Last life, the reason Gao Gong threw in with the Party—ah, no, with the Calamity—was largely because this ninth-level civilization had betrayed the Civilization Alliance, joined the Calamity faction, and become a mole.
There was another, even more important reason: in his previous life, the NPC system in his possession had been stolen from them.
The matter was complicated, but it was also simple.
At the time, the three forces of Organic, Formless, and Fallen had wreaked havoc across the entire universe. Ordinary civilizations were wiped away like dust on a table, advanced civilizations could barely protect themselves, and the top civilizations were all entangled and unable to break free.
On top of that, the Fourth Calamity had dissected every one of those advanced civilizations, creating deep-seated resentment. Gao Gong had thought, If this place won't have me, surely somewhere else will. If nowhere wants me, then I'll join the Calamity.
But not just anyone could serve as a guide, especially when he was merely the leader of a lowly sixth-level civilization.
In a cosmic-scale civilization war, he was equivalent to an advanced cannon fodder unit.
When the Collective of Minds defected, it had truly dropped a massive bomb into the civilization camp. Even though the other five civilizations had suffered severe damage, they still mobilized their forces to surround this top-level AI civilization, preparing to crush the traitor outright.
That civil war between top civilizations was precisely what gave Gao Gong an opportunity. While both sides were fighting fiercely, he took the risk of hacking into the Collective of Minds' civilization coordinates. He had originally planned to fish out something to offer the Calamity as a gift—after all, it was a ninth-level civilization. The Calamity surely wouldn't absorb it without some leverage.
That had been Gao Gong's thinking at