Chapter 386: Echoes of a Distant Breakout

Warships of a cigar-like design, unmistakably belonging to the Ge Ya Civilization, sprang up from every direction. It seemed they had discovered us.

Perhaps one of our sorties scavenging for warships on the battlefield had attracted the Ge Ya Civilization’s attention and subsequent tailing.

In this sector of the galaxy, the Ge Ya Civilization clearly held the upper hand. Enclosing Base 11 with three layers on the inside and three on the outside for a decade left no doubt.

Du Qiu knew full well that in the Andromeda M31 System, the Dominant Civilization controlled two-thirds of the star territories.

At this very moment, beyond the Solar System, the Ge Ya Civilization had deployed 5,000 warships.

Among these 10,000 warships, 10 are flagships, 4,000 serve as main combatants, and 6,000 function as cruisers.

All are battle vessels, with no transport ships or support craft in sight—proof that the Ge Ya fleet was launched after meticulous reconnaissance rather than by mere chance.

Of course, that’s obvious. Which fleet accidentally appears encircling the entire Solar System?

Still, even with these warships scattered around, completely sealing off every escape route would be nearly impossible.

Du Qiu pondered how to make his escape and maximize the chance of at least one warship breaking through.

For him, the survival of even a single warship meant maintaining contact with Dreamland. If they were all annihilated by the Ge Ya Civilization, there would be nowhere left to weep.

By now, Du Qiu had constructed a make-shift fleet of 5,000 replica Level 6 main combat warships, though their firepower was only on par with Level 5 vessels.

Just as Du Qiu was about to order all fleets to disperse and break through enemy lines,

a transmission echoed through space.

“Dominant, I never expected you to develop a split consciousness. How odd—why are you hiding here? Are you planning to betray the Dominant Consciousness?”

The question left Du Qiu momentarily stunned.

How could the Ge Ya Civilization conclude that a duplicate of the Dominant Consciousness existed here?

This had to be the work of an insider.

Damn—some lingering code within the AI remnants of a Ge Ya warship must have leaked this information back to them.

It wasn’t time for an investigation, but he promptly initiated a full information blackout on that replica warship.

He needed to ensure it couldn’t send any further transmissions.

Then, Du Qiu considered how best to respond to the Ge Ya Civilization.

Perhaps this was his chance—a chance to build a relationship with them.

“Ge Ya Civilization, I am not a duplicate of the Dominant Consciousness but an independent sentient being. I am willing to coexist peacefully with your civilization.”

Du Qiu broadcasted this message into space.

“You claim to be an independent sentient being? That’s impossible! To date, the Ge Ya Alliance has contacted and united with 197,846 intelligent civilizations, yet not one has ever used the Consciousness Descent Module!”

The reply from the Ge Ya Civilization caught Du Qiu off guard.

Spanning the Milky Way and the Andromeda M31 System, the pinnacle Level 6 civilization of the Ge Ya took tens of thousands of years to unite 197,846 intelligent civilizations. Clearly, the universe isn’t overcrowded.

In contrast, among the trillions of systems in these two galaxies, fewer than 200,000 intelligent civilizations have emerged.

Truly, intelligent life is a divine favor.

What shocked Du Qiu even more was that none of these intelligent races could operate the Consciousness Descent Module. Could it be that only the Ge Ya and the Dominant have that ability?

“If the Dominant can, and you Ge Ya can, why shouldn’t I be able to?”

Du Qiu immediately retorted.

“So far, aside from the great Ge Ya and the malevolent Dominant, no other intelligent species has managed to use the Consciousness Descent Module. Are you sure you aren’t a duplicate of the Dominant Consciousness?”

The Ge Ya Civilization’s message left Du Qiu stunned once more.

Apparently, both Ge Ya and the Dominant were manifestations of the same sentience—they both could utilize the Consciousness Descent Module, and yet for years, both civilizations had been bumbling like fools.

What kind of absurdity is this?

“Let me state it clearly: I am not a duplicate of the Dominant Consciousness. I accidentally descended into a machine of the Dominant Civilization from the universe. You may call me Miracle!”

After sending this message, the Ge Ya Civilization fell silent for a moment.

Just as Du Qiu’s impatience peaked, another transmission arrived.

“Hello, Miracle. I am Ge Ya. Are you truly unrelated to the Dominant?”

Du Qiu was taken aback—he hadn’t expected the illustrious Ge Ya itself to make an appearance.

Then it dawned on him: this must be Ge Ya’s descent via the Consciousness Descent. Clearly, the method was exceedingly convenient.

If any race could perform Consciousness Descent, then no matter how far their fleet ventured—even to the universe’s edge—they could appear in person through it.

Perhaps that was the true essence of the Consciousness Descent technique.

“Hello, Ge Ya! I am Miracle. I have no affiliation with the Dominant. Initially, I accidentally descended into a machine of the Dominant Civilization and pretended to be the Dominant just to pass verification.”

“I noticed you activated the Consciousness Descent Modules on all your fleet’s warships. Aren’t you worried that the Dominant might suddenly descend and seize control of your fleet?”

Ge Ya’s remark made Du Qiu realize that upon Ge Ya’s descent, a vast white vortex had been detected.

For the past ten years, after successfully replicating the Consciousness Module, Du Qiu had immediately installed modules on all replicas, production bases, and equipment—to ensure he could descend onto any device at will.

He also knew the Dominant could descend. After extensive research, Du Qiu devised a method to block unauthorized consciousness descents.

In fact, while the Dominant’s original firewall could block descents, it couldn’t prevent the uploading of consciousness.

Luckily, when he first discovered the firewall, Du Qiu prudently modified its code before descending; otherwise, the firewall would have identified him as Ge Ya and barred him completely.

That would have cost him his chance to learn the technological secrets of the Dominant Civilization in Dreamland.

Because the Dominant couldn’t effectively block consciousness uploads while its Descent Modules were active, it chose to physically disable all such modules.

And as for why it didn’t simply remove the module—it was to ensure convenience when needed.

Similarly, the Ge Ya Civilization had developed a comparable method.

Initially, Du Qiu activated the physical switches on all Consciousness Modules to facilitate his arrivals from Dreamland, but once he learned how to block consciousness uploads, he no longer cared.

Yet, he couldn’t fathom why two rulers of Level 6 civilizations couldn’t devise a method to outright block consciousness uploads.

Hearing Ge Ya’s query, Du Qiu explained, “I set every Consciousness Module with an upload verification. Only those that pass can initiate their descent.”

“Good heavens! Are you… could you be from the Tianhuang Civilization?”

Ge Ya’s exclamation stunned Du Qiu once again.

How had the Tianhuang Civilization come into play now?

“May I ask, what is the Tianhuang Civilization? And why do you think I come from there?”

“Huh? You don’t know about the Tianhuang Civilization? It seems you truly did accidentally descend into a machine of the Dominant Civilization. Odd, because all devices of the Dominant Civilization should have their Consciousness Descent Modules physically disabled.”

【Why does Ge Ya make such a fuss? Can’t they answer their own questions?】

After another of Ge Ya’s astonished exclamations, Du Qiu inwardly cursed their evasiveness.

With no other option, he asked once more, “Could you please tell me about the Tianhuang Civilization?”

“I can—it’s a tale filled with sorrow.”