Rebirth of the Super Battleship
Chapter 233: Collecting Dark Matter

This bizarre star was only ten light-years away from Xiao Yu. At such a distance, stars typically appeared only as point-like luminous dots, so Xiao Yu hadn’t noticed anything strange at first. It was only after observing it through a telescope that he discovered something was wrong.

A half-star, could such a thing even exist in the universe? The answer was: absolutely not. Even if a star somehow lost half of itself, the remainder would quickly collapse into a sphere under its own gravity. Moreover, this process would be catastrophic, during the collapse, enormous amounts of material would be ejected from the surface due to internal collisions. According to Xiao Yu’s calculations, such an event would be nothing short of a galactic-scale disaster, no less destructive than a supernova.

In short, a half-star simply could not exist. And even if it did, it could not remain stable. It would inevitably transform into another type of stellar object.

And yet… under Xiao Yu’s direct observation, the star sat quietly in the void, glowing softly, like a half-moon. It gazed back at him in eerie silence.

It was deeply unnatural.

This strange celestial body had its equator aligned parallel to Xiao Yu’s position, perfectly bisecting the star. On one side was the appearance of a typical star, bright and glowing. On the other side, total darkness. Xiao Yu couldn’t tell whether that half was obscured by something, or if there simply was nothing there.

“If something were covering it, the dividing line wouldn’t be straight. Whatever could completely obscure half of a star must be incredibly massive and dense, it wouldn’t let even a sliver of light through. And such a mass would inevitably form a sphere due to gravity. But a sphere can’t create a straight dividing line like that.”

That left only one possibility: the star itself was truly half a star, and for some unknown reason, it was maintaining a stable state.

Investigating the unknown was, in itself, the best way to advance science. Confronted with such a phenomenon, Xiao Yu’s curiosity was uncontrollably piqued and growing stronger by the moment.

But for several reasons, Xiao Yu could not go there in person to investigate.

First, there was simply too much to do right now. Digesting the vast trove of technology he had plundered was far more urgent. Second, Xiao Yu feared that if there was some terrifying existence responsible for this “half-star,” he might walk straight into its jaws. If he sent a probe, that too might reveal his location.

If the cause of this anomaly was an intelligent being, one that surpassed Level-5 Civilizations, then it would almost certainly possess FTL detection capabilities. It could trace the trajectory of any probe and triangulate the launch point. That would place Xiao Yu in extreme danger.

“The wonders of the universe truly exceed my imagination. What in the world is that thing?” Xiao Yu pondered silently. Still, he did not alter course, continuing to steer toward his intended destination, the brown dwarf.

“The primary goal right now is to determine whether the star is truly missing its other half, or if it’s being obscured by something. Although my calculations suggest such an obstruction is impossible… who can say for certain in this universe?”

With that in mind, Xiao Yu launched a probe aimed perpendicular to the equatorial plane of the strange star.

This probe would gather the critical data needed to answer his questions.

Whether by coincidence or some greater force, the location where Xiao Yu had exited curvature travel just happened to align perfectly with the equator of the mysterious star. This had made observations difficult. By launching a probe to a different angle, Xiao Yu could compare the images captured from that new perspective against his own. This would hopefully yield vital clues to resolve the mystery.

As Xiao Yu drew closer to the target brown dwarf, he gradually decelerated his fleet and finally entered orbit around the rocky planet that circled it.

The first order of business, naturally, was a full survey of mineral distribution and planetary topography. Under Xiao Yu’s control, tens of thousands of satellites were launched, conducting a full 360-degree, no-blind-spot scan of the entire planet. He didn’t neglect the two stellar bodies either, he fired at least a thousand probes toward them to gather detailed data on their elemental composition, atmospheric activity, and more, all to further refine his theories on stellar evolution.

Once preliminary surveys were complete, Xiao Yu began construction of various facilities. These included experimental bases, mining stations, forging plants, and precision manufacturing complexes. With astonishing efficiency, Xiao Yu reestablished his industrial system on this world.

Beyond the industrial zones, he also built hundreds of residential bases for the alien scientists under his control. Their previous accommodations aboard County-Class starships were only temporary. After all, those ships had their limitations. Onboard, Xiao Yu couldn’t provide them with true material comfort.

