Xiao Yu was now completely certain: these Specter Race entities were undoubtedly the restless souls of his deceased kin. Otherwise, how could the infamous, bloodthirsty Specter Race perform such an inexplicable act of protection toward him?
“They bear no malice. Perhaps they know this area isn’t safe, that the Guardian Civilization fleet will soon arrive, and they’re taking away from danger,” Xiao Yu speculated silently.
“But where could they be taking ?”
Amid the intertwined hues of deep blue and blood red, Xiao Yu’s fleet, enveloped by the Specter Race, embarked on a strange journey to an unknown destination.
This was the fastest voyage Xiao Yu had ever experienced since arriving in this universe.
At this speed, the effects of relativity—ti dilation and length contraction—would beco exceedingly significant. Ti for Xiao Yu would pass differently than for the outside universe.
For instance, while only a second might elapse for Xiao Yu, an entire year could pass externally. High-speed motion often brought fascinating physical phenona.
Yet Xiao Yu detected no gravitational acceleration during this journey. Sohow, he had transitioned from a stationary state to a velocity nearing the speed of light without experiencing any forces.
“This feels like gravity shielding technology…” Xiao Yu mused, marveling. “The Specter Race is truly extraordinary.”
In this situation, there was nothing Xiao Yu could do but wait patiently.
From the mont he first encountered the Specter Race and the Luka fleet to this strange journey, only a few hours had passed. To Xiao Yu, it all felt like a surreal dream.
anwhile, the tens of thousands of Luka captives aboard the New Holand shared this miraculous survival. Xiao Yu observed countless Luka people kneeling, tears streaming down their faces, shouting praises as if they were thanking so great cosmic entity.
Luka Two, ever the opportunist, quickly took advantage of the mont. Observing its compatriots’ fervent gratitude, it broadcasted loudly through the New Holand’s communication system.
“The only being capable of altering the bloodthirsty nature of the Specter Race is the Great God! The Great God is watching over us, and His gaze is upon our emissary! The emissary is the chosen one of the Great God!”
“In this cruel and dark universe, the only path to survival for the Luka Civilization is to follow in the emissary’s footsteps! Don’t you see? The fleet that dared to oppose the emissary was annihilated by the Specter Race, guided by the Great God. And yet, these sa Specters turned to protect the emissary!”
“Our survival is the emissary’s blessing! Only by pledging loyalty to the emissary can we continue to receive divine favor, grow stronger, and return to the Alliance to save our people, who are suffering in turmoil!”
“Swear with ! Eternal loyalty to the emissary!” Luka Two bellowed passionately.
Emotional beings, especially in tis of crisis, are easily swayed. Xiao Yu watched as thousands of Luka people succumbed to Luka Two’s fervent speech. They knelt within the New Holand, chanting in unison with Luka Two.
“Eternal loyalty to the emissary!”
This contagious fervor spread like wildfire. Soon, the entire Luka population aboard the ship joined in the chant.
“Eternal loyalty to the emissary!”
Watching the spectacle, Xiao Yu couldn’t help but smile wryly.
“I don’t even know what the future holds for , yet you’re willing to follow ? Aren’t you afraid I’ll lead you all to ruin? Still… Luka Two is proving quite resourceful,” Xiao Yu thought.
Out loud, he proclaid, “I received the divine command of the Great God, who guided to save you. The Great God’s gaze will always be upon us, and any force that dares to oppose us will be annihilated! I will lead you all to the light!”
“Eternal loyalty to the emissary!”
“Eternal loyalty to the emissary!”
The fervent chants echoed, grating on Xiao Yu’s nerves. After delivering his speech, he promptly shut off the communication system, leaving the crazed Luka people to their frenzy aboard the New Holand.
Xiao Yu’s communication channels finally returned to silence. Staring out the viewport at the intertwined blue and red hues of the universe, his heart filled with unease.
This extraordinary state had lasted for five hours. Xiao Yu had no idea how much longer the journey would continue, nor how much ti had passed in the outside world.
