Chapter 115: The Fake Starry Sky, Yan Xia's Death

Chu once again ventured out of the Star City's core, returning to the region of the Civilization Federation.

"Manager, have you made your decision?" asked the Shared Consciousness Cluster.

Chu stood atop a tall building, its countless tiny bodies forming a structure resembling an eye, gazing at the star.

Star City was not far from the star, only 1.5 astronomical units away. They were orbiting a yellow dwarf star, about 1.1 times the mass of the Sun. This star was rather old, with a diameter 1.6 times that of the Sun, and Chu's "eye" was almost entirely obscured by the star's radiance.

Only then did it realize that the entire Star City appeared so bright beneath the eyes of living beings, rather than pitch black.

"Don't fire for now. Let me deal with some matters in this region first."

The Shared Consciousness Cluster was perplexed.

"What other matters are there in this region? Manager, are you still hesitating?"

Since Chu had already made up its mind, it wouldn't be swayed by anyone's words.

Indeed, the individual it had sent to the Civilization Federation might have been controlled, and the information it received was likely false.

However, the original location of the Civilization Federation, as observed for the first time, was still there. The weapons could still be aimed at the original capital of the Civilization Federation, Tiancang V.

The reason Chu had come to this region was that it had thought of something.

"Yan Xia created a clone of himself, and the one we captured earlier was just the clone."

"And by the time we found out about his real body, he had already boarded the battleship. How did the Star City become so lax, allowing a life form to reach the interstellar port without being noticed?"

This was obviously impossible.

Chu discovered this loophole, so it was now certain that Yan Xia's real body was still inside the Star City and would try to escape from the Star City next.

After searching the Tiangong, they found a glowing life form inside, further supporting its conjecture.

A week later...

As expected, Chu observed unusual activities among the Civilization Federation's life forms.

...

After waiting for a week, Yan Xia decided to initiate his plan.

Now should be the time when Chu was most relaxed. The area they were in was not the very center of the Star City, and to reach a position from which they could escape, they would have to travel a distance of 20 million kilometers.

Therefore, the best way was to leave upwards.

However, this would expose them to the sight of the Olive Branch Civilization.

Fortunately, Ella had made preparations to rescue Yan Xia.

A few days ago, an asteroid had flown overhead, and although it seemed to have moved away, it had left behind countless tiny mechanical devices.

These devices were now floating above the Star City.

"Are we all ready? This will be our only chance to leave."

"The upper levels have been controlled by the Olive Branch Civilization. We can only save ourselves now."

Yan Xia was using a very low-level wireless earpiece to communicate, a method that was easy to detect but often overlooked due to its low frequency.

This was a clever trick, albeit one that seemed ridiculous to anyone.

But it was better to have some cleverness than none at all. Apart from the tachyon communication, this was the most advanced communication technology they had, and it would soon be cracked.

"Let's set the time for two and a half hours from now."

"At that time, a solar flare will appear on the main sequence star's surface, which might help a little."

Yan Xia was very alert, and after conveying the information, he crushed his earpiece.

Time passed slowly, a long 210 minutes.

After 200 minutes, their naked eyes could see the star's radiance brightening a few degrees. The temperature in outer space was high, but fortunately, they all had liquid metal armor to protect them.

The liquid metal armor would accelerate them to 14,000 km/s after they left the Star City's gravitational influence, although it would take some time, about five hours, to reach this speed. But at least there was hope.

210 minutes passed.

"Begin the plan."

Because the Star City was filled with soldiers, all life forms followed the plan precisely.

They began to fly towards the sky, and on the ground, there were still their original shadows.

From a distance, these shadows appeared normal, but they were actually electromagnetic projections that simulated the electromagnetic fields emitted by living beings, making them seem like normal life forms to the Olive Branch Civilization's perception.

And when they left the surface of the Star City, millions of life forms seemed to disappear.

The tiny mechanical devices brought by the asteroid had only one function: projection. They simulated the starry sky as seen from the Star City, not only in terms of light but also radiation, making everything seem reasonable.

Chu watched all of this.

It had to admit that if it hadn't guessed, it might have been deceived, allowing some of the life forms to escape.

These projection technologies were specifically designed to counter the Olive Branch Civilization's senses. The technology was extremely sophisticated, and although it seemed like a simple projection, it incorporated numerous techniques.

These included optical projection, microwave simulation, energy simulation, gravitational manipulation, and more. This projection perfectly targeted the mechanical senses, sensory organs, and various detectors and probes of the Olive Branch Civilization's life forms.

"What a pity, Yan Xia. I wanted to let you leave with some dignity."

...

Yan Xia left the Star City in the middle of the group.

He didn't want to be the leader or the straggler.

After leaving the Star City's gravitational influence, the tiny robots that had surrounded them began to gather around Yan Xia, forming a liquid asteroid shell that enveloped him.

Inside the shell, Yan Xia breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's time to leave this place."

The asteroid began to move, quickly approaching other asteroids within the star system and then heading towards the star in a very physically accurate manner. After orbiting the star for a week, it would be flung out of the star system, completing the escape plan.

Yan Xia's entire body gradually became covered in liquid armor, and he was about to enter a state of hibernation. In a few hundred years, he would enter the cosmic silk road, and after a few thousand years, he would return to the Civilization Federation.

At this moment, a voice was heard.

"Are you leaving like this?"

Yan Xia's eyes widened in surprise; it was Chu's voice.

The shell instantly collapsed, and he saw Chu less than 100 meters away, while behind him, countless life forms of the Civilization Federation were captured and shot down.

The plan had failed.

"I didn't expect you to hide so deeply, Yan Xia," Chu sighed.

Yan Xia calmed himself down and said, "You should have known, Chu. I was going to leave this place."

"I'm just a small, insignificant person, a tiny messenger sent to such a distant place. Why are you so obsessed with targeting me?"

"Let me go. Wouldn't that be better?"

Chu, in its human form, shook its head gently.

"A small, insignificant person? That's what I thought at first, but the Civilization Federation has paid such a high price to save you. Don't you think it's a bit naive to say that now?"

"The millions of life forms here can leave, but you must stay."

"That's what I thought at first, but then I realized that your existence would always bring some instability, which makes it difficult for me."

"Still, thank you, Yan Xia. Your first fake death prepared me for your real death. It doesn't seem as bad as I imagined."

"As the true ruler, I should have changed and become colder, without the kindness I once had."

"So, Yan Xia... goodbye!"

Chu turned and left.

A scorching laser struck the metal body encasing Yan Xia, and the temperature instantly rose to 10 million degrees Celsius. No substance could remain solid at this temperature, let alone a fragile life form.

Chu's resolute action demonstrated its transformation at that moment.

It had chosen its civilization over its friendship with Yan Xia.

The original naive idea had been eradicated from its mind, and it would become a true leader.