Species Thirty-Six was a rather unremarkable race. In Xiao Yu’s eyes, they had no outstanding traits, their learning ability was average, research ability average, innovation ability average, everything about them was average. Even their contributions to Xiao Yu ranked among the lower tier out of the hundred-plus races under his command.

But through that scientist’s speech, Xiao Yu noticed a glimmer of promise.

“Perhaps, in the future, if there is a future, I should carefully cultivate this particular strength of theirs. Going forward, all scientists who submit to me must be categorized and specialized. Some will focus solely on material science, some on energy science, some on biological science. The finer the specialization, the more efficient they will be.”

With this thought, Xiao Yu said, “Then this meeting will be adjourned. Everyone return and begin preparations for relocation. One year from now, we’ll attempt to leave this place. Of course, whether we truly leave will depend entirely on whether the hypothesized unknown entity actually exists, and if it does, whether it is benevolent or malevolent. In other words, even I don’t yet know if we’ll actually leave. But to be safe, we must act as if we are leaving. Anything of value must be dismantled and brought with us. During this year, all scientific research is to be suspended. Based on your research areas and future plans, each of you should submit a list of required materials. Since this area is still rich in resources, I will gather everything you need within the year.”

“All right, meeting adjourned.”

Xiao Yu withdrew his attention. Though the meeting had yielded valuable results, he still felt heavy-hearted.

He disliked this feeling of having his fate determined by another.

“I don’t know when I’ll finally reach the level of a Level 6 Civilization, when I can eliminate the Sweepers and the Guardians and never again worry about being hunted, never again feel afraid,” Xiao Yu thought, already diving into the work that needed to be done.

Now that the decision to probe had been made, Xiao Yu did not hesitate further. Under his direction, the relocation effort proceeded with perfect order.

Xiao Yu first drafted a relocation inventory focused on fixed installations. This included the negative matter cannon’s core components, the large-scale particle collider, the essential modules from ground bases, various energy collection systems, and more.

Thus, the recently completed negative matter cannon was once again dismantled. From its completion to its deconstruction, it had fired fewer than ten shots. Yet Xiao Yu didn’t feel the slightest regret.

The cannon itself wasn’t particularly precious. What was precious was the technology it embodied. As long as he possessed the knowledge, Xiao Yu could build tens, hundreds, even more with a little time and effort.

And through constructing this cannon, Xiao Yu had already mastered most of the related technologies. That was the true reward.

“Just take the valuable components. Leave the non-essential ones here. Install engines on them so they can maintain stable orbits around the brown dwarf. That way, if I return, I can quickly reassemble them and save a lot of time.”

With that thought, Xiao Yu controlled millions of robots, who, like ants moving a giant block of cheese, began the dismantling of the negative matter cannon.

On another front, dismantling the large-scale particle collider was far easier. Like his ships, the collider had undergone several rounds of technological upgrades over time. Now, Xiao Yu had even installed powerful engines capable of overcoming stellar gravity on each independent collider module, effectively converting them into ship-like units.

Under Xiao Yu’s control, hundreds of thousands of large independent components detached from their original orbit and flew toward the thousands of ships designated as storage vessels. One by one, they were loaded aboard and stored with care.

This large-scale particle collider was like an old friend to Xiao Yu. It had been first constructed in the Aquila Nebula, and had followed him through countless journeys across the stars, bearing witness to the White Dwarf Alien Beast incident, the Taihao incident, and more. Over the years, Xiao Yu had no idea how many scientific breakthroughs he had achieved thanks to it. There was no way he could ever bring himself to abandon this machine.

These were the two major space-based megastructures. Aside from these, Xiao Yu had decided to leave behind all the other facilities, space bases, orbital gun turrets, and the like. These structures held little technological value, and were easy to rebuild. As long as he had enough resources, he could build as many as he wanted.

