The Road of Wandering
Humans are deeply interested in studying the mysterious phenomena in the universe, so they are very reluctant to leave, but there's nothing they can do. They've been here for decades, yet they've gained nothing beyond the initial observations, and they don't even have a way to continue their research.
Humans originally had a plan to capture them, but ultimately discovered that they had no ability to capture those shimmering bright spots, and didn't even know what they were, let alone why this huge Hydrogen Molecular Cloud would exhibit such a strange phenomenon.
In this situation, humanity has no choice but to temporarily leave and continue its Starry Sky Road.
However, although there was no substantial progress, it did increase humanity's understanding of the universe, letting people know that there are strange phenomena in the universe that they have never seen before, things that even Level 4 Civilization cannot understand.
The universe is indeed amazing. It is far more than what one can see from one place. There are countless unknown, unheard of and unseen things hidden in the depths of the vast starry sea.
The discovery here will also make humanity realize that a Wandering Civilization indeed gains more experience than one that develops within a single Star System or region. While constant wandering increases the risk of a civilization's demise, danger also brings opportunity.
Just like the Small Universe created for humanity by the Awakener 'Illusion',' it's right there, containing two-thirds of humanity's Astronomical-Level Particle Collider. This is the opportunity for a Level 3 Civilization. If a civilization has always stayed near its home planet and expanded outwards from there, it might develop to its own destruction without ever discovering that Small Universe deep in space.
If they discover the Small Universe, they will find the Astronomical-Level Particle Collider left by humans inside. Although it is no longer complete, the core components of the collider are still there, because back then, humans only dismantled its acceleration part.
Even if that Particle Collider were no longer usable, and the resources within that Small Universe were insufficient to support the long-term development of a Level 3 Civilization, seeing Astronomical-Level Particle Collider of that size would still provide inspiration for Level 3 Civilization.
At the very least, it will make them think that this might be a necessary device for advancing to Level 4 Civilization. This will motivate them to make a concerted effort, and perhaps this is the factor that will help a Level 3 Civilization advance to the fourth level. This is the opportunity.
Humanity is in a similar situation today. If it weren't for a Wandering Civilization, humanity would never have discovered this Nebula. The knowledge and insights gained from discovering this Nebula might even influence humanity's judgment on certain matters in the future.
This must be what they mean by the saying that there is a divine will in the dark!
In particular, the hypothesis that it is biological could offer insights into humanity's understanding of other life forms in the universe. Humans have long known that life in the universe is not limited to Carbon-based life, but if the sparks in this Nebula are indeed life, biological life, it would greatly expand the scope of human intelligence gathering.
That said, since the glimmer of light in this Nebula is still unknown to humankind, and out of caution about the unknown, when humans decided to leave, they did not recall the probes that had been sent into the Nebula, but instead sent them back outside the Nebula and left them in that Void.
Yes, they were indeed abandoned by humans in a sense, but not in a meaningless way. It wasn't just the probes, but also the unmanned Engineering Ship that was sent out to work.
Before leaving, humanity transported a batch of supplies and a space Work Platform, then had Engineering Ship construct an observatory outside Nebula for long-term observation. This observatory would also serve as a maintenance and repair center for the probes, ensuring their operational lifespan.
According to human estimates, the Antimatter energy system of this observatory and maintenance center can last for about ten years. After the Antimatter is exhausted, the heavy Fusion Reactor will be activated. After Heavy Nuclear Fusion is activated as the energy system, the Work Platform can continue to operate for another twenty years. At the same time, the platform will enter a low-energy operation state, that is, it will no longer maintain the detector, but will only maintain its own observation of the Nebula.
Thirty years from now, this makeshift Work Platform and observation station will be completely shut down, turning into cosmic scrap metal.
In other words, even after humans leave, they can continue to observe the Nebula for another thirty years. Naturally, this information cannot be transmitted to humans in real time. Therefore, humans have specially placed an unmanned spacecraft on standby to collect information. When the platform reaches the end of its lifespan, it will carry the information from those thirty years and embark on Warp Speed Travel to catch up with the human fleet along the planned route.
Humans could actually extend the lifespan of their Work Platform, but it would be pointless. For example, if observation continued for hundreds of years, the Great Fleet human Great Fleet would have long since vanished, and any remaining ships wouldn't be able to catch up.
Thirty years is just right. Humanity plans to stop at its next destination for resupply, and incidentally build a few Planetary-Class Spaceship as backup, or to provide a standard of living for the Alien Race that have contributed to the development of Human Civilization. Given time, humanity will produce more Planet-Class Residential Spaceship and other types of spaceships to prepare for the future growth of its warship fleet.
A civilization needs to expand its living space; it can't wait until it's almost homeless before it starts thinking about building new spaceships.
Humanity quickly reached its next destination, where it stayed for thirty years, building a new Planetary-Class Spaceship before continuing its journey.
During this time, humanity also awaited the arrival of the spaceship carrying thirty years of observational data, but unfortunately, there were still no new discoveries. The light spots in that Nebula continued to flash there, and the reason for this was still unknown.
Humans have attempted to observe the phenomenon from a holistic perspective, with some experts even suggesting that the entire new cloud might be a biological entity. However, after comprehensively analyzing the flashes from numerous locations, no connection has been found between them, and the flashes as a whole do not appear to be transmitting any informational signals.
It can be said that nothing was gained.
There's nothing to regret, though. The location is already recorded on the star map, and as long as that Nebula orbits the Galactic Center like other stars, humanity can find it again. Of course, continuing to search for and study that Nebula is probably something for when humanity reaches a higher level.
Previous explorations and research have clearly shown that humanity's level of Level 4 Civilization) is far from meeting the standards for exploration; without sufficient knowledge, exploration is futile.