Chapter 45: The Mecha Dynasty, Section 7

An ordinary stone?
Hearing this, Hei Fa almost spat blood.
Stop joking. No matter how ordinary the Light and Dark Stone might look on the surface, it could never be just a simple stone. The Rock Clan has been on the verge of extinction many times over it, and even now they’re barely surviving—just for an ordinary stone?
Absolutely not!
“Have you tried other methods?”
“We’ve tried everything. Injecting any energy has no effect. Poisons also fail. And worst of all, scanning devices now work on it as well, but the results are still the same as before—it truly has become an ordinary stone,” Madaro replied regretfully, a hint of pain appearing on his wrinkled face.
Speaking of which, this Light and Dark Stone is equally significant to the Black Prisoners. Breaking this treasure could be considered a challenge for them. That’s why they tried their best, but instead of succeeding, they ended up in such trouble. Now Madaro was extremely regretful.
Yet, unlike Madaro’s despair, Hei Fa had a different thought.
Perhaps this was another disguise of the Light and Dark Stone.
“Are there any other methods we can use? I remember you saying the situation wasn’t that bad.”
“Well…” Madaro paused for a moment before quickly responding, “Yes. That’s true. Recently, one of our researchers came up with a new idea. He believes we should find a way through the help of other races. Those races possess many special abilities that we can’t achieve. Among these abilities, there might be one that can trigger a reaction in the Light and Dark Stone.”
“Oh?” Hei Fa raised an eyebrow. “That’s indeed a good idea. What’s the result? Have you found a suitable race?”
“Yes. There are four races whose abilities can trigger a reaction in the Light and Dark Stone. But the effects are weak. Some can only cause it to emit a faint light, while others can only make it tremble slightly. The results aren’t ideal. But this alone is enough to prove that the Light and Dark Stone isn’t completely useless. So I’ve started offering a large reward. We should get results in a few days.”

“Very good,” Black Hair nodded. “Then speed things up. We don’t have much time. Before I leave Death Star, we must uncover the secrets of this stone. During this period, abandon all other research and focus every effort on the Light and Dark Stone. I’ll mobilize all the resources under Blood Wolf’s command to support you. Whatever you need, just ask, and it will be brought to you.”
“Understood. Don’t worry. I’ll do it,” Madaro replied cheerfully, a hint of determination in his eyes.
This failure was like a slap in the face for the proud members of the Black Prison Gang. Madaro couldn’t let it go, especially considering Black Hair’s current attitude—this Light and Dark Stone was clearly of utmost importance. Madaro didn’t want nor intend to lose Black Hair’s trust. For both personal and professional reasons, he had no reason to back down anymore.
Moreover, the description he had given Black Hair earlier was also exaggerated. In truth, the Black Prison Gang’s tactics were far more diverse. It was only because the Light and Dark Stone was so crucial that they had restricted themselves out of fear of mistakes. But now…
Madaro grew fierce in heart—there was probably no room for caution anymore.
The meeting was brief and uninteresting. Black Hair came full of hope but left disappointed. Even after returning to his cloud tower, he hadn’t fully calmed down. Yet Madaro’s final promise eased his concerns somewhat.
Like other Blood Wolf warriors on Death Star, Black Hair had always held extreme trust in the Black Prison Gang. But he forgot that they were human, not gods, and certainly not omnipotent. Their heavy research tasks and numerous mecha development projects consumed all their time. And the Light and Dark Stone was so mysterious—it couldn’t be mastered overnight. Madaro’s achievements so far were already enough to label him a genius.
So, for the rest of the time, Black Hair could only wait. Of course, there were also the tedious administrative tasks. In his free time, he would go for walks with Sulei or pilot a small shuttle for an interstellar day trip in the 31st Star Region. Life was simple yet warm.
Another month passed in this way. By the time Black Hair’s third batch of Snake Fang Fleets was ready, Madaro finally sent word.
Significant progress had been made in analyzing the Light and Dark Stone.

Hearing this news, Hei Fa rushed almost straight to Black Prison Planet, not even stopping to respond to the inquiries from the patrol fleets along the way. If it weren’t for his warship’s distinctive markings, it might have triggered the highest level of alert on Death Star.

It was still that small square room, with a group of Black Prison members busy and anxious. Suddenly, the door swung open with a whoosh, and Hei Fa’s first words upon entering were, “What’s the result?”

