“Countdown, ten, nine, eight…”
In the meeting room of the spaceship the China, a mechanical, synthetic voice devoid of any emotion was reporting the progress of the event. As the countdown reached zero, Xiao Yu knew that if his calculations were correct, then the small universe he was currently in had already overlapped with the larger universe.
The overlap of two universes, what a miraculous phenomenon. The specific process of overlap, the physical principles, and the associated phenomena were all unknown to Xiao Yu, but just imagining such a thing was enough to stir one’s blood.
“According to the intel I’ve obtained, it seems that Level 6 civilizations have only just begun to grasp space technology. I wonder if Level 6 civilizations understand this kind of process. And Level 7 civilizations, what kind of comprehension would they have of space?”
“The overlap has begun. The radius of the small universe is roughly thirty billion kilometers. Based on our models, in two minutes, the small universe and the large universe will be completely overlapped. At that time, we’ll be testing the power of Space One.” Xiao Yu shook off the clutter of thoughts in his mind and spoke calmly.
At this moment, the probes scattered throughout the small universe had already begun a comprehensive scan. Xiao Yu employed every detection method at his disposal, attempting to discover even the slightest abnormal sign during the overlap of the two worlds, anything to support his hypothesis. If he could gain even a bit of knowledge about space from these anomalies, it would be perfect. After all, not every Level 5 civilization had the chance to experience such a thing.
But the results were disappointing. Even as the universe overlap, as calculated, had already begun, the small universe he observed remained exactly the same as usual. The starry sky was still that pitch-black expanse, and the motions of the white dwarf and dwarf planet continued as they always had.
This result brought a tinge of disappointment to Xiao Yu’s heart.
“Alright, if this is the outcome, then either my hypothesis is wrong, or the overlap of two three-dimensional worlds isn’t the same as what we typically understand as ‘overlap.’ This type of overlap might not even affect the matter within the space at all. But one thing is certain, the overlap of space will definitely have an impact on space itself. And the metric for judging whether space has been affected is the stability of the space itself… Space One, it’s all up to you now.” Xiao Yu thought silently.
The target for this space weapon test was once again that dwarf planet. During the previous weapon trial, the spatial rift fired by Space One had nearly sliced the dwarf planet from top to bottom. The impact of that test had left the planet unrecovered to this day. Even now, it remained plagued by violent earthquakes and volcanic activity. Countless peaks had risen out of nowhere, only to collapse and vanish without a trace.“Two minutes have passed. Good. Space One, fire.”
The spacious meeting room was deathly quiet, with only Xiao Yu’s calm voice echoing through it. The China had already assumed an attack posture, and that narrow fissure was locked onto the dwarf planet. After the devastation it had suffered last time, the planet was about to face another trial.
A spatial rift had already formed in front of the China. A spatial rift was a very peculiar existence. Inside the rift was complete darkness, devoid of any light, just like a black hole. Once it formed, due to certain properties of space and specific attributes conferred upon it in advance by the space weapon, it would move rapidly along a predetermined trajectory. In its motion, it would cut through anything that dared stand in its way, continuing onward until space’s own healing ability eventually erased it without a trace.
That’s right. In the limited knowledge Xiao Yu had about space, this was one of the few things he understood. Xiao Yu knew that space itself seemed to possess a certain healing ability, as though it disliked the existence of spatial rifts. So, once a spatial rift was formed, space would continually attempt to repair it until it was eliminated.
The rift had already formed. Through Xiao Yu’s observation instruments, he saw it advancing rapidly, reaching the dwarf planet almost instantly.
The impact occurred without surprise. The spatial rift struck the planet violently.
A three-dimensional animated projection had appeared in the meeting room, broadcasting in real time the immense catastrophe taking place in the distant universe. All the scientists fixed their eyes on the image, watching for the dwarf planet’s reaction after being struck by the space weapon.
The attack lasted only an instant. The spatial rift vanished in a flash, as if it had never existed. The dwarf planet showed no response. But Xiao Yu knew that a violent disaster was unfolding within it.
