Human Civilization ruled the Believer Civilization.
Then, war broke out between the Gol and Human Civilizations.
Because of the dimensional differences, four-dimensional civilizations could not accurately describe three-dimensional information. Only Human soldiers entered the four-dimensional space, and Ayla could effectively identify spies. This forced the Gol to hide within the Believer Civilization to gather information on Humanity.
Thard was a spy left over from that war.
It could be considered a martyr.
Sadly, it was only sent in during the final stages of the war.
The Faraway Civilization fleet arrived soon after, followed by a 1,700-year period of silent warfare.
During this time, the Gol destroyed the remaining Human fleet, and the Believers were liberated.
But the Gol Civilization could not possibly let it return.
They would have had to retrieve it and then use restoration measures. For the civilization's controllers, it simply was not worth the cost.
If Thard had been an overt soldier, there might have been a chance.
But it was an undercover operative. Theoretically, apart from a few people, no one would know if it died. So why spend a fortune to save it?
This was its tragedy.
But it was not the tragedy of the Gol Civilization.
Although the Gol did not rescue it in the end, they still gave it a mission: to monitor the Believer Civilization.
The Gol only made contact with the Believers after the Humans arrived. After sending spies into the Believer Civilization, they discovered the unique nature of this civilization.
But the Gol were also very clever; they did not want to be dragged into this war, so they did not make the first move.
The final order gave Thard a flicker of hope.
This was Thard's only lifeline, and it held on tight, which led to the current situation.
It did not know who Luna was, but as a newly ascended God's Chosen, she was the perfect scapegoat.
Watching the heated discussion on the forum, Thard thought back to how it had guided Moon.
"You can only blame your own bad luck."
"As one of the great civilizations, how could our Gol Civilization just wait for extinction?"
"Whether it is the God's Civilization or the Faraway Civilization, this plan will help us understand their intelligence and prepare for the great war to come."
In reality, Luna had essentially dug her own grave.
If she had not spread the message that the Faraway Civilization might attack and destroy the Believer Civilization, Thard would not have acted.
Having cleared its own name, Thard now waited for news of the great battle. It might die, and the Believer Civilization might be annihilated in the war between two powerful civilizations, but its glory would not vanish.
This was the ultimate destiny for someone like it.
Compared to those who died having accomplished nothing, it considered itself lucky.
...
Luna saw that all the high-ranking officials of the Believer Civilization were targeting her.
Many God's Chosen had already begun to move, intending to capture her.
This was an unprecedented crisis.
However, Luna did not feel the slightest sense of danger.
Because she had absolute proof that she was not the shooter.
She posted on Thard's thread: "I am Moon. I am definitely not the attacker. This person is framing me."
Immediately, other God's Chosen sent messages to condemn her.
"You say it's not you, so it's not you?"
"Ridiculous! You were caught red-handed and still trying to make a final struggle!"
"We've already gathered the observational data. The attack was fired from your Shell."
"Why did you do it? That was the Faraway Civilization."
"Why even ask? This is clearly a traitor, if not a traitor then a spy, aiming to destroy us."
"..."
Feeble explanations were useless.
Luna's voice was buried.
Within its own Shell, Thard watched and found it hilarious.
If explanations worked, wouldn't all conspiracies and machinations just be for show?
"A little one with no experience at all!"
But at that moment, Luna, using the ID Moon, sent another message.
"Since this Shell was opened, I have been praying day and night to earn kosius. I have not activated any of the Shell's functions, nor have I gathered any energy within it. How could I have fired an attack?"
Shells came with basic weapon units, so even a new Shell could attack.
But only if there was energy inside.
"You can verify this yourselves by checking my Shell. Currently, I only own one ship, which is at the surface of the star. My intent was to trigger a solar flare on the star's surface to release a current of charged electrons, then activate the Shell's energy absorption to speed up the process."
This was a violation of regulations.
But that wasn't the focus now.
Nobles from other Shells closest to Luna's had already set out.
They had reached Luna's Shell. Since the Shell had no defensive systems deployed, they entered easily. After a thorough search, they indeed found that the entire Shell's fuel system was shut down.
They quickly posted this news to the forum.
"This..."
"It really wasn't them."
On the other side.
Thard was stunned.
This was impossible. It had never anticipated this scenario. A newly ascended God's Chosen, having received a Shell, had actually not activated its energy absorption immediately, and prayer didn't hinder that process!
It could not comprehend that Luna had never intended to use that Shell in the first place, making its activation completely irrelevant to her.
Thard panicked.
If this fact was established, then as the one who made the accusation, it would instantly become the prime suspect.
It hurriedly attacked Moon.
"Who can prove where your ship is?"
