Chapter 1 The Fourth Earth Defense War Aftermath
Following the conclusion of the Fourth Earth Defense War, humanity finally ushered in a rare period of peaceful development. Not only did military strength advance by leaps and bounds, but scientific technology also experienced a period of accumulated progress and vigorous growth.
Relations between humanity and the First and Third Civilizations remained frozen. With a large number of prisoners of war in hand, humanity was already in an invincible position. They had expected these two civilizations to contact them again soon. However, what arrived was not the principal parties, but the Second Civilization, with whom they had no prior contact.
With the Second Civilization acting as a mouthpiece and buffer between the two sides, bilateral negotiations resumed.
After four months of unremitting efforts, humanity and the First and Third Great Civilizations finally reached an agreement to release all prisoners of war.
Not long after, humanity established formal diplomatic relations with the Second Civilization and reached consensus on a series of issues including science and technology, natural resources, and interstellar trade, marking a new chapter in history.
Years later, Starship Base.
Ling Xiao rushed into a small room resembling an elevator within the cabin wall. With a flash of light, he was transported to the control room. "Ou Fei!"
"I'm here!" Ou Zhanpeng replied. "What's up?"
Ling Xiao immediately leaned in and tapped his fingertip on the terminal, transmitting a document. "We just received news from the Rock Shell research station. Over half an hour ago, a large alien spacecraft appeared there. Initial contact indicates no malice; they hope we can provide ample provisions and fuel."
Ou Zhanpeng blinked. "Which Rock Shell?"
"Oh, it's that armed research station, t-3762!"
"Oh, got it!" Ou Zhanpeng exclaimed in realization.
T-3762 was located near a red dwarf star 37.62 light-years from Earth, which had four planets, two terrestrial and two gas giants.
The Rock Shell was situated near the third planet and was currently the farthest research station from the Solar System, without exception.
The reason for establishing a research station here was that the third planet happened to be located precisely in the center of the habitable zone. Its moon not only possessed a large amount of liquid water but had also naturally evolved a primitive ecosystem.
This was the first time humanity had discovered a native ecosystem in the universe, and it was therefore given great importance. Otherwise, the military would not have stationed a research station in such a star system.
Now, with the military having established numerous research stations, Ou Zhanpeng genuinely wouldn't remember them unless they were particularly special.
However, upon recalling the location of Rock Shell, Ou Zhanpeng appeared surprised. "Just sell them what supplies they need. Is such a small matter worth such a fuss? What, they want to take it by force?"
"That's not the case," Ling Xiao shook his head. "Firstly, the quantity they require is too large, necessitating allocation from other directions. Secondly, they wish to exchange a piece of information to reduce some of the cost."
To this day, humanity's understanding was still limited to the vicinity of the Solar System. To understand deep space as much as possible, humanity had formulated a rule to offset costs with deep space intelligence.
Ou Zhanpeng immediately grasped the key point, his expression turning serious. "What information did the aliens provide?"
Ling Xiao pointed to the terminal. "You'd better take a look yourself."
Ou Zhanpeng quickly found the data on the terminal. With a flick of his finger, a holographic projection emerged from the terminal screen and materialized in the center of the control room.
It was the edge of a small star system, where sparse celestial bodies silently spoke of its barrenness.
A few seconds later, the calm was shattered by the sudden unfolding of a wormhole, and a gray, shuttle-shaped behemoth emerged from it.
Ou Zhanpeng's pupils contracted. "That big?"
According to the data provided in the video, the ship's overall length exceeded ten kilometers, making it a colossal flying object second only to Starship Base.
Ling Xiao reminded him, "That's not the point!"
Ou Zhanpeng shrugged and swiped his finger to the next video segment.
This time, a strange star system appeared before everyone's eyes, with a platinum star, twelve planets, and a multitude of other celestial bodies.
At the edge of the star system, a group of small celestial bodies from deep space began to penetrate the system's periphery. They were similar in size, numerous, and covered the sky.
So many small celestial bodies, with such similar sizes and shapes, could not possibly be a natural phenomenon!
Ou Zhanpeng looked at Ling Xiao in surprise, but the latter simply shrugged, indicating he knew nothing.
The camera sped up, and the large group of small celestial bodies soon reached the center of the star system.
At this point, a powerful fleet appeared at the edge of the frame, numbering at least several hundred ships.