But now, after relocating to the luxurious, comfortable bases he had personally constructed for them, Xiao Yu issued his first command.

“The time has come to test your loyalty and your value. After decades of learning during curvature travel, I trust your knowledge levels are now in sync with mine. Therefore, let us begin with antimatter research.”

These scientists came from over a hundred different races. Their original levels of knowledge varied widely, only a dozen or so had come from Level-4 Civilizations. The rest were from Level-3 Civilizations. During the decades spent in curvature travel, Xiao Yu had allocated a portion of his computational power to conduct a full-scale knowledge infusion, and had even assigned them to research fields from Level-3 and Level-4 Civilizations that he himself had yet to master.

Since leaving Earth, Xiao Yu had continuously faced one crisis after another. This forced him to invest all of his time into military and industrial technology, leading to a strange situation: while Xiao Yu’s combat capabilities were nearly on par with a Level-5 Civilization, in many secondary technologies, he lagged behind even some Level-3 Civilizations.

For example: virtual reality technology. Among the scientists he had captured, a few came from peak-Level-3 Civilizations. According to them, their civilizations had already developed advanced VR tech, devices similar to helmets that allowed direct interface between machine and brainwave. This had spawned entire virtual societies filled with immersive games and even military training simulations.

This technology had deeply transformed their societies, giving rise to countless new forms of culture. When they discovered that Xiao Yu, whose military tech was already at Level-4 peak, still hadn’t mastered VR, they were genuinely shocked. To that, Xiao Yu could only offer a helpless smile.

He felt like a nomadic warrior from Earth’s ancient era, militarily dominant on a global scale, yet economically and culturally still stuck in primitive times.

In a way, educating these scientists was also Xiao Yu’s method of patching holes in his own tech tree. Of course, a few short decades wasn’t enough to recover everything he had missed.

“Right now, military technology must remain my top priority. The rest can wait. Once I can stand at the pinnacle of the Milky Way, only then will I take my time developing the rest. After all, survival comes first.”

That was Xiao Yu’s conviction.

He hadn’t forgotten that the Molian Civilization could still come hunting at any moment. Nor had he forgotten the Sweepers and the Guardian Civilization, both of which had gone eerily silent. Nor had he forgotten the veiled mysteries trailing behind him and the destruction of Earth, which, increasingly, seemed far more than just the product of a high-level civilization seeking to harvest Luck Value.

The more advanced his technology became, the more Xiao Yu felt a mounting pressure.

Fueled by that urgency, Xiao Yu launched full-scale analysis of the plundered technologies. His first focus: antimatter research.

Long ago, Xiao Yu had gained the ability to produce trace amounts of antimatter, but at the time, his technological limitations prevented any meaningful study. Now, armed with scientific documents from the Molian Civilization, he finally had the theoretical foundation needed for comprehensive research.

Normally, a civilization would begin by mastering antimatter properties through large particle collider experiments, then gradually progress from antimatter to negative matter, and then to dark matter, step by step. But Xiao Yu was different. With the support of Molian technology, he could directly extract antimatter by reversing dark matter.

Xiao Yu’s first step was to construct a massive gravitational generator, which he deployed on the outer edge of this binary system. This location was chosen because stars, through mechanisms Xiao Yu had yet to fully understand tended to repel dark matter from their immediate vicinity.

Dark matter, due to its unique characteristics, does not collapse inward under its own gravity. Instead, within a galaxy, it exhibits uniform distribution. This makes it extremely difficult to detect via gravitational influence from within a galaxy. Only outside galactic structures, like in massive clusters where galaxies spin rapidly but remain bound, does dark matter’s gravitational effect become unmistakably apparent.

This massive gravity generator had two core tasks: collect dark matter, and then convert it into antimatter through specialized reactions.

Meanwhile, at his main base within the star system, Xiao Yu also began developing prototype antimatter engines. Thousands of scientists from hundreds of civilizations worked day and night, tirelessly contributing their expertise to elevate Xiao Yu’s technological capabilities to new heights.