143: Ready to strike

Major General Trier activated all the detection equipment carried by the observation team and all sensors on the redemption, desperately collecting all the data he could, and then transmitting it all back to the Falem Homeworld.

In the research hub of the Falem Homeworld, a massive stream of data flowed through the AI host database. These were the real-time field readings that Major General Trier had transmitted back from the redemption through the high-dimensional quantum communication channel, crossing a distance of hundreds of light-years.

"This violates the second law of thermodynamics, violates the conservation of matter, and even violates basic causality."

After Chief Scientist Zeral finished reviewing the results derived from the research AI's data analysis, his face was filled with the pain and disgust of a pure materialist scientist.

"Without any physical input, the energy output of all reactors on warships belonging to the Angel Empire has increased out of thin air by 20%. The secretion levels of dopamine and endorphins for all Angel people have been forcibly locked at an extremely high threshold, and this lock is the result of dual effects at both the genetic and conscious levels."

"This is the result of psionic power," Zeral said through gritted teeth. "It is the most shameless rape of physical laws."

Lei Wen, who had been attracted by the event pop-up on the game interface, listened quietly from the side. Although the expression on his holographic image was calm, his heart was equally stirred.

As a veteran player of stellar universe》, he was all too familiar with this type of event.

"We need professional advice," Lei Wen said slowly, his voice breaking the deadlock in the data analysis room. "Price, let that expert in."

"Yes, the guide."

Following Price's command, the large door slid open, and a Faleim person wearing deep purple robes, whose temperament was completely different from the science and engineering bureaucrats in silver-gray uniforms around him, walked in.

His name was Valen, a high-level psionic user who was extremely rare in the Faleim Civilization, and he was also the chief expert responsible for leading the "Psionics and High-Dimensional Physics Research Institute."

In Faleim's extremely materialistic society, psionics were not regarded as magic or divine power, but as a high-dimensional physical phenomenon that had not yet been fully parsed.

Valen's existence was to dissect this monster called "psionics" with a scientific scalpel.

Valen performed a standard chest-touching salute to Lei Wen, then walked straight to the holographic table. His palm glowed with purple light, and then he pressed his hand onto an interface on the holographic table, his eyes also emitting a faint purple light.

"A familiar manifestation... From this data, I can smell that disgusting, sweet stench full of greed and temptation."

Valen closed his eyes, as if tasting a glass of spoiled wine. A moment later, he opened his eyes, and his purple pupils flickered a few times.

"The Guide, Archon." Valen's voice was hoarse and low. "Major General Trier's judgment is correct; this is indeed the interference of The Void Realm."

"And this kind of psionic index is not an ordinary psionic fluctuation, but a certain contract, a soul contract signed between a vast civilization and an indescribably powerful entity in The Void Realm."

"Which one exactly?" Lei Wen asked, though he already had a guess in his mind.

Valen waved his hand to disperse the data stream and reconstructed a mental profile model.

"The characteristics of this fluctuation are very obvious: it does not seek direct destruction (like the World Eater), nor does it seek pure chaos (like the Whispers of the Void), and it is certainly not that kind of coldly mechanical cycle (like the Weaver of Life)."

"It grants material abundance and gives extreme sensory satisfaction in exchange for the loss of the will to change."

Valen pointed to the area in the model representing the collective subconscious of the Angel people, which should have been a red color full of activity, contradiction, and conflict, but had now turned into a dead and smooth purple.

"That is 'the instrument of desire'."

Valen spoke the name.

"One of the entities in The Void Realm most skilled at toying with human hearts. It does not crave flesh and blood; what it craves is desire itself. It devours the civilization's upward momentum, courage to change, and dissatisfaction with the status quo by satisfying the civilization's material needs."

"This is the Price of the contract."

Valen turned around to face all the councilors.

"The people of the Angel Empire now feel incredibly happy. Their resource output has skyrocketed, and social contradictions have disappeared instantly, but this happiness is fake, a product of a castrated mind."

"They have lost the ability to be angry, lost the will to resist. For a civilization facing the crisis of national extinction, this 'absolute satisfaction' is the deadliest poison."

"Just like when Her Highness Amira Radiance suddenly felt that 'it doesn't matter if we arrive a few days late' during the voyage," Price summarized coldly. "This plague of thought will lead them to destruction amidst laughter and joy. Even if the Iofer people put a knife to their necks, they might smile and extend their necks."

The analysis room fell into a brief silence.

This was a way of destruction completely different from direct slaughter; it stripped away the most essential characteristic of life—the instinct to struggle for survival.

"Is there a way to break it?" Lei Wen asked.

This was the question he cared about most.

He had laid out his plans for so long, even going so far as to lend an avatar-class battlecruiser to Amira, with the goal of fostering an obedient proxy to control this star region.

If the Angel Empire turned into a group of mindless walking corpses, all his investments would go down the drain.

Worse, an Angel Empire that had lost the ability to resist would be easily annexed by the Iofer Federation. By then, the power of that crazy woman Barlena would expand extremely, and no civilization in this star region would be able to compete with her, unless the Faleim Civilization intervened personally, which was not in the interests of the Faleim Civilization.

Valen was silent for a moment, his brows tightly locked together, seemingly making a difficult assessment.

"In theory, any contract can be broken," Valen said slowly, "but the object is a Void god, which makes it extremely complicated."

