Devouring World Dragon

Chapter 259 The Strange Tale of the Headless General

"It is better to cut off one finger than to injure ten fingers of the enemy."

In this space age, many ancient ideas have become outdated and no longer applicable, but some macro-level summaries of experience are still applicable.

Although detailed information about the giant serpent could not be obtained, according to the speculation of the academic conference, the strength of each scale on the serpent is greater than any material known to humankind, perhaps even neutron star material.

These conclusions have also been reflected in previous weapons combat.

Faced with those weapons of radiation and plasma beams, the scales, which are so strong that they almost defy the laws of physics, can easily withstand them. The highly compact matter at the atomic level will not waver even when faced with constant bombardment of particles.

Unless the kinetic energy is large enough, bombarding with more weapons will be meaningless.

However, since it is impossible to destroy the atomic structure at the microscopic level, there is no need to destroy the atomic structure; instead, the atoms can be directly annihilated.

"Antimatter weapons."

This discovery revealed an extremely ancient substance that had been used long before the Galactic Era and served as a planet-destroying weapon that blew up the entire Earth. However, the search for antimatter has never stopped.

Antimatter is a collective term for matter that is the opposite of what makes up matter, such as particles and antiparticles, quarks and antiquarks, atoms and antiatoms. Today, scholars believe that both matter and antimatter have had the opportunity to form their own universes.

At the very beginning of the Big Bang, there was a billion times more particles than the entire universe today, and an almost equal number of antiparticles clashed. In that unprecedentedly violent explosion, every particle annihilated its corresponding antiparticle, releasing tremendous energy. Ultimately, the antiparticles failed by a mere one-billionth of a percent, and the remaining one-billionth of particles gradually formed the entire universe.

If the positive particle had not won back then, then the universe would be made up of antiparticles now, and the universe would be an antimatter universe filled with countless antimatter particles. But in that struggle, the antiparticle ultimately lost.

Particles and antiparticles are like destined enemies; when they meet, they can only annihilate each other.

Even the black hole that devours everything has a lifespan.

The indiscriminately greedy black hole devours everything in the universe, including antiparticles. The black hole's powerful gravity can devour antiparticles, but a black hole composed of particles will also become smaller and smaller as it devours antiparticles, eventually disappearing due to its own greed.

And this is just the most basic application. In the tens of thousands of years of exploration by interstellar civilizations, the use of antimatter has become more and more skillful. Even the scales that are comparable to the matter of neutron stars and are "indestructible" are not truly indestructible...

……

Numerous weapons crashed into the giant serpent, but the bursts of light resembled fireworks—beautiful yet utterly meaningless.

To the colossal serpent, spanning countless millions of miles, these tiny explosions were like ripples on a vast ocean, perhaps imperceptible even to it. The serpent lay prostrate on the star, greedily devouring it, completely oblivious to the explosions emanating from its body.

But all of this was just a feint.

At Tyloan's command, a group of seemingly ordinary unmanned machines advanced.

They advanced at near-light speed, and then, beside the giant serpent, those special devices equipped with miniature engines rapidly moved toward their target.

"..."

When the antiparticle, bound by the miniature gravity device, struck the scales that resembled a continent, it only created a small crater, less than the size of a thumb, on the smooth, mirror-like surface. But if someone looked closely, they would realize that beneath that small crater lay a tiny wound, hundreds of meters deep, yet less than 5 micrometers in diameter.

At the microscopic level, the tightly packed positive atoms resemble an army neatly arranged, with no gaps between them, and no force can break through this encirclement. However, what charges towards them is not other positive atoms trying to break through, but antiatoms that are desperately trying to destroy them together...

Under precise control, the antimatter broke through the encirclement of matter and carved out a long, narrow channel.

And this is just the beginning.

Within a radius of millions of kilometers, numerous drones, like mosquitoes attracted by blood, precisely launched their weapons into this small crater.

Each time, those weapons made of antimatter would drill a tiny hole in the thick, sturdy scales of their predecessors, creating a large hole, and then drill another tiny hole deep within the crevice.

The mountain separates two worlds; those outside want to enter, but the mountain forbids them.

Although human strength cannot move mountains, and people are unwilling to cross them, they have carved tunnels through the towering mountainsides.

It is not necessary to shatter the entire massive, solid scales that are as thick as a continent and over a million kilometers thick. It is sufficient to drill a tiny hole, less than a millimeter in diameter but extremely deep, into the scales.

As the giant serpent moved at near the speed of light, the interstellar humans realized the flaw in its "indestructible" scales, but they were unable to act because of its excessive speed; even a slight difference in position would prevent them from targeting the tiny wound.

Only after the giant serpent was held back by layers of gravitational defenses could this tactic, akin to the legendary Yu Gong moving mountains, be implemented.

