The test data collection lasted 100 years.
Ayla compiled the data, dividing it into different sections before selecting the most comprehensive ones.
During those 100 years, she also prepared many things, particularly refining the Dimensional Bridge structure.
The Dimensional Bridge was an incomplete project from Siqi; although it was still being refined, it wasn't perfect.
Ayla used increased computational power to enhance the Dimensional Bridge structure.
Originally, the Dimensional Bridge was constructed within the dimensional gateway.
Ayla extended it beyond the dimensional gateway.
From the observation station, a massive framework was gradually forming far beyond the dimensional gateway.
The framework extended into the void, disappearing into the distance.
There were many challenges to overcome.
The interior of the dimensional gateway differed from external space; internal space might experience spatial discontinuities and shifts.
The previous rope plan failed due to spatial instability.
This construction of the Dimensional Bridge extended directly to the dimensional gateway's core, passing through it, reaching into four-dimensional space.
The construction materials needed to be exceptionally stable.
But stable materials couldn't withstand the forces of space.
So Ayla used a liquid-state material for construction.
She connected the material to create an extremely dense, nest-like structure.
If one section breaks, the others will repair the damage.
The cost, however, was exorbitant.
Currently, it's only a framework. Upon completion, the dimensional wormhole's scale will surpass the Mobius Ringworld, becoming the Federation's largest structure—unparalleled.
The Mobius Ringworld would be dwarfed in comparison.
The situation wasn't optimistic.
Even as a framework, it suffered thousands of ruptures annually.
The framework is only a skeletal structure, less than one ten-thousandth complete. One can imagine the challenges the completed wormhole would face.
Therefore, Ayla spent those 100 years considering alternatives.
Could the structure itself be transformed into a biological form?
Biological materials are far cheaper than metallic structures.
Although the number of atoms in both is comparable.
However, metallic structures require far more design considerations, which themselves are a significant cost.
Ayla's experimental requests were preparation for this.
She needed to know the Dimensional Bridge's limits to determine how to construct the dimensional wormhole.
100 years. The data collection was complete.
Much of it could now be tested.
For instance, testing the cascading failure of the Dimensional Bridge.
Cascading failure refers to the butterfly effect.
For example, pushing a wall with a finger might seem to cause no change, but at the microscopic level, parts of the wall are displaced.
However, this displacement isn't perfectly transmitted across the entire wall; the force dissipates with the area, becoming negligible.
But if that finger were a chain weapon,
The force wouldn't dissipate with transmission; it would amplify.
The larger the object, the stronger the effect of the chain weapon.
Super-range weapons can be considered chain weapons.
Using small amounts of energy to create internal imbalances within a star, ultimately destroying it.
The Dimensional Bridge is designed to mitigate this.
Each molecule is uniquely connected; there's a buffer zone between them to prevent perfect force transmission between particles.
Their connection method is unusual, a J-shaped configuration.
Only the two ends of the J connect, the J itself being a chain link.
Each chain link has a unique force pattern. If it's only a chain weapon, the force will continue to dissipate within the material.
Of course, it's not invincible.
Knowing its structure makes it easy to target.
It's like having the strongest shield. I don't need a spear; I'll use a nuclear bomb. How will your strongest shield fare against that?
Everything has limits; nothing is perfect.
This is all Ayla could do for now.
This experiment wouldn't use a weapon capable of attacking the material to directly assault the Dimensional Bridge.
Its purpose was to test the stability of the Dimensional Bridge's repair points.
The Dimensional Bridge frequently experienced spatial erosion, followed by repairs.
The repaired sections lacked the same resistance to chain weapons; the test aimed to determine if fatigue would occur.
Ayla dispatched a fighter carrying the chain weapon towards the dimensional gateway.
The fighter flew at high speed.
Approaching the Dimensional Bridge.
The Dimensional Bridge grew larger and larger, until it filled the entire sky.
Each structural element of the framework was hundreds of kilometers in diameter; the widest sections exceeded a thousand kilometers.
The gaps between structures were millions of kilometers wide.
The entire framework spanned more than 10 AU.
This was an immense distance.
The very center of the framework was a void—the dimensional gateway.
It wasn't a black hole; it was absolute nothingness, or perhaps absolute transparency.
It couldn't be seen even with the eyes or light.
The only way to detect it was by measuring its gravitational pull.
But this was minimal.
It was like a tiny bubble on the ocean's surface; it would be easily overlooked.
Only by entering would one understand its true complexity.
Before entry, the framework extended three lines to connect with the fighter.
