Hossie lost himself in thought, steeling himself for his own demise.
He harbored no regrets about coming here personally.
If he hadn't made this journey, how would he ever have grasped the profound strangeness of this location?
Without this trip, they wouldn't have gathered any actionable intelligence, remaining perpetually locked in a fruitless stalemate with Star City 4.
His potential disappearance would, at the very least, prompt the Star Nation to adopt a more aggressive stance on this matter. And even if he perished here, it wouldn't derail the Star Nation's standard operational procedures.
In truth, though he was reluctant to admit it, a thrill was starting to build within him.
Just as he had hoped before departing, he was on the verge of becoming a solitary hero, much like Luna in the historical biographies.
That would be a glorious accomplishment.
Could he possibly orchestrate a parallel to that feat?
Hossie's underlying desire to surpass Luna was, in fact, more potent than Chu's. He even suspected Chu fundamentally lacked such drive, always content to remain subordinate.
But Hossie was different.
He firmly believed the Eternal Cycle Star Nation should not be dictated by Luna's vision. It required greater autonomy.
Furthermore, he needed to definitively prove that he was capable of shouldering this crucial mandate, guiding the Eternal Cycle Star Nation into the future.
This, inherently, was the core motivation that pushed him onto this path personally.
It wasn't born from naive idealism. In his previous administrative roles, he had already sensed Luna's tendency to exert control.
Luna aspired for the Eternal Cycle Star Nation to develop along the trajectory she envisioned, supporting the Federation in fostering the growth of overall human Civilization. Conversely, Hossie held his own distinct aspirations; he wished for the Eternal Cycle Star Nation to sever ties with the Federation, carving out its own unique future.
While they were currently integrated into the broader human Civilization, fundamentally, they remained two separate Civilizations.
He also held a clear vision for the destiny that the inhabitants of the Eternal Cycle Star Nation should pursue.
This was Hossie's conviction.
However, the longer he remained immersed in this current reality, the more acutely he realized that his individual capabilities seemed insufficient to actualize all of his grand designs.
He had uncovered numerous critical clues.
Yet, he lacked the expertise to decipher these clues himself; he could only manage their gradual collection.
In the residence where Hossie was based, every room had been systematically emptied by him, the contents piled high onto storage devices.
"Without more detailed strategic planning, this is the extent of what I can achieve."
This represented Hossie's profound sense of limitation.
He was not inherently a talent in scientific research.
He was, by nature, a dedicated politician; these were the only matters he competently handled.
This was a source of his personal regret. He perhaps should have dedicated time to studying more diverse fields, which might have rendered him a more well-rounded leader.
Previously, he believed proficiency in a single domain was adequate; specialized professional tasks should always be delegated to experts.
"I sincerely hope that those who succeed me will dedicate attention to these materials and develop the requisite research methodologies."
Having seemingly solidified his decision, Hossie flew out of the building through a window.
Hovering in the sky, he set a course toward Independent Victory.
During his extended stay within Star City 4, he had deliberately refrained from approaching that colossal column.
But now, for him, only that column held the promise of novel discovery worth investigating.
He eagerly anticipated encountering something completely new.
He was almost certain that something significant resided there.
Just as he was about to depart, the entirety of Star City experienced an inexplicable, intense tremor. Fortunately, having already ascended above ground level, he remained unaffected by the immediate shockwaves.
"What in the cosmos is happening?"
Hossie was slightly alarmed. He probed the source of the vibration; it originated directly from Independent Victory.
This was the first time in many years he had witnessed such an event. Previously, this Star City had maintained an absolute, unvarying silence.
The ground vibrated in continuous, rolling waves.
The most powerful shock registered exceeded magnitude 10.
"Perhaps this is a rare structural anomaly. Now is the perfect opportunity to penetrate the central area."
Hossie flew directly toward Independent Victory.
The distance was vast.
Each side length of the entire faceted space extended to 5 astronomical units.
Although his initial distance from the center wasn't impossibly far, traversing that expanse still took him a full month to approach the core.
Before the colossal pillar, his physical form appeared impossibly minuscule. Describing his size relative to the massive structure as an insult was an understatement.
