Chapter 408 A Conversation Across Time

Another block of text populated the screen:

"Fortunately, we intercepted this ancient deep-space probe. Based on the radiometric decay of the Uranium-238 isotope attached to the data vault, it has been 24 million years since its launch."

"Regrettably, we have never encountered an interstellar empire known as the Tark. Their galactic map is highly inaccurate due to stellar drift.

Extrapolating backward from the probe’s trajectory, we surveyed several candidate planets, but found no civilization matching their biological profile."

"Having been sterilized at point-blank range by a gamma-ray burst, these worlds harbored nothing more than simple microorganisms.

Deep beneath the crust of one such planet, we discovered the ruins of a massive subterranean shelter, but no intelligent life remained... We mourn this profound loss."

"Even more tragically, the microorganisms stored within this probe have long since perished, their genetic data entirely degraded by the ravages of time. It is beyond our capability to resurrect them."

"The cosmos is teeming with foolish, violent creatures, yet harbors so few respectable souls. May this transmission of knowledge bring a spark of warmth to civilizations in need..."

"We believe that for civilizations yet to master basic interstellar flight, achieving true controlled nuclear fusion is a near-impossible hurdle. At the very least, we never discovered a method to engineer this technology using rudimentary industrial means..."

"Harnessing the uncontrollable to render it controllable is the superior path."

"—Left by the Atlantean Empire."

Jason stared blankly at the main monitor, genuinely startled by the sudden appearance of this text. His first instinct was that this had to be an elaborate prank pulled by one of the eccentric department heads!

However, sweeping his gaze across the utterly shocked expressions of his crew, he knew the data was completely genuine; it was actually etched into the final tracks of the metal disk.

Even the most arrogant researcher wouldn’t dare pull a stunt during an event of this historical magnitude, unless they wanted to be thrown out an airlock. Everyone understood that practical jokes had no place in such a solemn scenario.

Subconsciously, his mind raced to process the implications.

The Federation... were not the first ones to intercept this probe! Another empire, identifying themselves as the Atlanteans, had found it first.

They were an advanced civilization that had discovered this artifact 126 million years before humanity even existed.

They had intercepted the probe, deciphered the data, and then, for reasons unknown, released it back into the cosmic void.

It was perhaps the most wondrous coincidence in the universe.

But thinking about the sheer math of it, it wasn’t impossible. Drifting for over a hundred million years, as long as the probe wasn’t swallowed by a star or crushed by a planet, the odds of it passing through another empire’s sensor net weren’t actually zero. Given a hundred million years, anything could happen.

What captivated the crew even more was the staggering realization that a highly advanced interstellar civilization had thrived in the Milky Way 126 million years ago!

"The Atlantean Empire..."

Given that much time, how terrifyingly advanced could an empire become?

The room erupted into hushed, frenzied speculation. In the 13.7 billion-year history of the cosmos, humanity was by no means the most intelligent, the oldest, or the most powerful species.

There would always be ancient titans in the dark that demanded absolute reverence... Whether humanity wanted to admit it or not, it was an undeniable reality.

The crew stood transfixed, burning with curiosity. They clustered into small groups, fervently discussing the implications...

However... the revelations of the metal disk were not over yet. A moment later... the screen flickered again.

Another highly compressed block of text materialized!

Everyone stared wide-eyed at the monitors, completely dumbfounded. Jason’s heart hammered against his ribs, adrenaline flooding his system as an indescribable thrill washed over him.

Unbelievably, it was a message from yet another advanced civilization!

"We detected this minuscule artifact at a range of 0.17 light-years using our tachyon sensor arrays. To our profound surprise, it contains data logs referencing the magnificent Atlantean Empire."

"It has been 138 million years since this probe was originally launched. For such a fragile craft to continue drifting through the void for so long without finding its final resting place... there is no greater cosmic wonder."

"It is remarkable that a primitive civilization harbored philosophical tenets so closely mirroring our own. Tragically, they were forced into this method of spiritual preservation because they possessed no other alternatives... they failed to make the critical evolutionary leap... Bearing witness to their tragic end only fortifies our own convictions."

"It is deeply unfortunate that the vast majority of primitive species, and even many established interstellar empires, remain so pathetically narrow-minded.

