The zero-dimension attack struck the compressed four-dimensional space, triggering an explosion of pure energy.
This was not a battle between equals.
Technology is an art of precision.
Precision means leveraging a small force to move a massive weight.
While it was nowhere near the scale of an ant toppling an elephant, it proved that a vastly superior force could be defeated with much less energy.
Furthermore, Luna sensed that the Home Civilization warship's strike released at least ten times more energy than what she had tapped into. After all, she had only utilized the total energy output of a Type 2.6 civilization over ten thousand years, the equivalent of the Sun's total energy output over 2.6 billion years.
The Sun has a lifespan of 10 billion years, but that does not mean it will eject all of its energy, or rather its mass, within that timeframe.
In fact, over 10 billion years, the Sun only loses about 0.063% of its mass, a mere six parts per ten thousand.
If the Sun were to release its energy at a steady rate, it would take approximately 15 trillion years to truly exhaust its entire mass.
Consequently, the ten thousand years of energy output from a Type 2.6 civilization only equals about one-six-thousandth of the Sun's total mass. The energy Luna just unleashed, multiplied tenfold, was insignificant to a Home Civilization warship holding energy reserves equivalent to 0.66 of a solar mass. For them, this wasn't even a main battery strike; it was, at most, a casual shot from a secondary turret.
This wasn't just a technical curb-stomp; it was total numerical dominance.
The explosion would be suppressed, then swept in a single direction by the Home Civilization warship's counterattack.
The damage to Home would be minimized to almost nothing.
That should have been the end of the story. Luna couldn't change a thing. human civilization would never use this dimensional gateway to return to four-dimensional space.
"If that were how the script was supposed to go."
"But since I'm here, the odds were never just that simple."
Ayla had already crunched these numbers long ago, feeding the calculations through memory directly into Luna's mind.
Still, she couldn't stop the incoming strike.
Even if she had her original body and the immense absorption capabilities of Metacellular, she couldn't withstand this energy dump. She had no way to process a total energy discharge equivalent to 26 billion years of solar output.
Earth's mass is roughly 0.0003% of the Sun's. This attack was effectively the energy equivalent of 546 Earths.
How could Luna possibly block that?
But it didn't matter.
Just because Luna couldn't stop it didn't mean other things couldn't.
As the fierce energy storm surged toward her, Luna hurled the Rubik's cube toward the dimensional gateway at near-light speed.
She was close to the gateway itself, only a few tens of thousands of kilometers away.
The cube instantly vanished into the dimensional gateway, where the sheer force of space began to ruthlessly grind it to pieces.
But then, it unleashed a surge of uncanny power, a translucent, pipe-like structure that began to wall off the chaotic space within the dimensional gateway.
The entire gateway shuddered violently.
Luna used the shockwave from this spatial tremor to channel the energy, redirecting it into the wormhole behind her.
In an instant, the wormhole expanded to over 100 kilometers in diameter.
Luna retreated behind the event horizon of the wormhole.
The terrifyingly extreme energy surged directly into its maw.
"That's..."
Now, even the individuals of the Home Civilization were stunned.
They hadn't expected Luna to have such a move hidden up her sleeve.
As highly intelligent beings, they quickly realized what Luna was trying to do and immediately attempted to release energy to constrain the attack they had just launched.
But unfortunately, while their technology was undeniably powerful, trying to reel in such colossal energy without any prior preparation was virtually impossible.
A massive amount of energy flooded into the wormhole.
And on the other side of that wormhole sat a black hole.
The attack they had launched was composed of ray-like matter, not a messy, compressed energy explosion like Luna's.
The strike was already extremely concentrated, and the vast majority of its energy was beamed straight through the wormhole, where it was swallowed by the black hole on the other end.
Roughly 0.1638% of a solar mass's worth of energy was dumped directly into the singularity.
That black hole was No.0 Black Hole.
The most fully developed black hole in human civilization.
It was also a black hole that humans had manufactured themselves.
Although it was formed from the collapse of several massive stars, its mass wasn't infinite; absorbing 0.1638% of a Sun in a single gulp was enough to make it "burp."
And that burp manifested as a black hole jet.
A black hole jet can potentially eject mass even higher than what the black hole originally consumed.
These jets are primarily composed of Gamma rays.
On the other side, Ayla's server had already prepared everything. Alongside the wormhole generator, she had constructed a specialized energy-beam weapon array.
