Cygnus X.
At the edge of the galaxy, streaks of light flashed by as eight large warships emerged from a wormhole, their streamlined hulls sleek and smooth.
About ten seconds later, another wormhole opened, and the Starship was the last to arrive.
This location was 350 light-years away from the solar system, penetrating over 200 light-years into the star-beast controlled territory.
The Starship scanned the galaxy, and a projection of a giant star appeared in the center of the command cabin. The only three planets revolved slowly around the star.
"Whoa, this close?" Ling Xiao exclaimed in surprise.
The distance between the first planet and the star was astonishingly small, almost pressing against the star's surface. The side facing the star was already baked a bright red, with churning atmospheric currents.
Especially near the terminator, various shades of bright stripes crisscrossed and rolled. Just a couple of glances were enough to imagine the immense, violent energy hidden beneath those seemingly magnificent stripes.
The two also differed greatly in size. If the star were a large watermelon, then the planets would be lucky to be the size of mung beans.
Heaven help us, all three were gas giants, with the largest being several times bigger than Jupiter.
"It's not surprising," Ou Zhanpeng said.
This star was already a heavily aged red giant. Planets with short semi-major axes had long since been swallowed by the continuously expanding star, leaving only these three furthest ones struggling to endure.
However, it was likely that the first planet wouldn't last much longer – although there were no astronomers in the bridge, familiarity with various astronomical knowledge was a basic requirement for joining the space fleet, so there was no need for further explanation; everyone understood what was happening.
The Starship continued to scan the galaxy. Zeng Qiao reported the results: "Star-beast density: 0.003!"
The so-called star-beast density referred to the average number of star-beasts per cubic kilometer within a certain range of the ecliptic plane.
Therefore, although this number was small, the actual number of star-beasts was surprisingly large.
Ou Zhanpeng gestured to enlarge the second planet, but the gas giant wasn't the main focus; its largest moon was.
Not only was its size comparable to a planet, but it also possessed a suitable temperature, and its surface was mostly covered by star trees.
Admittedly, apart from habitable planets, gas giants were the celestial bodies most worthy of attention.
Because you never knew when a moon might be a potential habitable planet; as long as it was given appropriate light and heat, they could return rewards beyond imagination.
Like Europa.
Or like this moon in the projection.
Unfortunately, it had already been occupied by star-beasts.
"Data collection complete!" Zeng Qiao's voice interrupted Ou Zhanpeng's thoughts.
He exhaled softly, "Order the fleet to commence operations."
"Received, commencing operations!"
As the order was relayed, the eight warships immediately jumped to the vicinity of the star, locating their respective positions according to the coordinates provided by the Starship. After repeatedly confirming that there were no issues, they activated their bottom bays to release gravity equipment.
These were special gravity devices for clearing operations, custom-made by the Roel people. To accommodate these devices, a quarter of the ship's space had to be reserved.
After arranging all the gravity devices, each ship activated them simultaneously, and then the warships immediately slid away, not daring to linger for a moment longer.
The gravity devices initiated a thirty-second countdown. The moment the countdown ended, they automatically activated their force fields, counteracting the star's gravity to form a gravity well.
Shortly thereafter, the gravity well formed, and a large amount of stellar material erupted violently, creating a powerful stellar storm covering eight directions.
With high temperatures, intense heat, and super-strong radiation, the star-beasts within the eruption zone suffered heavy casualties.
However, the scale, power, and range of the eruption were far less than anticipated.
This was not surprising either. Although red giants were large, their density was low. Moreover, the gravity of this red giant was not small. The effect of the same gravity well would certainly differ when used on a red dwarf with lower gravity compared to this star.
The Starship quickly received reports from all ships, basically meeting operational expectations, but there were still too many residual star-beasts, and it was still a considerable distance from complete annihilation.
Ou Zhanpeng pondered for a moment and issued a new order: Return to base immediately, resupply equipment, and continue!
The base he mentioned was not established by humans but was a forward supply base established by the Roel people on a nameless planet for the convenience of clearing star-beasts, specifically for producing gravity equipment.
It had to be admitted that although humans had been fighting in various expeditions over the years, contributing significantly to the Roel people, they had also acquired many warships through this endeavor.
