Chapter 420 "Pattern" Weapons Battlefield
At this moment, although the Divine Vessel Civilization, one of the core civilizations, retained less than a tenth of its power, its vast fleet still speckled the expanse of tens of light years like stars, exuding an unyielding will and infinite majesty.
Entering the new era of the interstellar battlefield, widely used in the competition among civilizations. Among them, entry-level rule-based weapons, which utilize curvature to change the constant of light speed, were also commonly used for defense.
When a civilization reached level 2.0 and above, they could alter more cosmic laws.
For example, level 2.3 Guardians could change the fine structure constant of the universe, bring about near standstill in localized time, and could also utilize spatial dimensional traits to create Two-dimensional foil.
The fine structure constant, which governs the balance between electromagnetic forces and the strong and weak nuclear forces, needs just a slight adjustment, and the spacecraft or material structures in the target area would instantly collapse, even The Waterdrop or Neutron Star Warships would disperse instantly.
When the Divine Vessel Civilization reached level 2.5, it could already change the universal gravity constant of the target area. Merely by fine-tuning the gravity constant of a constant star could induce star collapse or supernova explosions, or even instigate the birth of black holes!
What's more astonishing, when this capability merged with Gravity Well Weapons, the power of such weapons could be massively multiplied. By changing the gravity constant, a Gravity Well Weapon, with a single strike, could collapse the material in dozens of astronomical units into its center singularity, also known as the Black Hole Collapse Bomb.
Even civilizations hidden in the Low Light Speed Zone could be extracted by altering the gravity constant.
Indeed, the Divine Vessel Civilization could also manipulate the viewing horizon of black holes, and within the limits, cause black holes to disintegrate, turning into a brilliant firework display across the cosmos. Of course, this was not possible with large black holes, as the energy required would exceed what the Divine Vessel could provide.
When the Divine Vessel Civilization reached level 2.7, it could already make minor alterations to Planck parameters. This was undoubtedly a complete revolution in the quantum world; at this moment, all five of the basic forces in the universe were remodeled, as if the underlying logic of the entire universe was being rewritten, a groundbreaking leap, unlocking new secrets of the cosmos.
The Divine Vessel Civilization, always committed to expanding the usage of such law-weapons, aimed to wield unmatched power in the military domain.
To this day, the level 2.8 Divine Vessel Civilization, aside from not having fully explored the theoretical system of High-Dimensional Space.
In this Three-dimensional Universe, nearly every law had been transformed into a weapon by the Divine Vessel Civilization, utilized to its utmost, creating the illusion—the mysteries of the universe seemed almost entirely unraveled.
*
However, at the moment war broke out with the Fungus Civilization, the grandeur and pride of the Divine Vessel Civilization seemed to be violently shattered by an invisible formidable force.
The Fungus Civilization, this mysterious entity, finally unveiled its truly terrifying strength.
Their attacks, originating from High-Dimensional Space, twisted the spatial structure constants of this region in an eerily faster-than-light manner.
Spatial structure constants were a theory of ether space proposed by Shenzhou at level 1.8 while studying Dark Energy and Space Expansion, affirming the existence of spatial structure constants.
In just a few dozen hours, that destructive force surged like a tide, sweeping across ten thousand astronomical units—a distance even light would need two months to traverse.
In that instant, within this nearly ten thousand astronomical units of space, countless Shenzhou Battleships, along with tens of thousands of constant stars, were like leaves sucked into the abyss, tightly grasped by an invisible colossal hand, violently collapsing inward, forming a terrifyingly massive Black Hole Singularity.
Although both spatial structure constants and gravity constants could form black holes, their mechanisms were completely different; gravity constants act on matter and energy, while spatial structure constants directly target space.
Although the Divine Vessel Civilization could also alter spatial structure constants, they couldn't achieve even 0.1 astronomical units in range, whereas the Fungus Civilization's reach extended to nearly ten thousand astronomical units, nearly one-sixth of a light year.
Although the whole process lasted several dozens of hours, even at light speed, the Shenzhou Battleships couldn't escape because the attack was launched from High-dimensional space, where the weapon's spread could exceed light speed.
Facing this unprecedented threat, the major fleet groups of the Divine Vessel Civilization swiftly activated their ultimate defense—Small Universe.
Typically, the Small Universe is the best countermeasure against such rule-based weapons; its laws not connected to the Big Universe, serving as a standalone safe harbor.
However, the attack of the Fungus Civilization followed relentlessly, directly penetrating the barriers of the Small Universe, plunging it into the black hole singularity as well.
Although time passed slower in the Small Universe, in the face of this annihilative force, it still couldn't get the Divine Vessel Civilization a moment's respite.
The time in the Small Universe also couldn't be entirely independent of the Big Universe.
In the original text, even though the Small Universe could instantaneously reach any place in the Big Universe, as if they were independent, this was just a metaphorical description by Cheng Xin.
The travel speed of the Small Universe through the Big Universe was still at light speed, only the passage of time in the Small Universe was much slower.
That made the inhabitants of the Small Universe feel they could instantly travel anywhere, but in reality, if truly reaching a location a hundred million light years away, the Big Universe would also have aged a hundred million years, not arriving instantaneously.
This was also the reason why Cheng Xin, after spending several years in the Small Universe, faced the conclusion that the real Big Universe might have also elapsed several billion, or even tens of billions of years.
Thus, the Small Universe is not a shelter, but intended for witnessing the apocalypse.
The Small Universe's defense being untenable, the Shenzhou Battleship groups then formed a Time Pause matrix, establishing a Time Pause defensive line.
Still, such a defense line proved to be mere child's play, easily neutralized by the Fungus Civilization's attack.