The closer he approached, the more the column dominated Hossie's field of vision. When he was within a million kilometers, he felt as if he were standing before an infinite sheer wall, unable to discern the structure's overall shape any longer.
Moving even nearer, he began to perceive what looked like an immeasurably vast, boundless crystal landscape.
Hossie did not land on the surface of the crystal column.
He operated under the assumption that if the enemy utilized sound-based attacks, he would remain safe as long as he never touched the ground. This very trick had been his lifeline, allowing him to survive in this locale for numerous years.
This crystal column originally possessed structural gaps, but over the continuous passage of time, the crystals had grown together, forming a perfectly seamless entity, effectively merging the entirety of Star City 4 into one monolithic structure.
Hossie vividly recalled that this structural unity was initially identified as a significant concern.
The reason was that if the entire Star City functioned as a single unit, any force transmitted through it would ripple across the whole structure, threatening catastrophic damage to Star City 4.
He had personally invested substantial resources into repairing Star City 4, and this specific column remained vividly imprinted in his memory due to the complexity of its maintenance.
He remembered that this column later underwent stratification, and these distinct layered points served as the access points to the interior. Hossie flew continuously along the column's surface until he finally located a segmented section.
This segmented area was not entirely solid; within it, there were some soft structural connections, likely accounting for only about one-thousandth of the entire section's volume, concentrated in the innermost central region.
The remaining space was completely open, presenting a sheer vertical drop measuring 728 meters.
Hossie flew into this vast shaft, observing that both the floor and ceiling were lined with intricate mechanical structures. Each spherical protrusion immediately drew his attention. These protrusions were equipped with electromagnetic coils, designed so that when activated, the upper and lower units would exchange energy.
At that time, if the system were operational, a massive surge of current would incinerate everything within this chamber.
But at this moment, there was no energy here at all.
Where had the colossal power required to operate such a massive Star City dissipated to?
Even accounting for natural energy drain, it shouldn't have almost entirely vanished within only a few hundred or thousand years.
Hossie reached the absolute center.
A transparent, rock-like substance materialized before him. More accurately, rather than rock, it resembled enormous quantities of viscous, jelly-like matter, clinging tenaciously from the ceiling to the floor.
Hossie observed a circular passage both above and below within this snot-like material.
"It seems I must venture inside. I don't know if the final objective lies above or below. I'll simply conduct a systematic search as I proceed."
Hossie plunged directly into the substance.
His speed within the viscous, jelly-like medium was drastically reduced, dropping to mere meters per second. It required several months of arduous travel to reach the lower entrance point.
He had not anticipated that entering this section would prove so challenging. Fortunately, the interior of the entrance shaft itself was free of those obstructing substances.
This lower entrance was profoundly dim, forming a stark contrast to the brightly illuminated exterior.
Hossie felt as if he were descending into a deep, cavernous abyss. He dove downward without hesitation, plunging into absolute blackness.
Here, the environment was essentially one of complete obscurity.
He increased the energy exchange rate of his bodily particles, utilizing controlled particle collisions to spontaneously generate photons. His body instantly heated up to over ten thousand degrees Celsius, causing him to emit a brilliant glow, like a miniature sun.
However, this void was immensely vast; the light he emitted couldn't even fully illuminate the side walls.
As he delved deeper, numerous access doors appeared around him. Each door bore a serial number, likely indicating its function as a maintenance access point.
After all, Star City remained fundamentally a massive machine, its construction predating the establishment of human Civilization. Star City 4 had been erected under Gas's direct command. Its interior composition was not sleekly electronic; many sections relied on mechanical structures, not electronic circuits, and certainly not advanced dark matter constructs.
Hossie had long harbored the ambition of designing and establishing a new Star City within the Eternal Cycle Star Nation.
This new City would utilize the most cutting-edge technology available.
However, the requisite investment was prohibitively immense, and currently, only a rough conceptual draft existed.
What's more, Chu had rejected this ambitious proposal at the time.
Chu had told him: "You can consult Luna on how to proceed with this. If she consents, then it becomes necessary to implement the plan."
Those words profoundly stimulated Hossie to the point where he developed the ironclad resolve to gain personal command over the Star Nation itself.
Now, the Star Nation could no longer afford to remain separate from human Civilization.
