It was the year 4400 of the Earth Calendar, 345 years after the Human Federation's Expedition Plan began.
Over those 345 years, the Human Federation's development had never stalled.
Whether preparations for the Expedition Plan or research at the Academy of Sciences, every project had proceeded in an orderly fashion.
As the level six technology tree grew increasingly complete, Human Civilization had also become considerably more powerful than it had been 345 years earlier.
But to quietly gather supplies for intergalactic travel, and to avoid attracting the attention of any other advanced civilizations that might exist, the Human Federation had curbed its expansion as much as possible under Lü Yongchang's orders.
Even so, Human Civilization's territory now spanned 1,800 light-years.
[Dyson Spheres] were widely deployed along the edges of its territory.
More precisely, along the frontier facing the Solar System.
As for the reason...
After that war all those years ago, the region had become utterly barren of civilizations.
Weak civilizations had perished in the war's aftermath, while powerful ones, like humanity, had left their homes behind to seek survival elsewhere.
All that remained were vast numbers of empty stellar systems and stars still in their prime.
These conditions were perfect for deploying [Dyson Spheres].
And so, large numbers of [Dyson Spheres] had been deployed throughout this region, drawing energy from those stars in their prime.
The widespread use of [Dyson Spheres] had only made matters worse for a region already at its lowest ebb.
Starlight dimmed. Aside from silently working machinery and the occasional spacetime fluctuation, all that remained were celestial bodies moving rigidly according to physical laws.
It looked every bit like a dead region of space.
Kepler-452b, South Pole.
Lü Yongchang's office, Central Research Institute, Human Federation Academy of Sciences.
A clear, standardized star map appeared