Chapter 99: The Death of Tianyuan IV

Words : 1565 Updated : Sep 17th, 2025

Xiao Yu’s desire for immense power had reached a near-mad state. Putting aside the hatred for his annihilated people, the pressure to ensure his own survival weighed on him constantly, almost suffocating him. Xiao Yu hadn’t forgotten that the Aquila Nebula was a Level 2 Moderately Dangerous Zone. Even a fleet from a Level 4 Civilization had been annihilated there, and Xiao Yu knew he didn’t stand a chance against such threats. Xiao Yu once consulted Luka Two, asking if there were any dangerous zones where the causes had been fully investigated. He was genuinely curious about this. Xiao Yu couldn’t fathom what kind of entity could instill such fear in the powerful civilizations like the Guardians and Sweepers. Luka Two replied, “Yes, there are. Approximately 5.27 million years ago, a Level 3 Highly Dangerous Zone was thoroughly investigated by the Guardian Civilization. After the exploration, the Guardians declared the danger mark for the area lifted. However, what exactly the Guardians found there remains known only to them.” Xiao Yu secretly cursed, “That’s as good as saying nothing. All you’ve done is pique my curiosity without offering anything useful.” “But...” Luka Two continued, “there is a rumor within the Alliance. It suggests that the Sweepers obtained the technology for their ultimate war fortress, the Neutron War Star, from a dangerous zone. The story goes that it came from a Level 5 Extremely Dangerous Zone located at the Galactic Core, which the Sweepers had explored.” “Oh? Exploring dangerous zones can yield advanced technologies?” Xiao Yu’s interest was instantly piqued, and he secretly mused, “Maybe, just maybe, this Level 2 Dangerous Zone might have something that could rapidly boost my technological capabilities.” “This idea is rather unrealistic. I should focus on what’s in front of me first,” Xiao Yu sighed as he commanded a fleet of Village-Class ships to transport machinery onto Moon One. Xiao Yu began by constructing a research base. Concurrently, he deployed a vast robotic force to survey the entire Aquila A star system and develop a general understanding of its mineral distributions. Building the foundational infrastructure took Xiao Yu a full year. Within that time, Xiao Yu worked with extraordinary efficiency, constructing over a thousand mining bases throughout the Aquila A system. These bases were scattered across various moons, with Village-Class ships serving as transportation tools between them. Nine moons that had reached hydrostatic equilibrium became Xiao Yu’s primary construction sites. For the initial phase, Xiao Yu planned to build a massive particle collider encircling Aquila One. This tool was indispensable for conducting foundational physics research. During this period, Xiao Yu’s technological level improved further, allowing the construction to proceed significantly faster and reducing material consumption by over 99%. The specific plan involved building 600,000 independent large accelerator rings along the orbit of Aquila One. Each ring would be approximately 1,000 kilometers apart. Instead of physical connections between the rings, force field technology would be employed to ensure the purity within the accelerators. This approach would save enormous amounts of materials and time. At Xiao Yu’s current construction speed, the collider could be completed in two years. Once the basic infrastructure was finished, Xiao Yu immediately commenced the construction of the particle collider. Tens of thousands of spaceships shuttled busily within the surroundings of Aquila A as the massive particle collider around Aquila One visibly began to take shape. Meanwhile, Xiao Yu conducted extensive scientific research within the main base. After six months, the first improved Village-Class spaceship was completed. This new Village-Class spaceship incorporated the latest propulsion system, defense system, and weaponry system. Today marked its first test flight. Inside the space dock, Xiao Yu sat aboard the Beijing, quietly observing the small ship. “The maximum sustainable acceleration is 3 kilometers per second. At this acceleration, the engine can operate continuously for 30 minutes, accelerating it to a speed of 5,100 kilometers per second, consuming 20% of its fuel. For deceleration and maneuverability, this ratio cannot be increased further,” Xiao Yu pondered silently as he issued the launch command. As soon as the command was given, the specially modified engine at the tail of the small spaceship emitted a powerful thrust, propelling it out of the dock in an instant. The ship accelerated at an astonishing rate. Thirty seconds later, it reached a speed of 90 kilometers per second. After ten minutes, it had climbed to 1,800 kilometers per second. At 1,001 seconds, its speed had reached 3,003 kilometers per second, and it continued to climb. And then... the ship exploded. The