Chapter 1 A Dead End

It wasn't a long-term solution to be stuck on this planet, but leaving the planetary system wasn't easy—the divine power storm entrenched within the X Star Cluster showed no signs of stopping. Although the space seemed calm, as soon as Hao Ren and his team left the gravitational pull of the planetary system, it would immediately trigger energy surges in space. Navigation routes would be blocked, warp jumps would be cut off, and the navigation computer would instantly be rendered useless.

In this situation, even returning became a risky adventure, let alone conducting any investigation within this mysterious and ancient star system.

To change this passive and frustrating situation, Hao Ren first thought of figuring out what exactly this ubiquitous divine power storm in space was. He wanted to understand its intensity, structure, operation, and most importantly—how it identified interlopers.

Everyone gathered at the control center of the outpost base, which had large holographic projection equipment and information control terminals. These could exchange and control data in real-time with the Petrified Turtle Rock Platform and the drone swarm. Nolan compiled the information returned by the drones here, creating straightforward reports and images.

"The ship dispatched a total of twenty-two exploration teams, conducting a wide-ranging survey centered on this star. This is the result of the exploration."

In the large holographic projector, the starry space quickly revealed a large number of silvery-white lines and mists. These lines and mists intertwined into a three-dimensional structure resembling a network, enveloping the entire space in an extremely complex manner. Moreover, this three-dimensional network was not fixed: it was constantly undergoing complex deformations and reorganizations every minute and every second. Some old structures would disappear, and new structures would be generated when the silvery-white lines intersected. The entire network was running like a living thing, ceaselessly and unfathomably.

Looking at this network, Hao Ren couldn't help but imagine a scene: the silvery-white lines of divine power vibrated in the universe, each time sweeping across vast spaces measured in light-years at superluminal speed. Some invisible, enormous system used these divine power lines to operate day and night. Any wanderer who strayed into it would be crushed into powder like a pebble falling into a millstone, and he himself had almost fallen into this situation not long ago.

What kind of secret was the Goddess of Creation hiding in this place? Was this enormous divine power system the secret itself, or a steel Great Wall set up to guard this secret?

"What is the range shown on this map?" Vivian asked.

Nolan's autonomous machine flew to the holographic projection, waving its many mechanical tentacles: "It only occupies less than one-fifth of the entire X Star Cluster. This is our current exploration limit—deeper regions have even more powerful divine power storms, and there are many active information eruption points. Those may be some kind of trap, and rashly intruding might trigger unforeseen consequences. Moreover, the drone swarm's activity range is very limited now; exploration teams that go too far will not receive sufficient support from the rear."

"Understood," Hao Ren nodded. "Based on the part of the divine power structure we've observed so far, can we infer that the entire X Star Cluster has similar things?"

"Basically, we can assume that," Nolan replied. "This structure has a high degree of order. From partial structures, we can deduce its overall distribution trend. In a relatively reliable model, this divine power structure covers ninety-eight percent of the entire X Star Cluster."

"I never thought such a thing was hidden in this place..." Lily clicked her tongue, looking shocked. "It's completely invisible."

"In the inactive state, the entire three-dimensional network is invisible. Only trace amounts of information fluctuations are active in the cosmic background radiation, and they are integrated with the background radiation. If the drone swarm hadn't specifically turned on multi-band detection antennas, we wouldn't have been able to discover these things at all. But once activated, this network will immediately draw an astonishing amount of energy and concentrate it in a very small area, forming the divine power storm we encountered—there is a very sensitive feedback mechanism controlling the energy drawing process. If the concentrated energy cannot destroy the 'invading foreign object,' then the energy gathered by the network will become stronger and stronger. The upper limit of this energy cannot be calculated yet, but it will certainly be enough to destroy us."

"Obviously, a very effective security system," Izaak said, crossing his arms. "The Goddess must be using it to protect something."

Lily wagged her tail: "Maybe it's that crystal planet!"

"Have you found the activation rules for this network?" Hao Ren asked again. "Why are we intercepted after taking off, but the drone swarm can come and go freely? Is it related to life signs?"

The blockade of the X Star Cluster is conditional—this has been determined. A large number of drones entering this star region did not incur any interception, but a ship carrying only a few crew members and only a few hundred meters long triggered a divine power storm of astonishing proportions. Moreover, Hao Ren had Nolan test it several times at the edge of the planetary system these past few days, and it proved that the activation of the divine power storm was quite regular.

