The wormhole opened and closed instantly, and the starship base passed through it in a very short time, appearing under a magnificent and radiant starry sky like a streak of light.
"Wow, it's so beautiful!" Xu Qing and the female officers in the bridge crowded together, their eyes fixed on the screen as if sparkling stars were emerging.
After dealing with the first batch of pig-nosed warships, the Starship did not leave immediately. It intercepted two more batches of pig-nosed warships before departing.
Let's hope that after the enemy discovers the wreckage of the warships left in Cygnus, they won't trouble the Solar System.
Ling Xiao sneered without concealment, "Is it that serious?"
"What do you know!" Li Ke Ke glared fiercely at Ling Xiao and cursed softly, "Blockhead!"
Gong Yi Ding chuckled like a doting father, while Ou Zhan Peng also folded his arms and watched the spectacle.
This was a nebula more than 700 light-years away from the Solar System, and 600 light-years deep into the beast occupied zone. A star hidden in the depths of the nebula illuminated the vast cloud body with a diameter of tens of light-years. Reds, yellows, and various colors intertwined, full of a unique aesthetic.
Surrounded by colorful nebulae, three stars emitting dazzling blue light intertwined with each other, orbiting one another.
It was a triple star system. All three stars were much larger than the sun. The largest one had a mass more than thirty times that of the sun.
Ou Zhan Peng racked his brains for a long time, but could not find words to accurately describe the scene. He had to admit that his literary cultivation was far too lacking.
Xiao Luo jumped up abruptly and landed on the table next to Ou Zhan Peng, "What do you guys think of this place?"
Ou Zhan Peng felt the surface below with a look of serious contemplation, "It's not bad... Old Gong, what do you think?"
Gong Yi Ding sighed, "It's not a suitable place. It'll have to do for now."
The Milky Way was filled with binary, trinary, and even multi-star systems with more stars. The common characteristic of these systems was complex stellar orbits. Planets born in such environments would have difficulty possessing stable conditions, let alone ecosystems and habitable environments.
From the known data, the most suitable environment for the emergence of life was a stable single-star system similar to the Solar System.
Therefore, this galaxy was absolutely unsuitable for biological development, not even for colonization.
However, from another perspective, it was indeed a good place to hide.
Ou Zhan Peng manipulated the equipment to scan the galaxy and quickly obtained the orbital data of the three stars.
The two larger stars orbited each other, and the smallest star was located at their Lagrange point!
In addition to this, there were... hmm, nine planets?
Ou Zhan Peng couldn't help but complain, "This place is too complicated!"
The others nodded in agreement with Captain Ou's assessment – among the nine planets, only two giant planets orbited the barycenter of the three stars. One had a semi-major axis close to 80 astronomical units, and the other was over 90.
In the Solar System, Neptune's semi-major axis was only 30 astronomical units, indicating how distant the orbits of these two planets were.
The other seven planets all revolved around star C. If this star did not emit light, they would be a group of moons.
In such a galaxy, the gravitational relationships between stars, and between stars and planets, were intricate.
Ou Zhan Peng could easily imagine the scorching hellish scene when planets orbiting C moved into the space between the three stars, with three suns hanging in the sky at once.
"The more complex, the easier it is to hide," Xiao Luo pointed to star C with great insight, "The planets there are suitable for us."
Ou Zhan Peng immediately shook his head, "Forget it, that place is not suitable for anyone. It's better to hide at the edge of the galaxy."
Xiao Luo looked puzzled, "Without relying on planets, how can we develop?"
It's "we," not including "you!"
Ou Zhan Peng really wanted to correct him, but considering they were all in the same boat now, he swallowed his harsh words.
"If you're worried about the environment, there's no need," Xiao Luo said. "If I remember correctly, the environment of the fourth planet is acceptable, especially at the poles. It only freezes briefly when it's on the outer side of the star. At other times, the temperature is very suitable."
The Starship's scan results were no different from what Xiao Luo said.
Planet C4's equatorial temperature reached over 110 degrees, but the poles were only around 20 degrees, very similar to a planet near the Solar System.
However, this planet did not have as much water resources. The equatorial region was barren for thousands of miles, and only the poles were suitable for human survival.
It had distinct seasons.
Ou Zhan Peng pointed to the holographic projection, "We are not here to colonize. The base cannot be in too conspicuous a location. We can build a base on the planet, but the Starship cannot approach it."
