Volume 4: Twilight Galaxy
After searching through the town, Shu Xun and his group set out once again, following the markings on their map to continue exploring this secret-filled planet. Three days later, they had traversed nearly ten large cities and dozens of small towns. The situation was much the same as in the first town they discovered: a large number of deceased Phantom Clan members but no sign of the Warm Winter Stone. Even more strangely, they found no records of the Phantom Clan’s history. It seemed that although the Phantom Clan left in a hurry, they had destroyed all traces of their existence, leaving behind only the bodies of those who couldn’t escape.
The lack of records made it impossible for Shu Xun and his group to gather more information. With the Phantom Clan’s powerful mental abilities, it was unlikely they had missed any clues. It seemed that finding any trace on this Baiyu Planet would be extremely difficult. The Warm Winter Stone left behind in front of the gravestone might have been the Phantom Clan’s biggest oversight.
Despite their meager gains, Shu Xun and his companions decided to continue their journey on this planet. Even if they couldn’t find records related to the Phantom Clan, they could further understand this world. The more they learned about it, the more accurately they could deduce the galaxy that produced the Warm Winter Stone.
However, before they could uncover more clues, they received a message from the StarPlay Family: the next Doomed World had been found!
It was late at night when the message arrived. The group had not deliberately sought out a town to rest in, so they were camping outdoors. After Meng Muyu projected the information from his light brain into the air, they quickly reviewed the basic details and then fell into silence. This time, the Doomed World involved not just a single planet but an entire large spiral galaxy. The galaxy contained thirteen life-supporting planets, including three with advanced intelligent life. All three had detected the invaders’ mental waves.
Meng Muyu switched the holographic projection to show the distribution of the Doomed Galaxy. It was a very orderly spiral galaxy, with its nebulae and interstellar dust in beautiful indigo hues. At its center was a massive bright gold star, though it appeared somewhat dim. Meng Muyu pointed to three of the planets. “These are the three planets with advanced intelligent life. They orbit the central star of the galaxy at equal distances, and their size and composition are very similar. These planets revolve around a star that is about to die. Once it does, the surrounding planets will be plunged into perpetual darkness. Even worse, given the size of this star, it’s highly unlikely to become a white dwarf or neutron star. The most likely outcome is that it will collapse into a black hole, and not a small one at that. The nearby planets will be sucked in and devoured in a very short time.”
This galaxy was not within the territory of the five major races. It was discovered by the StarPlay Family, who, after reporting it to the military and securing the development rights, had begun preparations to transform this galaxy into a survival game. The scope of this survival game extended beyond just a single planet to a large area around the star, indicating an incredibly high level of difficulty.
This Doomed World was not only vast in scope but also extremely complex. According to the StarPlay Family’s scans, the invaders were present on the three planets with advanced intelligent life, but their exact location could not be pinpointed. It even seemed as though they might have merged their mental strength with that of the original inhabitants of the world.
When they saw the mention of mental energy fusion, the group instinctively thought of the Phantom Clan that had transformed after death, and their hearts tensed. It was highly likely that they had tracked down the invaders who once attacked the Celestial Feather Galaxy and forced the Phantom Clan to relocate!
Meng Muyu uploaded the information he had received to the chatroom and quickly packed his gear. “I’ll head back first. There are some aspects of the game system development that require my attention. You all continue searching Baiyu Planet. Once the game system is finalized, I’ll notify you. If everything goes well, StarPlay Entertainment should have everything ready in no more than two months. I have a strong feeling that the invaders we’ve detected this time are likely the same force that invaded the Celestial Feather Galaxy and brought about “Winter’s End”.”
Shu Xun nodded. “Alright, if we find anything, we’ll inform you immediately.” Since the Celestial Feather Galaxy was a public area, entering it required proper authorization. Without concrete evidence, it was impossible to dispatch a large-scale military search. The Phantom Clan likely wouldn’t allow it either. Therefore, except for Meng Muyu, the others remained on Baiyu Planet to continue their investigation.
After sending out the signal, Meng Muyu quickly left Baiyu Planet on a spacecraft, while the rest continued their exploration. However, even after two months, they had made little progress. They finally realized that with the Phantom Clan’s powerful mental abilities, it was all too easy and thorough for them to destroy or conceal any traces.
No wonder the Phantom Clan felt so confident in abandoning Baiyu Planet and relocating to another galaxy. In retrospect, although they moved hastily, they had immense confidence in their abilities. In fact, the Phantom Clan had indeed done everything to perfection. If it weren’t for that single Warm Winter Stone and Shu Xun’s keen intuition, their journey would have truly been fruitless.
