"Leader, perhaps you should lead the fleet to safety first?" Elder Guya suggested.
"Hmph. Move? Where would we go? The mothership is our foundation. Everything our Sand Python Civilization has is here. If we lose it, even if we escape, we'll regress to a planetary-level civilization. We still have 200,000 warships, while Earth Civilization has only 40,000 here. Add the 120,000 reinforcements we've observed, and they still can't match our numbers, let alone the fact that our warships are far more powerful than theirs."
"Very well, Leader. Let's fight while we retreat, then."
"No. We'll stay right here. Once we've wiped out their fleet, we'll pursue their residential ships. Afterward, we'll build more advanced warships here. Earth Civilization may be a little behind us, but many of their technologies would still be very useful to us. Take that gravity bomb, for example. We've never managed to develop one."
"Yes, Leader. We'll definitely-"
Elder Guya was halfway through the sentence when he was reduced to a puddle of mangled flesh. The same happened to the leader of the Sand Python Civilization and every Sand Python creature aboard the mothership. Several hundred Hunter-Killers had braved the Sand Python fleet's fire to reach a point a few thousand kilometers from the mothership, where they launched over a thousand gravity bombs. The bombs had a lethal range of only a thousand kilometers, and after breaking through layer upon layer of interception by the Sand Python warships, only a few reached the mothership. But that was enough. The gravity bombs lacked the power to break the mothership apart, but they were more than enough to kill the creatures inside.
"The leader is dead!"
"The leader is dead!"
Every warship learned that their leader was dead. Suddenly, they all ceased fire. After more than ten seconds of silence, the surviving Sand Python warships all activated their warp drives and fled in every direction, vanishing into the vast expanse of space in an instant. Without its leader, the Sand Python Civilization immediately fell apart. The fate of those fleeing warships was predictable: their limited energy could never carry them to another planet. They were certain to perish in space.
More than five hundred residential ships of wildly different styles and sizes remained motionless in space. No one knew what had happened inside until the reinforcing fleet arrived several days later and sent assault teams aboard. They found that the ships had long since become hellscapes. Only a small number of Sand Python creatures remained alive, and even they were at death's door. Whether over control, food, or the madness that followed defeat, the Sand Python creatures had begun slaughtering one another, leaving countless dead and wounded.
More than twenty thousand assault troops armed with heavy weapons blasted open the hatches and entered the five hundred-plus residential ships and the Sand Python mothership. Seeing Sand Python creatures for the first time, the troops were utterly horrified by their loathsome appearance. The creatures stood three to four meters tall, with enormous python-like heads that accounted for a third of their bodies. Their huge mouths were filled with fangs. Their lower bodies consisted of two short, powerful snake-like limbs, which they slithered along to move forward. They also had eight tentacles, each ending in a giant pincer or a sharp claw more terrifying than a crab's. Their bodies seemed made for war, so it was no wonder every one of them was exceptionally vicious.
No life remained aboard the leader's flagship, but quite a few survivors were still aboard the other residential ships. When the Sand Python creatures saw the small assault troops enter, they immediately waved their tentacles, opened their mouths wide, and lunged. Though startled by their hideous appearance, the troops were well trained. They fired bursts at the charging creatures, instantly turning the unarmored Sand Pythons into puddles of mangled flesh.
After several hundred Sand Python creatures had been killed, the assault troops' heavy firepower finally frightened the rest into abandoning their attacks. They fled and hid in every corner of the ships. The troops fought their way forward, killing Sand Python creatures as they went, and soon reached the ships' main control rooms. After killing the last wave of Sand Python creatures outside and entering, they discovered that a large proportion of those operating the ships were not Sand Pythons, but two other kinds of creatures.
The assault troops quickly took control of the residential ships. Using the communication system previously established with the Sand Python Civilization, they employed the translation systems they carried to order the ships to make a wide detour around Tau Ceti's energy storm before flying toward Tau Ceti. This area was unsafe too, after all. Tau Ceti's violent energy would arrive in a month, and only by leaving as soon as possible could they ensure the property's safety. That was right: all of these things, including every living creature, were now humanity's property.
