Chapter 576: Chapter 457: A Presence More Terrifying Than Iron-Based Lifeforms (Part 2)

"Does this mean he has mastered... the power of creation?"

As soon as these words were spoken, Commander Moras, Admiral Carona, a group of admirals, Alzado with his group of generals, and senior technical personnel like Bella, were all shocked into an incredulous silence.

They were well aware that possessing the "power of creation" meant transcending mere biological existence and becoming a true deity!

Deities, to any highly intelligent race in the cosmos, are an unattainable presence.

Although the Spiritual Race’s civilization is highly advanced, mastering technologies that to Earth humans might seem miraculous, they clearly understood that technology is technology, and deities are deities. Some things cannot be bridged by any level of civilization.

At least, a technological civilization cannot bridge this gap, unless it’s through science fiction.

Take vacuum decay, for example; no matter how advanced a civilization, it cannot achieve this through technology.

Yet in mythology or science fiction, vacuum decay is trivial.

Not just vacuum decay; if deities or science fiction wish, they could even initiate a "dimensional attack," similar to the "two-dimensional foil" described in the novel "The Three-Body Problem."

Though the Spiritual Race doesn’t have the science fiction novel "The Three-Body Problem," they have similar works of science fiction where a "divine artifact" akin to "two-dimensional foil" is imagined.

Therefore, when Commander Moras, Admiral Carona, and Chief Technology Officer Bella of the Spiritual Race learned they had angered a deity who proclaimed to destroy the stellar system of their mother star, their hearts filled with terror they could not suppress.

They knew well that with their technological level, the Spiritual Race was utterly incapable of resisting a deity.

Commander Moras, his face ashen, asked tremblingly, "Did the Planet Guardian God give us only ten Earth days?"

Admiral Carona’s eyes were filled with despair, "Yes, only ten Earth days, after which he will head to the stellar system where our mother star resides and destroy it. We... don’t have much time left."

Despite the deep fear in Commander Moras’s heart, his resolve was strong, befitting a leader of millions, and he issued the order without hesitation, "Activate the warship’s jump mode, return to the nearest Space Jump Station as soon as possible, and then head back to the mother star to report everything to our great king."

"Yes."

"Aye, sir."

The senior officers swiftly responded.

Although they decided to immediately rush back to the mother star to alert the Spiritual Ability King to prepare for battle, preventing the Planet Guardian God from indeed attacking, they held little hope. They doubted that even by rallying all the Spiritual Race’s might, and possibly enlisting aid from other advanced intelligent civilizations, they could save their mother star system from destruction.

Or rather, they had already acknowledged that their mother star’s stellar system was doomed, but deep down, they refused to accept it.

Moras, Carona, Bella, and the others never imagined that as one of the more developed civilizations in the Orion Arm of the Milky Way, having conquered thousands of stellar systems, they would be cornered by a "man" into such a dire situation!

...

Days later.

Spiritual Race’s Mother Star.

Though Commander Moras and company had yet to return, they had already used special communication tools to inform the mother star of their impending return and to announce a matter that could affect the survival of the entire Spiritual Race.

Holy Sanctuary, Council Chamber.

The Spiritual Ability King, High Priest, and over a dozen top leaders of the Spiritual Race were gathered there.

They awaited the return of Commander Moras to announce the so-called grave matter influencing the life and death of the Spiritual Race.

"By my calculations, it should be soon."

"Indeed, Commander Moras should be returning soon."

"What major event could he be announcing, claiming it might influence the survival of our entire race?"

"Did he perhaps discover a civilization more advanced than ours, intending to exterminate us?"

"That’s unlikely. While we are merely a member of the Orion Arm High Civilization Alliance, this alliance is part of the Galaxy Alliance. Within the Milky Way, all high civilizations are forbidden to invade any members of the same alliance without reason or risk facing a united backlash. Our conquest of countless stellar systems is due to them being unclaimed or non-allied territories, thus free from sanctions. So how could a civilization more advanced than us aim for our extinction? Even if we’ve erred, before another civilization could launch an attack, alliance consent would be needed, followed by an official declaration of war. As of now, we’ve received no such declaration, making this hypothesis improbable."

"Since it’s not other advanced civilizations aiming for our extinction, what exactly could be so severe as to have Commander Moras act this gravely?"

The top figures of the Spiritual Race were perplexed, unable to hypothesize the situation.

The discussions were lively, save for the Spiritual Ability King, who remained silent.

The Spiritual Ability King was more significant than Commander Moras, towering at around seven meters.

Moreover, he had far more eyes on his forehead, about forty-five or forty-six in number.

Unbeknownst to him, the Spiritual Ability King had a strong premonition of some terrifying news that Commander Moras might bring back this time.

He suspected it was an illusion since the Spiritual Race’s civilization is highly developed, capable of easily extracting stellar resources and ruling over thousands of stellar systems. Typically, they wouldn’t be easily destroyed from outside unless they imploded from within.

Despite thinking it was an illusion, this unsettling premonition persisted within the Spiritual Ability King.

Suddenly, he involuntarily recalled the "Cosmic Mirage" that once showcased a horrifying iron-based lifeform.

He pondered, could it be that Commander Moras discovered an iron-based lifeform within the Milky Way?

If this were true, not only would the Spiritual Race suffer, but all the advanced civilizations within the Galaxy Alliance would face annihilation.

On this thought, cold sweat gathered in the hands of the Spiritual Ability King.

Hopefully, it’s just an illusion.

The probability of iron-based lifeforms emerging in the universe is so low; there’s no way their luck could be so poor as to encounter one personally, could it?

He refused to believe the Spiritual Race could be so unlucky.

Or, if such lifeforms did appear in the Milky Way, surely the Galaxy Alliance would have noticed and informed its members and sub-alliance members.

The Spiritual Race had received no such notification, so how could an iron-based lifeform breach the Orion Arm?

As the Spiritual Ability King was lost in thought.

During ongoing discussions among the top leaders of the Spiritual Race.

Suddenly, a Spiritual Race individual clad in golden armor and a red cloak, standing four to five meters tall, entered.

Everyone turned towards the commotion at the doorway.

Commander Moras solemnly entered the council chamber.

As the second-most powerful figure in the Spiritual Race, the High Priest immediately stood up and inquired, "Commander Moras, what has happened?"

The others looked towards Commander Moras’s expression.

At this moment, a hint of despair shone in Commander Moras’s eyes, "Great Spiritual Ability King, High Priest, I have brought some footage back for you and the esteemed leaders to view later—please—mentally steel yourselves!"

What?

Mentally prepare?

Could it be that an advanced intelligent civilization is indeed about to attack us?

A Spiritual Race leader with over thirty eyes challenged incredulously, "Have you discovered an iron-based lifeform on your expedition? Haha, I don’t believe you’d be so lucky—or rather, unlucky—to witness an iron-based lifeform firsthand."

The Spiritual Ability King, High Priest, and other leaders exchanged knowing smiles; they had entertained similar thoughts but doubted the Spiritual Race or the Milky Way would suffer the misfortune of encountering fearsome iron-based entities.

Yet, an unexpected development occurred for all present Spiritual Race leaders.

With a profoundly dismal expression and an incredibly bitter tone, Commander Moras announced, "Perhaps the plight facing our Spiritual Race this time might be countless times worse than encountering iron-based lifeforms!"