So, Hossie merely sought to prove his capability: if he could personally command the Star City, Luna would be free to delegate authority.
...
Sixteen days later.
Hossie finally reached the bottom.
The floor here appeared to be a solid, hard metal plate.
But like other Star Cities, Star City 4 still incorporated modular metal interiors alongside its crystalline formations.
Hossie injected the accumulated energy stored within his body into the metal plate. The plate began to retract outwards, and a large opening manifested before him. Below this was the true core area: the location of Star City 4's primary computer system.
It was not housed within the central column itself.
Instead, it occupied a separate space situated beneath the column. This entire chamber was roughly trapezoidal, reminiscent of a hollowed-out pyramid.
The Star City's main computer was extraordinarily complex, unlike the small, exquisitely designed mainframes often seen elsewhere.
While a warship's core might be a beautiful, perfect cube or cuboid, the Star City's main computer featured an immense network of wires and conduits, giving it an extremely irregular appearance—utterly devoid of aesthetic appeal, as if it were haphazardly assembled from countless disparate components.
At this moment, the entire main computer was offline.
Hossie could not activate this colossal machine.
It was simply too massive; the energy requirement was astronomical.
Let alone the energy currently within his body, even ten thousand, one hundred million, or a billion versions of him combined would not suffice for this main computer to operate for even a single second.
However, as the leader of the Star Nation, Hossie was privy to several deep secrets.
For instance, a Star City's central computer was actually comprised of numerous smaller components known as DataNodes, tasked with handling minor computational issues for the main system.
The quantity of these DataNodes ranged from several hundred to several thousand units.
The very existence of DataNodes served the purpose of conserving overall energy expenditure.
Many problems that did not demand immense computational might were delegated to these DataNodes. A single DataNode's processing power might constitute only one quadrillionth of the Star City's main computer, or even less, yet it held the necessary authority to access data stored within the main system and could even initiate certain power supply devices.
Hossie required the specific data stored within.
He had amassed a substantial amount of data over the years, but that particular collection was rather sensitive and private.
If he could acquire the data collected by the main computer, he would gain an entirely new perspective on the events that unfolded in Star City 4.
This was one of his core objectives for coming here.
Of course, extreme caution was paramount. He suspected that the source of everything resided here, and perhaps the entity responsible was observing him even now.
Activating a DataNode did not necessitate super-powerful energy input.
In fact, its energy consumption for activation was relatively low, as DataNodes were typically civilian-grade units designed for high efficiency.
A DataNode running at maximum intensity for a single day would likely consume only a few hundred million kilowatt-hours of electricity. Its normal standby consumption would be even lower, capped at a few million kilowatt-hours per day.
Hossie injected the required energy into the unit.
An indicator light on the DataNode began to glow softly.
A subtle sound emerged in the empty space; it had to be the cooling system powering up.
"It has computational cores. I wonder if it can activate the Tachyon communication device."
Hossie hadn't anticipated such ease.
Indeed, upon his arrival, he had prepared for a fierce confrontation.
Yet, the area appeared completely deserted.
Perhaps the Civilization responsible for destroying Star City 4 had already departed?
A DataNode's typical boot sequence lasted mere seconds, but due to the sheer volume of data it needed to process—being connected directly to the Star City's main computer—this specific DataNode remained in the boot cycle for a full twenty minutes.
Once operational, Hossie established a connection.
The DataNode possessed no inherent intelligence; it functioned purely as an expansion module, a dedicated computer peripheral.
"DataNode, initiate the Star City's production system. Activate Star City!"
Opening the production system would, in turn, allow access to the main computer.
Hossie felt a flicker of excitement.
However, after receiving his command, the DataNode displayed no reaction whatsoever.
"DataNode, verify authority!"
Hossie initially assumed it was an authorization issue, but the DataNode remained unresponsive to his verbal commands, as if completely inert.
The entirety of Star City's main computer system being offline might stem from other underlying factors.
Hossie had been overly optimistic. Perhaps the hardware looked sound, but the software infrastructure had long been corrupted.
A Star City's main computer software system was vast; it was typically pre-installed alongside the hardware components, and the original master files were only available from the Federation.
Hossie was incapable of resolving this software deficit.
"The connection itself can be established. Some basic modules should still function."
