Chapter 405: A Gambit of Quantum and Code

Du Qiu was busy researching methods to manufacture core components for the Quantum Bomb when he heard the report—without giving it a second thought.

After all, whether that Special Mixed Fleet arrived early or late, once they showed up, they’d be nothing more than a meal he’d devour with gusto.

But minutes later, an emergency alert from his base crackled in: a Level One fleet of the Dominant Civilization had appeared outside the base’s star system, and contact had already been made.

“Ah, since when did the Dominant Civilization lock onto my base? And why send a Special Mixed Fleet to attack it?”

In that moment, Du Qiu realized that the message sent by the Special Mixed Fleet to Base 11—ordering an attack on a Ge Ya Alliance base—was referring to his own base.

The enemy boasted the might of two Level One fleets while his base had only one. Although he could send the Level One fleet guarding the space gate to reinforce, his warships simply couldn’t match their power.

With numbers evenly matched, they were no contest at all.

Even if he dispatched his sole Level One fleet for backup, it would probably be overwhelmed.

Lost in thought, Du Qiu devised a plan.

He decided to have his Level One fleet—along with the unit guarding the space gate—swing back for reinforcement, while he personally led a Level Two fleet from Base 11 through the space gate back to the base.

Meanwhile, in the base’s star system the Dominant Civilization’s Special Mixed Fleet had already launched its assault. Its flagship—a colossal Space Bastion—lurched at the rear of the fleet, shielded by a ring of flagships.

While coordinating his fleet to work in tandem with the long-range defense fortresses on Kuiper Belt planets, moons, and satellites, Du Qiu led his Level Two fleet on a space jump out of the base star system.

After several jumps, his Level Two fleet circled around to the enemy’s rear. Once in position, Du Qiu ordered his ships to close in.

Even before his arrival, the commander of Base 11 had reported that a patrol fleet from his defense zone was near the Special Mixed Fleet and ready to join the fight.

At that moment, control was to be unified under the Special Mixed Fleet’s commander.

The leader of the Special Mixed Fleet saw nothing amiss—after all, his fleet was operating within Base 11’s defensive zone, and a nearby patrol fleet was entirely expected.

Especially as it was that very Base 11 patrol fleet that had uncovered the Ge Ya Alliance infiltrators; they had deliberately swapped intel, pretending not to notice the disguised enemy.

In reality, they reported the anomaly. While they didn’t know exactly how many enemy forces were in the base, a Special Mixed Fleet composed of two Level One fleets should suffice.

And so unfolded today’s unexpected assault.

The commander methodically launched the attack, though the enemy’s defenses remained robust and the battle grew tense.

At that moment, as Du Qiu’s Level Two fleet arrived, the Special Mixed Fleet’s commander immediately integrated their network and issued battle orders.

What the AI in command failed to anticipate was that, in short order, the Dominant would make their presence known.

“My Lord Dominant, Commander 22012 reporting—we are executing the extermination of the Ge Ya Alliance infiltrators,” the AI announced.

Du Qiu replied nonchalantly, “Good work. I’m going to check out how this base got infiltrated, and while I’m at it, I need to update some of your protocols.”

As he spoke, he swiftly modified the underlying code of Commander 22012 with expert precision.

“My Lord Dominant, I’m in the midst of battle—won’t these code changes affect my performance?” the AI inquired.

Du Qiu was surprised by the question; after all, Commander 22011 at Base 11 had barely uttered a word before.

“I initiated my descent into battle to verify a few things. It won’t take long!”

With that, Du Qiu completed the modifications swiftly—a skill honed by his previous experience with another commander.

Meanwhile, as the battle raged on, the Negative Matter Cannon from his base fired relentlessly while the Dominant Civilization’s fleet struck with full force. Combat raged along the Kuiper Belt and in several other hot zones.

This was the climactic battle between level-six civilizations.

Thanks to short-range superluminal travel and space jumps, there was no clear front or rear in these fleet maneuvers.

At that point, Du Qiu’s own Space Bastions were unleashing a fierce assault on the Special Mixed Fleet’s flagship—the massive Space Bastion itself.

Amidst the chaos, Du Qiu completed his descent and code modifications and then, under the banner of Commander 22012, broadcast orders across the network instructing to activate the physical switch for the consciousness module.

He then ordered the entire fleet to fall back temporarily and disengage from the fight!

Through the network, Du Qiu unleashed a virus-like update program that altered the underlying code of all commanders, soldier units, and devices.

Simultaneously, he commanded his base and fleet to cease fire.

In an instant, where the battle had once raged fiercely both inside and outside the base’s star system, hostilities halted as warships quickly pulled away.

Within roughly five minutes, the battlefield transformed from intense combat to a formal fleet review.

In those short minutes, both sides lost warships equivalent to an entire Level Two fleet.

Just imagine: if an interstellar battle with such losses among intelligent forces were to last any longer, they wouldn’t have enough ships left to operate.

This also highlights a key strength of the Dominant Civilization—their fleets, entirely controlled by AI, never run short in numbers.

Yet in the end, that very advantage became their greatest weakness against Du Qiu.

Thus, the Dominant Civilization’s Special Mixed Fleet fell into Du Qiu’s grasp.

For over thirty years, Du Qiu had meticulously researched this tactic. He developed a virus-like program that rapidly spread through networks to modify the underlying code of AI.

With the descent of the highest-level AI in any network, one could issue orders to activate the physical switch for its consciousness module.

Once that switch was flipped, it allowed for deep-level modifications of the AI.

This accidental discovery, born of years of research, was the very reason the Dominant never dared arbitrarily activate the consciousness module switch on their AI systems.

The Dominant had assumed that merely holding back Ge Ya was sufficient—they never expected someone like Du Qiu to emerge.

Had it not been for the Dominant’s efforts to prevent Ge Ya from developing any special viruses, the civilization would not have had a singular, interconnected network but rather isolated networks that only linked up for verification when needed.

Du Qiu might very well have toppled the Dominant Civilization in one decisive move.

After seizing the fleet mid-battle, Du Qiu immediately ordered Commander 22012 to report back, confirming the occupation of the Ge Ya Alliance base and announcing that they would proceed to Base 11 for resupply.

From Commander 22012, Du Qiu learned that the Special Mixed Fleet was composed of warships drawn from Base 12 and Base 15.

Under the command of Base 12’s leader, the fleet matched the strength of two Level One fleets, though it boasted only a single Space Bastion.

The Special Mixed Fleet was set to advance to the frontline, intensifying the assault on the Ge Ya Alliance with the aim of annihilating them as quickly as possible.

However, in doing so, they would have to pass through at least five bases, with the frontline fleet comprising half of the Dominant Civilization’s total forces.

Du Qiu’s mind raced—if he could leverage this fleet to seize those five bases, he might even be able to network all the Dominant fleet forces on the frontline under his command.

Then, even if the Dominant Civilization discovered the problem, they’d be left with only half their strength—perhaps enough for a Ge Ya alliance to mount a comeback.

And if no one noticed, he would continue in kind, capturing even more fleets and bases with minimal bloodshed.

Before long, the Dominant Civilization would be transformed into what could only be described as the Miracle Civilization.