"All right, Academician. We'll use electromagnetic waves for now. As long as we don't perform curvature maneuvers at Tau Ceti, quantum communication will still work normally anyway. We can revisit it when we leave Tau Ceti," Hu Yu said.
"Quantum, dimensions, space, time..." Hu Yu muttered after leaving Academician Zeng's office. The universe seemed peaceful, but countless rules held everything firmly in their grasp. From the movement of star systems and the succession of stars to the fluctuations of particles and the conversion of energy, nothing could escape the constraints of the universe's rules.
What were rules? That was perhaps more of a philosophical question than a scientific one. They could not be seen or touched, yet they undeniably existed, like an invisible hand driving the universe's evolution.
If one could master the rules, wouldn't the universe be theirs to toy with? Hu Yu thought, but he immediately shook his head. Even the galaxy civilization above the great star region civilizations probably had yet to touch the rules. Otherwise, dealing with the Insect Race would be as simple as saying the word, and there would be no need to expend the time and effort to send great star region civilizations into battle.
Even if a civilization mastered the rules, it might not be able to use them at will. The rules of the present universe had been rigorously established through more than ten billion years of evolution. They were like an arrangement of dominoes: pushing over any one piece could cause the entire array to collapse. On the scale of the universe, forcibly changing one rule would very likely cause the entire universe to collapse.
Even so, a civilization at that level might be able to change the rules within a limited area. A civilization that had mastered the rules would be like a god, particularly in battle: its words would become law, and wherever it went would be the domain of its rules. Every other civilization would have no fate but defeat.
But rules were elusive. Not only had the great star region civilizations failed to master them, even that legendary galaxy-level civilization might not have caught a glimpse of them.
Otherwise, that so-called "Abyss" would not have made the galaxy civilization so wary. According to the information provided by the Destroyers, a galaxy civilization should be capable of controlling the entire Milky Way and have enough power to travel between galaxies. Even they were filled with fear of the Abyss, showing how terrifying it was. Fortunately, the so-called Abyss was not in the Milky Way, or the Milky Way would have ceased to exist long ago. Looking at it the other way, mastering the rules was even harder than controlling one or even several galaxies.
What's wrong with me? Why do I keep thinking about such far-fetched things? Hu Yu thought self-mockingly. Putting an end to his wild thoughts, he returned to the base. By Earth time, it was already evening, but the sun was still shining brightly on the third planet. Combined with the effects of the alcohol at the banquet, Hu Yu did not feel sleepy at all, so he went straight to the base command room instead of going home.
As soon as Hu Yu entered the command room, Wen Zhonghua came over to him.
"Old Hu, I was just about to look for you. We have a situation," Wen Zhonghua said gravely.
"Go on." Hu Yu shook his head, trying to clear away the effects of the alcohol, and strode toward the large screen.
"Old Hu, the situation doesn't look good. Look, here, here, and here. We've lost every satellite we sent to these areas. This is definitely no coincidence." Wen Zhonghua pointed to several areas on the screen.
The fleet had launched billions of satellites before arriving at Tau Ceti. After arriving, it had spared no expense in launching tens of billions more, distributing them across a region two light-years in radius centered on Tau Ceti. These satellites were no more complex than children's toys from two hundred years ago, but simple as they were, they formed the first barrier protecting the fleet.
"Another civilization?"
"Judging from the current situation, it's definitely another civilization," Wen Zhonghua said.
"Have we received any images?"
"There isn't much intelligence yet. They're moving very fast, and most of our satellites are simplified models that can't capture clear images. But in a little while, a precision satellite might have a chance to capture and transmit clear images of them."
There were tens of billions of satellites, too many to provide more than the most basic functions, but a small number of precision satellites were mixed in among them. The precision models had powerful capabilities, but there were too few of them, less than one ten-thousandth the number of simplified satellites. These precision satellites not only served as elite monitoring units but also as important information relay stations. The vast number of ordinary satellites could not all use quantum communication; only the precision models had it to maintain contact with the base. Ordinary satellites transmitted their observations by electromagnetic waves to nearby precision satellites, which then relayed them to the fleet in real time through quantum communication.
