Earth Calendar, 2096.
Fifty years had passed since the human fleet left the Solar System.
In the empty expanse between the Solar System and the Proxima Centauri system, a massive fleet of 1,251 starships drifted "slowly" at 10% of the speed of light.
Faint light occasionally flared at the sterns of the starships, then quickly faded.
It came from the intermittent operation of their Hall Thrusters.
Although the space between stellar systems was extremely empty, sparse interstellar dust and gas still existed there.
For starships traveling at 10% of the speed of light, even this incredibly diffuse interstellar matter created considerable drag.
Thus, to conserve as much energy as possible, Zero could only operate every starship's Hall Thrusters in irregular, intermittent bursts.
As the fleet continued toward its destination as usual, several probes sent alerts to the flagship, [Earth].
A few seconds later, several large radio telescopes mounted outside [Earth] quietly adjusted their angles, aiming at a dim star ahead-Proxima Centauri.
Inside [Earth].
The central supercomputing center.
Pinpricks of indicator light blinked throughout the dim compartment.
The hum of the cooling system filled the entire compartment.
A red warning light suddenly appeared in one corner of the supercomputing center.
[Anomaly detected!] [Classifying situation...] [Error! Current situation falls outside predefined scenarios!] [Warning! Warning! Level-One Anomaly!]
Red light instantly flooded the entire supercomputing center!
[Executing wake-up procedure...] [Personnel to awaken: ...]
An urgent alarm rang in Lü Yongchang's ears.
Perhaps because he had been in hibernation for so long, the alarm sounded strangely distant, almost unreal.
"Professor Lü..."
"Professor Lü, something's wrong with Proxima Centauri!"
After repeated, urgent calls, Lü Yongchang gradually regained consciousness and slowly opened his eyes.
He instinctively drew a breath.
"Cough, cough, cough!"
The deep-sea fluid remaining in his lungs immediately gave