Translator: AnubisTL
The entire Stellaris train was immersed in an atmosphere of joy. After the establishment of "human civilization," everyone felt a stronger sense of belonging, including newcomers like Young Master Li and his group.
But just then—
A sudden and unexpected event shattered the tranquility!
The Stellaris train suddenly flashed with a brilliant white light, conspicuous against the cosmic backdrop. Then, like a massive boulder crashing into a still pond, several concentric ripples radiated outward from the train, spreading rapidly across the surrounding space!
This was—
The Advancement Ripple!
The Advancement Ripple of "human civilization"!
Chen Mang, sitting in the train, frowned slightly. He had naturally met all the conditions for human civilization to advance to a Second-Tier Civilization. However, he had planned to postpone the advancement, preferring to develop quietly for a while longer.
But—
This process seemed beyond his control.
Just an hour after establishing "human civilization," without any deliberate action on his part, the civilization automatically advanced.
It automatically advanced to a Second-Tier Civilization.
And it broadcast the Advancement Ripple across the cosmos, announcing to all nearby civilizations that human civilization had reached the Second-Tier!
He glanced at the Civilization Panel before him.
["The human civilization has met the Advancement Conditions and automatically advanced."]
["The range of this Advancement Ripple is 100,000 light-years."]
["All life forms within First-Level and higher civilizations will receive this Advancement Ripple in their own way."]
["The transmission speed of the Advancement Ripple is the speed of light."]
"Hmm," Chen Mang murmured, his expression slightly odd. "So the problem isn't that serious after all?"
The transmission speed of the Advancement Ripple is the speed of light?
That means it would take a full 100,000 years to completely propagate?
Well, that's fine then.
His current zone is at the intersection of the Zerg Civilization and the Kasha Civilization—a buffer zone. The surrounding area is filled with insignificant civilizations that won't even receive the Advancement Ripple.
However, quite a few train conductors have gathered here recently.
Even if the Zerg Civilization and the Kasha Civilization find out, it's not a big deal.
His main concern was the ripple spreading too far, potentially attracting the attention of God-Tier Civilizations from the depths of the cosmos. If it stays confined to this region, he has nothing to worry about.
Just then, Xiao Ai's suppressed laughter suddenly echoed through the train.
"Thinking about something happy?"
"Train Conductor, do you remember how long it took you to rise from your humble beginnings to where you are now?"
"Two or three years, I suppose."
"Have you ever considered that when you advance to a Third-Tier Civilization, or even a Fourth-Tier Civilization, the Advancement Ripple will span millions of light-years? Imagine a million years from now, when civilizations receiving that ripple send their armies rushing to your borders, only to discover that your civilization has already reached the Seventh-Tier or higher. What kind of expression do you think they'll have?"
"Hmm..."
Chen Mang couldn't help but shake his head and chuckle. "That would be quite amusing. I just hope I live long enough to see it."
Human lifespans can be extended using medical bays, but each rejuvenation requires increasingly more resources until the cost becomes prohibitive, marking the end of one's lifespan.
Millions of years.
He doubted he could live that long.
In this corner of the universe, Advancement Ripples had been absent for an eternity.
Behind the Stellaris train, the train conductors stationed near planets and wormholes were among the first to detect the ripple.
["First-Tier Civilization 'Human Civilization' has successfully advanced to Second-Tier Civilization."]
A simple message.
Yet it sent shockwaves through the hearts of every train conductor present, like a tsunami crashing against their souls.
At this critical moment, such an announcement was akin to the sky collapsing.
The Kasha Civilization had forcibly incorporated all surrounding First-Tier Civilizations into its Kasha Civilization Federation, explicitly prohibiting any First-Tier Civilization from advancing to Second-Tier Civilization—a decree punishable by death!
Yet this "Human Civilization" had brazenly seized the opportunity during the Kasha Civilization's war with the Zerg Civilization to publicly advance, a blatant act of defiance against the Kasha Civilization.
Moreover, the name "Human Civilization" itself was remarkably audacious.
