Chapter 970: Baby

After more than a day of preparation, the scan finally began.

They arranged many protective measures, placing the most powerful bombs next to the coffin and sealing off the area with a closed field, making it impossible to exit without half an hour of unlocking time.

All conceivable safety measures had been taken.

Abo and the Shipowner both held their breath.

“Then, scan, activate.” Abo started his precious prototype.

Three special force fields, arranged in a formation, began to measure the minute data within.

This extremely subtle data would be detected, then processed by an algorithm to calculate the appearance of the internal microscopic structure.

Soon, the first batch of data was sent back.

However, upon seeing the data, Abo and the Shipowner both showed puzzled expressions.

“Is your machine broken?” the Shipowner asked.

“Impossible, we just tested it, didn’t we? The prototype precisely observed all possible positions of protons; it can’t be a machine issue.”

“Now scan the nearby stone to test it,” the Shipowner commanded.

“Considering the current energy consumption, one use costs a month’s profit, Shipowner, are you sure?” Abo reminded him.

This thing was still a prototype; energy consumption was basically not considered. It focused on achieving miracles through brute force, with miniaturization and energy saving being later considerations.

At this stage, as long as it worked, it was fine, so even the fusion reactor inside a large spaceship found it difficult to supply power, and the cost was quite high.

“Now is not the time to worry about cost,” the Shipowner seemed quite decisive.

So, Abo scanned the stone.

Everything was so precise; they could almost be said to have captured the exact position of an ‘electron,’ which was simply inconceivable. This was the power of this invention, a scanner capable of advancing civilization Rank.

“The scanner isn’t broken, which means this data is also fine… This thing isn’t composed of ‘atoms’ at all,” Abo uttered a thought he didn’t know how to describe.

The mysterious Materials before him, when scanned, were simply a mass of… something unknown.

Everything inside it was coupled together, but unlike neutron-degenerate matter which is forcibly squeezed together.

If that were the case, the density would be incredibly high, a small spoonful would be enough to crush the ground, it couldn't be so light.

The things inside… how to put it, it’s like ‘wire mesh’; there are no atoms inside, but some fibrous structures.

No atoms, but fibrous structures?

It’s hard to imagine any substance that can exist independently of atoms.

But the thing before them was exactly that.

However, if a Human Race from the Immortal Realm were to see it, they would find it natural.

Because the structure composing this mysterious substance was ‘Qi’.

Qi is a more fundamental material composition than atoms; even the inside of atoms is composed of Qi, which is why atomic nuclei and electrons appear in a ‘diffuse’ state, because Qi itself is diffuse.

This infinitely divisible material foundation is the true foundation of the Universe.

It’s just that civilizations with insufficient observational capabilities simply cannot discover the existence of Qi.

This is where the extraordinary talent of the Human Race of the Immortal Realm can be seen.

They could actually perceive the existence of Qi just by ‘feeling’ it, and by concentrating, with a little simple spellcraft, they could sense the Qi of all things.

This was probably also a privileged talent as ‘natives of the Immortal Realm’.

And now, Abo and his team had enhanced their observational capabilities, allowing them to perceive the existence of Qi, and thus detect the special structure of the coffin before them.

However, at this moment, the scanner suddenly shut down.

“What’s going on? Is it broken?” the Shipowner looked at Abo.

“No, it’s incapacitated. Is there a power supply issue? What’s happening?” Abo looked at the staff member.

The staff member immediately waved his hand and replied, “Power supply is stable, everything is normal!”

“Then why did it shut down?!” the Shipowner scolded.

But at this moment, Abo realized something; he immediately rushed to the control panel! He slammed his fist down on the self-destruct button!

The Shipowner was stunned.

However, the next second, a red alarm sounded, and the countdown began.

Ignoring explanations, everyone started to flee desperately!

The experiment had gone wrong!

That prototype couldn’t be saved either!

Run!

“The energy didn’t disappear! It was absorbed by that coffin! It’s alive!”