Even from a great distance, the fleet opened fire. Dense beams of light sliced through the void, shattering and destroying countless small celestial bodies.
However, the sheer number of small celestial bodies was overwhelming. Despite the fleet's best efforts, they were powerless and could only retreat while fighting.
This segment utilized a time-lapse photography technique, indicating that the fleet's interception lasted for a considerable time, perhaps months or even years.
As the small celestial bodies steadily approached, the fleet retreated further and further, gradually closing in on the fourth planet.
This was the only habitable planet in this star system.
Likely realizing that the fleet could not hold back the mysteriously appearing small celestial bodies, the alien civilization began to evacuate the fourth planet. Spaceships continuously detached from the planet and fled the star system.
During this period, the fleet continued to retreat and finally encountered the asteroid cluster head-on not far from the fourth planet.
However, what happened next shocked Ou Zhanpeng. As those small celestial bodies approached the warships, they began to change. The originally near-spherical celestial bodies suddenly unfolded, transforming into thick, conical shapes and crashing into the warships' shields.
The continuous impacts quickly destroyed the shields, then pried open the outer armor, embedding themselves deeply into the ship's surface.
The camera moved inside the warship. It was only then that Ou Zhanpeng and Ling Xiao discovered that the objects were not merely embedded in the armor but had penetrated it, delivering monsters inside the warship.
These were large beasts with scaled, tough hides and robust limbs, somewhat similar to the Zerg but with extremely distinct differences.
Most notably, atop their heads, they possessed heavy, sturdy shield-like structures, capable of withstanding the alien defensive fire without faltering. In a short while, they riddled the alien warship with holes, causing it to lose power.
Alien soldiers within the warship attempted to escape. Those who could not escape in time all perished in the monsters' massive jaws.
Hundreds of warships were destroyed in no time.
Subsequently, the asteroid cluster reached the fourth planet, transforming into meteors that rained down as falling warships.
Before long, the monsters completely occupied the planet.
They were everywhere, whether in the mountains, plains, or on the seabed. Plants and animals alike were unable to escape the monsters' enormous mouths.
Furthermore, the monsters displayed astonishing adaptability, exhibiting different forms in different environments. If they hadn't witnessed them descending from the sky with their own eyes, the two of them would never have believed that these strange, bizarre, and seemingly completely different creatures were of the same species.
What astonished the two even more was that after the monsters had eaten their fill, they would powerfully thrust their tails into the ground, rooting themselves and becoming immobile, transforming into continuously growing giant plants.
However, not all monsters descended upon planets. More small celestial bodies remained in space. Feeling that enough had landed, they began to leave, continuing their search for other planets.
Some, in their haste, landed on planets with harsh environments, ultimately meeting their demise.
More monsters, after observing the conditions of other planets, chose to leave the star system, embarking on another long journey across interstellar space.
Ou Zhanpeng was thoroughly unnerved. "What the hell are these things?"
He continued to scroll, but there was no more information.
Ling Xiao shook his head. "All I know is that this information was provided by the aliens. To know more, we can only ask the aliens."
Ou Zhanpeng calmed down a bit. "Have the aliens' origins been clarified?"
"We've contacted the Leng'e people. According to them, this is a powerful civilization from the direction of the galactic center, and we even have a slight connection with them."
Ou Zhanpeng frowned. "What do you mean?"
Ling Xiao explained, "According to the Leng'e people, they are the civilization behind the Black Horn people. They are only this tall on average, but their technology is very advanced. Headquarters has just named them the Roer people."
He held up his hand, indicating a length of about a span.
"Twenty centimeters?" Ou Zhanpeng could hardly believe it was true. "You're not kidding, are you?"
Ling Xiao twitched the corner of his mouth. "That's what the Leng'e people said."
"My heavens!" Ou Zhanpeng secretly calculated. The Roer people, only 20 centimeters tall, building a ten-kilometer-long giant ship—wouldn't that be equivalent to humans building a super-giant ship over a hundred kilometers long?
He was stunned for a moment before asking, "Did headquarters say anything else?"
"Figure out the situation with the star beasts as soon as possible and assess their threat level to Earth."
"Understood," Ou Zhanpeng nodded. "You go personally."
He said.
After the Fourth Earth Defense War, headquarters had issued a strict order to Ou Zhanpeng: unless absolutely necessary, he was not to leave the Solar System.
The Starship, which had been his triumph, had now become his confinement, trapping him within the Solar System and preventing him from going anywhere. The frustration was indescribable.