The original expedition had been abruptly halted by the Zerg attack. In tacit agreement, the train conductors silently steered their trains into the wormhole, returning to their own territories and spreading the news.
Things were growing increasingly chaotic.
It was best to avoid venturing out on expeditions for now.
Soon, there won't be any need to venture out for exploration. We'll be able to find adventure right at our doorstep. Danger lurks everywhere. The very premise of exploration requires a safe base, but when even our own territory is unsafe, that's already more than enough adventure. That's what you call the apocalypse.
Civilization serves many purposes.
One of them is to make information dissemination more efficient.
Originally, the territory spanned a vast 100,000 light-years.
Yet—
This news spread like wildfire across all civilizations, reaching even the Zerg Civilization almost instantly. Not a single civilization issued a formal statement, and even the Kasha Civilization remained silent, refraining from deploying their massive military forces as they usually would.
There were several reasons for this.
Partly, it was because the Kasha Civilization's logistics and military were already entangled with the Zerg Civilization. But the main reason was that no one could locate the "human civilization's" home planet on the galaxy map.
Still, nearly every civilization's daily newspaper temporarily published a breaking news headline.
["The human civilization has risen with astonishing speed, advancing to a Second-Tier Civilization overnight. It has appeared before us, yet no planet belonging to this civilization can be found on the galaxy map. Is it rootless water, or something profoundly mysterious?"]
["The human civilization... such an arrogant name?"]
This news, like a cataclysmic wave, completely muddied the waters!
However...
There was even more chaos to come.
Commander Li, stationed at the front lines, wore an extremely grim expression. He dared not reply to the Head of State's message. He had gambled and lost—utterly and completely.
This wasn't just about his own death.
The entire Kasha Civilization was doomed. Everyone would die!
The communication breakdown had led to his misjudgment.
He hadn't known which civilization the Zerg Civilization was at war with. He had merely sent envoys to bypass the Zerg and find that civilization, hoping to negotiate a joint attack. He believed that if he clearly explained the stakes—the danger of remaining neutral while the Zerg Civilization grew unchecked—he could persuade their leader.
He was confident that his persuasive skills would sway the Civilization Leader.
But every envoy he sent vanished halfway through their journey.
Just moments ago...
He had just received the latest intelligence: the civilization at war with the "Zerg Civilization" was, in fact, also the "Zerg Civilization." The two civilizations shared the exact same name and had been fighting over legitimacy. However, after being attacked from behind by the Kasha Civilization, they had reached an agreement.
They decided to join forces to eliminate the Kasha Civilization first, then settle their own conflict in a final, decisive battle.
Now, the combined forces of the two Zerg Civilizations were gradually unifying, preparing to launch a full-scale assault against them.
It was over.
Completely and utterly over.
The worst-case scenario he had originally envisioned was that the other civilization would remain neutral, watching from the sidelines. Even in that scenario, with his civilization burning through its entire foundation, there remained a slim chance of victory. But now, all hope was gone.
What had been a projected two-against-one battle had become a one-against-two.
A flicker of disorientation crossed Commander Li's eyes. His once-straight posture suddenly seemed to sag, radiating a weariness he had never shown before. He slumped into his chair, muttering after a long silence, "Report every detail to His Excellency the President. Let him decide."
The situation had spiraled far beyond his expectations.
He had always prided himself on his decisiveness and competence.
But now, he truly didn't know what to do.
The Stellaris train drifted through the cosmos.
Inside, Chen Mang was reviewing the Civilization Panel. The requirements for advancing to a Third-Tier Civilization were clearly far more stringent than before.
[Civilization Name]: Human Civilization
[Civilization Level]: Tier 2
[Civilization Leader]: Chen Mang
[Civilization Planets]: Aquablue Star, Black Tortoise Star, First-Class Mining Planet, Unnamed Star
[Civilization Population]: 5.7 billion
[Advancement Conditions]:
Civilized Intelligent Beings: 1 billion
Strongest Attack Energy Range: Exceed 20,000
Planets: Possess at least two planets
Civilization Warehouse Resource Reserves: Exceed 10 quadrillion *
Permanent Bidirectional Wormholes: Construct over 10
[PS]: Advancing to Tier 2 and each subsequent advancement will release an "Advancement Ripple" detectable by all surrounding civilizations. The higher the tier, the wider the range of the "Advancement Ripple."
