The small spaceship that discovered the spatial vortex immediately stopped advancing and remained in place to observe. The fleets outside the spatial vortex were clearly the fleets of the Xuan Star Civilization. The three fleets together numbered as many as 50 million ships, a number that was already on par with the Wind Master. The number of Luo Zhigao's fleet inside the vortex was also considerable. Although the images transmitted to Earth Two were not very clear due to the spatial vortex affecting the observation, a rough estimate showed that the number also exceeded 50 million ships.
However, Luo Zhigao's fleet clearly felt like a hodgepodge, much like the ragtag fleet controlled by the Nebula Main Consciousness back then. It featured various architectural styles and inconsistent sizes and shapes. It seems Luo Zhigao has engaged in numerous plundering battles over the years, and the Luo Zhigao Xuan Star Civilization was likely one of his targets, only this time he'd met his match.
Plundering typically doesn't involve directly attacking civilized territories, nor does it involve provoking civilizations with higher technological levels. Instead, it uses fleets to flexibly attack small fleets of other civilizations, acquiring partial technological advancements. This method of development can be much faster than researching technology bit by bit on one's own.
Hu Yu had previously captured warships from nearly a hundred civilizations within the Nebula's main consciousness. Unfortunately, most of these warships belonged to Stellar-Level Civilization, and the few warships from Star System-Level Civilization were dilapidated and decayed due to years of neglect. Their value was far less than the entire technology tree of the Wind Star Civilization, but it was still quite good.
If the warships of these dozen or so Star System-Level Civilization are well preserved, we can certainly analyze more useful technologies from them, and their value may even surpass that of the Wind Star Civilization's technology tree.
Unlike whirlpools in water, which have a flat surface, spatial vortices are more like spinning tops, wider in the middle and narrower at both ends. In fact, the vortices around black holes and other celestial bodies are the same. What we usually see appears to be a flat vortex, but in reality, the vortices around black holes and other celestial bodies are three-dimensional, like a giant cotton candy. What we see is just a picture of this cotton candy cut in half for a more intuitive view.
Therefore, no matter which angle the smaller ships on the periphery are viewed from, they cannot see Luo Zhigao's entire fleet directly; they can only analyze it based on blurry images.
There were no extreme celestial bodies in the center of this spatial vortex, and its cause is currently unknown, but it was definitely not created by this Xuan Star Civilization. Hu Yu speculated that it was more likely to have formed naturally. If any civilization could create a spatial vortex with a diameter of two light-years, how terrifying would that civilization be?
Luo Zhigao's fleet is now located about 0.5 light-years from the edge of the vortex. The space at this location is extremely distorted, which suggests that Luo Zhigao's fleet must have reached the Star System-Level Civilization. Otherwise, it would be impossible for Stellar-Level Civilization's warships to contend with this spatial vortex.
However, Luo Zhigao's fleet was still sinking deeper and deeper into the vortex. With each rotation around the center of the vortex, the fleet would sink tens of thousands of kilometers. The outer Xuan Star Civilization fleet did not seem to dare to venture into the vortex to pursue them. They only occasionally attacked the fleet in the vortex from the outside. However, the distortion of the vortex caused the Xuan Star Civilization's attacks to miss time and time again. Whether they could hit Luo Zhigao's fleet depended entirely on luck.
Judging from their haphazard formations and random attacks, Luo Zhigao's fleet in the vortex had no chance of escaping. In just a few years, the fleet would fall into the center of the vortex and be torn to pieces. All they needed to do was witness this process.
" Old Hu, immediately send the observation spacecraft into the vortex and establish contact with Minister Luo."
"No, this small spaceship is too close to the Xuan Star Civilization and could easily be detected. The small spaceship is only observing the situation from 100 days ago. Minister Luo and his team have maintained this for 30 years, and there won't be any major changes in the short term, so we can rest assured for now. Judging from the observation data, this Xuan Star Civilization is definitely Small Star Sector Civilization, but we don't know how long they've been in that Small Star Sector Civilization. Therefore, we can't make any rash moves right now. We must figure out the situation before we act. After all, we are only Star System-Level Civilization. The difference between two levels of civilization is like heaven and earth, and besides, we don't have any numerical advantage right now."
"How about we use the same tactic we used against the Fish Horse Star Civilization —the broadcast?"
"No, this tactic won't work on the Xuan Star Civilization. The Fish Horse Star fears the Great Star Region Civilization not because it destroyed lower-level civilizations, but because it raised Insect Race. Minister Luo may have plundered first, which is why he got into trouble. So, broadcasting won't be effective."
"Does that mean we have no choice but to fight head-on? We're not even sure we have any hope of winning."
"Therefore, we need to plan carefully and try to increase our chances of winning, or rather, we don't need to win; we'll win as long as we rescue Minister Luo and the others."
"So what do we do now?"
"I've already arranged for another small spaceship to break into the space vortex opposite the Xuan Star Civilization, but the space is too chaotic inside. The small spaceship can't use its warp drive, so it can only accelerate and circle around the vortex to pursue Minister Luo's fleet from behind. It will take at least a year to establish contact."
"Will it take that long? Can Minister Luo and the others hold on?"
" Academician Zeng and Academician Liu have just calculated the space vortex and estimated that Minister Luo can hold out for at least 3 to 4 years. Now, leave all industrial planets and Earth Two in place, and the fleet will continue forward, heading 2,800 light-years ahead. By the time we establish contact with Minister Luo, we should be close to the vicinity of the space vortex. At that time, we will formulate a rescue plan based on Minister Luo's intelligence."
"Was Earth Two left here?"
"Yes, find a safe place to hide, leave 1 million Wind Master for protection. We can produce 600,000 to 700,000 Wind Master every year, which is enough for defense. We also have 50 million Wind Master available for combat. All Wind Master are controlled from Earth Two. We must ensure our own safety first before we can effectively rescue Minister Luo and the others."
"Good."
"Notify all citizens, let's work hard for two more years, for our people, for our compatriots."
"Rest assured, our people are the best in the entire universe, I can guarantee that."
In the whirlpool, a massive fleet struggled against its downward spiral using conventional engines. After 30 years of effort, the fleet still hadn't found a way out. The whirlpool was like a lump of mud; no matter how powerful the warships were, they couldn't exert any force and could only watch themselves sink deeper and deeper.
"Minister, our energy is running low. The closer we get to the center of the vortex, the more energy we consume. I estimate we can only last for three years at most," Vice Minister Fang Xinyun said to Luo Zhigao in the command center.
"Three years?" Luo Zhigao took a deep drag on his cigarette.
"Minister, Academician Gao Zhengyang, a space physicist, has collapsed from exhaustion once again."