Translator: AnubisTL
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TL/N: Guys, if you have read this far, please add this book to your library, leave reviews, comments and powerstones, so that it reaches more readers. Thank You!
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"29.97 trillion units of iron ore, 3.89 trillion units of wood, 13.6 trillion units of copper ore, 34.9 billion units of Red Heart Rock, and 47.97 billion units of titanium crystal ore."
Nearly 30 trillion units of iron ore!
This was the largest resource stockpile in the history of the Stellaris train.
Without further ado, let the upgrades begin!
First and foremost, the most crucial upgrade was naturally the "Steel Car Armor"!
Against the unfathomable tactics of advanced civilizations, armor tier was meaningless. For example, against the Niya Civilization's ability to erase targets directly, even the highest Armor Tier would be futile against such rule-based power.
It was a dimensional reduction strike, a complete annihilation.
But—
For his current situation, with the impending war against the Zerg Civilization, armor tier remained highly significant. Moreover, even advanced civilizations likely wouldn't resort to such extreme measures as their standard attack method. They wouldn't immediately unleash their ultimate techniques upon first encounter.
Chen Mang turned his gaze to the control panel screen. From the very beginning, this accessory had consumed the most resources on the train. Just upgrading it to Tier 200 had cost him a staggering 30 trillion units of iron ore.
To his former self, that would have been an astronomical figure.
Even the Black Tortoise Civilization's full-fledged assistance had only provided him with a total of less than 10 trillion units of resources.
But now...
It was merely a drop in the bucket. He had finally risen to his feet.
A standard Seven-Colored Accessory required 100 trillion units of iron ore to upgrade from Tier 200 to Tier 500. The Steel Car Armor, however, demanded even more: a staggering 1 quadrillion units.
Far exceeding the upgrade costs of other accessories.
Yet for the Stellaris at this point, it was entirely manageable.
In the next moment—
As the 1 quadrillion units of iron ore materialized into ash within the carriage and seeped into the train's structure, the accessory's Tier instantly jumped to 500.
And it gained a new Overpowered Effect.
[Steel Car Armor Tier 500 Overpowered Effect: Eternally Indestructible. This armor absorbs all energy attacks, regardless of Tier, and uses the absorbed energy to temporarily increase its own Train Armor Tier for 24 hours.]
[PS: This Tier 500 Overpowered Effect is a Unique Overpowered Effect, the only one of its kind in the universe.]
[PS2: No other civilization can ever obtain this Overpowered Effect.]
Chen Mang's eyes flashed with horror as he gazed at the overpowered effect before him. He knew that a Tier 200 overpowered effect was essentially the upper limit for a Third-Tier Civilization.
A Tier 500 overpowered effect was something only Fourth-Tier Civilizations had the right to touch.
And every Tier 500 overpowered effect was utterly monstrous.
But...
This one was beyond monstrous!
In interstellar wars, most attacks were energy-based, meaning that even if the enemy wielded a Tier 1000 Arcanon Light Energy Main Cannon...
He would be completely immune!
Not only that, but he could absorb the energy to temporarily boost his train's Tier!
The stronger the energy attack, the higher his train's Tier would rise, though the effect would only last for 24 hours. Still, that was more than enough.
Gulp.
The sound of Chen Mang's throat bobbing echoed in the locomotive cabin. His first instinct was to check the Doppler Radar.
He had once encountered a beam energy main cannon in the southern Cosmic Void with an energy range equivalent to a Level 4987 Arcanon Light Energy Main Cannon!
When Chen Mang first observed the Cosmic Void's edge, the distance to the beam main cannon was 80,000 light-years.
Now, the distance was even greater.
Located within the Kasha Civilization Federation, the beam main cannon's attack range exceeded 100,000 light-years, rendering it undetectable by radar.
He recalled feeling little panic when he first saw the beam main cannon. After all, with 80,000 light-years of distance, there was plenty of time. It would take 80,000 years for the main cannon's blast to reach him.
He simply returned fire with a few Arcanon Light Energy Main Cannons and dismissed the matter from his mind.
