NOVPUBThe countdown ticked down to the final thirty seconds.
Through his calculations and the reaction of the Alien Beast, Xiao Yu was now certain: if Moon One collided with the white dwarf, it would trigger a nova explosion. The resulting nova would obliterate the powerful Alien Beast.
In other words, the next thirty seconds would decide Xiao Yu’s fate.
“I’ve lived for over ten million years, evolving from a weak Mirage Beast to the formidable being I am today. I have experienced countless monumental events in my life—encounters with black holes and neutron stars, and enduring the tremendous energy of supernova explosions at close range. I’ve encountered innumerable civilizations: Alien Beast Civilizations, Technological Civilizations, and Mechanical Civilizations—all of which I destroyed without exception,” the Alien Beast transmitted its message into Xiao Yu’s mind, filled with a sense of ancient melancholy.
“I have annihilated more than a hundred stars, devoured countless planets, and extinguished over 3,000 civilizations. Even the weakest of those civilizations was far stronger than yours.”
“I will continue to survive in this dark universe. Even the Taihao Civilization and the Micron Civilization will fall before me. Though I am at my weakest in ten million years, my strength is still beyond your comprehension.”
“From the moment you entered the Aquila Nebula, your doom was sealed. Cease your meaningless resistance. Surrender.”
With each piece of information sent, the pain in Xiao Yu’s mind grew more unbearable.
Thousands of planetary engines remained active, but their thrust directions and output powers fluctuated constantly. Thousands of bright blue flames twisted eerily in space, like a magnificent ribbon dance.
This was the manifestation of Xiao Yu’s ongoing struggle with the Alien Beast for control over the planetary engines.
“I don’t have the dramatic or cruel experiences you’ve had. I come from an ordinary civilization,” Xiao Yu retorted. “My civilization is very weak—so weak that it hasn’t even reached Level 3. We haven’t mastered the fusion energy you speak of, nor have we truly left our home planet.”
“But my civilization had over seven billion kin. Now, they’re all gone. All their hopes rest upon me. I am the last hope of our civilization. I cannot lose. My kin would never allow me to lose.”
The pain in Xiao Yu’s mind intensified, to the point that his consciousness began to waver.
Yet, resolutely and without hesitation, Xiao Yu continued his fight for control over the planetary engines.
In this moment, he remembered the Specter Race he had once encountered. He recalled how they sacrificed over half their energy radiation to execute near-light-speed travel, rescuing him from a crisis.
Before departing, those Specters had left him with two words that still echoed in his mind.
Vengeance.
“How could I lose? How could I allow myself to lose?” Xiao Yu muttered to himself.
Control over the planetary engines changed hands multiple times. The irregular thrust directions and varying power outputs inflicted severe damage on Moon One’s crust. Volcanic eruptions and earthquakes began to occur across its surface. The most violent eruption sent core material into space, merging with the massive comet-like tail trailing behind Moon One.
As Moon One approached the binary star system, the stellar winds intensified, lengthening the comet’s tail.
If a lifeform were present in front of Moon One, they would witness an awe-inspiring spectacle.
The comet tail of Moon One blanketed half the sky. Compared to this, comets like Halley’s or Hale-Bopp back on Earth were mere specks of dust.
Moon One had transformed into the grim reaper, carrying destruction and death, hurtling forward with unstoppable force.
Five seconds remained until the final moment.
Whether Moon One directly impacted the white dwarf or merely skimmed its surface at a distance of tens of thousands of kilometers, the difference between the two trajectories was infinitesimally small. In other words, their general directions were aligned, but the distinction lay in the finest details.
And those details would determine the fate of not one, but three civilizations.
One was Xiao Yu’s. Another was the Arrow Beast Civilization. And the last was the Alien Beast on the white dwarf.
“My friend, you must succeed. Ours is a civilization that seeks nothing more than to live peacefully. Though we’ve developed the ability for interstellar travel, we chose to avoid the dark universe beyond. We gave up on becoming stronger and confined ourselves to a small star system.”
“These 7,000 Arrow Beasts represent all our civilization’s combat strength. Back on our home planet, only the elderly and the young remain. We are their hope. If this Alien Beast escapes the white dwarf, they too will be slaughtered.”
“My friend, I beg you, for the sake of our species, you must succeed. You must succeed!”