At close range, a Gamma-ray jet is devastating, capable of scouring the surface of a planet clean or even physically pushing it out of orbit.
However, to a Type 2.8 civilization warship, it was negligible.
The Home Civilization warship possessed 0.66 solar masses, its size comparable to a sub-planet-class vessel. This implied that the density of the warship, and perhaps even each individual entity within it, reached the level of neutron star matter.
Trying to destroy a neutron star with Gamma rays was a fool's errand.
The intensity of this Gamma-ray burst didn't even match the quasi-supernova explosion Luna had triggered earlier; it wasn't even close.
Therefore, the focusing array was crucial.
By aggregating the ejected energy and increasing its density, its offensive power would increase exponentially.
Specifically, Ayla had positioned a focusing array at the black hole's accretion disk, capable of tightening the black hole's jet into a beam only 100 meters wide.
Not only that.
It could also temporarily stall a portion of the energy.
A black hole jet isn't completed in a single instant. Although the absorption this time was instantaneous, the jetting process required time.
However, due to the influence of the Home Civilization, the energy couldn't be held for long, at most, a few minutes.
That was enough.
The energy unleashed this time was several times greater than what Luna had initially tapped into, exceeding the total energy output of the Sun over 10 billion years.
"Consider it a rare, grand gesture from human civilization."
"If this much energy were used for technological development, it could have boosted human civilization by another 0.01 levels."
"Unfortunately, human civilization's technology is only at Level 2.5, and only in specific areas. It cannot fully utilize such a colossal amount of energy."
How could a Level 2.5 civilization effectively manage the energy produced by a Level 2.6 civilization over tens of thousands of years?
That would require an incredibly long time.
In reality, while human civilization currently has a Level 2.7 energy production scale, the vast majority of that energy is wasted. Previously, it was used for dimensional exploration; otherwise, the produced energy was simply stored.
Even with storage, less than one-tenth is actually utilized. The remaining nine-tenths are released directly into the cosmos because there aren't enough storage devices to hold it all.
Luna just hid behind the wormhole, lost in thought.
Everything was playing out exactly as Ayla had initially calculated.
Right now, the Home Civilization was already preparing to collapse the wormhole. Their reaction time was blistering, only a few minutes from start to finish.
Fortunately, several minutes was exactly what they had planned for.
The energy focusing and stalling were complete.
A stellar energy beam, a mere 100 meters wide, surged out from the 100-kilometer-wide mouth of the wormhole.
Its target: the fortress.
Because the beam was so focused, and because the Home Civilization's warship was a collective swarm, even with this extreme energy density, the number of enemies destroyed would be limited.
Therefore, it made more sense to fix the target on the fortress from the very beginning.
Luna adjusted the orientation of the wormhole.
She hadn't forgotten what happened earlier.
The destroyed fortress had been "rewound."
She figured it wasn't actual time-manipulation technology; rather, the fortress's original form had been recorded, and the scattered debris essentially followed linear trajectories. To restore the fortress, the fragmented pieces simply had to be guided back along their original paths, an effect that looked remarkably like time reversal.
That was the only logical explanation.
After all, it was impossible for the Home Civilization to truly master time.
That would be too godlike!
Mastering time is no different from mastering the very essence of the universe. time is intertwined with so many variables that reversing it would require advancing every related field to an unimaginable height.
That includes space itself.
Luna suspected that only Level 3 civilizations or higher would possess the means for limited time reversal.
But that was a concern for the future.
Luna's entire focus was now on the fortress.
Actually, the first instance of its destruction had given her a few ideas. She hadn't been under direct fire then, so she had been able to keep her eyes on the fortress.
True Lord had destroyed the supposed core, causing the fortress to collapse; then, the Home Civilization warship had formed and fired a beam that restored it.
At that moment, everyone assumed it was the warship that restored the fortress, but Luna, now with her memories awakened, didn't see it that way.
As a leader of a civilization who also constructed warships, she knew such a vessel didn't need to possess that kind of technology, even for a civilization like Home.
That ray didn't look like it had a high level of technical sophistication; instead, it looked like a source of pure energy!
If her hypothesis was correct, then the spot where the warship had previously fired was the critical point for the fortress's restoration.
Luna instantly locked onto that location.
Then, she moved the wormhole.
The energy erupting from the wormhole followed her movement.
