Chapter 334: Black Threads in the Void

There were these black, thread-like strands in the pitch-black void that were almost impossible to notice.

When even one or two of these black strands collided with a patrol ship of the Dominant Civilization, the area around its warship would light up brilliantly without suffering any damage.

But if around ten such strands struck simultaneously, the patrol ship would explode into countless fragments amidst a dazzling burst of light.

“Energy shields—the warships of the Dominant Civilization must have them!”

Du Qiu instantly recalled the concept, one frequently mentioned in many Earth sci-fi novels, based on the information he had gathered.

A dedicated research team had already been tasked with studying electromagnetic shields, which effectively counter physical attacks.

Yet energy shields were far superior, capable of repelling all types of assaults, their potency determined by the ship’s onboard power.

Du Qiu’s eyes gleamed with envy; if his own warship were equipped with an energy shield, even those built with Level-3 or Level-4 Civilization technology would pale in comparison.

While Du Qiu pondered this, the close-quarters battle had rapidly escalated into an all-out melee.

The warships of the Ge Ya Civilization were relentlessly targeted by the Dominant Civilization fleet; their numerical inferiority rendered their shields ineffective, reducing them to cosmic dust.

Watching such formidable warships burst into splendid fireworks only to disintegrate into stardust left Du Qiu with an inexplicable sense of loss.

In the vast universe, there is never one invincible warship—only ever stronger adversaries.

Just as Du Qiu lamented for the Ge Ya Civilization, an abrupt turn of events occurred.

Near the original spherical defense formation of the Dominant Civilization fleet, an enemy fleet suddenly emerged in the void!

Although small in number—only ten ships—they were immense, each rivaling the size of a flagship from the Dominant fleet.

The moment these warships appeared, they focused their fire on the flagship at the center of the formation.

Within moments, under such intense firepower, the massive flagship of the Dominant fleet buckled; once its shield was breached, the entire warship erupted in a blinding flash!

Du Qiu was utterly shocked—such an enormous flagship had been obliterated in no time.

He clearly observed that the ten flagship-class warships of the Ge Ya fleet unleashed not only the familiar black strands but also an enigmatic wave-like force.

Suddenly, an overwhelming sense of impending crisis gripped him.

The Ge Ya fleet was poised to win the assault, and wouldn’t his carefully managed ship AIs be completely annihilated by them?

If that happened, wouldn’t he lose all contact with the Dominant Civilization?

With that thought, Du Qiu immediately issued orders to the ship AIs.

“The flagship has been destroyed. We’ve lost this battle. We must retreat immediately!”

The ship AI responded promptly, “Lord Dominant, shall I relay your orders to the rest of the fleet?”

After a brief pause, Du Qiu replied, “In my name, issue the following command: Order 100 main warships along with all patrol and escort ships to block the enemy’s pursuit at all costs, while the remaining main ships ensure your orderly withdrawal from the battlefield!”

“Yes, Lord Dominant!”

Following Du Qiu’s orders, the Dominant fleet in the void swiftly reconfigured.

Over 300 main warships quickly withdrew from the battlefield, while another 100 braced themselves to hold back the Ge Ya fleet’s primary assault.

Meanwhile, the ten flagship-class warships of the Ge Ya fleet were harried by patrol and escort ships within the spherical defense formation, preventing any acceleration in their pursuit.

During this process, Du Qiu began monitoring the shifting positions of the white vortexes associated with the main warship AIs over the fleet network.

At that moment, Du Qiu planned to seize full control of the AIs of the 300-plus main warships; however, he exercised caution, knowing that if his commands conflicted with those assigned for blocking duties, the consequences could be dire.

After these main warships executed a spatial jump, Du Qiu observed that the more than 300 white vortexes were now scattered far apart.

According to the ship AI’s sensory system, the spatial leap spanned an astonishing five light-years!

Du Qiu was stunned that a fleet network separated by five light-years could still maintain connectivity—and he couldn’t help but feel a tinge of envy.

But there was no time for sentimentality; he quickly descended onto the other warships via the network and immediately rewrote their core programs.

Having done this before, the task was repeated with swift efficiency.

After the fleet completed its second five-light-year jump, Du Qiu had successfully converted the AIs of 356 main warships into his subordinates.

The numbering of these ship AIs was nearly consecutive, and Du Qiu finally grasped the significance behind their codes.

For instance, the first main warship AI he commandeered, Ship AI 4220233166—the initial digit ‘4’ signified it was a fourth-level intelligence within the Dominant Civilization.

The following digits ‘220’ denoted a specific region of the Dominant Civilization, while the subsequent ‘2’ indicated it was part of the region’s second subordinate fleet.

The next digit ‘3’ identified it as a third-tier or main warship, with the remaining numbers serving as its unique identifier.

“Lord Dominant, should we return to Base Galaxy 11 in Region 220 and issue a distress signal to the base?”

Although these ship AIs would no longer betray Du Qiu, he hadn’t entirely dismissed the Dominant Civilization as an enemy; their memory banks still retained details of their original assignments, prompting such inquiries.

After a moment’s thought, Du Qiu asked, “Are we currently capable of gathering resources to build or repair warships ourselves?”

“We cannot. To do that, we’d need a Level-6 Fabricator!”

Du Qiu felt a twinge of helplessness—commandeering half of the main warship fleet was all for naught without that class of fabricator, leaving them fundamentally resource-less.

A rapid search through the ship AIs’ knowledge bases allowed Du Qiu to piece together the entire hierarchy of the Dominant Civilization’s AI system.

At its apex was the Dominant—undoubtedly the very AI that had once betrayed the Pleiades Civilization.

Beneath it were the Administrators, governing the 360 regions of the Dominant Civilization.

The third tier comprised the Commanders, with each region having 12 flagship warships centered around a space fortress that served as the Commander’s nexus.

Below the Commanders were 12 secondary fleets per region; half of these warships rested in the base galaxy while the others undertook patrol, mining, escort, and various other missions.

Subsequently, the fourth-level ship AIs and the fifth-level Soldier Units formed the armed forces, followed by the production systems.

At the very bottom were the Level-6 Fabricators, then the Level-7 Energy Suppliers, Level-8 Custodians, Level-9 Processors, and finally the Level-10 Producers.

Clearly, the Dominant Civilization’s AI framework was inherently designed for warfare, with the entire production system dedicated to serving the fleet—whose purpose was to counter the enemy Ge Ya Civilization.

Currently, Du Qiu’s secondary fleet had been decimated by the Ge Ya Civilization, meaning it would normally have to retreat to its home base galaxy.

There, a corresponding Fabricator would surely be available to rebuild warships and restore the fleet’s secondary status.

Du Qiu hesitated; without returning to base, drifting through space would halt production and maintenance, leading to inevitable warship deterioration over prolonged journeys.

Although Du Qiu longed to escort these warships back to the Solar System, the fleet’s current coordinates were unknown—in the absence of star maps, how could they navigate to the Solar System?

If they returned to base, Du Qiu worried he wouldn’t be able to seize immediate control of the Commanders, an eventuality that would undoubtedly expose him.

Clearly, once exposed, the Dominant would unleash its entire might to eliminate him, for he alone posed a threat to the very foundations of their civilization.