superluminal communication satellites Xiao Yu had deployed transmitted the scene to him. At 3,100 kilometers per second, the spaceship’s hull began to deform. The engine overheated, and the deformed hull compressed the engine, causing it to explode instantly. “Damn it!” Xiao Yu cursed under his breath. “The material technology is still not up to par, and the 20% fuel ratio is way too high. I must further enhance the strength of materials and improve the engine’s efficiency.” Gravitational acceleration and the effects of universal gravitation are identical. This means that on a spaceship accelerating at 9.8 meters per second squared, a person would feel gravity indistinguishable from that on Earth. The acceleration of this spaceship, however, was 3 kilometers per second squared. This acceleration resulted in an effect equivalent to 300 times Earth’s gravity. Under such immense gravitational force, the materials comprising the Village-Class spaceship were deformed under pressure. Energy Shields could only defend against external attacks and were powerless against gravity. This signified that Xiao Yu needed to further enhance material strength to withstand greater gravitational forces, which would also improve the spaceship’s maneuverability. In addition, Xiao Yu needed to continue improving the spaceship engine’s energy conversion efficiency. For instance, if nuclear fusion released 100 units of energy, only about 20 units would be effectively utilized, with up to 80 units wasted. Xiao Yu’s task was to minimize energy loss and extract the maximum energy from the least amount of fuel. Material technology and energy conversion efficiency were the two main obstacles preventing Xiao Yu from further enhancing the spaceship’s speed and maneuverability. To address these issues, Xiao Yu continued to focus his efforts in the research laboratory, conducting a variety of experiments. While striving to improve the spaceship’s performance, Xiao Yu observed a peculiar phenomenon. In the heavens, a bright star suddenly appeared. Previously invisible in the visible light spectrum, it abruptly brightened to an apparent magnitude of -5.7, brighter than Venus as seen from Earth. This indicated that its luminosity had increased by tens of thousands of times in an instant. Staring at the suddenly bright star, Xiao Yu was overwhelmed by fear. Yes, fear. Because Xiao Yu was all too familiar with this star. It was Tianyuan IV. Xiao Yu had spent centuries near Tianyuan IV, defeating the Droplet and Luka Civilization’s first fleet there, obtaining Energy Shield technology, and making his initial strides into becoming a Level 3 Civilization. In Xiao Yu’s mind, apart from the Sun, Tianyuan IV was the most important celestial body. “Tianyuan IV has undergone a supernova explosion. Tianyuan IV... is dead,” Xiao Yu murmured to himself, transmitting the scene to Luka Two. Luka Two was equally shocked. “Tianyuan IV’s mass is insufficient to trigger a supernova explosion. This anomaly could only have been artificially induced. Could it be... that the Guardian Civilization’s fleet has finally arrived?” Xiao Yu speculated silently. Tianyuan IV’s mass was smaller than the Sun’s. In another ten billion years, it would have become a red giant, its core collapsing into a white dwarf, ending its life in a relatively peaceful manner. But now, all the energy it could have radiated over the next ten billion years had erupted in an instant, dramatically cutting short its existence. Tianyuan IV had been detonated. “The light from Tianyuan IV travels at the speed of light. I am over 6,000 light-years away from Tianyuan IV, which means the star was detonated more than 6,000 years ago. During my single-day journey under the Specter Race’s shielding, over 6,100 years passed outside. Based on this, Tianyuan IV was detonated 30 years after I encountered the Specter Race, and its light only reached me now,” Xiao Yu calculated bitterly. It was... a star. A young star with ten billion years of life left! And now, it was gone. All the energy it could have radiated over the next ten billion years erupted in a single moment, ending its life in a blaze of tragic glory. “Tianyuan IV, I’m the one who harmed you,” Xiao Yu thought silently, as a powerful wave of hatred surged within him. It was hatred toward the Guardian Alliance. “If my kin hadn’t brought me here, I would have been captured by the Guardian Alliance long ago. Could it be... that they destroyed a star out of spite for failing to find me and my kin?” Tianyuan IV’s brilliance gradually dimmed after two days, eventually vanishing entirely, disappearing from the universe. No matter how advanced the observational techniques Xiao Yu employed afterward, he could no longer locate Tianyuan IV. All that remained in its former position was a vast, expanding planetary nebula, it was the corpse of Tianyuan IV.

Chapter 99: The Death of Tianyuan IV

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