The shifting beam carved a deep scar across the fortress's surface before finally landing on a single point.
In just a few short seconds, the entire fortress was pierced through.
The fortress didn't seem to possess much defensive power of its own.
The instant it was breached, the bright lights within the fortress dimmed. To her senses, the sphere-like shielding now flickered into view, indicating that its energy was leaking out.
Energy storage devices inside were beginning to surge; she sensed an explosion would soon follow. However, being a vacuum explosion, there would be no fire or similar phenomena.
In the distance, more Home Civilization warships had already formed during this interval.
Luna looked toward the data black hole that had been rampaging. Originally, because of the fortress, it had been pinned down, unable to move or absorb more matter.
But now, the fortress had lost its stabilizing energy, and the entire structure was being dragged toward the data black hole's gravitational pull.
The data black hole had become like a gluttonous child, devouring everything.
As the data black hole grew increasingly massive, numerous mini-black holes actually began to appear around it.
Luna looked down at the dimensional gateway beneath her and realized what was happening.
Two colossal black holes already existed here; now, the addition of a smaller black hole to the battlefield had disrupted the equilibrium between them.
This small black hole was being dragged toward the two colossal ones.
But this displacement was trans-dimensional, transcending the nature of conventional space itself.
This triggered a collapse of the surrounding space.
The spatial collapse ignited fierce gravitational turbulence, spawning a series of miniature black holes.
"I thought the final outcome would just be destroying the fortress, at least denying them the matter needed to set up shop here."
"I didn't expect you, you traitor, to leave me such a surprise!"
Others might not have known.
But as the leader of human civilization, everything within Hyperdimensional Space was under Luna's control.
The data black hole itself had been developed by Marionette Actor. It was the work of a genius; unfortunately, genius and loyalty are entirely unrelated.
The data black hole Marionette Actor left behind would cause prolonged chaos in this sector of space. The Home Civilization would inevitably abandon this location. Once things stabilized, human civilization could explore this area once more.
As for whether the Home Civilization would set up a blockade later, she would take that one step at a time.
At least Luna had achieved her objective.
She had no delusions about destroying these Home Civilization individuals. Perhaps she did at first, after all, she had destroyed dozens of Home Civilization warships earlier.
But facts proved that was only because the Home Civilization had been careless.
Under the current circumstances, she could no longer harbor such unrealistic expectations.
Luna saw the Home Civilization warships in the distance beginning to depart from the area.
It was clear that such spatial chaos posed a massive problem even for them.
However, they didn't intend to let Luna off the hook.
The energy amassed to destroy the wormhole was still fired.
The wormhole was obliterated instantly, and with it, Luna was directly erased.
The blazing light vanished.
This region of the universe turned from chaotic activity to cold silence, leaving behind only those "undercurrents"!
...
Three dimensions.
Siqi observed the Dimensional Bridge opening once again.
He reported this information to Ayla.
Ayla had not been gone for many years when she received the message via Tachyon communication.
Aboard the massive sub-planet-class warship.
Ayla's server had replaced the ship's primary mainframe.
Her holographic avatar appeared in the command center. She had shed the mature woman persona she had maintained for so long, reverting once again to a lively girl with white hair and a white dress.
"The Dimensional Bridge has actually opened again. Does this mean that four-dimensional civilization is invading three dimensions?"
"No, it shouldn't be this fast. Even if they intended to invade, they would need time to prepare, not to mention the Divine units I stationed there."
"The scheduled time has long since passed. It seems something beyond my calculations has occurred. I haven't received word from the main unit yet. Could it be that Luna failed?"
Ayla carefully parsed the chain of events.
In reality, the probability of failure for the entire operation was extremely high. She simply harbored a logic-defying expectation for Luna, even if this was merely one of Luna's clones.
Without more data, she couldn't perform a detailed analysis.
Fortunately, one year later, she received information transmitted from No.0 Black Hole. Luna had activated the wormhole and utilized the black hole jet to launch a counterattack against the four-dimensional civilization.
"I knew you would complete the mission."
"This counterattack must have focused on destroying the four-dimensional civilization's installations on the other side of the dimensional gateway. If problems arise there and the four-dimensional civilization refuses to leave, they will likely mobilize neighboring civilizations or nearby stars to rebuild."
"In that case, I'll have to count on the success of the subsequent plan!"
