A yellow dwarf glowing with warm light slowly appeared in this universe, then vanished from it at incredible speed.
The rapid appearance and disappearance of such an enormous object had no effect whatsoever on the surrounding space.
Not only did the nearby starships and the Imperial Fortress remain unaffected, but even the interstellar dust stayed exactly where it had been, without the slightest movement.
This miraculous sight plunged the Human Federation's Central Research Institute, more than a thousand light-years away, into deathly silence.
Lü Yongchang swallowed, his Adam's apple bobbing slightly, and spoke with difficulty.
"Is... is this the power of a level seven civilization?"
The answer was yes.
Even though human civilization already possessed some technologies beyond those of a level six civilization, the Imperial Fortress's casual demonstration still left them deeply shaken.
Both used Micro-Universe Technology, yet the gap between them was almost impossible to accept.
[Contract fulfilled.] [Enroget Civilization, thank you for your assistance to the Empire.]
The message from [Ten] interrupted Lü Yongchang's thoughts.
Looking at the universe, now calm again in the Holographic Projection, and the fortress's interior bathed in an orange-yellow glow, he remembered his other objective.
With a slight movement of his fingers, Lü Yongchang instructed the Research Robot to send [Ten] a complex message.
The message contained part of human civilization's Expedition Plan and specified exactly when the expedition would begin.
Seventy years later.
In other words, in Earth Calendar year 4550, the Human Fleet would officially depart from the Kepler-452 Stellar System and embark on an expedition to the distant Andromeda Galaxy!
There were two main reasons for telling [Ten] about this plan.
The first was also the most important.
Lü Yongchang hoped to use this opportunity to make a few more "equal trades" with [Ten].
The development of