Starting as a Mechanical Hunter

Chapter 903: Chapter 9: Evolving Level 2 Civilization

Gao Gong took one last look at the nearby Meteorite Belt before floating in the void, directly entering the Great Curved Saber’s U-shaped bridge. The anti-gravity device on the bridge activated, wrapping him in a warm Force Field. Then, as the scenery whirled around, the walls before him continuously disassembled until Gao Gong came to a stop before a ’combat unit’.

This was originally a laser launch tower, but after the Great Curved Saber was modified, it was replaced by a Signal Tower.

The appearance of this tower somewhat resembled the Arasaka Tower, with thick Neon streamers flashing outside, while staff moved in and out inside.

A Tier 2 Signal Tower can transmit electrical and light signals, while a Tier 3 Signal Tower goes further, capable of transmitting pure space signals, which travel at a speed 100 times that of light signals.

Beyond that is Quantum Signal, enabling real-time interstellar communication through dimensional ascension and reduction signal transmission.

This is a Tier 3 Signal Tower, with a blueprint retrieved from the Mother City database.

Gao Gong approached the control panel of the Signal Tower, and a screen suddenly lit up. An image of a bright-eyed, charming girl appeared on the screen, giving him a shy smile. As their eyes met, in an instant, Gao Gong seemed to be free from the constraints of his physical body, entering an electronic form of life, effortlessly diving into the screen.

"Brother, you haven’t visited me in a long time."

In the electronic world, the light and Neon flickered, but now the 13-Layered Space had been compressed to the size of a data node, with the surrounding void visible to the naked eye.

"How have you been?" Gao Gong patted her small head and asked.

Gao Yuanyuan smiled, "Very well, just like before, except the range of the data network activities has become much smaller."

"That’s natural. Unless it’s an Ascension Civilization, no matter how advanced the Virtual Realm, it must be based on hardware. Previously, the hardware was the global Mother City System, but now the hardware is only the signal storage units on five starships. Without adequate network speed, most functions of the Virtual Realm can’t be realized, and you can’t even come out," Gao Gong explained.

"It’s okay, brother. I’m just using this time to relearn the knowledge Ms. Deep Web used to construct the Cyber Space. In the future, when we have our own planet, I can quickly replicate a planet-level Virtual Network," Gao Yuanyuan replied hurriedly.

Facing such a well-behaved and cute sister, who had no flaws except not being able to engage in intimate actions, Gao Gong could only smile, change the subject, and ask:

"Can the Signal Tower now conduct long-distance signal transmissions?"

"Yes, no problem."

Gao Yuanyuan gestured, and soon the surrounding virtual buildings disappeared one by one, replaced by three Pulsars and an area of Transmission Nebula. The Transmission Nebula’s area was very large, roughly the size of ten thousand Pulsars.

However, in terms of brightness, this nebula was far inferior to the three Pulsars.

"Brother, this is what I’ve detected—the publicly accessible star bodies capable of long-distance communication in this star zone," Gao Yuanyuan paused and then uncertainly added:

"But when I attempted signal retrieval, I discovered many star-level signals were encrypted. Since my abilities can’t be fully utilized, I abandoned checking them."

"Brother, do you think there might be other civilizations in our star system?"

"A star system with 100 to 400 billion stars, plus areas that nurture intelligent species, is highly likely to host other civilizations. However, there probably aren’t any Level 3 or higher civilizations," Gao Gong paused and continued:

"An Advanced Civilization’s Technology Tree would indirectly influence the technological development of lower civilizations. For instance, near an Advanced Mechanical Civilization, other types of civilizations are unlikely to emerge. Therefore, when selecting locations for Cyber Test Fields, Advanced Civilizations intentionally avoid the territories of other Advanced Civilizations, as the evolution of the Cyber Test Field could be affected by surrounding Advanced Civilizations. Conversely, an Advanced Civilization’s domain wouldn’t permit something like a Cyber Test Field to evolve without order, so both sides maintain a safe distance."

"And the baseline for an Advanced Civilization is a Level 3 Civilization."

Gao Yuanyuan understood and said in realization, "So, Brother, our Mechanical Split Star located in the Robert Star System, doesn’t have a Level 3 Civilization?"

"Yes, but that doesn’t mean there’s no Level 2 Civilization that has reached its peak," Gao Gong nodded and said, "Level 2 Civilizations, also known as Level 2 Celestial Civilizations, have dominion over an entire Stellar System and most likely have developed light-speed navigation technology, allowing for the initial phase of cosmic exploration."

"These civilizations no longer worry about energy crises. They primarily rely on energy extraction from the fixed star present in their Stellar System. They’ve developed structures for extracting stellar energy, such as Dyson Spheres or Sun Rings."

"The changes in stellar energy consumption are easily detectable by other forces. Once detected, it signifies that your civilization’s living area has been confirmed by outsiders. In the Dark Jungle, you become a glowing prey. So, if you were the leader of this civilization, what would you do?"

