"Warning! Warning!"
A sudden, piercing alarm shattered the silence in the Research Center.
Blood-red light from the Holographic Projection illuminated the somewhat bewildered eyes of the academicians present.
[Signal from Survey Ship 1531C lost!] [Warning! Warning!!] [Anomalous spacetime structure detected!]
Lü Yongchang sucked in a sharp breath.
Almost without hesitation, he issued an order.
"Zero, shut down the warp drives on 1532C and 1533C immediately!"
[Reducing warp drive output...]
"The survey ships have successfully exited the faster-than-light curvature state."
The instant the Electronic Synthesized Voice rang out, two survey ships reappeared in the vast darkness of the Dead Silent Region.
Only the rear pair remained of the triangular formation.
The survey ship at the front had vanished completely from this region of space.
The surging waves across the spacetime ocean slowly spread into the distance. Without the warp drives generating them, their amplitude steadily diminished.
Finally, the spacetime ocean grew calm again.
Like this dead, silent region of space, it was utterly lifeless.
The two survey ships, too, seemed frozen in time, hovering silently in the boundless universe as they awaited the Academy of Sciences' next command.
Unlike the unruffled stillness in the Dead Silent Region, the Human Federation's Central Research Institute had descended into chaos.
"It's appeared!"
Lü Yongchang perked up, all traces of his earlier listlessness gone, and rose straight from his chair.
"Zero, display all observational data from the three survey ships after they entered the faster-than-light curvature state!"
With urgency written across his face, he issued one order after another. "Fang Xu, take a team and analyze the survey ships' observational data."
"Lin Yongnian, analyze the anomalous spacetime structure with me."
As he finished speaking, the Holographic Projection rapidly unfolded, presenting the data on the anomalous spacetime structure detected by the