"How much do we know about them now?" Hu Yu asked.
"They're traveling at approximately 0.5 times the speed of light, but we don't know if that's their top speed. Judging by the areas where satellites were destroyed, their fleet may number in the millions," Wen Zhonghua analyzed.
"General, we've captured a clear image," a staff officer reported.
"Put it on the main screen."
"Yes, sir."
The screen showed an image of only one enemy warship. It was a nearly oval disc, slightly pointed at the front. According to the satellite's measurements, the disc was approximately 800 meters in diameter. All sorts of asymmetrical, irregular protrusions rose from its surface, completely ruining the otherwise fairly attractive disc shape. The protrusions might have been various kinds of observation equipment, or they might have been weapons.
It was the first time anyone had seen a warship built with so little attention to appearances. Although a warship's shape had almost no effect on its flight performance in space, both the Destroyer and Patrol ships they had encountered before met, to some extent, the aesthetic standards one would expect of a technological product. The same was true of human ships. Designers concealed observation equipment and weapons as much as possible to give their warships more harmonious exterior lines. Even parts that had to remain exposed were placed centrally or arranged symmetrically. The alien warship they were observing, however, looked as though a child had piled up building blocks, haphazardly stacking all kinds of equipment on the main hull. As long as everything worked, appearances did not matter at all.
"It's so big, several times larger than a Hunter-Killer. Zhonghua, how are our fleet preparations going?"
"All 500,000 Hunter-Killers have been deployed. They're just waiting to be fitted with curvature engines. But the hundred-plus support ships are still completely empty. We originally planned to move the base's factory equipment aboard when we left. The Deep Blue ships are also basically ready, and personnel can board at any time. Some of the remaining work can be carried out inside the Deep Blue ships. Most of the curvature engine equipment has been manufactured. If we work at full capacity, we can equip the warships in about two months."
"Order the factories involved with the curvature engines to work at full capacity. All other factories are to stop work immediately, and their machinery and equipment are to be transferred to the support ships at once. If there isn't enough room, assign a few Deep Blue ships to take them. Move as much equipment as possible. There's still plenty of water on the little ice ball. Free up a few more Deep Blue ships and pack all the ice into them. The same goes for the other resources, such as ore and the steel modules used to build the base. If it can be moved, take it. We have plenty of Deep Blue ships to spare anyway. Everyone needs to get moving. Declare a state of emergency throughout the fleet now."
"Old Hu, are we just going to run away like this?" As a fellow soldier, Wen Zhonghua was unwilling to flee without firing a shot.
"Zhonghua, I can't risk the people's lives. At their current speed, they'll reach Tau Ceti in two years. If we come into conflict with them then, it'll be fine if we win, but what if we lose?"
"You have a point. Should we try to contact them first?"
"Let's wait until Academician Zeng and Academician Xiao get here before we decide," Hu Yu said hesitantly.
Although Academician Zeng and Academician Xiao were ostensibly only the heads of the Academy of Sciences, their many years of war against the Insect Race had given them richer experience in handling affairs and greater wisdom in dealing with others. That was why the leader had sent them along with Hu Yu. They were now the leaders of the entire fleet's advisory team, and apart from matters of war, Hu Yu consulted the two academicians whenever possible.
"General." As they were speaking, Academician Zeng and Academician Xiao hurried in.
"Academician Zeng, Academician Xiao, what do you two think of our guest?" Hu Yu asked. On their way over, he had already informed them of the situation.
"I think we should refrain from making contact for now. It won't be too late to do so once we've finished all our preparations," Academician Xiao said.
"Mm, I agree. Judging from the current data, our speed is slightly greater than theirs, but I'm certain they aren't traveling at full speed. They've definitely detected our satellites and know we're here, yet they haven't taken any action. That can only mean one of two things. First, they believe their technology is far superior to ours and don't deign to contact us. Second, there's no need for contact," Academician Zeng analyzed.
"Academician Zeng, what do you mean, there's no need for contact?" Wen Zhonghua asked.