"Perhaps I can integrate myself to act as the DataNode system."
Hossie bypassed the external interface and installed his consciousness directly within the DataNode, intending to use its access point to interface with the information storage model.
The goal was to extract critical data.
Theoretically, this maneuver was viable.
But as he attempted this, the DataNode provided its first definitive response.
[Authority Denied. Please acquire the initial access credentials before proceeding!]
He lacked authority?
What an absurdity!
Within the Eternal Cycle Star Nation, he held the supreme echelon of command.
"Does this imply the software hasn't been damaged? Rather, it's been reverted to factory defaults. Since the DataNode is linked to the main computer, it shares the main computer's authority structure. What is required now is the foundational, initial authorization."
"This initial authority remains solely vested with the Federation."
Hossie's frustration with the Star Nation system intensified.
At this very moment, simply because the core system originated from the Federation, he was being actively hindered.
His Star Nation could not continue under such restrictive governance!
As he pondered this predicament, the surroundings began to tremble once more.
It was similar to the previous disturbances, but this time he seemed to be situated at the epicenter; the vibrations were incredibly violent.
Hossie watched as numerous nearby devices cracked under the strain of the tremors. The DataNode he had just managed to repair and connect to was flickering erratically, and the virtual screen projected by the unit displayed a severely distorted image.
Amidst the flickering, Hossie wasn't sure if it was an illusion, but he perceived those intermittent flashes forming a pattern of vibration. Hossie swiftly calculated the frequency of that vibration and simulated the information being transmitted through it.
Finally, he managed to isolate an audible sound.
Upon confirming it was indeed sound, Hossie immediately cleared all the processing data, daring not linger on the transmission.
"The tremor is carrying a sound capable of erasing everything."
"Is it cleansing the area? I am the only sentient being within this entire Star City. Does that imply another life form is present?"
"Why didn't it vibrate earlier, but precisely at this critical juncture?"
"Could it be… a new life form has only just arrived?"
Hossie experienced a surge of wild elation. He propelled himself upwards. He had to escape this location...
Hossie flew upward with desperate force.
But an overwhelming gravitational force instantly clamped down upon his body, yanking him violently downward.
This force was too immense; Hossie was rendered utterly incapable of resisting.
Hossie's body was dragged back, crashing heavily onto the ground. His form clung to the earth, feeling the violent convulsions of the planet beneath him.
"It's finished!"
Hossie's heart froze instantly. He hastily attempted to lift himself from the ground, but it was already too late.
He detected a severe abnormality within his own consciousness.
His physical form seemed to be detaching from his awareness.
He registered his body collapsing; annihilation was moments away from descending upon him.
Was this the end?
?
Too abrupt!
Dying before he could enact any meaningful action, his entire journey here felt utterly pointless.
Just as Hossie felt annihilation was imminent, the disintegration of his body abruptly ceased.
His consciousness was left suspended in a void-like state, floating aimlessly in the air.
It was akin to being killed, yet only halfway through the process.
Hossie was astonished by the surreal event unfolding. The darkness surrounding him was suddenly illuminated.
He himself seemed to have made physical contact with something, granting him the ability to perceive his surroundings even in this purely conscious state.
However, the 'world' he witnessed was not reality, but a kaleidoscopic panorama. He had never encountered such a spectacle. Countless points of light surrounded him, dazzling and beautiful, resembling an entire cosmos.
This cosmos appeared to be in motion. He observed all the light streams shifting and flowing.
In a deeper vantage point, Hossie also discerned massive vortices, each one actively absorbing the surrounding points of light.
This was an entirely alien dimension.
Hossie possessed absolutely no knowledge concerning this place.
He tentatively tried to move.
But he discovered his body was completely immobilized.
Here, he felt like nothing more than a helpless spectator.
Slowly, he perceived the tip of an iceberg belonging to a colossal moving object before him. In truth, it was merely a suggestion of a shape, because this object was entirely transparent, its form only discernible by the distortion of the light patterns around it.
In reality, it possessed no defined structure; it felt more like a massive, shifting pool of viscous fluid.
It was unimaginably colossal, so vast that Hossie could not perceive its entirety. The only feature he could discern was a small edge—one half of the boundary line appearing stable, the other flickering erratically—and nothing more.