Back in the day, the human fleet, at its peak, had only a few dozen warships, less than a hundred.
Now, it was different; they possessed over two thousand warships of various types, becoming one of the main civilizations for clearing star-beasts!
Ou Zhanpeng particularly disliked being exploited by alien civilizations, but the higher-ups didn't think so.
"It's a good thing to have value for exploitation; the worst thing is to not even have the qualification to be exploited!" Shan Qiuyu said.
Crude but true, if humans had no value for exploitation, they wouldn't have received so many warships from the Roel people, nor would their fleet have expanded to its current scale in such a short time!
Humans were still very weak, and it wasn't a bad thing to rely on the wings of powerful civilizations. When they became strong in the future, it would still be possible to turn the tables.
The fleet left, but the Starship remained, closely monitoring the changes in the galaxy.
Frankly, according to the higher-ups, the Starship didn't need to participate in the encirclement operation at all, but Ou Zhanpeng was always worried about the situation ahead and couldn't let go of the supernova plan.
Therefore, the Starship appeared here.
Cygnus X was severely aged and, on a cosmic scale, was about to become a supernova illuminating the starry sky.
But according to the human perception of time, it might take millions of years for this star to erupt.
Ou Zhanpeng's purpose for this trip was to observe the impact of extracting stellar matter on Cygnus X, and it would be even better if he could find a way to trigger the star's explosion.
Unfortunately, there had been no clues whatsoever up to this point.
If even red giants didn't work, then main-sequence stars in other stages would certainly have no hope.
The base was not far, only a few hours. The eight warships returned successively, preparing again to extract stellar matter.
Speaking of which, although this method was effective, its coverage was not very good, only able to clear star-beasts within the galaxy, with no effect on those further away.
Therefore, every so often, they had to revisit the previously cleared galaxies to ensure that the star-beasts did not make a comeback.
The zerglings played a significant role in the fight against star-beasts. Ou Zhanpeng had even heard a saying: if aliens could be developed, they would surely be more effective than the Zerg.
Of course, this was just idle talk. Not only did humans lack the ability, but even if they did, they wouldn't casually replicate aliens.
With all preparations complete, Ou Zhanpeng gave the order, and the ships activated their gravity devices again, with the erupting stellar material once more sweeping across the galaxy.
Just as the artificial stellar storm raged through space, the Starship suddenly emitted a piercing alarm. In the next second, a wormhole suddenly opened within the storm, and a spacecraft appeared in the galaxy.
Everyone was stunned. What was the situation with this spacecraft?
After all, the Roel people had issued a flight ban to all civilizations in the star domain. Except for warships clearing star-beasts, no spacecraft were allowed to fly beyond the blockade line.
A moment later, the spacecraft emerged from the stellar storm covered in dust. It was only then that everyone discovered that it was actually a Roel warship!
What surprised everyone even more was that this warship was heavily damaged, with more than half of its rear right side missing. Smoke billowed from the gaping hole, giving it the appearance of having narrowly escaped death.
Before everyone could figure out what had happened, Ou Zhanpeng suddenly received a communication from the other party: "Swift Spear calling Starship, Swift Spear calling Starship, receiving, please respond!"
The language was standard Mandarin, but the tone was a bit strange.
Ling Xiao suddenly looked puzzled: "Swift Spear? I think I've heard that name somewhere."
Ou Zhanpeng chose to accept the connection: "It seems to be the ship that was sent on a mission to the three major civilizations… Swift Spear, this is Starship, please speak!"
"Starship, please leave here immediately and do not return to the solar system!"
Ou Zhanpeng's entire being went cold: "Swift Spear, please repeat, I don't understand what you mean!"
"Leave here immediately, and do not return to the sol—"
Before the words could finish, a group of black warships suddenly burst out from behind the Swift Spear. They were all black, with two dark holes at the bow, like a pair of oversized nostrils.
With a flash of light, the Roel warship was cut in half, instantly exploding and vanishing into nothingness.
The bridge of the Starship descended into chaos. Ling Xiao's eyes widened in shock: "What's going on? What's going on?"
Ou Zhanpeng's heart tightened, and he unhesitatingly roared, "All personnel, evacuate immediately, repeat, evacuate immediately!"