Once connected, the fighter would jump to a straight trajectory. As long as the fighter maintained this straight path, it would travel in a straight line.
It would fly directly towards the dimensional gateway, passing through it into four-dimensional space.
The Dimensional Bridge was more like an elevator,
Transporting matter from three dimensions to four.
However, the fighter wouldn't reach four dimensions; it would stop midway, approaching the nearest damaged section.
Once there, the fighter would follow guidance to determine its position and then launch the chain weapon.
The chain weapon was incredibly small.
It resembled a projectile weighing only a few tons.
After a brief dozen seconds, the projectile struck a pillar of the Dimensional Bridge.
Against a pillar hundreds of kilometers in diameter, this projectile was like a tiny pinprick.
But moments later,
Vibrations appeared on the surface of the pillar, creating waves dozens of meters high.
The special material could indeed resist the chain weapon, but resistance didn't mean complete nullification of its power.
The Dimensional Bridge was still affected.
Of course, this wasn't the most important aspect. The core concern was whether the damaged section could transmit energy normally.
The vibrations reached the previous fracture point.
The barely perceptible ripples intensified.
Although less than 2 centimeters, they were undeniably present.
The repair of the Dimensional Bridge fracture impacted its resistance to chain weapons.
Ayla's calculations had already predicted the impact, but calculations and actual results inevitably differed; experimental data was needed for validation.
Based on her findings, she made further improvements.
New material solutions were already prepared.
The changes were relatively straightforward.
The Dimensional Bridge's construction material wasn't inherently strong.
The new material would be adaptable.
Theoretically, it could self-organize based on input information.
Ayla only needed to change the input information, and the Dimensional Bridge material would transform, becoming a completely different substance.
This material is called [Programmable Material].
The programming technology for Programmable Material is called Material Programming, a widely accessible field of study.
Modifying the Dimensional Bridge material is complex and will take time.
Meanwhile, Ayla will conduct further tests on other aspects of the Dimensional Bridge.
During these tests,
Ayla received a message from beyond the Federation.
This message simply described 60 PB of data.
The data contained genetic information.
An incredibly complex genetic sequence.
The original human genome, as extracted by the current Federation, was at most 800 GB.
The current human genome is only around 17 TB.
But 60 PB of genetic data was unimaginably vast.
Within the Federation, only a few gene pools exceeded this size.
Why would this information come from outside the Federation?
In human civilization, the Federation was no longer the leading force in biological research.
The true leader was the Bwarm star nation.
Through over ten thousand years of development, the Bwarm star nation had accumulated countless mutations.
The Federation's main investments weren't focused on the relatively weak Swarm; even with numerous biologists, researchers couldn't compete with the Bwarm's superior reproductive rate.
By continuously breeding easily mutated individuals to obtain new genes, the Bwarm had reaped a rich harvest.
Whether it was the Federation or other star nations, they all purchased a large quantity of genetic research material from the Bwarm star nation.
Gene pool research was once the Federation's strength.
But it was gradually surpassed by the Bwarm star nation.
Currently, 63% of the human civilization's gene pools are supplied by the Bwarm star nation, the Federation holds 34%, and the remaining 3% includes 2% from the Twenty-Eight Nations Covenant.
As the largest supplier of genetic material in human civilization, if Ayla wanted to build a biological Dimensional Bridge,
She would need to seek out the Bwarm star nation.
Ayla would even need to acquire this through indirect means, rather than directly accessing it.
Because the Bwarm star nation stores a vast amount of genetic data within biological entities, not machines.
Ayla couldn't access the Bwarm star nation's data through controlling machines.
Without Ayla's restrictions and due to the Swarm's unique characteristics, the Bwarm star nation had become the fourth largest power under the Galactic Federation, the Hossie Eternal Cycle star nation, and the Twenty-Eight Nations Covenant.
Its range of activity was incredibly vast, exceeding the combined territories of the other three major powers by over ten times.
In deep space, one often encounters mobile Swarm nests.
These are usually oblong, dark red biological structures covered with phased array-like formations, resembling phased array antennas.
They contain large internal voids filled with energy.
When a nest encounters an enemy or reaches its destination, the internal energy is absorbed, and the nest begins producing the Swarm.
These nests, also called Swarm ships, are controlled by 1 to 5 brain-worms.
Ayla didn't pay much attention to the Bwarm star nation's current status. However, one of Luna's missions within the Metacellular Project was to act as the Federation's eyes and ears there.
Ayla obtained this data directly through an agreement with the Bwarm star nation.
