Nothing

The terrifying speed made even the air wail. In an instant, a streak of fire flashed past, and a huge circular hole appeared in the dense, layered clouds high above.

As it drew closer to space, the air grew thinner and thinner. At last, the shell emerged from the trail of fire in its original form.

It was entirely conical, extremely similar in appearance to a Titanium Snail, yet different. The tentacles at its tail and the cavity that carried Gourd had been replaced by exhaust flames and liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen fuel.

At that moment, a jet of flame began spraying from one side of the shell. The reactive force produced by the combustion of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen pushed it into the planet's orbit, completing the orbital transfer.

Thanks to its initial angled launch, the cell cluster that had entered outer space only needed a minor orbital adjustment to enter planetary orbit.

A small hole on one side of the shell slowly protruded with an object. It was a tiny glass cover, only half a centimeter in diameter, and inside it was an eye.

Now, this cell cluster, which had yet to be named by its creator, had become one of the first lifeforms on the planet to enter space.

The only slight regret was that there were no suitable "spectators" to feel proud of or cheer for this historic moment on the planet.

As its creator, Huo Gu was already focused on the war within the planet, while the unknown entity hostile to Huo Gu was also intent on destroying the octahedron. Even the cell cluster that had personally entered space showed no reaction to "entering space," because it was merely a tool organism.

Meanwhile, as ground relay stations, the four sensory cell clusters that had hidden themselves away in suspended animation, hidden away, hidden away, were successively activated with enormous life fields.

Each sensory cell cluster was incomparably massive. Only because of this could the life fields they released extend into the planet's outer space.

If the bioelectric currents of these clusters were treated as household electricity, they could easily supply power to several residential complexes.

Through the eye of the cell cluster in space, Huo Gu looked upon the world beyond its planet for the first time. Just as it had seen in videos before, it was unfathomable and boundless. The universe had clearly revealed its true face without reservation to everyone willing to gaze at the stars, yet it only became more mysterious because of it.

However, Huo Gu had no mind to appreciate any of this. At this moment, eliminating the enemy stood first among its operational priorities.

Huo Gu shifted its view and searched for its target in outer space. It only wanted this exhausting battle to end as soon as possible.

Searching for an object in outer space was extremely difficult. Even if that object was as large as a villa, from dozens of kilometers away, it would probably look smaller than a speck of dust to an observer.

However, Huo Gu had come prepared. It had anticipated this situation long ago and devised a solution, which it had installed within the cell cluster.

After finding nothing through visible-light vision, Huo Gu immediately switched to ultraviolet vision and began searching.

It was using the light of the star to search for targets hidden in outer space.

In outer space, there was no atmosphere to weaken ultraviolet rays, nor was there any refraction from air. Ultraviolet light could easily come into contact with objects in space and reflect in every direction.

Under ultraviolet vision, such ultraviolet reflections were like seeing a blazing torch in endless darkness—impossible to miss.

Huo Gu continued its search from this perspective, yet the result was the same as before. It found nothing.

"Why is this happening?"

Reality could not be wrong. Only theory could be wrong.

Huo Gu pondered in confusion. It had thought that once it entered space, it would quickly get results, but now it seemed that was not the case. The enemy had concealed itself well.

"Could it be..."

"That thing can completely absorb ultraviolet light, so under ultraviolet vision, it shouldn't emit any light at all."

The more it thought about it, the more plausible it seemed. Huo Gu issued an order and changed its vision once again. This time, it was infrared vision.

Infrared radiation was electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths between microwaves and visible light, ranging from one millimeter to 760 nanometers. Any substance above absolute zero, or -273.15°C, could produce infrared radiation. It was also called thermal radiation. Generally, anything that possessed heat continuously released infrared radiation.

Energy dissipated. Even if it was not used, even if it was merely stored, the result was the same. Energy would continue leaking away until the energy-storing substance reached an equilibrium point.

Energy could not vanish from nothing, just as it could not appear from nothing.

If the star's ultraviolet light had truly been absorbed, then the hidden enemy should have been continuously releasing infrared radiation, this kind of thermal radiation.

"Where is it?"

With infrared vision activated, Huo Gu looked around. The background temperature of the universe was close to absolute zero, and any substance with even a slight heat source would be extremely obvious in such an environment. The vast emptiness could no longer offer anywhere to hide.

Yet Huo Gu still found nothing. Just as in the previous searches, it repeatedly orbited along the equator, or randomly selected a meridian, adjusted its orbit, and searched around the planet along that meridian.

The result was still nothing. Let alone the enemy, there was not even a single stone.

This was abnormal. Huo Gu knew that clearly. It tried repeatedly recalling everything it knew about the unknown enemy, hoping to find something from it.

But that method did not work. Instead, it further muddled Huo Gu's already flustered thoughts, causing countless possibilities to erupt in its mind.

Second by second, time passed. By now, the enemy had noticed the anomaly. Lightning and tornado columns appeared across the globe, while crustal movements occurred worldwide, clearing away the root network covering the planet.

Huo Gu saw all of it and grew increasingly anxious, yet it could do nothing. The enemy wielded the forces of nature as casually as a club. What could a tiny lifeform like it possibly use to fight back?

Restless emotions began surfacing unconstrained without its notice, even though Huo Gu knew that staying calm was the best way to solve the problem.

"Strange, why is there nothing?"

"It should be there. If it isn't in the universe, then how can the enemy manipulate the climate on a global scale?"

Huo Gu anxiously looked around the empty outer space surrounding the planet, hoping to find some clue.

"Huo Gu, calm down and think again. Where exactly did things go wrong? Theory arose on the foundation of reality. Reality cannot be wrong. Only theory can be wrong—the one who proposed the theory..."

"So you must have made a critical mistake during your deductions. Think carefully. Where did that critical problem arise?"