At the moment the five County-Class ships were destroyed, the immense energy released by the collapse from four-dimensional space into three-dimensional space became the deadliest weapon. Xiao Yu saw that, under this massive energy explosion, thousands of the creature’s tentacles were severed.

At the site of the explosion, endless flashes and bursts of energy erupted, the enormous force spreading outward, causing even this towering Alien Beast, dozens of kilometers tall, to shudder slightly.

This explosion seemed to have startled the creature. Immediately afterward, it floated lightly and swiftly retreated to another location. But in that brief instant, Xiao Yu had already roughly calculated its strength.

“Level 4 Alien Beast! And a very powerful one at that!” Xiao Yu murmured, his mind rapidly analyzing.

The classification of Alien Beast Civilizations was based on the corresponding strength levels of technological civilizations. For example, if an Alien Beast’s strength roughly equaled that of a Level 4 Civilization, then it would be classified as a Level 4 Alien Beast.

Xiao Yu had already begun to glimpse Level 5 Civilization technology. In theory, he had no reason to fear a Level 4 Alien Beast. After all, in this classification system, each level represented an astronomical difference in power. However, this system had one flaw.

That was, what exactly defines a civilization’s strength?

For a normal civilization, its strength includes all its biological population, all its technological creations, and all its weapons. In this system, a civilization’s strength represents the sum of all these elements.

In other words, a Level 4 Alien Beast, by itself, could resist the full strength of a Level 4 Civilization. For example, if humans of Earth’s era were a Level 2 Civilization, then a Level 2 Alien Beast would not be something any single country or organization could handle alone.

It would take all of Earth united, all its weapons, all its armies, all its resources, to contend with a single Level 2 Alien Beast.

Xiao Yu had now preliminarily reached Level 5 Civilization standards. But could Xiao Yu, alone, stand against a true Level 5 Civilization with tens or even hundreds of billions of inhabitants?

The answer was no. A true Level 5 Civilization, unlike Xiao Yu’s unique situation, would possess at least ten Nation-Class ships, and hundreds or even thousands of Province-Class ships. That was not something Xiao Yu could compete with.

Even a true Level 4 Civilization possessed enough power to make Xiao Yu cautious. Of course, this was only temporary. Given enough time to rest and develop, Xiao Yu could manufacture enough starships to overwhelm a Level 4 Civilization through sheer technological advantage. Without needing to advance his tech further, producing enough ships would allow Xiao Yu to crush such a civilization.

But with Alien Beast Civilizations, the situation shifted slightly. Alien Beasts themselves were extremely powerful. Even if this Level 4 Alien Beast only accounted for half or even a quarter of Xiao Yu’s overall strength, could a single Nation-Class ship account for half or a quarter of Xiao Yu’s total power?

The answer was also no. Xiao Yu’s fleet was a collective force. A single Nation-Class ship could be taken down by swarming it with tens of thousands of small ships.

In other words, even a Level 5 Civilization’s Nation-Class ship would not be able to defeat this Level 4 Alien Beast.

And that’s where the real trouble lay. In total strength, Xiao Yu exceeded this Level 4 Alien Beast. But as an individual entity, it possessed mobility, coordination, stealth, and offensive capabilities that Xiao Yu could not match. In every comprehensive aspect, while it couldn’t destroy Xiao Yu outright, it was more than capable of causing constant trouble, making Xiao Yu feel uneasy.

“How did I end up encountering a creature like this?” Xiao Yu felt a bit of a headache. “Did it hide deep inside this planet’s core all along, secretly growing stronger? Was its location so well concealed that even the Specter elder failed to detect it? And then… only after the Specter elder died, and the planet was shattered by the Stellar Cannon, did it finally emerge?”

“I still haven’t found the Specter Heart, and now I’ve run into a creature like this.” Xiao Yu thought gloomily, decisively ordering the five City-Class starship formations rushing in for emergency reinforcement to halt and begin withdrawing. At the same time, the main fleet contracted, forming a combat formation.

The countless miniature robots and tens of thousands of communication satellites scattered throughout the asteroid belt acted as Xiao Yu’s eyes. After the Level 4 Alien Beast abruptly evaded him and vanished from view, Xiao Yu was racing to locate it once again.