While Shu Xun and his group had little to show for their efforts, on the other side, the creation of the survival game was nearing completion and preparations were already underway to release the game announcement and set the open beta date. A week before the game’s launch, Shu Xun and his team finally left Baiyu Planet aboard their spacecraft.
During their time on Baiyu Planet, their journey had been quite relaxed, despite having a specific goal. After returning home, Shu Xun even found it a bit difficult to adjust to the sudden change in gravity. This was evident when, from time to time, a small mouse would be seen standing at the edge of the coffee table, leaping off only to land with a thud on the carpet and roll over twice. After a few such instances, the fluffy creature finally learned its lesson, managing to find the right angle and distance when bouncing around.
The day had come for StarPlay Entertainment to release the game announcement. As anticipated, due to the unprecedented scale of the game, StarPlay Entertainment once again pushed survival gaming to new heights. Based on the game’s background, it was officially named “Dusk of the Galaxy”.
As the name suggests, the game revolves around a galaxy on the brink of collapse, with the central star of the spiral galaxy nearing the end of its life. Once the star dies, it will bring about darkness and the collapse of the entire galaxy. Due to the extensive scope of the game, entry restrictions were loosened this time. However, only players with advanced nutrition pods could apply to enter the three planets with advanced intelligent life. Other players could choose to enter different life-supporting or non-life-supporting planets based on the level of their nutrition pods.
The objective of “Dusk of the Galaxy” was not just to save the advanced intelligent beings but also to rescue other life forms and exploit undeveloped interstellar resources. It’s crucial to note that once the star dies and forms a black hole, everything within the game system’s range will ultimately be drawn into it. Therefore, one of the players’ goals was to exploit as many usable resources as possible before being consumed. Players who chose to focus on resource development could use their nutrition pods to project their mental forms onto non-life-supporting planets, where they could scout and extract valuable resources. While a certain percentage of the resources had to be submitted to StarPlay Entertainment, the rest belonged to the players themselves.
The vast system data, expansive game world, and intricate game background have destined this game for success.
On the day the game announcement was made, more detailed information was uploaded to the chatroom shared by Shu Xun and the others. This was the compilation of data on “Dusk of the Galaxy” that Meng Muyu had been working on. Along with the data, Meng Muyu began sharing some of his findings in the chat.
Meng Muyu: “I’ve roughly scanned all the celestial bodies in the Twilight Galaxy, but I didn’t find any planets that produce Warm Winter Stones. I didn’t even find any low-gravity planets with life. I couldn’t figure out why the invaders targeted this galaxy. From what I’ve seen so far, there’s no direct link between the Twilight Galaxy’s impending demise and the invaders. The Twilight Galaxy’s lifespan is indeed at its end; even without the invaders, the galaxy would soon die, and the entire system would face collapse. What are the invaders’ goals? I’m completely at a loss.”
Gray: “If it’s not the environment, then it’s likely due to the inhabitants, similar to the Xuanqiu Tribe in “Deep Blue Sea”. If there’s something about them that the invaders find similar to the Celestial Feather Galaxy, they could have been marked as targets.”
Lie Yang: “Maybe the natives of “Twilight Galaxy” are all just really good-looking.”
The chatroom fell silent at this. Just as everyone was speechless, Meng Muyu’s next message left them even more dumbfounded.
Meng Muyu: “As unbelievable as it sounds, Lie Yang is right! After the initial exploration, the most striking thing about the natives of Twilight Galaxy is their flawless appearance.”
Gray immediately sent an emoji expressing admiration.
Lie Yang: “See? Even without relying on Lan Yang, I can still figure out the right answer.”
Meng Muyu: “But I forgot to mention, appearance alone isn’t necessarily a factor for being targeted by the invaders. Additionally, the natives of Twilight Galaxy possess high levels of mental energy and they are still evolving. From what we’ve tested so far, they also have unique abilities. The real issue is that the life-bearing planets in Twilight Galaxy strongly reject the creation of the game system. Even worse, the planetary consciousness here is not to be trifled with. Unlike the gentle world in “Deep Blue Sea”, the planetary consciousness in this galaxy is extremely fierce!”
Shu Xun tugged at his beard, curious about what kind of planet could be described as “fierce” by Meng Muyu. Clearly, something must have happened during the game’s development that left a deep impression on him. The fluffy creature nestled in a small hanging chair, legs crossed, deftly tapping away on the lightbrain with its tiny paws.