Abo transmitted loudly.

At the same time, the coffin began to glow.

The corpse within also gradually regained its luster, and its eyes, which had lost their sheen, began to relight with a red glow.

The coffin was originally very hard and could not be damaged by the Limitless’ methods, but this corpse stretched out a trembling hand and placed it on the coffin lid.

Those hands were dry and fragile, like a mummy’s, feeling as if they would shatter with a light touch.

But it was such hands that easily tore open the coffin lid.

The Limitless outside had already evacuated.

The countdown for the surrounding bombs ended.

With a bang! The bomb exploded directly, then collapsed.

This was a phase-change array bomb, which uses external force to cause a change in the surrounding matter, shortening the distance between its atomic nuclei, thereby increasing density, and finally self-collapsing and self-fusing, forming a chain reaction. It was a bomb capable of destroying planets.

However, the chain reaction caused by the bomb quickly disappeared.

The reason was simple…

The coffin did not undergo fusion, so there would naturally be no subsequent chain reaction.

But the surrounding anomalies did not stop.

The climate began to change, and the atmosphere of this primitive planet was blown away by some powerful force.

The loss of the atmosphere led to more changes; dense dust clouds and gas clouds intertwined, rubbing out large amounts of sparks, and even condensing into clumps, turning into meteors. Large batches of giant meteors impacted the ground.

This was a protoplanetary disk, and interstellar space was originally densely filled with particle clouds. Smaller celestial bodies had been carving paths through it for years, but they would always lose momentum, and their orbits would contract, slowly at first, then very quickly.

And now, these particle clouds were attracted, rapidly increasing the volume of this planet and the atmospheric friction around it.

This change caused massive tidal waves in the oceans of large celestial bodies, and continents were quickly submerged by magma tides.

Subsequently, due to the constantly increasing gravity caused by the planet’s contraction, the satellites near this planet also began to shatter, with widespread, massive, incandescent fragments of continental plates everywhere.

However, these were not enough to destroy the entire world, but another form of demise was already approaching.

Due to fatal compression, the planet’s gravity had issues, and the orbit of the planet before them became chaotic. This would cause the planet itself to approach its sun extremely closely; it would likely not take even ten thousand years for this planet to plunge into the sun.

But none of that mattered.

Because that corpse had already torn open the coffin and begun to move again.

Leiding City and the Shipowner’s other ships had taken off, moving at full speed. If anyone didn’t run fast enough and didn’t get on a ship…

Then good luck to him…

The Limitless were capable of surviving in a vacuum; hopefully, he could live a safe life.

The engines were at full power, moving at the fastest speed, even accelerating in a way that would shorten the lifespan of the spaceship, regardless of how many people might die or be thrown to the ground by the sudden acceleration.

None of that mattered.

If they didn’t start fast enough…

They would die!

The corpse in the coffin had fully revived; the planet’s blown-away atmosphere and the subsequent absorbed Materials were all due to this!

However, Abo and the Shipowner still underestimated the power of that corpse.

They flew through the Universe, and the surrounding space seemed to solidify. No matter how much they accelerated, their relative distance from that planet remained unchanged.

Were they being controlled, locked in place?

Or… was the planet moving with them?

Immediately open observation.

Their distance from that star was moving; they were moving away from that galaxy at near light speed.

Similarly, that planet was also following them at that speed, neither fast nor slow.

Abo and the Shipowner were horrified!

“What’s wrong?” Leileidi looked at her husband, who had run back in terror, her face full of confusion: “Such rapid acceleration will damage the hull, and thankfully the egg has a buffer layer. It’s almost its due date; you almost killed it.”

Abo immediately hugged his wife and assistant: “Leileidi… I’ve doomed you all…”

“What’s wrong? Send me the message later; I’ll immediately take the egg to the escape pod!” Leileidi knew something bad had definitely happened, but she didn’t know what it was.

So she immediately made a decision, abandoning her husband and preparing to leave.