She carefully reviewed the genetic information.
And began simulations on her servers.
The resulting material was a dense black biological mass, unremarkable in appearance, resembling decaying flesh.
Ayla measured its properties, discovering high flexibility, growth potential, and considerable strength.
Filling the entire Dimensional Bridge would take approximately 3280 years.
This speed is far slower than Metacellular growth.
Metacellular expansion could fill the entire Dimensional Bridge in just a few decades.
But Ayla ultimately didn't choose Metacellular.
Because Metacellular's weakness was evident: low defense.
And within the dimensional gateway, structural strength was crucial.
Space treats all things equally, but the dimensional gateway is now filled with stellar material, meaning immense gravitational forces will act upon the Dimensional Bridge.
Metacellular's strength is only slightly greater than terrestrial steel.
Such material, placed near a black hole—even if the dimensional gateway itself is separate from the black hole's gravitational well—would experience gravitational forces exceeding those of a typical white dwarf star's core after stellar material passes through the gateway.
Metacellular would be instantly crushed.
Even if its growth and regeneration speed were faster, it wouldn't help.
The strength of this genetic material was still below Ayla's standards.
But Ayla didn't expect it to perfectly match her specifications.
It just needed to possess the necessary properties.
She could then enhance those properties to meet her standards.
This was also a complex undertaking.
In short, Ayla remained methodical; she had plenty of time.
She reviewed the test data from Siqi.
Siqi's testing direction was excellent. Since the Dimensional Bridge led to four-dimensional space, civilizations in four dimensions would inevitably interfere.
This was the Dimensional Bridge's greatest threat.
Ayla would continuously monitor four-dimensional information during this process.
To collect four-dimensional information, Ayla would construct a massive observation station in four-dimensional space.
This wasn't a new plan.
It was already underway.
Even before the Dimensional Bridge.
The observation station needed to comprehensively collect all four-dimensional information and further refine their understanding of dimensional space.
Their current understanding of dimensional space was merely a reasonable hypothesis.
They were far from reaching the truth.
In any aspect!
...
Of course, it's to transport a large number of troops to three dimensions. If only a small number arrived, the Flyer Civilization could quickly eliminate them—what would be the point?
A small number arrived, but that was after countless failures.
The success rate might not be as high as before, but the harvest is still substantial.
One investment of 10,000 yields 1; one investment of 100 million yields 10,000.
The ratio seems the same.
But that's a horizontal comparison, what about the vertical aspect?
Time itself is a cost. If we include the time cost, the first method would require 10,000 years of continuous investment to yield 10,000, while the second would yield 10,000 in just one year.
For the Federation or any other civilization, 10,000 years is relatively short.
But it's not just a question of short versus long.
If something can be done in less time, why spend more time increasing other risks?
An investment of 1 billion yielding 1 million, because of the short timeframe, has manageable risks.
But a 10,000-year investment could lead to unknown changes, resulting in no return at all.
While the 10,000-year investment seems more stable, that isn't necessarily the case.
Even with a success rate of only 1 in 400,000, the Swarm still arrives in four dimensions at a rate exceeding 70 per second.
In three dimensions, the Swarm's numbers have reached their limit.
Over thousands of years, Ayla has developed over 100 super-Swarm nests around the dimensional gateway, constantly transporting Swarm units to four dimensions.
Once these insects reach four dimensions, they fly towards the nearest four-dimensional star system.
Civilizations inevitably exist there.
Their purpose is to fight, to kill, and to disrupt the activities of those four-dimensional civilizations.
The insects are weak.
But in large numbers, they create significant problems.
Their attack power is not to be underestimated.
Four-dimensional civilizations cannot ignore this; the Swarm can disperse, and each insect requires resources to eliminate.
To buy time with the Swarm, four-dimensional observation stations were built along the Dimensional Bridge's exterior structure.
While called observation stations, they were actually built to fortress standards.
It's not a single, massive structure.
But rather, it's composed of countless smaller structures.
It covers the Dimensional Bridge's frame.
Each structure consists of a main body and a weapons system.
The Dimensional Bridge requires incredibly powerful weapons systems to withstand attacks from four dimensions.
To make this operation more reliable, Ayla used clones.
The clones didn't travel to four dimensions via ships but were directly inserted into the bodies of the Swarm insects. After the Swarm passed through the dimensional gateway, these individuals emerged.
Human beings are the cheapest intelligent systems.
Ayla planned to initially deploy 100 million people to four dimensions—meaning the sacrifice of 39,999,900,000,000 clones.