“If this thing latches onto me, I won’t have a moment’s peace for the next few centuries. I have to kill it here, no matter what, and give it no chance to escape. Besides… the flesh of a Level 4 Alien Beast may not compare to White Dwarf Alien Beasts, but it’s still highly valuable. I’m facing a massive construction phase, and I need these materials.” Xiao Yu calculated rapidly in his mind.

“Was it you who destroyed my nest? You despicable technological civilization, I will wipe you out!”

Just as Xiao Yu was anxiously searching, a message suddenly reached him. Without analysis, Xiao Yu immediately knew it was from the Level 4 Alien Beast.

The content of the message startled Xiao Yu.

“Nest… nest?” Xiao Yu thought quickly. “Could this entire planet have been a breeding ground for this creature? What an audacious plan.”

At that moment, Xiao Yu recalled another issue, the evolutionary process of Alien Beast Civilizations.

Until now, Xiao Yu knew very little about Alien Beast Civilizations, only some basic information. As for their evolution, he knew almost nothing. Although he had built quite a bond with the Arrow Beast Race, for various reasons, his time with them had been short, and he hadn’t had a chance to study them deeply.

“Isn’t the process of life supposed to be the same everywhere? First, extremely primitive viruses, then cells, then multicellular organisms, slowly evolving, growing more complex and advanced. Could it be that Alien Beast Civilizations follow an entirely different evolutionary path?”

“We’re only a technological civilization here to gather minerals. We didn’t destroy your nest. We’re an ordinary technological civilization and hold no hostility toward you. If you don’t want us here, we can leave immediately.” Xiao Yu quickly fabricated a string of lies as he spoke.

“It’s fine if I can stall it for now. I’ll find an opportunity to destroy it later.” Xiao Yu thought.

“You don’t need to lie. I know your ships well. Before my nest was destroyed, I saw you many times. I watched you perform various strange constructions above my nest… If not for the presence of another powerful being on that star, I would’ve come out long ago to destroy you… Enough talking. Although you’ve reached nearly Level 5 Civilization, why would I fear you?”

“Now, let your civilization perish here!”

That was the final message. After it ended, the Level 4 Alien Beast completely vanished.

“Unable to locate… unable to locate!” Xiao Yu muttered. “How can this be? It hasn’t mastered spatial broadcast technology; it’s using ordinary curvature-based FTL communication, yet I can’t pinpoint its signal source? Could this be some unique ability of the Alien Beast Civilization?”

Before him was still nothing but chaos. The endless asteroids continued orbiting, colliding, merging, and constantly altering their paths…

Everything appeared perfectly normal, perfectly natural. But Xiao Yu knew that hidden within this starry sea of asteroids was a powerful Level 4 Alien Beast filled with hostility toward him.

Xiao Yu didn’t know where it was hiding, nor could he locate it. This sense of helpless passivity made Xiao Yu very uncomfortable.

He was fully prepared for battle. Hundreds of thousands of starships were arranged in a calculated formation, ready to strike no matter which direction the beast might emerge from.

But the beast did not appear from any direction. About five minutes after its final message, the Level 4 Alien Beast suddenly materialized out of nowhere in the void, right beside Xiao Yu’s largest starship, All Nations Pay Tribute!

The moment it appeared, it immediately launched its attack. In a flash, countless tentacles shot out and tightly coiled around All Nations Pay Tribute. Xiao Yu detected a massive surge of energy assaulting the starship’s Four-Dimensional Space Shield and other types of hybrid shields.

Xiao Yu’s nerves tensed to the extreme. And at that very moment, he keenly noticed something else.

At the tip of what appeared to be the creature’s tail, there was a mysterious object about ten meters in diameter, glowing faintly with a soft blue light. The glow wasn’t intense, but to Xiao Yu, it shone as piercingly as a star.

There was no need for scanning or analysis. The instant he saw it, Xiao Yu was certain.

“This is the Specter Heart I’ve been searching for all along! It was taken by this Level 4 Alien Beast! No wonder I could never find it!”