by <unknown>
At this time, one of the spiked humanoids in the room turned on the video recorder, cleared his throat, and spoke in his unique language. “The 27,081st Planetary Year, Information Record. The observed target’s behavior is the same as before. There are no abnormalities. We have yet to be discovered. Over.”
“Another boring day!”
A thin, spiked humanoid beside him interrupted and stretched lazily in his seat. The hard shell and bones in his body made crackling sounds. The person recording the video seemed to be the captain. Without turning his head, he replied seriously, “The best news is that there are no abnormalities. Our job is to ensure that there is no technological boom on the observation target before the main force arrives, in the event that they develop a galactic weapon that can threaten us.”
“Yes, yes, yes. I’m just complaining. I really hope that the next shift will come soon. I’d rather freeze and sleep than stare at this weak surface civilization every day… Sigh, I really want to go home.”
The thin humanoid who had spoken earlier sounded helpless.
This group of intelligent creatures did not belong to this region. They were distant visitors from another Star System, from the Kabang Civilization. In order to find any extraterrestrial civilizations, the Kabang Civilization sent out exploration squads to the galaxy. They took the exploration spaceships with the stealth function constantly activated and drifted in the universe for a long period of time. All the crew members were put in cryostasis. When the traces of civilization were discovered, the artificial intelligence system of the spaceships would automatically wake up the dormant crew members.
This group of Kabangs was one of the galactic explorers. Many years ago, when they came to the Solar System, the spaceship discovered the detector that the Earth Civilization had sent out into outer space, thus awakening the team. This team locked onto the Earth Civilization through the detection equipment of the spaceship, then chose a remote location, expanded their spaceship into a small space station, completed their disguise, and hid there.
This Kabang exploration team held the principle of not interfering, not communicating, and not exposing themselves. They quietly waited in the Solar System and used the galactic observation equipment provided by the spaceship to monitor Earth for a long time without being discovered. “Stop complaining and pay more attention to your mission.”
The captain of the Kabang Explorer turned off the video recorder, paused, and said, “The main force is only five hundred and eighty Planetary Years away from us. We won’t need to monitor them for too long and will be free.”
“That’s true. I really want to end the mission as soon as possible. I really can’t stand eating these nutrition ointments every day. I really want to go back and eat something good…”
The skinny Kabang member said with longing. This team of explorers had long sent the news of the existence of Earth civilization back to their mother planet. The large fleet of the Kabang Civilization had already set off from their hometown, but they had not developed to the level of the stargate technology. The large fleet had been traveling in the universe near the speed of light for a very long time, and they were not far from them now.
The many explorers present had been hiding in the Solar System for many years and were only outposts. Although their technology was far ahead, they still did not dare to rashly come into contact with the Earth Civilization. Their mission was to monitor the Earth Civilization all day long and guide the subsequent main force…
Only when their main forces arrived would they have sufficient confidence. Whether it was invading the colonies or destroying them, it would be a piece of cake. They would then think about how to deal with this surface civilization.
The Kabang Explorer captain was about to say something, but at that moment, the space station’s surveillance radar suddenly sounded with an urgent notification. Beep! Beep! Beep!
uup
Everyone was stunned. They quickly moved closer to the screen and were shocked. They saw that the readings on the screen were all messed up.
“What’s going on?”
This group of Kabang explorers quickly adjusted the instrument, but there were no problems with it. The various parameters of the outside world were showing more and more abnormalities, especially the curvature of space. At the same time, with the Earth civilization as the center, a large number of spatial folds appeared, spreading outward at an astonishing speed.
“What is this? There are no similar events in the database!”
Everyone’s eyes widened in shock.
At this time, an invisible energy wave suddenly erupted and spread toward the universe. It instantly swept across the various planets and the space station they were in. The energy reading instantly exceeded the power limit of the radar and caused it to burn. Everyone was shocked and quickly touched their bodies, but they did not suffer any damage from this energy. “This level of energy surge is unprecedented. What happened…”
Just as the group of them was feeling extremely surprised, the spatial folds had already spread to the vicinity of the space station. Through the porthole, they discovered that all the space within their sights was in ripples, like that of blanket folds. From their point of view, it was as if the entire universe had turned into a quagmire.
The torrent formed by starlight and dark matter was constantly spinning. Amidst the layers of wrinkles, they seemed to see a strange illusion. Countless civilizations and planets that they had never seen before were floating and vanishing. Suddenly, they had a sort of premonition. This universe seemed to be changing.
“Attention, everyone! The new version will be released in five minutes. Everyone, work overtime today and log in immediately. I’m going to check on you, do you hear me?” Zhu Xiaohua ordered loudly. Seeing that the dozens of employees in the workshop all responded, he nodded with satisfaction, turned around, walked into his private office, closed the door, and looked at the new Galaxy game cabin in the middle of the room. He rubbed his hands excitedly.
Ever since the Black Star Army video series made with the ID ‘Bun-Hit-Dog’ became popular, Zhu Xiaohua’s career was on track. He rented a floor to use as a studio and expanded his business, making a brand.
Currently, Galaxy’s popularity had reached its peak in history, and he was paying more attention to this main business. Galaxy had entered the version update two days ago, and today was the day the update would be completed. Version 6.0 would be officially released, so he took it very seriously and was prepared to log in as soon as possible. The thought of the new version unlocking a higher level made Zhu Xiaohua’s heart itch.
Although the storyline of “Galaxy” seemed to be heading toward peace, and it would be very difficult to find any more explosive points, he believed that the players would be the main characters of the stage after “Galaxy”.
