“A promise, huh…” Xiao Yu silently pondered the word, then firmly nodded within his own mind. “If you can give me sufficient benefit, then once I gain the capability to cross galaxies, I will naturally help you fulfill your final wish.”

The message Taihao had left seemed to possess some form of automatic judgment function. As soon as such a thought arose in Xiao Yu’s mind, more information automatically surfaced in his consciousness.

“Due to your current technological limitations, you are actually incapable of manufacturing a true Four-Dimensional Shield. Even I only mastered some of the Four-Dimensional Shield technology after becoming a Taihao Civilization. So I will gift you a batch of Four-Dimensional Shield generators. With them, you can use the shields directly. There are one hundred thousand in total. Their operation is simple, just charge them using elemental decay technology, and they will automatically generate Four-Dimensional Shields with varying levels of defensive power based on output. There’s one thing to keep in mind, the Four-Dimensional Shield is not invincible. If it bears too high of an energy level, it will break down. All in all, once your various Level 4 Civilization technologies become more refined, you will become the most formidable force among all Level 4 Civilizations.”

“My legacy has been passed on to you. I hope you’ll use it well and not bring disgrace to my name among the stars of this universe.”

“Alright, little one, farewell. One last warning before you’ve found a way to deal with the Neutron War Star, do not, even if you surpass me in power, engage in battle with the Sweeper Civilization.”

Xiao Yu quietly listened until Taihao’s voice faded from his mind. As the message ended, he saw within the massive cargo hold of the Hebei a number of ghostly blue rectangular prisms about the size of bricks suddenly appear. They emitted a faint glow, their surfaces rippling gently like solidified seawater.

As Xiao Yu aimed his analysis instruments at these bricks, usage instructions automatically appeared in his mind.

He immediately sensed the mysterious profundities of Four-Dimensional Space hidden within these blocks, profound knowledge that Xiao Yu could neither decipher nor master, but that he could at least use.

“At last… I’ve obtained these.” Xiao Yu felt a deep sense of contentment.

“One thing still puzzles me. Taihao once told me I could safely remain within the Four-Dimensional Barrier for two hundred years. But according to my calculations, I only had seventy years. I wonder, did Taihao make a mistake, or did I miscalculate? Or maybe… it was a test from him. Unfortunately, Taihao didn’t mention it in his final message. Looks like unless Taihao returns from the dead, I’ll never know the answer.”

With a slow breath, Xiao Yu resumed thought, piloting his enormous fleet as it gradually accelerated, leaving behind the region of space where he had been trapped and spent centuries travelling, heading toward a middle-aged star 300 light-years away.

At this point, Xiao Yu’s fleet was all but depleted. From an original total of more than 120,000 ships, fewer than 100,000 remained. All nuclear fusion fuel had been nearly exhausted. The Hebei alone had lost nearly half its original mass, dropping from 100 million tons to just 50 million. Now, Xiao Yu had to dismantle small ships to barely scrape together enough fuel. According to projections, by the time the 300-light-year journey concluded, he would be left with fewer than 70,000 ships.

Fortunately, over 200 million tons of White Dwarf Alien Beast flesh remained, as did large quantities of Swarm body parts. With such rare materials in hand, as long as he could replenish his resources on any planet, Xiao Yu could quickly rebuild his fleet and regain formidable power. As Taihao said he would become the strongest existence among Level 4 Civilizations.

“Too bad there are only 100,000 Four-Dimensional Shield generators. That’s far too few. I’ll need to plan their deployment very carefully.” Xiao Yu thought to himself. “My future combat model must also be restructured.”

“These things are undoubtedly extremely valuable. Even a Level 6 Civilization would covet them. So… no need to equip small ships with them. I’ll reserve them for County-Class and larger vessels to avoid accidental losses. As for recon missions, leave those to the small ships.”

In the pitch-black void of space, within the vast fleet of tens of thousands of ships, countless robots toiled. This was a massive space dock. At least several hundred Village-Class and Town-Class ships were docked, being dismantled by the mechanical workers. Like ants stripping flesh, they tore off piece after piece, transporting the materials elsewhere.