That number is enormous.
But compared to the Swarm, that's a relatively small number.
Since Ayla began her research on the dimensional gateway, the total number of Swarm units deployed has exceeded 10 quadrillion.
All of them are buried within the dimensional gateway.
For the Swarm units, clones are incredibly inexpensive; the energy of a single Swarm unit can produce hundreds of thousands of clones.
Here.
All clones were imbued with a sense of honor.
This sense of honor stemmed from a grand narrative.
Within the Federation, each individual is insignificant.
Each individual dreams of leaving their mark on history.
Therefore, everyone hopes to be part of a grand narrative.
This causes each member of the Federation to deeply care about the affairs of humanity.
The information dissemination related to humanity reaches tens of quadrillions, becoming the subject of countless discussions.
But in reality, these events are irrelevant to them.
Even if relevant, they can only be swept along by the current to wherever fate dictates.
Their attention won't affect these events.
Yet, knowing this, they aspire even more to be part of a grand narrative.
Why are there so many explorers within the Federation?
Are they short of money?
Of course not!
They simply don't want to be a cog in the wheel of time.
The only way to change their situation is to become explorers.
Only by becoming explorers can they experience things beyond their current understanding.
Stuck on a small planet, a small star city, their limits are defined there.
But in the Federation, even becoming the governor of a star city—what does it matter?
This is a tragic era.
But also one that can be exploited.
The primary function of the observation stations is, of course, observation.
Many observation stations are now complete, beginning to observe the four-dimensional cosmos.
These observation stations have an additional dimension compared to their three-dimensional counterparts. Through technological advancements, they can observe the fourth dimension.
That should be the case.
But now, the personnel within the observation stations are terrified.
Because they've discovered they can no longer observe four dimensions.
Four dimensions have vanished.
They feel as though they've returned to a three-dimensional world.
This is definitely not natural.
Because previously, they could observe the fourth dimension.
And now, the fourth dimension is obscured.
This is a tactic, a weapon of another civilization.
The inability to see the fourth dimension is like someone permanently looking down at the ground.
When someone approaches, they cannot detect them.
This is fatal.
Clearly, a four-dimensional civilization has attacked.
They bypassed all of the Federation's surveillance measures, imposing a four-dimensional blockade on all observation stations.
It's now certain that they're approaching from a single direction.
Normally, a four-dimensional blockade would be like reducing a three-dimensional object to two dimensions. A three-dimensional object would become a two-dimensional plane; three-dimensional beings couldn't sense its height but could still see it.
But that's not the case here.
In warfare, a sensory deficit allows an object to hide.
Imagine an object as a sheet of paper. Its two-dimensional appearance is almost imperceptible without careful observation.
But what if it were a standing sheet of paper, or a standing needle?
The length and width are negligible; the main volume lies in the height. If you cannot perceive its height, it appears as a line or a point.
The enemy could create an object whose main volume lies along the fourth dimension.
Since their perception of the fourth dimension is blocked, this object would appear insignificant.
This weapon is quite primitive.
Because with other methods, such as gravitational detection, it's easy to calculate the object's mass and volume.
The crucial problem is that the Federation, as three-dimensional beings, experiences a significant decrease in its four-dimensional detection capabilities.
Observation stations need to first explore the four-dimensional world, then develop four-dimensional technology, and finally, fully observe four dimensions.
In four dimensions, humanity's primary observational tools are devices.
Because even if life reaches four dimensions, its senses cannot transform into four-dimensional ones.
Humans can still only see two-dimensional images; these images are then processed by the brain into three-dimensional information.
The brain itself cannot comprehend four dimensions; how then can two-dimensional input be processed into four-dimensional information?
It's impossible.
The only way to observe four dimensions is through misinterpretation of the information by the brain.
In four-dimensional space, humans will be affected by the additional dimension. This influence creates illusions in the brain; these illusions are the three-dimensional being's interpretation of four-dimensional information.
These illusions are a kind of inside-out perspective.
At this moment, within the observation station, countless people saw a black tide approaching in the cosmos.
It was like a black ocean, stretching for hundreds of astronomical units towards the dimensional gateway.
The deep black obscured even starlight, plunging the surrounding area into darkness.
The moment they were enveloped by the blackness, everyone in the observation station felt their breathing stagnate.
They felt as if they had been swallowed by a giant mouth.
This was another tactic following the four-dimensional blockade.
The clones in the observation station weren't ordinary; many were Federation elites.
After a brief moment of panic, they calmed down and carefully analyzed the situation.