The Sand Python mothership was the foundation of the entire Sand Python Civilization and also the greatest prize. Its various technologies and knowledge of the universe were exactly what the fleet needed most. Thanks to the gravity bombs, the mothership had suffered extensive internal damage despite not breaking apart, and its propulsion unit had been completely destroyed. Some of the other residential ships had also lost power, and even those that had not were very slow. Hu Yu had no choice but to order several hundred Hunter-Killers to attach themselves to each residential ship and carry it into warp at three times the speed of light. This was very dangerous: an uneven distribution of warships could easily cause the warp drives' gravity to tear a residential ship apart. But these were not their own residential ships, so some casualties did not matter. If they failed to escape Tau Ceti's energy storm in time, the losses would be even greater.
And so, with the special escort of 130,000 Hunter-Killers, the five hundred-plus residential ships and the mothership slowly made their way toward Planet Three by a roundabout route. The Deep Blue had traveled nearly a light-year, and it now reversed course to return to Planet Three. The fleet had to rest and resupply again before setting out, and all the personnel and equipment were aboard the Deep Blue, so it headed back toward Tau Ceti.
Hu Yu tallied the losses from the battle. Of the 500,000 Hunter-Killers, only 190,000 remained, many of them damaged. The fleet had lost 1.5 million crew members. Fewer than one percent of those who escaped from destroyed Hunter-Killers had been rescued; only a few hundred had gotten the chance. It was not that the fleet had been unwilling to save them, but that there had been no opportunity. The warships had been maneuvering at high speeds through vast stretches of space throughout the battle, and anyone who dared stop for a second would have become a sitting target.
With loss came gain, and the losses were matched by a tremendous haul. Once the Academy of Sciences took possession of the captured Sand Python fleet, it immediately began analyzing its technology. To the fleet in its current situation, it was undoubtedly an enormous treasure trove. The Sand Python fleet combined the technology of four civilizations. If the Sand Python Civilization itself had not been so poor at research, a fleet incorporating the technology of four civilizations could have crushed Earth's fleet with ease.
This also had to do with the Sand Python Civilization's habits. After winning several wars, they preferred ready-made spoils taken by direct plunder—in other words, they simply helped themselves. Two of the three civilizations they had plundered were Star-Level. If they had settled in a planetary system and seriously absorbed those technologies, the Sand Python Civilization might already have reached Star System Level. They had held a mountain of gold in their arms, only to pick up a few stones. The Sand Python Civilization had focused on improving laser technology and warp drives. Perhaps the two civilizations they had plundered had also developed those technologies well, making them the easiest for the Sand Pythons to absorb. As for the other technologies, the Sand Python Civilization may have known too little about them to absorb them and simply discarded them. Creatures with savagery and slaughter flowing in their very bones truly were not as good at research as those of other civilizations. It was already a miracle that they had reached Star-Level.
"We've struck it rich! Struck it rich! General, our haul this time is tremendous!" Academician Zeng Zhaoyuan was so excited when he received the technology list that he nearly jumped.
"Academician Zeng, what good things are there?" Hu Yu was busy reorganizing the fleet and had placed Academician Zeng entirely in charge of analyzing the technology.
"General, those Sand Python creatures really are a bunch of fools. Did you know that the breadth of their technology far surpasses ours? Yet the only weapons they developed were high-energy particle cannons, laser cannons, and some even weaker junk. Sigh, what a waste."
"Academician, is there anything ready-made that we can put to use? The fleet has suffered heavy losses, and after the great battle here, we shouldn't stay long. We urgently need to strengthen ourselves."
"Yes, yes, yes. I took a preliminary look, and by combining our technology with the Sand Python fleet's, I can give you three weapons to start with. That should be enough for now. First, laser blades. Second, antimatter bombs. Third, gravity bombs."
"Academician, aren't laser blades just another application of lasers? That doesn't count as a new weapon, does it? And haven't we already mastered antimatter? It's just that our output is too low. As for gravity bombs, there's even less reason to mention them," Wen Zhonghua asked from the side, somewhat puzzled.
