"Old Li, Old Sun, what are you doing!"
The parasite struggled with all its might, yelling and pleading nonstop. But it was all for naught.
In the end, it was firmly secured to the dissection table.
Only then did it seem to truly realize its fate. It stopped struggling, stopped roaring, and instead began to sneer coldly.
"Just you wait. Just you wait. All of you, your entire civilization will be destroyed..."
Li Qingsong didn't waste time talking to it. He began the dissection directly, without anesthesia, carefully examining its every physical condition and change, with a particular focus on the brain.
Sure enough, upon dissection, Li Qingsong immediately discovered changes in its brain.
Numerous neurons had mutated, turning a grayish-black color, completely different from those of a normal person.
Based on the varying degrees of infection—obviously, the greater the desire to view the Demon Eye Star System's star chart, the deeper the infection—Li Qingsong also began to dissect the other infected Clones.
The Clones with milder infections showed no visible brain mutations, nor could any other signs of infection be found.
Only in those with more severe infections could faint signs be detected.
After meticulously documenting every stage of the infection—for both the Clones and the group of Blutuk People scientists—and collecting detailed data, Li Qingsong directly maneuvered the two quarantine ships to begin decelerating.
Finally, at a distance of over ten million kilometers from the main fleet, Li Qingsong detonated the high-yield Hydrogen Bombs that had been installed long ago, annihilating all life inside the two quarantine ships, whether infected or not.
This was the safest course of action. Faced with such an unbelievably powerful entity, Li Qingsong didn't dare to be the least bit careless.
Looking back on the whole incident, Li Qingsong felt a faint sense of relief.
'It's a good thing I'm a special existence like this. I can immediately detect when a Clone gets infected, which allowed me to resolve the situation at the earliest stage.'
'If it had been any other ordinary civilization, even if they could eventually solve it without being completely usurped and parasitized by the Demon Eye Civilization, they would have likely suffered catastrophic losses.'
'And... considering the Milky Way Galaxy is about 500 million light-years from the Demon Eye Star System, a civilization at roughly my own technological level—the Middle to High Level Stage of an Electroweak Civilization—would be able to obtain images of the Demon Eye Star System with enough clarity to trigger the infection.'
'And... because of the Demon Eye Star System's unique nature, almost every civilization that detects it wouldn't pass up the chance to observe it.'
'Does this mean that all civilizations in the entire Milky Way Galaxy, and even other galaxies, that have developed past this stage—even the Intelligent Mechanical Calamity... are all civilizations that have survived this ordeal?'
'Those that survive can continue to develop. Those that don't are parasitized, and their civilizations perish.'
'What is this, a Great Filter?'
'Over these hundreds of millions of years, who knows how many low-level civilizations have been wiped out by this parasitic Celestial Calamity, the Demon Eye Civilization...'
Li Qingsong felt the peril and cruelty of the Cosmos more keenly than ever.
A distant civilization, hundreds of millions of light-years away, had paid no attention to this region at all. It had merely modified a galaxy, and in doing so, had annihilated an unknown number of civilizations.
The Demon Eye Civilization might not even know about the destruction of those civilizations, nor would it care.
And how many other terrifying existences like the Demon Eye Civilization were there in the Cosmos? How perilous... were their methods?
This time, he had overcome it easily, without much effort, by relying on his unique nature. Next time, would he be able to survive?
Li Qingsong's heart was filled with solemnity and awe for the Vast Cosmos.
From that point on, all data concerning the Demon Eye Star System was sealed. Not only Li Qingsong himself, but also the Blutuk People were strictly forbidden from researching it, and even more so from observing it.
All space telescopes, when observing the starry sky, would now carefully avoid the Demon Eye Star System, never to observe it.
Time continued to pass. Having resolved this incident, Li Qingsong once again focused his energy on his own technological research.
Numerous large-scale scientific installations and the various laboratories within the many research ships continued to operate busily. Over a billion Clones were still giving their all, remaining at their posts at all times except when resting.
Under these circumstances, more than two hundred years passed quietly.
At this moment, Li Qingsong's massive fleet was about 22 light-years away from the Oriental Star System, and a distant 33 light-years from the Solar System.
During this 22 light-year journey, apart from the initial acceleration phase, Li Qingsong had consistently maintained a speed of 24,000 kilometers per second, never decelerating or approaching any star system.
Because Li Qingsong knew that every time he docked in a star system, the risk of being caught by the Intelligent Mechanical Calamity would increase.
Only by constantly drifting through the vast sea of stars could the risk of his capture be minimized.
Of course, this was on the premise of performing random maneuvers from time to time, randomly changing the fleet's course.
If he just put his head down and flew straight along the current course, he might be caught by the Intelligent Mechanical Calamity along the way.
Then, on an ordinary day, Li Qingsong suddenly realized he had re-established a conscious link with one of the Clones left behind in the Oriental Star System.
"Hm?"
Li Qingsong's heart sank.
Just like the Clones in the Solar System, for a Clone in the Oriental Star System to be awakened from hibernation could almost only mean one thing: the arrival of the Intelligent Mechanical Calamity Fleet.
When he had first left the Oriental Star System, he had estimated that the Intelligent Mechanical Calamity Fleet would arrive in about 300 years.
But now... only 289 years had passed since he left the Oriental Star System.
And with the 22-year communication delay due to the 22 light-year distance, this meant that the Intelligent Mechanical Calamity Fleet had arrived only 267 years after he left the Oriental Star System.
They had arrived faster than he had predicted.
Li Qingsong couldn't help but feel the noose around his neck tightening.
Under the gaze of the awakened Clone, beyond the Oriental Star System, that "star" grew brighter and larger.
In the end, an Intelligent Mechanical Calamity Fleet, almost identical to the one seen in the Solar System, appeared in the Clone's field of vision and began to advance into the Oriental Star System.
A savage grin flashed across Li Qingsong's lips.
'Chasing me so relentlessly, are you? It would be rude of me not to repay your enthusiasm.'
'Enjoy the surprise I left for you in the Oriental Star System.'
The conscious links from multiple Clones in the Oriental Star System continuously transmitted scenes from various perspectives there into Li Qingsong's mind.
And so, Li Qingsong saw it: amidst the countless, almost endless asteroids and small celestial bodies, numerous flashes of light erupted.