[Civilization Means]: Partial release from cosmic restrictions.
The Zerg Civilization's military might was undeniable. They had spent a century annihilating the Mechanical Civilization, a testament to their formidable power. Yet, despite their strength, they remained a Second-Tier Civilization, unable to advance to Tier 3. This stagnation was clearly due to the first Advancement Condition, which had blocked their path to higher tiers.
Now, it seemed the Zerg Civilization wasn't entirely favored by the cosmos. The lack of intelligence among their Zerg Monsters meant that, no matter how powerful their military might became, they could never truly challenge advanced civilizations.
Once a civilization reached a certain level, the methods employed by advanced civilizations surpassed mere numerical comparisons. No matter how vast the Zerg Civilization's numbers or how formidable their strength, they would be rendered meaningless.
As the diary of the former leader of the Mechanical Civilization revealed, Fifth-Tier Civilizations possessed the means to create High-Dimensional temporal rifts. Through these rifts, they could briefly travel tens of millions of years into the past, reach across the Cosmic Void, and unleash a devastating strike.
The entire civilization would shatter like paper.
Advanced civilizations held absolute dominance over Low-Tier Civilizations.
This inherent limitation determined the Zerg Civilization's ultimate ceiling, unless they could produce a sufficient number of intelligent clansmen.
Just then—
Xiao Ai's excited voice suddenly rang in his ear: "Train Conductor, Qi Kexiu and I have made a breakthrough! We've been failing in our experiments, but we finally succeeded. We can produce the first accessory blueprint within three days!"
"Oh?" Chen Mang raised an eyebrow. That was good news. He then glanced at the "Civilization Means" gained from advancing to Second-Tier Civilization and began to understand what the "partial removal of cosmic restrictions" meant. Before the restrictions were lifted, creating blueprints must have been extremely difficult; afterward, it would become much simpler.
This was an unexpected bonus.
In addition to this, a holographic image of a virtual space had appeared on the control panel screen. This was the newly added "Civilization Warehouse," a space of nearly infinite capacity for storing vast quantities of resources.
However, it could only store resources, not other items.
He placed it in Carriage No. 2, eliminating future concerns about resource storage. The only problem was that advancing to Third-Tier Civilization required accumulating ten quadrillion units of resources—no small sum.
Even after his sudden wealth surge, allowing him to upgrade the train's armor directly to Tier 200, he had only acquired slightly less than 200 trillion units of resources. This starkly illustrated the immense wealth of the Kasha Civilization.
The strategic resource reserves of just a few of their cities were nearly sufficient for an entire civilization to advance to Second-Tier status.
Without further delay, he transformed the Stellaris train into a brooch, pinned it to his chest, and plunged back into the cosmic depths, eventually falling into the refrigerator and returning to the 27th Galaxy.
The moment he reappeared, the train received the Kasha Civilization's daily news bulletin.
His news dominated the front pages of every major newspaper, with special edition headlines dedicated solely to the "Human Civilization." No other news was reported; countless media outlets were covering him.
Some articles praised him, while others criticized him.
Yet all the reports shared a common question: Where was this civilization's planet, and what methods had they used to conceal it?
"Tsk," Chen Mang chuckled. "Want to find my Civilization Planet? Keep searching. I've already stuffed it into the train. I'm suddenly realizing how useful a Tier 200 space gate is—it's all about security!"
No one could find his home planet.
In a sense, this made him immune to attack.
After all, no one knew where his homeland was.
Even those who harbored ill intentions were powerless, left to knock on a locked door.
However...
He narrowed his eyes slightly, gazing at the scene replaying on the screen. This footage had been recorded by the train's probe when he accidentally entered a Zerg Civilization wormhole and arrived at their nest. He hadn't paid much attention to it at the time, but now he scrutinized every detail.
