Chapter 330: A Prosperous Stage, a City of Puppets

The Void Wanderer, in a state of dimensional phase shift, silently arrived at the star system that had sent out the distress signal.

It is a standard yellow dwarf system with seven planets.

When the detector's feed focused on the third planet, everyone froze.

In stark contrast to the previous lifeless ruin of a planet, the world before them teemed with life.

Azure oceans, emerald continents, and white clouds drifting in the atmosphere.

From space, the planet's surface was clearly lit up, with modern city clusters shining brightly in the night.

At the spaceport, countless ships came and went in busy, orderly fashion.

Several massive space stations floated in the planet's synchronous orbit, clearly indicating a highly advanced civilization.

"The scan results are in."

Qian Yin's voice carried a hint of surprise: "This civilization, we call it the 'Sairen Civilization'."

Their technological level had reached the mid-stage of a Type‑IV civilization, possessing mature space‑drive technology and a space‑net.

"What about the life signs?" Qin Hao's main concern was this.

"Very… very strong."

Qian Yin pulled up the life‑sign scan: "On their planet, at least five billion intelligent beings reside. Each life signal is exceptionally clear, full of vitality."

Everyone on the bridge exchanged glances.

This… this is completely unlike the trap we imagined.

Could they have been mistaken? Is this truly a surviving civilization?

"Should we… try to contact them?"

A young diplomat under Xia Ge, somewhat excited, asked.

"No, wait."

Qin Hao's intuition told him it wasn't that simple.

A thriving Type‑IV civilization existing unscathed in a sector that had been "formatted" into dead void is itself the greatest inconsistency.

"Qian Yin, run a deep comparative analysis of the fluctuation frequencies of all life signs."

Qin Hao issued a strange order.

"A comparative analysis? How do we compare?" Qian Yin was puzzled.

"Overlay all five billion signals together and see what they share."

This is an astronomical calculation, but for the Void Wanderer's main optical brain it takes only a few seconds.

Soon, the analysis results appeared.

The moment she saw the results, Qian Yin's face changed instantly.

"Qin Consultant… this… this is impossible!"

"What's wrong?"

"The fluctuation frequencies of all life signs are astonishingly uniform! The deviation rate is less than one in ten million!"

Qian Yin's voice trembled: "How could five billion different individuals possibly have nearly identical life frequencies?"

"This… this violates the basic laws of life science!"

Qin Hao's heart sank.

As expected, there is a problem.

"And that's not all."

Qian Yin had another discovery: "I also analyzed the traffic data flow of hovercars in their city, and found their behavioral patterns… highly repetitive.

Every 24.7 hours, the entire city's traffic flow, route planning, and even each vehicle's start‑stop times undergo a perfect replication.

It's as if… as if someone had pressed the repeat button."

"Repeat playback?"

A civilization of five billion people, like a preset program, repeats every day's entire set of activities?

This is not a true civilization.

This is a massive, meticulously staged "stage set"!

"Send a stealth reconnaissance drone down for a close look."

Qin Hao's voice was icy.

A drone the size of a proton slipped silently from the Void Wanderer, pierced the atmosphere, and flew into the capital of the Sairen Civilization's most prosperous district.

The drone's real‑time feed was displayed clearly on the main screen.

On the streets, the "residents" came and went, wearing friendly smiles and warmly greeting each other.

In the shops, people shopped and chatted; in cafés, couples enjoyed sweet dates.

Everything looked perfectly normal and wonderful.

But when the drone's camera zoomed in on a "resident" chatting animatedly with a friend, a strange scene appeared.

His gaze was empty.

His mouth moved, producing sound, but his eyes held

no emotion, no focus—like a puppet being controlled.

"Song Xiaolu, analyze their dialogue content," Qin Hao ordered.

Song Xiaolu immediately activated the linguistic algorithm, capturing and analyzing the "residents'" speech.

A few minutes later, Song Xiaolu's face turned ashen, just like Qian Yin's.

"Consultant… they… everything they say is not any kind of logical language.

It's all just meaningless syllable combinations, but…

"But what?"

Within these syllable combinations, a very special mental frequency is hidden!

I have never seen this frequency before.

It… it seems able to bypass our cerebral cortex and directly affect our subconscious!

After just listening for a few minutes, I felt dizzy, as if many thoughts not my own were stuffed into my mind!

Mental frequency? Influence the subconscious?

Qin Hao immediately thought of a term—meme.

A kind of virus that spreads through information and can infect and control thoughts.

"Qian Yin! Immediately analyze the composition and transmission method of this mental frequency!"

Qin Hao's voice suddenly rose.

Qian Yin did not dare delay, immediately pouring all resources into the analysis.

The conclusion came quickly, and it was far more terrifying than anyone could imagine.

"Report! This is an advanced meme virus!"

"It can spread through vision, hearing, and even mental power itself!"

"Once infected, an individual's self-consciousness will gradually disintegrate, then be assimilated by the 'information' carried by the virus,"

Finally becoming the virus's carrier, that is…… the 'residents' we see!"

"The virus's ultimate goal is to transform the infected civilization into a gigantic 'pheromone' emitter!"

"This prosperous illusion is the pheromone they release, specifically used to lure outsiders like us!"

The truth is now revealed.

This seemingly prosperous civilization is actually a trap set by the 'Devourer', an extremely malicious trap!

"Immediately activate the resonance shield!"

Qin Hao made a swift decision: 'Conduct the highest-level mental isolation for all ship personnel! Cut off all signal connections with the reconnaissance drones, and destroy them immediately!'

He must stop this virus from infecting the ship's interior via the data link.

"Yes!"

"Hum—"

An invisible mental shield enveloped the entire Void Voyager.

At the same time, that drone that had penetrated deep into enemy rear, upon receiving the final order, instantly self-destructed, turning into nothing.

Qin Hao looked at the screen at the planet still showing 'prosperous and harmonious', and gave a cold snort.

"Interesting. Using a fake civilization as bait, this move is indeed not small."

"But to think they could trap my Yanhuang Civilization with just this method is really too naive."

Just as he finished issuing all orders and was preparing to withdraw.

The entire Sailun Star System underwent a sudden change.

On the planet, the actions of the billions of residents who were 'performing' all came to an abrupt halt at the same moment.

Customers in the mall stopped their steps.

Vehicles on the street came to an instant standstill.

Couples in the café put down the cups in their hands.

All people, all the 'puppets', were as if a pause button had been pressed.

Then, they uniformly lifted their heads.

In unison, they 'looked' toward the empty space where the Void Voyager was located.

Although they could not see the ship, which was in a dimensional phase-shift state.

But they indeed 'looked' over.

Those five billion pairs of hollow eyes seemed to pierce through dimensions, firmly locking onto each crew member.