Chapter 388 - 356: Nanomites Swarm

Chapter 388: Chapter 356: Nanomites Swarm

"Here..."

After Sikokun led her soldiers back to the core area, her first priority was to check on the Alien Intelligence’s condition. Once she confirmed its location, she immediately had her soldiers form a security perimeter around it.

Then, she noticed that Guan Tong was no longer there.

She wasn’t worried that something had happened to Guan Tong, as she also found some unconscious Parasites remaining at the scene. This indicated that the question he had asked hadn’t triggered the Alien Intelligence to feed extensively.

Besides, while still some distance away, she had seen a pure black dome made of shadows from her vehicle. That must have been the "Domain" Guan Tong had mentioned.

Sikokun knew this wasn’t the time to worry about Guan Tong’s whereabouts. She needed to clear the site and redeploy their equipment as quickly as possible.

Meanwhile, the Human Federation was astonished by the internal structure of the Alien Intelligence after receiving the analysis department’s report.

Everyone had always assumed it was some kind of special creature, a single, independent organism.

However, the analysis department’s findings revealed that it was actually an ’individual’ composed of a vast number of nanobiological organisms or nanobots.

Humanity was no stranger to the concept of nanotechnology; they could even apply it to a minor extent.

But for a unique intelligence like this to integrate hundreds of billions—or even more—nanoconstructs and achieve sapience was far beyond human capability.

This discovery also explained why it didn’t need to excrete waste. It didn’t devour, it decomposed. The decomposed life forms either dissipated into the air or provided energy for the countless nanomites.

Furthermore, with this new understanding, technical experts figured out that the spaceship it arrived in was most likely also made of nanoscale constructs.

This undoubtedly gave humanity a revelation, a developmental path they could follow: shifting their focus to the microscopic realm and researching ways to fully master nanoconstructs.

However, many technical experts also understood that they wouldn’t get far down this path before hitting a wall called ’the materials problem.’

The materials issue, which the Alien Intelligence had mentioned in its answer about energy, was holding back human progress in every field, and the microscopic realm was no exception.

This brought them back to their previous solution: humanity had to develop space technology as quickly as possible, at least to the point of fully exploring the planets in their own star system and attempting to find the special energy source that Celestial Water Star lacked.

...

In the last two days of the Rule Stage following the attack, the Human Federation asked no more questions.

One reason was an insufficient number of Parasites. Another was the fear that the enemy would repeat their old trick of hiding Ascenders among the ordinary Parasites. Even with strict inspections, it was possible for one to slip through the cracks.

Another reason was related to the previous question.

Regarding the Human Federation’s earlier question about the Apocalypse Rules, although the scene had descended into chaos when the Alien Intelligence answered, someone had released information detailing its response and the unusual phenomena that occurred.

Although the informant was anonymous, the Human Federation knew it was "Shadow." The live broadcast and audio equipment at the site had been damaged in the fighting, and only he had stayed behind to hear the answer.

Furthermore, based on the investigation by the soldiers who arrived as reinforcements, they believed that "Shadow" might have asked his own question in private.

This was also the assessment of various national governments.

They didn’t believe for a second that "Shadow" had gone to the site without a purpose.

Because of this, the various governments also inquired with the Sisiya authorities whether the two parties were secretly cooperating.

Sisiya officials denied the claim, but only a few people knew the real truth.

In any case, the Human Federation determined that "Shadow" had no reason to lie.

But the most important reason was that the Human Federation had discovered the Alien Intelligence was in an unstable state. To be precise, it seemed to have entered a kind of closed-off, or "powered-down," state and was no longer active.

Humans tried asking the "name" question again, only to find that it would neither decompose the offering nor answer. This change made the Human Federation worry that pressing the issue further would be dangerous, so they gave up.

So, after Sikokun and her team stood guard at the Landing Site for another two tense days, the moment the Rule Stage ended, the Alien Intelligence automatically returned to its spaceship, which then rose swiftly and vanished.

[Congratulations, you have passed the fifteenth Apocalypse Rule]

The moment the Fire Thief’s voice rang in Sikokun’s mind, she let out a long sigh, her tension finally easing.

"It’s finally over..."

The other soldiers also collapsed where they stood.

The intense pressure of being under global scrutiny, where one small mistake could lead to disaster, was enough to exhaust anyone, body and soul, even after just a few days.

...

「A city on the border of Sisiya.」

Guan Tong and Shangyuan Zi were in the lobby of an abandoned shopping mall when the Fire Thief’s voice sounded in their minds simultaneously.

[Congratulations, you have passed the fifteenth Apocalypse Rule]

[There is no reward for this rule]

[The sixteenth Apocalypse Rule will be announced in seven days]

"It’s over."

Shangyuan Zi looked toward the entrance of the lobby, and Guan Tong’s gaze followed.

There, a shadow stood motionless, holding a page from a book.

Since leaving the Landing Site, Guan Tong had made the shadow hold onto the page for the past two days—the page that the Alien Intelligence had "spat out," formed from a part of its own body.

He didn’t dare let it get too close to him. The chance of it suddenly attacking was low, but not zero.

During this time, he had contacted Shangyuan Zi and asked her to meet him.

Afterward, the two of them had waited here until the Rule Stage ended.