Luo Zhigao turned, and the fleet followed suit. Clearly, they were heading straight for him. This fleet was traveling at 3,000 times the speed of light, a speed that only Small Star Sector Civilization could possess. This fleet was only 50 light-years away from him, and it would only take about ten days for them to catch up.
In the critical moment, the commander of the First Army Group volunteered to stay behind to intercept the enemy and buy time for the main fleet. Although Luo Zhigao was reluctant, he could only tearfully ask the First Army Group to stay. The First Army Group had ten million warships and more than thirty million crew members. Keeping them behind meant letting them give up their lives.
Without leaving them behind to cover the retreat, the billions of people in the entire fleet would not survive. Luo Zhigao had no choice but to harden his heart and leave the First Army Group behind. The First Army Group took five minutes to say goodbye to their loved ones, and with tears in their eyes, they turned around and charged towards the enemy fleet. They knew that this trip would surely mean their deaths in the stars, but not one of them retreated. This was not just a responsibility, but a commitment.
Luo Zhigao led the fleet forward. The First Army Group's frenzied attack actually held off the enemy fleet for more than 20 days, ultimately ending in total annihilation and the sacrifice of all crew members. In this interstellar battle, not a single warship retreated, not a single warship was captured, and not a single crew member survived. They, along with their warships, adorned this starry sky.
The 20 days gained allowed Luo Zhigao to advance 55 light-years. Even after annihilating the First Army Group's fleet, he did not give up the pursuit. At this moment, the fleet detected a huge spatial vortex 20 light-years away. This was the first time the fleet had ever seen such a thing, and they did not know if there would be any danger in entering the vortex.
At this point, Luo Zhigao Luo Zhigao no time to hesitate. He was not one to be indecisive. Entering the spatial vortex meant certain death, while not entering meant certain death. With this in mind, Luo Zhigao ordered the fleet to adjust its direction and speed towards the spatial vortex. Just when the enemy fleet was already visible to the naked eye, Luo Zhigao finally reached the edge of the vortex, and all the warships plunged into it.
The pursuing fleet did not follow into the spatial vortex, but instead launched wave after wave of attacks from the outside. However, in the distorted space of the spatial vortex, it was difficult for external attacks to accurately hit the warships. Luo Zhigao was relieved that the fleet had at least escaped with its life.
However, the fleet scientists soon discovered that the warp drive could not function properly in the space vortex, and they could only rely on conventional power engines to counteract the fleet's tendency to fall towards the center of the vortex. Moreover, they could only slow down this fall; the fleet could not escape the vortex at all. However, it would still be more than thirty years before the fleet reached the critical point where it could not withstand the pressure, and the scientists were already working intensively to find a way to leave.
Taking advantage of this time, Luo Zhigao contacted the fleet outside. It turned out to be a fleet from a civilization called Xuan Star Civilization. Luo Zhigao asked the Xuan Star Civilization's fleet why they were chasing him. If it was for technology, Luo Zhigao said he could hand over the fleet's technology tree. However, the Xuan Star Civilization obviously didn't need the technology tree of a civilization lower in level than itself.
The Xuan Star Civilization's fleet did not enter the space vortex. After several waves of high-intensity attacks proved ineffective, they remained outside, waiting for the space vortex to engulf Luo Zhigao's fleet. During this time, Luo Zhigao never gave up contact with the Xuan Star Civilization.
He had tried every means possible, but the Xuan Star Civilization remained unmoved by either soft or hard tactics, and even ignored Luo Zhigao. However, Luo Zhigao did learn the reason why the Xuan Star Civilization attacked him: they were acting on someone's behalf. As for who had entrusted them with the task, Luo Zhigao couldn't get an answer when he asked again. Luo Zhigao stopped thinking about it, after all, he had offended far too many civilizations.
More than 30 years ago, Academician Gao Zhengyang discovered that the tail of the vortex might connect to an infinitely distant place. He had been trying to enlarge the diameter of this tail to a size large enough for the fleet to pass through, but he had made no progress. However, Luo Zhigao thought that since the fleet could not pass through for the time being, it would be better to send out information. At present, the space around the vortex is very chaotic, and information cannot be transmitted at all. However, the small part of space in the very center of the vortex is relatively stable, at least not chaotic, and the distortion is very regular. Perhaps information can be transmitted out there. Even if he fails, he can leave some news for the other two fleets.
Therefore, the fleet concentrated a great deal of energy and launched the eleven-word message through the tail of the space vortex. The next day, Luo Zhigao decided to send another message as a precaution. He hoped that one of the two messages would be complete, or that neither of them would be complete, but that together they could be fully deciphered.
After sending the message, Luo Zhigao and the scientists never expected a reply. However, a year later, the fleet suddenly received a message from Hu Yu. Luo Zhigao could hardly believe it. After confirming it several times, Luo Zhigao replied, telling Hu Yu not to come to the rescue. A year later, he received a reply from Hu Yu, Hu Yu said that he had reached the Small Star Sector Civilization and asked Luo Zhigao to provide the spatial coordinates.
Upon seeing this, Luo Zhigao Luo Zhigao couldn't believe it. He knew Hu Yu was extremely eager to rescue him, but Luo Zhigao also knew Hu Yu hadn't yet reached the Small Star Sector Civilization. To avoid putting Hu Yu in danger, Luo Zhigao could only try to dissuade him. However, Luo Zhigao knew Hu Yu would definitely come looking for him, so he decided to stop replying and not tell Hu Yu his coordinates.
Even though Hu Yu knew his route, Luo Zhigao was certain that Hu Yu couldn't find him since he had already traveled over 20,000 light-years. He figured that by the time Hu Yu arrived, he would likely have already become a particle, and the Xuan Star Civilization's fleet would have already withdrawn, thus relieving Hu Yu of danger. However, Luo Zhigao was unaware that Academician Liu Bo had calculated the approximate distance of the vortex's main body based on data from its tail. Combined with Hu Yu's directional markers, Luo Zhigao's approximate location was now clear.
Sometimes Luo Zhigao fantasized, hoping that Hu Yu could bring him a miracle, but then he shook his head. It was impossible. He was destined to disappear in this spatial vortex. He only regretted that he had not completed the task given to him by the leader and had not saved the lives of hundreds of millions of people.
As the fleet's energy dwindled and it sank deeper into the vortex, Luo Zhigao felt a profound sense of powerlessness, like sitting on a plane about to crash, unable to stop it from continuing its descent into doom. Fortunately, the people remained relatively calm. Having weathered the storm, they were unusually quiet now. They didn't have to work or fight; they had all returned to their homes near the fleet to quietly enjoy this final moment of peace.
"Minister, a small spaceship has been spotted, speeding towards us!!!" Chief of the General Staff Li Wenfei shouted.