An unknown corner of the Enrojet Alliance's territory.
This region of space was desolate, with no trace of any civilization within twenty light-years.
It had been deliberately cleared out-the natives who had originally lived in nearby stellar systems had all moved away under the Enroget Civilization's "persuasion."
At the center of this region lay a beautiful nebula glowing purplish red.
It was the product of a supernova explosion.
According to Human Civilization's preliminary survey data and the Enroget Civilization's research, this supernova explosion had occurred roughly two hundred thousand years ago.
On the scale of the universe, that was a very short time.
And that brilliant supernova explosion had successfully sent a star to its grave-it had become a neutron star.
Earth calendar year 3750.
With a ripple of spacetime fluctuation, a "brand-new" fleet appeared in the open void 0.1 light-years from the neutron star.
Sparse nebular matter surrounded it, but compared with the emptiness of interstellar space, this place already seemed crowded.
That nebular matter was slowly spreading outward.
These were the traces of the star's final cry to the universe before its death.
The fleet shut down its warp drives and hovered quietly within the brilliant nebula.
Although the warp drives had gone through several iterations, they were still somewhat inadequate in the face of such an extreme celestial object.
A few seconds later.
The antimatter engines began emitting increasingly intense radiation, and the Human Fleet resumed its advance toward the target region.
Time slowly passed.
The Human Fleet finally approached its destination.
An enormous planet, dark gray from end to end.
Its surface was exceptionally smooth, with almost no gaps or protrusions, nor any extraneous equipment.
This was certainly no naturally formed object.
Any intelligent being could reach that simple conclusion with a single glance.