Gao Yuanyuan thought for a moment and said:

"Then it might be best to seal off the entire fixed star, preventing any signals from going out."

Gao Gong replied meaningfully, "So now you know what the signal residues detected earlier are, right?"

"I get it now." Gao Yuanyuan immediately understood.

"Not conducting further checks was the right decision. Given the hardware on the spaceship, it’s difficult for you to exert your full Power, while the other side can wait and easily capture you as a Tier 3 Information Life Form."

"Brother, I’m not that weak," Gao Yuanyuan said playfully while holding onto Gao Gong’s shoulders.

Gao Gong shook his head, speaking seriously, "I’m not joking. In a star system with a Cyber Test Field, civilizations will deliberately suppress their Power. After all, no one wants to attract the attention of a Level 7 Civilization. As the Mother City Influence gradually retreats from this star system, I believe that soon, several Level 2 Civilizations will break through to reach Level 3 Civilization status. After all, this star system has been stable for four billion years; the accumulation of these civilizations is real."

"So that’s how it is."

Gao Gong glanced at Gao Yuanyuan. There were some things he opted not to say, as those were merely speculations.

In his view, the faction where the Supreme Being resided did not directly attack Mother City but rather contacted this star system’s Level 2 Civilization, offering them great benefits to act as a front and create a distraction.

For instance, during the previous Cloud Nobility meeting, the Miller Clan used threatening means to coerce other families into the Fortress collapse incident, during which the traces of the Civilization Fleet appeared.

And in the future, among the breakthrough Level 3 Civilizations, it’s highly likely that some have participated in sabotaging the Cyber Test Field.

A flicker of contemplation appeared in Gao Gong’s eyes, but suddenly, he laughed and said, "Enough about that. I’m here for you to help me launch some things from these three ’Cosmic Lighthouses’."

Gao Gong opened his palm, and data shifted within his hand, revealing an encrypted communication formed by more than a thousand numeric symbols.

"Brother, what is this?" Gao Yuanyuan asked curiously.

"This is the contact of a Star Thief. Essentially, it says that the coordinates of our location have prey, danger level ’Interstellar Tourism Grade’. The prey will be near the Asteroid Belt soon, high value, come quickly."

"But brother, didn’t you say we should stay hidden in the cosmos?"

"That’s the new tactic I’m teaching you, the second move of the Dark Jungle Law — Fishing Enforcement."

...

Meanwhile, in the midst of Gao Gong’s Fishing Enforcement, in the No.1 Area of the Asteroid Belt, a region centered around five Starships spanning 1000 km.

koi fish named players were gleefully mining away.

From the players’ perspective, this was a Meteorite Sea, with various meteorites floating in the void. Using the Mecha’s detection system, they could even spot asteroids 200~300 km away, which were not much different from larger meteorites. If anything, there were tiny satellites rotating around them, as the cosmic physics Goddess here revealed a bit of her hem, sparking infinite imagination.

However, if they encountered a dwarf planet, it would be akin to a super asteroid the size of a moon, making the construction of a Planet Factory greatly promising.

But at least in the area the players were exploring, there were no traces of any dwarf planets.

...

Having players mine actually had an advantage, as their Investigation Skills proved very useful here.

[You discovered 2*6 square meters of carbonate crystal]

[You discovered 11*54 square meters of carbonate crystal]

[You discovered 20*30 square meters of gold element crystal]

...

"Gold element crystal, isn’t this just gold!"

I am a Big Muscle Dominator stared at the small gold mountain in front of him, his eyes shimmering with radiance.

"Brothers, I feel like I’m going to strike it rich!"

"You’re gonna strike it rich my foot; you can’t even take this stuff back. It neither belongs to high-density alloys nor contains Energy Ore; the system doesn’t recognize it."

"Moreover, Level 2 Civilized Influences can synthesize artificial diamonds and even artificial gold. In fact, we can synthesize any single element of precious metal. This stuff isn’t even worth trash in the Cosmic Black Market; bringing it back is useless." A Mecha Maintenance Master from the Du Gao Technology Camp commented sarcastically.

Among the first 400 biomechanical armors, half were Maintenance Masters or Engineer players from the Du Gao Technology Camp.

"Then I’m screwed," I am a Big Muscle Dominator’s face was filled with disappointment.

"What’s so great about gold; you guys are really strange..."

A voice from the communication system came through from some unknown player, though it soon cut off abruptly.

The other players weren’t surprised either; after all, this system was unique. Whether on forums or within the game, discussing anything from reality was forbidden, and talking about anything resulted in a ban.

So perhaps this player was a super tycoon in reality.

"Ah, I’ve found something good."

A player exclaimed with excitement, looking at the large burning red ore in front of him.

[You discovered 10*10 square meters of concentrated red scorching rock]

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