A Colossus rushes in at the start

Chapter 262 This swarm of bees is too small

The satellite civilizations captured after conquering three star systems were enormous. Even after the Babel swarm cleared out the disobedient ones, the remaining native civilizations were still numerous.

However, assessing the value of civilization is a complex task.

The sheer number and complexity of these indigenous civilizations make the assessment of their value an enormous undertaking.

Fortunately, the bee colony was not lacking in numbers, and by increasing the number, the efficiency was improved. Although the workload was huge, it was still completed.

Furthermore, the mainframes simplified and processed all this information and reported it to Lu Shang one by one.

"Among the current swarm-dominated satellite civilizations, 13 meet the Level 1 value assessment standard, 5893 meet the Level 2 standard, and those meeting the Level 3 standard..."

"Provide a small universe as a sanctuary for those satellite civilizations whose value assessment reaches Level 1. As for the other satellite civilizations, inform them of the impending cosmic-level conflict and tell them to find a safe place to stay put," Lu Shang instructed.

The mastermind behind the report hesitated for a moment, "Isn't this too wasteful?"

It only provides shelter to satellite civilizations that meet the first-level standard in the value assessment, while satellite civilizations that meet other standards do not receive such shelter, which is equivalent to abandoning the protection of these satellite civilizations.

Subsequently, if the swarm engages in battles with powerful adversaries while conducting extensive explorations across the universe, and is unable to attend to satellite civilizations below the Level 1 standard, the demise of these satellite civilizations is almost certain.

Lu Shang dismissed it, saying, "It would be a waste if they were destroyed. If a civilization were to face an extinction crisis, we could just send some individual bees to take away their civilization's seeds."

As long as they don't perish, there are plenty of ways. Besides, these satellite civilizations are already in the galaxies that the swarm has packaged in spacetime, and they are not in the main universe. They already have a spacetime barrier as a defense line, which is enough.

Lu Shang did not want to spend a lot of energy protecting a group of satellite civilizations of little value.

Thinking about the great exploration of the universe, Lu Shang asked, "Aren't our antimatter reserves sufficient?"

The mastermind replied, "If it's just for simple exploration, the current antimatter reserves are sufficient for the swarm to conduct microscopic wormhole exploration operations covering the entire universe. However, if we're considering a universe-wide war, the current antimatter reserves are far from enough."

"Should we start taking action now?"

Lu Shang shook his head slightly. "We'll wait until we have enough antimatter before taking action. Although the swarm's recovery has been relatively smooth so far, without encountering any strong resistance, it's still only a small scale of a few star systems, less than one ten-thousandth of the mother universe."

After saying that, Lu Shang added, "During this time of storing antimatter, we can consider creating more miniature universes to hide the main body of the swarm outside the universe."

Because of concerns that the swarm might be attacked by the rules of unknown civilizations during the great exploration, the construction of miniature universes is necessary to prevent the swarm from being wiped out in a sudden attack by unknown enemies.

The mastermind, who was reporting, replied in agreement, "Understood."

Just then, Lu Shang and the reporting mastermind were both stunned for a moment, as a piece of information was rapidly transmitted from a certain node to all units in the swarm network.

This message is a technical blueprint, and its purpose is to initiate an upgrade for the entire bee colony.

"Hmm? Another technological breakthrough?" Lu Shang browsed the technology blueprint with some surprise.

This is an antimatter storage technology. The principle is not complicated. Simply put, it uses microcosm technology to encapsulate and produce antimatter.

Then, the microscopic wormhole connecting this antimatter microcosm is connected to the swarm of bee creatures.

Antimatter cannot annihilate spacetime, therefore spacetime itself is an excellent confinement tool, more persistent and stable than a strong electric field.

In this way, the swarm no longer needs those canister electric field structures to encapsulate antimatter, nor does it need to worry about the canister electric field exploding on the spot if it is destroyed.

More importantly, the upper limit of antimatter storage for each bee colony has been greatly increased, so even an exploratory bee can "carry" antimatter of the mass of Jupiter.

It used to be a jar, now it's Jupiter; the difference is like heaven and earth.

Lu Shang exclaimed, "This technology is excellent. It makes the storage and transfer of antimatter much easier."