Now that they had been unlocked to the Calamity Grade, as their level continued to increase, the players who wished for the world to be in chaos would definitely not be able to hold themselves back. They would definitely cause chaos in the game, which would lead to countless conflicts and interesting exciting stories. This way, there would definitely be no lack of materials to make videos…
Zhu Xiaohua already had an idea, and he planned to adjust the focus of the video.
He would no longer focus on the Black Star Army but on the various experiences of the players and NPC organizations, making it into various series and interview records.
Just thinking about the endless supply of materials and the possibility of a huge sale made him extremely excited. “I’m going to be rich again!” Zhu Xiaohua was in an excited mood as he skillfully lay down in the game cabin.
The hatch closed, and the countdown timer for the update was displayed on the screen. He stared with his eyes wide open at the time passing by in seconds. He could not help but shake his legs as he felt that time was passing too slowly.
“There are only a few seconds left… Five, four, three, two, o
ne! Alright!”
At the last second, the countdown on the built-in screen turned into a login interface, and it finally became version 6.0.
Zhu Xiaohua was overjoyed and could not wait to start the game cabin. He quickly closed his eyes and prepared to enter the game. However, after waiting for more than a minute with his eyes closed, he did not enter the Galaxy like before. Zhu Xiaohua could not help but open his eyes. “Strange, why can’t I log in? Is the game cabin malfunctioning? It can’t be, this was changed two days ago…”
Zhu Xiaohua opened the game cabin in confusion and climbed out again.
He squatted down to see if there was a problem with the lid of the game cabin. However, at this moment, there was a knock on the door. A few employees walked in with helpless expressions. “Boss, there’s a problem. None of us can log
in.”
“Hmm? So I’m not the only one. Looks like it’s not about the game cabin. Have you seen the official website?”
“I did. It seems like no one can log in.” Hearing this, Zhu Xiaohua was stunned for a moment. He walked to the computer, opened the “Galaxy” official website, and entered the forums. He realized that there were a lot of players posting, but none of them could log in. “It seems like there’s a bug in the new version.
Maybe the photon processor itself is malfunctioning… But that’s strange too. No one can log in. The officials will probably send a notice to explain such a huge matter. Why is there no response?” Zhu Xiaohua browsed through the post, puzzled. “Why don’t you ask?” an employee suggested. “Hmm, okay. I’ll ask the officials.”
Zhu Xiaohua nodded.
He had been invited to attend a few Pro League seasons as a guest, so he had an internal channel to contact the officials and ask about the situation.
Zhu Xiaohua picked up his phone from the table and opened his social media app. He found an official he knew and was about to send a message to ask. However, at this moment, there was a commotion outside the office. “What’s going on outside? Why is it so noisy?” Zhu Xiaohua frowned, paused his message, and walked out of the office. He saw all the employees gathered by the window, looking up as though they were looking at something.
“What are you guys looking at? Go back to your posts… Hmm?”
Zhu Xiaohua was a little dissatisfied. He walked over with large strides and also leaned close to the window. He subconsciously looked outside and suddenly paused.
On the road outside the window, all the pedestrians stopped and looked up at the sky. All the balconies and windows of the surrounding buildings had people sticking their heads out, looking up at the sky, their faces filled with shock. Seeing this strange scene, Zhu Xiaohua’s heart tightened. He slowly looked up at the sky.
The evening had just passed, and night had just fallen. A bright galaxy had already appeared in the sky, and more stars were shining in the night sky. The stars were like waterfalls, hanging upside down in the Milky Way, swaying and spinning. The sky seemed to have become a whirlpool, completely distorted as if someone was stirring the sky.
“This, this is…”
Zhu Xiaohua stared blankly at this scene, completely unaware that his mouth was wide open.
Just as everyone was dumbfounded, a spatial ripple suddenly appeared in the sky, and galactic fleets appeared out of thin air, attracting everyone’s attention. Zhu Xiaohua also looked over, but his eyes suddenly widened. He stared blankly at the identical emblems on the exterior armor of these battleships… This emblem was too familiar, he recognized it at a glance.
Before the crowd could react, an even more familiar figure suddenly appeared in the air. It was as if he had woken up from a deep sleep, as he opened his eyes blearily. The expression of this figure slowly turned from a blank look to pleasant surprise before finally turning into nostalgia.
“My hometown, I’m back…”
Although he was far away, for some reason, his voice seemed to ignore the distance and sounded in everyone’s hearts. At this moment, Zhu Xiaohua, like all the employees around him, felt like he had fallen into an icehouse. Their faces were filled with confusion, and their minds blank. At this moment, the figure in the sky seemed to have sensed the presence of someone familiar. He looked down and looked at Zhu Xiaohua from afar.
Zhu Xiaohua seemed to have woken up from a dream. He took a few steps back in disbelief, tripped over a table, and fell to the ground. His eyes almost popped out of their sockets, and his face was filled with disbelief. His mouth trembled, and his voice involuntarily rose. “Black Black Black Black… Black Star?!”
On this day, the world experienced a huge change. Countless phantoms that should have disappeared long ago reappeared. Some called it an ‘Invasion of the Realms’, while others called it a ‘Turning Point of Fate’.
Some felt that this was a case of a dove occupying a magpie’s nest, while others felt that this was a case of a tree spreading its branches. Some believed that this was the beginning of the end, while others believed that this was the continuation of life. But no matter what they thought, everything that happened on this day was remembered by countless people, and a new era was born.
— END —
Translators’ Thoughts: Hi guys, Chuchutrain here. I took over as the translator midway in the novel, ~Ch 400. It feels pretty surreal that this book is now completed, considering that the author was still writing it even when I took over. I hope you enjoyed this journey with our thick-skinned (figuratively and literally) MC, the Great Mechanic Han, and hope that my translations were bearable for you guys (if they aren’t, just pretend that they are :P)
