Cataclysm: Undead Dragons and Zero Empire

The dark red flames continued to burn in the silent universe, appearing from a distance like a flaming nebula.

Lin Ziming hovered at the spot where the Star Eater was gradually dying. Beneath the silvery-white living metal cloak, flames overflowing from the skeleton were greedily devouring the spilling energy, like a thirsty hunter who had been trekking through the mountains lying at the mouth of a spring he had discovered with great delight, eagerly drinking it down.

These energy assets, which once belonged to the Star Eaters after they devoured countless stars, lost their violent nature when they came into contact with the spiritual energy around Lin Ziming. Like the rays of the sun turning around, they flowed into the dragon bones like rivers flowing into the sea.

The death of such a celestial-scale organism should have triggered an energy surge comparable to a supernova explosion, with the emitted electromagnetic pulses clearly visible against the cosmic background.

However, at this moment, the energy lost its ability to spread, just like flowing magma encountering cold seawater and turning into stubborn rocks. Lin Zimo used his psionic energy to create an invisible cage, compressing and purifying the energy released by the Star Eater. Only a small amount of energy released when the Star Eater attacked Lin Zimo earlier was still flying in space in the form of high-energy rays, leaving behind fleeting spots of light.

The flames in the skeleton's eye sockets burned even brighter and more intensely. Lin Zimo could clearly sense the changes in the death fire within his body. The devoured energy was like high-quality firewood, making the flames even more violent.

Black and red psionic energy surged within the bones, even causing the living metal flowing on the body's surface to glow with a faint red light. Around Lin Ziming, the remains of the Star Eater, corrupted by psionic energy, had completely transformed into a black and red sun, gradually splitting and disappearing.

As the last fragment belonging to the Star Eater's core was devoured, a wave emanated from the dark red sun, creating ripples at the boundary between the real universe and the warp.

Lin Zimo exists here. Although he did not use the flames of "Zero Death" in the process of killing the Star Eater, the veil between the warp and the real universe is becoming fragile through his psionic power.

Under the psychic shock that signaled the end, the veil was torn open with countless tiny cracks. Energy tainted with the aura of death surged into the subspace through these cracks, mixing rapidly like blood mixed into ink, and spreading outwards.

This anomalous disturbance was like a spearhead piercing the vast silence of several surrounding star clusters, causing this "paper" covering the cosmic background to suddenly malfunction briefly.

Wide-area silence is not a natural cosmic phenomenon; it is a state, a default interstellar protocol for the isolation of civilizations.

To prevent the existence of interstellar civilizations from interfering with the natural evolution of lower civilizations, interstellar societies have conventionally adopted encryption systems to hide signals, locking the information flow generated by the operation of a large number of civilizations in encrypted channels.

For example, if neutrinos or gravitational waves are used for communication, civilizations that have not yet set foot in interstellar space would only regard them as noise in the cosmic background. Or, if the technology of encrypted communication is more advanced, indigenous civilizations would not even discover the existence of this form of information.

However, at this moment, the psionic shock tore apart these remnants of information drifting in the universe. Due to the chaotic nature of the warp and the direct stimulation of psionic energy on living beings, these streams of information that should have been submerged in the cosmic background spread out like a flood bursting its banks.

Any intelligent life with consciousness and soul can transcend the language barrier between encryption technology and civilization to understand the meaning of this information. This phenomenon can essentially be attributed to the reverse application of psionic communication, but it was achieved by chance through the powerful energy level between Lin Zimo and the Star Eater.

In a star cluster near the energy explosion point, a silent transformation is taking place on the planetary surface covered with purple vegetation. This silicon-based civilization, which has just emerged from the industrial age, possesses crystal-clear bodies. Its sensory organs are composed of countless fine crystalline fibers, which are equivalent to natural optical fibers, allowing information to flow efficiently within the body and even possessing a high degree of sensitivity, enabling it to detect the slightest energy fluctuations in the environment.

This civilization, due to its small population, still maintains a primitive tribal system. Their scientific research and detection equipment consists of selected members of their community, which are like crystal pillars planted in the ground, much like magical crops.