These materials would be consumed in the elemental decay reactors, becoming the driving force for Xiao Yu’s ships.

Amid this darkness, Xiao Yu’s fleet slowly picked up speed—faster and faster—until it reached half the speed of light: 150,000 kilometers per second. At this rate, it would take 600 years to reach his destination. But due to relativistic effects, Xiao Yu himself would experience the journey as only a little over 200 years.

During those 200 years, Xiao Yu planned to continue his research into Faster-Than-Light Travel and elemental decay technology, striving to increase the efficiency of both. At the same time, he would begin detailed study of the Four-Dimensional Shields. Such precious assets needed to be used to their fullest potential.

Of course, he hadn’t forgotten one other matter: the reward for the Luka child who had helped inspire the path to success.

Strictly speaking, that child had simply been lucky, it hadn’t done anything extraordinary. Therefore, under the advice of Luka Two, Three, and Four, Xiao Yu chose not to give a public reward. Instead, he provided substantial hidden benefits: relocating the entire family to the Paradise, enrolling the child in the best school, and assigning Luka Three and Luka Four, the two most brilliant Luka scientists as personal tutors.

Xiao Yu believed that with such resources, the child’s future achievements would not be minor.

“When you’ve earned enough merit to convince everyone, then I will bestow upon you the title of Luka Five,” Xiao Yu thought.

From this event, Xiao Yu once again realized the importance of numbers when it came to intelligent beings. If he had been trapped inside the Four-Dimensional Barrier alone, no matter how powerful his computational ability, he would never have felt confident in escaping within seventy years.

Sometimes, “inspiration” wasn’t about intelligence. Even a fool might come up with a gem, and even a genius could overlook something crucial. This event had reminded Xiao Yu of that truth once again.

“This number of Luka is still too few,” Xiao Yu mused. “If I have the opportunity in the future, I must gather more intelligent lifeforms from across the universe to serve me. Whether they’re from Level 2, Level 3, Level 1, or even primitive civilizations that haven’t entered the technological age, it doesn’t matter. Lower-level civilizations aren’t inherently stupider than higher-level ones. More often than not, it’s just a matter of accumulated knowledge.”

Take human civilization, for instance. Modern humans aren’t actually smarter than their ancient counterparts. Technological development came largely from the accumulation of knowledge over time. So if a child from the distant past were raised in today’s society, there’s no reason to think they’d be inferior to a modern human.

With this realization, Xiao Yu finalized his post-Taihao development strategy and began analyzing the current state of the Milky Way.

“First, it’s clear that the Guardian Alliance will, for the foreseeable future, vanish from the stage of history, losing its control over countless low-level civilizations. The Sweeper Civilization, having defeated both the Guardian Alliance and the Taihao Civilization, must also have suffered losses. This means that for a time, it too will be forced to lie low. Which brings us to this: a golden age is coming for low-level civilizations. Without the suppression of powerful advanced civilizations, they’ll gain an unprecedented window of development. And that applies to me as well. For now, I don’t need to worry about the Sweepers or the Guardians. I can focus entirely on developing my own technology.”

Xiao Yu keenly recognized that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. How far he would be able to progress would depend largely on how well he took advantage of it.

With his future direction now clear, Xiao Yu once again brimmed with confidence.

During his long journey, Xiao Yu observed two additional things.

First, after 130 years of real-time travel, he confirmed through gravitational lensing that the ancient red giant had finally collapsed into a black hole under the Four-Dimensional Barrier’s pressure. The transformation was utterly silent, no explosion, no flashes, only a tranquil shift into the universe’s most extreme form of existence.

The second, the light bearing the footage of the massive battle between the Sweeper Civilization and the allied forces of Taihao, the Guardian Civilization, and several hundred other civilizations, had finally traveled across hundreds of light-years and entered Xiao Yu’s observation instruments.