Chapter 1 The Headquarters of the Supervisors

Central Star Sea, Star Abyss, the headquarters of the Overseers of the Shining Federation.

The duty of the Overseers is different from that of secret intelligence agencies. This is a pan-universal public intelligence department that basically does not involve the political struggles of advanced civilizations. The Overseer departments of the three major civilizations often cooperate to monitor and investigate various special phenomena, preventing possible disasters at an early stage and nipping them in the bud. They have considerable authority.

At this moment, in the headquarters conference room of this organization, a group of executives were sitting around a round table, discussing the sudden incident reported by the Overseer branch in the Ancient Star Desert.

A universe-level energy eruption is always a top-priority emergency that requires discussion at the highest levels.

"The report is very detailed, with a clear cause and effect. A group of scavengers dug up a safe belonging to an unknown civilization, releasing the source of the incident, which is a type two accident. However, when the Overseer team conducted an on-site survey, the traces of the ruins had disappeared, and it is suspected that a high-dimensional information-state projection interfered with reality… Now the most important question is, what exactly did they release, why did a universe-level energy erupt, and what impact will it have?"

A humanoid male creature who looked sickly opened his mouth to speak. He was tall and thin like a bamboo pole, with a purplish-gray complexion and natural white patterns, narrow eyes, and crystalline yellow pupils.

Sidreun Zi'huo Kona, the highest officer of the Shining Federation's Overseer Department, a Super-A Grade seed, and a top expert among the Calamity Grades. He was a mixed-race individual, his main bloodline coming from the Devini, a species with outstanding psychic talents.

The Shining Federation itself is a multi-racial society, and mixed-race individuals are an important part of the population.

Due to the different beliefs, preferences, appearances, and other factors of different races, racial issues have always been a chronic problem in the Shining Federation, but everyone is now used to it. They just muddle along, what else can they do?

"These archaeologists never learn their lesson," someone said with displeasure. "How many of the well-known cosmic disasters in history, whether organic extinction viruses or dormant collective consciousness aberration monsters, were caused by archaeology?"

"We can't say that, many of our early technologies came from reverse engineering ancient civilizations. Besides, compared to advanced technology going out of control, social conflicts erupting, or foreign enemies invading, the proportion of disasters caused by archaeology is not that high." Sidreun shook his head weakly.

At this moment, a high-ranking official was flipping through past records and muttered, "Speaking of which, high-dimensional information-state interference with reality used to be rare. Since the Exploration Era, this phenomenon seems to be happening more and more frequently."

"According to the statistics of the predecessor of the Overseer Department, during the Exploration Era wars, the average number of information-state interferences occurring annually in the universe was 467, and that only counts the incidents that were discovered and recorded. In the last hundred years, this number has risen to 2,150, almost five times as much. Although some of this is due to the improvement of our detection methods, it is also a fact that the frequency of information-state interference is increasing."

"Information-state has always been an important research direction for advanced civilizations. We are only responsible for submitting reports, not specific scientific research. What you are talking about is the job of scientists, not our responsibility." Sidreun waved his hand, looking uninterested.

Sitting in his position, it is understandable to be tired. The Overseer Department is responsible for cleaning up messes everywhere. A high-level official like him sees a bunch of inexplicable interstellar citizens courting death and causing trouble for him every day, like watching a group of mischievous children making trouble everywhere.

No matter how much he tries to fix things, countless incidents will still erupt the next day. If he had a bad temper, he could experience a mental breakdown every day.

After a long time, people become jaded.

The people present were not researchers and had limited understanding of the causes of information-state projections. In their limited understanding, this phenomenon was like a special mirage, except that it was not limited by time and space and could actually interfere with reality.

Another high-level official said solemnly, "After comparison, the unknown civilization's text submitted by that group of scavengers has no matching cases in the database. If this is an information-state projection, then the source must either be from an extremely ancient civilization, or from a civilization existing somewhere in the unexplored universe."

Although the three major civilizations are now the undisputed overlords of the universe, they are not omniscient or omnipotent. They know neither what existed in the extremely ancient era nor how many civilizations exist in the unexplored universe now, and they have never stopped exploring and researching.

"Have you discovered any adverse effects?" Sidreun asked.

"Not yet. Specific details are still being thoroughly investigated. It is currently impossible to predict what type of disaster this is, or even if it is a disaster at all."

Everyone shook their heads.

Just then, a voice suddenly rang out:

"This is a disaster in the virtual domain."

The image in the center of the round table switched, suddenly turning into Old Man Mai's face.

Seeing this scene, the entire room erupted in an uproar.

