Chapter 315: A Box
In this stellar system, Xiao Yu's consciousness split into billions of strands, overseeing the construction efforts across the entire system. On the far side of the moon, all kinds of large-scale mining bases had already begun construction. In synchronous orbit, the preliminary plans for shipyards capable of building Nation-Class ships were underway. Countless precision parts factories and forging workshops were all working busily.
More than one hundred species that had already become subordinate to Xiao Yu were aware that he had discovered a new intelligent lifeform. This news had left them deeply uneasy, as it might threaten their current standing. In response, Xiao Yu gave them appropriate reassurances, explaining that he would never overlook any scientist with research capability, which finally allowed them to calm down a little.
At this moment, they were working to absorb the technologies acquired from the Molian Civilization. These technologies were intricate and profound, touching upon every field imaginable. Building a single Nation-Class ship was far from a matter of mastering just one or two types of technology. Just think about it, a massive ship twenty kilometers long, weighing hundreds of millions or even several billion tons, how much technological capability was necessary to construct such a thing?
There was still some time before these technologies could be fully analyzed. What Xiao Yu was doing now was only the early preparations.
And then there was the most important project, constructing the giant Negative Matter Cannon. That Level 4 Alien Beast had already caused Xiao Yu more than enough trouble, making him wish he could destroy it immediately. Among Xiao Yu's arsenal, there seemed to be only one weapon capable of delivering a truly decisive blow to the creature in an instant, and that was the Negative Matter Cannon. However, a Negative Matter Cannon with the power output of a Stellar Cannon was not something that could be built overnight. Creating such a thing was even more complicated than constructing a Nation-Class ship and would take at least several decades to complete. During this period, Xiao Yu would simply have to remain vigilant and guard against the beast causing more problems.
On the planet's surface, the spectacular meteor shower continued, but Xiao Yu had already lost interest in watching it further. He didn't even bother to recover the body he'd made, instead, he simply manipulated it to step off the cliff.
As Xiao Yu had predicted, the meteor shower lasted more than twenty days. The planet's inhabitants went from initial awe to eventual numbness. After all, no matter how beautiful something is, if you see too much of it, it loses its wonder. Xiao Yu estimated that for decades to come, no creature would find any excitement in meteor showers again.
However, the meteor shower did bring Xiao Yu an unexpected discovery.
His computer terminals had already replaced all original government leadership, becoming the true rulers of the planet. At that moment, in a County-Level terminal center, a staff member was leading a figure who looked like a farmer into the chamber.
The staff member explained, "Great god, this farmer says it found something strange in its field. It appears to have fallen from the sky during the meteor shower. It did not dare to claim it as its own, so it has come to offer it to you."
Hearing this, Xiao Yu turned his eyes toward the square object the creature was holding.
It was clearly a box. Overall, it had a pale blue hue, about one decimeter in length. Judging by the way the farmer held it, it did not seem heavy; otherwise, it could never have lifted it in its hands.
"Fallen from the sky? Could it be that this object had been hidden inside the asteroid all along, hurtling toward the planet with the rocky mass, and then, as the rock burned away in the atmosphere, this remained behind?"
"I understand. Leave the object here and let it go." Xiao Yu nodded with feigned solemnity and gave the order.
The farmer bowed once more to Xiao Yu before retreating. The government staff member, however, stepped forward again and continued, "God, these are the official documents received today up to this moment. They require your attention."
"Set them there." Xiao Yu nodded.
Supported by vast computational power, Xiao Yu was letting the beings of this planet truly experience what efficiency meant. No matter how complex the matter, in Xiao Yu's hands it was as simple as one plus one. And because the terminals at every level of government were all networked, each was Xiao Yu's processing node, coordination among institutions posed no challenge at all. Most importantly, Xiao Yu's consciousness was connected to every network and every surveillance device in this world. This, at the root, eliminated any possibility of deception.
