The Light Language Civilization can clearly distinguish 'stars' that are not part of the natural movement of the universe; in their historical records, there are a total of three.
The first one occurred approximately two million years ago, thousands of light-years away, when a star system released exceptionally complex and powerful energy signals over a very short period of time. However, these signals became chaotic within a few thousand years and were eventually completely destroyed in a supernova-level explosion.
The second is that more than 500,000 years ago, there was a huge, complex star that steadfastly flew in one direction without stopping, until its fluctuations were completely covered by the giant attractor.
The third one was discovered within the last three thousand years, and is only eighty light-years away from here.
The Light Language Civilization recorded their activities across several star systems, creating flashes of light everywhere, being quite 'noisy,' and... their recent movement was precisely in this direction.
Wen Jing immediately snapped to attention, "Why didn't you say so earlier?"
"You didn't ask before," Light Language Civilization replied innocently.
"..."
They're not just creating flashes of light, they're waging war!
Chapter 180
80 light-years represents a distance with different meanings depending on the level of technology.
At the average speed of spaceships within the Federation system, it would take more than ten thousand years to travel.
However, with a warp drive, compressing spacetime for jumps, this distance could be covered in just a few months, weeks, or even days—practically nothing.
Based on the activity trends of the ' Flash Makers ' civilization, if Wen Jing hadn't discovered this place first, they would most likely have been the first civilization to come into contact with the Light Language Civilization.
Judging from the information coming from near the other star system, this is definitely not a good thing.
Each 'flash' is actually a ripple released by a high-energy weapon.
Only the Light Language Civilization was unaware of the threat, or rather, didn't care, and foolishly awaited the arrival of the other side.
"I need to go and investigate."
Of course, it's impossible to passively wait for others to explore before taking action, especially since Wen Jing is full of curiosity about civilizations in the universe.
Now that she has mastered the Universal Cosmic Algorithm learned from the Light Language Civilization, she can instantly 'teleport' to the other civilization using the Ancient Wilderness Traversal, a speed that is faster than any level of warp drive.
Spatial distance is no longer an issue for Wen Jing; the issue lies in precision.
The farther she travels, the greater the probability that her landing point will deviate, because the universe is constantly expanding.
The solution is simple: deepen your understanding of the algorithm and continuously optimize accuracy based on specific landing point data.
Precision either progresses or regresses; this work needs to be done continuously, so it was naturally allocated to the Spacetime Amber consciousness that does not require activity.
After giving instructions to the Light Language Civilization, both Wen Jing disappeared into the material universe.
The Light Language Civilization was very open-minded and felt no reluctance to part ways; they were simply very envious of her ability to move freely.
However, there was nothing that could be done about it. As living beings, they were not yet Awakened, Wen Jing could not take them through the Ancient Wilderness.
The Devouring Clone entered the Ancient Wilderness, while the Reconnaissance Clone used the Ancient Wilderness as a bridge to directly traverse to the star field where the Flash Civilization was located.
At a distance of 800,000 light-years, Wen Jing could absolutely 'precisely project' himself.
The moment she descended from the Ancient Wilderness into the material universe, she enhanced herself with optical invisibility, Isolation Layer, and Gravitational Lens, entering her most powerful state of invisibility.
This is a civilization whose activity extends beyond its own star system, radiating outwards to a radius of tens of light-years.
If we disregard the special nature of the Awakened, their technological level... is at least far more advanced than human civilization in terms of aerospace technology.
To build such a technological edifice, the physical foundation is obviously not weak, so Wen Jing was naturally very cautious.
Looking back now, she realizes that her failure to conceal herself when contacting the Light Language Civilization, because they were a civilization that had not yet left their home planet, was actually quite arrogant.
In reality, although the Light Language Civilization never left its home planet, it possessed a super-powerful navigation technology such as Universal Cosmic Algorithm.
Different civilizations perceive the world in different ways, and their technology trees are also different. Wen Jing cannot guarantee that his invisibility will not be exposed, but he is still very confident in escaping.
The place she arrived at was the planet that had recently experienced a 'flash' according to the records of the Light Language Civilization.
Viewed from near space, this planet no longer resembles a planet, but rather a functioning planet-sized factory.
The planet's north pole was completely cut open, revealing a huge, dark red metallic structure underneath, which appeared to be an energy engine.
The continental plates were also re-tilled, and all natural undulations were smoothed out, turning into neat Geometry grids.
The planet still has dried-up and broken riverbeds and basins, but the water inside is almost completely dried up, with only some steaming round boilers remaining in the lowest depressions.
Soon, with his excellent eyesight and senses, Wen Jing spotted a group of life forms active on the planet, clearly a kind of flesh-and-blood life.
