mynovelweb Chapter 184: The Crazy Competition
Chapter 184: The Crazy Competition
"Earth Empire Fleet Headquarters, this is the Interstellar Interception Joint Fleet, I am Commander George of the Joint Fleet."
"George, how's the situation?"
"Commander-in-Chief, according to the fleet's long-range reconnaissance, the Quadruple Star Fleet has about 10,000 warships. However, what surprises us the most is that the number of warships has been increasing as the enemy travels at near-light speed. A year ago, when we set out, they only had about 5,000 warships."
"You have about six or seven months left before you meet. If it continues to grow at this rate, the Four Star Fleet will have approximately 15,000 warships by then?"
"Yes."
Thomas was puzzled. How could this be? However, having known Zhou Yuan for many years, he knew that anything could happen in this virtual universe.
"Zhou Yuan, what do you think?" Thomas asked the monitor.
Zhou Yuan was deep in thought, and it seemed that he only realized what was happening after Thomas asked him.
"Thomas, you should immediately order the Combined Fleet to return to port, or have it change course and go somewhere else, away from the Quadruple Star Fleet and the Solar System."
"Why?" Thomas and George were taken aback. The Earth Empire fleet was now very powerful, but Zhou Yuan suggested that the joint fleet flee. What was the logic behind this?
“You can trust me, Thomas. We have about two more years to make our escape.”
"Zhou Yuan, I don't quite understand."
"George, this Quadruple Star Fleet is very likely a silicon-based intelligent civilization fleet. In one year, the number of warships in this fleet will not be 20,000, but 40,000. When it arrives on Earth in two and a half years, it will likely have 80,000 to 90,000 warships."
"You mean, the number of warships in this silicon-based civilization's fleet is growing exponentially?"
“Yes, George, in my source world, we created replicators that can devour metal, reproduce and replicate themselves, growing exponentially.”
"But I don't understand, the fleet's mass was fixed when they set off. If it grows exponentially, where do the required materials come from?"
"George, this fleet is constantly evolving during its voyage. Its mass remains the same, but the size of the warships is getting smaller and lighter, and the number of warships is increasing. This is the self-decomposition and self-assembly function of the silicon-based civilization. Because the warships are getting lighter, the speed of the Quadruple Star Fleet has suddenly increased."
"I understand."
"So we have to give up Earth and Celestial V?"
"Yes, unfortunately, we probably have no choice but to do so."
Thomas urgently called Dean Coffey.
"Coffey, is hyperspace travel possible within two years?"
"Mr. President, you know this is simply impossible. The most difficult part is the quark-photon engine. We have indeed made some small progress in this area, but conservatively speaking, it will take at least fifteen or sixteen years to succeed."
"Fifteen or sixteen years?" Thomas put his hand on his head, seemingly feeling deflated.
"Mr. President, what's wrong?"
Thomas then explained the cause and course of events in a slightly more detailed manner.
"Zhou Yuan, shall we destroy the sun, create an artificial stellar wormhole, and travel faster than the speed of light?"
"That probably won't work, Coffey. To create an artificial stellar wormhole for faster-than-light travel, the star must either be a binary or multiple star system like Sirius and Procyon, or the star must have a mass three times or more than that of the Sun."
"However, our Sun and Trisolaran are of similar mass and cannot form artificial stellar wormholes. The artificial wormholes of Sirius and Procyon are quite far away, and there are no teleportation portals nearby. Moreover, both of these enemy wormholes have intelligent civilization fleets. Even if we went there now, we wouldn't have enough time. Furthermore, even if we could reach the vicinity of those two stellar wormholes, how would we know our destination after traversing them?"
"That's simple. You need to carefully analyze the masses of Sirius, Procyon, and their companion stars, the power and time used by the Alpha Fleet's sniper ships when they destroyed the two stars, and their location after faster-than-light travel. This virtual universe has a lot of regularity. Once you grasp the regularity, you'll know your destination. As for Earth-like planets, in the source worlds I know, there are planets like Ama, Gesang, Ges, Tab, and Yineng. I'll send you the specific coordinates of these Earth-like planets in their source worlds now. You can then observe them yourself using your super-distance 'sky eye,' analyze the situation, and compare them to see which Earth-like planet is suitable."
"Understood." Coffey then proceeded to assign tasks.
"George, your combined fleet should prepare to return to Tian Shen Wu. I need you to protect Tian Shen Wu. If necessary, a full evacuation may be required."
"receive."
"George, wait a minute."
"what happened?"
"Thomas, I would like to know some information about the Quadruple Star Fleet. Could you please remove the weapons and shield systems from several warships and turn them into target ships? Then, let these target ships be controlled by artificial intelligence and continue to sail toward the predetermined target."
"George, do as Zhou Yuan says."
"Yes."
Approximately one light-year from Earth, the Allied Fleet began releasing portal modules. These modules assembled automatically, and once a portal was established, nearly ten thousand warships of various sizes were transported one by one to the vicinity of the star Asclepius. However, eleven warships were left behind. This portal automatically disassembled, with all the portal modules residing in a large warship. This large warship, carrying the portal modules, began traveling at near-light speed towards Earth. The remaining ten target ships, under the control of artificial intelligence, flew towards the Quadruplex Fleet.
Humans on Earth and Uranus entered a state of emergency. The resources of the eight planets in the solar system, including Earth, were extensively mined, and large transport ships capable of traveling at near-light speed were built. Humans began preparations for a great escape.