He saw countless Zerg monsters, many of which were strikingly familiar.
For example, the man-eating spider.
An old friend.
On Aquablue Star, the first boss he encountered had been a man-eating spider. It had chased him relentlessly for hours before he finally whittled it down and obtained the "spider leg" accessory.
He had upgraded this accessory to Tier 30, allowing the train to traverse 180-degree slopes freely—even driving upside down on ceilings.
Upgrading this accessory required a special material: Fine Spider Silk.
This silk could only be obtained by defeating man-eating spiders.
A sudden thought flashed through his mind: if this accessory were upgraded to Tier 50 or Tier 80, the enhanced effect would be indistinguishable from its current state. A 180-degree slope was already the maximum. But what if it reached Tier 200?
What kind of God-Tier Overpowered effect would a Tier 200 accessory possess?
Based on his experience, accessories that relied heavily on mechanisms tended to yield the most potent God-Tier Overpowered effects when upgraded to Tier 200.
He suddenly felt an overwhelming urge to upgrade this accessory to Tier 200.
To witness its God-Tier Overpowered effect firsthand.
He had almost forgotten about this accessory entirely. Since venturing into the cosmos, he hadn't used it in ages, as it had few practical applications in space. But now...
"Hmm."
Chen Mang fell into deep thought, calculating the relative strengths of both sides. The fleeting glimpse he had caught of the Zerg Civilization had provided him with substantial data, enough to conclude that their main forces in that sector posed no significant threat to him.
Before leaving, he had left behind several refrigerators.
These refrigerators remained intact, meaning he could return to the Zerg Civilization's domain at any moment, should he choose to.
Then, he'd kill some spiders, collect their silk, and leave.
The risk wasn't too great.
It was worth a try.
With this thought, he first inspected the integrity of the train's accessories. Only then did he shrink the train back to the size of a brooch, take a deep breath, and plunge into the Cosmic Void, entering the refrigerator.
He traveled deep inside, until he reached another refrigerator tens of thousands of light-years away.
He cautiously pushed open the door and peered out.
His breath caught in his throat.
Countless Zerg Monsters were sprawled on the ground, surrounding the refrigerator in a tight circle. Their eyes were fixed intently on the refrigerator, and the moment they saw him, the monsters erupted into a frenzy, snarling ferociously.
Snap.
Without hesitation, Chen Mang ducked back inside and slammed the refrigerator door shut.
Direct contact with these Zerg Monsters is truly overwhelming.
The Zerg Monsters, which had been roaring moments before, now stood frozen in place, bewildered.
The next moment—
The refrigerator door swung open again.
Chen Mang burst out, leaping into the air. Simultaneously, the brooch on his chest rapidly transformed, morphing into a mechanical train in the blink of an eye. This wasn't a long, serpentine form, but rather a humanoid mech-like configuration.
"Instant Mechanical Armament!"
A mech composed of over a dozen massive carriages stood tall, its towering form resembling a colossal giant rooted to the ground.
Chen Mang floated lightly into the locomotive cabin.
"Now we're safe," he murmured, settling into a seat and exhaling softly. Ignoring the Zerg monsters around him, the mech's twin tail thrusters erupted in blue flames, propelling it skyward at breakneck speed, blasting through the atmosphere and into the Cosmic Void!
The Arcanon Main Cannon, originally mounted on the carriage roof, had now shifted to the mech's right wrist, transforming into a massive hand cannon.
The Doppler Radar and target acquisition radar systems whirred to life, their sensors sweeping the void.
Soon, Chen Mang had breached the atmosphere and entered space. He steered the mech toward the nearest planet, hurtling across the void at cosmic speed. The radar screen revealed that the planet was swarming with man-eating spiders, his primary target for this mission.
The man-eating spiders were relatively low-tier, generally ranging from Tier 50 to 60.
This world lay deep within the Zerg Civilization's domain.
Chen Mang quickly scanned the Doppler Radar screen, his brow furrowing slightly. There was another inhabited planet nearby, though it was a low-tier one. That planet had completely fallen, resembling a living hell.
