Rebirth of the Super Battleship

Chapter 442: The Exploding Sphere

Xiao Yu had never been able to determine what kind of attitude the Taihao Civilization truly held toward him, or what schemes they harbored regarding him. But he figured it could not escape the following scope, if his actions proceeded according to their predetermined plan, he would receive certain benefits, perhaps stable development time, perhaps assistance in eliminating hidden threats. However, if he refused to follow their plan, for example, if he continued to refuse killing the intelligent beings under his command, then the Taihao Civilization would intervene.

But there was something very strange. The Taihao Civilization was at least at the level of a Level 6 Civilization, even strong enough to stand on equal footing with the Guardian Civilization. With such power, dealing with him should have been an easy matter. Yet, for reasons unknown, the Taihao Civilization had never intervened directly, instead constantly pushing him through various conspiracies, never willing to expose themselves or openly state their intentions.

The last time Xiao Yu had encountered that so-called envoy sent by his future self, Xiao Yu could not be one hundred percent certain, but he was at least eighty percent sure that this was an impersonation by the Taihao Civilization. That was the first time. The second time was now, the Taihao Civilization had conspired with the Guardian Civilization to set this elaborate trap, attempting to use the death rays that filled this extremely dangerous region to slaughter the intelligent beings under his command.

From this, Xiao Yu could only reach one conclusion, the Taihao Civilization was under some kind of restriction that prevented them from acting against him directly.

This, in turn, made the matter quite interesting. With this fact, Xiao Yu could craft his own schemes against both the Taihao Civilization and the Guardian Civilization, to achieve his goal of escaping alive.

“If my calculations are not wrong, then by deliberately revealing themselves before me, the Taihao Civilization has already made their intentions clear. Hope. They want me to trust that, when the enraged Guardian Civilization strikes, they will be there to hold them back…” Xiao Yu thought to himself in silence.

Once the presence of the Taihao Civilization was factored in, Xiao Yu had no choice but to reexamine all the events he had experienced. Like the Lizardmen he had encountered on his very first interstellar voyage, the Luka race on Tianyuan IV, and even the White Dwarf Alien Beast within the Aquila Nebula…

“Hm?” When he thought of the White Dwarf Alien Beast, Xiao Yu’s heart suddenly stirred. He recalled the 90s Model Spaceship he had obtained, along with the corpse of that Earth girl.

“Could these things also have been deliberately arranged by the Taihao Civilization to fall into my hands? Giving me a corpse… hmm, what are they planning? Could it be… they knew I had lost all records of human genetic data, so they left me the corpse of a human girl from Earth… Do they intend for me to use this to create a large population of humans, thereby reconstructing human society? The Taihao Civilization has always wanted me to kill off the intelligent beings under my command, and they once gave me this human corpse. Could their true goal be to ensure that I maintain a singular human societal structure, avoiding entanglements with other intelligent lifeforms?”

Xiao Yu had the full capability to extract sufficient human genetic material from that girl’s corpse and produce humans. By common reasoning, Xiao Yu indeed should have done so. Yet, he had never undertaken this. The reason was simple, humans manufactured through genetic technology in the interstellar era were not true humans. They would have no memories of Earth, no experiences of Earth, and no deep attachment to that tiny planet. Even if they carried the exact same genes as Earth humans, Xiao Yu could not feel any sense of recognition toward them.Xiao Yu had always intended to wait until his technology became advanced enough to completely resurrect this Earth girl, memory, spirit, and soul, all intact.

This speculation gave Xiao Yu a new perspective on the Taihao Civilization and led him to many thoughts. But these thoughts were of no help to the current situation. With a sigh, Xiao Yu abandoned further reflection on this matter and turned his focus entirely back to the present circumstances.

Xiao Yu had already more or less finalized his next plan and was currently refining it. In this plan, the five spheres he had obtained from the silicon-based civilization’s base would play a crucial role.

After a period of research, Xiao Yu had basically determined what these five spheres were. They were weapons, and without a doubt, extremely powerful ones. One must remember, this now-vanished silicon-based civilization was undoubtedly a Level 7 Civilization. How could weapons crafted by them be ordinary?

