Some scholars studying cosmic sociology believe that establishing an orderly interstellar society from scratch requires several prerequisites: First, an exchange manifested as cosmic warfare, with a significant number of civilizations surviving and gaining some understanding of each other; second, one or more powerful rulers capable of suppressing all dissent, possessing the power to forcibly establish cosmic rules for other civilizations, thus forming order; and third, a significant reduction in the cosmic distance scale between the real and virtual realms, namely, jump technology, stargate technology, and universal quantum communication technology.
In the eyes of some historians of civilization development, these three technologies are the greatest inventions of the space age, enabling civilizations separated by countless light-years to communicate rapidly, thus forming a stable interstellar social system throughout the Explored Universe.
After four months of pioneering work in the Shattered World, the entire Black Star Army, including Han Xiao, increasingly agreed with this view.
It took the Hadavy task force four months to travel from the southern part of the Gaolu Star Cluster's planar star map to the eastern part, while Han Xiao's main fleet completed the task force's four-month journey in less than two days by using the stargate passages left along the way.
In the eastern border system of the Gaolu Star Cluster, two fleets converged in a stretch of space. The task force ships, like swallows returning to their nests, mate with the main ship's dock and complete the docking.
Han Xiao waited in the bridge command room for a while, and soon saw Hadavy leading his subordinates hurriedly walking over from the dock passage.
"Commander!" Hadavy exclaimed excitedly, spreading his arms wide and lunging forward.
Han Xiao's lips twitched. He hesitated for a second, but still didn't back down. He forced himself to hug Hadavy, and the two men's strong chest muscles collided with a loud thud.
"It's been four whole months!" Hadavy exclaimed excitedly.
"Why are you so excited..." Han Xiao felt Hadavy's arms tightly wrapped around his waist and back. He looked helpless, patted Hardaway's shoulder, and pulled him off him with one hand.
Little did he know that these four months had been extremely agonizing for Hadavy. His body Hardening ability required strong external stimulation to improve. As Beyond Grade A Seed, he was willing to become Han Xiao's subordinate for the opportunity to spar with Beyond Grade A. After following Han Xiao, he felt his long-stagnant ability grow again, which made him ecstatic.
However, after being sent out for four months, his strength, which had finally shown signs of improvement, was once again extinguished. Moreover, the task force didn't even have a single Calamity Grade officer, so he couldn't even find a sparring partner. For a battle maniac like him, this was simply unbearable. After four months, he was already feeling incredibly stifled!
Upon seeing Han Xiao, Hadavy felt as if he had seen a relative. In his eyes, Han Xiao seemed to be surrounded by a holy halo and hymns. He realized how much he missed Han Xiao...
Hadavy was in a great mood. He looked at Hila next to him, grinned, and opened his arms as if to hug her.
"Try touching me?" Hila swept her gaze coldly, death energy surfacing in her eyes.
Hadavy's face stiffened, and he awkwardly withdrew his arm, muttering to himself, "If it weren't for the fact that I'm a Beyond Grade A Seed, I wouldn't care about your attitude."
"Hadavy is a Beyond Grade A Seed, don't be so rude." Han Xiao, who was standing to the side, felt that Hila's attitude towards the guards was not very good, so he reached out and patted her shoulder, and then squeezed her shoulder blade.
Hmm, it feels pretty good.
Hila's expression immediately tightened. She glanced at Han Xiao's palm, then withdrew the red energy overflowing from her eyes, her voice muffled:
"Oh."
Hadavy greeted Fording and the other guards before turning back to Han Xiao and asking, "As you instructed, the task force has set up the long-distance stargate. What's next?"
Han Xiao did not answer directly, but instead snapped his fingers and summoned a three-dimensional star map in front of everyone. He carefully searched the star map and confirmed the planet containing the unclaimed Universal Treasure in the Desolate Universe Belt region outside the Gaolu Star Cluster.
In its previous life, this planet was called Amber Planet, and at this time it was still a numbered planet without a name.
"We're going to this planet?" Aurora asked curiously. "Is there anything special about it?"
Han Xiao nodded and casually made up a reason, "Some time ago, some legion members discovered some alien-left information while exploring a desolate planet. It seems to be the travel logs of some explorers, which includes information about this planet. It's said that there's a civilization on it. Since we're here, we might as well go and explore it."
This reason was perfectly reasonable. Since it was Han Xiao who said it, even though everyone was somewhat surprised, they didn't have many doubts. After all, given the previous incident involving the Great Cosmos Corps, the existence of the natives of the Shattered World wasn't surprising to them.
Han Xiao wasn't making things up. Amber Planet itself was the ruins of a long-extinct indigenous civilization, and that Universal Treasure was stored within those ruins.
[Space-Time Amber], that is the name of this Universal Treasure. It was not made by an indigenous civilization, but was an extraterrestrial object that accidentally landed on this planet and was once regarded as a sacred object by this civilization.
