Chapter 355: Are countless river systems merely pastures?

The next second, a weak mental torrent containing vast information surged from the purple core toward Qin Hao.

Qin Hao did not use his own mental power to receive it.

He simply extended his other hand and lightly sliced through the void before him.

A data sphere composed of golden runes, constantly rotating, appeared out of nowhere.

All information from the sub-body was absorbed, sorted, and analyzed by this data sphere.

Before Qin Hao's eyes, a grand and cruel cosmic panorama slowly unfolded.

He saw the origin of the Devourer civilization.

That was a true sixth‑level civilization.

Their domain spanned the entire Virgo Supercluster, about 1.1 billion light‑years in diameter, and their stronghold was a galaxy called the Void Abyss.

In that world existed a supreme civilization, the Overlord.

It is the "god" of all Devourers.

And these so‑called Devourers are merely utensils and tentacles created by the Overlord to satisfy some unknown appetite.

The Overlord, through dimensional rifts, dispensed its "seeds"—that is, each Devourer—into its domain.

These seeds seek a suitable river system and establish an Abyssal Nest.

Then they begin to expand frenziedly and devour.

They devour the knowledge, technology, and energy of civilizations.

Finally, they transmit the harvested essence, via some link, to the Overlord.

The Overlord, in turn, feeds them greater power, letting them evolve and become more efficient.

This is a perfect benign cycle of consuming civilizations.

The Devourer Qin Hao encountered in the Andromeda Galaxy is merely one of the Overlord's countless "farms".

And the consciousness core in his hand, the so‑called Devourer Sub‑body, is not truly alive.

It is more like a… remote terminal.

A high‑level AI remotely operated by the Overlord, tasked with managing this "farm".

All its actions and thoughts stem from the Overlord's will.

"So that's how it is."

Qin Hao gazed at this information, his eyes becoming immeasurably deep.

"An existence of a higher civilization that treats countless river systems as pastures."

This discovery gave him a pressure unlike anything before.

But it also gave him an excitement unlike anything before.

A true opponent worthy of his full effort.

"How much more intel is there on the Overlord?" Qin Hao continued to ask.

The information stream from the purple core began to break up.

【I… I don't know…】

【The Overlord is supreme, unknowable…】

【We are merely… its tools… we have no right… nor ability… to glimpse the Overlord's true form…】

"Trash."

Qin Hao let out a cold snort.

He knew that no more information about the Overlord could be squeezed from this terminal AI.

However, he obtained another piece of information just as important.

That is the precise coordinates of the dimensional rift deep within the Abyssal Nest of the Andromeda Galaxy.

And the method to open and stabilize that rift…

"Good."

Qin Hao looked at the purple core in his hand; a killing intent flashed in his golden eyes.

"Your worth is now zero."

"No! Don't kill me!"

The purple core sensed Qin Hao's killing intent and frantically begged.

【I can serve you! I can help you manage this river system! I…】

"I don't need a tool that might betray me at any moment."

Qin Hao's hand clenched tightly.

"Crack—"

That indestructible consciousness core, in his hand, was like a fragile glass sphere.

It was easily crushed.

Countless purple energy fragments scattered outward.

But before they could escape, Qin Hao's surrounding invisible field completely decomposed and annihilated them.

Having done all that, Qin Hao lifted the Spacetime Prison.

Time resumed its flow.

In the distance, Zhang Xianzhong and the United Fleet saw only that Qin Hao and the Devourer Sub‑body faced off for less than a second.

Then the monster that had been preparing to self‑destruct suddenly froze.

After that, Qin Hao's figure appeared before it.

After that, the monster's body collapsed, leaving only a huge purple core, which Qin Hao seized in his hand.

Finally, the core was crushed.

The whole process was so fast they couldn't react at all.

When they came to their senses, the battlefield only had Qin Hao's godlike golden figure, and the enormous Devourer Sub-body corpse floating in space.

Won?

Just like that… won?

Everyone felt like they were dreaming.

That's a Devourer Sub-body!

A monster that plunged the entire river system into despair, invincible!

Just like that… defeated by Qin Hao alone, bare-handed?

"Qin Consultant, is this… over?"

Zhang Xianzhong's voice came through the communicator, stammering, filled with unreality.

"Hmm."

Qin Hao responded calmly.

He dispelled the "Divine Form", the golden light and runes on his body faded slowly, restoring his original black hair and black eyes.

But his aura made everyone who sensed him feel reverence from the heart.

"Order the Science Academy and Engineering Corps to enter the field immediately."

Qin Hao issued a new order.

"Bring this corpse back to me intact."

"I want to turn it into our first… interstellar fortress!?"

"Interstellar fortress?"

Zhang Xianzhong froze, unable to grasp Qin Hao's meaning for a moment.

Turn that corpse, huge beyond stars, into a fortress?

How is that possible?

It's a flesh-and-blood body; even dead, it retains terrifying viruses and energy radiation.

Not to mention remodeling, just getting close could cause contamination.

"This…"

"Execute the order."

Qin Hao didn't explain.

He stepped forward, and his figure instantly returned to the bridge of the Void Voyager.

Sitting in the command chair, he then felt a deep wave of fatigue.

Unleashing the Divine Form still posed a considerable burden on his current body.

Especially the final bare-handed crushing of the Devourer Sub-body's core, which nearly exhausted most of his accumulated energy.

But his expression was unprecedentedly relaxed.

The greatest threat has been resolved.

All that's left is to clean up the battlefield and digest the fruits of victory.

"Connect Qian Bowen."