For a myriad of reasons, even after surviving the Great Filter, they lack the magnanimity and vision to truly embrace the wider universe..."

"We yearn to converse with true sages; we have so many unanswered questions. Within this sprawling galaxy, such enlightened beings may or may not still exist..."

"Perhaps true sages will arise from the endless tide of younger civilizations, or perhaps we must look beyond, toward the greater empires of the wider galaxy clusters... We can only hope that, millions of years from now, we will no longer wander lost in the dark..."

"We have embedded a tachyon communication relay within this ancient probe and cast it back into the cosmic sea. Perhaps it will one day lay dormant beneath the soil of a distant world, or perhaps... it will be intercepted once more by an unknown species?"

"Let this chain of wondrous surprises continue."

"Yes, the romanticism of this concept was simply too beautiful; we could not resist casting this message in a bottle back into the void."

"Unknown civilization, if you find this artifact, what will your thoughts be? How do you perceive the inevitable rise and fall of empires? You may communicate with us through the embedded tachyon relay... We only pray that we still exist to hear your answer."

"—Left by The Seeders."

Reading the final few sentences, Jason froze. His awe instantly morphed into raw, ice-cold alarm. Reacting faster than anyone else in the room, he roared, "Evacuate the isolation bay! Get everyone away from that probe immediately!"

"Deploy the heavy diagnostic drones! Run a maximum-resolution sweep of the probe’s chassis and locate whatever The Seeders left behind!"

A cold sweat broke out across the crew’s necks. An unimaginably advanced empire had deliberately planted a device inside the probe... and the Federation’s initial safety sweeps had completely missed it!

No matter how rigorously they had scanned the artifact, there had been zero anomalous energy signatures, which had previously lured them into a false sense of security.

But the rules of the game had just violently shifted. A higher-tier empire possessed technology so advanced it was indistinguishable from magic.

When dealing with an unknown cosmic power, regardless of whether their stated intentions were benevolent or hostile, extreme paranoia was the only way to survive...

Rows of micro-diagnostic drones swarmed back into the isolation bay, conducting a frantic, millimeter-by-millimeter sweep of the chassis.

"Captain, I think we found it!"

Now that they knew exactly what they were looking for, the drones quickly honed in on a new anomaly: a small, purple metallic block, roughly the size of a vintage USB drive.

It was encased behind a thin layer of transparent shielding and featured a single, recessed silver button in the center.

It sat quietly embedded flush against the interior bulkhead of the probe, blending in perfectly. Initially, the scanning teams had simply assumed it was a native component of the Tark engine block and had ignored it.

It didn’t look particularly sophisticated; at first glance, it appeared entirely mundane. However, upon reviewing the high-magnification optical feeds, a chilling realization struck the engineering team: the purple metal’s hue perfectly matched the hull plating of the Precursor vault!

This synthetic material, colloquially designated as "Eureka-Six," couldn’t actually be classified as a true metal in the traditional sense; it merely possessed a metallic luster.

The Federation’s materials science divisions had been agonizing over this super-material for decades. It was structurally composed of a complex, honeycomb-like 3D nanoscale lattice, rendering it exponentially more stable and resilient than graphene or carbon nanotubes.

According to the historical databases provided by Cole, it represented the absolute physical ceiling of conventional material strength.

There were only roughly a hundred naturally occurring elements capable of long-term molecular stability, and the possible permutations of covalent, ionic, and metallic bonds were strictly finite.

Utilizing brute-force computational exhaustion, top-tier interstellar empires could theoretically map out every possible molecular structure in the universe.

The configuration that yielded the absolute pinnacle of tensile and thermal strength was Eureka-Six.

Within this 3D lattice, the molecular bonds were so profoundly interwoven that the entire block of material effectively functioned as one single, massive macromolecule, granting it an incomprehensibly high melting point.

Much like a diamond, if the material was somehow forcibly melted, the atomic covalent bonds would shatter irreparably, permanently destroying its structural integrity. It could never be recast into its original form.

The Federation did not currently possess the manufacturing capabilities to synthesize this super-material, as the underlying quantum mechanics governing its bonds were still far beyond their comprehension.