"You definitely fired the attack using the weapons on your ship."
Luna sensed the hysterical panic in its emotional transmission.
She had misjudged the situation initially, but the opponent had made a far more fatal misjudgment.
"It is a pity, Thard. Although I purchased a ship, I am still a newly ascended God's Chosen with limited funds. Therefore, there are no weapons on my ship."
"I could not afford them."
"The seller of my ship, Ring, can vouch for me."
This was a public forum; practically every noble in the Believer Civilization was present.
Ring was naturally there as well.
It produced the transaction records, which indeed showed no weaponry included.
Luna pressed her advantage.
"Actually, I had dealings with Thard. It was my guide; it oversaw my evaluation to become a God's Chosen."
"Even my Shell was provided by it. Theoretically, as a new God's Chosen, I should have spent considerable time earning a Shell, as they are worth a significant amount of kosius."
"I originally thought it was a benevolent God's Chosen, but looking back now, I notice many unusual details. It was far too accommodating to me."
"I now seriously suspect that this was orchestrated entirely by Thard. It is a spy, the real spy. If it were truly of our civilization and chose to launch such an attack, it would consider the strike an honor. Why would it shift the blame onto me?"
Luna had never lost in this arena. Not only was the evidence overwhelming this time, but even without proof, she had countless ways to turn the situation around.
Any framing operation requires a swift conclusion, forcing everyone to accept the narrative and ending it as quickly as it began.
Luna could have achieved the same result simply by speaking casually to stall the investigation.
Unfortunately, she did not even need to flex her skills this time. Thard's execution was too sloppy; perhaps the plan itself had been born of a sudden whim.
Luna had not expected to clear her name so thoroughly.
So, a follow-up investigation would likely follow.
But for now, she could watch Thard suffer the consequences of its own actions.
The forum was filled with a chorus of condemnation against Thard.
It took Thard half a day to speak up again.
"Everyone, listen to me. I only saw the attack originate from Moon's Shell. Since this happened just as Moon became a God's Chosen, I naturally suspected her."
"But I am truly not a spy."
"The Faraway Civilization was already coming for us. If I were a spy, what benefit would firing a single attack provide?"
It continued to argue, but talking too much only leads to errors.
When Luna saw that sentence, she knew the fellow had dug its own grave.
Indeed, the God's Chosen might lack creativity, but they weren't idiots. They quickly spotted the flaw in its words.
"What benefit would a spy get from firing an attack? Then what benefit would we get from firing one?"
"Your words are clearly a defense of a spy. And you still claim you aren't one!"
The art of language remains fascinating, even when manifested through a different medium.
In fact, Luna believed that emotions were far more prone to giving oneself away than speech. Thard's emotions were incredibly complex, but it was easy to extract something else from within them.
"Ultimately, this fellow, like me, is likely an consciousness invader."
"But I didn't see this technology during the war with the Gol Civilization. Perhaps it has nothing to do with consciousness."
If it wasn't consciousness-based, then it was a direct memory implantation or manipulation of the original biological entity.
In truth, this method was no different from consciousness manipulation.
Since a being's core essence is their memory, if the memory is altered, they become a different person.
The only real advantage of consciousness invasion was that one's fundamental nature remained unchanged over time, the psyche, perception, emotions, and will stayed intact.
Ayla had conducted related experiments using clones.
Even with altered memories, a person would still follow their original behavioral patterns.
For example, if someone naturally held chopsticks with their middle and ring fingers, even if their memories were changed to say they used their index and middle fingers, they would still default to their original grip.
This was even more pronounced in emotions; changing memories couldn't change a person's affection for another. This meant that someone with altered memories was more likely to revert to their original state. Furthermore, if you chose the wrong person, they would remain inhibited; a change in memory wouldn't suddenly make them brave.
Consciousness invasion didn't have to worry about such things.
Luna was Luna.
On the forum, Thard was clearly flustered.
Luna found it comical; when they first met, it had given off the aura of a high-level master.
"The clues will likely be uncovered soon."
"As for me, I've done very little, so there are fewer loopholes. And now I have nothing to do..."
Luna posted directly on the forum.
"I am willing to be placed under surveillance until the Faraway Civilization arrives, as proof of my innocence."
The Faraway fleet's arrival was only eleven months away, a mere blink of an eye for Luna. By then, she would likely know whether the six-dimensional civilization would intervene. When the Faraway fleet began consuming the star, she would have everything prepared.
Luna's offer caused the other God's Chosen and nobles to lower their guard. Some even responded with polite platitudes.
"That isn't necessary. Since it's been proven that you were framed, Moon, let the matter end here."
"Exactly!"
"We God's Chosen share the same rank. What would it look like for us to detain one of our own?"
