How did it take you so long to wake up? Did something happen?" T's expression suddenly tightened, and he asked.

"A small accident occurred."

Xiao Ling's words made Zhong Yun a little worried, and he pressed further, "What exactly happened?"

"The other databank was infinitely larger than anticipated, and unlocking it took a considerable amount of time." Xiao Ling paused after speaking. "It seems you ran into some trouble."

"Did you find a way to leave the Dead Zone in the new databank?" Zhong Yun looked at him hopefully, knowing the chances were slim, but still unable to stop himself from asking.

As expected, Xiao Ling shook his head. "No, there is absolutely no data regarding the Dead Zone in the new databank."

"Oh." Zhong Yun felt a slight disappointment, though only a small one. He then proceeded to recount in detail everything that had happened since Xiao Ling fell dormant.

Light flickered back into Xiao Ling's eyes as he processed the data being fed into the database.

Zhong Yun was very thorough; his memory was excellent. He spoke for several hours about events spanning nearly the last year. Finally, when he began describing the strange pattern he had obtained from that peculiar planet, Xiao Ling suddenly interjected, "Where is that pattern now?"

Zhong Yun retrieved the pattern from his personal computer. He always kept this computer with him, storing many crucial and massive amounts of information within it. This personal computer had been acquired from the Mercury, and it was far more advanced than any he had used before.

Xiao Ling's eyes glazed over, and a stream of incredibly complex data flashed through them.

"Got it." After a while, Xiao Ling came back to life. A small, holographic screen appeared before them, displaying images and text.

The image on the screen was an exact match to the pattern Zhong Yun had obtained from that bizarre planet.

"The Lansen Empire was destroyed ten thousand years ago in a massive cosmic collapse triggered by a super-giant black hole. They were located in the A Star Sector. Before their destruction, they were a Fifth Stage Advanced Civilization—the nation that reached the zenith of civilization in the last hundred thousand years." Xiao Ling recited the information.

Zhong Yun queried, "Advanced Civilizations are divided into stages as well?"

"Yes, they are divided into five stages, just like Intermediate Civilizations."

"What stage is the Ge'an Empire?" Zhong Yun thought of the nation that had made him too afraid to return to Davo.

"The Ge'an Empire is a Second Stage Advanced Civilization, their power is top-tier in the Y Star Sector."

If the Second Stage was already considered top-tier, just how powerful was a Fifth Stage Advanced Civilization? Zhong Yun felt a sense of longing. "What is the highest classification among civilizations in the universe now?"

"Currently, throughout the entire universe, the highest level attained is the Fourth Stage Advanced Civilization. There are eleven such nations, and these eleven nations form the Supreme Council of the Grand Universe Federation, responsible for maintaining order across all cosmic civilizations."

So that was it. Zhong Yun finally understood that the so-called Grand Universe Federation was simply something these eleven nations had concocted. He then recalled another question. "What about beyond Advanced Civilization? You said the Lansen Empire reached the peak in the last hundred thousand years. What about before that? Are there civilizations even more powerful than Advanced Civilizations?"

Zhong Yun fired off several questions in quick succession, and Xiao Ling replied, "Yes."

"Civilizations more advanced than Advanced Civilizations are called Super Civilizations. One hundred thousand years ago, there were four Super Civilization nations in the universe. However, because these four nations engaged in war—a conflict that nearly annihilated the entire cosmic civilization—all four Super Civilization nations were destroyed."

Zhong Yun could not fathom how grand a war must be to nearly destroy the entire cosmic civilization.

After dwelling on the thought for a while, he returned to his initial question. "So, that planet belonged to the Lansen Empire?"

"That's correct," Xiao Ling confirmed. "It should originally have been a battleship belonging to the Lansen Empire."

"A battleship?" Xiao Ling's words nearly made Zhong Yun's eyes bulge out of their sockets. "You're saying that planet is a battleship?"

The Mercury, which was nearly half the size of Earth's moon, was already a colossal behemoth in his eyes.

A battleship the size of a planet? He could barely imagine it.

"Correct. Judging by its volume, it should be a 'Quasi-Stellar' class warship," Xiao Ling's voice remained calm.

Zhong Yun smacked his lips. "That's too exaggerated. If a warship that massive could achieve the speed of the Mercury, it would be utterly invincible."

"Right." He suddenly remembered something, and swallowed hard, looking at Xiao Ling with intense tension. "Can you... control it?"

No one would be unmoved by the prospect of seizing an ownerless 'Quasi-Stellar' class warship. This was a mobile administrative planet, a vessel whose value surpassed that of an administrative planet itself.

Zhong Yun stared fixedly at Xiao Ling, his face drawn tight with tension.

Xiao Ling hesitated briefly before replying, "Cracking its core systems might take a very long time, and the success rate is only forty percent."

Zhong Yun gritted his teeth and made a decision. "Even if it were only ten percent, we're doing it!"

However, he could not afford to remain here indefinitely. "Let's set a time limit of one month. If we can't crack it within a month, we give up."

No sooner said than done. Zhong Yun notified Chu Tiange and the others to wait in place, while he took Xiao Ling's main consciousness unit to the 'Quasi-Stellar' class warship.

Every warship possesses an exterior activation function, a contingency in case something goes wrong. This function only engages automatically when there is no personnel inside the vessel.

This warship had likely been stationary for so long that its exterior was now covered by a layer of rock more than five thousand meters thick, making it look almost exactly like an ordinary planet from the outside. It had genuinely become one of the planets orbiting a star. If Zhong Yun hadn't impulsively dug a deep pit there, this secret might never have been uncovered.

Zhong Yun speculated that the warship had stopped here because it ran out of energy, attracting it into the orbit of a star, turning it into a planetary body. Even if there were inhabitants inside, they would surely have perished over so many years.

Still, Zhong Yun was uncertain if Xiao Ling could crack it, considering this warship was the product of the most technologically advanced nation of the last hundred thousand years.

The warship had numerous landing bay doors, and the function to initiate the external opening sequence was located near one of these doors.

Xiao Ling scanned the area and quickly located the door. It had already been excavated by Zhong Yun, so little effort was needed. Following this, Xiao Ling began the complex cracking process.

Zhong Yun could offer no assistance; he spent his days piloting the Mercury around on patrol.

Time passed day by day, and even Zhong Yun, with his usual composure, began to feel restless. After two days of this routine, he caught himself feeling anxious and let out a short laugh. What was he so worried about? Gaining this warship would be a bonus; losing it meant no loss at all, as it wasn't his to begin with. Why obsess over it?

His mindset gradually stabilized; he was no longer as anxious about potential gains and losses. He stopped checking on Xiao Ling's progress—it was pointless anyway, as he couldn't comprehend what Xiao Ling was doing.

With only three days left before the one-month deadline, Zhong Yun, after supervising the lessons of fifty thousand children as usual, was about to enter "Combat Simulation Training" when he suddenly received a message from Xiao Ling.

Zhong Yun's heart leaped, and he rushed over in a small transport craft.

When he arrived at Xiao Ling's location, he was stunned. On the flattened 'rock' surface, a door the size of a basketball court stood wide open.

Xiao Ling succeeded?

Zhong Yun felt a moment of disbelief, then a surge of elation flooded his heart—Xiao Ling had truly succeeded! He was overcome with uncontrollable joy.

The star seas followed fixed flight paths—routes painstakingly mapped out over many years. At this particular time, there were few ships navigating these routes. Due to the absence of warp technology, long-distance travel across the Star Sea was time-consuming and arduous. Furthermore, this region was rife with conflict, and neighboring nations were almost invariably hostile, leading to underdeveloped transit networks. It was also not a tribute season, so the routes leading to the El Kingdom were almost empty of vessels.

A flight path was not merely a single 'line'; its breadth could be considerable, making encounters unlikely even when traveling on the same route.

The newly acquired 'Quasi-Stellar' class warship, christened the Jupiter, traveled along the route at light speed. Despite its massive size, its acceleration when pushing to top speed was in no way inferior to the 'petite' Mercury.

Although it reached light speed, inside the Jupiter, occupants felt absolutely no impact, attesting to the advanced technology of a 'Quasi-Stellar' vessel.

The Jupiter was unlike any other warship; inside, it was indistinguishable from a genuine planet, complete with blue skies, white clouds, day, night, a sun, a moon, and stars... Although all of this was simulated.

However, living here eliminated the cold, restrictive, and confining feeling of being surrounded by steel typical of starships. The space here was as vast as any celestial body. Everyone who boarded instantly fell in love with it.

To conserve energy, Zhong Yun only activated a tiny fraction of the warship's capacity for his personnel to reside in. Even so, everyone was overjoyed.

Zhong Yun's current crew consisted of the fifty thousand children, the eight thousand survivors from the Pearl, and sixty thousand soldiers who willingly followed him—totaling nearly 120,000 people.

Zhong Yun certainly couldn't let these 120,000 people remain idle. In addition to daily training and studies, they also had to perform a certain amount of labor. They had no choice; the Jupiter was empty, not a single core energy block found. To sustain daily consumption, every available person had to be utilized to their maximum capacity.

All manufacturing machinery from the Mercury had been moved over and ran twenty-four hours a day.

Despite gaining this immensely vast warship, Zhong Yun was still troubled. The vessel was undeniably powerful; its defensive capabilities were extraordinary, incapable of being damaged by the Mercury's main cannon at close range. Its acceleration was also rapid, comparable to the Mercury's.

But the biggest issue was that the warship's primary function—the offensive system—was ruined. When Xiao Ling announced this news, Zhong Yun was so depressed he nearly spat blood. All this effort resulted in an armored shell; the defense was certainly formidable, but a shell without an attack system was merely waiting to be smashed.

He quickly comforted himself, reminding himself not to be too greedy. Simply acquiring a mobile planet was already incredible luck; he shouldn't demand more.

Zhong Yun asked Xiao Ling if the weapon systems could be repaired. Xiao Ling replied that with their current technology, it would be extremely difficult, perhaps only possible if they reached a nation of Advanced Civilization level.

That was as good as saying nothing. With Zhong Yun's current strength, achieving the level of an Advanced Civilization was a pipe dream. As for taking the Jupiter to an Advanced Civilization nation for repairs—that would only happen if Zhong Yun had suffered a severe head injury. According to Xiao Ling, only the most powerful dozen or so nations currently possessed 'Quasi-Stellar' class warships. If Zhong Yun brought the Jupiter there, it would be like stripping a tender, plump sheep bare and delivering it straight into the jaws of a great wolf.

For now, there seemed to be no hope of repairing the Jupiter. But in this universe, nothing was absolute.

P: Only one chapter today.

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