Rebirth of the Super Battleship

Chapter 440: Carbon-Based Monkeys

The very first words spoken by this unknown existence sent shockwaves through Xiao Yu’s heart. His thoughts churned like a sea caught in a Category 12 typhoon, surging and tumbling without rest.

“A Neutron War Star. It really is a Neutron War Star! This place was the site where that silicon-based civilization constructed a Neutron War Star. For some reason, they all perished midway through construction, leaving behind only this intelligent program, struggling to endure, waiting for someone to come.”

Before Xiao Yu could respond, a second message from the light reached his mind.

“It pleases me greatly that this time, the one who has arrived is a noble silicon-based being, and not one of those lowly carbon-based monkeys. Yet there is one regret. In one of the wars between our Silicon-Based Alliance and the Carbon-Based Alliance, this Neutron War Star was heavily damaged. We had only just begun repairs when this base was ambushed by the carbon-based civilizations, forcing us to abandon it entirely. Still, the death-ray weapon developed specifically against carbon-based life is barely functional, and its basic propulsion remains intact, it can only perform conventional flight at speeds of no more than five hundred kilometers per second, incapable of entering curvature flight.”

The exchange between Xiao Yu and this unknown existence was not through language. It resembled the legendary exchange of brainwaves. Words were merely vessels for meaning, what Xiao Yu experienced was direct communication of intent.

He could clearly understand the meaning carried by this existence’s message, and when translated into words, it became as such. Xiao Yu realized that this entity held deep loathing and contempt toward carbon-based life. When referring to them, it used a malicious term. After checking his dictionary, Xiao Yu translated the word as ‘carbon-based monkeys.’

In the whispering tone of this strange being, Xiao Yu felt his very breathing grow heavy. This was without a doubt a Neutron War Star. Though it was damaged and could only crawl along at five hundred kilometers per second, its value remained beyond all doubt.

Xiao Yu could basically confirm that the so-called death-ray weapon, designed specifically against carbon-based civilizations, was the root cause of this region being classified as a Level 5 extremely dangerous zone, as well as the reason for the bizarre plague afflicting the intelligent beings under his command. For reasons unknown, Xiao Yu himself had a degree of resistance to it. But what of other civilizations? Even the Guardian Civilization might not withstand such a weapon. If they could, then why hadn’t they entered themselves, instead of going to such lengths to drive him here?

Luka Four’s research report had already reached Xiao Yu. It stated that deep freezing could indeed halt the progression of the disease. The one hundred thousand frozen healthy individuals had not developed symptoms during this period either. This meant Xiao Yu now had a way to make use of the Neutron War Star, at worst, all intelligent beings would simply remain far from it, while he alone controlled it through his computational power.

“You are but a Level 5 civilization. It is impossible for you to repair the Neutron War Star. Not even a Level 6 civilization could do so. But even a damaged Neutron War Star will be enough to grant you immense strength. Very well, I will open the Neutron War Star’s data channel to you. From now on, it is yours.”“My mission is complete. Farewell.”

As those words faded, the faint red glow dimmed into nothingness. At the same time, Xiao Yu received another message. With its arrival, his computational power extended effortlessly into a new domain.

What unfolded before him was a wondrous sight.

It felt like being inside a completely transparent glass chamber suspended in cosmic space. Through its walls, Xiao Yu could see the outside without obstruction, an endless blackness, without stars, without light. It was absolute void, nothing at all.

But Xiao Yu knew. This was the interior of the Neutron War Star. And he also knew that beyond the chamber was not true emptiness, but the super-dense, superheated matter of the neutron star itself.

Neutron star matter does not emit light. In that sense, one could say a neutron star is entirely pitch-black. But this description was not entirely correct. Xiao Yu discovered that neutron star matter shared certain similarities with the strong-interaction materials that made up the Droplets.