"Is this my adversary?"
Although Hossie had no comprehension of what this entity was, he could confirm one critical point: the Eternal Cycle Star Nation did not possess anything remotely comparable, meaning this entity could only be his true enemy.
The architect behind everything.
Perhaps by destroying this structure, Star City 4 could be restored to normalcy.
But how could he possibly destroy it?
He couldn't even ascertain what it was, let alone its true scale.
Facing the unknown, Hossie, despite his profound anger, felt utterly helpless.
This immense entity was actively moving; perhaps its very motion was causing the entirety of Star City to tremble.
"It's all conjecture. There are no concrete clues. What possible action can I take?"
Hossie felt a deep wave of frustration.
At this moment, his thoughts drifted again to Luna.
Although he harbored no illusion that Luna could control the Eternal Cycle Star Nation, this fact did not diminish his recognition of her remarkable capabilities.
In the historical records, Luna had encountered the Olive Branch Civilization. Did she possess complete knowledge regarding them? Did she choose to retreat?
Perhaps this was merely a form of philosophical encouragement, but Hossie found that his mind had, at least momentarily, calmed.
He carefully considered his immediate options.
"Can I exert any influence on it?"
"Sound. Yes, audible input."
Hossie attempted to vocalize, but it was futile. However, when he mentally recalled the very concept of sound, he sensed the object before him subtly shift.
A section of its colossal body separated and began to glide toward Hossie.
Just as it neared contact, that separate mass retracted instantly.
This action made Hossie extremely nervous.
"Remaining immobile like this is no better than a lamb waiting for the slaughter; there is absolutely no point in provoking it."
"To this entity, I must be significant. It clearly desires my demise, yet it refrains from acting. Has it genuinely failed to detect me, or is there something far more critical demanding its attention?"
Hossie returned to his earlier hypothesis.
New arrivals had recently boarded Star City 4.
This scenario held high probability.
Those newcomers had captured the attention of this unknown entity, perhaps even many, many of them.
"If I had known this earlier, I would have delayed my actions longer."
Hossie felt a definite pang of regret.
If he had managed to extract any worthwhile gain from this journey, he might not regret his situation so intensely.
The crucial issue was that he had secured zero usable information and was now trapped in a lethal situation.
He still wasn't certain if he was genuinely deceased. Maybe everyone who perished witnessed these exact same visions. Perhaps he was currently situated in a personal hell, and his current theories were just speculations, not objective reality.
Does true hell really exist after death?
"This scenario might prove incredibly useful for those scholars to research!"
Hossie forced himself to focus on something less existentially terrifying.
But true relaxation remained elusive.
He meticulously observed the changes in the object before him.
It appeared to have been under observation for an incalculable duration. Its movement was incredibly slow—perhaps a consequence of its sheer mass. After an immense stretch of time, Hossie still hadn't perceived its entirety. He sometimes wondered if what he was witnessing was a massive circle turning, rather than a discrete object moving past.
Yet, he quickly discarded that notion.
Because the thing suddenly ceased its motion. It was withdrawing, and retreating with startling speed.
The velocity was too rapid. Hossie felt something sweep past his eyes. In approximately one-tenth of the time it took to observe its initial slow progress, Hossie had reached the termination point of the object.
Perhaps that was its head.
Hossie couldn't be certain. He felt like he was viewing the tip of an iceberg.
It was akin to a bacterium observing an elephant; even when the elephant retreated to its trunk, the bacterium, in its final observation, would only register the coarse hide, unable to definitively identify which part of the beast it was witnessing.
But he knew, with certainty, that he had witnessed the end-point of this colossal thing.
Hossie looked in the direction the object had retreated.
It had coiled itself back into those core vortices.
That entity had actually folded itself into those vortices, concealing itself.
Perhaps when he was previously within this Star City, that entity had perpetually existed in that dormant state.
"If that was its shell, then what kind of threat was powerful enough to force that entity to retreat into its shell?"
It must have been a significant danger.
Could the Star Nation already possess the means to target something of that magnitude?
Other than this specific conclusion, Hossie could not conceive of another explanation.