Several messages from the Arrow Beasts streamed into Xiao Yu’s mind. Yet, Xiao Yu remained unmoved, his focus unwavering, and his spirit unshaken.
“You’ve lived long enough. It’s time for you to rest,” Xiao Yu said calmly.
“I will live forever, until the end of the universe,” the White Dwarf Alien Beast retorted.
Xiao Yu endured unimaginable pain—mental agony far surpassing any physical suffering.
In the Yanjing, the hologram of Chen Mo continued to gaze intently at Xiao Yu.
“Director Xiao, do you remember that day? Hmm… I remember it so clearly. That day was May 21st. I spent ages dressing up at home before heading to the research institute, almost making myself late.”
“Do you know why I took so long to dress up? Normally, I never even wear makeup.”
“But you… your mind was always buried in research, focused only on your work. Why couldn’t you spare even a glance for me? Fine, even if you didn’t like me, why did you have to push me away, Director Xiao? Was it wrong for me to like you?”
“Do you know how much that hurt me? How sad and upset I was?” In the projection, Chen Mo’s expression dimmed, tears seemingly glistening in her eyes.
At that moment, Xiao Yu’s vast computational power activated for a fraction of a millisecond, retrieving that day’s memory from his massive database.
“Indeed, it’s only after losing something that we learn to cherish it,” Xiao Yu murmured to himself, a surge of powerful confidence suddenly welling up within him.
“How could I die? How could I die?! If I die, who will carry on our civilization? Who will save it? If I die, how can I atone for my mistakes?!”
“So, damn you, Demon. Go to hell!”
An infinite surge of confidence and spiritual strength erupted from Xiao Yu’s mind. At that moment, he completely ignored the torment of his mental pain.
One second remained.
The exhaust flames from the thousands of planetary engines straightened suddenly, ceasing their erratic movements. This signaled that they had stabilized, fully capable of altering Moon One’s trajectory as intended.
Xiao Yu’s intended trajectory and the White Dwarf Alien Beast’s trajectory overlapped almost entirely, save for an extremely minute divergence.
One second was enough to correct that minute divergence.
This small adjustment, over the course of 300 million kilometers, would result in a deviation of tens of thousands of kilometers, shifting Moon One’s path from grazing the white dwarf to directly colliding with it.
In that moment, the outcome was sealed. The battle was decided.
At that moment, no force in the universe could alter Moon One’s trajectory. Drawn by the immense gravitational pull of the white dwarf, it would inexorably crash into its surface.
Xiao Yu heard a furious roar emanating from the white dwarf.
“No! I refuse to accept this! I will not die! I have survived in the dark universe for over 17 million years, struggled for 17 million years! The Taihao Civilization couldn’t kill me. The Alliance of Civilizations couldn’t kill me. Not even the central black hole managed to pull me into its event horizon. And now, I’m supposed to die at the hands of a mere Level 3 Civilization?!”
“You’ve lived long enough. It’s time for you to rest,” Xiao Yu replied.
At that moment, the mental control exerted over Xiao Yu’s mind vanished entirely. He regained complete control over himself.
“I will not die! I cannot die!”
Xiao Yu saw the Alien Beast on the white dwarf roaring furiously. It crouched down, its powerful hind legs tensed before springing upward like a cannonball, propelling it into the void.
Yet, it only leaped a distance of tens of thousands of kilometers before the immense gravity of the white dwarf sapped its energy, pulling it back down.
The Alien Beast crashed onto the surface of the white dwarf, then quickly stood again and made another leap.
Over and over, it jumped and fell, each impact gouging massive craters into the white dwarf’s surface, releasing energy equivalent to the detonation of tens of billions of tons of hydrogen bombs.
It seemed to have gone utterly mad.
At that moment, Xiao Yu’s tense mind finally relaxed.
“My friends, I did it. I succeeded,” Xiao Yu murmured softly to himself.
“Did you really succeed, my friend? Have we finally succeeded?” The last thousand or so Arrow Beasts were jubilant, sending hundreds of messages to Xiao Yu’s mind. 𝓷ℴ𝓿𝓅𝓊𝒷.𝓬𝓸𝓂
“Yes, I succeeded, my friends,” Xiao Yu confirmed.
Billions of kilometers away, the Alien Beast continued its frenzied, futile leaps on the white dwarf’s surface.
