"Besides that, rebuilding the [Battering Ram] and maintaining our various starships must also go on the agenda."
"According to Zero's estimates, we need to wait at least five years before we can carry out our original flight plan."
Everyone seated in the Command Center frowned at those words.
"Professor, five years... isn't that too long?" Fang Xu was the first to voice what all the researchers were thinking.
Lü Yongchang shook his head without speaking.
Anxiety flashed in Fang Xu's eyes. "The Cleaners Civilization and the Gardener Faction Civilization are both focused on us right now."
"Never mind the Gardener Faction Civilization. After losing a probe, the Cleaners Civilization alone is very likely to send actual warships after us!"
"I suggest we depart immediately!"
"Our current energy reserves are enough to support the first stage of interstellar travel. Weapons, equipment, replenishing our energy-we can deal with all that once we reach the target stellar system!"
Lü Yongchang sighed and said softly, "Of course I know all that."
"But we simply cannot shorten these five years of repairs and preparation any further."
"The target stellar system is 42.3 light-years away."
"Even setting aside whether we'll encounter a space pirate civilization like the Lator Civilization during that 42.3-light-year journey, consider the target stellar system itself."
"We know nothing about it. We don't even know whether there's a civilization there!"
"If we rush there without adequate preparations, the Human Fleet could very well face annihilation!"
Fang Xu fell silent.
Not just Fang Xu, but every researcher present fell silent.
Humanity was, in effect, facing a dilemma.
On one hand, embarking on an interstellar voyage over such an immense distance required time to prepare!
On the other, the arrival of the Cleaners Civilization's probe proved that advanced civilizations had already noticed Human Civilization. They