Chapter 110: Shelve

Three days passed in swift, silent precision.

Around the vast perimeter of UHS4, a massive structure had materialized out of the dark vacuum of space. One hundred and twenty thousand SARS ships, aligned nose-to-tail in an immutable orbital lock, had merged into a seamless, unbroken ring encircling the colossal equator of the gaseous giant. Five hundred meters in width, the megastructure hung suspended in orbital equilibrium, completely enclosing the planet's midsection like an imposing crown of steel and crystal.

Far away on UHS1, Keon stood atop the observation terrace, his optical sensors zoomed in on the real-time telemetry feeds. A quiet sense of mechanical satisfaction resonated through his analytical core as he evaluated the alignment.

‘Now, let's initiate the light and plasma transfer,’ Keon thought, releasing the high-priority command across the Neural Nexus.

Instantly, billions of kilometers away on the surface of the central sun, thousands of HFC Satellites sprang into active operation. Swarming across the blinding solar atmosphere, their siphoning arrays drew in vast oceans of raw sunlight and superheated solar flares, condensing the stellar power inside their internal crystal chambers. The heavy armor plates on the frontal sections of the satellites parted with mechanical precision, revealing massive focal lenses that flickered with a dim, building heat. Then, the phenomenon escalated with violent intensity.

The next moment, as if a thousand blinding flares had flashed simultaneously in the void, thousands of wide light beams erupted into deep space. Each beam maintained a precise, uniform width of nearly five hundred meters and a length spanning a full kilometer, shooting across the vacuum toward the outer rim of the star system. From a distance, they resembled solid, brilliant pillars of light tearing through the darkness toward their assigned target.

Under Keon’s vigilant observation, the continuous streams of light and plasma traversed the vast expanse and collided with the target ring surrounding UHS4. On the surface, the outer nano main frame shell of the megastructure did not show the slightest reaction. Deep within the ring's core, however, the dense layers of synthesized light crystals flared with an intense, radiant brilliance, eagerly absorbing every photon and plasma pulse from the incoming solar pillars.

As the beams struck the ring in steady, synchronized sequence, the internal light crystal layer was enriched to the absolute brim. Within minutes, the internal matrices reached maximum saturation, unable to store a single additional unit of light or plasma energy.

The next moment, the lower underside of the ring opened. Thousands of massive, crystal-embedded focal lenses pivoted downward, locking onto the swirling gaseous depths of the planet below. The lenses flickered with an extraordinarily dense aggregation of light and plasma, and then unleashed continuous, devastating beams straight toward the midpoint of the planet.

It appeared as though colossal pillars of blinding light were descending from the cosmos itself. All the pillars emitted from the ring converged simultaneously at the exact center of UHS4. Containing an energy density far higher and more concentrated than even the initial beams fired by the HFC Satellites, the converging shafts of plasma pierced through the dense atmospheric layers, targeting the deep liquid core and the surrounding ice sheets at the planet's heart.

The moment the hyper-dense light and plasma collided with the central core, the absolute thermal intensity vaporized the ancient ice layers instantaneously. At the same time, as the superheated plasma surged through the liquid metal core, the molecules of the core layer flared into high-energy excitation, initiating an intense atomic-level reaction.

Far away on UHS1, Keon monitored the live core telemetry scrolling across his visual HUD. Seeing the real-time effect of the bombardment alongside the projected transformation timeline, he raised a synthetic brow in genuine surprise.

‘This is really unexpected... I underestimated the geography of a gaseous planet of this magnitude,’ Keon thought, recognizing his miscalculation. ‘The previous Great Merging of the two universes gave me the confidence that I could pull off such a stunt effortlessly. Although it is achievable, it will certainly not be accomplished so easily.’

He stared at the recalibrated timeline generated by the Neural Nexus. At the current rate of energy input, it would take approximately one million two hundred thousand years just for the planet to reach the initial transformation phase... not even entering the middle or late stages.

‘Looks like my idea of transforming these gaseous planets into solar batteries will have to be shelved for a while,’ Keon mused to himself, shifting his optical lenses back toward the glowing ring around UHS4.

‘In order to accelerate this process, I not only need to construct multiple layers of rings around this planet, but also find many other sun-like stars across deep space to beam energy from multiple directions simultaneously.’

He thoughtfully stared at the distant disc of UHS4 for a long moment, then shook his head, dismissing the lingering disappointment.

‘Anyway, let's increase the rings around it,’ Keon reasoned, his cold logic recalibrating the operational priorities. ‘Although I can't transform it into solar batteries for now, I can still store vast reserves of energy inside this planet... until I find a quick solution.’

After weighing the strategic implications, he dispatched a high-priority directive through the Neural Nexus to construct additional layers of Planetary Aegis Rings around UHS4. Simultaneously, he ordered the mass production and deployment of more HFC Satellites around the central sun to scale up energy collection capabilities.

With those commands active, Keon turned his attention away from UHS4 and redirected his optical focus toward the inner orbits... specifically toward UHS5 and UHS7. Positioned closest to the central star, these two worlds were the most resource-rich bodies in the entire star system. Currently, automated extraction networks were actively harvesting materials across their surfaces, synthesizing raw deposits directly into micrometer nano-mainframes, elemental crystals, and high-purity quartz.

‘Well, since the transformation plan is shelved, I should move to the merging plan,’ Keon thought as he observed the telemetry feeds from these worlds. Holographic projections revealed swarms of nano-mainframes multiplying rapidly and stripping planetary resources at an exponential rate.

According to logistical calculations, it would take approximately five years for every planet in the star system to be stripped bare of its usable resources.

‘Looks like I will complete my second task of exploring and arming this star system in the next five years,’ Keon mused, a cold, calculated clarity settling over his processors. ‘Then the only thing that will remain on these planets is simple landmass, minerals, and some extra geological resources... I will then begin the Great Merging Plan and reduce the count of nine planets to just three, expanding UHS1 to the limit.’

With his future actions completely mapped out, Keon immediately assumed direct control of the resource extraction process, optimizing mining routes and industrial allocation across the star system. The mining bases expanding across the planets, multiplied with every passing moment, dragging the rate of resource extraction and conversion into an exponential spiral.

Where once it took minutes to process raw materials, the automated industrial network reached a threshold where a single NARS vessel was assembled, retrofitted, and packed with refined resources in a mere five seconds. Soon, that rate doubled to two ships per five seconds, then three, materializing in relentless succession as automated shipyards burned through planetary crusts.

At the same time, far beyond the inner orbits, thousands of reconnaissance SARS probes traveling toward nearby star systems had already passed the orbits of the outermost planets, with leading probes entering the boundary belts of Star System One.

Following the Great Merging of the universes, the outer diameter of Star System One spanned nearly two light-years. It would take approximately eight hundred days for these probes to cross that outer edge and enter the vast interstellar space between star systems.

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