Chapter 403: Echoes of the Quantum Storm

The technician controlling the landing ship’s visual system transmitted images that revealed nothing but endless darkness. Inside, two screens clearly showed Transformers actively operating within the ship.

From the perspective of these two Transformers, everything aboard the landing ship appeared to be in order.

After a moment’s thought, Du Qiu said, “Wake one of the active Transformer controllers and bring him to the command center.”

Soon, a member of the Consciousness Fleet stirred from sleep. He looked around in surprise until a robotic assistant stepped forward and escorted him to the command center.

Shortly, the soldier arrived at the command center.

“Reporting in, Consciousness Fleet Second Lieutenant Xu Kela,” he announced.

Du Qiu asked, “Second Lieutenant Xu, is controlling the Transformers with your consciousness on the landing ship as smooth as usual?”

“Yes, extremely smooth,” Xu replied.

Du Qiu continued, “Has the landing ship’s condition or its internal systems changed in any way? For instance, the clocks?”

“The ship’s status remains unchanged. Our fellow controllers haven’t altered its flight path, and the clocks are functioning normally,” he answered.

Song Yuanting, standing nearby, asked, “Why did you fall asleep? Weren’t you supposed to be alert? What changed?”

Xu Kela furrowed his brow, clearly recalling the moment of transformation.

After a brief pause, he explained, “At that moment, my consciousness felt unbearably heavy, and a wave of weariness overcame me. Before I knew it, I was forced into sleep.”

However, once asleep, my mind felt light again, and I could control the Transformers ahead with ease. I even got up to move around before being jolted awake.

Du Qiu seemed to understand. Apparently, a human’s consciousness is more potent when asleep, boosting their operational ability.

No wonder I always needed to sleep before—perhaps our awake state just doesn’t supply enough conscious energy.

With that in mind, Du Qiu ordered the AI Core, “Wake up another inactive Transformer controller and bring him to the command center.”

Soon, another soldier was brought before him.

“Reporting in, Second Lieutenant Deng Tao,” the soldier announced.

Song Yuanting immediately repeated his earlier inquiry.

Deng Tao pondered before replying, “I felt as if my consciousness was being severed, as though I were trapped in a dark void, unable to connect to control the Transformers ahead.”

Du Qiu paused in shock. According to Deng Tao, only two Transformer controllers remained connected while the others had been dropped.

However, even though they were disconnected, their consciousness still lingered in that mysterious space.

“Did you see the landing ship?” Du Qiu asked.

After a moment’s thought, Deng Tao replied, “No, I didn’t. I scanned all around—up, down, left, right—and all I saw was pitch-black darkness.”

Unable to understand the discrepancy, Du Qiu had the AI Core wake another Transformer controller along with a soldier responsible for the landing ship’s weapons systems.

Once at the command center, the new Transformer controller reported an experience identical to Deng Tao’s, emphasizing that he couldn’t rouse himself from sleep.

For safety, Du Qiu then instructed the AI Core to wake everyone who couldn’t control the Transformers, leaving only the one still active.

He then told Xu Kela to attempt reconnecting with his Transformer once more.

But no miracle occurred—Xu Kela simply couldn’t link up.

Meanwhile, the soldier operating the ship’s weapons was faring differently. He managed the armaments but felt his consciousness gradually growing exhausted, as if on the verge of a stupor.

After a moment of thought, Du Qiu had the AI Core wake yet another soldier operating the landing ship, whose condition mirrored that of the previous one—initially fine, now nearly lost in confusion.

Alarmed by these reports, Du Qiu quickly ordered the AI Core to wake everyone.

They soon discovered, shockingly, that two individuals could never be awakened.

A comparison of everyone’s condition revealed that those awakened later were far more listless than those who woke up earlier.

Du Qiu immediately arranged to send this group of soldiers to Kawanohoroharu for treatment aimed at boosting and restoring their consciousness energy.

Further data analysis on the two lost soldiers revealed they were the eldest among the group.

Du Qiu and Song Yuanting exchanged glances. Du Qiu remarked, “Time flows faster in that anomalous space, and it affects any consciousness bound within it.”

He added, “It turns out that consciousness, like the body, also ages!”

Song Yuanting nodded. “You’re right. It appears that our earlier belief—that a disembodied consciousness might be immortal or even outlast the body—was completely mistaken.”

Du Qiu then considered the cases of Ge Ya and Dominant. “Haven’t their consciousnesses, having detached entirely from their bodies, been alive for tens of thousands of years?” he mused.

Shaking his head, he replied, “Not necessarily. Perhaps the strength of one’s consciousness also plays a role. This is something we’ll have to leave to the scientists.”

“Boss, what are we going to do about that anomalous space point now?” someone asked.

Du Qiu ordered, “Mark that location on all star maps in the Warship AI Core system as a Level 5 danger zone!”

Ever since learning the terror of the spacetime storm, Du Qiu had established a danger zone grading system, marking these areas on Dream Technology’s star maps.

This system categorizes natural environments that could jeopardize fleet navigation, ensuring that future exploration fleets from Dream Technology deliberately avoid these hazardous zones.

Despite the looming threat of spacetime storms, over the years, a group of interstellar explorers has emerged within Dream Technology’s society.

After passing rigorous qualification tests, these pioneers earned interstellar exploration rights. Once their contributions amassed enough points to exchange for an exploration ship, they eagerly embarked on various space adventures.

The danger zone grading system helps these explorers steer clear of risky areas.

After temporarily resolving the issues with the Ark spaceship, the main fleet promptly set off on its mission, leaping through successive space gates until they reached Base 6.

Located just 10 light years from the Pleiades, the fleet could enter the system directly with only two space jumps.

Du Qiu, however, did not let the entire fleet enter; he personally led a contingent into the Pleiades.

By the time the fleet emerged from the Void, they found themselves deep within a solar system.

Every detail of the solar system was captured perfectly by the Warship’s visual observation system.

Gazing at the projected images of the solar system, Du Qiu sighed deeply.

Everything was destroyed!

Astronomers would immediately recognize this Pleiades system as a fragmented, incomplete galaxy.

The stars shone dimly, suggesting that their energy was nearing its twilight.

Within the solar system, there were only four planets—one orbiting close to the star.

The other three orbited at a distance, leaving a gap of 40 astronomical units between them.

Among these three, only one was a terrestrial planet; the other two were gas giants.

Wait—no, it should be half a terrestrial planet.

The planet closest to the Kuiper Belt was merely hemispherical.

As for the Kuiper Belt, it now held hardly any asteroids or meteoroids—it seemed as though a powerful weapon had swept through, leaving everything immaculately clean.

Du Qiu deduced that between the planet nearest to the star and the third-to-last gas giant, spanning 40 astronomical units, at least two planets had been obliterated by some high-powered weapon.

Based on his understanding of the Dominant and Ge Ya Civilizations’ weaponry, this was likely the work of a Quantum Bomb.

A Quantum Bomb is a high-energy weapon capable of triggering quantum fluctuations within a set range, annihilating all matter in its blast zone.

Dream Technology is currently channeling all its efforts into researching this weapon, aiming to harness a devastating tool worthy of a sixth-level civilization.