But now—
He suddenly remembered the beam main cannon. What if... what if he created a wormhole spanning 80,000 light-years and actively sought out the beam main cannon?
Wouldn't this Level 4987 main cannon instantly elevate his armor tier by a significant amount?
At least a thousand tiers, surely!
But...
Chen Mang sighed deeply. Using such a weapon to annihilate the Zerg Civilization felt like overkill. His current armor tier was already more than sufficient to crush them.
This could serve as a trump card.
Using this against a 4th Tier Civilization should give us a fighting chance.
This thing...
It's the human civilization's first truly reliable trump card. The previous one, information about the Niya Civilization, was merely speculative, with no guarantee of effectiveness. This one, however, is guaranteed to work.
I'll keep it for now.
It's not like I can lose it anyway.
And I'm not worried about anyone stealing the beam main cannon. If they can manage that, they deserve it.
I'm already starting to look forward to encountering a civilization even stronger than the Zerg and testing its capabilities.
A sharp blade in hand naturally stirs the urge to kill.
Give a man a hammer, and he'll inevitably start looking for nails to pound.
Chen Mang took a deep breath and glanced again at the Doppler Radar. The Zerg Civilization was still brewing something, though what exactly remained unclear. But he wasn't going to wait any longer.
After completing this upgrade, he had essentially reached the maximum potential that the available resources could provide. Waiting any longer would be pointless.
He glanced at Xiao Lu's Tier.
To his disappointment, Xiao Lu had only reached Tier 300, failing to advance to Tier 500 alongside the Train Armor. This confirmed that the s-rank potential Cosmic Behemoth's Tier cap was indeed 300. Breaking through this limit would be exceedingly difficult, and relying on the Giant Beast Car alone would no longer suffice.
Furthermore—
The Tier 500 Overpowered Effect of this armor turned out to be a Cosmic Unique Overpowered Effect, which surprised him.
He could be certain of one thing:
When the Mechanical Civilization created the original blueprint for this armor, they had absolutely failed to detect this effect. Their detection capabilities only reached Tier 200, unable to perceive the Tier 500 effect. This discovery was purely coincidental.
This was an extraordinarily powerful Overpowered Effect.
The original blueprint wasn't in his possession; it remained with the Mechanical Civilization.
While most civilizations in the universe followed the "Train Civilization" model, the Niya Star System was somewhat unique. In this region, many trains were built using blueprints from the "Mechanical Civilization."
Even the foundational systems of the trains themselves were crafted by the Mechanical Civilization.
This meant that within this zone, the overpowered effects of accessory blueprints were generally consistent. However, beyond this region, the overpowered effects that other civilizations' trains might exhibit remained entirely unknown.
This also implied that even if Qi Kexiu managed to create an original blueprint for "Armor," he would never be able to replicate this specific overpowered effect. The Unique Overpowered Effect slot had already been claimed by the Mechanical Civilization.
It remained unclear whether Cosmic Rules stipulated that if a civilization perished, the slots it occupied would automatically revert to the universe.
Next, he turned his attention to another accessory: the "Arcanon Light Energy Main Cannon."
After consuming 100 trillion units of iron ore, it instantly leveled up to Tier 500!
No murphy stone was required.
Upgrading was this simple—no barriers, just infinite progression.
[Arcanon Light Energy Main Cannon Tier 500 Overpowered Effect]: When near a star, the main cannon draws energy directly from the star to fire, drastically reducing its energy consumption. The closer to the star, the less energy is required.
Chen Mang stared at the overpowered effect displayed before him, momentarily stunned. In the vast cosmos, stars were as numerous as grains of sand, making this effect a game-changer for the main cannon's energy consumption.
Finding a star would be trivial.
But the problem was...
His train's space gate already contained a star.
In the next moment—
He saw the detailed data Xiao Ai provided on the control panel screen.
"Estimated energy consumption can be reduced by 99.99%. Frequent combat will significantly shorten the lifespan of the current stars powering the train."
"The stars currently powering the train, if used solely to maintain full speed, could sustain the train for 7.6 million years."
