Devouring World Dragon

Chapter 253 The Giant Serpent in Space
The year 20149 of the Galactic Calendar, the Solar System.

With the formation of the subspace network, the Milky Way entered an era of unprecedentedly rapid communication. Although there are still various dangers and limitations in using the subspace network, at least in terms of communication, the human world no longer has to spend ten thousand years to spread a message to a distant star system.

Correspondingly, the originally remote and desolate birthplace of humankind is no longer so desolate. People from all walks of life often come here through the subspace route to trace the footsteps of ancient humans, and some settlements have even been set up on some broken planetary remnants.

The solar system at this galactic time is no exception.

"Is this the galaxy where humanity originated?"

On a spaceship that looks extremely advanced, a group of tourists gaze at the solar system, which is littered with celestial debris and the remains of ancient spaceships, with great interest.

Although desolate, this star system, filled with memories of war, is rich in traces of conflict. Many asteroids in the Kuiper Belt bear the marks of weapons left by human wars throughout history.

"Yes, until 765 of the Galactic Calendar, this was still an important star system for the entire human world. However, with the deployment of planet-destroying weapons, a planet known as 'Mars' was destroyed. Since then, there has been no place here suitable for human habitation, and it has gradually been abandoned."

On the spaceship, a middle-aged man explained using the energy fluctuations emanating from his body.

In this age where humans possess psychic abilities, except on a few occasions, people no longer use speech to communicate most of the time. After all, compared to language, telepathic communication is far faster and more accurate in conveying information.

"Mars? I remember the planet that humans first inhabited wasn't called Mars, what was it called again... Right, it was Earth!"

The young man pondered, and his brain's built-in processor quickly provided an answer. The next moment, he asked in bewilderment.

The middle-aged man nodded.

"That's right, the planet that humans first inhabited was not Mars, but Earth. But Earth was destroyed before the Galactic Calendar because of something."

As he spoke, the middle-aged man laughed.

"It's quite an interesting story. In 978 BC, the human world consisted of only two star systems: the Solar System and the Hope System. We all know the history of the Hope System, so I won't go into details. At that time, the Solar System was divided up by several powers, the largest of which was called the Overlord, who controlled the Earth."

"I don't know why, but the ruler of the hegemon at the time ordered the destruction of his most important settlement—Earth, which directly led to the decline of the hegemon."

"Destroying their own planet? What is this person in power thinking?"

Upon hearing this, the young man was taken aback.

This is something that the processor's database doesn't contain; after all, even the processor built into the brain can't store all the knowledge in the entire human world.

The middle-aged man shook his head.

"I don't know, nobody knows what the person in power back then was thinking. I'm quite interested in the history of the pre-galactic calendar, and I've even considered tracing back the photons to reconstruct the entire history through the photon information emitted 21128 years ago. However, that would be extremely costly, and I don't have the ability to do it for now... I wonder if it will be possible in a few hundred years."

The middle-aged man felt a little regretful.

As they were talking, someone's psionic energy suddenly became intense, clearly indicating that the person was very agitated.

"Look! It's the remains of Earth, the planet where humanity originated!"

What came into view were the numerous planetary fragments lying quietly in orbit.

Even though shattered into countless fragments by the war, those fragments remain enormous, each as massive as a mountain peak, with millions of colossal mountains suspended in the void. And 20,000 years ago, these fragments were the cradle of humankind, each possibly once home to their ancient ancestors.

Ancestors who lived on planets, humans who lived among the stars; shattered mountains, spaceships in the void...

The spaceship moved slowly around the outer edge of the mountain range, and everyone fell silent, carefully appreciating the profound sense of history sculpted by time.

As the young man looked at the mountains, he suddenly felt as if he had seen something, but he missed it in an instant because of the spaceship's movement.

"Wait, what is that?"

The processor in his brain didn't miss the scene before him, and a 3D image immediately appeared in front of him...

Amidst those mountain peaks, a young woman draped in an ancient robe floated in space, her hands clasped tightly, seemingly in silent prayer. Even in this interstellar age where handsome men and beautiful women abound, her beauty would not fail to elicit admiration from young people. But the problem was…

She wasn't wearing any protective gear at all!