Xiao Luo shrugged, "You're the captain, it's up to you... We have an abandoned base on planet C4, we can utilize it."
Ou Zhan Peng nodded, "Thank you very much, then."
After Xiao Luo left, Captain Ou immediately moved the base to the edge of the galaxy. Here, like other galaxies, there were many scattered small celestial bodies. The Starship base could perfectly blend in, showing no trace.
Subsequently, two warships left the base and jumped directly near planet C4, conducting a comprehensive scan of the planet.
A clever cook cannot cook without ingredients. Although there were many researchers in the base, without material support from Earth, various research consumables could not last long. They had to find substitutes as soon as possible for research to continue.
This was not a problem that could be solved in a day or two.
Moreover, after overcoming technical difficulties, it was still necessary to translate technology into strength. Although the base had a certain amount of raw materials stored, it could only build two more warships at most. Without solving the source of materials, having more technology was useless.
For this reason, Ou Zhan Peng quietly found Gong Yi Ding, "Old Gong, research matters still have to be handed over to you."
"Don't worry," Gong Yi Ding replied.
Ou Zhan Peng hesitated and said, "Old Gong, technically, this place is quite suitable, but I'm still uneasy."
"What do you mean?"
"Such a good place, why didn't the Rolans use it themselves? They just gave it to us?" Ou Zhan Peng voiced his doubts.
Gong Yi Ding nodded, "It is a bit unreasonable... At this point, let's take it one step at a time."
Ou Zhan Peng nodded and said after a moment of silence, "I still think hiding here is not a solution. If the enemy can't find the Starship base, won't they trouble Earth?"
"What are you thinking?" Gong Yi Ding asked.
"At least we should have two warships go out for reconnaissance. Even if we can't find the enemy's location, we can't be completely ignorant of the outside situation, right? Hiding in this ghost place and upgrading our technology, when will it end?"
Gong Yi Ding's eyes showed a different expression, "You want to take the Starship out again? Leaving the base here, is that appropriate?"
Ou Zhan Peng shook his head, "To be honest, I was chased by pig-nosed warships before, and I didn't really think about it much. Now that I think about it, it's not quite appropriate for us to abandon Earth and run here to hide. It feels like we have the ability to defend our home, and when we know the bandits are coming, we just abandon our vast wealth and run away with guns and cannons. Isn't that putting the cart before the horse?"
Before Gong Yi Ding could answer, he continued, "If we stay in the Solar System, even if the enemy attacks, we can use the Starship base as a bargaining chip to negotiate with the enemy. At worst, we can give up the base, and somehow ensure Earth's safety; but now? We are safe, what about Earth?"
He never believed that the Starship was more important than Earth.
Although the Starship possessed extremely advanced technology, technology could be developed slowly if lost. If Earth were lost, what meaning would there be for the Starship to remain?
Actually, it couldn't be blamed on Ou Zhan Peng. Although he controlled the Starship base and had the authority to communicate directly with the higher-ups, he was just a low-ranking officer and only had a superficial understanding of strategic deployments. Once it involved Earth's safety, his mind would involuntarily heat up, leading him to make some less rational decisions.
Now that he had completely calmed down and reconsidered, he realized that his previous decisions were not very rational.
Gong Yi Ding remained silent for a moment, "Then what do you want to do?"
"First, find out about the enemy's situation. If there's news, conduct a strategic deterrence. If there's no news, return to the Solar System and wait!"
Gong Yi Ding sighed, "I'm just a researcher, I don't understand military affairs at all. At most, I can calculate probabilities for you. Ultimately, you have to make your own decisions... Actually, you've already made up your mind, right? You just want to get some support from me, don't you?"
"You are right," Ou Zhan Peng smiled. "Before, I always thought about relying on the Rolans' power to confront the enemy. But now that I think about it, why should we ally with the Rolans? Why should they help us? Besides, even if we force an alliance, who will listen to whom? Do we have to hand over the base to the Rolans to get a little bit of their charity? It will be difficult to get it back once we hand over the initiative."
"Then do as you think," Gong Yi Ding gave a smile of understanding.
Before this, whether it was the strategic deterrence plan, confronting alien civilizations, or intercepting star beasts, Ou Zhan Peng mostly considered tactical issues.
