Neutrino Industrial Union

Pangu Continent, southern region.

This was a young land, with no thousand-year-old trees, no Civilization Ruins, no anomalies or Extraordinary Creatures. Even ordinary mutated flora and fauna were scarce.

Because this vast continent had only been born in the Ninth Era!

A powerful Interstellar Civilization was communicating with the major civilizations through neutrino communication technology.

This is Xingyao Civilization. Any civilization that receives this signal, please respond.

Pangu Continent was filled with Idealistic Radiation and idealistic interference. Traditional Electromagnetic Waves struggled to communicate across long distances; even high-power electromagnetic communications would accumulate massive amounts of noise after traveling roughly 100,000 kilometers.

Neutrinos, on the other hand, possessed powerful penetrative properties and could travel without obstruction, making them the best choice for long-distance communication.

Unfortunately, neutrino communication had extremely demanding technical requirements. Massive communication facilities had to be constructed in environments free of cosmic radiation and idealistic interference—facilities that included particle colliders, neutrino detectors, and decoders.

Moreover, idealistic communication offered far better value for money. Things like telepathy, Seashell headphones, and dream contact were all far easier to research than neutrinos.

Thus, only a handful of civilizations across all of Pangu Continent were capable of carrying out neutrino communication experiments. Every one of them was an innate Interstellar Civilization, with complete industrial capabilities and populations exceeding one hundred million.

It had to be admitted that Pangu Continent favored such civilizations. When the teleportation began, it had preserved their strength as much as possible.

Some gigantic civilizations even had populations of one billion—the equivalent of teleporting an entire continent over!

If Lu Yuan or the Immortal Palace Aberrants had learned of this, they would soon have guessed the reason. This was the Ninth Era's desperate final gamble!

Call it a final burst of vitality, or the mobilization of its last reserves—these civilizations were in fact the ones most favored by the World Will. Without the World Will's assistance, their entire planets would have crashed directly onto the continent. Even the most powerful Interstellar Civilizations would have suffered catastrophic losses!

Of course, with populations so vast, constructing Sky Cities became vastly more difficult.

These gigantic civilizations would most likely use themselves as a foundation and expand outward in every direction.

While this development model was more stable, the severe shortage of extraordinary resources constrained their development to a certain extent.

Several Interstellar Civilizations found one another through neutrino communications.

There were only nine civilizations in total.

They formed an alliance called the "Neutrino Industrial Union"!

Four of them were at the Southern Limit, having been teleported over together with their entire planets.

The other five civilizations had been teleported over together with their entire countries, scattered across every corner of the world.

Deep Sea Civilization has received the signal... Communication status stable.

Tianqi Civilization has received the signal.

After a while, diplomats from these civilizations came online one after another and began talking.

One representative spoke: "I am Pierce, captain of the Neutrino Industrial Union's investigative team."

"Three years ago, we observed the Weaver, a life-form that had survived from the Ancient Era to the present, as well as a high-level war."

"This ancient life-form is enormously large and hidden within the High-Dimensional World."

"We dispatched spacecraft to investigate immediately, and we now have some preliminary findings."

Everyone fell silent for a while before someone asked, "What were the results? Did a civilization stronger than ours emerge?"

Captain Pierce said, "That high-level war was caused by an unknown monster that leaked out from a certain Civilization Ruins."

"An unknown monster?"

"It originated from the Eighth Era and was a residual organism from an Era Disaster. Its specific abilities are unknown. Its combat strength may have exceeded that of a Ghost-tier anomaly. According to the current popular term, it was called a god. Its abilities are unknown, but it can be killed."

The word "god" shocked the many civilizations.

Not just any random creature could be called a "god."

But the phrase "it can be killed" that followed... gave them an indescribable feeling.

Once a god had a health bar, it was no longer so terrifying.

"Is this intelligence reliable? What do you mean, 'the current popular term'? If we sent out our main forces, could we only obtain secondhand information?" another leader asked.

Captain Pierce hurriedly replied, "The battlefield had turned into a sea of magma, with volcanic eruptions and Idealistic Radiation everywhere. Furthermore, we only arrived a year later, so we could only ask the civilizations that had come here earlier."

"The monster—namely, the anomalous god—was jointly killed by multiple Ghosts as soon as it emerged. There were also suspected traces of Demons being active."

"We may conclude that the World Will had already locked onto it and secretly mobilized the Ghosts and Demons."

"One of them was called Ox Ghost. It came from a Second Generation Civilization known as the Red Bull Alliance."

"That Second Generation Civilization claimed that Ox Ghost had originally been sealed, but it directly lost control at that moment and fought the god."

"As for what happened afterward, they knew nothing. Based on our current calculations, this intelligence is reliable."

"There was also another Ghost, in the form of a ten-thousand-meter giant. It was the main force in this battle, but its specific identity is unknown."

"In addition, several Demons played unknown roles. These intelligent anomalies may have been Civilization Leaders carrying high-yield Nuclear Bombs. We estimate that the energy unleashed at its peak was equivalent to the energy released by the sun in 0.1 seconds."

