Guests from Afar!
This voyage can be described as a grand and imposing undertaking. With over 20 million ships of various types, the sheer number of them setting sail together creates a veritable steel torrent.
The wonder of wisdom and the power of technology are on full display here, representing the best embodiment of life conquering the stars with wisdom.
The introduction of Magnetic Propulsion turned more than 20 million human ships of various types into a massive ghost fleet. From the perspective of civilizations below the Level 3 Civilization, this fleet had no thrust and just inexplicably accelerated slowly before disappearing into the Void.
If all the indicator lights on the exterior of the ship were turned off, it would look more like a lifeless metal shell drifting in the dark.
If a civilization below level three were to see this, it would likely be astonished by this incomprehensible propulsion technology, and thus develop a sense of awe towards the civilization that possesses such technology.
The moment the fleet disappeared into the vast Starry Sky was also the moment when Yue Yuan and the others would enter hibernation once more.
Level 3 Civilization can increase its speed to 50% of the speed of light, but it is still too slow in the face of the vast universe, and people have to continue to hibernate to get through the slow journey.
Hibernation of personnel means the stagnation of scientific research, which is unavoidable. This is not only a matter of human lifespan, but also of other long-lived races, because the slow passage of time across galaxies involves not only lifespan, but also a series of issues such as resources, energy, maintenance, and repair.
All Sentient Life and creatures would be awake and sailing, which would put enormous pressure on the fleet's supply. Even Level 3 Civilization would not be able to solve this problem, or rather, civilizations with insufficient sailing speed would not be able to solve this problem.
Currently, humanity sees only one solution: Warp Speed Travel. Traveling at or even faster than the speed of light would drastically shorten the time required for each leg of the journey. Only in this way can humanity develop technology while traveling; there's no other way at the moment.
But it doesn't matter, because what humanity is here to do is to seek redress from the Interstellar Transaction Market, and they don't care about these things.
Logically, human voyages should cause technological development to stagnate, while the Interstellar Transaction Market carried within Star System have had time to develop. Thus, by the time humanity reaches its Target Star System, it is possible that the Interstellar Transaction Market will have experienced a technological leap forward.
However, reaching the Level 4 Civilization is not easy, and great unification is not so easy to achieve.
Gradually, humanity's warships could no longer bask in the light of this star; they had gone too far, too far away, to be detected even by large-aperture Astronomical Telescope.
However, if we possess cosmic magnetic field detection technology, we will discover that some residual magnetic field traces remain where the human warship fleet disappeared.
If a civilization were to discover these traces, it would certainly be able to follow them to find the location of the human warship fleet. However, this operation would have to be quick and successful, because after a period of time, these tracks would be erased by the universe itself.
Just like the sandstorms in the desert erase the footprints of those who have walked across it.
The voyage passed in the blink of an eye.
When the human timeline reached its 299th year, the clock that awakened hibernation roused humanity. Being awakened from hibernation also meant that the destination had been reached.
Two hundred and ninety-nine years is human time, not cosmic time. At this moment, three hundred and forty years have passed in the Great Universe.
This is the time dilation effect caused by 50 percent of the speed of light.
However, it's worth noting that humanity didn't spend the entire 299 years in hibernation traveling. Instead, they stopped twice along the way: once for resupply and to allow the Residential Spaceship Cluster to separate and travel separately, and the last time to find a Star System near the Interstellar Transaction Market for a major resupply.
The Star System where humanity conducts its major resupply is approximately 20 light-years away from the Star System where the Interstellar Transaction Market is located. In fact, humanity's presence here is not solely for resupply; it also includes resource development and the construction of warships.
Yes, when the human warship fleet finished resupplying and left, a manned warship was left here so that its Strong Artificial Intelligence could continue building warships as a backup in case of emergency.
The Star System that the Residential Spaceship Cluster travels to serves as the rear base.
After everything was prepared according to plan, the human fleet once again headed towards the Star System where the Interstellar Transaction Market was located.
Yes, the Interstellar Transaction Market is still there. It may seem amazing, but it's not unusual for interstellar communication, given how long an interstellar voyage takes.
If you want to do business with other civilizations, or even just pretend to do business, you have to stay in one place for a long time. Otherwise, if other civilizations travel thousands of miles only to find that there's nothing there, then the joke is really bad.
The Interstellar Transaction Market was clearly aware of this, so when the Human Civilization's fleet arrived, they sent a welcome message to the human fleet, just as they had welcomed the Dog-Headed People Fleet before.
The First Fleet, the fleet whose Flagship Lyra was located, was the first to receive the information.
As the human fleet was nearing its destination, it split into three in the Void. The other two fleets maneuvered in the Void, making a small circle, and entered the target star from below and above, respectively.
However, unlike the First Fleet, the second and Third Fleet did not enter the Star System directly. Instead, they gradually reduced their speed and waited for the First Fleet to obtain the results before taking further action.
Similarly, since the three fleets currently have different roles, the First Fleet is very conspicuous, sending Electromagnetic Wave information to the Interstellar Transaction Market while advancing, while the other two fleets remain Electromagnetic Wave silent.
Since the warships of Level 3 Civilization do not have bright exhaust plumes, they are much more difficult to spot. Optical telescopes are basically useless, or rather, by the time an optical telescope can see an enemy warship, it's practically face-to-face.
Unless a probe wandering in outer space can detect them in advance, or, as humans previously observed with the Kun-Tai Civilization, detect them through traces of dust clouds, any encounter between the two sides will likely soon bring them into the effective range of each other's Energy Weapon.
Therefore, fleets like the Second and Third Fleet, which drift quietly in, are extremely difficult to spot in the Interstellar Transaction Market, not to mention the First Fleet, which attracts attention as a visible force.
Humanity has become quite gifted in warfare in the interstellar age.
"Welcome, guests from afar, to our Interstellar Transaction Market. Our Interstellar Transaction Market belongs to the great, peace-loving Crimson Flame Civilization, and is also a member of the Merchant Alliance. Welcome, civilization from afar! The vastness of the universe is truly awe-inspiring. Nearly a thousand years have passed, and finally, another guest has arrived."
This is a reply from the Interstellar Transaction Market based on the Clear Code messages sent by humans. It sounds as if they are genuinely welcoming us and have encountered many civilizations coming here to trade.
In reality, only they themselves know that since the broadcast began, very few customers have actually come to their so-called Interstellar Transaction Market to make transactions.