1000 years.

Luna awoke.

It had been a long time; she had spent another 1000 years in Divine Revelation.

During that time, she experienced much, witnessing the rise and fall of countless nations and races in the virtual world. This provided her with invaluable insights and experience.

A technologically advanced nation even emerged within Divine Revelation, serving as a simulated model; the NPCs and players within contributed "imaginative resources" to the real world.

During these 1000 years, she didn't request updates from Ayla. She trusted Ayla to handle everything.

If Ayla couldn't handle it, her intervention would be pointless.

As the leader of this nomadic civilization, she made the overall strategic decisions. Ayla served as her think tank, handling calculations and executing plans, while Luna provided insightful guidance and made crucial decisions that went beyond Ayla's capabilities.

"The fleet has reached Proxima Centauri. Proceed to Proxima Centauri c."

Luna received a full report just before awakening.

She knew what to do.

Proxima Centauri c was less developed than Proxima Centauri b, making it a relatively safe landing site.

"Luna, I don't recommend going to Proxima Centauri."

Ayla spoke, her holographic avatar displaying a serious expression.

Luna, observing her, felt she was overreacting.

"Ayla, you've upgraded the electromagnetic shields. Even large-scale dark matter projectiles are unlikely to penetrate my defenses."

"You don't need to worry about my safety."

Ayla nodded slightly.

"I'm not worried about the Proxima Centauri civilization posing a threat to you."

"Luna, follow me."

She turned and headed towards the experimental section, Luna following curiously.

The ship's experimental section was no longer empty; rows of biological labs lined the corridor. Luna arrived at the main chemistry lab.

All the equipment was designed for chemical analysis and was relatively large-scale. Its functions included observing subatomic particles, analyzing macroscopic chemical phenomena, and conducting various chemical experiments.

Ayla controlled more than a dozen robots within the lab, initiating various processes.

A robot approached Luna, holding four test tubes containing soil, metal, liquid, and an empty tube.

"What's this?"

"Just some samples randomly collected from Proxima Centauri c. They weren't specially selected."

"These three tubes contain all the elements found on Proxima Centauri c, in solid, liquid, and gaseous states."

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The robot poured the contents of the three tubes into three separate instruments. The instruments displayed the results on the lab's main screen.

"Do you see anything unusual?"

Luna studied the data on the screen, then counted carefully, a puzzled expression on her face.

"Eighty-two?"

"You said these tubes contained all the elements from Proxima Centauri c?"

Luna thought Ayla must have made a mistake. Shouldn't there be 94 elements with relatively high abundance in nature?

Ayla simply hummed in response.

"Correct. Eighty-two."

"And none of these 82 elements are radioactive. Theoretically, there are no radioactive elements on Proxima Centauri c."

"Over the past millennium, I've made significant efforts to locate radioactive elements, deploying substantial resources. Yet, I've found none."

"The same is true for Proxima Centauri b and d."

Luna pondered.

"Could it be because Proxima Centauri is a red dwarf star, lacking the energy and gravitational force of the Sun to create these heavier elements?"

That was the only explanation she could think of.

"No. Red dwarfs might not produce radioactive elements themselves, but Proxima Centauri is relatively young—perhaps a second or third-generation star. During its formation, it would have absorbed radioactive elements from supernovae."

"Moreover, radioactivity isn't limited to heavy elements; lighter elements can also be radioactive, such as Carbon-14. Cosmic rays and asteroids can also contain radioactive elements."

"But I haven't detected any radioactive elements in the Proxima Centauri system, not even trace amounts of element 83."

"The scarcity of radioactive elements is why the Proxima Centauri civilization turned to dark matter. Their history is far longer than humanity's; it took them 780,000 years to advance from Type 0 to Type 1."

"After discovering dark matter, they entered a period of rapid advancement, progressing from Type 1 to Type 1.9 in just 6000 years."

Luna understood what Ayla was implying.

Radioactive elements should naturally exist; their absence indicated manipulation by another civilization.

If not the Proxima Centauri civilization, it must have been another.

This other civilization was systematically collecting radioactive elements, doing so continuously for an extended period.

A third civilization!

This was Ayla's warning.

The method of collecting these radioactive elements wasn't likely simple mining; it involved advanced technology capable of large-scale extraction without macroscopic detection.

This technology might involve manipulation of fundamental forces. After studying the light-based civilization, Ayla concluded that Type 2 civilizations could achieve significant advancements in manipulating fundamental forces.

A civilization capable of such advanced technology, capable of directly absorbing radioactive elements, would likely be Type 2 or higher.

A fundamental aspect of Type 2 civilizations might be—Grand Unification!

Luna recalled her earlier hypothesis about the universe.

Observers!

Perhaps she wasn't the first observer of Proxima Centauri, but another civilization.

"Is there any concrete evidence?"

Ayla displayed an image.

"This is what I've collected: a massive vacuum bubble encompassing the entire Alpha Centauri system."

This evidence was sufficient to confirm the existence of a third civilization.

"If they can absorb radioactive elements, they could likely absorb stable elements too."

"Could the elements in our Solar System have also been absorbed?"

Luna pondered this.

"We may already be under observation."

"We don't know if this civilization is benevolent or malevolent."

"Have they already detected us and launched a fleet towards us?"

"Perhaps they are already within the Proxima Centauri system, but we can't detect them."

"We simply don't know."

After careful consideration, she made a decision.

"If we are already being observed, no matter where we go, we cannot escape the gaze of a more advanced civilization."

"Therefore, we cannot retreat; we must continue to develop."

"A galactic federation... perhaps we need to create a true federation to counter these more powerful civilizations."

"Therefore, we must control the Proxima Centauri civilization."

"Ayla, clone me. Let the clone interact with the Proxima Centauri civilization."

"And I'll remain hidden."

"Focus your efforts on the Multi-eyed planet. Develop advanced technologies there, ensuring the Multi-eyed adopt and benefit from our knowledge."

"We must reach Type 2 as quickly as possible."

"Only by achieving Grand Unification will we be able to understand Type 2 technologies."

The technological disparity between civilizations made the methods of advanced civilizations almost invisible to less advanced ones.

This profound sense of danger weighed heavily on Luna.

She had become what the Proxima Centauri civilization had been a thousand years ago—prey!