In his previous life, as the Empire's allies steadily developed the Space-Time Amber, it eventually fell into the hands of an Empire ally who participated in the exploration. That ally was Ravenlaude, one of the Beyond Grade A members that Han Xiao had met when he went to the Crimson Dynasty's home planet, and an Ancient Ones member who had a bad relationship with Iso.
Later, Ravenlaude was defeated by another Beyond Grade A in the Super Calamity version, and the Space-Time Amber was stolen by someone else. After countless ups and downs, the Space-Time Amber changed hands several times, one of which was a powerful figure from the World Tree Civilization. Finally, it fell into the hands of the Federation of Light.
The origin of the Space-Time Amber is quite mysterious. Players in previous versions only learned about its origin through special intelligence channels in later versions. It's not some incredible secret, but the reason for its formation involves the legendary the First Ones, and there's a story behind it.
As for the effects of the Space-Time Amber, the only word to describe it is "extraordinary".
It provides virtually no boost to combat power, but its effects... would terrify even Beyond Grade A!
According to Han Xiao's memories of his past life's events, after the Space-Time Amber was created, the number of Beyond Grade A who "fell" because of it exceeded the number in one palm!
This item is currently unclaimed, and apart from himself, no other competitor knows of the existence of the Space-Time Amber. He can obtain it effortlessly, so Han Xiao is naturally determined to get his hands on it.
A few days later, the fleet arrived at Amber Planet and entered its atmosphere.
The star is relatively close to this planet, and the Blazing Sun is blazing. From high above, the surface of Amber Planet is almost entirely desert. Gusts of scorching hot wind blow, stirring up endless dust storms. Strands of dark brown sandstorms wander aimlessly across the land, showing no trace of any civilization.
Just as Han Xiao was about to send out a probe ship, Aurora closed her eyes, sensed for a moment, and shook her head.
There is no sign of life on this planet.
"Your life sensing range can already cover an entire planet?" Hila's eyes flickered, a hint of surprise flashing across them.
Seeing everyone looking over, Aurora smiled shyly, but with a hint of pride in her voice, "I've improved too."
"Not bad, not bad." Han Xiao smiled with satisfaction.
He was always happy Aurora's strength improved.
After all, this means Aurora's milk power is even stronger...
Aurora's character card effect is to restore her to full health, but that's a product of the character panel. Aurora's actual healing power is limited; activating her ability requires consuming her own life force. Her Beyond Grade A cells contain terrifying energy, and given Aurora's current strength, fully healing her would be extremely taxing. Perhaps after one or two uses, Aurora would be exhausted.
Once Aurora reaches the Calamity Grade, her endurance will increase significantly, and her milk production will be more abundant, allowing her to be perfectly satisfied.
Upon hearing this, Fording replied, "Without life signals, the civilization you speak of may have perished, leaving only ruins."
Han Xiao nodded, gazing at the vast yellow sand, and dispatched a probe ship to sense the environment beneath the planet.
According to the Empire's records, the civilization ruins where the Space-Time Amber was located were buried under the yellow sand. As for the specific process of discovering the Space-Time Amber, there were no detailed records, so he did not know its exact location. However, with interstellar-level detection equipment here, finding the civilization ruins was only a matter of time.
As expected, before Han Xiao could even finish watching Hadavy and another guard officer play a game of Veyne Cards, the probe ship sent back news that it had discovered the ruins of many suspected cities beneath the desert.
However, the probe ship did not detect any special energy source; the energy radar remained completely silent.
"No abnormal energy signals detected? Hmm, the Space-Time Amber should be on this planet. Perhaps it hasn't been recharged for so long, which is why there are no energy fluctuations."
Han Xiao looked at the ruins marked on the planetary map and shook his head helplessly.
"Looks like we'll have to search the whole place... Tsk, why didn't the Empire record the details of discovering the Space-Time Amber? I'll have to find it all myself."
After thinking for a moment, Han Xiao ordered the fleet to remain on standby in outer space and led a group of guards to the sky above the planet.
Looking down at the earth beneath his feet, Han Xiao waved his hand, unleashing a surge of immense Mechanical Force that stirred up ripples of energy. Behind him, a massive portal of light burst open, revealing a dense array of mechanical soldiers—his personal Secondary Dimension military camp.
Kerala...
Countless mechanical warriors swarmed out, with Dark Emperor and several thousand other mechanical beings at the forefront of the mechanical force, all gazing at Han Xiao.
After releasing millions of mechanical troops, Han Xiao closed the Secondary Dimension military camp. The mechanical legion was neatly lined up in front, blotting out the sky, like a military parade.
