They were two different universes, so no matter how violent the explosion in the small universe was, it could not affect the main universe.

Having finally become a true Level 7 Civilization and, in passing, wiped out all members of the Andromeda Galaxy Alliance, Xiao Yu no longer had anything to do here. However, he still planned to remain in the Andromeda Galaxy for a while, to explore the entire Andromeda Galaxy and appreciate its exotic scenery, so different from that of the Milky Way. Only after he finished exploring the Andromeda Galaxy would he head to other galaxies, either to continue exploring or to search for other Level 7 Civilizations for mutual exchange.

Among the warships Xiao Yu had built, the most advanced Star-Class battleships could reach a cruising speed of one thousand five hundred times the speed of light, while even the slowest of them could still reach one thousand two hundred times the speed of light. At such speeds, it would not take Xiao Yu very long to explore the entire Andromeda Galaxy.

“Flame Civilization, from this moment on, the entire Andromeda Galaxy belongs to you. It is time for you to leave.” Xiao Yu said.

The time for parting had arrived. Xiao Yu had no interest in bringing the Flame Civilization along on his journey through the universe. Every civilization should have its own independent path of development, and Xiao Yu had no intention of changing that.

The Flame Civilization also seemed to know that separation was inevitable. After a brief silence, its leader replied, “We thank you, great Sweepers Civilization. Without you, our civilization would have already been destroyed. What you are about to undertake is a great journey through the universe. At present, our Flame Civilization does not yet have the ability to follow in your footsteps. We will leave now and wish you a smooth journey. Perhaps at some point in the future, we too will follow your trail and set foot on the road you once walked.”

“I will be waiting for that day.” Xiao Yu replied with a smile.

The Flame Civilization slowly maneuvered its fleet away from Xiao Yu’s fleet and, using curvature flight, entered the vast depths of the universe, vanishing from Xiao Yu’s sight.

Xiao Yu was in a very good mood. A new door had fully opened before him. Behind that door, endless mysteries and riches awaited Xiao Yu’s exploration.

“Perhaps I should not be in such a hurry to leave.” Xiao Yu thought. “Energy may exist in different forms. Whether it exists as space or as matter, it only transforms from one form to another, and will not disappear for no reason. In that case, after I triggered the detonation of the entire small universe’s space, what will that small universe become? This is a very interesting question. I might as well stay here and explore it after the explosion in the small universe subsides.”

Strictly speaking, there seemed to be some contradiction in this. After all, the explosion was happening within space. It was like people used to say that an explosion occurred at a certain place, and that ‘place’ was a spatial concept. Yet at this moment, within the small universe, it was space itself that had been detonated. If space no longer existed, what explosion was there to speak of?

But Xiao Yu could not find a suitable word to describe this situation. After all, the space and matter of the small universe were all energy. Although they had been transformed into other forms, they definitely still existed. What Xiao Yu wanted to know was the state in which they now existed. Xiao Yu speculated that the three-dimensional main universe might have undergone a similar situation in its earliest formation. Exploring the subsequent evolution of this small universe would help Xiao Yu understand the true face of the three-dimensional main universe.

When the small universe had still existed stably, the flow of time inside it had been the same as that of the main universe. But now it had been destroyed. It was uncertain whether space itself still existed, let alone time.

“Perhaps the result of the explosion has already appeared there by now.” Xiao Yu pondered, and began using various precision instruments to probe the state of that small universe through its gravity, spatial fluctuations, and other aspects.

The results, however, disappointed Xiao Yu. The small universe seemed to have vanished into thin air. The main universe could not detect any trace of its existence at all.

This was a very incredible situation. Xiao Yu silently considered the problem. “The four fundamental forces are intrinsic attributes of matter, and they cannot disappear. Pure energy does not exist. Where there is energy, there must be space and matter, and thus there must be gravity. Yet now I cannot detect any trace of it. This does not conform to common sense.”

Xiao Yu contemplated many unexpected possibilities. For example, the intense explosion might have caused the small universe to undergo displacement in the fourth-dimensional direction and leave its original position, and because it was now too far away, Xiao Yu could not detect any trace of it. Or perhaps there were other reasons. The number of possible explanations was infinite, yet Xiao Yu did not intend to give up.

To discover the unknown, to understand the unknown, to resolve the unknown, this was the standard process of technological advancement. Discovering a phenomenon that could not be explained was a good thing for a technological civilization. If the world contained no more unknowns, it could only mean one of two things. Either this civilization’s technology had reached the peak of the universe and it had fully grasped the workings of the cosmos, or its technological development had gone astray.