There was an interesting question, what exactly does neutron star matter look like? What color is it? Since it did not emit visible light, one could consider it black. But if another light source were shone upon it, what would it look like then? For example, suppose you obtained a piece of neutron star matter and held it under the sun, what would you see?

Now, Xiao Yu could answer this question. Through the data channel, he accessed the Neutron War Star’s core control module and activated a light source.

The external scene was immediately revealed to him. At this moment, Xiao Yu was essentially doing just that, shining a light onto the neutron star, attempting to observe what it truly looked like.

What unfolded before him was an astonishing sight. The immense gravity of the neutron star bent the light, distorting the image, so that what Xiao Yu saw appeared warped, like peering through smoke, vague and unclear. Meanwhile, because the light source he had activated emitted white light, the neutron star appeared white to his eyes.

In this, the neutron star shared the same property as the Droplets. Whatever color the surrounding space was, that was the color it displayed. Sunlight was mixed light, appearing white overall, so if a human carried a piece of neutron star matter beneath the sun, it too would appear white.

Xiao Yu continued examining other aspects of the Neutron War Star. Data feedback confirmed that this neutron star had suffered catastrophic damage, to the point where repair was virtually impossible. Its condition was so dire that ninety nine percent of its functions had been lost. Xiao Yu detected tens of thousands of attack modules that had been sealed off. A sealed module meant the related system was ruined. Only two modules were available to him, one was the death-ray control region. Here, Xiao Yu could view the firing status of the death rays. Unfortunately, he could only observe them, not control them. In other words, he could not even disable their firing.

Xiao Yu made another discovery, the death rays, which inflicted lethal harm on all carbon-based life, seemed to operate on principles linked to the neutron star’s powerful magnetic field.

“Perhaps this is why the silicon-based civilization chose this magnetar for conversion into a Neutron War Star.” Xiao Yu thought.

The other accessible module was the maneuvering control module. Xiao Yu could control this, but it too was largely ruined. As that unknown existence had said, Xiao Yu could only move the Neutron War Star at a speed no greater than five hundred kilometers per second.

For Xiao Yu now, that speed was far too slow, unacceptably slow.

Other than these two modules, he could not access any other part of the Neutron War Star. He could not establish material channels within it, could not transfer anything out from inside, nor bring anything from the outside in.

Even now, Xiao Yu felt as if he were in a dream. A Neutron War Star, this was a Neutron War Star! The Sweepers had dominated the galaxy for tens of millions of years with this weapon, never once encountering a worthy foe. And now, he too possessed such a thing?

Yet Xiao Yu felt little excitement. This Neutron War Star was far too much of a burden.

“If I were truly of the silicon-based civilization, I could occupy a star system and station the Neutron War Star there. That place would become an impregnable fortress that no civilization could breach. After all, any who approached would be slain by the death rays. But… I want to develop, to communicate. I cannot remain in one place forever. The travel speed of this Neutron War Star is far too slow, I simply cannot bring it with me. Its attack methods are also far too singular, with only the death ray as its weapon.” Xiao Yu thought with deep conflict. “The Guardian Civilization is still watching hungrily outside. With such a broken Neutron War Star, there’s no way I can defeat them.”

Xiao Yu pondered silently. Meanwhile, on the outskirts of the star system, just beyond the reach of the death rays, several thousand ships were stationed. These ships were not idle. They were engaged in urgent communication.

“Confirmed, target has received the Neutron War Star inheritance. The target now controls the Neutron War Star.”

“Detected traces of the Taihao Civilization fifteen light-days away.”

“The Radiance has already set off. It is expected to encounter the Taihao Civilization fleet in three days.”

“The semi-dimensional attack weapon, developed using fragments of the half Four-Dimensional Taihao’s body from the Large Magellanic Cloud as a template, has been successfully completed and is currently being transported. Data battle teams are ready. Special operations units are ready. All support facilities are ready. Standing by to seize the Neutron War Star. Awaiting orders.”

“Very good. Maintain observation. Stand by.”