"Well, we humans aren't particular about how people address us. Call me whatever makes you happy."
"Then I'll call you big brother. I know that sounds more affectionate in human civilization." The future patriarch touched his long ears and spoke softly.
"Big brother? Little patriarch, all right, big brother it is." Hu Yu didn't want to keep fussing over it. If he did, the other party might well end up calling him father or grandfather. Having another little brother wasn't a bad thing, especially when the civilization behind this one had once been a force to be reckoned with in the Milky Way.
"Big brother." The little rabbit was surprisingly quick to warm up to him. Having accepted Hu Yu as his big brother, he immediately grew close to him. He hopped onto Hu Yu's shoulder and curiously touched his helmet.
"Yan Xue, don't be rude to the general. Get down at once," the old patriarch called.
"It's all right, it's all right. The little patriarch is lively and active. He's bound to accomplish great things and lead the Snow Tribe back to its peak someday."
"This child is completely different from the rest of our people. In him, I seem to see traces of our people from our glorious days. Like this child, they had all sorts of strange questions every day."
"Patriarch, that's a good thing. You mustn't restrain the child's natural curiosity. We humans aren't as intelligent as the Snow Tribe, so we place great importance on nurturing that quality in our children, hoping they can change our species' future."
"Big brother, stay on Snow Star a few more days."
"No, little patriarch. We still have important business, and the fleet can't stay here." There would have been no problem with the fleet staying a few more days, but Hu Yu still felt that, although the old patriarch kept saying he trusted him completely, the barrier between them hadn't entirely disappeared. Hu Yu understood. After all, he felt the same way as the Snow Tribe's patriarch: it was almost impossible for two civilizations to establish trust with just a few words. Leaving sooner might actually increase their mutual trust.
The Snow Tribe was a promising investment. If handled well, it might become a powerful source of support for humanity in the future. The old patriarch hadn't lowered his guard, but the little patriarch seemed especially close to Hu Yu. Their brief conversation had also earned the future patriarch recognition from Hu Yu as his little brother.
"Big brother, we've only just met, and now we have to part. It'll be hard to see you again after this." The little patriarch was reluctant to part with him.
"We'll definitely meet again. Lead the Snow Tribe to strength, and don't hold your big brother back. Oh, right, since I've become your big brother, I'll give you a gift too."
Hu Yu didn't mention that the four-dimensional channel technology could be used to communicate across vast distances. For one thing, the technology was the product of countless days and nights of hard work by the fleet's scientists, and he had no authority to simply give it to another civilization. For another, the little patriarch had acted overly close to him. If they established a four-dimensional channel with the Snow Tribe, the old patriarch would inevitably suspect that humans might use the little patriarch to steal Snow Tribe technology. After thinking it over, Hu Yu decided it was better to keep it secret.
An engineering ship departed from the third planet and traveled toward the second at two hundred times the speed of light. A few minutes later, it reached orbit above the second planet. A brand-new J-90 fighter flew out of the engineering ship and headed straight for Hu Yu's landing ship. Like the landing ship, the J-90 settled steadily on the surface of the distant lake.
"Little patriarch, this fighter was a product of ours from over two hundred years ago: the J-90. She's very outdated, with no warp capability, powerful weapons, or thick armor, but it was thanks to the sacrifice of J-90s like her that we escaped the jaws of the Insect Race. Later, in our first battle against the Sand Python Civilization, all those J-90s were destroyed. They met their end on the battlefield, so they at least lived up to their reputation as fighters. Now our fleet has only two left. They're witnesses to history and have rendered us great service. I'm giving this one to you now. I hope that, like her, you won't let down the Snow Tribe's reputation."
"Big brother, don't worry. I'll lead the Snow Tribe to strength. Then I'll come find you." As the little rabbit spoke, his eyes even welled up with tears, making him very much like a human in that respect.
"I believe you. All right, goodbye. We should go. Old patriarch, take care!"
"Take care, General."
"Big brother, I'll definitely come find you."
Hu Yu turned and walked into the landing ship. It rose into the air and headed for the third planet. The vast Stealth Killer fleet escorted the enormous Deep Blue as they once again set out on the boundless starry road of their expedition.
Snow Star was only a small interlude. The grand unified model was very valuable, but, just as the Snow Tribe's patriarch had said, the fleet would have been able to solve the relevant problems in less than a century or two. Still, acquiring it ahead of time was a good thing. The fleet could design new defensive systems during the voyage, especially antigravity defenses. If these were combined with the force field's ability to bend space, the defenses of the Stealth Killers and the Deep Blue could be strengthened several times over. Even if a star exploded nearby, they could be confident of keeping the fleet intact.
Traveling at a hundred times the speed of light, the fleet passed one star after another in search of the most suitable planet to terraform, so the fleet's people could have a true home as soon as possible. For a planet to be made habitable for humans within a century, it had to have an atmosphere. Whether that atmosphere was breathable or not, the most important thing was that it could prevent drastic changes in the planet's temperature. Next, the planet needed a molten iron-nickel core to generate a magnetic field that could constantly shield it from harmful cosmic radiation. Finally, it needed a level of gravity similar to Earth's.
All other conditions could be engineered in a short time through technological means. With those three conditions in place, the fleet could turn a planet into a new Earth, where humans could truly live on the surface and enjoy the sunlight from its star, instead of staying in sealed bases, like scratching an itch through a boot.
It didn't matter if a planet wasn't in the right location; the fleet could manipulate space to move it into position. If there was no water, the fleet could make it or transport it from other planets. A lack of food, plants, or animals was even easier to solve. As long as they had energy, they could have all of it.
The fleet traveled through a vast region of space two thousand light-years long and a hundred light-years in diameter, surveying over a thousand rocky planets. Each either had unsuitable gravity or lacked a magnetic field or an atmosphere. It was as if the three conditions bore a grudge against one another, never appearing together.
"General, Chief of Staff, we've detected a possible target twenty light-years ahead. Its gravity is comparable to Earth's, and it's outside the habitable zone. It may have an atmosphere, but interference from the star is strong. We need to get closer to confirm it."
Similar reports had come in over a hundred times during the twenty-year voyage. Every time the fleet drew near to investigate, it ended up giving up for one reason or another, all of which meant terraforming would take too long. At first, everyone had eagerly and anxiously awaited the results, but eventually they grew numb to it. Although the Milky Way had roughly as many planets as stars, finding one suitable for humanity was no easy task. A planet humans could inhabit immediately was almost nonexistent. Even searching the entire universe might not turn up more than a few.