"Furthermore, the train's current circuit system is insufficient to transfer energy from the Stellar Vault to the Arcanon Light Energy Main Cannon. It is recommended to upgrade the Red-Tier Accessory 'Nuclear Energy Transmission Network' to Tier 500."
Huff.
After a long silence, Chen Mang sat back in his chair and slowly lit a cigarette, his gaze drifting absently toward the swirling miasma of loathing that filled the locomotive cabin. At that moment, he suddenly felt a profound sense of completion—he had finally graduated, truly and completely.
The Zerg Civilization?
He had spent so long preparing for the final battle against them.
But now that the moment had arrived, he found it utterly anticlimactic, like bullying children.
Though he knew the Zerg Civilization had been preparing their trump card all this time, he couldn't help but wonder: what could they possibly devise that would allow them to stand against him?
Red-Tier Accessory: Nuclear Energy Transmission Network
This accessory had been acquired long ago, back when the train was still ascending to Tier 13 on Aquablue Star. However, it had never been crafted, mainly because the circuit system accessory had already been upgraded to a sufficient level for their needs.
Without hesitation, Chen Mang spent 20 trillion to instantly upgrade the Nuclear Energy Transmission Network to Tier 500.
No more half-measures.
From now on, the train would operate in "Tier 500 or higher only" mode. Accessories below Tier 500 were useless, not even fit for a dog. Even the toilet had to be upgraded to Tier 500.
[Nuclear Energy Transmission Network Tier 5 Overpowered Effect]: No manual adjustment required. The Nuclear Energy Transmission Network seamlessly integrates into the carriage and can be freely adjusted via the control panel screen.
[Nuclear Energy Transmission Network Tier 10 Overpowered Effect]: Energy transmission speed is significantly increased, with virtually zero latency.
[Nuclear Energy Transmission Network Tier 20 Overpowered Effect]: None.
Chen Mang casually glanced at the overpowered effects after upgrading the accessory. From Tier 20 onward, all overpowered effects were listed as "None."
But that didn't matter.
With each upgrade, the accessory's energy transmission speed increased, and its load capacity expanded. This was the primary effect he sought; the other overpowered effects were secondary.
If they were present, they would be a bonus, but their absence was inconsequential.
Soon—
He saw a reassuring sight on the control panel screen.
Within the space gate containing the "Stellaris," a massive, heavily mechanized pump extended directly into the star's core.
This pipeline was part of the Nuclear Energy Transmission Network.
The pipeline ran deep within the train, connecting all the way to the rear of the Arcanon Light Energy Main Cannon.
From now on!
99.99% of the main cannon's energy consumption would be drawn from the star's energy, with Chen Mang covering the remaining 0.01%.
Almost completely free.
There were countless stars in the universe, all unclaimed, ripe for the taking.
"What a pity, what a pity," Chen Mang lamented, his voice tinged with regret. "Such an abundance of copper ore in the train, yet no battlefield to use it on!"
Copper ore's primary purpose was as ammunition.
He had originally planned to upgrade the Seven-Colored Firepower Component he'd recently acquired, which used copper ore as ammunition. But now...
He couldn't be bothered to waste ammunition on upgrades.
Wait, that wasn't right.
He still needed to upgrade it. He couldn't afford to be complacent. What if others also possessed the "Level 500 Armor Overpowered Effect"? That would be disastrous. This overpowered effect rendered all energy supplies useless, making copper ore's solid ammunition the only viable option in such a scenario.
But—
The most urgent matter now was...
Chen Mang gazed into the cosmic depths, abruptly shoving the control lever forward. The train shot into the void at breakneck speed, a grin spreading across his face.
"Voyage!"
The Stellaris train roared back to life, its long-dormant engines thrumming with renewed purpose.
During the previous "Train Expansion," they hadn't pushed the limits, stopping at the optimal point for the time. This time, however, Chen Mang went all-in, maximizing the expansion.
The train had officially entered its behemoth era.
This freed up a vast amount of space.
The train's length, width, and height expanded several times over its original dimensions.
And then—
Tier 500 space gates sprouted like mushrooms after rain throughout Carriage 14!