A stream of data was transmitted back and rendered in real time within the three-dimensional image. The significance of this data was easily understood by the scientists.
The effects of the spatial attack only became apparent ten seconds later, when another massive fissure appeared on the dwarf planet. Inside the China, Xiao Yu seemed to hear the planet’s desolate and sorrowful howl.
Destroying a planet isn’t difficult, even Level 3 civilizations can do it. Hydrogen bombs have no upper limit in power. As long as the yield is high enough, blowing up a planet is a trivial matter. But that is a crude and graceless form of destruction, lacking in any technical merit. To inflict such a wound on a planet, that is the mark of a powerful weapon.
The test results were in. The scientists looked at the scene before them and at the stream of data, exchanging glances with each other.
The results were clear. This time, the damage caused by the spatial rift to the planet, though still massive, was clearly much less severe than the previous attack. The last rift had carved a wound two thousand kilometers deep. This one, however, was only about eight hundred kilometers deep.
The last trace of doubt disappeared from Luka Three’s face.
Xiao Yu said, “Everyone has seen the test results. The facts prove that Senya’s hypothesis is correct, and so is Luka Three’s. The small universe we’re in is indeed performing circular motion around our large universe on a Four-Dimensional level, and during each cycle, there are two overlaps.”
This was an exhilarating result. It meant that Xiao Yu had truly grasped some of the movement patterns of the small universe. It could be said that this was a major step forward for him, bringing him much closer to ultimate success.
“Senya has already proven its capability and brought great honor to its race. Senya, keep it up. If you continue to excel, I won’t mind bestowing the title of ‘Number Five’ upon you.” Xiao Yu said to Senya.
Senya is an intelligent lifeform from Species Number Two. The leader of the Psychosocial Sciences Division of Species Number Two was overwhelmed with excitement upon hearing Xiao Yu’s words. It immediately stepped away from its seat, knelt to the ground, and performed the most honorable ritual of its race to pay homage to Xiao Yu. Senya itself was also unable to contain its excitement, at a loss for what to do, thankfully, prompted by the leader of Species Number Two, it hurriedly knelt as well.
By now, some unspoken conventions had quietly formed within Xiao Yu’s fleet. The titles Luka Two, Luka Three, and Luka Four were just the names Xiao Yu used for them. Generally speaking, regardless of race, others would refer to them directly as Lord Two, Lord Three, and so on.
Under such circumstances, some implications had already become tacitly acknowledged, the title of ‘Number Two’ had come to implicitly mean the second-ranking person, and ‘Number Three’ the third-ranking person. They were not just the second or third of the Luka Civilization, but of the entire fleet.
As for the always-unused title of ‘Number One.’ that naturally belonged to Xiao Yu.
Given all this, the meaning of the title ‘Number Five’ became something worth pondering. Even if it didn’t officially denote the fifth-in-command of the entire fleet, the meaning would be close enough.
It could be said that if Senya were truly granted the title of Lord Five, then Species Number Two would instantly become the most esteemed among the later-joined one hundred or so races, second only to the Luka Civilization.
Think about it, including the Dwarf Race, Xiao Yu’s fleet now possessed over forty billion intelligent beings and more than three million warships. In such a massive organization, to hold the position of the fifth-ranking figure, what a lofty and powerful status that would be!
Even just thinking about it was enough to stir one’s excitement.
Of course, Xiao Yu wasn’t about to bestow the title lightly. Senya’s performance had been outstanding and acknowledged by all, it wasn’t just this one event. Some scientists had even secretly concluded that Senya fully deserved the title of Number Five. Still, Xiao Yu planned to observe a while longer. With such a tempting reward in play, he believed Senya would perform even better.
With a breakthrough in their discussion, everyone felt a bit more relaxed. At the very least, Xiao Yu now had a clearer understanding of the reality of the small universe. The next round of discussions would have a direction to follow, unlike before when they were groping in the dark without any idea where to begin.
“Alright then, let’s proceed to the next phase of discussion, how to escape this small universe and enter our large universe…”