The Truth Gradually Emerges
"My Overlord, Knight 3857 is my honor to serve you." Sensing the arrival of Rowan's consciousness, the Knight piloting the Bio-ship greeted Rowan.
A year ago, two Egret-class Transport Ship carrying Rowan Wen had already passed through the outermost asteroid belt of the Proxima Star System and have now reached the vicinity of Proxima Planet A5.
The two Bio-ship disguised as meteorites did not fly directly to Big Origin Star, because Bio-ship did not allow them to reach Big Origin Star. They would need to decelerate and adjust their orbits multiple times en route, which is clearly not the behavior of a meteorite.
The Swarm doesn't know the capabilities of the alien civilization's shipboard observation system, and if the Swarm Meteor perform this operation, will they detect the anomaly?
As a precaution, the two meteorites pretended to be captured by the gravity of the Proxima Planet A5, which happened to be passing by, and collided with Planet A5's Satellite 2 along their normal trajectories.
Having just landed, Rowan descended into consciousness to check on his main body. His main body had been dormant for decades and was in relatively good condition, so he didn't continue to pay attention to it. Instead, he ordered the Creep to begin working and hatch the ten Insect Empress Eggs.
Thanks to advancements in Swarm technology, the Egret-class Transport Ship do not require Ecological Circulation System, resulting in significantly larger internal space than the older Swarm Meteor, allowing them to carry more items.
Each of Rowan Wen's transport ships carried dozens of Insect Empress Eggs, and these Insect Egg lived with Rowan Wen day and night, so their gene pool versions were always up-to-date.
A month later, the Swarm base Proxima the planet A5B2 was initially formed. In addition to hatching some auxiliary units for digging, the Insect Empress began to produce Insect Egg for Bio-ship at full capacity.
During the time the Insect Egg were developing, the Swarm had already found a radioactive mineral deposit on the moon. Proxima Centauri didn't have a giant charger like a gas giant, so some radioactive mineral deposits would do.
After the Insect Egg hatched, the mining area had been excavated into several radiation-filled cavities, where the Larval Form of large groups of Bio-ship bathed in radiation and developed.
When they grow to three or four meters in length, they are launched to directly absorb space radiation. Most of these spacecraft are made of nearly transparent aerogel, and their surfaces are covered with a layer of camouflage nanocrystals, making them very difficult to detect unless you are specifically looking at them at close range.
The Swarm is still amassing forces Proxima Planet A5, while the Riken's search has yielded initial results.
"Regi, after these years of hard work, we have a basic understanding of the planet's surface and have built a model. However, apart from detecting a few more locations with residual radiation, we haven't found anything else," Dr. Lute said in the captain's cabin.
Inside the room, besides Dr. Lute, were Captain Regi and Major Kamas, who was in charge of all security for the operation. These three were in charge of administration, military affairs, and scientific research, respectively, and were arguably the most powerful people on the Cat Ear Spaceship.
So, although the meeting may not seem very formal, it was of a very high level.
"So, does this mean the anomaly is hidden underground or in the sea? Is it an underground civilization or a deep-sea civilization?" Captain Regi asked, puzzled.
"It's not certain yet, but we've been operating on the surface with impunity for the past few years without ever being attacked. If there's a civilization hiding here, they're incredibly patient."
Captain Regi nodded. Dr. Lute made a good point. If it were him, he would at least try to make contact.
He glanced at Major Kamas' expression and thought to himself, "These brutes in the military, they can't possibly hold back; they'll probably just take action."
"However, I think it's more likely they're hiding underground. Over the years, I've used most of the satellites to closely monitor the sea surface, and I've assigned Celia to use most of the computing power to investigate anomalies on the sea surface, but we haven't found anything," Captain Regi said.
"Given the complete absence of human traces in the planet's orbit, they haven't ventured into space and shouldn't be wary of surveillance from tens of thousands of meters above. If they weren't detected then, they're probably not underwater."
"Possibly, but now I have another guess." Dr. Lute thought for a moment, nodded, then shook his head.
"What guess?"
"If the nuclear explosion was caused by some kind of creature, similar to those wild beasts, but much more powerful, that usually slumbers and only comes out to hunt when hungry, would perfectly explain the previous strange occurrences."
"I originally thought you were a scientist, but it turns out you're just a fantasist. Do you know how high the temperature your monster would have to withstand? That's impossible." Captain Regi's expression was one of reconnecting with an old friend, but seeing that Dr. Lute wasn't joking, his own expression gradually turned serious. "Are you serious?"
Dr. Lute nodded affirmatively. "Of course, the universe is too vast, with too many unknowns that we don't know. We shouldn't use our limited science to define everything in the universe."
"Have you discovered something?"
"About ten kilometers from the two initial radiation points, I discovered some shallow pits along the coast. They were all roughly the same size, shape, and dimensions. After examining the surrounding environment and sand layers, I concluded that they were likely footprints of some kind of creature. These footprints must have been very deep when they first formed, but because they are near the sea and surrounded by layers of highly hydrated mud and sand, they became shallow pits. I estimate that they formed over about ten years."
"You mean, they formed at the same time as the last time we observed a fusion reaction?" Captain Regi immediately understood what Dr. Lute meant.
"That's right, they formed around the same time as the two fusion sites more than ten kilometers away. You can imagine that two groups of beasts were fighting on the plains when a giant monster crawled out of the ocean, fired two fusion attacks at them from a distance, and then turned back into the sea."
"This is truly... truly unimaginable." Captain Regi was somewhat shocked; he genuinely couldn't fathom how a living being could launch a fusion attack.
"This is just speculation, but if it is true, then this monster would be enormous, perhaps hundreds of meters tall and weighing tens of thousands of tons."
Captain Regi's lips moved, feeling a bit dry. He wanted to say something like "This is not scientific," but in the end, he didn't say it. If Rowan were here, he would definitely applaud Dr. Lute's speculation. Apart from the two sides fighting on the grassland, he had almost deduced the course of events.
Seeing his friend's shocked expression, Dr. Lute laughed and said, "Don't worry, even if it's true, it's just a monster. We're a race capable of space travel, why would we be afraid of a monster?"