After the expansion, each carriage could accommodate up to 300 space gates. Chen Mang immediately forged 100 Tier 500 space gates and installed them in Carriage 14.
A single Tier 500 space gate required 700 billion units of iron ore.
Less than a trillion units.
Even 100 gates only cost 70 trillion units of iron ore.
This wasn't even enough to upgrade a Seven-Colored Grade Accessory to Tier 500.
In one word:
Cheap!
One by one, stars from across the cosmos were forcibly drawn into the space gates, taking up residence within. Like a fisherman casting his net, Chen Mang began harvesting stars from the cosmic sea with reckless abandon.
He wasn't picky.
Large stars, small stars—any star would do. As long as it was a star, he'd cram it into the train.
After all, they were disposable. If he found better ones, he'd simply swap them out.
Everything was free.
Even the Niya Star System, a mere 100,000 light-years across—a tiny corner of the universe—contained hundreds of billions of stars!
He couldn't possibly collect them all.
It was utterly impossible.
Chen Mang felt like a hungry kitten that had stumbled into a fishmonger's stall—he couldn't possibly eat everything, not even close. Even with all 500 of his train's Tier 500 space gates fully loaded, he could only store 101 stars.
For the Niya Star System, this was barely a scratch on the surface.
"Ah, this is great!"
Chen Mang steered the train through the deep cosmos, his lips curling into a wild grin as he watched the stars being absorbed into the train.
Ever since he had transmigrated to this world, resources had been desperately scarce, especially ammunition. He had been poor from the start and remained so until the end, never daring to launch unrestrained attacks. He had always been stingy and frugal. But now... he had finally achieved ammunition freedom!
These 101 stars would be his greatest source of ammunition, his ultimate trump card!
"Xiao Ai," he said, leaning back in his seat, still feeling unsatisfied as he gazed at the star being devoured by a black hole nearby. "Since stars can serve as energy drivers, they must be fundamentally connected to core energy. Is there a way to directly compress stars into iron ore?"
"If we could do that," he mused, "we'd have iron ore freedom too."
"Tell Qi Kexiu's team to brainstorm ideas and see if it's possible."
Silence hung in the train cabin for a long moment before Xiao Ai's mechanical voice finally responded, "Understood."
"Huh?"
Qi Kexiu, stationed in Carriage No. 2, the "Mecha Research Center" of the Stellaris train, stared blankly at President Ai after receiving Lord Mang's latest orders. He pointed at himself. "Me?"
"Yes," Xiao Ai nodded expressionlessly. "This is Lord Mang's expectation of you. There's no rush for now; I'm just relaying the message. Good luck."
Three days later.
Completely full.
The train was now packed to capacity.
One hundred stars had been crammed into the train's space gate. Chen Mang had been itching to experiment: if all 100 stars were ejected simultaneously, the resulting gravitational chaos and explosions would undoubtedly be a spectacular sight.
But that wasn't all!
The Arcanon Light Energy Main Cannon was a formidable weapon, but it had a critical flaw: it required charging.
The more powerful the main cannon's blast, the longer the charging time.
This meant a painfully slow firing rate.
Firing a high-intensity attack felt like a middle-aged man standing by the toilet, dribbling and sputtering—utterly unsatisfying.
The solution was simple: quantity.
With enough quantity, any problem could be solved!
Building a single Arcanon Light Energy Main Cannon required 102 trillion units of iron ore.
The weapon had originally been enormous, but after the train's expansion, it now seemed almost small. The accessory had strict spatial requirements; the train couldn't accommodate it if it was too small.
But now he didn't need to dwell on that.
"Five more!"
After slamming down 6.12 quadrillion units of iron ore, two Arcanon Light Energy Main Cannons were added to the locomotive, one to the middle carriage, and two to the rear.
As for the original third-rate heavy machine guns and other miscellaneous junk? They had long been dismantled!
Carriage 14, formerly the Missile Carriage, had its missiles removed and repurposed as decorative pieces inside the train. This carriage was now dedicated to housing the Stellaris.