Any defense the Divine Vessel Civilization could muster, under this terrifying attack, appeared utterly feeble and impotent.
This strike destroyed one two-hundredth of the residual forces of the Divine Vessel Civilization, also shattering all illusions held by the Divine Vessel Civilization.
At this moment, the Divine Vessel Civilization finally understood that the Fungus Civilization had not launched their attack out of fear but rather enjoyed this spectacle as if watching ants fight, relishing the pleasure of the game.
When the Fungus Civilization's warships completely surrounded the Divine Vessel Civilization within a range of 10 light years, the Divine Vessel truly felt the terror and might of a level 2.9 civilization.
Less than one hundred thousand warships, like the grim reapers of the universe, silently watched the end of the Divine Vessel Civilization.
At this moment, the Divine Vessel Civilization finally understood the gap between them and the Fungus Civilization was so vast, so insurmountable.
Even with the joint effort of over fifty civilizations in the Divine Vessel Civilization Union, it was still incredibly difficult to confront even a fraction of the Fungus Civilization's might.
*
At this moment,
the Divine Vessel Civilization was pushed to the brink, yet it was also the time for a desperate final stand, where all warships were dispersed across the starry sky, moving flexibly to dodge the terrifyingly extensive annihilation attacks of the Fungus Civilization.
In their rational minds, the Divine Vessel Civilization also believed it was impossible to defeat the Fungus Civilization, but they were determined to preserve the seeds of their civilization no matter what.
A shadow of despair shrouded them, yet it could not extinguish the eternal flame of resistance in the heart of the Divine Vessel Civilization. Across the battlefield, hundreds of billions of warships stood proudly, a steel testament to the unyielding will of the Divine Vessel Civilization.
The recent strike had also been identified as a coordinated attack by thousands of Fungus Civilization warships. If each warship had such power, then the Divine Vessel Civilization could be completely annihilated within a day.
The Divine Vessel Civilization also firmly believed that such an attack from the Fungus Civilization was not something that could be deployed at will, and it might even have been possible only through the prepositioning of some special weapons in this area.
The battles that followed confirmed their speculation, with the Fungus Civilization managing to execute that kind of attack only eight times.
Once the Divine Vessel Civilization was prepared, each strike could only take out less than one thousandth of their force.
The Divine Vessel Civilization, weathered by storms, had long forged a fearless heart, resilient and relentless, their will as solid as rock, gathering into a force that could shake the stars.
In their hearts, another belief persisted—they believed in the Divine Vessel Civilization, believing that it would undoubtedly unleash an unprecedented miracle, having tread a path marked by miracles for these several hundred thousand years.
They also held an inexplicable faith in the Wallfacer, believing that the Wallfacer would surely lead them to new hope.
Faith, this invisible force, boosted the fighting strength of the Divine Vessel Civilization, astonishing even the Fungus Civilization.
The power of faith was terrifying, and the explosive force of the Divine Vessel Civilization even instilled fear in the Fungus Civilization.
Even though the battle had reached a desperate stage, the Divine Vessel Civilization still did not abandon or give up, continuing to fight with their remaining strength, combining exquisite strategies to repeatedly challenge the Fungus Civilization, vowing to break through the encirclement and preserve a glimmer of life, a shred of hope for the Divine Vessel Civilization.
Finally, in a clever deployment and a fearless charge by the Divine Vessel Civilization, the Fungus Civilization made a fatal misjudgment.
Seizing this fleeting opportunity, millions of warships of the Divine Vessel Civilization surged like a tide toward a Fungus Civilization warship, launching a decisive suicide attack.
In the roar of the artillery, the Fungus Civilization warship was ultimately consumed, tearing open a crack of hope for the Divine Vessel Civilization.
This allowed the Divine Vessel Civilization to finally see hope, a miracle they had created.
Looking at the awe-inspiring battlefield before him, the Elder of the Fungus Civilization, with complex emotions flickering in his eyes, could not help but exclaim:
"In the billions of years we've witnessed, we have seen countless civilizations rise and fall, but only they have shown a resilience and tenacity we had never seen before.
"In the abyss of despair, they always clenched the seeds of hope with a tremendous belief, shocking us time and again. It's hard to imagine what gives them such a strong belief.
"What's even more astonishing is that fundamentally, joint civilizations do not appear in the universe, yet their collaboration and coordination as an alliance of different civilizations far surpasses the unity within a single civilization.
"This isn't just a simple civilization alliance; this is an unheard-of miracle of cross-civilizational fusion and cooperation.
"Even though we have simulated models of hundreds of billions of civilizations, we had never before encountered such a civilization.
"It has been a long time since anything has moved us, yet they have given us much. They are like a beam of light coming into the Dark Forest.
"This is a feeling we've never had before; if possible, I really don't want to destroy them like this!"
The Elder's aide also sighed in agreement, but his tone carried a hint of pride and regret:
"However, it's a pity that they seem not to have fully realized our immense power. As a Level 2.9 civilization, we have settled in this vast universe for billions of years, accumulating immeasurable wisdom and strength. How could they possibly challenge our authority?
"Moreover, they know nothing about our warship capabilities. Those seemingly brave suicide attacks, in our eyes, are merely futile struggles.
"I hope they don't suffer a mental breakdown in the upcoming fights after witnessing scenes they can't comprehend."
On the battlefield.
The warship that had been surrounded and obliterated reappeared in its original position right before everyone's eyes, as if the previous attack was just a dream.
The scientists of the Divine Vessel Civilization quickly captured this anomalous phenomenon, finding that the entropy value of the universe where the warship was located was fluctuating dramatically.
A horrifying truth emerged—the Fungus Civilization had mastered "Time Reversal"!