Volume 4: Twilight Galaxy
After reviewing the information on Meng Muyu and Gray, Ye Jian destroyed the files. As Shu Xun watched the papers being reduced to powder by the shredder, he pulled at his hair in deep thought. What was Gray hinting at? How should Gray’s identity be defined?
Lie Yang mentioned that it felt like someone had been guiding them forward ever since “Winter’s End”. If such a person existed, then Gray was undoubtedly the most likely candidate. He suddenly appeared in Shu Xun and the others’ lives, successfully integrated into the team, and even reconnected with them later in “Deep Blue Sea”.
During this time, Gray’s performance wasn’t particularly dazzling, yet it was far from mediocre. He was like a lustrous pearl—not stunning at first glance, but gradually revealing his unique and understated brilliance over time.
Gray possessed excellent logical thinking skills and was highly capable, with exceptional archery skills. He was introverted, extremely nervous when communicating with others, and usually remained silent. If someone praised him, he would easily become shy and embarrassed.
Such a person couldn’t possibly be an Invader, let alone someone who approached Shu Xun and the others with malicious intent. Shu Xun trusted his own eyes and intuition—he had never sensed any malice from Gray. Gray always seemed cautious, but this caution wasn’t the result of sinister intent. Instead, it stemmed from the fear of being rejected when interacting with them. Each time he was acknowledged, he would blush in embarrassment. Whenever he spoke, his nervousness would cause him to stutter.
Similarly, Meng Muyu was the same—mysterious and powerful, yet always keeping his sharpness subdued, approachable and easygoing. When he was in a talkative mood, he could go on for hours without stopping, but when you spoke, he would listen attentively. From his daily interactions with Ling Yang, it was clear that Meng Muyu was, at his core, a delicate and gentle person. Although there were times when Ling Yang’s tail smacked someone out of anger, it was still Meng Muyu who always traveled across the continent with Ling Yang.
If these two had been accompanying Shu Xun and his group with ill intentions all along, Shu Xun couldn’t bring himself to believe it. So when the two intentionally left clues and gaps, Shu Xun instantly felt that these were hints and reminders from Meng Muyu and Gray—perhaps even cries for help. After returning from “Deep Blue Sea”, the impact of that awe-inspiring world left a deep impression on everyone. Maybe that’s why Gray and Meng Muyu decided to drop these hints. The Invaders were enigmatic, with terrifyingly strong mental powers. To miss out on possible clues due to hesitation and fear would be the worst decision.
Although the two files didn’t contain any explicit clues, they allowed Shu Xun to speculate that the Perfect Time space might be a dream. Moreover, with these two files as a foundation, Shu Xun felt that he was getting closer and closer to the truth.
With just a few days left before the official open beta of “Dusk of the Galaxy”, Ye Jian entered a brief period of busyness. The military and authoritative bodies of various races had begun arranging candidates and personnel distribution for entering the game. Naturally, Ye Jian was among them, primarily responsible for planets inhabited by highly intelligent life forms. It was clear that the human military had also recognized the threat posed by the Invaders; if they were not dealt with, the Invaders could potentially threaten advanced evolutionary beings like humans and other species.
On the day before the official open beta of “Dusk of the Galaxy”, StarPlay Entertainment released another detailed game description on its official website. This time, the game was classified according to the level of danger. The lowest level of danger was naturally assigned to players who would be extracting resources, with the nutritional pod requirements not being too stringent. Players could send their virtual bodies to non-living planets in Twilight Galaxy to explore and extract valuable resources.
Next in importance is the rescue of life planets inhabited by non-advanced intelligent life forms. Biological and genetic resources are also precious commodities in today’s era. Especially in galaxies involving highly evolved beings with special abilities, even non-intelligent life forms are valuable assets. Properly relocating these life forms and preserving the diversity and complexity of cosmic life is the cornerstone for various races in the universe to advance to the next level of civilization. After all, no one can say for sure where the opportunity to leap to the next civilization lies. Life itself is the greatest and most complex miracle in the universe.
Both of the above-mentioned levels can be played using virtual bodies. Aside from these two, the highest danger level naturally belongs to the three planets inhabited by highly intelligent life forms. The danger level is no less than that of “Deep Blue Sea”; in fact, due to the presence of world consciousness, the restrictions are even stricter. In “Deep Blue Sea”, when players encounter danger, the game system automatically triggers the logout function. However, this function can actually be overridden by the player’s subjective consciousness. But if a player disables the automatic logout function, they must take full responsibility for whatever consequences may ensue.
Similarly, “Dusk of the Galaxy” also features this automatic logout function. However, once the system triggers the automatic logout, players do not have the right to interrupt it. The implications of this are obvious—once a crisis occurs in Twilight Galaxy, there is no possibility for players to escape, which is why this change was made.
In “Deep Blue Sea”, the various giant evolved creatures are extremely troublesome, especially the overwhelming swarms of insects that leave players at a loss. However, the world consciousness there is gentle; even if it does not accept game players, it does not suppress them. The world consciousness of “Dusk of the Galaxy”, on the other hand, is not so. It is not only extremely hostile to outsiders but also indiscriminately annihilates any foreign life forms it detects.