This made him suspect that this "security system" set up by the Goddess of Creation had a filtering mechanism, specifically filtering out the intrusion of foreign life forms.

"Since we cannot read the data flowing inside this 'divine power network,' this ship cannot determine what kind of judgment mechanism it is executing during activation. But from reverse-engineering the results, we can confirm that it has a function similar to perception, and it will actively scan any entity entering space, and be able to detect the life form and energy intensity of the scanned object—this is the biggest difference between this ship and the drone swarm. This ship has a higher energy intensity than any drone, and you have brought life signs."

Nolan was speculating about the judgment mechanism of the X Star Cluster's blockade system by analyzing the differences between manned spacecraft and drone swarms. This was the most effective approach they could think of. Hao Ren followed this train of thought and listed some other differences: "Also—we have divine reaction, but the drone swarm does not; we have complete thinking, but the drones entering the X Star Cluster are only a small part of the entire collective consciousness; they can be regarded as having no complete thinking; the youneng purity used by the Petrified Turtle Rock Platform is slightly higher than the drones..."

Vivian interjected: "And maybe this interception network is just to intercept me? I should be the most special one here. I am something directly created by the Goddess of Creation, and now I have also restored the divinity left by the Goddess of Creation. No matter how you look at it, I am a conspicuous signal source like a lighthouse."

Lily glanced at her: "Then it can only be said that the Goddess of Creation was quite ill back then. Don't forget that the navigation chart to the X Star Cluster was extracted from your brain. The Goddess of Creation left a map in your brain just to have you come over and be blocked at the door?"

Hao Ren coughed twice: "Ahem, we all know that the Goddess of Creation wasn't in her right mind; she really had split personality back then."

"I think we're getting off topic," Nangong Sanba looked at everyone and said his thoughts, "Since we can't confirm which factor caused the 'security system' to be activated, why not try them one by one? First, let Nolan fly out there by herself without anyone else and see what happens. If she's intercepted, then it's the problem with the ship. If she's not intercepted, then let her take each of us out there one by one to see who gets scanned out by the security system..."

Nangong Wuyue looked at her elder brother in surprise, then suddenly flicked her tail and wrapped it around Nangong Sanba's waist, waving him around in the air with great force: "Elder brother, your idea sounds pretty good!"

Nangong Sanba was thrown around in the air, leaving afterimages everywhere: "Then...then why are you still throwing me...throwing me around!!"

Wuyue felt no guilt: "It's a habit, a celebration."

Hao Ren also quite supported Nangong Sanba's suggestion (while expressing limited sympathy for Nangong Sanba's experience): "Nolan, you can try it this way, but be very careful. If you get blocked by the divine power network in outer space, you won't be able to get back."

"Understood, I'll arrange the test when I get back," Nolan nodded, then switched the image on the holographic projection. "Also, I have another discovery about the divine power structure existing in the X Star Cluster that you should be more interested in."

The image on the holographic projection flashed, and Hao Ren saw a flat, disc-shaped structure composed of what looked like mist and dust clouds, emitting a faint light in the center of the screen. It was milky white, and there were a large number of extending jet-like bands of material at the edges of the luminous disc. Overall, it looked like a primordial dust cloud that had failed to form a star.

Hao Ren recognized these things at a glance: "Aren't these those strange energy bodies that the drone swarm found in the X Star Cluster before?"

"That's right," Nolan replied. "These energy structures are distributed throughout the X Star Cluster, and their distribution seems to be irregular. It is currently roughly estimated that there should be thousands of these things in the entire star region. A few hours ago, a probe drone approached one of the structures and took this picture from a closer distance."

Hao Ren asked curiously: "Have you figured out the function of these energy bodies?"

"Not yet, but the drone received some interesting information."

Vivian raised an eyebrow beside him: "What information?"

"Some were actively sent to the drone by the other party, and some were intercepted by the drone. This is the translated result of all the information." Nolan directly placed the information on the holographic projection.

"Unauthorized unit detected approaching - please submit contact authorization certificate or identification code.

"No valid signal confirmed, unauthorized approach prohibited, or coercive measures will be taken.

"Unable to contact central command, take independent response plan - annihilate unauthorized unit."

The next second, the edge of the cloud of light and gas that seemed to have no substance suddenly rippled with light. The hazy jets of matter instantly turned into a "beam" with elegant lines, like crystal. This curved "beam" released a large number of light beams, which was the last picture sent back by the drone.

It was destroyed.