To think a hundred steps ahead from the first, this was the greatest strength of a machine mind.
...
"I died!"
Luna woke up in a strange room.
She couldn't quite comprehend her current state; it wasn't exactly bad, just chaotic.
Within her mind resided the information left behind by Ayla.
[Luna, if you have awakened, it proves that the first phase of the mission is complete. The other you is dead.]
[The first phase was to confront the powerful four-dimensional civilization and prevent them from controlling the dimensional gateway...]
[Specific details were impossible to predict for us as we retreated from the fourth dimension, but as someone still existing within it, you should be able to gather some information.]
[Finally, good luck to you, the warrior standing at the vanguard of our civilization.]
"I never imagined that becoming an clone would just make me a better workhorse."
"To think she actually placed me inside Believer Civilization, and I've become one of the believers myself!"
Luna looked at her own body.
To be more precise, she didn't even have a concept of a body.
She used her vision to observe the world she occupied: a capsule.
This capsule was iridescent and incredibly cramped. She was merely a mass of fluid inside it, devoid of freedom and unable to leave.
All around her were countless similar capsules, piled together, filling the hollow chambers of the building where she was located.
If she focused her senses, she would discover that these capsules were covered in countless intricate patterns. Those patterns allowed energy to flow through, acting much like a microchip to provide processing power while simultaneously stimulating intelligence.
These lines were interconnected with the patterns on the surrounding architecture. Luna could use them to establish links with other capsules and sense the world outside.
This was a star system.
Within this system were countless spheres.
The surfaces of these spheres were etched with fingerprints and were even more iridescent than the capsules. Under the radiance of the star, they refracted a brilliance that could only be described as a dreamlike kingdom. These spheres were rotating, appearing more like a realm from a fairy tale.
This wasn't the first time Luna had seen such architecture.
In her memory, her predecessor, the Divine Luna who first entered the fourth dimension, had seen scenes like this during the war.
However, in that Luna's eyes, these buildings had been cylindrical and rotated in a purely bizarre fashion.
To the current Luna, they had not only become spherical, but their rotation was the result of force interaction. This rotation wasn't a simple orbital spin; it was similar to a hollow sphere, like a basketball, where, as it turned, the inner and outer surfaces were constantly swapping places.
In three-dimensional space, these two surfaces would be strictly parallel; a cross-section would show them as concentric circles.
But in the fourth dimension, these two surfaces were seamlessly joined.
And Luna could see the connection between them.
"So this is four-dimensional vision?"
Luna saw much more than before. Even that star looked different from a three-dimensional one.
It still appeared as a sphere, which is something humans can imagine. What the now-so-called four-dimensional being Luna saw was still fundamentally three-dimensional rather than four; the true four-dimensional aspect came from the increased detail, her other senses, and her imagination.
Although Luna lacked that final element, she didn't possess the memories of a four-dimensional being, she could see that there were other surfaces inside the sphere. She could touch those surfaces; they were essentially on the outside, yet as a three-dimensional being, Luna still referred to them as being "inside."
A standard sphere allowed one to see its interior; moreover, that interior wasn't just a single surface, but countless overlapping ones, like a kaleidoscope, it was utterly bizarre.
But for four-dimensional beings, this was second nature.
That was the star in their eyes, the most perfect definition of a circle.
In three dimensions, such a sphere is called a Hyperball, and its surface a Hypersphere.
In truth, Luna could not concretely describe everything she saw. It had already transcended the essence of three dimensions, which meant that the language and scripts of a three-dimensional civilization were incapable of perfectly carrying or describing this information. She could only use abstract phrases to illustrate its approximate form.
This moment immediately brought the Cthulhu Mythos to Luna's mind.
Indescribable. Unobservable.
What would happen if a three-dimensional being observed a four-dimensional image?
Their memory would likely be drained to exhaustion.
Perhaps this was the essence of a god, a higher-dimensional existence.
The moment she saw this, doubts began to surface in Luna's heart.
Because the civilization she was currently in was called the Believer Civilization.
This wasn't a name humans had given them; it was discovered through long-term contact.
The Believer Civilization was the first contact the Federation made upon reaching the fourth dimension, and it was the only civilization they had enslaved.
During their relatively short history of enslavement, human civilization had continuously explored and learned the nature of the fourth dimension through them, yet they seemed to have neglected exploring the civilization itself.