Compared to the unique civilizations like the Weavers Civilization and the Light Language Civilization, this type undoubtedly gave her a great deal of familiarity.
"The planet's surveillance system failed to detect me at all..."
The [ Key of Tuning ] is an incredibly powerful tool against civilizations; it can sense any system, regardless of its technological system or civilization.
After discovering that the surrounding systems, large and small, had not changed at all because of her arrival, Wen Jing headed with a clear objective towards the area of biological activity on this planet.
As the distance closed, the creatures moving below became completely clear.
It was a humanoid creature with a grayish-white color, a slender build, an average height of 1.4 meters, and four arms and webbed feet.
Some kind of machine was implanted in their backs, from which two thick cables extended. Their faces were completely obscured because they wore metal hoods that covered their heads. Only their eyes shone, with one end of the hood connected to the cables in their backs.
Wen Jing observed that the line of workers numbered in the tens of thousands, moving like ants among the steel behemoths, without communication or pause, simply carrying out their work in silence.
These aliens are clearly not citizens of the 'Shining' civilization; they are more likely native inhabitants of this planet who were conquered and enslaved after being 'sparked' by the 'Shining'.
Did they ever have a civilization?
After thinking for a moment, Wen Jing separated a wisp of his spiritual power and probed into the nearest dwarf.
The other person seemed completely numb, not noticing her at all, and showing no reaction whatsoever.
Wen Jing, on the other hand, accessed the other's memories, seeing some blurry images: flames, cannonballs, terrifying fortresses, and giant metal pincers...
The dwarfs are clearly not very intelligent, making it difficult to determine whether they have developed their own civilization.
The only certainty is that their home planet was transformed into a planetary factory, and they themselves were enslaved and conquered for countless years.
If we don't stop this civilization from continuing to expand to the Light Language Planet, they might just drain the Light Language Civilization and the methane ocean and burn them as biofuel.
Calculating that the ten-minute cooldown period for the shuttle was sufficient, Wen Jing released a small amount of energy and tentatively drew the shape of a door in the air.
As a result, no unusual activity was observed.
This is normal. Even if the Flash Civilization had top-notch surveillance equipment, it wouldn't use it on a resource planet that had already been conquered.
So this time, Wen Jing opened the door directly with the Door Handle and used spatial teleportation to go to the core of this civilization—to observe the 'weakness' of the entire civilization's territory through the [ Key of Tuning ], even if it wasn't their home planet, it was most likely their capital planet.
The next moment, her figure instantly traversed space and descended upon a brand new planet.
Even with his extensive experience, Wen Jing was taken aback by the sight before him.
The planets that had been transformed into factories were child's play compared to the planet before her; what lay before her was a completely mechanical planet.
Even the most 'barren' Red Earth Star in the Federation, Ochran, is not entirely devoid of other elements, and this planet has been forged into machinery from the inside out.
The ground was covered with a crisscrossing network of Giant pipes, heat dissipation towers, and smelting platforms; the atmosphere was filled with industrial dust; and the sky was shrouded in orange-red pollution clouds.
Through the [ Key of Tuning ], Wen Jing can see that even the core of this planet has been completely transformed into an energy core, supplying energy to the entire world.
Even in space, there is a ring of stars made up of abandoned ships and space debris.
All of this combined creates a desolate industrial apocalypse scene that could only exist in the imagination of humankind.
In just a moment, Wen Jing came to his senses.
Then, to her surprise, she realized... she still hadn't been discovered.
"This is already their core capital planet. It seems their perception methods and technology are similar to humans, which is why they can't detect me."
Wen Jing had been prepared to travel directly to the Ancient Wilderness after being discovered, but now that he had discovered this situation, his mood immediately calmed down.
It seems she had been outsmarting thin air the whole time...
However, caution is always better than arrogance.
Now that the other party is in the open while she is in the shadows, she can subtly learn about this civilization beforehand and then consider how to approach them.
As can be seen from the planet we passed earlier, the Flash Civilization is definitely not the kind of entity that can be peacefully communicated with; rather, it exhibits a very strong tendency toward expansion and aggression.
The enslavement of dwarves demonstrates extreme xenophobia, and constant warfare indicates a pursuit of military expansionism.
"This type... might just be the mainstream of cosmic civilizations."
The territory of the Flash Civilization spans roughly the size of a star cluster. 'Homebody civilizations' like the Weavers and the Light Language are either already extinct or on their way to extinction.
From a results-oriented perspective, powerful civilizations in the universe, even if they may not be expanding now, have certainly all experienced similar periods of expansion.