"Search the ruins and report any unusual discoveries to me. Also, check if this thing exists." Han Xiao outlined the shape of the Space-Time Amber in his Quantum Network Vision and relayed the order to all mechanical units through Phillip.
call--
The next moment, the mechanical army scattered like birds and beasts, splitting up and disappearing into the yellow sand to explore the ruins.
With so many useful mechanical helpers available, Han Xiao didn't want to waste his energy searching through so many ruins himself.
"Master, we have discovered a peculiar phenomenon."
Not long after, Dark Emperor sent back the good news, along with pictures.
Han Xiao glanced at the picture. It showed a huge room, like some kind of hall, with murals that were broken and mottled on the walls and pillars. In the center of the room was a large black disc lying horizontally, but the disc had patterns like an integrated circuit matrix. It was probably a creation that combined magic and technology.
On the ground surrounding the disc, there were many translucent circular crystals, each about 1.5 meters tall, containing creatures of the same species. Their bodies showed no signs of decay, but their expressions and movements were frozen, showing no signs of life, as if they were creatures solidified in amber.
"This phenomenon is the effect of Space-Time Amber..."
Han Xiao was taken aback. He had been to Amber Planet in his previous life, but back then there were only ruins, and none of these creatures that had been turned into amber specimens... These creatures must be the race of this extinct civilization.
It's possible that when Ravenlaude discovered the Space-Time Amber, he took these specimens with him.
However, this is also good news, meaning that I am not far from getting into the Space-Time Amber.
Han Xiao summoned the fleet to descend, and the ships worked together to use tractor beams to dry up a stretch of desert, revealing the ruins where the Dark Emperor resided.
The group descended rapidly, landing in the ruins. Following the signal from the Dark Emperor, they ventured deeper into the heart of the ruins, observing the cityscape as they went.
Although the ruins bear the severe marks of time, they can still be roughly reconstructed to show the original appearance of this civilization when it existed.
The buildings stretch out in undulating rows, and the mottled patterns still faintly reveal their former beauty, suggesting that this civilization had a high level of artistic achievement.
"It must have been a rather beautiful civilization in its time," Fording said.
"Perhaps."
Han Xiao remained noncommittal and soon arrived at the center of the ruins. It was an extremely large fortress, like a super-large safe house or Sanctuary pieced together from countless hard materials.
The Dark Emperor's forces were located within this fortress. Han Xiao and his group quickly entered the hall shown in the picture. After a cursory glance, they discovered that there were probably no fewer than 20,000 amber bodies here.
"What are these things? They look a bit like amber?" Hadavy curiously touched a piece of amber beside him. The texture was peculiar; he couldn't feel the warmth of the amber, and his hand couldn't move an inch.
Han Xiao casually walked up to a piece of amber and stared at the creature inside. These creatures were probably carbon-based mammals, looking furry with features somewhat resembling sloths. They were about one meter tall and maintained the expression they had before being frozen in time, their eyes wide open, filled with trepidation and unease.
Turning to look at Hila, Han Xiao gestured with his chin, "Let's try an attack."
Brush!
Without a word, Hila unleashed a torrent of death energy from her eyes, striking a piece of amber.
The next moment, a strange scene unfolded. Although the amber was thrown away, it was completely unharmed. The energy released by Hila dispersed on the smooth surface of the amber, deflecting completely without exerting any destructive force on it. It was as if the energy was like a drop of water, and the amber was like a lotus leaf, completely unabsorbent.
"Hmm?" Hila frowned, refusing to believe it, and highly concentrated her death energy, preparing to unleash another fierce attack.
Seeing this, Han Xiao stopped her, "Alright, no need to try anymore, or you'll collapse this room."
Hila had no choice but to withdraw her energy, wondering, "This thing is actually immune to my attacks, including my mental attacks."
"It's not just psychological harm."
Han Xiao reached out and pressed down on a piece of amber. A surge of Mechanical Force erupted, and lightning only flowed across the surface of the amber, without the amber showing any sign of being charred.
"To be precise, this thing should be immune to all kinds of energy and cannot be destroyed. Even brute force can only knock it away, but cannot cause it any damage."
Han Xiao lifted a piece of amber with one hand, weighed it in his hand a couple of times, and finding it not heavy, then put it down, shaking his head and saying, "Even the strongest planet-destroying weapon of Beyond Grade A or even a cosmic-level civilization cannot damage amber."
Upon hearing this, everyone was deeply moved.
"How could there possibly be such a strong and tough material in the world?"
"Even Beyond Grade A can't break through? That's impossible!"
"Could it be..." Hila had a sudden inspiration, "That this is yet another Cosmic Wonder?"
Han Xiao stroked his chin, feigning a guess, "Hmm, I guess so. It feels like the Evolution Cube; it's also a man-made product."
He wasn't entirely clear on the formation principle of this amber, but Cosmic Wonder, like Evolution Cube, are always difficult to explain. According to information from his previous life, this amber seemed to have altered the nature of time and space, materializing a small piece of spacetime and creating an amber-like effect that envelops objects within it.