Where there was the unknown, there would be the drive to explore. Having discovered an unknown, how could Xiao Yu possibly let it go so easily? At the moment, there was nothing urgent weighing on his shoulders. Xiao Yu had plenty of time to explore this region. If he truly found nothing after a long search, leaving would not cost him anything. On the contrary, if he discovered something, it would be of great significance. Xiao Yu’s technology might once again leap forward and advance into an even higher tier of civilization.

Thus Xiao Yu’s fleet remained here. To verify whether it was positional deviation that led to the failure of detection, Xiao Yu expanded his search range, probing a vast region spanning several thousand light years. To verify whether other causes might lead to similar phenomena, Xiao Yu also conducted many other attempts. Yet the result was the same. Xiao Yu still found nothing.

“This is impossible.” Xiao Yu murmured. “How could a small universe with a diameter of one thousand light years simply disappear without a trace? Something I have not yet understood must have happened here.”

Xiao Yu simply put aside his plans to explore the Andromeda Galaxy for the time being and stationed himself here, working on the development of a Star Cluster-Class battleship while continuing to search for the traces of the small universe.

Because he already had the new-type Star-Class battleships as a foundation, Xiao Yu’s new-type warship construction theories were essentially mature. Building a Star Cluster-Class battleship was a technical difficulty for Xiao Yu, not a scientific one.

A quantitative change could also trigger a qualitative change, so in this sense, the Star Cluster-Class battleship was fundamentally different from the various classes below it. The internal space of a Star Cluster-Class battleship was simply too vast. It was large enough to contain an entire star system.

Level 7 Civilizations did not have small universes. Xiao Yu had realized this just after he became a Level 7 Civilization. The reason Level 7 Civilizations did not possess small universes like Level 6 Civilizations was obviously not because they lacked the ability to create them, but because they had no need to. With a Star Cluster-Class battleship whose internal space was so enormous, what need was there to build a small universe?

This was only the general situation though. Exceptional cases might exist in the universe. There might well be Level 7 Civilizations that specialized in the development of small universes as their path of advancement. Such things could not be ruled out. In this universe, what strange thing could not happen?

The construction requirements for a Star Cluster-Class battleship were far more complex than those for a Star-Class battleship. This was not just reflected in the higher requirements for construction materials. It also meant that one had to possess sufficiently profound understanding of space. Xiao Yu was still just a little bit short in this area.

So Xiao Yu turned once more to refining his space models, conducting deeper exploration into space itself. The Star-Class battleship Science once again became the greatest devourer of Xiao Yu’s computing power. Inside the vast internal space of the Star-Class battleship Science, countless scientific instruments were operating at all times, generating massive amounts of scientific data every second for Xiao Yu to analyze and study.

The technological foundation of Xiao Yu’s civilization advanced steadily, and finally, after thirty years, he achieved a critical breakthrough. With this breakthrough in technology, the last obstacle to building a Star Cluster-Class battleship also disappeared.

Xiao Yu then dispatched long-range fleets to transport dozens of stars from the surrounding starry regions to this place. With abundant material resources at hand, he officially began the construction of the Star Cluster-Class battleship.

According to Xiao Yu’s plans, the Star Cluster-Class battleship would have a hull roughly the size of the former Planet-Class spaceships, and a maximum cruising speed of one thousand six hundred times the speed of light. Beyond that, its defensive power, offensive power, instantaneous maneuverability, and many other aspects would all be greatly improved compared to the Star-Class battleships.

During the construction of the Star Cluster-Class battleship, Xiao Yu once again became aware of the most serious limitation on his technological progress.

“My computing power is still somewhat lacking.” Xiao Yu lamented silently. “Although my computational technology has made many major breakthroughs over the past several hundred thousand years, in the face of the current situation, insufficient computing power is still the biggest shortcoming restricting my development. I have not even chosen my development direction yet, and I am already running into a lack of computing power, let alone when I become an advanced Level 7 Civilization and choose to develop in all directions.”

“Research into computational technology should be placed in the highest priority. It is the foundation of all my scientific development. Without it, there is nothing. I wonder whether there exists, in this universe, a Level 7 Civilization whose specialty lies in the direction of computation. If such a civilization exists, and if I could obtain its computational science, that would be ideal…” Xiao Yu thought to himself.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep