Levels and Civilizations

The Seed of Black Nightmare was undeniably powerful.

The ability to gain technical knowledge and grow stronger while practically lying down was something everyone dreamed of. Luke's only concern was that as more technologies and knowledge accumulated, transferring them all from the system into his brain might make his head ache, despite him still being a Normal Person. Black Nightmare had originally been meant to gather energy, but after Luke failed to transform it into the Source of Technological Concepts and it reverted back into Black Nightmare, it had clearly been influenced to some extent by Luke's way of thinking.

Its ability to gather energy remained, though it was no longer as pure or powerful as the original Black Nightmare. Gathering energy was more like an auxiliary function now. Only when a host infected with Black Nightmare recreated knowledge that surfaced in their mind, or created technology themselves in a burst of inspiration, would the energy consumed during that process be collected. Of course, if a host truly managed to create an energy source using Luke's Energy Technology while inspired or passively receiving knowledge, it could also provide feedback to Luke.

The energy transmitted back might still be a drop in the bucket, but its advantage was that it would continue steadily over time, accumulating in quantity.

Grains of sand made a tower; drops of water made a sea.

The future was promising.

The only troublesome part was that the number of Seeds of Black Nightmare was limited. Meanwhile, the Source of Technological Concepts technology that belonged to Luke's genuine product had been sealed away. It left Luke, whose attempt to reach the heavens in a single step had failed, feeling rather frustrated. Besides, even if he truly accumulated enough energy for the initial progress and activated the so-called technological concept template, he would still have many, many problems to face and solve.

For example, how should he adjust this universe's peculiar civilization rankings?

Different universes and different civilizations naturally had their own interpretations and classifications of civilization levels.

For instance, there was the view that classified civilizations according to their resource and energy utilization rates. Achieving Nuclear Fusion and leaving one's home planet made one a Level One civilization. Utilizing the resources and energy of an entire Planetary System made one Level Two. Then there were civilizations that could directly leap to harnessing an entire galaxy, the so-called Level Three, and so on.

Others classified civilizations by their knowledge and warfare technology. This mainly depended on the destructive power of their weapons, as well as the unique technologies and weapons of war their civilization possessed. They would then push the advantages of that strength to the limit, turning it into a hallmark of their civilization. For example, what level did Planet-Destroying Weapons belong to? What level of civilization could possess Space-Based Weapons? And what level could those capable of wielding rule-based weapons be classified as?

But in this world, civilizations were not ranked that way. Under the combined influence of Dimensional Demon Gods, various divine races, and powerful lifeforms, this world's technological civilizations had developed lopsidedly—or rather, they had been suppressed severely. The barriers and gaps between civilization levels sometimes appeared enormous, yet at other times strangely narrow.

When the gap was enormous, a single Starship Carrier from the other side could destroy an entire civilization.

When the gap was narrow, however, high-level and low-level civilizations could still slaughter each other back and forth, trading blows evenly.

In the end, Luke concluded that this was a universe that pursued individual might. Therefore, the technological civilizations here had inevitably been tainted by this standard of evaluation. That was to say, once technological reserves were sufficient, individual might and the quality of soldiers determined the Upper Limit of a Cosmic Civilization.

That was why Thanos could recruit a few powerful subordinates and a mob of irregulars, then add a batch of cannon fodder manufactured through technology, and rampage across the universe unchecked.

Even powerful civilizations feared him greatly.

That was why, even though this universe had the so-called Three Great Civilization Empires, they still could not maintain any so-called cosmic order.

In a universe where the power of civilization itself was paramount, what band of stragglers would dare clash head-on with the peak civilization of an entire universe? At most, they could wage guerrilla warfare and launch a few harassing attacks when their equipment and technology were not too far behind. Even then, they would have to deal with all sorts of problems, including casualties, replenishment, repairs, and more.

But in this universe, all one needed was to use civilization's technology to achieve individual might!

Look at the technologies researched by the universe's so-called three great civilizations. They used various forms of energy to create powerful elite soldiers, organizing them into elite squads that represented their respective civilizations. Alien Factors, mutations caused by accidents involving Energy Devices that produced powerful individuals, and countless other examples abounded.

That was why even the powerful civilizations in this universe needed powerful individuals to charge into battle during combat.

Because their mass-produced technological weapons were of little use against troublesome opponents.

When every civilization in a universe pursued individual might, its technological development would naturally go somewhat astray. So even if they had their own system for evaluating civilization levels, it could not be considered accurate. At best, it was merely a means of comparison between civilizations and had nothing to do with actual combat power.

That also explained why so many powerful civilizations ended up suffering setbacks on the planet where Luke lived.

Because there were simply too many big shots protecting this planet!

Its native residents could also be called extraordinarily gifted and absurdly lucky. Even the major Dimensional Demon Gods favored it.

But that did not change the fact that the style of civilizations in this universe was all wrong.

Perhaps the people of this universe had grown accustomed to it and never thought anything of it, even believing it was normal. But that mindset was hardly friendly to Luke, who intended to become a Technological Dimensional Demon God. He felt that if the opportunity arose in the future, he needed to do his best to correct this warped state of affairs.

At a gathering of military personnel and arms manufacturers.

Justin Hammer smoothly made his rounds greeting people before slipping into his own circle of acquaintances.

"Stark didn't come." A general looked around and sounded somewhat disappointed.

"He's now someone wholeheartedly trying to leave the arms industry and develop Clean Energy." A Senator smiled and teased him. That one sentence perfectly summarized Stark's recent news coverage and Stark Industries' coordinated efforts.

"He even moved Stark's focus from California to New York, rebuilding a Stark tower here! The building uses his Clean Energy as well." A pot-bellied Senator with a beaming face picked up the conversation. "He's a major figure in this city's construction industry now."

"I think that's a good thing. Tony has found the career he wants to pursue," Justin Hammer said with a smile.

"Of course you think it's good. Without Stark Industries, your company can take a huge bite out of the market share it gave up." The first general spoke calmly. "But I don't care about that. I only want the Iron Armor. Whoever can make it will get an astronomical order. I heard your company is researching Iron Armor technology too?"

PS: Just take the civilization settings as a rough idea; don't take them too seriously. The technology in that world was still very impressive when it needed to be.