They began to discuss.
"They're stacking their volume in three dimensions, possibly not in four dimensions."
"Why do they do that? They could have simply blocked us."
"Blocking is concealing information. It's not that only complete concealment constitutes incomplete information. For instance, this black tide isn't stacked in four dimensions, but we assume it is; therefore, we must defend, consuming far more energy than the opponent."
"It's like, in three dimensions, the enemy weapon is a wall. You can't see what's behind it; dare you ignore the possibility of something being behind it?"
This four-dimensional civilization might prefer open aggression over intrigue.
And this is even more unsettling.
As they deliberated, Clone #23973 spoke: "We don't need to overthink this."
"If it's open aggression, then we have at least a 50% chance of being right. We're choosing one possibility."
"Was their first arrival reconnaissance or an attack? Based on our experience, it was likely reconnaissance."
"Then should we respond with a reconnaissance attack?"
"Regardless of which 50% we choose, we're still acting within the enemy's expectations."
"Why can't we break free from this framework?"
"We don't need to guess what's behind the wall; we target the wall's creator. That solves the problem."
Instead of stopping the enemy's attacking forces, directly strike their headquarters.
And simply ensure that the strike radius encompasses the attacking forces.
What would that be equivalent to?
Asia and America at war. The American fleet is crossing the Pacific towards Asia, but Asia decides not to destroy the fleet, but to launch a nuclear strike, obliterating America and the Pacific Ocean.
No more games.
Just brute force.
The Federation possesses this kind of power.
The four-dimensional observation stations are only located along a small section of the dimensional gateway, a few tens of kilometers—a tiny fraction.
The main structure is within the dimensional gateway itself.
Inside the dimensional gateway, the Dimensional Bridge is even larger and more complete than its three-dimensional counterpart.
When Ayla planned the Dimensional Bridge, she decided to install weapons systems on its four-dimensional section.
The weapons systems had even higher priority than the observation stations.
This plan has been in development for over a thousand years; with the Federation's current technology, construction is long complete.
Initial construction utilized miniature factories, continuously harvesting energy from three-dimensional stars, converting hydrogen atoms into artificial particles, and then building more miniature factories.
Once this expansion reached a certain scale, the production of various robotic units and Dimensional Bridge materials began.
Due to the stellar energy supply, Dimensional Bridge construction progressed smoothly.
To avoid wasting stellar energy, a massive energy collector was installed at the four-dimensional end of the Dimensional Bridge.
This collector provides energy for the Bridge's weapons.
Currently, only one weapon system is fully operational on the Dimensional Bridge.
It's called the Confinement Weapon.
The Confinement Weapon has a diameter of 100 kilometers but can deploy matter over a million-kilometer radius.
When this matter is propelled into a relatively large area of space, it begins generating its own unique magnetic field within seconds.
The matter then rapidly coalesces due to the magnetic field; this process takes several minutes.
Because the Confinement Weapon fires a continuous beam for 10 minutes, this matter ultimately forms a beam only a few meters in diameter that strikes a distant target.
It's a super-long-range weapon.
But it can also be effective at close range.
During matter coalescence, any other matter encountered is drawn into the process, making the beam's power far exceed the weapon's initial energy output.
This weapon is ideally suited for dealing with the black tide.
It just involves a certain level of risk.
...
Four dimensions.
Inside the dimensional gateway.
A gigantic cylindrical structure.
In the middle section, there's a diaphragm-like barrier.
This barrier resembles a bowl, absorbing stellar energy from three dimensions.
The bowl-shaped structure is actually a massive cylindrical energy storage device.
Connected to the energy storage device are 36 metal pillars forming a cannon barrel.
The barrel extends to the outside of the dimensional gateway.
Only the final 1 kilometer is visible in the four-dimensional universe.
This cannon barrel is a diffuser, similar to a speaker; its base has a diameter of 30 kilometers, and its opening has a diameter of 100 kilometers.
The entire barrel is connected to the Dimensional Bridge, whose four-dimensional form is even more massive.
The Dimensional Bridge itself has a similar structure.
It's X-shaped, or perhaps two Y's connected—one inverted—with the central section being the dimensional gateway (within the black hole's event horizon), and the two V's being the sections outside the event horizon.
Before entering four dimensions, the Dimensional Bridge is a large V, and the Confinement Weapon is a small v within that V.
The Dimensional Bridge's V-angle is approximately 30 degrees, while the Confinement Weapon's v-angle is closer to 50 degrees.
Speaking of the plan's architect...