“Currently, I can’t asure the exact speed, but it’s certainly above 95% of the speed of light. At 95% light speed, the ti dilation ratio is approximately 1:3.2. That ans for every five hours I experience, sixteen hours pass outside. As the speed increases beyond this, the ratio climbs dramatically, approaching infinity. I can only hope the universe hasn’t ended by the ti I exit this speed.”
Such scenarios were possible. At speeds extrely close to light speed, ti dilation could reach astronomical ratios—perhaps 1:100 billion or more. A single second for Xiao Yu might equate to 100 billion years outside, rendering the state of the universe at that point utterly unpredictable.
Fortunately, Xiao Yu’s wait wasn’t that long. After just a day, the severe redshift and blueshift he observed disappeared. This indicated that his relative velocity had slowed to near zero.
“Have I exited near-light-speed travel?” Xiao Yu felt a rush of excitent.
The starlight returned to normal. Xiao Yu’s first action upon decelerating was to determine his current location.
Looking through his instrunts, Xiao Yu observed thousands of abnormally bright stars. A quick distance asurent revealed that the farthest among them was no more than 20 light-years away, while the nearest was just 0.3 light-years distant.
These stars were enveloped in a dense dust cloud spanning dozens of light-years. They were relatively close to one another, and their ages ranged from tens of millions to over a billion years. On a cosmic scale, this made them quite young. Furthermore, their low heavy-elent content suggested they were likely second-generation stars.
This discovery reassured Xiao Yu—it indicated that only a relatively short amount of real ti had passed in the external universe.
Of course, “short” was relative. By cosmic standards, anything under a billion years wasn’t considered significant.
Once the fleet ca to a halt, Xiao Yu noticed the strange energy enveloping his ships had dissipated.
“What are my kin trying to accomplish by bringing here?” Xiao Yu wondered, feeling both curiosity and sorrow.
Once, he had lived alongside these beings on Earth. Now, upon their reunion, he had beco part of a chanical Civilization, while they had transford into the Specter Race.
In the visible spectrum, Xiao Yu couldn’t see the Specter Race. Only through his instrunts could he track their movents.
He observed that after the long journey, the energy levels of the Specter Race had dropped to less than 40% of their peak. Carrying Xiao Yu and the remnants of the Luka fleet on this interstellar voyage had evidently consud a significant amount of their energy.
As Xiao Yu watched, the Specter Race began to slowly move away from him.
“Where are you going?” he murmured, a hint of reluctance in his voice.
It seed as though the Specter Race understood his emotions. Xiao Yu’s instrunts detected a change in their radiation patterns, a fluctuation that followed a deliberate rhythm.
Xiao Yu perked up and began deciphering it.
“Treat the peaks as dashes and the troughs as dots… If decoded using Morse code… Yes, I’ve got it.”
The ssage was simple, consisting of just two characters.
“Vengeance.”
In that instant, Xiao Yu felt a surge of emotion, as though he might cry.
All doubts vanished. The Specter Race was, without question, the transford souls of his deceased kin.
They had died but had not faded into the vastness of the universe. Fueled by hatred and fury, they had beco the Specter Race—bloodthirsty and brutal. They slaughtered every civilization they encountered. Yet, when they t Xiao Yu, sothing changed.
“I will uncover the truth behind this, and I will avenge humanity!” Xiao Yu vowed silently.
“You’re still too weak. eting a Level 4 or higher civilization would be dangerous for you! Stay here with , and we’ll find a way to grow stronger together!” Xiao Yu broadcasted this ssage in the direction they were leaving.
But no response ca. On the Specter Detector, the curve representing the Specter Race’s radiation intensity grew smaller and smaller until, an hour later, it beca a flat line.
This ant the Specter Race was now over one light-hour away—about 1.1 billion kiloters.
“They’re gone,” Xiao Yu muttered, a sense of loss washing over him.
“No, wait… I still have the captured Phantoms aboard my ship. By studying them, I can explore the chanisms behind the Specter Race’s power. I might even cultivate them into a formidable force to aid in my vengeance!”
Excitent replaced Xiao Yu’s lancholy. Feeling the faint energy fluctuations emanating from the containnt chamber, he resolved.
“I will nurture you well. Together, we will grow strong and avenge our kin as soon as possible.”
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