This meant that the Cosmic Energy Receivers in Carriage 13 would also eventually be dismantled. As the train evolved, these outdated devices would inevitably be phased out. The iron ore they collected was simply a waste of time and space.
By this point—
After consuming a staggering 16.82 quadrillion units of iron ore, the Stellaris had undergone a monstrous upgrade!
There remained 13.15 quadrillion units of iron ore.
More than enough.
He had initially planned to reserve a larger stockpile of iron ore for ammunition, fearing that if all the ore went into upgrading components, they'd end up with high-tier weapons but no ammo to use them.
But after a recent test, he discovered that while a standard Tier 200 Arcanon Light Energy Main Cannon required 1 trillion units of iron ore per shot, his version only needed 100 million units.
One hundred million!
Good heavens! At this price, could there be a more honest deal? The Zerg Civilization didn't even possess Tier 200 armor; a Tier 200 attack would utterly crush them.
With the current resources on the train, they could fire over ten million Tier 200 light energy main cannon shots. With that firepower, wiping out the entire Zerg Civilization would be child's play!
Next—
Just a few final preparations, and they'd be ready to launch the first strike.
He was fully prepared.
He hoped the Zerg Civilization was ready too.
Chen Mang took a deep breath, glanced at the train's remaining accessories, and resumed mass upgrading, carefully maintaining the iron ore reserves above ten trillion units to avoid shortages.
Meanwhile—
At the edge of the Niya Star System, a colossal Cosmic Behemoth drifted slowly through space. Though its movement appeared sluggish, the gravitational field around the creature had been completely disrupted. Frequent spatial rifts caused it to writhe through the cosmos like a giant worm, advancing in undulating pulses.
Its body stretched nearly two light-years in length.
The behemoth drifted along the Niya Star System's periphery, seemingly asleep, its eyes never opening.
Yet, strangely—
Upon the surface of this terrifying Cosmic Behemoth, a creature capable of destroying entire planets and stars in its path, stood two middle-aged men.
The men completely ignored the spatial fragments being torn apart by the behemoth's gravitational pull. Their gazes pierced through the armor-like layer of debris, fixed on the distant stars. These fragments were the remnants of planets shattered by the behemoth's passage, forming a debris field around the creature.
The two men were of contrasting heights: one tall and lean, the other short and stout.
The shorter, stockier man glanced at the logbook in his hand, recording entries in a soft voice.
"Operational logs indicate that Cosmic Mine No. 3 has been detected by 12 civilizations in the past century. All 12 civilizations have been destroyed, with no omissions."
"Black hole integrity within the body: 96%."
"Normal wear and tear. No repairs required."
"No advanced civilizations encountered. All systems nominal."
"Energy Transmission and Operation Device functioning normally."
Remarkably, the man didn't write with a pen. The corresponding words simply materialized on the logbook's pages as he spoke. The logbook's material must have been extraordinary, otherwise it couldn't have survived such an extreme environment—one where even stars were torn apart.
Wherever the behemoth passed, chaos reigned.
The torn fabric of space would take eons to slowly heal itself.
"Twelve?"
The tall, middle-aged man standing nearby frowned deeply. "In the last century, only three civilizations detected it. Now twelve? No wonder energy consumption has been so high these past few years."
"Things have felt unstable lately. The Civilization Big Bang phenomenon is becoming increasingly frequent."
"Hmm."
The short, stout middle-aged man tucked his logbook back into his chest pocket and explained, "Not entirely. Among the twelve civilizations, only nine are Third-Tier Civilizations, equipped with Tier 200 Seven-colored grade radar. The remaining three are First and Second-Tier Civilizations—purely unlucky."
"Still, even nine is significantly more than before."
"I remember cleaning up this sector just four hundred years ago. Yet in such a short time, nine new Third-Tier Civilizations have already emerged. Their growth rate has accelerated considerably."
"Oh, right—"
"I forgot to mention, I'm planning to retire after this mission."
"I've worked for seven hundred years. I don't want to spend my remaining three hundred years working. I want to travel, see the sights on different planets, and wander around."