The potential of this technology extends beyond simply increasing the amount of antimatter carried by each bee colony; it also enables the safe and efficient transfer of antimatter across light-years. For example, it allows for the creation of two wormholes within an antimatter microcosm, one for the entry of antimatter and the other for its exit.

Sometimes, antimatter attacks can also be carried out. For example, antimatter can be encapsulated in a microcosm, and after the target is discovered by a medium organism, the microscopic wormhole at that coordinate can be opened immediately to unleash the antimatter in the microcosm all at once, resulting in large-scale annihilation.

The mastermind, somewhat greedy, reported: "It's a pity there's still a storage limit. It would be much more convenient if there were no storage limit."

The storage capacity of a microcosm for antimatter is not unlimited; the upper limit is the maximum mass required to form a black hole.

Antimatter can also undergo nuclear fusion and matter collapse. When antimatter accumulates in a microcosm to reach the minimum stellar mass, it will undergo nuclear fusion to form an antimatter red dwarf star.

From this stage onwards, the self-depletion of antimatter begins, and a portion of the antimatter's mass is converted into photons through nuclear fusion.

When antimatter exceeds the Schwarzschild radius, it will collapse into a black hole.

As a result, it can no longer be used as antimatter; it has become something completely different.

Therefore, the optimal storage range for antimatter in a microcosm is below the minimum stellar mass. Antimatter within this range is very stable and suffers little loss.

Lu Shang said, "We have to take things one step at a time. As long as the bee colony keeps making progress, we will have bread and milk. Reaching unlimited capacity is just a matter of time."

……

Because it was the first Civilization Conference, Lu Shang used his biological substitute to represent the bee swarm.

At this conference of civilizations, Lu Shang sat at the head of the table, where he was greeted by a densely packed group of civilization leaders with different appearances.

However, traces of civilization can still be seen in these leaders of different civilizations—they all attend meetings dressed in the formal attire of their respective civilizations.

The meeting was mainly dominated by Lu Shang's speeches, while the leaders of these satellite civilizations listened and took notes.

The content of his speech was about the rules and regulations of the hive, and where the red lines were. This was also the purpose of his attendance. He was afraid that the mastermind in charge of civilized diplomacy would not explain it clearly, resulting in a lot of trouble.

Near the end of his speech, Lu Shang casually announced the swarm's strategy for conquering the entire universe to these satellite civilizations, causing a stir among their representatives.

"Do you have any questions for the representative of the Fried civilization?" Lu Shang noticed that a representative of a civilization wanted to speak.

The Friedman tried to remain calm as he replied, "Um... esteemed representative of the overlord civilization, are you really not going to reconsider this matter of launching a conquest campaign across the entire universe?"

Lu Shang said, "The swarm has been planning this for a long time. They've already considered solutions for everything you can and can't imagine. The universe will eventually fall under the swarm's control..."

"That's impossible!"

Before Lu Shang could finish speaking, he was interrupted by a representative of a satellite civilization who slammed his hand on the table.

Lu Shang looked over with displeasure, and the other satellite civilizations also turned their attention to the speaker.

At this moment, the speaker had calmed down and stood up to bow to Lu Shang before sincerely apologizing: "I'm very sorry, esteemed representative of the sect leader civilization, I lost control of my emotions."

"However, I still maintain my view that this is a foolish, reckless, and extremely irresponsible plan of civilizational suicide, as represented by the esteemed representatives of the sovereign civilization."

For these satellite civilizations, high-level wars are a nightmare, and a high-level war in which the dominant civilization fails is an even bigger nightmare.

From a stakes-based perspective, all the satellite civilizations currently included in the swarm do not agree with the swarm's strategy of conquering the entire universe.

Because they simply didn't believe the Babel bee swarm could win.

The universe is so vast. The few galaxies that the Tower of Babel swarm currently rules are just a few grains of dust in the grand scheme of things.

Such a vast scale, yet this 'king' who merely rules over a few grains of dust dares to boast of conquest? What a joke! Can he even conquer them all?

Are powerful civilizations elsewhere in the universe vegetarians?

In the eyes of the representatives of these satellite civilizations, the Babel swarm has been blinded by its continuous victories in interstellar wars and thinks it is invincible.

That's why the representative of that civilization was so agitated; he was terrified that the Babel Bee Swarm, the sovereign civilization, would go mad and drag his mother civilization down with it.

(End of this chapter)