Even when dealing with strategic issues, he considered tactical solutions to solve them.
However, this time, he was genuinely thinking from a strategic perspective, indicating that Ou Zhan Peng had indeed made progress.
This was a great thing for both the base and humanity.
Having made his decision, Ou Zhan Peng did not hesitate. He immediately ordered the warships to return. Then, the Starship base flew out of the nebula and reappeared near the secret stronghold of the Leng E people.
Before they could contact the Leng E people, Gong Yi Ding suddenly showed a surprised expression, "That Xiao Luo wants to see you!"
Ou Zhan Peng was slightly startled, "No!"
Although he had arranged for the Rolans to be inside the base and unable to see the outside situation, the feeling when passing through the wormhole did not lie. If they were looking for him now, it was definitely because they had discovered something.
However, the Rolans were only temporarily residing here, and human decisions were not for the Rolans to worry about.
Gong Yi Ding nodded and immediately conveyed Ou Zhan Peng's intentions.
Ling Xiao grumbled, "What do the Rolans want?"
"No matter what they want, just ignore them," Ou Zhan Peng said.
A prompt sounded, and the Leng E people contacted them. Their image appeared in the center of the cabin.
"How can I help you, my friend?" the Leng E people were as polite as ever.
"Hello, my friend," Ou Zhan Peng said directly, "Have you heard about what happened in Cygnus X?"
"Yes, we heard. Very regrettable."
Ou Zhan Peng got to the point, "I want to know where those pig-nosed warships came from. Do you have any information about them?"
The Leng E people shook their heads helplessly, "Sorry, we have never heard of such warships."
"What about the three major civilizations? The three major civilizations that resisted the star beasts?"
"We heard from the Rolans, but my friend, you know our range of activity. We have never contacted the three major civilizations."
"Do you know who might have contacted the three major civilizations? Or where can we find space pirates who have contacted the three major civilizations?"
"Sorry, we are truly powerless." The Leng E people still shook their heads. "I can try to make some connections and inquire, but it's hard to say when we'll get results."
"Then all right, thank you for your trouble," Ou Zhan Peng couldn't hide his disappointment. "Notify me as soon as you have any news. You know where to find us."
"Don't worry, we will!"
After the communication ended, a unit of gold floated out of the Starship base and was delivered into the hands of the Leng E people.
Even the emperor doesn't starve his soldiers. To get information, one must pay a price.
"What now? Return to Earth?" Ling Xiao asked.
Ou Zhan Peng hesitated and was about to speak when the alarm suddenly blared, startling everyone.
"What happened?" Ou Zhan Peng asked urgently.
"It's the Rolans!" Gong Yi Ding said.
Ou Zhan Peng waved his hand, and a projection of a corridor appeared in the center of the cabin. A robot, about the same height as a human, smashed open the cabin door with a punch and ran down the corridor at extreme speed.
"Where did this thing come from?" Ou Zhan Peng recalled carefully. When the Rolans entered the base, they only had a lifeboat. When they entered the cabin, there were only a dozen Rolans and their personal belongings...
Looking back now, their luggage seemed to have increased, but it couldn't account for such a large robot, could it?
Gong Yi Ding brought up the surveillance records and saw Xiao Luo waving his hand in the cabin. The dozen Rolans and their luggage transformed and combined to form a tall, thin, black robot.
Ling Xiao's teeth itched with anger, "What do they want to do?"
"What else can they want to do? They're heading for the bridge," Gong Yi Ding said.
Ou Zhan Peng's gaze sharpened, "Everyone, hold your positions!"
With that, he turned and walked into the teleportation gate, stepped onto the equipment platform.
Mechanical arms immediately put the power armor on him.
At the same time, the Rolan robot had reached outside Gate No. 7 – he always entered and exited the bridge through Gate No. 7.
Gate No. 7 was not closed. Xiao Luo manipulated the robot to crash into it, expecting to appear in the bridge. However, when he rushed out of the teleportation gate, he found that it was not the bridge at all, but an extremely spacious cabin.
The fully armed Ou Zhan Peng stood opposite him.
Xiao Luo turned and rushed into the teleportation gate, expecting to return to the previous corridor, but nothing in front of him had changed.
"Stop wasting your energy," Ou Zhan Peng's voice was low. "Tell me, what exactly do you want!"