Chapter 369: Warmth Beneath the Divine

This problem, like an invisible gravity bomb, detonated with a boom in the silent bridge.

Everyone's hearts rose to their throats.

As expected, it came.

What manner of person is Chief Commander Qin Hao? How could he not see through this little trick?

Qian Yin's cheeks instantly drained of color, her heart pounded, and her mind went blank.

Luo Lao's earnest entrustment, that weighty responsibility, now turned into a pressure as heavy as a mountain.

Say you care about him? Say he's too lonely?

Before such a being who has sealed away his own emotions and views all things as data, these words are how feeble and impotent, possibly even provoking his displeasure.

Inside the bridge, a deathly silence.

Just as everyone thought she would be at a loss for words and this encounter would end in failure, Qian Yin suddenly lifted her head and met Qin Hao's emotionless gaze.

She forced herself to calm, her voice trembling slightly from tension, but her thoughts were clearer than ever.

"Reporting to Chief Commander Qin Hao, I am here precisely for that scientific question just now!"

She did not answer directly, but instead, following her previous line of thought, cleverly kicked the ball back.

"You just mentioned that our black hole engine's inherent 'high-dimensional structural instability' is a fatal flaw. I would like… to ask you for more details."

Her gaze was utterly sincere, filled with a thirst for knowledge.

"Because this is not just about the black hole engine, but about whether our civilization, when facing a level‑6 civilization, has even a sliver of room to struggle. This, is the deepest worry of Luo Lao and the entire civilization's high leadership!"

Beautiful!

Several researchers in the bridge instantly had admiration flare in their eyes.

This move of covertly swapping concepts perfectly wrapped the personal "concern" mission within a grand concern for the civilization's future.

It explained her purpose, stated her position, and further displayed the breadth and responsibility of her as the project lead!

Qin Hao's projection gazed at her silently, without speaking.

That profound gaze seemed to want to see through her soul.

Time, at this moment, was stretched infinitely.

Finally, his cold voice sounded again.

"The technology of a level‑6 civilization is not founded on energy and matter, but on the authority to define 'information' and 'rules'."

He actually began to explain!

Qian Yin felt a huge stone drop from her heart, and she quickly focused all her attention, daring not to miss a single word.

"The so‑called black hole engine, essentially, is just digging a deeper hole in the fabric of three‑dimensional space and then scooping water out of it."

Qin Hao's voice calm and unperturbed, "while a level‑6 civilization can directly alter the fabric's very substance, even redefine the concept of water."

"Our current dimensional technology, in their view, is nothing more than a child's play with sand piles."

"They don't even need to use force; they only need to alter a resonant frequency of the spatial dimension you inhabit, and the entire civilization, along with its star system, will be instantly erased from the universe, leaving not a trace."

Cold words describing the most terrifying reality.

Everyone in the bridge felt a chill surge from the soles of their feet to the crown of their heads, their bodies stiffening.

However, as Qian Yin listened, she began to sense another flavor.

What she felt was no longer cold knowledge, but a kind of… loneliness.

It is the feeling of standing alone on a cliff's edge, with billions of compatriots behind her needing protection,

before her looms a tidal wave capable of swallowing the whole civilization, yet there is no one who can stand beside her to see this surge clearly.

The deeper his explanation went, the more piercing became the loneliness unique to Qin Hao himself.

The explanation ended at some point.

Qin Hao's projection fell silent again, as if waiting for her next question.

The atmosphere in the bridge had become oppressive to the extreme.

Qian Yin's lips twitched slightly as she gazed at that aloof figure,

inexplicably, she blurted out a sentence that departed from all plans and reason.

"Chief Commander Qin Hao…… do you, facing all this alone, feel tired?"

As soon as the words left her mouth, she regretted them.

It's over.

The entire bridge's air seemed to be sucked away in that instant.

The captain's face turned deathly pale with a "swish".

This question, for one who has devoted himself to civilization as a "god," is nearly an offense!

Buzz—!

A strange occurrence happened.

Qin Hao's extraordinarily stable holographic projection, at this moment, flickered violently like a bad signal!

The data‑stream‑formed figure showed a moment of disturbance and blur,

as if an uncontrollable torrent of massive emotion struck the computing power sustaining his projection.

Deep in his sea of consciousness, countless fragments of images flashed by like a storm.

That was the icy stillness when the "Great Silence" plan was announced, the whole venue dead silent.

In the depths of the black hole, while absorbing energy alone, there was endless darkness and solitude.

And… a few hundred years ago, that person who was still worrying over money on Blue Star,

later obtained the system, and devoted himself to the nation.

Back then, his self was not like this now, gradually losing emotion.

Divinity and humanity, at this moment, underwent the fiercest collision.

A silence lasting only a few seconds felt as long as a century.

The projection stabilized again.

Qin Hao looked at Qian Yin, and in those unfathomable eyes rose an indescribable complex emotion.

"Before we settle the Overlord, we aren't qualified to talk about fatigue."

His voice remained calm, yet no longer icy, gaining a hoarse texture.

He paused, his gaze sweeping over Qian Yin's clear, worried eyes, and added a sentence.

"But... I still thank you."

Boom!

Qian Yin's mind went blank.

"Thank you," like a warm current, instantly struck her heart.

She could clearly feel that these words contained the... humanity that had been hidden.

"Luo Lao... I seem to have... succeeded a little."

Before Qian Yin could recover from the immense shock, Qin Hao's projection began to fade gradually.

Before he vanished completely, an order was issued from the Void Voyager, transmitted directly to Qian Yin's spaceship.

【Received an encrypted file package from the Void Voyager, S-level clearance.】

A stream of information, accompanied by the file, simultaneously appeared in Qian Yin's mind.

"This is my partial analysis of the Overlord; perhaps it will aid your research."

As his words fell, Qin Hao's projection vanished completely at the center of the bridge.

Qian Yin stared blankly at the brand‑new file package, her heart a mixture of emotions.

There was the relief of completing the mission, the great joy of being recognized,

and there was a deep ache for that solitary figure.

"Qian... Qian Yin, Academician?"

The captain spoke cautiously, breaking the silence.

"Return."

Qian Yin took a deep breath, quickly composed herself, and issued the order.

Returning to the institute's exclusive lab, she immediately locked the door, shutting everyone out.

She opened the S‑level encrypted file.

She expected to see countless extremely complex data models and formulas.

However, when the file was decompressed, the first thing that met her eyes was not any data.

Instead, it was a line of blood‑red text bearing a warning symbol.

"The Overlord is not a single consciousness, but rather a... meme complex based on a high‑dimensional information plague."