novelnext Chapter 420 - 412 - Once a Civilization Passes 10,000 Years...
Chapter 420 - 412 - Once a Civilization Passes 10,000 Years...
The 10th millennium since the founding of the Empire.
The Bastion Major Nebula.
This was the headquarters of the [Interastral Peace Corporation], and could also be considered, for all intents and purposes, the most important central hub in the multiverse.
The "Credit," a currency circulated throughout the various universes and accepted by the vast majority of civilizations, was issued by the [Interastral Peace Corporation].
The [Interastral Peace Corporation] was the faction of retainers serving Qlipoth, the Astral God of Preservation, also known as the Amber Lord. The organization maintained absolute neutrality throughout the cosmos, all its actions dedicated to the peace and stability of the universe. Their affiliated civilian armed forces, the [Architects], were also retainers of Qlipoth.
At the center of the Bastion Major Nebula, the mega-celestial structure known as the [Great Attractor Substrate], built by Qlipoth himself, had become the IPC's headquarters. This creation of an Astral God, several times larger than a Swarm hive mother, was the single largest technological artifact of any civilization and possessed the most terrifying defensive capabilities.
Not even an Emissary could scratch its surface... This was the source of the [Interastral Peace Corporation]'s confidence.
And now—
VMMMM.
The fluctuations of a warp engine were contained at a fixed coordinate by a [Hyperspace Tractor Beam].
Starships arriving from all corners of the universe obediently docked at their designated positions as per the IPC's instructions. Forget standard battleships; even massive dreadnought-class warships were but mere ants compared to the absurd scale of the [Great Attractor Substrate].
The "Interastral Peace Conference" was about to be held here.
Nearly every individual or civilization in the universe possessing [Emissary]-level combat power had received an invitation from the [Interastral Peace Corporation]. The invitation carried immense weight, and the "Credits" provided as a travel stipend were substantial enough that not even a "Stellar-class" being could easily ignore them. Coupled with the IPC's consistently good reputation and a rare personal endorsement from Qlipoth, no one who had the opportunity to attend would miss it.
Whoosh—
The warp jump concluded.
A dull, lightless super-titan class starship, the [Hecatoncheires · Canteimani], entered the observation range of the [Great Attractor Substrate].
This super-titan belonged to the [Nightmare Emissary · Nightrea], a relic of the deceased "Astral God of Dreams · Mythus."
Mythus had not been a particularly powerful Astral God. This 20-kilometer-class vessel, the [Hecatoncheires], was originally nothing more than His personal "daybed" for taking short naps. After Mythus's death, his Emissary, Nightrea, took it over and converted what was essentially a "spaceport" into a super-titan starship, relying on the residual power of the Path left within the "daybed" to maintain his status as an [Emissary].
However, an Emissary who had lost his patron could only maintain his rank for a short time relying on a god's legacy. His power as a "lesser" Emissary was not highly regarded by the major factions.
And so, Nightrea and his flagship became a rather "romantic," special kind of force drifting through the cosmos—
Pirates.
---o---
"The Interastral Peace Corporation," Nightrea murmured, gazing at the massive star chart projected in the center of the bridge. "A truly 'major faction'..."
As Nightrea was lost in thought, one of his subordinates cautiously spoke up.
"Boss, you don't think we've walked into a trap, do you? I think I just saw the 'Gothic Fleet's' 'Scourge-class' battleship cluster, and there seemed to be a 'Dominator-class' super-flagship with them..."
The "Gothic Fleet" belonged to an advanced civilization that had put a bounty on their heads after Nightrea had plundered one of its subordinate civilizations.
A super-titan starship would normally have no fear of such a mixed fleet, but the problem was, their "super-titan" was one in name only. It had the massive size, but it lacked the corresponding "doomsday weapon." In fact, to reduce maintenance costs, many non-essential systems had been dismantled and sold for raw materials.
It was fine for intimidating targets during a raid, but its actual combat effectiveness might not even match a standard titan.
"Don't worry," Nightrea said, calming his somewhat flustered subordinate. "This is IPC territory. No faction would dare to make a move here."
