Territorial Star Chart and an Unexpected Development
However, from a human perspective, we would actually prefer that.
The Nair Civilization didn't discover the human fleet was a pleasant surprise. Since they didn't detect it during the fleet's deceleration, turning, and acceleration, the only chance of discovery would be when the human fleet reached its destination and decelerated again.
Of course, since the time it takes for humans to reply is easy to tell, as long as the crew members on those three ships of the Nair Civilization aren't stupid, they will know the approximate location of humans immediately, which is one light-year away from the probe team.
Although they couldn't see it, they must have known that the human fleet was there.
So we have to wait another four years for the true Civilization Main Body, or rather, the message from that Yellow Dwarf Star, to return. But instead of staying put or moving closer, humanity headed toward another Red Dwarf Star.
Therefore, it might be five years before the information is transmitted from the probe team again.
After the human fleet resumed its steady-speed navigation, everyone who had awakened from hibernation returned to their normal work and life. In scientific research, apart from large-scale experiments like particle collision experiments, other research also gradually resumed.
Time passed by day by day.
When the clock struck six years after humanity completed its transition, a reply from the Nair Civilization was finally received by humanity once again.
The message was transmitted from the previous probe team via Neutrino Communication. Humans speculate that it originated from the Yellow Dwarf Star, was transmitted to the three spaceships, then to the human probes, and finally to the human fleet.
Five years have passed, and the human probe team and the three spaceships of the Nair Civilization are still there, having become a forward communication Relay Station for both sides.
It was indeed just a forward Relay Station. This was because the distance was too great for information transmission to be completed in one go, so information was actually transmitted station by station from the probes. In other words, there were some relay probes launched by humans for signal transmission between the probe teams and the human fleet.
If the Nair Civilization is indeed a normal Level 2 Civilization with Technology Tree, then their information transmission should be similar to that of humans, transmitted from one station to another until it reaches the Yellow Dwarf Star, or Nair Star.
After all, humanity is well aware that as Level 2 Civilization, it has no ability to make stars twinkle, nor does it have the legendary stellar power amplifier. Therefore, to transmit information over distances measured in light-years, it either has to do this or use a large Electromagnetic Wave power amplifier.
In fact, humans do possess the technology to manufacture large-scale Electromagnetic Wave power amplifiers, but such a device would be nothing more than a giant horn in space. Knowing the dangers of space and the importance of concealing themselves, humans have not built such a device. Moreover, they already have Neutrino Communication; a relay detector can be placed every light-year. Neutrino jets are far more concealed than a giant Electromagnetic Wave power amplifier that resembles a horn.
That said, when the Nair Civilization's reply arrived on the Lyra, Yue Yuan happened to be on the bridge. He notified some relevant personnel and then read it first.
But as soon as he started looking at it, he frowned.
At the very beginning of the information was a star map, containing about a hundred stars. Yue Yuan, who frequently looked at star maps, immediately recognized it as the star map of the region where humanity currently resided.
Clearly, the Nair Civilization was answering human inquiries about its territory.
This was something to be happy about, but Yue Yuan couldn't remain calm after seeing a familiar Red Dwarf Star clearly marked with the symbol of the Nair Civilization.
This Red Dwarf Star is the new destination that the human fleet headed for after it changed course.
Of the hundred or so stars in the star map, the Nair Civilization did not mark all of them, but only marked twenty-seven, one of which was the Red Dwarf Star that humanity was heading to.
"Do we really have to turn back again?!" Yue Yuan swiped the screen, rotating the star map to examine it carefully, asking himself this question.
After observing for a while, he found the flight path that humanity had previously sent to the Nair Civilization, showing their arrival route. Whether by coincidence or not, the Nair Civilization hadn't marked the Star System to which the human-marked flight path belonged.
"Could this map of spheres of influence be an exaggeration by the Nair Civilization?" Yue Yuan couldn't help but think to himself upon seeing this.
Yue Yuan felt that the so-called "using a tiger's skin to create a big banner" was a reasonable exaggeration by the Nair Civilization, making themselves appear more powerful than they actually were. After all, from the Nair Civilization's perspective, they were the locals, while humans were outsiders. Naturally, they would portray themselves as more powerful and safer without the outsiders' knowledge.
Well, if they don't want to play dumb and trick outsiders.
Yue Yuan believed it was highly likely, after all, the Nair Civilization wasn't some Wandering Civilization, but rather one that most likely developed around its home planet. As the saying goes, you can run away from your home planet, but you can't hide from your ancestors; when encountering a civilization of similar strength, exaggerating your own power is indeed useful.
Anyway, Yue Yuan was also shocked when he saw the range of 27 stars marked.
Based on these considerations, Yue Yuan did not immediately order the human fleet to turn around again. Shortly after the arrival of many experts and scholars, they also agreed with Yue Yuan's point of view.
Therefore, some people believe that the marked Red Dwarf Star was added by the Nair Civilization to exaggerate its own strength, so the human fleet does not need to change its course.
Of course, some believe that humans should not take chances and should change course immediately.
However, the Staff Department believed that frequently changing course would only allow the Nair Civilization to discover the fleet's whereabouts. Since it had not been discovered yet, it was better to maintain a constant speed.
Moreover, in order to conceal their tracks, humanity must also manipulate the timing of their response. Now that their course has been altered, it is impossible for humanity to send a reply to the three ships of the Nair Civilization within two years.
In order to prevent the Nair Civilization from deducing the approximate location of the human fleet through the time it takes for the messages to travel back and forth, the Staff Department suggested that the reply should tell the Nair Civilization that the human fleet is already on its way back to the previous star, and the time of the reply should be calculated based on the journey back to the previous star, thus creating the impression that the human fleet is actually heading back.
This suggestion received support from most people.
What's somewhat perplexing is that as everyone continued to browse the information from the Nair Civilization, they discovered that the Nair Civilization actually invited humanity to go to the Yellow Dwarf Star that humanity had mentioned, and sincerely apologized for the three spaceships that had blocked their way. They also promised to provide various fuels and resource supplies for Human Civilization, but humanity would need to exchange them for items or technologies of corresponding value.
If it were offered for free, humanity would be extremely suspicious, but the Nair Civilization spoke of a paid exchange. For a moment, humanity was left unsure of what to do.