"General, why does that star look so familiar?" Academician Zeng asked.
"Academician, aren't all stars the same? How can one look familiar or unfamiliar? They've already dropped out of warp travel too. If they make any rash moves, we'll attack," Hu Yu said.
"No, she's Tau Ceti. No wonder she looked so familiar."
"Tau Ceti?" Hu Yu asked in puzzlement.
"Yes, it's definitely Tau Ceti. The spectral analysis results just came in."
"Tau Ceti bestowed her blessings on us. In our hearts, it was second in importance only to the Sun. Now all we can do is watch helplessly as she becomes a weapon for the Sand Python Civilization."
"Humans, I am Ma Meng, the new leader of the Sand Python Civilization. First, thank you for killing the previous leader and giving me the chance to take his place. Originally, I didn't want a conflict with you, because I'm not as stupid as the previous leader, who casually started a war against a civilization roughly equal to our own. But someone has tasked me with destroying your civilization, and I must do it. I was originally a peace-loving person, so I'll give you a chance. Give up all your warships and have every member of your civilization submit to our Sand Python Civilization, and I'll guarantee your safety. Your civilization won't exist anymore, but at least you'll still be alive. I'll give you three minutes to consider. If there's no answer after three minutes, don't blame me."
"So it really is the Sand Python Civilization. General, this is almost impossible. They escaped with only around 200,000 warships. Even if their population was large enough to keep their species reproducing, we captured all their technology. With only the Sand Pythons aboard those warships, rebuilding their technology tree would take thousands of years at the very least. Even we humans would need over a thousand years to restore a lost technology tree." Academician Zeng was utterly baffled.
"Judging by the way they spoke, there shouldn't be any mistake. Academician, on the surface, the Sand Python fleet's technology has already surpassed ours. I don't really believe they could have overtaken us so quickly either. After all, we only achieved what we have now by integrating their technology with some of the technology Mr. Daozi gave us. It really is unlikely they could have done it on their own, especially since their biological characteristics make them completely unsuited to scientific research," Wen Zhonghua said.
"There must be another civilization supporting them. And Ma Meng, the Sand Python Civilization's new leader, said someone had tasked him with destroying us."
"Academician, we haven't offended any civilization since we entered space. Apart from the Sand Python Civilization, we haven't had any conflicts with another civilization either. Could it be the star system-level civilization Mr. Daozi offended?" Hu Yu reasoned.
"Unlikely. That Star System Level civilization has already acted personally, and it's only a Star System Level civilization itself. To develop the Sand Python Civilization into a Star System Level civilization as well, it would have to give them almost all its own technology. That's unlikely. I suspect that if what Ma Meng said is true, the civilization behind him must be at least a small star sector civilization."
"A small star sector civilization? Academician, we've never had dealings with one. Why would they target us? And if they're targeting us, why wouldn't they act personally?" Wen Zhonghua asked.
"Chief of Staff Wen, have you forgotten? We have two other fleets elsewhere: the leader's fleet and Minister Luo's fleet. Just because we haven't offended a small star sector civilization doesn't mean the other two fleets haven't clashed with one, especially Minister Luo's fleet. They develop through plunder and war. To put it bluntly, they're space pirates, and that makes it easy for them to come into conflict with other civilizations. As for why the small star sector civilization isn't acting personally, that's easy to understand. That Destroyer said before that the great star region civilization had ordered small star sector civilizations not to interfere casually in the affairs of lower-level civilizations. That's why they're using the Sand Python Civilization to do their killing for them."
"Since it's the Sand Python Civilization, there's no need to talk. Zhonghua, order the fleet to attack at will. I'd like to see whether technology developed step by step is more reliable, or whether technology they picked up elsewhere works better."
"Old Hu, what about the star Tau Ceti?"
"The Sand Python fleet wants to use Tau Ceti to destroy us, so we'll give them a taste of two exploding stars. Gradually move the battle line toward the third star. When they blow up Tau Ceti, we'll blow up Alpha Centauri's third star too! End the battle as soon as possible, and leave this place immediately. If there really is a small star sector civilization behind the Sand Python fleet, they may well have had us under surveillance here for a long time."
"Old Hu, that's playing a little big. Our Stealth Killers will take considerable losses too," Wen Zhonghua said, somewhat excited.
"If we're going to play, let's play big. If you cut down the weeds without pulling up the roots, they'll grow again when the spring breeze blows. Last time, we weren't strong enough to wipe them out completely. Now they've dared to come after us again, we must erase the name of the Sand Python Civilization from the universe. I know what the Stealth Killers' defenses can handle. We'll take losses, but we won't lose the whole fleet. As long as we completely destroy the Sand Python Civilization, the losses will be well worth it."
"After this, the thousand or so tons of antimatter we've stockpiled over hundreds of years will be completely used up. It'll take a long time to produce that much antimatter again."
"Chief of Staff, don't worry. Our antimatter production has now increased to fifty tons a year. It won't be long before we have enough antimatter again. Besides, destroying a star doesn't take as much as a thousand tons of antimatter. Back at Tau Ceti, just thirty kilograms of antimatter triggered a massive eruption. Now we only need to send five hundred tons of antimatter inside the third star and place it at various key points. We can use the immense kinetic energy released in the instant of antimatter annihilation to destroy the Sun's core, and the resulting chain reaction will be enough to cause the star to explode."
As the attack order was issued, countless antimatter bombs sped toward the Sand Python fleet a light-day away, propelled by warp drives. At five hundred times the speed of light, they would take less than three minutes to reach their target. The Sand Python fleet was no slouch either. Like the humans, they had filled this area of space with all kinds of microsatellites to gather battlefield intelligence.
Seeing that the human fleet had struck first, Ma Meng was almost bursting with rage. In his eyes, the humans were nothing more than a snack. Although they had as many as twenty million warships, they were all small vessels a hundred meters long, utterly defenseless against his own supermassive warships. Even if the humans had ten times as many ships, Ma Meng wouldn't have taken them seriously. He had thought his fleet could crush the human fleet, and with the stellar bomb Tau Ceti in tow, the strength he displayed would be enough to make the humans surrender without a fight.
"Fight back! Destroy this food that doesn't know its place!" Ma Meng shouted wildly.
At this distance, laser weapons were completely ineffective. Even a star system-level civilization could not solve the problem of energy attenuation that lasers faced over long distances. Antimatter bombs and gravity bombs were far more effective means of attack.
Countless antimatter bombs traveled through that light-day of space under the power of their warp drives, warping the entire area beyond recognition. The chaotic distortions caused many antimatter bombs to veer off course and fall into one another's warped space, triggering violent explosions.