrown out as a consumable, made of ordinary materials, was being eroded by some metal-eating fungus. He frowned but ignored it, merely using ‘Unmoving’ to preserve the integrity of the signal transceiver structure.
A mechanical Comist consciousness had successfully taken over the Milky Way’s ‘Mycelium’ network, but simultaneously, a speck of blackish-red quietly began to stain that seemingly clean, ultimate white from within.
Meanwhile, the Silver Star Council suddenly erupted. The massive phantom within the ‘Soul Depths’ violently yanked the energy chains in its hands, forcibly dragging hundreds of space behemoths out of the star, hurling them all toward Lei Ting!
【Backup Protocol—Execute: Strategic—Pivot.】 Inside it, such voices merged into one. 【Immediately—release—‘Boiling’ Plan—failures. Remove—their—signal diffusion—restrictions. Allow—summoning—of ‘Awakening’ Plan—failures. Our side—retreats—to deep space—immediately.】
As a terrifying explosion occurred once more, the galactic core’s energy jet, which had slowed slightly due to the conversation, again hammered against the ‘Ring World’ and the defensive formations set up by the S-classes outside. A wild roar capable of shaking the spirits of countless people erupted from the crimson depths.
‘Firewine’ cursed a string of profanities that could probably fill a twenty-thousand-word essay while doing his best to hold the line. But within a few breaths, he was shocked to find a layer of solid chitinous shell with extraordinary regenerative properties appearing.
That heavy defense, coming from a ‘Biological End-Product,’ proliferated in an instant from the defensive layer at the edge of a nearby planet. And when he released his perception, he was horrified to find... the entire outer perimeter of the galactic core had blossomed with millions of such ‘chitinous growth points,’ constructing a web-like cage.
Amidst the violent energy jet, Lei Ting suddenly raised an eyebrow. Then, all emotional expression vanished from his face.
He turned back with total composure, gazing at the fluctuating face of the Silver Star Council.
“I thought... you could endure a bit longer,” he said softly, his tone sounding almost like a joke. Even if it was merely ‘calculated data and model predictions’ dressed up in more human words...
Then, he raised his hand and lightly snapped his fingers.
The golden light that had long since mingled with the crimson energy and spread out—it traversed all things, shrouded all things. It reinforced the stability of the Ring World’s protective layers, buffed the S-classes dealing with the emergency in all directions, and then added a massive amount of ‘Star Alloy’ keel to the ‘Architect’s’ chitinous cage—the Architect who clearly had long found the Collective or the Ring World an eyesore...
【...】 The Silver Star Council seemed stunned for a moment, their processing speed likely slowed by internal chaos.
After all, a person who could look more sincere than anyone when necessary, who had once seemed like a saint, but whose emotions were now so thin he seemed capable of sacrificing anything... No one could believe that such a person had never intended for the two parties to ‘become teammates’ from the very start.
Rather than a win-win cooperation, he only wanted the Silver Star Council to die!
【Why?! This does not fit your current personality model!】 the Silver Star Council emitted a unified cry of shock.
“First of all, you are untrustworthy.” Lei Ting curled the corners of his mouth. Given that the cold hardness of his features remained unchanged, this semblance of a ‘smile’ carried a heavy, terrifying pressure that transcended mere threat.
“Secondly...” He sneered, and a pitch-black metal canopy unfurled behind him—it was the gargantuan, spherical ‘Star Alloy’ wall that had been hidden beneath his superpower sun in previous years.
That reserve of super-alloy, spread out enough to enclose over a dozen ‘suns,’ was nothing compared to the size of the entire galactic core. However, combined with ‘Unmoving,’ it successfully enveloped the Silver Star Council and its corresponding superpower entity core.
“We have an old grudge... ‘Silver Star.’”
A mecha phantom nearly ten thousand meters tall surfaced around the tall man. Golden cubes, like endless astral rings, revolved around him. Dazzling golden radiance tore through time and space, and an ultimate, harsh power descended upon this world.
And within that brilliant, eye-searing gold and violent, ferocious red, the black-armored man held out his hands. Two golden cubes shone in his palms.
At this moment, everyone in the Silver Star Council understood completely—this guy had come prepared!
They had used dialogue to stall him, but had he not also been stalling them while fishing for information?!
“Now, Silver Star Council...” Lei Ting sneered and suddenly clenched his fist.
Amidst the stellar-level explosion occurring in the wave-like blood-red energy ahead, a violent, twisted, and ferocious rage was calmly released by him from beneath ‘Unmoving.’
And within that rage, his voice echoed through the radiance:
“...You killed my classmates and friends, and you think you can just run?”
Assassinations, the deaths of many of his schoolmates including Sandro and others, the covert interference in the Human Federation, the manipulation of officials and their families within the system...
After all that, they wanted to run?
Hello. I hold a grudge.
***