Thanks to the advanced technology of the new era and the unity of humankind, all affairs on both planets are proceeding rapidly, efficiently, and in an orderly manner.
The Earth Empire Academy of Sciences has ultimately chosen Kepler-22b, an Earth-like planet, as a potential refuge for humanity's future escape. Kepler-22b orbits a star very similar to our Sun. This planet is approximately 2.4 times the diameter of Earth, with a surface temperature of about 21 degrees Celsius, making it highly habitable. Observations from a distant "sky eye" suggest that this planet is likely a warm ocean planet, and scientists have named it Aiur.
Although Gliese 667C has two super-Earths that are relatively suitable for human habitation, it is only about 20 light-years away from Earth. Within twenty years, it would be vulnerable to being hunted by a fleet of four planets. Kepler-22b, an Earth-like planet, is about 600 light-years away. Six hundred years would provide humanity with much more time to regroup and develop.
In March of 2308 AD, ten target ships of Earth's humans and the Quadrilateral Star Fleet were about to meet, and the target ships transmitted long-range communication video back in real time.
The Quadruple Star Fleet, consisting of ten warships, flew towards ten human target ships. When the warships were still some distance from their targets, they miraculously disintegrated during their flight. Each warship split into countless beetle-like flying objects. These billions of beetles rapidly approached their respective target ships, surrounding them from different directions and attaching themselves to their hulls. In less than half an hour, each target ship had become a cluster, from which even more beetles poured out. These beetles converged towards a central point, automatically attaching and reassembling. In less than half an hour, each target ship had transformed into a thousand smaller warships, these ten thousand smaller warships almost identical to the original Quadruple Star Fleet warships. All warships continued their advance.
If Zhou Yuan hadn't told them the story of the replicators from the Source World, Thomas, George, and Coffey would have definitely fainted from fright. The sheer number of these beetles and their incredible replication ability were terrifying. Both Earth's humans and those from the five planets witnessed the encounter between the target ship and the Quadruple Star warship, and people couldn't help but feel grateful for the existence of Zhou Yuan, this "god," in their world. The number of followers of the Salvation Cult was increasing rapidly.
Zhou Yuan couldn't help but smile bitterly. The replicators, a powerful weapon he had once used in the Source World, were now opposing him in this Mother World. And now, he had to consider escaping them. If he were to encounter these terrifying replicators one day, how could he effectively eliminate them? He couldn't just keep tolerating and hiding, could he? Since this Mother World was so insane, then he would go insane with them.
In April of 2308 AD, the Earth's human fleet, carrying humans, supplies, equipment, and weapons, was transported directly to the vicinity of the planet Trisolaran through a portal near the sun. The vast solar system, since humanity's departure, had become lifeless, with only a few AI-powered spaceships and warships navigating in certain areas, particularly patrolling the skies above Earth.
In June of 2309 AD, the Quadruple Star Fleet began to slow down. In August, the Quadruple Star Fleet entered the solar system, and the artificial intelligence warships deployed near Neptune, Uranus, Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars were successively swallowed up. The Quadruple Star Fleet continued to advance towards Earth and soon reached geosynchronous orbit.
Three thousand AI warships above Earth opened fire on the Quadruple Star Fleet's warships. Intense laser beams struck the Quadruple Star warships, tearing their hulls apart, but they quickly "healed." Just like the target ships that humans were deliberately testing the Quadruple Star Fleet, all three thousand warships were annihilated by those terrifyingly numerous tiny beetles.
In the sky above the Earth, countless beetles blotted out the sun and began their rampage across the Earth's surface.
Near the sun, two invisible, massive warships appeared and launched a fatal attack. The sun collapsed, followed by a violent explosion. In interstellar space, a powerful shockwave, accompanied by a silvery-white light, appeared. This shockwave was invincible, sweeping away everything in its path, including Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars.
The Quadruple Star Fleet was also completely annihilated in that intense light. The solar system was now a world of light.
On the planet Grus, humanity detected a violent explosion of the sun at an incredible distance. Subsequently, a super-distance "sky eye" observed a fleet of intelligent civilizations that had inexplicably appeared and was heading towards Earth. They all began to return to Earth and then disappeared. This is exciting and inspiring, yet it also leaves us full of questions.
Destroying the sun and completely annihilating the Quadruple Star Fleet was, of course, one of the "crazy" action plans that Zhou Yuan began.
While the five humans were overjoyed, this virtual universe seemed to have begun a "mad" revenge.
In the spring of 2310 AD, which was the sixtieth anniversary of Zhou Yuan leaving the Source World and coming to this Mother World, the five stars of Tian Shen suddenly disappeared. This disappearance was without warning. What was frightening was that people were surprised to see that the stars that were originally twinkling in the sky disappeared and went out one by one from the starry sky as if controlled by a switch.
The Earth Empire's fleet, through long-range observation and comparison using their "Sky Eye," was horrified to discover that all stars within a radius of tens of thousands of light-years, centered on Asclepius, had vanished and gone out. Even the two artificial wormholes—Sirius and Procyon—had disappeared. Further observation and comparison revealed that in this virtual Milky Way galaxy, all stars and other celestial bodies had vanished, leaving only the planet Asclepius!
Is being plunged into an endless abyss of darkness the destiny of humanity on Earth, the mother world? Is this Zhou Yuan's final destination?
Zhou Yuan looked up at the sky and roared, staring blankly in the direction of the Triangulum and Andromeda Galaxy, a tear hanging from the corner of his eye.