At this juncture, he desperately wanted to reposition himself, to turn his gaze towards the vortices, but this was clearly a delusion. Here, he seemed utterly stripped of agency; he could not control his own movement. He was forced to exist statically, eternally fixed in one location like a surveillance drone.
Perhaps this was his eternal future!
Hossie had always reasoned this way. An unknown span of years passed again. Here, the very passage of time was impossible to measure.
In the distance, he again perceived a colossal monster approaching. Its movements were also excruciatingly slow, and this one appeared transparent.
However, through the refracted light, Hossie could perceive its contortions.
"This thing is too sluggish and utterly dependent!"
"Did the prior entity I witnessed actually fear this sluggish thing? So, there is absolutely no hope of rescue!"
Hossie's spirit plummeted to absolute zero.
That colossal monster was clearly visible, but it took an agonizingly long time to truly draw near Hossie's stationary point.
At close range, Hossie could discern that this new entity was not as overwhelmingly massive as the first one.
Did a comparatively smaller entity manage to frighten away the larger one?
Hossie mentally designated the first entity as [The Grazer], and the newly arrived entity as [The Predator].
The Grazer was like a grazing herbivore; even with its colossal frame, it was terrified of carnivorous hunters.
After assigning names to the two entities, Hossie actually became significantly more tense.
If [The Predator] discovered his presence, his demise would surely arrive even more swiftly.
[The Predator] drew closer, its form now directly in front of him, feeling as though it was about to crush him entirely.
Although Hossie was convinced he was about to die, he still clung to a fragile thread of hope. He wasn't dead yet; there might still be a chance for revival.
"What should I do?"
"Why can't my body move!"
Hossie felt utterly stifled.
If he perished like this, he would surely suffer the most ignominious end among both the Olive Branch Civilization and human Civilization.
"Yes, sound!"
Hossie suddenly experienced a flash of inspiration.
His sound seemed to attract [The Grazer]. Based on this fact alone, [The Grazer] was clearly not at the bottom of the food chain; he himself occupied the lowest rung.
He focused intensely on recalling the specific sound.
He didn't realize that, because he was now a conscious entity, every thought he held would manifest as conscious vibrations. Within the realm of consciousness, this qualified as true sound.
Hossie looked toward the swirling vortex.
Indeed, from the direction of that vortex, [The Grazer] began to emerge, a tiny, probing tendril moving toward Hossie.
At this moment, Hossie was nearly caught in a devastating pincer attack.
On one side, the colossal mass of [The Predator] was crushing down; on the other, the tentacle of [The Grazer] was rapidly approaching.
Hossie was almost paralyzed by terror.
Just as both entities were about to make contact with his body, they simultaneously halted.
[The Predator] altered its trajectory, and [The Grazer] furiously retracted.
"Indeed, even a cunning rabbit has three burrows!"
Watching [The Predator] bypass him, Hossie breathed a sigh of genuine relief.
But at this moment, all he truly desired was to become a detached bystander.
"If [The Grazer] is the hidden architect behind everything, then the adversary of my adversary, [The Predator], is my ally for now."
"My current compromised state was likely also engineered by [The Grazer]. I wonder what the consequence would be if [The Grazer] were eliminated!"
Did [The Grazer] possess high-level intelligence?
This was Hossie's primary concern at that precise moment.
After a single unsuccessful attempt, [The Grazer] would certainly not fall for the same tactic again.
On the other side, after [The Grazer] retreated back into the vortex once more, [The Predator] again seemed to lose focus, drifting aimlessly.
Its sensory perception did not appear strong.
Hossie calculated that he could, at best, attempt one more time to use sound to lure out [The Grazer].
Therefore, he meticulously calculated when [The Predator]'s current trajectory would bring it closest to the vortex.
When it reached that proximity, he would recall that sound again.
About ten-odd days later?
Hossie wasn't certain.
But in his perception, this duration felt as long as ten-odd days.
In objective reality, however, if he were in the actual world, he would be shocked to discover that these ten-odd days should actually equate to ten-odd years.
He observed those entities moving with extreme slowness. He had waited here for far too long, causing even his thoughts to become severely sluggish.
"Here!"
When [The Predator] reached the exact position Hossie had calculated, Hossie began to project that specific sound once again.
However, this time, it yielded no effect.