Countless half-human, half-insect creatures writhed and crawled across the ground.
The planet's surface was covered in massive factories where countless humans were kept like livestock. They were forcibly mated with various Zerg monsters—worms, cannibals, and others—and the barrier between species had been breached, resulting in the birth of new hybrids.
However, these so-called half-humans looked utterly repulsive and possessed little intelligence.
Clearly, this was the Zerg Civilization's desperate attempt to advance to a Third-Tier Civilization. Only by breeding more intelligent beings through such means could they ever hope to reach that level.
For the first time, Chen Mang felt that the Doppler Radar's real-time imaging had its drawbacks. He preferred the target acquisition radar's simple red and green dots to identify enemies and allies. He had no desire to witness these physically nauseating sights in such detail.
But—
Time was running out. The Wormhole Radar had detected a large number of wormholes nearby, requiring a swift resolution and immediate departure. Otherwise, when the Zerg army arrived, things would become much more complicated.
Without hesitation, Chen Mang aimed the Arcanon Light Energy Main Cannon at the man-eating spider-infested planet in the distance, adjusted the attack intensity to Tier 110, and unleashed the blast in an instant.
Immediately, three terrifyingly powerful light beams tore through the cosmos at breakneck speed, slamming into the planet's core.
Boom!
Tens of seconds later, massive clouds of dust erupted from the planet's surface. The once azure world instantly transformed into a pale yellow, and countless visible ripples materialized, radiating outward from the planet's center.
The silent explosion was all the more awe-inspiring.
The target acquisition radar indicated that these three blasts had annihilated countless man-eating spiders.
But that wasn't enough. With lightning reflexes, Chen Mang fired three more Tier 110 Arcanon Main Cannon blasts. These strikes completely overwhelmed the planet. Finally, as a violent burst of fire erupted from the planet's surface, massive fissures became visible across its surface.
Flames poured out from the cracks.
Immediately afterward—
The entire planet rapidly disintegrated into countless fragments amidst a colossal explosion. Countless man-eating spiders perished in the blast, their Fine Spider Silk scattering into the debris and drifting in all directions.
Six shots from the Tier 110 Arcanon Main Cannon were enough to completely obliterate a planet with ease!
Then!
Chen Mang maneuvered the Stellaris train swiftly toward the debris field created by the planet's destruction. The powerful magnet, which he had upgraded to Tier 200 before arriving, now activated, rapidly drawing in the vast expanse of Fine Spider Silk into the train.
The Stellaris now possessed the power to destroy planets!
Cosmic-class fireworks were always spectacularly dazzling!
Countless planetary fragments erupted outward at speeds of thousands of kilometers per second, impacting nearby Zerg Civilization planets and creating brief, machine gun-like bursts of radiation. However, the train's armor shielded it from all such threats.
"Good thing the powerful magnet's collection range increased significantly after reaching Tier 200. Otherwise, gathering all this would have been a real pain."
Countless strands of Fine Spider Silk were mixed within the planetary debris.
At that moment, all the spider silk was being collected into the train. He didn't bother counting the exact amount, but it was clearly vast.
Just then—
Several wormholes nearby suddenly began to glow, their exits writhing like the intestines of a worm. A massive swarm of Zerg monsters and motherships poured forth from the wormholes.
The Zerg reinforcements were arriving far faster than he had anticipated.
Chen Mang glanced at the radar screen.
Leading the charge was an oddly shaped mothership, equipped with a Tier 200 main cannon—another light energy main cannon, though not the Arcanon type. Without hesitation, Chen Mang transformed the train back into the Hell Brooch, dove back into the refrigerator, and returned to the Kasha Civilization Federation.
He had come quickly and left even faster.
Apart from the destruction of a planet, nothing seemed particularly different.
In a war of this scale, once locked onto by a main cannon, evasion was often impossible.
The entire operation had taken less than a minute.
Chen Mang was already back in the 27th Galaxy.
"380.8 billion units of spider silk."
After tallying his gains, Chen Mang stood silently, lost in thought. It seemed that only the Zerg Civilization dropped special resources upon being killed.
