The virtual world’s planetary pioneering operation lasted a full two months. Under Xiao Yu’s arrangement, the Dwarves, bearing injuries all over their bodies and proudly wearing the honors bestowed upon them by Xiao Yu, helped one another onto the spaceship sent to retrieve them. They returned once more to the Hope Seventy Six, took a brief period to recuperate, and then headed back to their respective homelands.
Of course, all of this was virtual, fabricated by Xiao Yu. In truth, the only real part was them disembarking from the Hope Seventy Six and returning home. Everything else was false. Yet the Dwarves had no idea. They were still excitedly discussing their experiences, talking about the strange creatures they had encountered and the commendations they had received.
What made them even more thrilled was another announcement from Xiao Yu: regardless of whether they had earned merit or not, everyone would receive a reward upon returning home, and those with merit would receive even grander rewards.
“You clearly did nothing at all, made no contributions whatsoever, and instead forced me to expend massive computational power to create illusions for you. And in the end, I still have to reward you… This whole thing is just too ironic.” Xiao Yu thought to himself with a touch of self-mockery.
But the operation hadn’t been without gain. On the contrary, this venture into the virtual world had greatly expanded Xiao Yu’s thinking. In fact, a new idea had begun to take root in his mind.
The greatest limitation on Xiao Yu’s combat strength had always been a lack of computational power. If he had unlimited processing capability, he could theoretically create endless numbers of spaceships. If he truly possessed infinite computational power, he wouldn’t even fear Level 6 civilizations. After all, if one hundred thousand ships couldn’t defeat a Level 6 civilization’s vessel, then how about one million? Ten million?
Of course, infinite processing power was pure fantasy. But through this virtual world event, Xiao Yu had discovered some alternative methods to enhance his strength.
That method was creating drones and using virtual reality to let the Dwarves pilot them. During the simulation, Xiao Yu had unexpectedly discovered many Dwarves with exceptional combat talent. However, these gifted individuals had typically achieved nothing in the field of science. Xiao Yu began to sense that his strictly science-prioritized strategy might have caused a tremendous waste of resources.
And this didn’t just apply to the Dwarves. Among the other 100+ races under Xiao Yu’s command, aside from scientists or those with scientific aptitude, there were now over one billion ordinary beings. It was certain that within that billion, countless combat-talented individuals had been overlooked.
“Over forty billion total lifeforms… A rough estimate, selecting just one out of every ten thousand, would still yield more than four million combat-capable beings. If we assume an average of ten people operating one Village-Class ship, they could control over four hundred thousand ships. Hmm… that’s not an insignificant force. This needs to be added to the agenda. If we can break out of this small universe, this has to be done as soon as possible.” Xiao Yu thought privately.Using virtual remote control would also come with many advantages. For example, training could be conducted entirely in virtual reality, saving a massive amount of physical resources. In real combat, even if a ship were lost, the pilots wouldn’t die. Training only the mind, not the body, would save vast amounts of time and lower the threshold for participation.
“I really miscalculated before. I never imagined there’d be so many combat-talented individuals among the subordinate races. Fortunately, this virtual world incident helped me uncover their potential.” Xiao Yu silently made a note of this and returned his attention to the conference room, continuing the discussion with his elite team of dozens of scientists.
This discussion had already gone on for nearly two months, but still no feasible solution had emerged.
Meanwhile, the scene aboard the Hope was one of joy and celebration. Ten million warriors had returned triumphant, bringing back not only their wounds but also their glory. Xiao Yu had arranged many welcoming ceremonies, pushing the atmosphere to its peak.
It was worth noting that, although these ten million Dwarves were covered in injuries, not a single one had died. This phenomenon was deliberately engineered by Xiao Yu. But in the words of those returning Dwarves, it became. “At that moment, it really was a close call. That monster was just about to bite through my neck when the true god descended from the sky and instantly slew it…”
“Back then, I fell into a deep pit, surrounded by those disgusting snake-like monsters. I really thought I was going to die, that I’d never see my homeland again. But just at that moment, the radiance of the true god descended. He killed the monsters and saved my life…”
Countless tales of Xiao Yu’s heroism began spreading across the forty Hope-class ships. Ten million went to war, and ten million returned, this could only be described as a miracle. And so, Xiao Yu’s prestige reached yet another peak.
