The Molian Civilization’s Supercomputing Center was located 500 meters underground. The geology here was the most stable on the entire planet. This deep underground layer had long since been transformed by the Molian Civilization into something indestructible. Even if oceans turned into fields and fields into oceans on the planet’s surface, it would not affect the safety of the Supercomputing Center. However, the explosion of a star was not something the Supercomputing Center could withstand.
The effects of a stellar explosion were comprehensive, not limited to the planet’s surface. Some particles with extremely strong penetrating power, such as neutrinos, would directly pass through the 500-meter-thick protective layer and enter the Supercomputing Center, destroying all the electronic equipment inside. In other words, once the planet rotated to a certain angle and lost the cover provided by its own body, this place, along with all the precious data crucial to both Xiao Yu and the Molian Civilization, would be completely destroyed. Xiao Yu had no intention of considering the feelings of the Molian Civilization, but he would never allow himself to leave empty-handed.
Time remaining, less than three hours.
Xiao Yu’s robot army had already breached the entrance and surged into the tunnels. The tunnels’ security measures were highly advanced, filled with various automated defense weapons and soldiers of the Molian Civilization faithfully performing their duties. Yet, the destruction of their star and the fall of their capital planet had dealt them an immense psychological blow. Against these ferocious combat robots, they had no advantage. The robot army swept forward unimpeded, advancing rapidly.
Perhaps at this moment, they should have destroyed the Supercomputing Center, ensuring that what they themselves could not obtain would not fall into Xiao Yu’s hands either. Perhaps they even wanted to do so. But unfortunately for them, they could not.
Xiao Yu knew very well that the Supercomputing Center had not been equipped with a self-destruct module. This decision was logical. If it had been him, he would not have installed one either. The Supercomputing Center was far too critical, far too important. The normal functioning of the entire Molian Civilization depended on its support. Without it, the civilization would fall into chaos.
Who would be foolish enough to set up a self-destruct system for something so vital? After all, any programmed logic would inevitably contain loopholes. If a self-destruct system were installed, what if an enemy exploited those loopholes to trigger it and destroy the center? As for the possibility of foreign invaders seizing the Supercomputing Center and using it to harm the Molian Civilization, consider carefully, which was more likely, such an invasion, or a self-destruct being maliciously activated through loopholes? Besides, the Supercomputing Center was built on the capital planet. If the capital planet itself had already fallen, what difference would it make whether the Supercomputing Center destroyed itself or not?
That was the logic behind it, and it was why Xiao Yu had no fear that the Molian Civilization might ruin his plans by destroying the Supercomputing Center.
The robot army split into four groups and pressed forward quickly. Out in space, the violent energy unleashed by the exploding star had already reached the stellar cannon Xiao Yu was using as a shield.
When Xiao Yu built this stellar cannon, he had already thought ahead. Even then, he had considered using it to resist a stellar explosion, and throughout the construction process, he faithfully implemented this plan.Xiao Yu had designed his stellar cannon with very specific measures against the energy released by a stellar explosion. During the construction process, he had employed hundreds of Four-Dimensional Shields alone, creatively using a layered Four-Dimensional Shield system. He also devised a plan to terminate energy supply before destruction occurred. In other words, if the first layer of Four-Dimensional Shield could not withstand the energy from the star and was about to collapse, Xiao Yu would immediately cut off its power supply. A Four-Dimensional Shield without energy naturally would not explode. This eliminated the possibility of a shield’s explosion damaging the cannon itself.
This was only one of several improvements. Beyond that, Xiao Yu also modified the energy supply modules, increasing both their output and the load capacity of the engines. Various tachyon shields, energy shields, and so forth were piled on without restraint, built as solidly as possible. Xiao Yu had poured nearly all his wisdom and abilities into constructing the stellar cannon into the strongest shield he could possibly build, without exception.
The defensive capability of this stellar cannon against a supernova outstripped even that of a Nation-Class spaceship by far. Xiao Yu’s fleet of over one million ships would rely on this shield to survive the great disaster.