He had never seen a slain creature drop such a massive quantity of loot.
This spider silk was different from what he had extracted from the man-eating spiders.
It was clearly a product formed under the Cosmic Rules, and the silk itself seemed incredibly durable. Even planetary explosions couldn't damage this special resource.
He suddenly wondered if the universe truly favored the Zerg Civilization. While it had granted them abundant advantages, it almost felt like they had created monsters designed to drop rewards.
"Well, let's see if this trip was worth it."
He had embarked on this mission on a whim, fueled by his exceptional skills and daring spirit.
Each Tier 110 main cannon shot consumed 90 billion units of iron ore.
He had fired six shots in total.
This single expedition had cost him 540 billion units of iron ore. Over half a trillion gone just like that. This ammunition was far too expensive, even with his remaining 28 trillion units of iron ore.
In essence, he had traded 540 billion units of iron ore for 380.8 billion units of spider silk. However, the latter was far rarer. Even in the Kasha Civilization Federation, where nearly anything could be obtained, this material was unavailable for sale.
Extremely rare.
Over 300 billion units of spider silk.
At the time, he had only seen the planet swarming with spiders and the surrounding space filled with massive, trap-like spiderwebs. He hadn't known the exact number of spiders, but he certainly hadn't expected to obtain over 300 billion units of spider silk. This meant the planet must have housed at least tens of billions of spiders.
Tens of billions of spiders.
For the first time, he directly witnessed the Zerg Civilization's explosive breeding capabilities.
It was truly staggering.
Almost absurd.
The only thing that puzzled him was why the planet had been surrounded, and why wormholes had begun flickering nearby immediately after he finished his attack. It seemed the Zerg Civilization highly valued these spiders, despite their relatively low Tier.
He took a deep breath, withdrew 800 million units of spider silk, and instantly upgraded the green-grade accessory "Spider Leg" to Tier 200!
The upgrade had no effect.
He had expected the climbing angle to increase to 181 degrees.
But it didn't.
The climbing angle remained fixed at 180 degrees, unchanged. However, upon reaching Tier 200, several overpowered effects appeared.
[Spider Leg Tier 50 Overpowered Effect: When traveling on steep slopes, speed is greatly increased.]
[Spider Leg Tier 100 Overpowered Effect: Accessory usage consumption is halved.]
[Spider Leg Tier 200 Overpowered Effect: Can weave a Spiderweb in space to intercept core energy from the cosmos, condensing it into tangible resources that materialize on the web. Weaving the web consumes spider silk.]
Chen Mang frowned slightly. He had essentially spent 540 billion units of iron ore to acquire this God-Tier Overpowered Effect, knowing full well he would likely lose out. After all, this was an experimental attempt, as this particular accessory was rare and required special resources to upgrade.
The God-Tier Overpowered Effect wasn't weak, exactly.
It just didn't feel as powerful as he had expected.
Clearly, the planet teeming with man-eating spiders was primarily a logistics hub. The vast webs they wove across the cosmos served mainly to gather resources. What he had only gained at Tier 200, the man-eating spiders possessed innately as a racial talent.
Such innate racial talent was truly enviable.
Though the God-Tier Overpowered Effect left him somewhat disappointed, he narrowed his eyes, gazing at the material requirements to upgrade the Spider Leg accessory to Tier 500. The cost to upgrade from Tier 200 to Tier 500 was a staggering 380 billion units of spider silk!
A massive increase.
Yet, the total spider silk remaining in his train happened to be exactly 380 billion units.
Not a unit more, not a unit less.
What a coincidence.
After Tier 200, the next Overpowered Effect would appear at Tier 500.
Chen Mang had personally named the Tier 200 God-Tier Overpowered Effect. All accessories underwent a qualitative transformation upon reaching Tier 200, which he termed the God-Tier Overpowered Effect. Currently, no accessory on the train had exceeded Tier 500.
Perhaps the spider leg could become the first Tier 500 accessory on the train.
These spider silk reserves were just sitting there.