"The energy released by the sun in 0.1 seconds—do you know how much that is? Could it have been an antimatter annihilation bomb?"

Antimatter was a conventional weapon in the material realm whose power surpassed that of Nuclear Bombs.

But antimatter weapons with such enormous yields were extremely costly to manufacture.

Weapons more powerful than antimatter did exist, such as Black Hole Bombs, but they were still merely conversions of mass; their fundamental principles had not changed.

Could it have been a Black Hole Bomb?

The civilizations were not particularly satisfied with this ambiguous report. As powerful civilizations, they were very likely to confront those monsters head-on.

If they did not gather enough intelligence now, things would become troublesome in the future.

Lord Pierce, we dispatched so many investigation teams and even took the risk of crossing the Space Fissure to reach the Central Continent, only to get this much?

All we learned was that there was an anomaly called "God"? We know nothing else?

Had Pierce not still been out there, the leaders would have nearly launched an accountability procedure on the spot.

Pierce hurriedly explained, "There is a powerful alliance there that is no weaker than us—the Buzhou Alliance. This was an unexpected gain for us. It is formed by numerous civilizations and primarily focuses on the development of idealistic technology."

"Even in the materialistic field, they are only slightly inferior."

"Many exotic races have invested in the Buzhou Alliance. The number of civilizations has reached as many as thirty thousand."

One of the leaders sneered. "What use is a large number? On the Neutrino communication channel, there are only the nine of us. We do not even need encryption—anyone capable of entering this channel is our natural ally. Yet after all these years, not a single civilization has joined."

"Leaders... but they have money! They are holding an Artisan Competition. As long as we achieve good results, Epic Level and Immortal Level materials will be within easy reach."

The leaders of the Neutrino Industrial Union were somewhat tempted and began an animated discussion.

Materialistic technology was all well and good, but its bottlenecks were simply too difficult to overcome—especially theoretical breakthroughs.

Theoretical breakthroughs required a genius's sudden flash of insight; they could not be swayed by the will of leaders.

They had been born an Interstellar Civilization, yet five hundred years had passed and they were still an Interstellar Civilization, with pitifully little progress.

Under such circumstances, it was only natural that they would want to pursue the idealistic path as well.

But the Southern Limit was a brand-new continent, impoverished to an outrageous degree. Its only minerals came entirely from Extraterrestrial Meteorites!

Thus, this major operation was not merely for an Artisan Competition. It was also because... they wanted to seize the leading position!!

A civilization Trading Market was a business that made money even while lying down. If the Buzhou Alliance could run one, why couldn't the Neutrino Industrial Union?

"The information you investigated is highly valuable. We will send a stronger team over... to meet them face-to-face!"

And so, time swiftly passed, and the grand "Supreme Artisan Competition" was about to officially begin!

Over the past few years, the Kuxi Great Desert had not exactly been turbulent, but neither had it been peaceful.

The biggest news was the arrival of the Neutrino Industrial Union—the alliance had dispatched a super fleet with a full population of ten million! The number of large fortresses alone exceeded forty!

Compared to the New Century Fortress, even its largest mothership was no less imposing.

The Buzhou Alliance held "cordial and friendly" talks with this massive fleet, but no one knew how many overt and covert clashes had taken place.

In short, the Supreme Artisan Competition officially began.

The organizers had spared no effort for this competition. With so many participating representatives, qualification reviews, security guarantees, and procedural fairness all required meticulous planning. Moreover, with the arrival of the Neutrino Industrial Union, the competition had taken on a hint of political significance.

When the day finally arrived, the three alien giants of the Buzhou Alliance—Gui Wu, leader of the Turtle Civilization; Li Wan, council chairman of the Iron Key Civilization; and Bai Lu, elder of the Lushu Civilization—all seemed to let out a great sigh of relief.

"Until the competition officially ends, we still cannot lower our guard. That Neutrino Union has come aggressively, intending to knock down our prestige!"

"I do not think it is much of a problem... After all, our task is only to support the civilizations of the Ninth Era. If they are stronger, what is wrong with supporting them instead?" Gui Wu said with great ease.

"You really are broad-minded and well-fed... But we built the Buzhou Alliance with our own hands. How can we simply hand over our position to others?" the nearby Lushu elder said. "So many civilizations—a team with such immense potential!"

Humans were not made of grass or wood; how could they be without feelings? They had gradually become personally invested. They had never seen an era with such hope.

"Which team do you favor?" Gui Wu laughed.

"The Artisan Civilization. Since they chose that name and have come this far, they must possess sufficient fortune and strength to bear it!" Li Wan, leader of the Iron Key Civilization, stroked his grizzled beard.

The Artisan Civilization's strength was no trivial matter. Their number of artisans exceeded two thousand—an enormous figure in any civilization!

Gui Wu of the Turtle Civilization merely smiled without speaking. Naturally, he could not say much about the candidate he favored—you all bought your Artisan Talent from them.