He did not see [The Grazer] emerge from the direction of the vortex.
"That entity is more astute than I gave it credit for."
"If this continues, then [The Predator] will depart, and I will have failed to resolve the problem here."
Hossie no longer focused on self-preservation.
If everything afflicting Star City 4 was orchestrated by [The Grazer], then by eliminating [The Grazer], at the very least, Star City 4 could potentially revert to normal.
This might be the sole meaningful action he could execute now.
"How?"
"Other than conceiving the sound, there is nothing more I can do."
This was his solitary method.
How was this simple technique supposed to lure out [The Grazer]?
Continuously imagining the precise sound?
He had to maintain the illusion until [The Grazer] could no longer resist the compulsion and emerged to investigate.
But given its known intelligence, it might instead choose to conceal itself even further within the shadows.
"However, perhaps because it is intelligent enough, it might develop a flicker of curiosity."
Hossie devised a strategy.
He began to imagine the sound, projecting it intermittently, maintaining a strictly controlled, precise rhythm.
After repeating this sequence precisely 200 times, Hossie abruptly ceased all emission.
He began to wait.
He emitted no further sound whatsoever.
"Repeating the sound will cause [The Grazer] to grow accustomed to it, leading it to believe [The Predator] is nearby."
"When the sound vanishes, the inertia of thought will compel the being to sense that the source has disappeared."
"Yet, the true challenge remains: what if [The Grazer] remains within the vortex? Perhaps that was the pattern before; it's merely repeating its previous behavior."
Hossie allowed himself to sink into rising anxiety.
This was because he observed [The Predator] poised to depart.
[The Predator]'s visible form might only represent one-thousandth of [The Grazer]'s true mass. Hossie could even discern the subtle flicker of its tail.
"If [The Grazer] is drawn by a specific auditory cue, will [The Predator] be susceptible as well?"
Hossie pondered this, then immediately began to experiment.
But no matter what sound he conjured in his mind, [The Predator] displayed zero reaction.
Its focus appeared solely fixed upon [The Grazer].
"The last resort has been exhausted. It seems this is how it must end."
"The puzzle will then await Luna to decipher. As for Chu…"
Hossie didn't even wish to contemplate Chu.
Although Chu had consistently served as his mentor, guiding him toward becoming a more capable leader.
Hossie still harbored no respect for Chu, primarily because Chu's entire established era had been entirely overturned by Hossie's actions. To demand respect for half an adversary was fundamentally impossible for him.
"If it were Luna handling this, she probably wouldn't deploy an entire large-scale fleet here."
"The disappearance of Star City 4 has already proven that collective action is futile when facing singular, potent entities."
There were no individual, singular warriors within the Eternal Cycle Star Nation.
But Hossie suddenly recalled that Luna had once mentioned that the Federation was continuously conducting a Mortality Selection process, utilizing it to cultivate exceptional soldiers.
Those elite soldiers, he remembered, were apparently cast into a location designated as the Hyperdimensional Space. The reason this topic arose was because some citizens of the Eternal Cycle Star Nation were also occasionally selected.
At that time, Hossie had noted sporadic disappearance incidents within the Star Nation. After Luna's explanation, he had dismissed it as irrelevant.
But following that event, the scale of disappearances escalated continuously. Although Hossie recognized this trend, he refrained from making further inquiries.
Recalling this now, Hossie suddenly felt a deep sense of unease.
"Perhaps it isn't just the Mortality Selection. The subsequent expansion of these disappearances must also be linked to Star City 4. If that is the case, then Luna is in grave danger too."
Hossie became extremely anxious.
If his suspicion was correct, then potentially all Star Cities across the entire Star Nation could be suffering an unprecedented, clandestine invasion.
Very quickly, Hossie felt a wave of discouragement wash over him.
What was the use of realizing all this now?
He couldn't even influence [The Predator]. Waiting for [The Predator] to move on meant the end of everything here.
Problems had clearly surfaced in Star City 1, and Luna and her contingent would certainly be unable to divert attention to the crisis unfolding in Star City 4 anymore.
Hossie was overwhelmingly frustrated. He looked toward [The Predator].
Only to discover abruptly that [The Predator] had inexplicably changed its trajectory at some point, now advancing directly toward him.