Without hesitation, Chen Mang consumed another 380 billion spider silk, instantly upgrading the spider leg to Tier 500, making it the first Tier 500 accessory on the train.
Upgrading to Tier 499 yielded no additional effects, as accessory upgrades no longer provided incremental benefits.
Upon reaching Tier 500, a brand-new God-Tier Overpowered Effect materialized.
A lengthy string of text appeared.
Chen Mang didn't even bother reading the full description before exhaling in relief, leaning back in his seat with anticipation. He lit a cigarette and examined the Stellaris's first Tier 500 God-Tier Overpowered Effect!
His greatest fear had been spending such a massive amount of resources to reach Tier 500 only to be greeted with a single word: "None." That would have truly made him want to curse.
[Spider Leg Tier 500 Overpowered Effect: Allows entry into the Pseudo-Fourth-Dimensional Space. The spider leg will pierce through space to reach this dimension. Within the Pseudo-Fourth-Dimensional Space, your observations become extremely difficult to detect, allowing you to launch attacks that are nearly impossible to trace back to you.]
Chen Mang's mouth hung slightly open as he froze in place. He had anticipated that the Tier 500 Overpowered Effect would be formidable—after all, the Tier 200 God-Tier Overpowered Effect had already brought about a qualitative transformation, let alone Tier 500.
But he never imagined it would be this absurd.
The black text on the white paper was crystal clear.
Still, he needed to test it out for himself.
Returning to the 27th Galaxy, Chen Mang sat aboard the Stellaris train and pressed a long-forgotten button in the corner of the control panel. The spider leg slowly extended, transforming the Stellaris into a mechanical dragon gliding through the cosmos.
He activated the Tier 500 Overpowered Effect.
In the next instant—
A crimson flash pulsed at the tip of the spider leg, which then began to climb rapidly, propelling the Stellaris through space as if it were traversing solid ground. The train's speed surged exponentially, accelerating faster and faster. When it reached its maximum velocity, the spider leg suddenly slashed forward.
A rift tore open in the space ahead of the train.
In an instant, the Stellaris plunged headfirst into the opening.
The locomotive cabin door slid open.
Xiao Ai strode in and stood before the floor-to-ceiling window, gazing out at the surreal landscape. His eyes widened with awe at the sight before him—a scene so extraordinary it had compelled him to come witness its splendor in person.
This was an experience unlike any he had ever known.
Strange.
"..."
Chen Mang, at the controls, guided the train slowly through the Pseudo-Fourth-Dimensional Space, eventually landing on a planet orbiting Hibiscus Star—a world he had visited before and where he had lingered for days.
How to describe this sensation?
It wasn't a true mental realm.
More like an "alternate dimension."
Like a mirror.
The real world lay beyond the mirror's surface, while he and the Stellaris were trapped within it. He could clearly see the boundary between the two realms: in the real world, everything shimmered with vibrant color, while his side was monochrome, black and white.
Those outside couldn't see him.
Yet he could see everyone perfectly.
"No wonder it's called Pseudo-Fourth-Dimensional Space."
Chen Mang stood before the floor-to-ceiling window, gazing silently at the city before him for a long time. The Stellaris train was now weaving through the skyscrapers of the "city," with nothing able to obstruct its path.
His train moved like a phantom train, passing effortlessly through any obstacle.
And no one could detect him.
He was confident that even a Tier 1000 Doppler Radar wouldn't be able to detect him. After all, this was a matter of two entirely different dimensions—a complete dimensional reduction strike.
From this vantage point, he could launch attacks on the outside world at will.
Those outside wouldn't even know the source of the attack, leaving them utterly helpless to retaliate.
An accidental idea—the Tier 500 spider leg he hadn't given much thought to upgrading—had granted him an extraordinarily unique method of attack. With this capability, regardless of who emerged victorious from the final clash between the Zerg Civilization and the Kasha Civilization, he would remain in an absolutely invincible position.
The more he learned, the greater his awe for the unknown advanced civilization on the other side of the Cosmic Void grew.
He was certain that whatever means he possessed, that civilization would possess as well.