The object encased in the Space-Time Amber is isolated from reality, as if it exists in an alternate dimension where time scales neither advance nor retreat, creating an effect similar to Space-Time Freeze.
Logically, the bodies of creatures encased in amber should remain unchanged in this form, just like those in sleep pods, with long or even Infinite lifespans, and their minds should also be frozen... However, according to the descriptions of NPCs encountered in my previous life, those encased in Space-Time Amber are indeed unable to control their bodies, and energy cannot penetrate the amber from the inside. Yet, their consciousness is actually active, and they can even observe changes in the outside world through sight and hearing, and perceive the passage of time outside. It's just as if they are trapped inside their bodies, which becomes a paradox in terms of common sense, and is also one of the important factors that makes it Cosmic Wonder.
Only individuals imprisoned in the Space-Time Amber for too long will eventually experience mental stagnation, ultimately erasing themselves, falling into oblivion, and giving up on thinking. The stronger a person is, the longer they can persist.
Therefore, this thing can create cages to imprison any creature without worrying about the prisoner escaping, and it is also a form of agonizing torture.
Even if the goal is Beyond Grade A, it's the same!
The only problem is that the activation process of the Space-Time Amber is quite long, making it extremely difficult to catch a Beyond Grade A being affected.
"If this thing falls into the enemy's hands, it will pose a great threat to me. If it falls into my hands, I can reduce one of my threats."
Various thoughts flashed through Han Xiao's mind. He turned to look at the black disc in the center of the room, which was about ten meters in diameter. After observing the matrix patterns on the disc for a while, he roughly confirmed that it was a circuit for energy conduction and activation.
"It seems this thing requires energy to activate."
Han Xiao waved his hand, Dark Emperor obediently transformed into many floating guardians, shooting out beams of light and outputting energy towards the disc.
Buzz--
The disc shook violently, as if some device had been activated; the circuit lit up in the blink of an eye, and dust fell from its surface.
The next moment, the disc lit up, revealing its true function... it was a screen.
A video begins to play on the screen, and a creature from that civilization appears in the frame, slowly speaking.
At this time, the translator had not yet recorded this language, so no one could understand what it was saying. However, this did not prevent them from understanding the images on the screen. Scenes of this civilization before its demise flashed by, as if telling the story from the very beginning of the civilization's history, from primitive creatures to learning to use tools, gradually developing airplanes and hovercars, and even trying to build interstellar spaceships. The cities were magnificent, and the people lived in peace and contentment.
Unfortunately, due to the abnormal activity of celestial bodies, the planet's living environment underwent drastic changes, and a catastrophe that could wipe out the planet's life swept across the globe. In order to preserve their civilization, they used "sacred objects" to seal away their people and a large number of lives, and stored all the information about their civilization in a database. Each site was equipped with a database to ensure that every later visitor could discover them.
The appearance of that "sacred relic" was exactly the Space-Time Amber from his memory. He hadn't come to the wrong place, and Han Xiao secretly breathed a sigh of relief before continuing to look.
Using the Space-Time Amber requires a huge amount of energy, which is very difficult for a surface civilization. This civilization used the power of the entire race to charge it, almost exhausting its energy reserves. That's why they used the Space-Time Amber multiple times. Not only this city ruins, but every ruin has preserved many amber pieces... While everyone was watching the video, the troops exploring other ruins also discovered more amber pieces.
At the end of the video, the whereabouts of the Space-Time Amber were finally mentioned. It seemed to be stored in a large city, but this was a scene of the city before the destruction of the civilization, and it was unknown which ruin it was now.
"Let Phillip copy their database first. Once the language is deciphered, we'll know the details of the video, and we can also locate the site where the Space-Time Amber is located using the map."
Han Xiao was just about to take action when a notification popped up on the panel indicating that a mission had been triggered:
[You have triggered the hidden quest [Traces of Existence]!]
[Mission Summary: Due to an unusual change in a star, a cataclysmic event swept through the Yasir Civilization. Before their demise, the Yasir People chose two paths: they wanted to use a sacred relic to preserve a small portion of their people, allowing them to survive the catastrophe and rebuild their civilization in the future. Thus, they waited for someone to unlock the relic's effects for them. However, if no one came, the Yasir People were willing to become eternal specimens, preserving all the records of their civilization to this day, leaving traces of their existence in the vast and boundless starry sky... And you were the visitor they had waited for for many years. Unfortunately, the endless years had already chosen their final fate.]
[Mission Requirement: Use the "Holy Relic" of the Yasir Civilization to remove the "Holy Relic" effect from all Yasir People.]
[Rewards: 15e EXP, Legend Points x1, Random Reward x1, Exploration Points +780, [Bold Explorer] Skill Fragment x1]