Luna was taken aback. These fellows were actually quite adept at social graces. But then again, age breeds wisdom; no matter how dull a lifeform is, if it lives long enough and isn't a complete hermit, it will eventually grasp these social principles through sheer exposure.
But Luna had made up her mind.
"Say no more. There is a Shell near me right now. I will wait outside of it, remaining within everyone's sight."
Luna piloted her ship. The Shell she referred to was the one on the surface of the star.
There was no hierarchy among the God's Chosen.
Even on the surface of the star, it just meant having a few more warships.
The class divide in the Believer Civilization was black and white between God's Chosen and ordinary lives. But whether they were God's Chosen or ordinary citizens, they showed no arrogance toward those of equal status.
Whether this divide was good or bad, she couldn't say.
As soon as Luna arrived outside the Shell, a starship approached, and a God's Chosen emerged.
It scanned Luna and exchanged a few platitudes. Seeing that Luna refused to leave and confirming that her ship indeed carried no weapons, it returned to its Shell.
Immediately afterward, this individual posted on the forum, affirming that Luna truly lacked any offensive capability. Luna checked the ID; this person had been incredibly active in the chat earlier, contributing a sentence or two to almost every dozen messages.
This gave Luna a strong sense of dissonance.
In human civilization, if a major corporate CEO were seen being so active in a chat group, they would likely die of embarrassment if discovered.
But the Believers felt no such shame.
Everyone used their real names online, and clearly, the other God's Chosen were long accustomed to this individual's activity.
Thard was intercepted about 20 days later.
It continued its desperate explanations because there was simply nowhere to run.
Ultimately, it was captured.
During the process of attempting to copy its memories, the fellow died. Although the memories weren't retrieved, everyone was convinced that Thard was a spy.
However, the curses weren't directed at the Gol Civilization, but at humanity. The God's Chosen and nobles were all convinced that Thard was a human spy.
Luna ignored it and simply waited, day by day. The Faraway Civilization warships drew closer and closer.
The storm stirred up by Thard soon settled, replaced by a pervasive sense of dread.
This was only one star system of the Believer Civilization, not the whole.
Messages had been sent to other systems, but since the Believers lacked Tachyon communication, the other systems likely wouldn't know until this one was destroyed.
Perhaps Luna wouldn't have to wait that long. There were likely similar organisms inside the other Believer stars; the six-dimensional civilization wouldn't necessarily descend here first.
...
Eleven months passed quickly.
The massive warships didn't advance further, stopping instead at an orbital distance roughly equivalent to Uranus in the Solar System.
From the star's surface, Luna felt the star begin to rage; its brightness surged twenty-fold. A solar wind rose like a whip, stretching over ten million kilometers.
The boiling surface of the star's nuclear fusion began to act like a waterspout. A storm formed, carrying terrifying energy toward the Faraway Civilization warships.
The absorption had begun!
The scene was immensely majestic.
Luna had actually seen plenty of such sights, but seeing them often didn't make them feel any less significant.
As a living being, one is destined to feel tiny in the face of a star.
Of all the civilized beings she had encountered, except for the brain-worms of the Swarm, the largest were only a few thousand meters long. Compared to things spanning millions or tens of millions of kilometers, they were insignificant.
Many interstellar ship recruiters included a clear clause in their hiring: those with megalophobia need not apply.
Some people are terrified even by a ship a few thousand meters long; in space, the chance of encountering massive objects is essentially 100%.
Luna didn't have megalophobia, but she still found many things incredibly breathtaking.
A ship of several thousand meters.
In this era, it might sound small.
But placed on a planet, in a city, especially one from the 21st century, it would practically blot out the sun.
Even driving a few thousand meters takes several minutes; it is a significant distance.
"It seems the six-dimensional civilization won't be taking action."
Luna's preparations were complete.
Her ship lacked weapons, but a chain reaction weapon didn't require a turret or massive volume. She had improvised one, intending to destroy the star.
She started the ship; the God's Chosen inside the Shell did not stop her.
Their attention was captivated by the sight of the star being absorbed. The star was the foundation of the Believer Civilization. After eleven months, the God's Chosen and nobles on the forum were in an uproar once more.
Practically everyone was searching for a way.
Even if there were prior doubts about whether the Faraway Civilization would attack their own civilization, after that strike, it had become a certainty.
At this point, unable to wait for the six-dimensional civilization, they decided to simply flee.
Some God's Chosen manned their warships and abandoned their Shells to escape.
The Shells were immobile, so the ordinary bodies inside were naturally left behind.
These ordinary bodies didn't even have ships or starships; their entire lives were confined within the Shell, working solely for the Shell Lord.
