Rebirth of the Super Battleship-Chapter 745: Intelligent Beings and Food

Xiao Yu more or less understood what Xu Junpo had really wanted when he asked him to move one thousand stars here. It was not for black lightning, but so that Xiao Yu could use those stars to enhance his Specter companion’s abilities and thereby gain a chance to escape.

“But, but… why are those one thousand stars outside the small universe?” Xiao Yu muttered to himself. “Outside the small universe is the Sweepers’ territory. Under these circumstances I have absolutely no way to move those stars into the small universe. If the final purpose of your arrangement was to let me obtain a chance to escape, then why did you not place those stars inside the small universe from the beginning?”

“Why? What should we do to move all one thousand of those stars into the small universe, and then enhance the Specter companion’s abilities?” Xiao Yu asked.

All the scientists were silent. Even Ares did not speak. After his first deduction had been verified, he too had sunk into pondering this second question.

Outside the small universe there were still a little less than one thousand stars. A small portion had been destroyed during the battles some time ago. If the number one thousand really was something Xu Junpo had deliberately arranged, then those stars should be quite sufficient, because Xiao Yu’s small universe still held a reserve of stars. In fact, Xiao Yu only needed to obtain seven hundred stars from the outside. But… how was Xiao Yu supposed to obtain those stars?

“So this is the arrangement you left behind, the test?” Xiao Yu thought silently.

A social psychologist spoke up with some difficulty and hesitation, “Perhaps we could dispatch a large number of fleets at the same time, use the Loya Round Cup technology to transmit them simultaneously into the main universe, and then begin moving those stars. While the transport is underway, we send at least ten billion warships to pin down the Sweepers Civilization’s forces…”

He broke off there, then fell silent again, as if he too had realized that his method was not feasible.

Xiao Yu could be certain of one thing, if he deployed on a large scale to move stars, then the Sweepers Civilization would definitely stop him. Even if they did not know what he was trying to do, they would still choose to stop him. Even if he deployed large fleets to tie down the Sweepers Civilization’s warships while simultaneously moving stars, one must not forget that the Neutron War Star could not be pinned down. And even if the Neutron War Star could not destroy his star-moving units in such a short time, it could always destroy the stars themselves.

The Neutron War Star’s average time to destroy a star would not exceed ten minutes. Xiao Yu was certain that if he showed a strong desire for those stars, the Sweepers Civilization would unhesitatingly destroy them and leave him with nothing.

“Now that things have developed to this point, the key is how to move those stars into the small universe. I can basically confirm that, in the arrangement Director Xu made, the Spatial Bomb is a very crucial point.” Ares said slowly. “The key that will let us solve this puzzle must be the Spatial Bomb, otherwise this arrangement would be meaningless. But there are some things I have not yet thought through. I need further technical data to support my deduction. Ruto, continue your research on the Spatial Bomb. I think that once we have all of the Spatial Bomb’s data, I will be able to find a way to obtain those stars.”

“All right. Continue pushing ahead with research on the Spatial Bomb. This will be our civilization’s top priority for the near future.” Xiao Yu nodded, making this decision.

The scientists at the meeting gradually dispersed, and Xiao Yu, alone, fell into deep thought.

“The Specter companion can gain an increase in power by devouring large numbers of intelligent beings… If we cannot enhance the Specter companion by other means, then devouring intelligent beings is the only way. To be honest, if I really encountered such a choice, I myself do not know which I would choose. For the intelligent beings of the Divine Ark Civilization, this is a risk full of uncertainty. I imagine Xu Junpo and Luka Two noticed this risk, and that was why the two of them took such pains to make this arrangement.”

“Since the arrangement has already been made, there is no reason to give up halfway. Xu Junpo could not have handed me only the technology to enhance the Specter companion’s abilities through stellar energy while taking the stars away. In other words, there must be a way to obtain those stars, we just have not yet found it. This, I suppose, is the test Luka Two mentioned in his message to me.”

“Sigh.” Xiao Yu let out a soft breath and linked to the Specter companion, telling him everything that had happened recently.

When they had escaped from the Micron corpse, the Specter companion had suffered a soul attack from the Sweepers Civilization and had been severely damaged. This whole time he had been recuperating at the center of a star. Although he had still not returned to his absolute peak, he had recovered to about seventy or eighty percent.