"Mechanic Emperor Mannison!" Sidreun's face darkened, with a hint of green. "You dare to invade the official agency's network!"

Everyone present looked ugly. Mannison had too many previous offenses. All official agencies of the Shining Federation guarded against Old Man Mai next door like they were guarding against a thief, afraid that their intelligence data would be stolen.

There is a saying in the universe: you can't expect a virtual mechanic to have integrity. Like card sharps in a casino, peeking at other people's hands is their nature.

"It's not the first time, what's so surprising?" Mannison said calmly. "I'm just here to provide information this time."

"I don't believe it!" Sidreun gritted his teeth.

You could have knocked on the door, why did you have to climb through the window? Would it kill you to send a proper communication request? It's not like we wouldn't answer.

"This is faster, I don't like waiting," Mannison said slowly. "And this disaster is brewing, the longer it is delayed, the more serious it will become."

Hearing this, Sidreun temporarily suppressed his green rage and frowned, "What did you find?"

Mannison displayed the fragmented information packets he had intercepted and explained:

"Not long ago, a special information packet invaded my sub-base. After failing, it wanted to self-destruct, but I intercepted part of it. I saw its approximate structure from it and discovered that this may be an unknown quantum network virus. Each information packet is a source of infection, constantly self-replicating, and has extremely strong camouflage, penetration, and infectivity.

I investigated and found that this virus is spreading rapidly in the quantum network of the Ancient Star Desert. It is estimated that it has penetrated countless nodes. Calculating the time, this virus may be related to the universe-level energy eruption some time ago, so I came to notify you."

Looking at the various data displayed by Mannison, the faces of the Overseer executives present gradually became serious, and they believed this statement.

"It's actually a new type of network virus in the virtual domain." Sidreun only felt a headache. "The quantum network is one of the cornerstones of interstellar society. This highly infectious virtual virus is the most troublesome. If you're not careful, it will evolve into star cluster-level or even star-field-level communication paralysis, data leakage, and intelligent loss of control... What exactly does this virus do?"

"This virus is still in the incubation period. Once it breaks out, it will rewrite the underlying logic of the infected intelligence, input kill instructions for life forms, and trigger a mechanical rebellion," Mannison said calmly, as if he were answering every question.

In today's interstellar society, basically every household cannot do without machines. Once a star-field-level or even universe-level mechanical rebellion occurs, the consequences are unimaginable.

Sidreun shuddered. If Mannison hadn't come to deliver the message, the longer they delayed, the more serious the situation would become, and it might even shake the foundations of the three major civilizations' rule.

Thinking of this, Sidreun's gaze towards Mannison softened a lot.

—When he's not causing trouble, this ally is quite reliable.

He suddenly stood up, shedding his salted fish aura, and his whole person became serious.

"This matter is of great importance, I must immediately report to the President!"

...

Several hours later, the leaders of the three major civilizations received the news and convened an emergency joint meeting.

"...The situation is like this. Now the Ancient Star Desert has become an infected area for this new type of virus. The number of infected nodes is increasing every second. Regarding the name of this incident, I have named it 'Intelligent Plague'. We need to take immediate action, without delay."

Badr repeated the situation and expressed his position with a solemn expression.

The Hierarch of the Void narrowed his eyes and said in a deep voice: "Let's isolate the Ancient Star Desert. Before the virus is completely eliminated, prohibit the Ancient Star Desert from interacting with the outside quantum network, close the stargates, and dispatch fleets to be stationed on the periphery of the Ancient Star Desert to prevent the source of infection from leaking out in any form."

"Agreed." Ulan Riel nodded.

This is like a plague, only isolation can completely eliminate it.

Only the three major civilizations have the qualifications and ability to block the communication of a star field. If the three parties reach a common intention, they can enforce the decree. This is the highest power granted to them in the Civilization Council.

"Also, notify the local civilizations of all levels in the Ancient Star Desert and let them fully cooperate. This problem must be dealt with as soon as possible."

At this time, in order to reassure others, the three families would not take the opportunity to attack the super-star cluster civilizations in the Ancient Star Desert. Otherwise, the next time a similar disaster occurs, they would not cooperate, which would not be worth the loss.

If the opportunity is delayed due to internal strife, allowing this disaster to snowball, it will shake the foundation of interstellar social order and cause a major blow to the three major civilizations' rule. There are countless lessons from history, so the three families will never allow this result to happen again and have already learned their lesson.

The three major civilizations maintain vitality through normal disputes, but in the face of this kind of disaster, they will put aside their interest disputes and temporarily work together to overcome difficulties.