Clone #23973 spearheaded this plan.
The weapon's effective range is only one million kilometers.
In the vastness of space, this is quite small.
Compared to the black tide, which stretches for hundreds of astronomical units, it's like an ant versus a football field.
How does an ant deal with an entire football field?
And not only the field but also the Earth beneath it.
Clone #23973 proposed the Netting Plan.
"The Confinement Weapon's matter has coalescent properties."
"This coalescence requires a certain distance to be effective, hence the 1-million-kilometer limit."
"But we can design the projected matter to form a fishing net."
"This allows the Confinement Weapon to propel matter further, and the main challenge is to make the matter coalesce at the desired time."
This requires design.
But it's not particularly difficult for the Federation's current technology.
However, the core of the Netting Plan isn't just that.
No matter how you scale up an ant, it won't cover an entire football field.
The inclusion of a lure is the heart of the Netting Plan.
...
Elsewhere in four dimensions.
A warship, grotesquely bizarre to three-dimensional beings, but exquisitely beautiful to four-dimensional ones, hung in the void.
It was only 1.4 light-years from the dimensional gateway.
This warship was composed of countless rhomboid structures, forming a massive rhomboid itself.
As it approached, it appeared to three-dimensional observers to be constantly rolling and twisting.
Protruding rhomboid sections continuously pulsed, expanding and contracting.
The entire warship exhibited this behavior; what appeared convex from a three-dimensional perspective became concave, constantly shifting, even inducing disorientation in three-dimensional observers.
It was an enormous warship, exceeding the Federation's understanding of such vessels.
Its width reached 700,000 kilometers, its height 250,000 kilometers, and its length 400,000 kilometers. It also possessed a fourth-dimensional extension of 330,000 kilometers.
So-called planet-class warships were insignificant in comparison.
This warship's approach was remarkably slow—only 2% the speed of light.
That wasn't its maximum speed; it was simply waiting.
Waiting for the preceding black tide to engulf the dimensional gateway.
Within this colossal warship existed only a single lifeform.
It wasn't truly solid; it resembled a nebula-like black hole.
The matter composing it is not found in three dimensions; four-dimensional space possesses a different elemental structure than three-dimensional space.
Even if the same elements as in three dimensions were created in four dimensions, their properties would change due to the existence of the fourth dimension.
The matter composing it is more akin to helium, a gas.
In fact, it does appear gaseous, capable of changing shape at will. However, upon contact, it proves incredibly rigid.
It observes the dimensional gateway.
It observes the structures protruding from the gateway.
If a human word were to describe its state, the most fitting would be nonchalance.
It understands the difficulty of dimensional breakthroughs for civilizations.
It also knows that three-dimensional civilizations, even if they reach four dimensions, will encounter difficulties.
Their vague understanding of the physical laws here will weaken, even negate, all their efforts.
With minimal effort, it could annihilate its opponents.
Now, it only needs to await the outcome and then return.
Their civilization isn't interested in dimensional warfare, or perhaps, even if interested, it's pointless.
Dimensional exploration is too difficult; instead of exploring dimensions, it's better to strengthen oneself and focus on defense.
Of course, there are factions within the civilization interested in exploration.
But the mainstream approach is silent observation.
Defense is their ultimate strategy.
Dimensions severely limit the power of extra-dimensional enemies.
They don't need to waste countless resources on dimensional exploration.
That's wasteful.
Even if they pursued dimensional exploration now, could they catch up to those top-tier civilizations?
The outcome of dimensional warfare is decided by those civilizations, not them.
Their priority is ensuring their survival, not engaging in dimensional warfare.
The warship's observations don't need a year to transmit; it uses tachyons to observe the dimensional gateway in near real-time, allowing for immediate war assessments.
Now, it observes that the protruding parts of the dimensional gateway are extending outwards.
No, it seems to be breaking off.
Discarding a portion, preserving the part within the dimensional gateway?
It understands little about the dimensional gateway and its internal structure; it cannot make a proper assessment.
And that detached part suddenly disintegrates and disappears.
It doesn't have eyes; it forms images through various information processed within its neural network.
If it were me, I would detonate that matter to create a counterattack.
But it disintegrated.
There must be some secret involved.
Could this itself be an attack?
But on a microscopic level!
It considers this.
"No matter what, engulf it."
"The collision with the black tide will reveal its state."
It commands the black tide to surge towards the location where the discarded structure disintegrated.
This takes a considerable amount of time; a month passes before it reaches the location.
But the result is unexpected.
Nothing happens!