“Specter, what do you think about this?” Xiao Yu asked.

“If in the end you truly cannot obtain those stars, will you let me devour these intelligent beings?” the Specter companion countered.

“Although I spoke very firmly in the conference room, that was an act. The truth is, I do not know.” Xiao Yu said bitterly. “From my personal standpoint, I would never make that choice, even if it meant my own death. But I am not living for myself alone. If I die, you will also die, and human civilization will be completely wiped out. I bear responsibilities, and these responsibilities mean I cannot simply choose according to my own preferences. So I am very conflicted. I do not know which choice to make.”

“I will not let you be put in a difficult position.” the Specter companion said lightly. “If things develop to the end and the situation becomes the worst it can be, I will devour all living beings without hesitation. Even if you point your cannons at me, I will still do it. Because you have developed feelings for the Divine Ark Civilization, you are entangled and no longer able to judge from the most rational standpoint. I am a bystander. In my eyes, intelligent beings, apart from Earth lifeforms, are all food. You feel no guilt when you eat steamed bread; I feel no guilt when I devour intelligent beings. If it really comes to that point, I will help you make the choice.”

Xiao Yu sighed softly and said nothing more.

“According to the Specter Race’s special intuition, I have a feeling that in this catastrophe, one of us will die.” the Specter companion said with a sigh. “I do not know whether it will be you or me.”

Xiao Yu’s heart tightened and he immediately said, “You and I are one. If you die, I die. If I die, you cannot live either.”

“No, not necessarily.” the Specter companion said calmly. “If you die, I will certainly die. But if I die, you will not necessarily die. You are a technological civilization, famed for your wisdom. If there really is a way in this universe to change fate, then it will be you who finds it, not me. Do not let emotion interfere with your judgment. If we truly reach the point where one of us must die, then I will die and leave the chance to live to you, and also leave to you the responsibility of reviving humanity and uncovering the truth.”

Xiao Yu was silent.

Time continued to flow away bit by bit. In the blink of an eye, another three years had passed. Under the Neutron War Star’s frenzied slaughter, Xiao Yu’s warship reserves had already fallen to fewer than eight billion ships. Even though Xiao Yu had devoted most of his energy to warship construction, even though the entire Divine Ark Civilization had mobilized and countless citizens were participating in construction work, the number of reserve spaceships still kept dropping uncontrollably.

Among the ten million intelligent being warriors, a considerable portion was already unemployed, because Xiao Yu no longer had enough warships for all of them to operate. He could only dismiss some of the less capable intelligent being warriors and hand the limited warships to more outstanding warriors to command.

A pessimistic atmosphere shrouded the Divine Ark Civilization. Everyone was silent, everyone was working hard. Xiao Yu knew that after this silence, there would either be total eruption or total extinction.

Xiao Yu was waiting for the final moment to arrive.

It was at this time that good news came from the research team led by Ruto.

“The Spatial Bomb has been successfully developed.” Ruto said. “By relying on the research data Director Xu left behind, as well as the technological data from the Level 7 Microscopic Civilization, we have successfully bypassed the constraints of the space energy formula and developed an incomplete version of the Spatial Bomb. Ares, if you have any questions to ask me, now is the time.”

“Ruto, suppose you did not know the exact principles and data of the Spatial Bomb. Based solely on this piece of video data and related scientific observations, I want you to use normal scientific reasoning to make a deduction, does a civilization that possesses this level of Spatial Bomb have the ability to detonate a spherical space with a diameter of half a light year?” Ares asked.

Ruto lowered his head and began to calculate. After a long moment, he replied, “No definite conclusion can be drawn. If it were me, and I did not know the precise principles and data of the Spatial Bomb and had to deduce purely on the basis of observational data, my conclusion would be that the two possibilities are fifty-fifty. There is a fifty percent chance that this civilization has the ability to detonate a spherical space with a diameter of half a light year, and a fifty percent chance that it does not.”

“Fifty percent probability? That is enough.” Ares smiled faintly. “I have already finished decoding Luka Two’s arrangement. I have already found a way to obtain those one thousand stars outside the small universe.”