At this moment, the Hope ship was brimming with celebration. On the landing pad of a city, a Town-Class spaceship sat quietly while guards in charge of security tried their best to hold back the surging crowd, preventing them from approaching the vessel.
The ship’s hatch slowly opened, and a group of young Dwarves began to emerge. The first to step out leaned on a crutch, clearly, it had lost a leg during the ‘expedition.’ At that very moment, the cheers from the crowd surged to their peak.
“We’re finally back, finally back.” The Dwarf dropped its crutch and collapsed to the ground, weeping, “Thank the true god, thank the true god.”
“Murphy, what’s wrong, Murphy? You’re hurt? Don’t scare me, sob…” As the young Dwarf cried on the ground, a petite Dwarven girl broke through the guards’ blockades and ran fearlessly to his side, throwing her arms around him tightly.
“Alice… Alice, you came? Don’t cry, don’t cry, I’m fine. It’s just a minor injury. A limb regeneration surgery at the hospital is a simple thing. I’m still alive and well, look, I’m still here!”
As soon as the young Dwarf recognized who was hugging him, his spirits lifted. He immediately stopped crying and instead embraced the Dwarven girl, softly comforting her.
“When you’re healed, we’ll hold our wedding. The true god has already issued the announcement, you’ve been awarded a Tier One Honor Medal. In addition to a reward of three million Contribution Points, you’ll also receive a home in the city center. My parents have already approved our marriage. I… I’m going to be your wife.”
“Really? That’s wonderful! Alice, I’ll love you forever, protect you, believe me.”
—
“Is that my Little John? Haha, kid, you did great, didn’t bring shame to your old man. Don’t cry, chin up. So you lost an arm, big deal. Haha, your mom’s made a feast. She’s waiting for you at home. Let’s hurry back!”
—
“Daddy, you’re back! We already saw your name on the announcement. Dad, I’m so proud of you!”
—
Scenes like these were playing out in city after city. Seeing these overjoyed Dwarves, Xiao Yu’s heavy mood began to lift, unknowingly, just a little.
“The less you know, the lighter your burden. You all can celebrate to your hearts’ content, while I still have to worry about all this. Sigh… I still don’t know what our final outcome will be. Will we escape this small universe? Will we be able to claim the inheritance of the Trolor Civilization…”
Xiao Yu shook his head, brushing away the chaotic thoughts, and proceeded to convene another meeting.
The scientists, who had exhausted themselves meditating and wracking their brains for solutions, were now thoroughly drained. But not a single one of them complained. They knew deeply that they weren’t working just for Xiao Yu, they were working to find a path forward for the entire collective.
“Alright, after a night’s rest, does anyone have any new ideas?” Xiao Yu asked.
What greeted him was a long silence. Not one scientist spoke. Every possible approach had already been considered during this period, but not a single one had passed Xiao Yu’s feasibility evaluation.
“I’m sorry, Master. We weren’t able to complete the task you gave us.” Luka Two said gloomily.
“Give us a little more time, we will come up with a solution. We will.” said another scientist, bloodshot eyes filled with determination.
“If all else fails… then we should go back to the live-subject experiment.” another scientist said hesitantly after another bout of silence. “After all, it’s still the most viable method. Sacrificing ten million lives to save over forty billion, that’s a worthwhile exchange. And to ensure fairness and justice, I request to participate in the experiment myself.”
Xiao Yu gently shook his head, rejecting the proposal.
He knew the scientist was sincere. But he still would not go through with it. And he also knew that these scientists truly had done their best.
“No more talk of live-subject experiments. As for this second trial… everyone has already done their utmost. I won’t blame anyone.” Xiao Yu said with a smile. “I’ve already made my decision.”
“I don’t know what the meaning of life is in the universe.” Xiao Yu transmitted this message to the dwarf planet.