After all, according to the data, this civilization had only existed for 40,000 years.
Believer, did it represent something else?
As she sank into contemplation, a message seized her thoughts; it was almost mandatory.
[ An explosion occurred over there ]
[ The power was immense, almost equivalent to that stellar explosion 17 yusui ago, but there are no stars there at all ]
[ This is a clash of advanced civilizations. That three-dimensional civilization is even more powerful than we imagined. Fortunately, they only enslaved us rather than destroying us ]
[ What nonsense. The great Home Civilization has saved us. That three-dimensional civilization must have been directly annihilated ]
The light from the explosion had reached this place.
So, in reality, this was likely several years after the battle ended over there.
Luna had no idea of her current approximate location.
This civilization was strictly hierarchical.
And she was at its lowest rung.
While she could receive a vast amount of information, she lacked the authority to mobilize any significant resources.
This kind of shackle was almost identical to the Federation's.
Most lives within the Federation possessed an immense wealth of knowledge; however, that knowledge couldn't grant them status or wealth. They required innovation and courage, not just simple facts.
Knowledge is only precious when it is scarce. In the modern Federation, and even long ago in the Old Federation, the [Civilization Library] had already been established. People could browse and download any knowledge they desired, except for certain secrets regarding military and cutting-edge technology.
The march of time forever moves forward; those at the bottom of the hierarchy can only become the swept-up debris of progress.
Luna traced the source of the incoming messages.
She discovered the existence of a much broader hall, and within it, she found numerous entry points.
This could allow her to master this civilization's knowledge, and even their language.
In truth, Luna had never truly mastered the language of the Believer Civilization; even Ayla had only managed to translate a few specific terms.
The Believer Civilization's script and language weren't extensive; all told, there were only 182 characters.
However, within the Believer Civilization, the word for a glass of water was a. In fact, even the sentence I want to take a glass of water to drink was composed of the character a. Every word and sentence related to water was represented by this single character.
It was simple to an infuriating degree.
But trying to analyze it was also difficult to an infuriating degree.
They eventually discovered that spoken and written language were merely auxiliary for the Believer Civilization. The bulk of their information was transmitted through emotion, which encompassed intonation, pitch, and even punctuation.
These complex elements were something even Ayla couldn't quite crack, because intonation and pitch weren't fixed within the Believer Civilization; almost every individual possessed their own unique tonal profile.
Actually, part of the reason was that Ayla hadn't dedicated much computational power to the research.
Shortly after the Believer Civilization was brought under control, they had gone to war with the Gol Civilization.
The Gol Civilization was nearly as powerful as humanity. Leveraging their native four-dimensional advantage, they used a small force to suppress the majority of human military power. This forced Ayla, who had limited computational capacity in the fourth dimension, to focus her attention almost entirely on the battlefield.
Every battle had to be executed perfectly; otherwise, they risked a total collapse and expulsion from the fourth dimension.
Ayla was strong. She transformed an early defeat into an eventual victory, though this was partly because the Gol Civilization was too far away to mobilize a massive fleet.
However, the tide turning here prompted the Gol Civilization to seek aid from even higher-level civilizations.
That was the real reason the Home Civilization arrived.
Luna could truly understand what the beings within the Believer Civilization were saying by tapping into their emotions.
Upon reaching the fourth dimension, she discovered her perception of emotions had become exceptionally clear. Ayla suspected this was due to a fundamental shift in consciousness.
To this day, Luna didn't know the exact cause.
But it was because of this unique trait that Luna had been assigned this mission; otherwise, even if she inhabited a Believer organism, communication would have been impossible.
This was because a Believer's memory seemed to dissipate along with their consciousness. It was a bizarre characteristic, and Ayla's research on the matter was only ten percent complete.
Luna moved from the hall toward the civilization's core information hub.
Strictly speaking, it wasn't the heart of the civilization.
This was merely a fundamental knowledge base within this small Shell, placed there for easy access.
The true core of the Believer Civilization had long since been destroyed by humanity.
That was the original Grain.
The Grain acted as a colossal structure that condensed everything about the Believer Civilization; the Shell, by comparison, was more like a dwelling, not a city, but a communal habitat.
Within the knowledge base, Luna began to parse information about this civilization.
The written records were sparse.
Because their characters carried so much information, every object here resembling a book was composed of just one or a few combined characters.