An artisan among the Bai Ze Descendants seemed to think of something and said in a teasing tone, "That Artisan Lu Yuan, who wants to promote Mythical Industrialization, will finally take the stage this time."

"He did not participate in the previous three competitions. Let us see whether he can finally pull off something big this time... If not, once this momentum fades, I fear it will be difficult for him to achieve anything great in the future."

"You mean him? During the last assessment, he even argued with me a few times. I still remember it," Lord Li Wan of the Iron Key Civilization said. "He has ambition, but whether he has ability remains to be seen! Most importantly, it depends on fortune. He must not start high only to fall low."

Fortune was simply too important for artisans!

From an idealistic perspective, fate naturally allowed for a low start followed by a strong rise. Stories of underdogs turning their lives around were everywhere.

When someone had nothing, they could endure great setbacks and great risks in pursuit of opportunity.

But once they had risen, they should not fall again.

Starting high and falling low was very bad.

Making a comeback after that was exceedingly difficult.

In their eyes, Lu Yuan's fortune was relatively vigorous. The status of human Grand Commander was right before them.

But the more vigorous one's fortune, the more one needed to cherish one's reputation.

If it suffered a major decline, the trend would be difficult to reverse, and even the entire civilization would be implicated.

Listening to their mystical analysis, Gui Wu was practically about to burst out laughing.

Their fate lines were practically soaring into the heavens, yet you lot had collectively misjudged him. What amateurs.

He hurriedly defended him. "He's young—being a little hot-blooded isn't necessarily a bad thing. If he dared to enter, he must have had some inspiration and wanted to achieve something."

"So, Mr. Gui Wu, do you think highly of the Human Eighteen Civilizations?" Li Wan raised an eyebrow.

"I have some acquaintance with him and think he's talented. Besides, our Turtle Civilization met humanity long ago... they are one of the civilizations we support!" Gui Wu revealed this long-public secret.

"How about a bet? One year's share of Dragon Blood Coffee. What do you say?"

The stakes were not high, amounting to roughly 1 Spiritual Charm, but they immediately piqued the interest of the many judges.

Though they were aliens, they had their own biases as well. They naturally hoped that the civilizations they supported would grow stronger.

At that moment, Bai Lu, an elder of the Lushu Civilization, suddenly said, "Heh, don't be too optimistic... Those two foreign powerhouses are terrifyingly strong. Don't let the grand prize get snatched away by outsiders."

"Especially the Neutrino Union. They covet our prestige and status."

The Neutrinos possessed extraordinarily flourishing fortune; they could be called the favored children of Pangu Continent!

Industrialization was even more their specialty. In terms of material strength, they might be second to none, perhaps even slightly stronger than the Buzhou Alliance.

Unfortunately, their idealistic resources were relatively scarce, and their craftsmen's theoretical knowledge might not match that of the Buzhou Alliance.

With one gaining and the other losing, they remained formidable competitors.

The other powerful rival, Haishen Civilization, had been a Level Five Civilization in the previous era, yet it had actually come to compete in the Ninth Era's contest. This earned it a faint measure of scorn from them.

In the eyes of these old aliens, Haishen Civilization ought to obediently act as an alien civilization and simply support the younger generations!

What was the point of coming here to snatch resources from juniors?

Haishen Civilization had needed an entire era just to reach Level Five Civilization. Its fortune must have been limited, its opportunities insufficiently abundant, its people not intelligent enough, or its system not superior enough!

If its foundations were lacking, then they were truly lacking!

Even if it were given another era, it would never become a Peak Civilization. Reaching even Level Six Civilization would be difficult, so why bother?

"Forget it. Since we already announced that all civilizations could participate, there's no need to break our word. Haishen Civilization has only been awake for a few years—do they even understand Idealistic Industrialization? If they truly have the ability to learn everything in just a few years and then carry it forward, what would be wrong with giving them the grand prize?" Gui Wu shook his head.

His gaze turned toward the window.

Countless small spacecraft were arriving from every direction, like a swarm of hornets.

Several motherships of the Neutrino Union hovered five hundred kilometers away. Their main bodies were perfect disks, roughly two hundred kilometers in diameter, their edges thinning into sharp blades that gleamed with a cold metallic blue beneath the sun. Their surfaces were covered in hexagonal nanomaterials, each panel refracting different iridescent colors as the angle shifted, as though the radiance of the entire sky had been imprisoned within these mechanical shells.

Purely material creations, and their appearance was indeed beautiful.

Likewise, the theme of the Craftsmen's Competition was idealistic industrialization.

It required low cost, reproducibility, comprehensibility, and describability!

It also required powerful functions and practical value!

Otherwise, even if you forged a myth, you would not take first place—or even make the Top Hundred.

"Let's see how they perform!" Gui Wu lounged lazily in his chair, waiting for the competition to begin.

(A new month has begun, and the competition is starting. Please send in a wave of Monthly Tickets!)