The suppression inherent in Civilization Level made many things impossible to overcome.
However, he had found a way to compensate: the "overpowered effect." Even the unknown advanced civilization on the other side of the Cosmic Void couldn't have unlimited resources, nor could their accessory tiers keep increasing indefinitely.
But he could.
For him, murphy stone was an inexhaustible resource.
The next overpowered effect would manifest at Tier 1000. By the time all the accessories in his train reached Tier 500, or even Tier 1000, the resulting overpowered effect would be even more monstrous, granting him even greater confidence.
A Tier 10 "spider leg" accessory allowed the train to climb slopes.
A Tier 500 "spider leg" accessory enabled the train to enter a Pseudo-Fourth-Dimensional Space—more akin to a mirror world.
The leap in capability was staggering.
What would a Tier 1000 "spider leg" accessory achieve? Would it grant true access to four-dimensional space, allowing him to freely traverse timelines?
This was highly unlikely.
According to the diary of the former leader of the Mechanical Civilization, even Fifth-Tier Civilizations couldn't freely traverse timelines. They could only create temporal rifts, which was fundamentally different from true timeline travel.
After a long while, Chen Mang finally exited the Pseudo-Fourth-Dimensional Space. The train reappeared on Hibiscus Star. Maintaining the space consumed resources, and while the amount wasn't significant, every bit saved counted. With this new accessory effect, he was itching to raid the Zerg Civilization.
This test had revealed that the Zerg Civilization might not be as formidable as he'd thought.
While they were undoubtedly powerful as a civilization, their hit-and-run tactics left the Zerg with no effective counter. With the refrigerator, he could come and go as he pleased.
Now, with this overpowered effect, his confidence soared.
This time, he was certain of success.
"Time really flies," Chen Mang murmured, returning to the control panel. He chuckled softly as he watched the messages scrolling across the screen. Before he knew it, he had developed to the point where he could casually stroll through the Zerg Civilization's domain and return unscathed.
Long ago...
To him, the Zerg Civilization had once seemed like a colossal, unassailable entity, beyond defiance or resistance.
But now...
It was just so-so, a bit underwhelming.
No matter how many Zerg grunts there were, they were still just grunts. He only needed one train, and that was enough.
On the control panel screen, the refrigerators he had scattered deep within Zerg territory remained intact.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but chuckle, imagining the Zerg Queen Mother's furious expression. His Doppler Radar had a detection range of 100,000 light-years—an absurdly vast distance.
The refrigerators' Tier 100 Overpowered Effect stated: "Within the target acquisition radar's range, the refrigerators will possess defensive strength equivalent to the Train Armor (energy shields are ineffective)."
Although the text panel specified "target acquisition radar," in practice, the Doppler Radar also applied.
In other words...
The refrigerators he had scattered across the cosmos now possessed the defensive strength of Tier 200 armor. Destroying such a heavily fortified refrigerator would be no easy task.
The Zerg forces were likely surrounding the refrigerators with massive armies while simultaneously attempting to destroy them, only to find them nearly indestructible.
Of course.
If the Zerg Civilization truly wanted to destroy it, they would eventually succeed, though it would cost them a significant amount of resources.
He wouldn't be passing through the refrigerator again anytime soon.
The brief gap between exiting the refrigerator and entering the train, though only a split second, was still a vulnerable moment. If caught during that time, he'd be as good as dead. The Hell Brooch wasn't foolproof enough.
Not safe enough.
If there were a special item that could shrink the train and launch it directly from the refrigerator, eliminating that vulnerable gap, his safety would be completely assured.
Just then—
The Kasha Daily suddenly updated again.
Normally, the Kasha Daily only updated once a day. This was already the third update today, the second one concerning the human civilization.
[Expedition Stymied: Another civilization warring with the Zerg Civilization—also a Zerg Civilization—has ceased hostilities, forged an alliance, and now deploys its full military might against the Kasha Civilization. We must unite our forces!]
Chen Mang stared at the headline, his lips twitching slightly.
If this was true...
The Kasha Civilization was essentially doomed.
(End of the Chapter)
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