Abo didn’t stop her, but immediately began to prepare for a ship-wide broadcast: everyone, immediately abandon Leiding City!

For this interstellar civilization, escape pods were like private cars; almost every household had their own private spaceship, varying only in size, so there was no worry about not having enough.

Just then, Abo saw Leileidi’s pupils dilate, and her breathing stopped.

This made him realize something; he immediately turned his head.

That eerie corpse had already appeared at his room door.

The guards and various protective facilities outside had no effect whatsoever.

At this moment, it had only been forty hours since he arrived on this planet, and yet destruction was already predetermined.

He tried to send a message to the Shipowner, but there was no reply from the Shipowner’s side.

Abo shouted, letting out a roar, then charged towards the corpse.

Leileidi opened the constant temperature device for the egg, grabbed the egg, and ran towards the other side.

They had a tacit understanding, although both of them knew it might be useless.

As expected, Abo was completely ignored; his attack had no effect on the corpse.

And the corpse went directly towards Leileidi, moving too fast to react.

Abo wanted to chase after her, but the moment he charged, his mind felt as if it had been struck by a giant hammer.

Massive amounts of information were transmitted from the ‘Qi’ surrounding the corpse, like some kind of ‘honor guard’.

The purpose of an honor guard is to display the identity of the holder.

For example, the Five Banners and Five Pennants were the honor guard of Emperor Xuanyuan; upon seeing this formation, everyone would know that Emperor Xuanyuan had arrived.

Similarly, special models of Hongqi brand cars, Air Force One, and similar things also display identity.

Even simply ‘luxury cars’ or ‘sedan chairs’ are enough to prove certain Rank identities; those not of that Rank cannot possess them.

The corpse before him was the same.

The ‘Qi’ around him served as an honor guard, and a more profound one at that—one etched deep within the Universe, requiring no learning; any higher intelligence would instantly understand it upon seeing it.

This was a… High-Rank existence.

He had endured through countless ages.

In a place called the Desire Realm, this High-Rank existence ruled, traversing countless worlds, drawing wisdom and power from them.

His power was infinite; he could observe various different realities and discovered that fundamental realities would evolve along different paths.

He sat above space-time, observing the operation of fundamental reality.

He could even actively choose which space-time he would go to, although he found that the world would always restart, he could remain safe in this change.

He had learned to control himself in the tributaries of space-time, and then protect his civilization. He was skilled at choosing the safest and most moderate path among various options, so he had always peacefully lived through what could be called eternal time, looking down upon all beings from above the river of time.

Such a great existence…

Until one day, a golden rod descended from the sky.

He tried every method but could not avoid it; he searched countless futures but found no possibility of survival.

Thus, he and all futures were annihilated. The existence who thought he looked down upon all beings from the river of time finally discovered… the river of time itself was composed of certain great Divine Ability users.

He died.

But in that last period of time, he traversed infinite possibilities and, in cooperation with other great existences who transcended time, together created ‘Mars’.

They hoped to preserve the world.

After that, he was shattered by that one strike. He finally found a coffin for himself, but the coffin was also shattered by the aftershock.

He just died like that.

Until…

Just now.

These pieces of information appeared out of thin air in Abo’s mind; he felt the power of this great existence.

The power to destroy the Limitless with just a flick of a finger.

Now, a force awakened this corpse, pulling his consciousness back from nothingness, and at the same time, someone next to him transmitted some energy to him, which made him wake up.

Abo trembled all over, no longer able to muster any thoughts of resistance, only quietly waiting for his demise.

Leileidi also lost her strength; she too saw the information brought by these ‘Qi’.

However, this great existence did not pay attention to either of them.

He merely appeared before the egg, his expression fluctuating.

The due date had arrived.

The egg broke open its shell.

This great existence shuddered all over, then, to Abo’s astonished gaze, knelt before the egg.

The infant that hatched let out a clear cry. (End of this chapter)