It felt somewhat tragic.
Luna paid no mind to this and dove straight into the star's interior.
Her ship's energy hadn't fully replenished in less than a year; she pushed forward at full speed to get as close as possible to the core.
By the time she reached nearly 500,000 kilometers, the ship's energy alarms were blaring.
"Right here then."
She threw her self-made chain reaction weapon out.
However, the weapon suddenly stopped in mid-air.
In less than 0.000001 seconds, Luna stopped. The ship stopped. The nuclear fusion all around stopped.
Time had seemingly been paused.
The scorching star cooled to the absolute lowest temperature in an instant.
Absolute zero!
This was a temperature that was theoretically impossible to reach, much like how the speed of light cannot be surpassed.
Yet, even so, a temperature infinitely close to absolute zero could freeze everything. There is a threshold; once reached, any temperature lower causes the speed of all matter to slow down.
The speed of light traveling through air is different from its speed through water. If water can slow light, why couldn't something infinitely close to absolute zero?
Actually, this wasn't as miraculous as the earlier Oulan Sea Flower. The Sea Flower had even caused time to reverse.
Here, time was merely slowed down by several hundred million times.
A massive quantitative change can also transcend qualitative boundaries.
After Luna was "frozen," this absolute zero continued to expand outward, quickly freezing the entire star and even the tornado-like "straw" that was drawing its energy.
The Shells were the same.
As were the fleeing warships and ships.
The spread of the absolute zero was incredibly fast, also infinitely approaching the speed of light.
By the time the Faraway Civilization warships noticed it, the absolute zero was only ten million kilometers away.
They tried to power up their ships to escape, but it was impossible.
Powering up takes time; turning around takes time. Even for a top-tier civilization, a warship cannot go from zero to one in seconds, it is measured in hours.
The Faraway Civilization warships were frozen as well.
The more distant asteroids were frozen.
Even the small celestial bodies at the outskirts of the star system suffered the same fate.
This freezing force brought every object to a complete standstill.
The entire star system was instantly plunged into pitch-black darkness.
The only thing that remained as before was the normal rotation and orbit of the celestial bodies. No matter how powerful absolute zero was, it could not freeze gravity.
Gravity is the result of spatial curvature; just as the coldest weather cannot fill a valley, these are two unrelated concepts. Absolute zero cannot create or diminish matter.
Still, everything was frozen. This level of power could only be called divine.
Now, within the entire star system, the only moving object not driven by gravity was a single lifeform.
With one step, it transcended the star and moved toward the Faraway Civilization warships.
Its speed was also near that of light.
When it arrived there:
Its entire body radiated light, and in its proximity, space seemed to be in a state of collapse.
Small vortexes formed, then expanded to their limits.
Human civilization could create a wormhole to transcend dimensions; there was no reason a six-dimensional top-tier civilization couldn't.
However, this black hole was terrifyingly large. It wasn't a black hole formed by the collapse of matter and energy; instead, it was formed by the direct shattering of space. Consequently, this black hole possessed not a trace of gravity.
Within an hour, the black hole's diameter expanded to 100,000 kilometers.
From that black hole, ropes extended, tethering themselves to the frozen Faraway Civilization warships.
Then they tightened, pulling.
The Faraway Civilization warships began to move, slowly entering the black hole.
Once all 2,000-plus Faraway Civilization warships had been dragged into the black hole, it vanished. About two or three seconds later, the freezing began to recede, starting from the star's interior.
Inside the star, Luna had just thrown her chain reaction weapon; in the blink of an eye, she caught it again.
"Something's not right!"
"What just happened!"
The surroundings looked exactly as they had a moment ago, but the Believer body was highly sensitive and could perceive extremely minute changes.
She had witnessed that split-second stagnation of the weapon in mid-air. Luna was not reckless; she suspected the six-dimensional civilization had intervened.
Luna immediately reversed course and flew out.
She exited the corona just before the ship's hull reached its melting point.
She saw the stellar energy siphon collapsing. Looking into the distance, she could still see the Faraway Civilization warships; even checking the forum, the God's Chosen and nobles were still discussing how to escape.
"Was I just overthinking it?"
But the collapsing energy channel was real. The Faraway Civilization had only just begun absorbing energy; why would they suddenly stop?
The questions, combined with the ship's condition, made Luna pause on the star's surface.
Several hours passed.
The Faraway Civilization warships in the distance suddenly vanished in an instant.
Luna thought her eyes were playing tricks on her, but the ship's sensors confirmed it: they were gone.
A chill ran down her spine.
"It seems the six-dimensional civilization really did take action. Calculating the time, it aligns with how long it took for light to reach me."
So, this was a delayed elimination.
But how exactly was it done?