They were diligently collecting signals from the atmosphere when suddenly a sharp resonance appeared. They had captured an unprecedented flow of information, not belonging to light and heat, nor to sound and electricity, but acting directly on the soul and consciousness.

"...Berth at Starport No. 3 is now cleared. Cargo list: 5,000 units of alloy, 200 units of crystal core...Estimated arrival time...57 standard hours..."

The elders of the crystal clan pressed their limbs against the trembling younger kin, and the crystals within them, already cracked due to aging, excitedly emitted high-frequency vibrations.

In their understanding, the band of light that suddenly appeared in the sky was a transcendent existence, indicating that there was even greater life in the world, so much so that the sect that developed and worshipped the stars of the universe has survived to this day.

In fact, those light trails are the contrails produced by interstellar ships entering a faster-than-light state. Their technology is not yet very mature, so the contrails extend very far and can be observed by native civilizations. If this situation is reported, these ships will inevitably be punished for exposing interstellar civilizations.

In the eyes of this silicon-based civilization, hearing these voices from the heavens undoubtedly signifies the arrival of divine will, and their years of worship and faith have finally been answered.

Thus, the entire civilization underwent a dramatic change. Productivity was reorganized, much like a ship turning its rudder to change course at sea. Countless prismatic crystal towers began to rise from the purple plains, their spires always pointing towards the "bands of light." They were about to devote all their efforts to developing technology for the purpose of exploring the universe, which could very well lead to some strange technological paths.

In a more distant star cluster, on a planet whose surface is covered by 90% liquid water, a similar collapse and rebirth of faith is taking place. The oceans of this planet are teeming with all kinds of life, among which a carbon-based life form resembling an octopus possesses advanced intelligence and has developed a civilization.

They possess flexible tentacles, their bodies can display rainbow-like colors depending on their emotions, their compound eyes can capture a wide range of visible light, and they can communicate by spraying pheromone-rich liquids or by intertwining their tentacles.

At this time, this civilization is still in the primitive agricultural stage, relying on the cultivation of shellfish and plankton to maintain the survival of the tribe. Generations have developed a calendar by observing the changes in sunlight below the sea surface, which can determine the appropriate breeding cycle.

As night falls, the structures on the seabed are illuminated by bioluminescent seaweed, and when the elder in charge of the ritual ascends the altar, the gems he carries suddenly glow blue.

This gem, considered the "Heart of the Ocean," is a special mineral collected from near a deep-sea hydrothermal vent. At this moment, it is undergoing a strong resonance with the psychic energy that has penetrated the atmosphere and seawater from the stars.

The priest's tentacles reached out to the gem. Its soul wasn't that perceptive, but it could sense the chaotic and disordered information through resonance amplification. Of course, it didn't understand the meaning carried in the signals, but based on ancient primitive beliefs, it imagined a grand picture of a sacred abode above the sea.

The jewel's radiance lasted for three full tidal cycles, and the kin who gathered around the altar intertwined their numerous tentacles, as a new faith began to rise in the ocean.

Within the tribe, this gemstone was elevated from a luxury item to a supreme sacred object, and bestowing it upon the tribe was considered the greatest honor. Their temples were decorated with depictions of the "Sea of ​​Immortality," a scene imagined by the priest.

Every day, the young members of the tribe swim to the surface in groups, gazing greedily at the starry sky with their compound eyes. Some of the bolder ones briefly surface, attempting to take on more missions from the sea, just like the older priests.

The widespread silence, unintentionally broken by Lin Ziming, profoundly affected intelligent life within several star clusters, proving that the existence of this isolation system was indeed meaningful.

Several interstellar civilizations, searching for the reason why the wide-area silence was broken and wanting to hold someone accountable, discovered Lin Ziming as the mastermind behind it all, and then fell silent.

They unanimously ignored this guilt and began organizing to rebuild widespread silence, as if nothing had happened.

As for the indigenous civilizations that were affected, they were of little importance.