"The Angel Empire itself can no longer break the contract, because the moment the contract took effect, their collective subconscious became a part of that god, just like a drug addict cannot quit this poison of extreme pleasure on their own; they won't even think they are sick."

"The only way is external intervention."

Valen raised his head, looking directly at Lei Wen.

"We need to use extremely powerful energy to perform targeted sterilization on the Angel Empire's home planet, which is the anchor point of the contract, both at the physical and psionic levels."

"We need to destroy the center of their ritual to enter The Void Realm, cut off the connection channel between the material world and The Void Realm, and use high-frequency anti-psionic bands to forcibly 'wake up' those souls addicted to hallucinations."

"That doesn't sound difficult." Councilor Talon, who was in charge of military affairs, interjected, "We still have quite a few anti-psionic jammers in our inventory. Just a slight modification to some warships can easily eliminate psionic reactions within an entire galaxy."

"No, Councilor Talon, you are oversimplifying things." Valen shook his head, a wry smile appearing on his face. "This is a breach of contract."

"A breach of contract?"

"When you try to unilaterally tear up a contract signed with a god, what do you think that creditor will do?"

"Will it get angry?" Talon frowned.

"Not just angry." Valen said with a frown, "Although Void gods cannot fully descend their bodies into the material universe, if someone tries to forcibly cut off the food pipeline that it has already obtained..."

"It will project a [Psionic Avatar] through that channel that has not been completely closed."

A terrifying simulation image appeared on the holographic screen.

It was a storm composed of pure purple energy. It had no fixed form, sometimes turning into a ferocious giant beast, sometimes turning into an indescribable geometric shape. It ignored shields, ignored armor, and directly attacked the crew and electronic components inside the warships.

"According to the records of the old universe," Valen cited historical data, "every descent of a Void god's avatar means a natural disaster. Its combat power is conservatively estimated to be equivalent to a full-strength Lost Empire fleet, or even stronger."

"Moreover, conventional weapons are extremely ineffective against this kind of pure energy body. Kinetic weapons will pass through it, energy weapons will be absorbed by it, and only specific phase weapons, dimensional weapons, or equally powerful psionic attacks can cause substantial damage to it."

"In other words," Lei Wen summarized, "if we want to save the Angel Empire, we must be prepared to fight a hard battle against a god's projection?"

"Yes, the guide." Valen replied respectfully, "And the battlefield is in the Angel's capital galaxy. Once the war starts, that planet is likely to be completely destroyed in the crossfire between the god and us."

Everyone fell silent again.

This was a huge risk.

Is it worth provoking a god from The Void Realm for a pawn that hasn't been fully controlled yet?

Everyone's eyes turned to Lei Wen.

If it were the Faleim Civilization of the past, facing this kind of idealistic mess, they would most likely choose to stand by, or even record data on the side, studying the physical parameters of the god's descent, unless those idealistic civilizations summoned a disaster that even the Faleim People could not avoid.

But now, the power of decision lies in the hands of the guide.

Lei Wen leaned back in his chair, his fingers tapping gently on the table.

He was weighing.

Abandon the Angel Empire? That would mean the Iofer Federation would dominate the two major spiral arms, and the Faleim Civilization would have to spend more effort to clean up this huge and aggressive super-empire.

Save the Angel Empire? The risk is huge, not only might it suffer heavy losses, but it might even attract fire and let the Void god mark the Faleim Civilization.

But...

In Lei Wen's mind, Amira's golden eyes filled with despair but determination appeared, as well as the scene of her praying to the statue on the surface of Tianen Star.

More importantly, he thought of the setting in stellar universe》.

Defeating the avatar of a Void god often drops or unlocks some extremely special technologies and resources.

Like zheluo refining technology? Or more advanced psionic shield theory?

This is an excellent opportunity for the Faleim materialist civilization to complete its technology tree.

But then again, in the old universe, zheluo was the ashes left behind after the zheluo people failed to ascend to The Void Realm, but why is there zheluo in the real universe too? Could it be that the zheluo people have appeared in the real universe before?

However, if he could face and defeat a so-called "god" in front of all civilizations in this universe.

That would be the most terrifying display of the Faleim Civilization's strength, and the most thorough destruction of the beliefs of all idealistic civilizations.

This would establish the Faleim Civilization's unshakable status as the "God above Gods" in this star region.

"Risk and reward coexist."

Lei Wen finally spoke, his voice calm but filled with a domineering air that made everyone feel at ease.

"We are the Faleim Scientific Conglomerate. We measure the universe with rationality and deconstruct truth with technology."

"The so-called Void god is nothing more than a high-energy plasma cloud that has not been fully parsed in our eyes."

"Since it wants to collect debt, let it come."

Lei Wen stood up, his holographic image appearing incomparably tall in the conference hall.

"Form a task force, all equipped with anti-psionic jammers."

"Jump directly to the Angel Empire's capital galaxy, destroy the psionic ritual site that serves as the contract anchor, and wake up the Angel people."

"If anything crawls out of The Void Realm..."

"Then beat it back for me, or catch it and slice it up for research."

"Yes! the guide!"

Price and all the councilors and scientists responded loudly.

Their eyes were burning with fire; that was the excitement of the crazy move of challenging a god, and also the unconditional trust in the guide.

Since the guide said it was a "plasma cloud," then it was a plasma cloud.

As long as it has a health bar, even a god's avatar can be killed for you to see.