Just from the fact that these objects had remained perfectly preserved for so long, Xiao Yu knew they were anything but simple. However, how to trigger them, their destructive power, and their method of destruction remained unclear to him. This problem had to be solved as soon as possible, because without these weapons, Xiao Yu’s plan could not be carried out.

Inside the laboratory of this City-Class spaceship, Xiao Yu used every technological method at his disposal to study these strange spheres.

“Hm… I’ve detected an extremely faint radiation. Simple bacteria and viruses used as test subjects have died from exposure to it. Their cause of death… were their genetic chains destroyed? Could it be that this sphere is a miniature version of the damaged Neutron War Star while inside it is a generator for the death ray designed specifically against carbon-based civilizations? How do I trigger them?”

Xiao Yu carried out a thorough study of the objects, and finally, when he reached the step of exposing them to high-energy magnetic fields combined with intense radiation, one of the five spheres exploded.

To call it an explosion was not quite accurate, for the triggering process was eerily quiet. Under the dual effects of the high-energy magnetic field and radiation, the sphere suddenly cracked open, without the slightest warning. After it split, nothing happened. Xiao Yu only saw two hollow hemispheres lying quietly in the laboratory, completely empty inside.

By all appearances, this had nothing to do with an explosion. Yet Xiao Yu still chose to call it one, because elsewhere, he detected a phenomenon so shocking he could scarcely believe it.

All lifeforms not sealed inside deep freeze equipment, including immobile plants, the animals freely living aboard the Home-class ships, and all manner of microorganisms, had, at the very instant the sphere cracked, all perished. At that moment, aboard the dozens of Home-class ships under Xiao Yu’s Divine Ark Civilization, everything alive other than the intelligent beings preserved in deep freeze had died. Not a single organism survived. Not even a bacterium or virus remained. These ships were now as if washed by the strongest disinfectant, utterly pristine.

Their manner of death was shockingly uniform. Their organic structures had been destroyed, transformed from organic matter into inorganic matter, stripped of all characteristics of life.

“This… this is a superweapon developed specifically against carbon-based civilizations.” Confronted with this, Xiao Yu was so shaken he could hardly compose himself.

“How pitiful. I spent so much effort to construct such a well-balanced ecological system within the Home-class ships, and now it’s all gone. Everything dead. Not even a single bacterium left for me…”

Wild plants and animals had proven somewhat more resilient than intelligent beings against the death ray, and coupled with the unknown reason why the death ray’s effect on his people had been weakened, the wild life’s mortality rate had not been high. Xiao Yu had hoped they could survive this calamity, sparing his future self some trouble. But now, this single exploding sphere had sent them all to heaven.

Fortunately, Xiao Yu had long stored the genetic structures of all known lifeforms in his database. With his current biotechnology, so long as he had sufficient energy and raw materials, he could endlessly reproduce these wild plants and animals. Otherwise, all the diverse flora and fauna he had painstakingly collected from across various planets would now be extinct.

“I wonder how the Guardian Civilization will fare when faced with this kind of superweapon?” Xiao Yu’s heart began to stir with anticipation. “A Level 7 Civilization’s weapon… surely it will give them quite the surprise…”

“Unfortunately, in the entire silicon-based civilization’s base, I found only these five spheres and no other weapons. But judging from the fact that they have remained intact until now, these five spheres must have been fearsome weapons even by the standards of that Level 7 Civilization.”

With hundreds of millions of landing-type robots, Xiao Yu had scoured the base completely. These five spheres, along with the damaged Neutron War Star inherited through the strange existence in that control room, were all the spoils he had obtained.

Having expended one sphere in testing, Xiao Yu carefully stored away the remaining four, to be used when the time came.

“Now, I’ve mastered both the method of using this superweapon and its destructive effect. Nothing stands in the way of my plan anymore. Then, it can begin… Guardian Civilization, prepare to receive the Divine Ark Civilization’s first act of vengeance.”

“Believe me, this is only the beginning. In the future, retaliation will come endlessly.”

Xiao Yu smiled faintly in his heart as he made this vow.