"No. When we used lasers before, they needed time to charge, which greatly reduced their combat effectiveness. Laser blades are different. They work on the same principle as the laser nets used by the Sand Python fleet, with only slight modifications. Our warships will be like hedgehogs bristling with laser blades, stabbing wherever they fly. Antimatter bombs are even better. The Sand Python Civilization already has a prototype device for matter decay and fusion. By combining it with our own technology and researching it further, we face no technical bottlenecks. I believe it will be ready for practical use in a few months. All heavy elements can continuously decay until they become iron, and all light elements can undergo fusion until they become iron as well. With a few modifications to this device, we can produce a continuous supply of antimatter. Before, it took a year to make one kilogram; now we can make one kilogram a day. And we can build more devices to produce even more antimatter. Finally, the gravity bomb's effectiveness will also improve severalfold after some modifications."
"Really? If we have enough antimatter, I'll dare take a shot at whoever comes. We won't be as much on the defensive as we are now. If the Sand Python Civilization had attacked us a little later, they might have mastered antimatter technology too. We've been pretty lucky. Academician, get to it. I want every one of our warships equipped with antimatter bombs. Here in the Milky Way, we'll have at least some ability to protect ourselves."
"Mm. Not only that, with this device, we won't have to worry about matter anymore. In theory, practically any matter can be turned into the elements we want. Spaceship wreckage, all kinds of garbage-not a bit will go to waste. And producing elements also yields energy, so we'll never have to worry about energy again."
"What other good things are there, Academician? Tell us everything at once," Wen Zhonghua said.
"There are plenty: warp technology, gravity technology, magnetic technology, and so on. There are even countless ingenious little devices. After all, this includes all the technology of three other stellar-level civilizations and one planetary-level civilization. Once we've finished analyzing it, I estimate we'll have reached the Star System-Level Civilization the Destroyers spoke of," Academician Zeng said.
"By the way, what has Academician Xiao done with those alien creatures?" Hu Yu had thought of the captives.
"Heh, don't get me started. Academician Xiao has been run off his feet these past few days. Before I came here, I visited the biological sciences ship, and I came back throwing up. Those biology people are a bunch of lunatics. Some of the Sand Python residential ships we captured were originally starships belonging to the three other civilizations the Sand Python fleet destroyed. The Sand Python Civilization couldn't operate those alien ships themselves, so they kept some aliens alive to run them. That means we now have alien creatures from four civilizations. Our biologists aren't being very friendly to the Sand Python creatures. They cost us 1.5 million soldiers, and now Academician Xiao is organizing live dissections. I took one look and, well, vomited all over the floor. The creatures from the other three civilizations were trembling with fear. Fortunately, Academician Xiao told them he would only dissect the Sand Pythons and would just take some samples from the others for research."
"Mm. Put to good use, biology can be a powerful weapon too. We obtained biotechnology that gives us near immortality from the bugs. We'll encounter more and more alien creatures in the future. Perhaps one of them will allow us to make another breakthrough."
"General, what do we do next? That's something you have to decide. We can only provide you with technological support," Academician Zeng asked.
"We can stay at Tau Ceti for thirty more years at most. After that, we have to leave. We've caused too much of a commotion, and it could easily draw civilizations from nearby star systems. That might bring us more trouble. During these thirty years, make analyzing warp technology the priority so our fleet can travel faster. Next, we need to build Hunter-Killers again. Now that we have mature technology and equipment, we'll build at least a million this time, and the corresponding personnel training must be in place too. But from now on, we should use AI to control warships whenever possible. People are far too precious. We've been at Tau Ceti for fifty years, and our population has grown by less than twenty million. Yet we lost over a million in one blow, all of them young elites. It's heartbreaking."
"All right, General. I'll have the computer department combine our technology with alien technology to create more advanced AI. We have to take this path sooner or later. In the future, we may build even more and larger warships. If we rely entirely on people to operate them, once war breaks out... Sigh."
"By the way, Zhonghua, have arrangements been made for the families of the fallen crew members?"
"Yes. Though they're grieving, they've all said they understand. Also, the memorial service for the heroes will be held this afternoon. Everyone will attend."
"Mm. I'll personally preside over the memorial service this afternoon."