The stellar cannon was positioned seven billion kilometers away from the star. Seven billion kilometers was not just a number. It was an immense distance, roughly the same as that between Jupiter and the Sun. Sunlight took several hours to reach Jupiter.
Even across such a vast gulf, the wrath of this star remained terrifying. Xiao Yu saw the distant star suddenly blaze with immense brilliance, so intense that some optical lenses of his instruments were burned out. Normally, its brightness was less than that of the Moon.
In that instant, the Four-Dimensional Shields on the stellar cannon surged violently. Hundreds of thousands of engines roared into full power at once, pouring colossal amounts of energy into the reactors, which converted it into power for the shields.
The first layer of Four-Dimensional Shield lasted less than three seconds. Xiao Yu decisively shut down the engines powering it and activated a second backup group. The engines in the first group had already suffered severe damage in just those three seconds. Xiao Yu would need time to repair them for the next cycle.
Under the protection of the stellar cannon, the ships behind took no serious damage. Countless small ships began shuttling back and forth, countless robots grew busy, and vast quantities of supplies and repair units were transported into the stellar cannon to work. With the ignition of the second group, 230,000 colossal engines, the first Four-Dimensional Shield was replaced. A new shield lit up, blocking the star’s immense energy.
The second group lasted five seconds before collapsing. Then the third group, 260,000 engines, came online, and the third Four-Dimensional Shield engaged…
Xiao Yu’s fleet was like a fragile leaf boat tossed on a raging sea. The violent ocean of energy left Xiao Yu no time to think of anything else. He could only devote all his concentration and effort into calculating how to preserve his life amid such overwhelming waves.
Altogether, Xiao Yu had set up fifteen groups totaling more than four million engines to keep the Four-Dimensional Shields running and safeguard the stellar cannon. Yet after all fifteen groups had run through once, only three minutes had passed. This was far from enough time for him to repair all the engines in the first group. In fact, even with ample spare parts and abundant robots serving as laborers, within that short span Xiao Yu had managed to repair only 90,000 of the 150,000 damaged engines. But the fifteenth group had already reached its limit and had to be replaced.
With no choice, Xiao Yu disrupted the group structure, pulling temporarily intact engines from all fifteen groups and combining them into a makeshift unit to shoulder the next round of defense. At the same time, he accelerated engine repairs once again.
Under Xiao Yu’s control, the vast number of robots entered a frenzy. Their mechanical arms moved so quickly they left afterimages. Their coordination reached dizzying heights, and in this furious pace, countless damaged engines were repaired rapidly. But at every moment, more engines were also breaking down under the intolerable energy overload…
Xiao Yu was fighting with everything he had, and not just here. On the Molian Civilization’s capital planet, his robot army had also reached a critical moment. His robotic formations had broken fully into the Supercomputing Center, wiping out most of the resistance. Now, his robots had established a direct channel between Xiao Yu and the Supercomputing Center. His vast computational power surged inside, scouring the databases that recorded every aspect of the Molian Civilization for anything of interest.
The Supercomputing Center was not built solely for scientific research; it controlled every aspect of the Molian Civilization’s society, transportation, finance, security. These were crucial for the functioning of a civilization, but worthless to Xiao Yu. He wasted no time on them.
After searching for thirty seconds, Xiao Yu finally found what interested him.
“Military industry! Technology! Biotechnology, construction technology, materials science, power systems, engine technologies… hm, what is this? A feasibility report and related analysis on the construction of ‘Blue Sky’-Class starships?”
Xiao Yu knew that what the Molian Civilization called the Blue Sky-Class starship was what he himself termed a Continent-Class spaceship.
“Doesn’t matter. Copy everything into my brain first. There’s no time for detailed analysis now. I’ll study it slowly later!” Xiao Yu quickly decided, beginning to devour the data at a frantic pace.
This was the high-quality nourishment capable of cultivating a vast civilization. And it was exactly the nourishment Xiao Yu needed.