Bai Zhongqi cradled a handful of Glass Beads, feeling a pleasant melancholy. Once a person who competed fiercely for each planet in a Star Region, he now casually grasped a cluster of planets like playing with sand. Among these were habitable planets with strong development potential like Iridium Star and Earth.
"By using the Glass Bead to take planets away, I could actually transfer a planet from one universe to another. If I manage to unlock the First Universe in the future, could I bring Iridium Star into the Second Universe?" The thought emerged, and Bai Zhongqi could hardly contain his own wild fantasies.
Up to now, the Star Alliance had remained a vast force. Under Xiao Yu's leadership, the Star Alliance had almost matched the former might of the Iridium Star United Empire and had also become a member of the High Governance Council with genuine power.
Bai Zhongqi, using his ability to manipulate universe time, had cultivated the Swarm for ten years, harvesting a considerably sized military force that stood up to the Star Alliance without falling short. However, after calculations, he believed that he wouldn't have much of an advantage either.
He didn't want this battle for revenge to drag on, although he had let go of his psychological burdens and could eliminate anyone standing in the way of his vengeance, even if they were Earthlings. But he still hoped to minimize the loss of human lives and the Star Alliance's strength as much as possible.
Perhaps this was just wishful thinking, but when the time came that he really had to destroy the Star Alliance, Bai Zhongqi wasn't sure if he would make that decision.
But at least for now, he wouldn't step back due to a compassionate heart.
Ling changed into a wide-sleeved robe that made her figure appear graceful, especially with the low-cut neckline showing off her perfect collarbones and slender neck, not to mention that enticing glimpse of cleavage. The long skirt had a high slit too, showcasing her plump yet shapely legs crossing elegantly, which was quite eye-catching.
Even though she dressed seductively with an enticing posture, Bai Zhongqi was like a child, holding a box, staring wide-eyed as he picked out Glass Beads.
Seeing Bai Zhongqi's expression, Ling thought the man, who now appeared somewhat weathered and mature, looked very cute. She couldn't resist lightly brushing against him with her bare feet.
"Stop that," Bai Zhongqi said somewhat helplessly, as those beautiful feet, enough to make any foot fetishist explode, playfully continued to caress him.
Bai Zhongqi could only explain, "I'm busy."
Ling covered her mouth and chuckled softly, "All I see is a grown man playing with marbles like a child."
Bai Zhongqi also laughed, picking up a Glass Bead and looking at it under the light, "These marbles are pretty powerful."
Ling asked, "What kind of planets are you planning to pick out? Are you planning to build a new base?"
Bai Zhongqi shook his head, "Building a home planet or something similar takes time, even if I have the ability to adjust time. Besides, Earth is waiting for me to take over, and Iridium Star awaits my return. No other planets could possibly be as important to me as these two."
"What are you looking for, then?"
He held a glass bead emitting a gray glow and said, "I am looking for things that can offer us direct and significant benefits."
Zero asked curiously, "What's inside that planet?"
"To be precise, this glass bead contains two planets, a rare pair known as twin stars. Within it, the two planets named Star Creation One and Star Creation Two host an extremely rare AI civilization."
Zero raised an eyebrow, "What, you haven't finished playing with the third catastrophe yet, and you're already preparing to engage with the first one?"
Among the eight major disasters of the Galaxy, universally recognized and consistently ranked among the top three were the AI revolution, Void Demons, and Swarm. It wasn't clear if it was a peculiar hobby of the Elder Races to tackle these catastrophes, but Bai Zhongqi had managed the Swarm and turned it into a controllable force. Meanwhile, this space collector had, at some point, also acquired an AI civilization.
However, compared to Zero's Swarm, this AI civilization seemed not as formidable. According to the hardcover book, this Star Creation civilization wasn't the typical AI civilization that emerged from an AI revolution but was a "native" AI civilization. From the time records began, they were a group of robots that, to a large extent, were more similar to humans; they were emotional and enjoyed art. Although they didn't have family relationships, they still experienced love and friendship.
The Star Creation civilization was keen on interacting with other civilizations, classifying themselves as almost excessively xenophilic due to the limitations of their physical bodies; they longed for many characteristics of biological beings.
Yet, other civilizations were filled with fear of AI civilizations, even though the Star Creation civilization wasn't a typical one. But war still broke out, and the Star Creation civilization, being non-aggressive and having only their home planet, faced attacks from many civilizations. As their home planet was destroyed, Star Creation became a nomadic civilization.
During this process, the Star Creation civilization split apart. A portion of the robots believed that other civilizations in the universe were evil and that, to defend their civilization and establish a truly just world, they must cleanse other civilizations. Another portion believed that goodwill existed in the world, and by eliminating the misunderstandings between Star Creation people and other civilizations, Star Creation could coexist peacefully with them.
The former were called the Axiom Faction, and the latter, the Benevolence Faction; a conflict erupted between them. The Axiom Faction destroyed many planets, while the Benevolence Faction chose to fight their own kind to save other civilizations.
During this process, the space collector passed by and found these robots very interesting, so he put them into his glass bead. Since the destruction of Star Creation, the robots had for the first time a place they could call home.
The Benevolence Faction members of Star Creation were grateful to the space collector, considering him their "Father." Meanwhile, the Axiom Faction feared the colossal power of the space collector and hoped to defeat the Benevolence Faction and ultimately unify Star Creation.
In the Virtual Universe System, the two factions waged a long war, but the space collector did not intervene. Many from the Benevolence Faction became disillusioned and switched to the Axiom Faction.
When Bai Zhongqi acquired this glass bead, the twin stars of Star Creation had been at war with each other for hundreds of years. Every time the Benevolence Faction was on the verge of defeat, a powerful hero emerged to repeatedly thwart the Axiom Faction. The Benevolence Faction called this formidable hero their "Leader Warrior," believing that the "Father" would eventually return to bring love to the twin stars, reconcile the two factions, and help the Star Creation people build a better life.
Feeling like he had read a novel, Bai Zhongqi had never expected that a group of beings, essentially considered by humans as cold and cruel AI life forms, could be more emotional than humans themselves.