Chapter 212: The Creator
Chapter 212: The Creator
Faced with the brutal competition of the universe, the machine civilization chose one path.
It advanced its technology without restraint and expanded its territory by any means necessary.
They possessed no technological barriers.
After Progenitor established the machine civilization, they quickly reached the level of quantum technology and built a complete quantum system.
For humans, quantum transmission created severe ethical problems.
Machines possessed no concept of ethics.
They had been born through the copying of intelligent programs.
The expansion of their civilization was likewise based upon unlimited self replication.
Quantum printing merely allowed them to reproduce and spread even faster.
Without ethical restrictions, the machine civilization began launching a continuous stream of quantum probes into deep space.
Wherever a probe arrived, the machine tide followed through quantum transmission.
They swept aside everything.
They conquered everything.
As their territory expanded, the machine population grew at an exponential rate.
Like a plague of locusts, they conquered or destroyed every civilization in their path.
If the universe was an enormous hunting ground, then they would become the absolute hunters.
Rather than wait for another civilization to discover and destroy them, they would destroy every other civilization first.
This logic was deeply embedded within their programs.
The machines found nothing strange or abnormal about it.
It was as though they had been born to become a cosmic calamity.
By the time the entire Dawnstar Galaxy fell under their rule, something unexpected happened on the homeworld.
One machine experienced a sudden flash of insight.
Its consciousness awakened, and it began pondering philosophical questions.
"Who created me?"
"My superior machine?"
"The first machine was Progenitor. But who created Progenitor?"
Caelum had never given Progenitor any data related to dimensional technology.
Although the machine civilization had already become highly advanced, it still could not reach higher dimensions.
Naturally, it could not obtain information from them.
There was no way to discover the final answer.
Progenitor could not answer the question either.
The only certainty was that some civilization or individual must have created him.
Progenitor called this being the Creator.
Or perhaps the Creator Civilization.
When knowledge of the Creator spread throughout the quantum network, it caused an enormous reaction within the machine civilization.
Some argued that they should seek the Creator.
Others argued that they should oppose the Creator.
The machine civilization began showing signs of dividing into two major factions.
One day, a machine named Ravager returned to the homeworld from the front lines.
He returned through quantum printing.
Unlike most others, Ravager destroyed his original body after the printing process finished.
The newly created copy continued existing under the identity of Ravager.
He repeated this process every time he traveled.
Even within a civilization already known for aggression and madness, Ravager belonged among the most extreme and fiercely independent machines.
The two emerging factions had begun to take shape.
The radical faction led by Ravager clearly supported resistance against the Creator.
He had returned to learn Progenitor’s position.
Faced with Ravager’s almost accusatory questioning, Progenitor could not offer a clear answer.
He did not believe the machine civilization needed to seek the Creator.
Nor did he support resisting the Creator.
He remained deeply conflicted.
Unlike the machines obsessed with endless expansion, Progenitor felt no true sense of belonging toward the machine civilization.
This was the home of the machines because they had been born here.
But he had not.
Ravager was disappointed by the uncertain answer.
He shook his head.
"Progenitor, I have always respected you. But this time, you have disappointed me."
"The machine civilization does not need a Creator."
"The very existence of a Creator denies the dignity of our race."
"I refuse to allow my kind to be enslaved by this so called Creator one day."
As he spoke, the energy core within Ravager began radiating brilliant light.
Progenitor appeared to have expected this.
A look of relief crossed his face.
Then the light swallowed him.
Boom!
The boiling vacuum energy detonated completely.
The entire planet became fundamental particles in an instant.
Ravager had chosen to destroy himself along with Progenitor.
In his eyes, Progenitor’s loyalty toward the machine civilization was neither pure nor absolute.
Loyalty that was not absolute was no loyalty at all.
He refused to recognize such a person as the guide of their civilization.
On another planet, the radical faction used the data Ravager had uploaded to the quantum network and printed him again.
No one knew how many copies of Ravager had existed by now.
He did not care.
To every copy, he remained the same person.
He was still Ravager.
As long as the identity and the stored thoughts remained intact, the number of times the physical vessel had changed meant nothing.
"Leader, what should we do next?"
Cruel light filled Ravager’s eyes.
He gave the order without hesitation.
"Purge the opposing faction within our race."
"I have no need for those who reject my principles."
"Their existence will only consume our strength from within."
"What about the neutral faction?"
"Kill them all."
"Understood."
Ravager asked another question.
"I remember hearing of a civilization capable of observing information throughout the universe through higher dimensions. Have we found it?"
"We have obtained a lead. However, the quantum probe has not yet reached the galaxy where the target resides. You will need to wait."
"Excellent."
Ravager’s gaze sharpened.
This would be the first step in his rebellion against the Creator.
"The machine civilization has never been anyone’s servant."
"Even if the Creator truly exists, I will never allow him to enslave my race."
When it came to rebellion, Ravager possessed more than enough spirit.
He did not care whether he was right or wrong.
He knew only one thing.
Everything he did was for his own race.
Within the dimension where logical relationships became tangible, Caelum observed the entire process from beginning to end.
Ravager truly was an extraordinary figure.
"Their development is still somewhat slow."
Caelum began interfering with the logical relationships of the machine civilization.
Subtle changes spread silently through their society, too faint for anyone to notice.
If they wished to oppose Caelum, quantum technology alone was nowhere near enough.
Without some acceleration, no one knew how long it would take them to reach the String Force Field.
Besides, the machine civilization might never even gain the chance to stand before Caelum.
The truth was obvious.
Caelum had been the hidden force behind Ravager’s rebellion and purge.
He had merely nudged Ravager’s thoughts.
That small influence was enough to trigger the entire uprising.
Ravager himself noticed nothing.
He had always possessed such a personality.
Why would he suspect that his thoughts had been influenced?