"Look at the docked ships. They haven't even preheated their engines, let alone activated their weapon systems."
"The big shots' meeting won't be over so quickly. We're just here to watch the show, grab our benefits, and slip away."
Nightrea's words calmed his crew.
But soon, a behemoth blotted out the light of the distant star, casting a shadow over them as it flew past above, barely two astronomical units away.
"Boss!"
"Keep it down! Don't act like you've never seen the world..."
Nightrea also tilted his head back, looking up through the bridge's viewport. The [Hecatoncheires]'s observation systems had already been passively shut down by the other vessel's information scrambling field.
"I see it."
[The Supremacy].
A super-battleship equipped with eight [Meteorfaller]-class dreadnoughts, a [Heavy Particle Weapon System], a [Stasis Tension Drive], a [Deflector Field Drive], a [Focusing Beam Cannon], and a [Z-8060 Particle Cannon]. It was also the newest and most advanced super-titan in the hands of the [Antimatter Legion].
This thing's reputation was known far and wide across the cosmos. Apart from the super-titans of a few top-tier factions, even a large fleet of dreadnoughts would have to give this ship a wide berth.
But!
"Boss, are my eyes playing tricks on me?" Nightrea's second-in-command rubbed his eyes vigorously. As a rare Star-busting class powerhouse himself, the gesture seemed rather out of place.
"Hmm—" Nightrea hummed in thought for a moment before speaking, making sure he wasn't hallucinating. "You're not mistaken. It is, indeed... on fire."
Of course, it was far more serious than just being "on fire."
The eight [Meteorfaller]-class dreadnoughts that should have been fully docked on [The Supremacy] were all gone. Over two-thirds of its sixteen conventional engine thrusters were extinguished, trailing thick black smoke. The ship's hull was pockmarked, its layered armor plating in tatters, and its shield generators had been completely swept away. Otherwise, given the distance between them and the [Hecatoncheires], at least half of their own ship would have been melted.
Who could have possibly beaten a super-titan of the Antimatter Legion into such a state?
"SOS!"
"SOS!"
"Boss—"
The observation equipment quickly returned to normal, and Nightrea and his crew immediately received a wide-area distress signal on the public channel.
The signal originated from [The Supremacy]. As for the one calling for help...
[Destruction Emissary · Lord of Crimson · Nezzat]
"Shouldn't we go help?" Nightrea's deputy suggested. Although this was IPC territory, they were the closest ship to [The Supremacy]. Their assistance would certainly be faster than the official response.
"Do you have any idea why they're in this state? And you want to just rush in to help?"
"..."
The rebuked deputy mumbled under his breath, "But you're the one who said the most important asset for a pirate is connections. If we help now, this [Emissary] will owe us one... it would only cost us a few batches of repair drones."
THWACK!
Nightrea slapped his deputy hard on the back, sending the promising young man stumbling.
"You're still young. 10,000 years ago, the Antimatter Legion wasn't even one ten-thousandth as 'polite' as they are now."
Nightrea's deputy was not even a thousand years old. His strength came more from his unique racial talents than from pure cultivation. While Nightrea himself was no longer as "noble" as he once was, his time in the gritty underworld had at least taught him how to weigh his options.
"The ones who did this to them..."
Nightrea didn't finish his sentence, instead changing the subject. "The [Genius Society] right next to us hasn't made a move. You think you're smarter than them?"
Not far from the [Hecatoncheires], the mobile base of the [Genius Society], the ridiculously large (nearly 1/100th the size of the Great Attractor Substrate) super-titan starship [Mantle of Inheritance], was docked near the megastructure's spaceport. It was too massive to enter the port itself.
As the retainers of Nous, the Astral God of Erudition, the [Genius Society], while not aligned with the [Antimatter Legion], were not hostile either. Logically, they should have been the first to respond to the distress call.
"That's not it," the deputy said. "My race may be few in number, but our average intelligence surely can't be compared to the Genius Society, which has less than a hundred members."
"..."
Nightrea gave up trying to correct his deputy's line of thinking. The kid was great in every way, except for his occasional inability to read a situation... a complete waste of his talent and his otherwise very likable way of doing things.