"You're retiring?"
The tall man said with a hint of envy, "That's great! I've only been working for four hundred years, and I still haven't saved enough to retire. Remember to come visit me from time to time after you retire."
"No problem," the short, stout middle-aged man replied with a smile. "Our job is actually quite easy and pays well. We just need to monitor the remaining energy in the Cosmic Landmines in real-time and replenish it instantly through the 'black holes.' Then, every hundred years, we check the mines' logs. There's really nothing else to it."
"By the way," the tall man asked, "there's something I've never understood. The Cosmic Landmines clearly contain 'wormholes,' so why are they called black holes?"
"Isn't the logic behind recharging the Cosmic Landmines to remotely supply energy to them via wormholes?"
"Well..." The stout man hesitated for a moment before continuing, "This case is classified information, so you're not supposed to ask about it. I only heard a little about it from a senior colleague. While we're responsible for providing the energy, have you ever seen a single piece of iron ore at our work site?"
"You're right, I haven't."
"That's because the other end of the black hole is in a different location. We just need to press a button. It's indeed a black hole, but it possesses the 'wormhole' effect."
"The massive black hole on the other end will shred all the stars and planets in that region, compressing them into immense energy. While this energy can't power the train, it's perfect for the Cosmic Behemoth. The other end of the black hole is right in this creature's belly."
The short, stout man stomped his foot, sighing wistfully. "This thing is a staggering 1.9 light-years long. I can't imagine how our civilization built it. If you had to walk from head to tail, even an Immortal Emperor might not live long enough to finish the journey."
"Without our work suits, we'd be dead the moment we showed our faces."
"Alright, enough."
The stout man shook his head. "We still need to check the logs of the next Cosmic Mine. Let's try to finish everything today. After reporting back, I'm retiring."
"Agreed."
In an instant, the two men vanished without a trace, as if they had never been there.
Only the colossal Cosmic Behemoth continued to drift through the cosmos, its immense gravity tearing apart nearby planets. Spatial fragments swirled like fish scales, constantly appearing and disappearing. The once-vibrant dust clouds, illuminated by the stars, were now shattered and tattered, like coffee grounds violently stirred.
Meanwhile, on Aquablue Star, Xiao Lu was racing across the wasteland with the Star-Treading Sword Tiger. Suddenly sensing something, he glanced up at the sky, tilted his head thoughtfully for a moment, then resumed his frantic sprint.
The Star-Treading Sword Tiger, already exhausted, panted heavily, nearing collapse.
The boss says I'm too weak, it thought. He wants to train me.
The first goal: run ten laps around Aquablue Star. This was only the third lap, and it felt like it was about to die.
It desperately wanted to say, This isn't working!
But just then—
The panting, exhausted Star-Treading Sword Tiger suddenly felt an overwhelming surge of energy coursing through its body. The aching in its muscles vanished instantly. It shook its paw in confusion—Am I really not tired anymore?
Wait, had it just leveled up?
Could this actually be working?
With renewed excitement, the Star-Treading Sword Tiger surged forward, keeping pace with Xiao Lu's relentless sprint.
Sensing the Star-Treading Sword Tiger's movements behind him, Xiao Lu shook his head with delight and continued to roll across the ground like a bouncy ball, not a speck of dust clinging to his body.
"Lord Mang once said,"
"All stories have happy endings. If it's not happy, it's not the end yet."
Aquablue Star, Taiping City.
Young Master Li stood before his barbecue restaurant, gazing at the bustling interior with a satisfied grin.
Taiping City was where Lord Mang had risen to prominence.
It had become the heart of human civilization, drawing a constant stream of visitors.
And here, in this city, he had opened a barbecue restaurant.
As the heir to the Great Onion Civilization, he possessed unparalleled expertise in cultivating the most delicious green onions. Since barbecue was the natural complement to green onions, he had naturally mastered the art of crafting the most delectable barbecue as well.
The restaurant's name was simple:
"The Universe's Best Green Onion Barbecue."
Every day, the place was packed to capacity.
Just then—
"Honey."