“Shh…” Madaro, who had been waiting nearby, was startled. He quickly pulled Hei Fa aside and made a gesture to silence him.

“What’s wrong?” Hei Fa frowned, finding Madaro’s reaction strange. As the leader of the Black Prison people, how could he be so nervous? With his keen eyes, he could even see the glistening sweat drops on Madaro’s forehead.

“We’re still analyzing it. No interruptions allowed,” Madaro replied swiftly, then briefly shared the information he knew with Hei Fa.

It turned out that ever since Hei Fa suddenly placed greater emphasis on the Light and Dark Stone, Madaro had been extremely anxious. He urged his researchers to conduct another round of analysis on it every day, resorting to all the previously banned methods and trying every trick possible to achieve a breakthrough in the shortest time.

Hard work paid off. Madaro’s efforts finally yielded results. During the 7,600th experiment, one of the Black Prison researchers made an unexpected discovery: a certain chemical agent could trigger the same special reaction in the Light and Dark Stone as before.

This discovery immediately caught Madaro’s attention. He immediately gathered people to conduct further tests and eventually came to a surprising conclusion—the very agent was actually the reason why the Light and Dark Stone could absorb energy. In other words, the stone’s ability to absorb energy stemmed from the presence of that agent on its surface.

This revelation caused a huge stir. It was only then that Madaro realized he had been deceived by the Light and Dark Stone’s disguise all along. Its ability to absorb energy was merely superficial; its true nature had never been revealed to them.

This discovery was undoubtedly a huge blow to Madaro, yet it also stirred his pride. At this moment, he was truly in a difficult situation. With the abilities of the Black Prison Group, they had been tricked by a mere stone for so long—it was an utter humiliation. Now, he must uncover the secrets of the Light and Dark Stone at all costs; otherwise, he would no longer have the face to remain in that position.

A breakthrough came a month later. It was an alien sent by Sulei—a creature that resembled mud. When this creature approached the Light and Dark Stone, the stone reacted violently. As a burst of intense light erupted, it suddenly lunged at the alien like a living being, swallowing it whole with a terrifying surge of energy. After the light faded, the creature disappeared without a trace.

But afterward, when one of the Black Prison Group members tried to pick up the Light and Dark Stone, he was shocked to find that he could no longer move it. His right hand simply penetrated straight into the stone the moment it made contact.

What a terrifying sight! Even now, Madaro still remembers everything that happened clearly. The researcher’s palm vanished right before everyone’s eyes, yet the man showed no sign of pain. His wrist was bare, and from Madaro’s perspective, he could even see the cut surface—bones, blood vessels, and even muscle tissue were all clearly visible. Bright red blood flowed, but none spilled out.

The change happened so suddenly that it wasn’t until the researcher let out a scream that everyone snapped out of their shock. Watching the researcher fall to the ground in terror, and when others rushed to help him, they found his palm still in place—nothing seemed amiss.

This bizarre scene immediately alerted Madaro. He immediately sealed off the area, ordering everyone not to move the stone again. Then, he personally used a small detection device to approach the Light and Dark Stone.

Just like the researcher’s palm, the part of the detector that touched the stone disappeared. But Madaro obtained an astonishing result.

The vanished detector actually sent back information!!!

“What kind of information?!!!” Hearing this, the dark-haired man grew anxious and asked urgently in a low voice.

Sensitive as he was, he had already guessed that the tremendous progress Madeiro had achieved must be closely related to this information. Otherwise, there would be no need to describe it to him in such detail. Seeing his anxious expression, Madeiro didn’t keep him in suspense. With a gloomy face, he replied word by word…
“A structural diagram of a material composition.”
“A structural diagram of the Stone of Light and Darkness?” the black-haired man asked in surprise.
“No, it has nothing to do with the Stone of Light and Darkness. It’s a structural diagram of cosmic free particles,” Madeiro said, his old face twitching as his pupils contracted rapidly, as if he had witnessed the most terrifying thing.
“Do you understand? Cosmic free particles are the most ordinary ones, those that can be found everywhere. The engines of your warships operate by utilizing these free particles—they are the most basic units of the cosmic environment.” Madeiro’s gaze became distant as he spoke slowly, as if in a daze…
“Inside the Stone of Light and Darkness… there is actually… a universe.”