Epoch of Twilight

Chapter 575: The Third Energy Crystal Core
Chapter 575: The Third Energy Crystal Core

Translator: EndlessFantasy TranslationEditor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Before the rain gradually stopped, the rainstorm had been ongoing for over two months. After it passed, a significant area in the northern half of the globe began having sunnier weather.

The ice had melted, the floods had receded, and flora was beginning to flourish.

The plant’s indomitable life force was definitely something to be reckoned with.

Even after remaining frozen for over a few decades, the ice did not eradicate their vitality. Even if the branches had long eroded, the deep roots of the plants would still be full of life. Once the ice melted, various flora began growing from carcasses as they bathed under the glorious sunlight and competed with each other for growth. The life force of the plants was visible at every corner.

Before long, the land was rapidly dyed with shades of green. Looking at it then, it was hard to believe that just only two months ago, the place was still a frozen wasteland.

Following the receding tides, a partially-planned magnificent city would officially be built atop of the ruins of Hope City, and it would be hundreds of times bigger than the original city. It would boast a radius up to tens of thousands of square kilometers. Before long, the place had already become a humongous construction area.

Countless enormous cargo airships that were each as wide as a mountain, connected the logistic channel of the new Hope City and the micro universe that was currently situated in space. All the harvested materials and resources from the Barnard Star System were shipped to the New Hope City as the humans erecting building and factory, one after the other.

Before waging war with the Glassians, the humans were pessimistic toward the war. Perhaps, pessimistic was not the right term to use. However, most people were uncertain about the outcome of the war at the time.

There was a saying — People tend to think about losses before they think about winning. To top it off, this was a war that whose outcome would determine the survival of an entire species.

Naturally, if the humans won, it would end well. However, if they were defeated, a backup plan had to be present. Their withdrawal to the micro universe was their final contingency. Even if the Glassians finally managed to retake the Barnard Star System, the humans would still have sufficient resources to continue expanding after they successfully withdrew into the micro-universe.

Based on these operating standards, mankind had already destructively mined their fourth planet with part of its resources allocated to produce and expand their inventory of military equipment. Anything left over from that would be stored and be shipped to the micro universe.

Before their expedition began, the humans already had a stockpile of resources that would be able to support their production capacity for over a hundred years. Up until the point where they migrated back to earth, the humans had already accumulated sufficient resources to last them over a thousand years.

Naturally, this estimate was made with the assumption that their production would not undergo an explosive amount of expansion. However, if that were really the case, their resource stockpile would probably dry up within an estimated fifty to sixty years.

Even so, this was s till a huge sum of wealth, and the total mass of their stockpile had now exceeded the moon’s mass. Each and every element their had in store were calculated in the measure of trillions of tonnes. However, precious metals such as gold were available in amounts upward of tens of trillions of tonnes. That alone was more than several billion times the total gold mined throughout mankind’s history.

The total mass of the solar system was made up of mainly gaseous planets and ones where mineral resources could be mined were scarce. Planets that fit this category based on their size were Earth, Mars, Venus, and Mercury.

The largest of these planets was Earth. However, its total mass only made up a third of the fourth planet they were mining in the Barnard Star Systerm. Even when all the planets that fit the description in their solar system were totalled, it would still not hold a candle to a single planet in the Barnard Star System.

As humankind’s home planet, humans were unable to extract material directly from the ground like they did on the fourth planet in the Barnard Star System. Similarly, Mars was like a twin brother to Earth and had long been recognized as a secondary habitable planet. Even Venus and Mercury were considered to be backup-planets that could be terraformed into habitable planets.

Soon, the human population began to explode. Not only was there an annual birth of two to three million lab-grown human clones, there was also the birth of the next generation of humans. Eventually, a baby boom would ensue

Up to this moment, humans only had a population that was close to thirty million. Conservatively, the population would only reach five hundred million one or two hundred years later. However, the fear that Earth would soon be overcrowded was not unfounded. Two hundred years was not that long a time for a civilization. Even for the new generation of humans, that was only two-thirds of their lifespan.

It could be said that every rocky planet in the solar system was extremely precious since they were resources that could be used to expand and develop human civilization.

Fortunately, humans had long since become an interstellar civilization capable of leaving their home star system. The ability to fly through space had given humans the ability to explore the surrounding star systems and seize control of the resources available to make up for the deficit in their home star system.

…

A war was currently ongoing in Jupiter.

Luo Yuan stood in space and gazed upon Jupiter from afar. It was a giant planet that experienced an endless storm throughout the year. Its mass was already close to a star’s critical point, causing the few huge vortexes throughout the planet to clash and graze against each other as they gave off intense energy reactions.

Pulsing radiation, lightning, strong electromagnetic fields, and a storm with exceedingly high heat that could potentially shred objects into dust. It all made this place closely resemble hell. No life would be able to survive under such conditions.

Of course, this would have to exclude some of the extraordinary creatures.

One such as Luo Yuan, or even the Interstellar Creature.

At this moment Luo Yuan’s body was glowing in radiance as a powerful wave of his perceptive abilities washed over the colossal Jupiter.

Within the depths of the Jupiter, tens of thousands of kilometers within the hydrogen layer, a huge beast was diving into its depths while feeling an extreme unease.

It was a humongous mutated beast, and its body was like a huge loach that was around three kilometers in length. Its entire body was slippery and was glowing with blue light. Within the dark surroundings of the hydrogen layer, it looked particularly eye-catching.

Perhaps, its eyes had degenerated after having survived in the dark for so long. Its head was also tapered and its mouth no longer had any teeth.

The terrifying pressure found within the depths of the liquid hydrogen could even crush steel. However, it was almost non-existent to the creature. It felt like it was in water as it swam through the liquid at a speed of a few hundred meters per second. It was amazingly fast as it desperately dove into the depths of Jupiter in search of its survival.

However, its efforts would prove to be futile.

At the very next moment, a terrifying consciousness possessed the beast, causing its body to freeze lightly before it began glowing with the radiance of a star. The beast struggled intensely as its body that was a few kilometers in length stirred the liquid hydrogen with such high pressure that it seemed like it was boiling.

Its struggle seemed effective. As a creature capable of surviving in the depths of Jupiter, it probably had incredible power. When the beast felt the consciousness binding it begin to weaken, it began an even more desperate struggle. As it roared endlessly, its entire body grew at a fearsome pace as its original body now morphed into a ferocious one.

However, it had failed to notice its surroundings. A radius of up to several hundred kilometers had silently warped and within a mere second, an isolated, sealed dimension had been formed and it left this universe. The surrounding liquid hydrogen instantly converged around the void to fill it up.

Then, the micro universe containing the space beast rapidly flew off, leaving the liquid hydrogen quickly. It sped through Jupiter’s atmosphere and began shrinking as it continued its flight. When it reached Luo Yuan, it had already shrunk to the size of his palm.

In the micro-universe filled with a light blue liquid hydrogen, a creature that only spanned the width of a needlepoint comfortably traversed within.

Luo Yuan glanced over it. Then, his fingers blurred for a moment and a finger was seen piercing through the universe and into the creature’s body. When the creature passed, a glowing energy crystal core appeared within his palm.

At the same time, the beast shrank rapidly into a clump as its body trembled and began to die. Its former vigor and vitality were now lost.

Luo Yuan closely inspected it and realized that the creature did not show any signs of dying. A sudden smile appeared on his face as he then used the surrounding matter to re-condense a dimensional sphere. It condensed his surroundings into a dimensional sphere before he swiftly flew toward Earth.