Luna used her emotional sense to read the data within.
[ Wisdom comes from the God's inspiration; books come from the God's bestowal; life comes from the God's creation. We are the God's progeny, and also the God's servants. ]
The opening of the book was exactly that.
A hymn to God.
It was no wonder they were named the Believer Civilization.
Faith in God permeated every corner of this society. It was a stubborn civilization, and when humanity first sought to rule them, they encountered unimaginable resistance.
Many organisms in this civilization simply did not fear death.
Of course, that wasn't true for every single one of them.
However, it was certain that the higher the lifeform's status, the less they feared death.
This was precisely why Luna's current grasp on information regarding the Believer Civilization was so sparse.
After the hymns came the technical sections.
But as she read on, Luna felt a sense of utter bewilderment.
[ During the days of love, face the star and pray; transform yourself into a peculiar shape to receive divine messages. Recite your needs in silence, and your wishes shall be fulfilled. ]
Luna felt for a moment that she must have stumbled into a theological text.
In human civilization, theology was relatively common, but this was different.
She turned to read another book.
Yet, volume after volume contained almost identical content: a paragraph of theological scripture followed by instructions on how to pray.
"What is wrong with this civilization?"
Was this supposed to be knowledge?
Developing through theology?
Perhaps they only hoped to use theology to inspire themselves.
Some sort of psychological suggestion?
Calming oneself during prayer to gain more inspiration?
Luna wasn't sure.
She had never heard of a civilization model like this.
At that moment, an individual approached her. Seeing the content Luna was reading, it said with some excitement: "You're interested in Yaroessen kinetics too?"
Luna didn't know how to respond.
"Uh, a little bit, yes."
"That's wonderful! Almost no one can extract much knowledge from this alone, so most have given up on studying this technology. We have a seminar on Yaroessen kinetics where we exchange ideas. We might be able to piece together the perfect solution for this technique."
"Would you be interested in joining?"
There was no physical interaction between them.
In this virtual world, they were merely two clusters of light.
Luna didn't recognize the other party. She didn't even know if scammers existed within the Believer Civilization.
Luna appeared somewhat hesitant.
The other entity seemed to see through her hesitation and continued: "This won't cost you much. I trust you know the greatness of Yaroessen kinetics. If we can master this knowledge, our seminar members will construct an independent new Shell, ensuring this technology remains in our own hands."
"This is a rare opportunity. If you contribute original knowledge or a deeper level of understanding, you'll find that knowledge circulation within the seminar requires trade. We won't let you lose out."
It sounded like a loosely organized group.
Luna didn't fully grasp many of the terms the entity used, but joining could provide a much-needed channel for information.
Ultimately, she agreed.
"I would be happy to join!"
"Excellent!"
"Have you already obtained any information regarding Yaroessen kinetics?"
The entity asked expectantly.
Luna started to say yes, but quickly checked herself. This wasn't human civilization; the knowledge system here was bizarre.
The entity had likely invited her based on her interest, not her current expertise, otherwise, why ask that question?
"No, I haven't!"
Luna's answer made the entity even more excited.
"Even better!"
It repeated even better several times.
Luna couldn't fathom why it was so thrilled.
In human civilization, the more information participants brought to a seminar, the better. Here, it seemed the less you knew, the more valuable you were.
"Our research into Yaroessen kinetics is actually very advanced. we've found that information obtained through specific prayers is largely identical."
"We desperately need a group of newcomers to test the new prayer methods we've developed. Rest assured, this has gained much support over the past few decades; it is effective."
"It's a pity. If it weren't for the invasion of the three-dimensional human civilization, we would have mastered Yaroessen kinetics several yusui ago. It's a milestone in kinetics that will make us much more powerful."
Yusui seemed to be the name for a year in the Believer Civilization.
Based on previous data, one yusui was equivalent to several hundred years in human civilization, a significant span of time.
What caught Luna's attention most in the entity's words, however, was the mention of prayer.
The repeated reference to prayer allowed Luna to predict several things, though she couldn't be entirely certain yet.
It was just too surreal!
"That is indeed a pity. I hope the damned human civilization has been wiped out by the Home Civilization." Luna donned a disguise, hoping to avoid any suspicion regarding her identity.
The entity echoed her sentiment, followed by a string of curses directed at humanity.
"Let's not talk about that. I'll take you to the seminar. There is knowledge in there that you would otherwise never encounter."