Xiao Yu was transforming this world in the most fundamental ways according to his vision. For Xiao Yu, resources were never an issue, under the support of elemental decay technology, any material could serve as fuel. Manpower was no issue either, the skies were filled with an inexhaustible supply of robots standing by. No problem was truly a problem. Xiao Yu was confident that in a year's time, he could remake this world entirely.
After spending less than a fraction of a second to finish processing the day's official business, Xiao Yu shifted his attention to the box.
From the first glance, Xiao Yu had confirmed one thing, this box was not something of his own making, nor was it made by the intelligent beings of this planet. It seemed to have been manufactured using some kind of technology even he did not yet command. In other words, the technological content of this box surpassed his current level.
"What is this thing?" Xiao Yu's curiosity was greatly stirred. The conditions here were too crude, so Xiao Yu flicked the box lightly into the air, and an invisible-technology flying robot caught it at once, swiftly carrying it high into the sky. There, it was loaded into a Village-Class ship standing by, which immediately powered up and flew toward the base on the far side of the moon.
This entire process took less than half an hour. After thirty minutes, the box was already inside the Shanghai, a ship equipped with the most advanced analytical instruments.
Inside the Shanghai, Xiao Yu used every analysis method he knew to examine the box. These procedures took about half an hour, and when they were all exhausted, Xiao Yu reached a conclusion.
"The material of this object… seems to be hydrogen."
Yes, precisely the most common, most ordinary element in the universe hydrogen. Hydrogen element was not the same as hydrogen gas. In this box, the protons and electrons of the hydrogen atoms seemed to have been compressed in some way, arranged in an extremely dense configuration, forming this incredibly resilient yet lightweight unknown substance.
Xiao Yu still remembered that, back on the Arrow Beast homeworld, the 90s Model Spaceship he had acquired seemed to have been made using this technology.
"This is without doubt the technology of a Level 6 Civilization." Xiao Yu silently pondered. "Why was there a box like this hidden inside an ancient asteroid? And why did it contain such advanced technology? Could it be connected to that Taihao Civilization? I don't think that's necessarily so. This kind of technology doesn't seem rare among Level 6 Civilizations, Taihao could master it, and other civilizations could as well. But no matter what, this is clearly an artifact of a Level 6 Civilization."
"Then, let's try opening it." Xiao Yu considered, but soon discovered yet another thorny problem.
"How do I open it?"
Although this material's technological content was extremely high, it was not indestructible. At least, Xiao Yu currently possessed the means to destroy it. However, a box was typically meant to contain something. Xiao Yu was deeply curious about what might be inside. If he resorted to brute force, he worried he would damage whatever it contained.
Naturally, there was nothing like a keyhole on this box. Its lid fit onto the body with perfect precision. Even when Xiao Yu directed the robots to apply maximum force, they could not pry it open.
"There seem to be some markings on it." Xiao Yu noticed. He secretly tried several decryption methods he was familiar with, but every result was gibberish.
"This, this…"
Xiao Yu, who could destroy a planet or inflict serious damage on a star, found himself, in this moment, completely stymied by a tiny box. The gap in technological levels revealed itself once again, plain as day.
"Hmm? This doesn't seem to be text at all, but simply illustrations. If this dot is taken as a star, then the other dot must be a planet, with the planet orbiting the star… The other areas also show similar pairings, but the distances between the stars and planets are different."
"What does this mean?" Xiao Yu thought of a possibility. "Perhaps applying different gravitational forces to different parts of the box is the key to opening it. The specific strength to apply, it's marked right here…"
For Xiao Yu, achieving this was not difficult. He quickly brought over the relevant instruments, modified them slightly, and placed the box inside. The device activated, and within the framework of the Grand Unified Theory, energy was transformed into gravity and applied to the box.
Then, under Xiao Yu's watchful gaze, the box abruptly opened, releasing a wave of milky-white light. Accompanying the glow was a voice message.
"I am Trolor…"