"Chief of Staff Wen, when you eat, do you communicate with your food?" Academician Zeng asked.
"Of course not. If I did, wouldn't someone send me to a psychiatric hospital?"
"There you have it. In their eyes, we're like food. They can eat us whenever they want."
"That's far too arrogant. If that's the case, I'll tear a few chunks out of them even if it kills me," Wen Zhonghua said fiercely.
"Zhonghua, calm down. Let the academician finish."
"According to my analysis, they should be at least in the middle stage of a stellar-level civilization, but they're definitely not Star System Level. A Star System Level civilization would never be this slow. Furthermore, this civilization must either have extensive experience in interstellar travel or absolute confidence in its own technology. Otherwise, it wouldn't come swaggering straight toward us like this. Normally, a stellar-level civilization wouldn't leave its home star system on such a large scale. Staying in its home system and gradually expanding into nearby systems is the way to develop."
"Academician, could this civilization be right next to Tau Ceti?" Hu Yu asked. There were also more than a hundred planetary systems within a few hundred light-years of Tau Ceti. Stellar-level civilizations had a limited range of activity, and the fleet's technology could not determine whether a civilization existed in any given planetary system.
"Probably not. Judging from the images, this fleet has at least a million warships, as well as an unknown number of large spacecraft, which should be habitation ships. This is definitely not how a stellar-level civilization would expand into nearby systems. To develop nearby systems, they would first send a small number of warships and personnel to conduct an on-site survey, then build a base and make the area habitable. Only after that was complete would they move an appropriate number of people there to live and continue the development. They're taking a completely different approach. It looks more like they're relocating their entire population," Academician Zeng analyzed.
"Mm, I think so too. This fleet is somewhat too large for interstellar colonization. Judging by the level of human development, a fleet of this size suggests they're doing what we are now. They might have been invaded, as we were, or a shortage of resources in their home star system might have hindered their civilization's development. Alternatively, an advanced third-party civilization might have intervened. Of those possibilities, the second is the most likely. Their fleet is intact and well organized. It doesn't look at all like they were forced to leave after an invasion," Academician Xiao added.
"So they think they've got us in the bag?" Wen Zhonghua asked.
"You could say that. Our satellites are two light-years out. For a high-energy civilization to crash into and destroy so many of them without noticing anything is impossible. It makes no sense. They must have discovered our existence. They may even have captured one of our satellites and reverse-engineered it to determine our level of technology. Believing they can make an easy meal of us, their fleet has continued toward us without showing any intention of slowing down," Academician Zeng said.
"Academician Zeng, can you analyze their strength from the information we have?" Hu Yu asked.
"We can tell a little. First, they have a million ships around 800 meters long, which should be their warships. Our Hunter-Killer warships are only 300 meters long. It's not that we don't want to build larger, more heavily armed warships, but that our current capabilities only allow for this much. If we insisted on building larger warships, first, we couldn't guarantee the numbers, and second, their quality would also decline. Our technologies in various areas wouldn't match the size of the warships—curvature engines, for example. That would be a very poor choice. However, we're a wandering civilization now. If they completed their development in their home star system before setting out, they wouldn't necessarily have a greater technological advantage, but they could indeed make their fleet several times larger. If we could develop peacefully at Tau Ceti for some years, we too could build a fleet like this, or an even larger and more numerous one, while still at the Star-Level," Academician Zeng said.
"We were indeed a little rushed. Otherwise, making the fleet one or two times stronger would have been no problem," Wen Zhonghua sighed.
Academician Zeng gathered his thoughts and continued, "Second, looking at their speed, their curvature travel speed has reached at least 0.5 times the speed of light. In that respect, they're far ahead of us."
"Academician Zeng, that can't be right. Even our slowest Deep Blue ships can travel at 0.8 times the speed of light," Wen Zhonghua countered.
"That's because we used superheavy Chong element extracted from the insects' bodies. They may not have it, because they don't look as though they were driven away by the insects. You could say we cheated, or took a shortcut. If we used ordinary heavy elements, it would be good enough for the Deep Blue ships to reach 0.1 times the speed of light."