"Oh, and don't go telling others about this information. They'll just come trying to get a piece of the action."
Hearing this, Luna was even more convinced that this was no ordinary organization.
Perhaps it was a cult within the Believer Civilization, attempting to gain knowledge through shortcuts.
Fortunately, she wasn't there to actually learn anything.
"Now?"
"Is there something else you need to do?"
"No!"
"Then what are you waiting for?"
The entity opened a channel directly in front of them. This was a virtual world, after all; there was no need for conventional travel to get around.
The entity plunged into the channel, and after a brief hesitation, Luna followed.
The surroundings transformed almost instantaneously.
The previous location had been a world filled with text; now, she found herself in a literal labyrinth.
It was as if there were countless rooms, with Believer organisms constantly entering and exiting, making it look like a busy office building.
"How many people are in the seminar?" Luna asked.
"About 1.77 million. Does that seem like a small number? But our research is highly targeted, so we don't need more people."
"By the way, could you give me your emotion-tag? There are quite a few people here, after all."
An emotion-tag.
Luna had no idea what that was.
She had absolutely nothing of the sort to offer, so she simply stood there in silence.
"You still don't trust me? Fine, I'll give you my emotion-tag first. Just use it to contact me later."
With that, it transmitted a piece of data to Luna.
The moment Luna received the information, she understood what an emotion-tag was.
It was a signature composed of the most fundamental emotional frequencies. For the Believer Civilization, it likely functioned exactly like a name.
Since they lacked concrete characters, everything was expressed through conceptual understanding.
For instance, human was Luna's own interpretative term; it wasn't that the other party actually called themselves human.
Normally, when two civilizations make contact, they create loanwords for each other's unique concepts. The Believer Civilization had a specific emotional loan-signature used to designate human civilization.
A miraculous civilization.
This was worlds apart from anything Luna was accustomed to.
The emotion the entity provided didn't contain any linguistics; the Believer Civilization clearly had no concept of names. Luna could only assign it a name in her own mind, for example, One.
One represented the first lifeform she had encountered in the Believer Civilization.
Because of Luna's perceived lack of trust, One seemed to lose some of its initial enthusiasm.
It led Luna forward until they reached a solitary room.
It spoke to Luna: "I am giving you the prayer information now. Follow the prayer method to obtain knowledge related to Yaroessen kinetics. Afterward, you can share some of the information with me. If it truly works, I hope you'll inform me first. I will pay a price to purchase that information."
The tone was overly formal. Luna felt that One had lost all personal interest in her.
Because they communicated through emotions, these beings possessed incredibly rich and intense feelings, and they were exceptionally sensitive to the emotional states of others.
Luna felt no guilt.
From the beginning, they were simply using each other. One had been overly enthusiastic, but the root of that passion was clearly revealed in its final sentence: it wanted primary data.
Now, their relationship had become purely transactional.
"Agreed!"
Luna replied.
This seemed to make One feel slightly better.
It cautioned Luna: "Every prayer I've given you is brand new. So, if you don't manage to grasp any information, don't panic. Just move on to the next prayer."
"Understood."
"In that case, let's begin."
Luna couldn't tell if One was in a desperate hurry or if this was simply the pace of this civilization. They had known each other for barely ten minutes.
After giving Luna the new information, One reminded her once more that she must give it the primary data before finally departing.
The room was relatively open.
The concept of a door didn't exist here.
However, since this was a virtual world, Luna willed a door into existence, and it appeared naturally.
Only after the door closed did the space feel cramped, roughly equivalent to being in a ten-square-meter room.
Luna flipped through the information she had received. As she studied it more deeply, she became even more convinced that this was no ordinary organization. Why else would they believe that knowledge could be obtained through prayer?
Was it actually possible?
If it was, did that mean this civilization truly had a God?
Human civilization hadn't found any evidence of one before.
Perhaps these Gods were the true core, the real high-level leadership of the Believer Civilization.
With an investigative mindset, Luna began to follow the instructions.
She altered her body into the specific required shape and sincerely recited the invocation.
The invocation was incredibly long.
Yet it wasn't made of words; it was a continuous sequence of emotional fluctuations and transmissions.
Once Luna entered the proper state, she found these emotions manifesting within her consciousness, transforming from abstract concepts into something concrete.
Finally, it became...
"That's...!"