Ulan Riel said slowly, "I suggest conscripting all the mechanics in the universe, especially the Super-A Grade virtual mechanics who specialize in this. Call Mechanic Emperor, Black Star, and the others over to cooperate sincerely and solve the problem together."

"I second that."

"I second that."

The other two nodded.

Since it is a disaster in the virtual domain, of course, experts must be found to take charge, and Mechanic Emperor and Black Star are the leaders among virtual mechanics, so they will naturally be conscripted by the three major civilizations.

As for the origin, causes, and principles of the disaster, there will be plenty of time to look for clues after the problem is solved.

Moreover, the three major civilizations are very interested in the technology of this virtual virus.

If it were in the past, this disaster would have thrown interstellar society into a panic, and it might have directly collapsed and evolved into a sign of chaos. However, after years of development by the three major civilizations, as long as this kind of disaster is discovered early, the risk is still within a controllable range, and the three leaders are shocked but not chaotic at this time.

The only hidden danger the three were worried about was the unstable civil forces, such as the black market, wanted criminals, rebels, etc. No matter what the reason, if someone privately retains the virus, it will be tricky.

Perhaps someone will be fanning the flames behind the scenes... The three leaders looked at each other and saw the same concerns.

...

The Black Star Cup had been in full swing for two or three months. After resting for so long, Han Xiao had been idle every day, spending a lot of time in the mechanical factory.

He originally planned to keep a low profile for a year and a half, waiting for the three major civilizations to take action against the Super-Star Cluster Alliance, but Han Xiao didn't expect that the Empire suddenly sent him a mission invitation, asking him to run to the Ancient Star Desert to solve a virtual virus.

"They're actually going to block the entire Ancient Star Desert, is that virtual virus that powerful?"

After reading the message from the Empire, Han Xiao's face showed a strange expression.

In his previous life, this incident didn't happen during version 4.0 at all.

To be precise, players did not experience the "Intelligent Plague". This happened during the version update of the Silver Revolutionary Army, and for players, it was just a background story.

Han Xiao recalled for a while. Although he had not experienced this incident and many details were unknown, he had read a brief introduction of the "Intelligent Plague."

In his previous life, the process of solving this disaster was very difficult. The three major civilizations wanted to eliminate all the viruses in time, but they made a mistake, which led to the virus leaking and infecting multiple star fields, causing communication in a large area to be paralyzed and the order of interstellar society to be severely damaged.

The three major civilizations paid a lot of resources to resolve the disaster. Due to a large amount of energy being tied up, coupled with the adverse effects of security, economy, politics, and public opinion, the Silver Revolutionary Army in his previous life took the opportunity to develop and grow, which was also one of the important factors for the success of the Silver Revolution.

Now, the Intelligent Plague broke out many years in advance, and the Silver Revolutionary Army was still nowhere to be seen, obviously missing this opportunity forever.

"Is it the butterfly effect that I created again..." Han Xiao touched his chin.

The Empire's message contained the cause and effect, and after reading it, he roughly understood the reason.

The root of everything was that he had defeated Gorutan, causing that black market to enter a short vacuum period without a backer, which attracted space pirates. The original buyer was investigated by the three major civilizations and seemed to just want to collect an antique from an unknown civilization, so he indirectly caused the safe to be opened many years in advance.

I don't know if it's a blessing or a curse...

Han Xiao pursed his lips. The Intelligent Plague was a time bomb. It was better to detonate it in this era than during the World Tree War, but now the three major civilizations and the Super-Star Cluster also have conflicts, which may become a bargaining chip in the hands of the Super-Star Cluster Alliance.

If the Super-Star Cluster civilizations get a chance to breathe because of this and really strive for the upward channels they want, the situation in the universe will completely take a different path from his previous life.

"I don't know which side the general trend of the era will ultimately fall to..."

Han Xiao shook his head, suppressing the worries in his heart, and thought of another thing:

"It's really a coincidence that I encountered a celebrity from the later versions this time..."

Harrison and others, as diggers, were also recorded. Han Xiao was very happy to meet this kind of obvious protagonist-type figure, and he was already planning to transplant this unowned leek to his own vegetable garden.

Even if it doesn't do anything else, it can at least serve as a mascot to increase the luck of the legion.

"Phillip, reply to the Empire, I accept the invitation and will rush over on time."

Calming his mind, Han Xiao instructed Phillip to reply.

He was naturally willing to do his part and did not want the Intelligent Plague to consume a lot of energy in the explored universe like in his previous life.

Don't ask, just say it's positive energy, not that I'm going for this virus technology! I have no interest in it at all! Alright!

"Ding~"

At this moment, a prompt for triggering a mission suddenly popped up on Han Xiao's panel.