In other words, despite the numerous alien space stations and research stations humanity had built over the years, he hadn't seen a single one.
It was quite ridiculous, wasn't it?
Ling Xiao offered a Patton-esque salute, touching his brow. "No problem!"
A moment later, Ling Xiao teleported to the lower deck and piloted a shuttle over thirty meters long away from the base. In just a short while, he flew to the vicinity of the star gate near the base and requested passage to t-3762.
A massive star gate opened in front of the shuttle. Within the absolute darkness of the star gate, tiny specks of light seemed to twinkle.
Ling Xiao activated the shield and steered the shuttle headfirst into the star gate.
Through the unremitting efforts of researchers, humanity finally mastered wormhole technology after the Fourth Earth Defense War.
However, wormhole technology was not as perfect as imagined. The most troublesome aspect was the massive size and weight of the equipment, which could only be carried and used by large flying objects.
To this end, researchers racked their brains and tried every possible method, but they were unable to reduce the equipment's volume.
Gong Yiding believed that this was not a problem that could be solved in a short time. With humanity's current technological level, mastering wormhole technology was extremely challenging. It would require breakthroughs in other areas before there was a possibility of further reducing the equipment's size.
Yet, faster-than-light travel was a crucial technology that humanity urgently needed. Without mastering wormhole technology, they could only purchase it at a high price from other civilizations, effectively handing over leverage to potential enemies.
Ultimately, researchers found an alternative method of usage: the star gate.
This concept was already commonplace in science fiction, and its realization was not particularly difficult.
Thus, the military, with the Solar System as its center, built dozens of star gates connecting to other star systems. From then on, not only could large warships freely travel to and from neighboring star systems, but small spacecraft could also use the star gates to reach other star systems, greatly prospering human interstellar trade.
When Ling Xiao regained consciousness, he had already arrived in the target star system. The research station was not far ahead, and the colossal Roer ship was also near the third planet, seemingly drawing in the atmosphere of the gas giant to separate fuel for the ship.
Ling Xiao, as the sole representative of humanity, engaged in brief communication and contact with the Roer people. He agreed to provide them with sufficient food and fuel, but also demanded that the Roer people exchange this for technology and information, rather than trying to fob them off with useless gold.
After many years, Ling Xiao was no longer the short-sighted individual he once was.
The Roer people readily agreed.
Thus, Ling Xiao returned to the Solar System. After a detailed report to headquarters, a fleet of fully loaded transport ships set sail for t-3762.
When Ou Zhanpeng saw Ling Xiao again, he appeared preoccupied.
"What happened?" Ou Zhanpeng asked.
He rarely saw such an expression on Ling Xiao's face, and his heart sank.
Ling Xiao looked up. "The situation is much worse than we imagined. According to the Roer people, those monsters did not appear suddenly. In our terms, they should be a kind of interstellar swarm."
"What kind of thing?" Ou Zhanpeng's mind was a bit hazy.
"Exactly what you heard," Ling Xiao said. "No one knows where they come from, only that their numbers are immense. They do not possess faster-than-light travel capabilities and can only traverse vast interstellar space at sub-light speeds. However, any star system they invade succumbs to their overwhelming numbers."
At this point, Ling Xiao rubbed his forehead with a pained expression. "The Roer people said they knew about the star beasts long ago and were aware of their danger, but they didn't take it seriously until the star beasts appeared in the Roer system. By then, it was too late."
Ou Zhanpeng's eyes gleamed. "Where is the Roer system?"
"In the direction of the galactic center, about 120 light-years away from us," Ling Xiao said. "No wonder the Roer people didn't even react when we destroyed the Black Horn people. They were struggling to save themselves, how could they care about the Black Horn people?"
Ou Zhanpeng quietly let out a sigh of relief. "So, the star beasts need to travel over 400 light-years to reach us. We have enough time to develop slowly..." He spoke optimistically, but immediately sighed again. "Unless we never expand outwards, then we'll have enough time..."
"What's your opinion then? Should we intervene actively?" Ling Xiao asked.
Ou Zhanpeng pursed his lips. "This is not something I can decide. Furthermore, the distribution and direction of movement of the star beasts are unknown. We need to at least understand the situation of the star beasts before deciding what to do."
With that, he activated the communication system. "Headquarters, I request permission to scout the situation of the star beasts. Yes, let Starship go on this mission!"