The young man had heard that some powerful psychics could roam freely through space without any artificial aids, relying solely on their own psychic abilities. The problem was, if they truly relied on psychic energy, then the fluctuations generated by powerful psychic energy would be impossible to conceal.

So how did this beautiful girl do it?
"Wait! Stop right there! There's something there!"

A surge of rapid mental energy erupted from the young man, startling his companions. However, at the very moment this mental energy surged forth, an unexpected change occurred.

The mountains that were originally still in the void suddenly began to move abnormally.

The spaceship's AI instantly detected the anomaly, and its half-light-speed engine accelerated from its slow movement to a point where it was no longer within the range of the mountain peaks.

"how……"

"What happened..." The companion, still unaware of what was going on, emanated waves of confusion, while the young man's eyes were fixed on the remains of Earth.

Although he didn't understand what had happened, he instinctively believed that it was all related to the girl in space.

In the young man's eyes, as his gaze focused, the advanced prosthetic eye moved slightly, proving that this product of human technology was operating efficiently.

spectrum……

Thermal images...

gravitational……

Particle collision...

Psychic monitoring response...

Dimensional warp measurement...

……

In just a few seconds of observation, a wealth of data was transmitted to the young man's brain processor and transformed into detailed conclusions.

at last……

"I saw it!"

A few seconds later, in the image drawn by the processor, the young man saw the target he wanted to see.

In the drawn 3D image, amidst the mountain peaks, there is an extremely tiny figure. The beautiful girl, with her hands clasped tightly, floats in space, rapidly chanting something, and an invisible energy reaction surrounds her.

This energy reaction was something even the mechanical eye couldn't identify. But numerous pieces of data confirm that some strange reaction, incomprehensible to both the mechanical eye and the brain's processor, was occurring there!
Furthermore, according to the thermal spectrum, her body temperature must have been extremely low, almost equivalent to the temperature of space, which is close to minus two hundred degrees Celsius. What does this mean?
AI that creates human-like appearances?

Or is it a corpse?
Young people don't understand, and can't comprehend.

These conclusions were quickly received by their companions through mental fluctuations, but no one understood how it happened. These interstellar humans, who had undergone numerous genetic modifications and mechanical alterations and possessed psionic abilities, were filled with bewilderment and incomprehension.

Regardless of what the humans on the spaceship thought, in the void, the broken peaks scattered across numerous orbits began to gather together and gradually coalesced into the shape of a planet.

"Is that... Earth?"

The middle-aged man's face was filled with shock.

For a middle-aged man who enjoys studying pre-galactic history, he had fantasized about what Earth would look like, but never imagined he would actually see a real Earth.

The barren, massive planet has no crust, no atmosphere, and no oceans; it has only a lifeless, cold core.

Beside the enormous planet, the girl's figure appeared incredibly small, like a grain of sand on the ocean, but she was crystal clear in the eyes of the interstellar humans. She had pale skin, deathly white pupils, and strange scales growing on parts of her body.

Her face was indifferent, and she had stopped chanting. She simply stared silently at the planet in front of her.

The spaceship didn't get too close, but instead circled the planet and the strange girl once.

Psionicists all possess precognitive abilities to varying degrees, and for some reason, everyone felt an invisible fear regarding that strange girl and the planet that resembled Earth.

"Is...is this the end?"

Among his companions, one unconsciously emanated a psychological fluctuation, and everyone could sense the uncertainty and unease in his heart.

Suddenly, before the eyes of all interstellar humans, a crack appeared on the massive planet, which then rapidly spread out, forming a huge, cracked pattern.

From that enormous planet, a massive tail covered in scales tore through its outer shell. The cracked shell was violently shattered by the enormous tail, which was thousands of miles long. Some parts were directly forced to break into powder, while many more were broken into fragmented mountain peaks that floated in space.

The outer shell crumbled, slowly revealing what lay within...

Amidst the planetary wreckage lies a giant serpent coiled up.

In the vast expanse of space, a colossal serpent, spanning millions of miles, casually stretched its body, its posture languid, as if it had just awakened from a long slumber.

At the massive head, the cold, vertical snake eyes slowly opened.

"This...this is..."

The middle-aged man's pupils dilated slightly, his face filled with horror. He even involuntarily took a few steps back and fell to the ground with a thud, his finger trembling as he pointed at the giant star beast in front of him.

(End of this chapter)