"General, your vision is truly exceptional. The matter of stars is indeed feasible, especially young stars, which are over 90% hydrogen, followed by helium, with trace amounts of other elements. This purity is sufficient for us to perform mass conversion operations. However, I boasted earlier; we need to manufacture more equipment. Just this ten-meter energy sphere alone took us two months to manufacture. To convert an entire star into pure energy in one go, it would take at least several hundred years of full-scale manufacturing to complete the production of all this equipment."
"Then let's manufacture and commercialize it simultaneously. One day, we'll be able to complete this great project. By the way, Academician, I heard that warp speed has also achieved a breakthrough?"
"Yes, I believe it will be soon. It's already being tested. Because our current rate of converting pure energy is limited, and the number of Wind Master being built is too large, I estimate that by the time they reach Minister Luo in 20 years, we may have exceeded 50 million ships. We won't be able to convert enough physical energy, and this method also has its limits in increasing travel speed. We plan to increase the travel speed to 1800 times the speed of light, which is the optimal solution."
"That's all we can do?" Hu Yu asked, somewhat disappointed.
"Yes, we load pure energy bodies at the front of the spaceship and continuously launch them out, increasing the spatial density in front of the spaceship. Since the spaceship's speed is much higher than the launch speed, the energy will be drawn back. By continuously operating in this way, coupled with the warp drive's distortion of space, the travel speed will increase. Our tests show that it can increase to a maximum of 2500 times. To go higher would require a much larger investment; 1800 times is the most suitable speed."
"Okay, as soon as possible, please, Academician Zeng."
"It's nothing, it's our responsibility. We don't know how Minister Luo others are doing, or whether they can hold on."
"Sigh, I hope they can hold on. They're trapped in a spatial vortex, where the space is chaotic, so the warp drive definitely won't work. Even if the Xuan Star Civilization chases into the vortex, it will take them a long time to catch up using conventional power engines. I just don't know how big this spatial vortex is. The bigger it is, the safer Minister Luo and the others will be."
"Perhaps. Minister Luo and his team must have faced many dangers and endured much hardship these past years. Sigh, and what about the leader and the others? I wonder how they are doing. General, after we complete this mission, let's try to establish contact with the leader."
"No, unless it's absolutely necessary, we shouldn't contact the leader. We're constantly in danger as we wander through the Milky Way. If the leader knew, he would only worry about us. It's better this way. The leader doesn't have any news of us, so at least there's still a glimmer of hope. And even if we're in danger, it won't implicate the leader. We'll rejoin the leader when we've truly become strong."
"That's true, let's talk about it later."
"Now that the fleet's main problem is solved, we can proceed at full speed and try to find Minister Luo and his team as soon as possible."
The amount of matter consumed in converting the energy ball is simply too much—one hundred million tons—to create a sphere with a diameter of ten meters. Although energy balls don't need to be made this large as weapons (the antimatter balls used by the fleet in the past were measured in hundreds of grams and were about the size of an orange), the energy balls can now be made to the same size, but their power has increased ten thousand times. Even the Wind Master cannot withstand such a terrifying attack.
A low-mass star, just reaching the critical point of igniting its core and much smaller than the Sun, was incorporated into the fleet. Scientists and countless technicians began stealing mass from the star. Transport ships, each 30 kilometers long, plunged directly into the star. A single round trip brought out millions of tons of stellar matter. The matter was compressed and converted directly within the transport ships, creating an energy sphere the size of a watermelon. The energy sphere was then immediately cut and packaged again, and ten smaller energy spheres, the size of oranges, were sent to the factory for the installation of warp drives to enable high-speed attacks. After the warp drives were installed, the energy spheres would become colossal objects fifteen meters long. These energy bombs would then be delivered to the Wind Master for deployment.
The explosive energy of a star is enormous, but when a star is transformed into an energy ball and then explodes, its power increases by hundreds of thousands of times.
The fleet continued its journey and development under the stars and moon. In the twenty-fifth year, the star went out. There was no energy release, no core collapse. It was like a burning flame that eventually died out peacefully.
The number of Wind Master has reached 45 million, but modifications are still underway. The overall speed of the fleet can only be maintained at a thousand times the speed of light. Each Wind Master contains at least ten energy ball bombs. In addition to these small bombs, the fleet has also prepared one hundred energy balls that have reached criticality. They are ten meters in diameter and, after being Wind Master, are placed directly inside the Wind Master, turning them into giant bombs. When used, the Wind Master will also explode.
In the thirtieth year, the fleet finally completed its long journey of 30,000 light-years and arrived in the airspace where Luo Zhigao was likely to appear. This place was no different from other places in the Milky Way, just as empty and silent.
" Old Hu, how are we supposed to find it in such a vast area?"
"The three-dimensional space spanning 5,000 light-years is indeed vast. However, Minister Luo and the Xuan Star Civilization must have recently engaged in a major battle. There must be traces of a large-scale energy eruption in the surrounding airspace, and the spatial vortex that trapped Minister Luo must be quite large as well. Let's send out small spaceships to collect as many high-energy traces and vortex tracks as possible. We're sure we can find them."
"By the way, Minister Luo sent out radio waves 30 years ago. More than 30 years have passed, and the range of radio waves should be wide enough that it would be easier for us to find them."
"Let's begin, Zhonghua. Dispatch small spaceships to a point 5,000 light-years ahead. Minister Luo must be located within two years."
"Clear."
One million small spaceships broke away from the fleet and instantly disappeared into the infinite starry sky. They will explore the airspace within 5,000 light-years from all directions to find Luo Zhigao's fleet or the fleet of the Xuan Star Civilization.
At this moment, everyone became worried, not wanting to see the worst outcome. After all, 30 years had passed, and the JD4 satellite, which had been stationary for those 30 years, had not received any information from Luo Zhigao. Too many things could have happened in 30 years, including the fall of Luo Zhigao's fleet.
A year passed without any news. The small spaceship continued its journey, releasing satellites along its route. One year, one month, one year, two months, one year, three months passed. Finally, on this day, Hu Yu, who had been anxiously waiting, received a message from the small spaceship: three massive fleets stood in the starry sky 3,000 light-years away.
At the center of the fleet was a massive spatial vortex with a diameter exceeding two light-years. Within the vortex were not only various celestial bodies of different sizes, but also a human fleet.
"It's Minister Luo! They're still alive!!!"
The exciting news spread quickly throughout the fleet, and everyone was thrilled. They also spontaneously sped up their work, all with the goal of saving Luo Zhigao's fleet and their own compatriots.