Just then!
VMMMM—
A platinum-gold light, as brilliant as a star, suddenly erupted from the void!
The extreme energy did not dissipate in the slightest. The dazzling beam completely ignored the barriers between real space, warp space, and Imaginary space, blasting straight toward the port side of [The Supremacy]!
CHIIII!!!
A molten cavity with a radius nearly one-eighth the length of the starship was seared into [The Supremacy]'s hull. The beam, completely unimpeded, "over-penetrated" the ship and continued on its original trajectory toward the [Mantle of Inheritance] in the distance!
BOOM!!!
The [Mantle of Inheritance], shaped like a giant humanoid figure wrapped like a mummy, didn't even have a chance to activate its [Hardlight Recombination Shield] before a nearly thousand-meter-long section of its hull was obliterated by the beam!
And then...
BOOONG—
The [Great Attractor Substrate], living up to its reputation, finally dissipated the beam that nothing else could stop; the cost was over 20 of its geocore engines entering an overload state, with thick green smoke billowing wildly in the engineering bay.
"O"
The deputy's mouth hung open wide enough to fit several eggs. His captain had just very solemnly stated that no civilization would dare to attack in IPC territory.
But this thing—
It had actively attacked the [Antimatter Legion], "accidentally" hit the [Genius Society] without any hesitation, and in the end... in a way, it had effectively fired a shot directly at the [Interastral Peace Corporation]!
The deputy had never seen such a madman! This was way more exciting than being a pirate!
After that, the [Great Attractor Substrate]'s powerful spatial tractor technology proved completely ineffective.
Under the young man's expectant and admiring gaze, the calm space gently rippled—
A silver-gray super-titan slowly entered the airspace.
[Nexus Dyson Sphere Reactor]: Compresses and fuses 12 standard stars to provide conventional power for the starship's normal travel.
[Branch-Breaking Jump Engine]: Uses a withered old branch taken from the Imaginary Tree as an "endless" channel to connect to Imaginary Space, powering both warp jumps and the starship's main cannon.
[Apocalypse]: Unleashes "Neutron Extermination" to cleanse planetary surfaces.
[Gospel]: Deploys an "Aether Crystal Wall" to transfer damage.
[Genesis]: Unleashes "Nova Diffusion" to destroy stars.
[Recombinator]: Unleashes "Purging Cleanse" to rewrite souls.
The six doomsday weapons listed above were all standard armaments for this model of super-titan. As for the one that had just appeared in the center of the Bastion Major Nebula...
A shining golden ring symbolized the starship's allegiance—
The Imperial Navy.
[Sovereignty-class] Super-Titan, Ship No. 2: Conqueror.
---o---
"So this is..."
Its unique, perfectly rectangular coffin-like shape allowed Nightrea's deputy to immediately recognize the model of this great weapon.
Of course, the golden ring emblem was even more eye-catching—
It was the symbol of the hyper-gargantuan faction that had, in a mere 5,000 years, seized the numerous star sectors and even entire universes once controlled by the [Old · Antimatter Legion], and had expanded its domain more than tenfold beyond that:
The [Sacred Empire].
It was also the main culprit behind the Antimatter Legion's gradual decline.
The current Antimatter Legion was left with only two young Emissaries, both under 3,000 years old, who had been forced into hiding almost immediately after their promotion. This was the fundamental reason for their desperate focus on technological development:
They had no high-level combatants left. Without technology, they would be completely wiped out!
To have forced the once-mindlessly destructive Antimatter Legion into such a state... it was impossible for the other factions in the cosmos not to feel a sense of melancholy wonder.
As for the "arrogance" of the Sacred Empire now...
Just look.
The [Genius Society], which had just been shot, dared not utter a sound. Even the host, the [Interastral Peace Corporation], showed no sign of displeasure.
Even more so—
DENG!
In full view of the countless cosmic civilizations gathered by the [Interastral Peace Corporation], this [Sovereignty-class] ship belonging to the Sacred Empire began brazenly charging its stellar-class main cannon for a second shot of [Genesis]!
VMMMM!!!