Chapter 29: Galactic Harvest: The Cosmic Forager(Refurbished)
Elias Vance, now a living embodiment of universal laws with a planetary-sized dantian, felt the boundless energy surging within him. His Qi Matter-Antimatter Annihilation Cores were humming, generating power at an incomprehensible rate. Yet, even with this colossal output, a fundamental axiom nagged at his quantum mind: "Matter can neither be created nor destroyed, only transformed."
His cores, while incredibly efficient, didn’t create energy from nothing. They transmuted matter and antimatter into pure energy. And that matter and antimatter, while generated from refined spiritual Qi, required a constant input. The ambient spiritual Qi of this world, though denser than Earth’s, was simply not enough to sustain it indefinitely at the scale required for cosmic law manipulation. He could run for a while, even days, but eventually, his internal reserves would dwindle.
"A rather inconvenient truth," Elias mused, his vast intellect quickly processing the implications. "My power generation relies on a constant supply of mass. If I don’t acquire external fuel, I will literally go hungry and die. A rather ironic end for a nascent god of science."
The best source of mass and energy, readily available on a galactic scale, were solar systems. Planets, asteroids, comets, and most importantly, stars—colossal fusion reactors themselves. These were the ultimate fuel for his new existence.
Before embarking on his galactic grocery run, he needed storage. His current spatially expanded dantians were filled with the annihilation cores. He needed an external, high-capacity, dedicated storage solution.
He extended his Quantum Divine Sense (QDS) outward, feeling the subtle spacetime distortions of his planetary-sized primary dantian. He used his profound mastery of the Law of Space (Dimensional Storage, Spatial Folds) to create a separate, external storage ring. This wasn’t a physical ring on his finger, but a stable, hyper-compressed pocket dimension orbiting his core being, invisible and intangible to external perception, accessible only by his will. He painstakingly expanded its internal volume until it reached the staggering size of a planet. This would be his cosmic pantry.
"Right," he declared to the silent barren wastes, "time for some intergalactic foraging."
He re-engaged his Void Skimmer: Electromagnetic Warp Glide, pushing its output to an unprecedented degree. He layered it with the Law of Time – Time Dilation, bending the local chronal flow around himself to further accelerate his perceived speed. He then invoked elements of the Law of Space – Spatial Folds, subtly bending the spacetime ahead of him, allowing him to traverse distances not just quickly, but by effectively shortening the path itself. This wasn’t merely faster-than-light travel; it was multi-law-accelerated, reality-bending propulsion, a blur of existence through the void.
His internal Refined Battle Codex Overlay projected a real-time star map of the galaxy, derived from his initial scans and his Multiverse Echo Perception. He filtered for star systems not yet teeming with advanced civilizations, preferring uninhabited fuel sources. He aimed for efficiency and minimal interaction.
He burst through the atmosphere, the sky deepening from azure to the infinite black of space in a fraction of a second. The familiar stars of this galaxy, now impossibly close, beckoned. He oriented himself, then surged forward, a silent, imperceptible ghost streaking across the cosmic canvas.
Solar system after solar system flashed past his perception. Each one, a vibrant dance of stars and orbiting celestial bodies, represented a colossal energy reserve. He targeted relatively small, unpopulated systems first, practicing his new acquisition technique.
Upon reaching a chosen solar system, he wouldn’t simply take its energy. He would compress it.