At this moment, such a scene is unfolding among the various scales, those huge and solid scales are being besieged by billions of drones.

One thousand meters...

Ten thousand meters...

One hundred thousand meters...

One million meters...

Tens of millions of meters...

……

A greedy and violent monster coiled around a star, gnawing at the star beneath it. Countless tiny dust particles surrounded its body, yet it paid no heed, completely unaware that tiny drones, as small as dust particles, were drilling small holes into its scales.

Suddenly, the monster that was devouring the star stopped, and the next moment, it felt a rare pain.

"Roar!!!"

There should be no sound in the vast space, but an invisible fluctuation emanated from the star, a strange power similar to psionic energy, which enraged the giant serpent.

"efficient!"

Inside the spaceship, some generals cheered.

Then, another device that had been lying in wait for a long time was also released: the "gravity generation device."

For a period of time, force fields were popular as a weapon source in interstellar space, but ultimately, simple and brutal explosive weapons became the mainstream. However, this period also left behind many interesting things.

By giving mass to the Higgs boson, which is the source of mass for everything, a black hole-like effect is created.

This is the weapon used to restrain the giant beast and prevent it from trying to escape.

However, when this weapon is deployed, it means the generals should retreat. Otherwise, when it takes effect, the gravity in this area will be unimaginably strong, and if they don't run, even the generals won't be able to escape.

At this moment, some people are already fantasizing about what will happen after the giant snake is captured.

however……

Tyloan didn't join in the celebrations. The success of the antimatter weapon meant nothing; he still vividly remembered the invisible collapse of all the drones within 14 billion kilometers. In his view, this might only be the beginning.

During each test, a strange phenomenon would occur at a certain moment: a flash of white light would appear, and then all images would disappear, leaving only the shattered unmanned machinery in place.

What that light was, nobody knew; Tyloan disliked the unknown.

Just as Tiloan was thinking, an image appeared.

"General Tiloan, prepare for a temporary retreat. We are about to begin the second phase of the operation."

Before him, the fleet commander seemed quite pleased, but before Tiloan could respond, under the watchful eyes of numerous ships, the enraged giant serpent's pupils, which had been half-open, suddenly snapped open.

It's hard to describe what those vertical pupils looked like.

In those open pupils, the overly clear vertical pupils seemed to reflect the colors of the entire universe, and deep within those pupils, a glimmer of light emerged.

bright?

Before a thought could even form, the next instant, Tiloan seemed to sense that one of the psionic warriors beside him had moved.

Before his eyes, the cheerful fleet commander, the suddenly alert psionic warrior, the spaceship before him, the pitch-black and desolate universe... everything twisted and shattered, only those cold pupils became clearer and clearer in his blurred consciousness.

Immediately, consciousness froze...

In space, a colossal serpent coils around a star, devouring it with its jaws.

Within hundreds of millions of kilometers around the star, there are scattered spaceship parts and occasional scattered human remains.

After a while, the enormous monster opened its mouth and swallowed the nearly finished star whole, paying no further attention to the remaining traces. The giant serpent continued to fly into the distant space.

……

"how so……"

Tiloan felt his consciousness becoming blurred, and he could no longer even feel his own body.

"..."

The remaining psychic energy seemed to sense something, but it was too blurry to discern what it was.

I don't know how much time passed in this daze, but it seemed that some distant voice was calling to me.

“Tiloon… General Tiloon… Tiloon…”

The sound grew clearer as it approached.

"Tiloon!"

Instantly, the huge surge of psionic energy jolted him awake, and when he opened his eyes, he was met with an unfamiliar ceiling and unfamiliar people.

“You’re awake, General Tiloan.”

Looking around blankly, this seemed to be a life science research center, but wasn't this usually a place for people who had gene editing surgery?

As if sensing Tiloan's confusion, the mature and beautiful woman in front of her apologized.

"I'm sorry, but when you were teleported back... you only had a head left, so we can only regenerate your body here."

"...?"

It took Tiloan quite a while to realize what had happened while he was losing consciousness.

In the Faraway Star System, all the ships were destroyed.

Almost identically, all the spaceships were reduced to broken and twisted wreckage, and even the human bodies were twisted into a bizarre mass of minced meat. Only Tiloan was teleported back to a nearby star system, which was the pre-arranged location during the emergency teleportation.

Although Tiloan was only a head when he was teleported back, the Center for Life Sciences still managed to save him.

"Now, you are the only survivor. General Tyloan, please tell me what you saw."

A sector commander of the Second Republic, a man of stern bearing, stared intently at Tyloan before him.

Tiloan lowered his head, not communicating with psychic powers, but instead murmuring softly.

"I...I saw a pair of cold eyes."

(End of this chapter)