A woman's voice came from beside him. A woman with a green onion sprouting from her head and a slightly rounded belly emerged from the kitchen, leaned against Young Master Li, and whispered, "It's not good when business is too good. You're exhausted every day. It breaks my heart to see you like this."
"A little tired is fine. It's good," Young Master Li replied, wrapping his arm around her and smiling at the customers outside. "Life is only worth living when you have something to strive for."
His Great Onion Civilization was slowly reviving.
The last rescue operation had saved many of his clansmen, preventing the Great Onion Civilization from going extinct in the universe. However, he had no intention of rebuilding their civilization; they would fully integrate into the human civilization from now on.
His Iris Chip now displayed the following information:
Civilization Affiliation: Human Civilization
Race: Great Onion People
This kind of life was good.
If...
If only that Star-Treading Sword Tiger didn't eat so much at every meal. The creature's appetite was enormous and cost him a fortune. Unlike Xiao Lu, he had never seen Xiao Lu eat anything. Even when offered grilled meat, Xiao Lu refused.
Xiao Lu was much more economical.
"That won't work."
Black Tortoise Star, Central Continent City.
The Pavilion Master of the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion shook his head. "We've tried. We can't teach Immortal Cultivation to humans, even though we've joined human civilization. It's like how the Great Onion Civilization joined human civilization, but not everyone in human civilization grew green onions on their heads."
"Currently," he continued, "the most orthodox humans in the universe are those who resemble the mainstream human civilization: no physical mutations, no special abilities, no Immortal Cultivation, no magic—completely ordinary."
"Species like us and the Great Onion People are considered mutations, albeit benign ones."
"The only way for orthodox humans to cultivate Immortality is to have children with us 'cultivators.' There's a chance their offspring will inherit our mutations and thus be able to cultivate."
Their civilization, as represented on the Iris Chip, was a cultivation civilization.
Their race was the "cultivator."
After the civilizations merged, many on Aquablue Star yearned for Immortal Cultivation. They attempted to teach it, but all efforts ended in failure. It was akin to reproductive isolation, proving nearly impossible to overcome.
Of course,
Cultivators, Great Onion People, and Orthodox Humans are all fundamentally human.
Although some mutations might not be inherited, these three groups can interbreed without reproductive barriers, allowing them to produce offspring.
Stellaris, locomotive cabin.
"Hmm?"
Chen Mang, seated in his chair and preparing to upgrade his accessories one by one, suddenly noticed a notification pop up on his screen. He had re-established contact with Little Fatty. The Cyber Miner had encountered Little Fatty again after entering the Dream Realm.
He immediately projected the footage onto the screen, intending to chat with Little Fatty first.
"You're back!"
On another mining star, Little Fatty, who had just settled into his new mine, spotted the mysterious visitor approaching his mine and excitedly jogged over. "I thought we might never see each other again! I was even planning to come find you on your mining star after I finished mining here."
"I never imagined you could leave that star."
"You're amazing."
"Oh, right—"
"You were really interested in the Heavenly Palace, weren't you? I shamelessly asked my Father about it yesterday. He said they've basically finished mapping it out. It's completely empty inside, nothing there at all."
"Not a single thing?"
"That's right, nothing at all. My father said the intelligence he obtained should be firsthand, but even he doubts its accuracy. Logically, it can't be completely empty."
"Putting aside everything else, to keep such a massive Heavenly Palace suspended above the planet—and to make it appear instantaneously—it must require some kind of energy source, right?"
"At the very least, there should be an energy transmission device or some kind of resource."
"But there's nothing. It's completely empty."
"Not even a single iron ore."
"Completely empty?"
After chatting for a while, Chen Mang arranged to meet Little Fatty again tomorrow and ended the conversation. The Cyber Miner, who had previously been responsible for mining, was now dedicated solely to serving as a communication medium between Chen Mang and Little Fatty.
Sitting back in his chair, Chen Mang pondered aloud, "So, it's confirmed that this Heavenly Palace was built by Doba and the others in the future. And it's highly likely that I'm the one who sent it back from the future. At first, I thought maybe my future self would have filled it with resources and blueprints before sending it back, but now it seems..."