This is why Meng Muyu previously described the world consciousness of “Dusk of the Galaxy” as fierce. When the game system was being set up, Meng Muyu was detected by the world consciousness multiple times and was attacked without warning. If it hadn’t been for the automatic logout function of the nutrient pod, it’s hard to say what condition Meng Muyu would be in now.
The biggest difference between “Dusk of the Galaxy” and the previous two game worlds lies in the growth of its world consciousness. While in Winter’s End” and “Deep Blue Sea”, the existence of world consciousness could be felt, it still gave an elusive and indistinct impression. However, Twilight Galaxy is a galaxy with a world consciousness that has grown to a terrifying extent. Before this, Meng Muyu had never known that world consciousness could kill and that as a highly evolved being, he would have no chance to fight back. No matter how strong his abilities or how high his mental power, he couldn’t contend with an entire world. The difference between heaven and earth is difficult to comprehend without experiencing it firsthand.
On the coffee table, a mouse rested one paw on its chin while tapping away on its light brain with the other. Its small feet were propped up on the tiny hanging chair behind it. Ever since that day when it had fallen headfirst onto the coffee table, the little hanging chair had inexplicably gained a footrest function.
Shu Xun browsed through the content introducing the world consciousness of “Dusk of the Galaxy”, increasingly feeling that this world consciousness resembled the Heavenly Dao in a cultivation world, a presence that was distinctly real. Of course, in the interstellar era, there is no concept of the Heavenly Dao. According to the StarPlay Family’s description, under such peculiar circumstances, the three highly intelligent life planets in the Twilight Galaxy had also developed a unique civilization centered on worship.
The world consciousness is revered as a deity by the life forms of the Twilight Galaxy. Depending on its various manifestations, the world consciousness is named after different deities, each with its own responsibilities, forming the celestial realm of “Dusk of the Galaxy”.
This kind of worship civilization was more prevalent before the technological era. Life forms would name the unknown aspects of the world they were trying to understand as objects of worship, reflecting their longing and reverence for the unknown. As scientific discoveries unveiled more mysteries, these worship civilizations naturally faded away. By the time of the current interstellar era, such worship has evolved into various theories, becoming more systematic and scientific.
As for the exact nature of the worship civilization in Twilight Galaxy, the official website did not reveal much, leaving only the usual message for players to explore on their own.
In addition to introducing the world consciousness, the StarPlay Family also provided some strength reference values for the advanced life forms on “Dusk of the Galaxy”. The data indicates that the life forms on “Dusk of the Galaxy” have evolved to a very advanced state, with forms very similar to humans and appearances that are nearly perfect. Physically, they are at an above-average level, not to mention their special abilities. Moreover, influenced by the world consciousness, the beings in Twilight Galaxy harbor strong hostility toward outsiders.
Shu Xun stroked his whiskers with his paw as he pondered why the world consciousness and life forms of Twilight Galaxy were so hostile toward outsiders. It’s important to note that the galaxy’s death and the demise of the Twilight Galaxy were natural developments, with no direct connection to the invaders. Therefore, it must have been something the invaders did that caused such strong rejection from the world consciousness, leading to this outcome.
“This “Dusk of the Galaxy” is not going to be easy to handle. Once we enter the game, it’s going to be an uphill battle at every turn. If the beings of the world don’t want to leave their doomed planets, we don’t have the authority to force them,” Big Bliss said, holding an apple as he sat with his short legs crossed next to a mouse cake, browsing through the information on the light brain alongside Shu Xun.
In the cosmic era, while the five major races are obligated to rescue life forms from doomed worlds, they don’t have the right to forcibly decide their fate. Life is precious, but from the moment a being is born, it must take responsibility for its actions. This is the first lesson all life forms must learn after coming into existence in the interstellar era. As long as a life form possesses intelligence, it has the right to choose, and with that comes responsibility. This is why they had no right to forcibly take anyone from the previous two doomed worlds they encountered.
Mouse Cake’s little paw tapped idly on the coffee table as Little Bliss flapped his wings and landed on the other side of the mouse cake, then sneakily extended his antenna to stroke Shu Xun’s whiskers.
Shu Xun: “…”
On the other side, Big Bliss, for once, didn’t pay attention to the antics of Little Bliss. Holding the apple he had taken two bites from, Big Bliss suddenly smacked his lips, and glanced at the water cup not far away. After a moment of hesitation, decided that the coffee table wasn’t clean enough. Finally, he stood up, took a couple of steps over to the mouse cake’s side, placed the apple neatly on top of the mouse cake, and then turned around to drink water.
Shu Xun, now weighed down by the apple: “…” It felt as if the last remnants of his dignity as the master had finally been crushed by an apple.
Author’s Note:
Mr. Perfect has gone on a long trip and it seems he won’t be coming back… or it’ll be a very long time before he returns…
Old Xuan wants to pluck a whisker from Shu Xun and send it over…
Ye Jian: “Haha, single dogs are really terrifying.”
Old Xuan: “…”
A fluffy ball toddles over and hands him a whisker. “I really can’t do anything about you.”
Old Xuan: As expected, my Xun baby is the cutest… *hugs and nuzzles~*
Ye Jian, with a straight face, hands over a whisker and says coldly, “Although it’s not a whisker from Xun Bao the mouse, the luck of the giant wolf clan isn’t bad either.”
Lucky Old Xuan, loved by so many~ Aren’t you all just a little bit jealous~ (*＾-＾*)