Dismantling the ground base, on the other hand, was far more tedious. A wide variety of precision instruments, experimental equipment, life-support systems, even the personal belongings of the scientists and ordinary civilians from various species, all of it added up to enough to fill more than a dozen City-Class ships. The process was so troublesome that it reminded Xiao Yu of his own days back on Earth, when he had just moved into a new home.

“Respected Master, this is the list of materials needed by our Species Five. Please take a look.”

“Alright. As long as it’s for scientific research, you’ll get every item on that list,” Xiao Yu replied upon receiving the report from Species Five.

“Respected Master, this is the list of materials needed by our Species Eighty-Nine. Please review it.”

“Understood. Received.”

Over the following period, scientists from each species submitted their material lists one after another. Based on the details, Xiao Yu dispatched large numbers of robot teams to begin massive mining operations on the planet and within the nearby asteroid belt. It took several months of constant work to gather all the requested materials.

All preparations were completed within nine months.

The once bustling and lively binary star system had now grown quiet. The flow of cargo ships transporting resources had come to a halt. Robots had ceased their endless operations at the various bases. The ground factories, which had once thundered day and night, had finally fallen silent.

Everything Xiao Yu owned had been moved into space, onto more than 300,000 ships. Now, Xiao Yu prepared to lead his fleet away from this place.

The expendable ships constructed after arriving in this system were not included in the final count. Xiao Yu had no intention of bringing them along if they were truly going to leave. The reason was simple, they were built solely for intra-system warfare and lacked the ability to travel Faster-Than-Light.

He glanced one last time at the messy interstellar space behind him, strewn with broken equipment and debris, like the aftermath of a brutal demolition, and felt a complex wave of emotion rise within him.

“The harsh reality of this dark universe forces me to take every step with utmost caution, as if treading on thin ice. Survival must always come first. Sacrificing a few years, decades, even centuries is nothing if it means staying alive. My lifespan is endless. As time goes on, and the community of scientists grows and multiplies, my capacity for research will only become stronger.”

“Alright then… let’s make the attempt. Let’s find out if that powerful existence we theorized truly exists, or not…”

With that, Xiao Yu commanded the fleet to slowly accelerate, moving toward the outer regions of the star system.

At this point, all the scientists were already in position, silently waiting at their stations. What lay ahead, death or survival, would soon be revealed.

“Did we make a mistake?” the very scientist who had first suggested the test murmured quietly, sighing. “If such a powerful being truly exists, and has been watching us all along, then surely it must have noticed all our recent activity. Our relocation efforts have clearly signaled our intent, we want to leave. Yet it has never made a move. So… could it be that it doesn’t exist at all?”

Xiao Yu remained silent. He had considered this possibility long ago. But even so, he had decided to carry through with the plan.

“There are three possibilities. First, it can monitor our communications and already knows we’re just pretending, so it’s playing along, waiting for us to come crawling back. Second, it’s still watching, waiting for our next move. Third… it doesn’t exist at all. But I think the chance of our communications being monitored is very low. If it truly had the ability to infiltrate our data systems or monitor our superluminal transmissions without alerting me, then it would be far too powerful, we’d have no chance of escape. Let’s keep going. After one more day of sub-light travel, we’ll enter curvature flight. I believe that once we do, we’ll soon have our answer…”

Time crept by. The day passed in a flash. Still, there was no reaction.

“Enter curvature flight. Set speed to six times the speed of light. Travel for ten days. If nothing happens within that time, we’ll return, and resume our quiet life here.”

Xiao Yu issued the order.

At that command, hundreds of thousands of ships ignited their elemental decay engines. A torrent of energy surged into their gravitational generators. Space around each ship began to bend and twist. One by one, the ships entered curvature flight, their speeds steadily rising.

“Still no reaction?” Xiao Yu thought quietly.

And then, at the very moment his ships surpassed the speed of light, a voice suddenly echoed in Xiao Yu’s mind.

“Isn’t it nice here? Why are you in such a hurry to leave?”