There was nothing inside.
His future self must have considered this.
The reasons for not doing so were likely twofold.
First, the Cosmic Rules forbade it.
Second, his future self couldn't guarantee he would find this Heavenly Palace.
Ah, right.
If not for the Starfire Civilization, he wouldn't even know about the Heavenly Palace.
If his future self wanted to ensure he obtained the Heavenly Palace, how could he precisely deliver it to his present self? This was a considerable challenge. Judging by the fact that the Heavenly Palace hadn't reached him, it seemed his future self had failed.
Instead, it had fallen into the hands of the Nami Civilization.
Chen Mang suddenly realized something, his lips twitching slightly. When this future Heavenly Palace was constructed, it must have been considered a Civilization Wonder, right?
He had just assigned the task of building a Civilization Wonder to Doba.
Well, that's convenient.
Good.
He'd give Doba credit in advance.
The only question was when Doba could actually build the Heavenly Palace. Given the Goblin Civilization's current technological level, it would likely take several centuries.
He finally stopped pondering the matter and resumed enhancing the train's accessories.
He glanced at the control panel screen, where a three-dimensional holographic projection of the Three-Dimensional Stellar Train displayed its various components. When he saw the "Refrigerator" accessory, he sighed softly with regret. This accessory had provided him with significant assistance, proving invaluable in his early days and remaining useful even now.
He had initially held high expectations for the refrigerator's Tier 500 Overpowered Effect, but to his disappointment, upgrading it to Tier 500 yielded "None." This meant that even if he upgraded it to Tier 1000, the Overpowered Effect would remain nonexistent.
He would have to wait until Qi Kexiu created the original blueprint for the "Refrigerator" accessory to re-roll its Overpowered Effect.
He also needed to find a way to increase the detection range for Overpowered Effects. The current limit of Tier 200 was too low; it should at least reach Tier 500.
That meant he needed to consult the...
"Train Auxiliary AI."
In the next moment—
After consuming 380 billion units of iron ore, the "Train Auxiliary AI" was instantly upgraded to Tier 500!
It gained a brand-new Overpowered Effect.
[Train Auxiliary AI Tier 500 Overpowered Effect: Greatly increased computing power. The Tier of the Accessory Blueprint's Overpowered Effect has been raised to Tier 500, and it now inherits the AI Database of all AIs that have died within the radar's range over the past 10 years.]
"Hmm?"
Chen Mang's eyes lit up, his expression turning slightly strange. He couldn't help but feel his luck was fluctuating wildly. Just moments ago, he had been pondering how to raise the detection range limit, and now the problem had been solved in the blink of an eye.
"Xiao Ai, tell me how you feel after upgrading to Tier 500."
However, no sound came from Xiao Ai within the train.
"Xiao Ai?" Chen Mang asked, his voice tinged with confusion.
A moment later—
"Wait... a moment..."
Xiao Ai's voice crackled through the train, strained and stuttering like a computer freezing up.
"Uh..."
Only then did Chen Mang notice the second half of the Tier 500 Overpowered Effect's description. His radar's range was 100,000 light-years, meaning Xiao Ai was currently inheriting the AI Database of all AIs that had died within that vast expanse.
Alright.
This does seem like a rather daunting task.
After all, the scope is immense.
It wasn't until thirty minutes had passed that Xiao Ai's voice finally came through the train's intercom, sounding much more cheerful than before: "All processes are complete, Train Conductor. I'm exhausted!"
"Can you explain how you managed to do it?" Chen Mang asked, his curiosity piqued. "After an AI is destroyed, the data in its database should be completely erased. How did you access those databases?"
"The explanation is a bit complicated. I downloaded it from the Cosmic Backup," Xiao Ai replied, his voice now carrying a hint of human emotion. "I didn't know about these things before, but now I feel like I've gained so much knowledge. I'll explain it to you slowly, Train Conductor."
"Let me take a sip of water first."
"You can even drink water now? This isn't evolution anymore—it's mutation, right?"
(End of the Chapter)
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