While issuing the order, he fired the shear cannon. However, the nasal-nostril warships' shields merely flickered and blocked the shear cannon's attack.
Ou Zhanpeng's heart sank.
The shear cannon had always been invincible, never blocked by any civilization's shields. What was happening today?
Recalling the Roel people's warning, a thought suddenly struck him: Could it be that the Roel people revealed the Starship's whereabouts when contacting the three major civilizations?
In the past, Ou Zhanpeng had always believed that the Roel people were the masterminds instigating the Black Horn people to seize the Starship. However, the Roel people had never shown particular interest in the Starship, nor had they made any demands related to it to Earth.
Perhaps the Roel people were unaware of the Starship's situation, and the three major civilizations were the unseen masterminds?
He couldn't figure out what was happening, but it didn't affect the Starship's evacuation speed. With a flash of the wormhole, the warship had already disappeared.
Benefiting from the Roel people's technology, human warships no longer opened wormholes slowly but opened them in a very short time and passed through them rapidly, shortening a process that originally took some time to mere seconds.
Otherwise, it was likely that the wormhole would have been destroyed by the nasal-nostril warships before the Starship could escape.
The Starship passed through the wormhole, and the scene in front of them instantly changed. A desolate planet appeared beside the warship. Outside the planet, a large space station was connected to the planet by an orbital elevator. A large number of warships sailed near the space station, some docking, others taking off.
Ou Zhanpeng immediately issued an alert: "Base, Base, this is Human Warship Cloud Boat, we have been attacked by an unknown civilization. Roel Warship Swift Spear has been destroyed by an unknown fleet, repeat, Swift Spear has been destroyed by an unknown fleet!"
When interacting with other civilizations, the Starship naturally couldn't use its original designation, so it had always operated under the name Cloud Boat.
The warship itself had also undergone appropriate camouflage to prevent exposure.
Ou Zhanpeng did not deliberately conceal the information, so he contacted the base directly through the public channel. All warships near the base received the warning, causing a stir.
Whether landing or taking off, no less than three hundred warships remained stationary, unmoving.
A response immediately came through the communication from the Roel people: "Cloud Boat, are you crazy? How could Swift Spear appear here?"
Ou Zhanpeng immediately sent the video captured by the warship.
In fact, he wasn't surprised at all. Although nominally, the Roel people cooperated with other civilizations to fight star-beasts, in reality, the Roel people had always been aloof, looking down on others, and never took other civilizations seriously.
They only maintained communication because they could still use other civilizations.
"Believe it or not," Ou Zhanpeng said, then immediately ordered the fleet to withdraw.
As the human warships were about to leave, an enraged roar came through the communication from the Roel people: "Humans, what do you think you're doing? Who allowed you to leave?"
Ou Zhanpeng stood his ground: "According to the agreement, we have the right to withdraw from the operation, especially when encountering danger!"
However, the Roel people didn't care about all that and directly blocked the space, forbidding anyone from leaving: "Let's see who can leave today!"
Ou Zhanpeng didn't know what to say. Why didn't you show up earlier or later, but specifically now? Was this ignorance or deliberately helping the nasal-nostril warships?
The warships gathered near the base also divided into two factions at this time. Civilizations that were relatively close to the Roel people all sided with them.
But since there were close ones, there were naturally distant ones. Some of those not very close civilizations sympathized with humans, but more remained indifferent spectators.
They weren't that foolish to go against the Roel people for the sake of human civilization.
To be honest, this wasn't the Roel people deliberately causing trouble, but the accumulation of long-term contradictions erupting at once.
But just as neither side was willing to yield and the conflict was about to escalate, the originally blocked space suddenly changed, and a group of warships abruptly appeared near the base, their large nasal nostrils at the bow being particularly conspicuous.
Ou Zhanpeng inwardly cried out, "Bad!" "All personnel, evacuate immediately!"
The other warships witnessed this scene and were instantly thrown into an uproar.
Without any command, facing the unfamiliar fleet, all the warships present spontaneously prepared for battle.
Only the human warships were retreating.
However, in the next second, the nasal-nostril warships opened fire, and the dozen or so warships closest to them exploded, turning into scattered fireworks.
Subsequently, they continued to fire, and another batch of warships met their doom.
Now, not only humans wanted to leave, but warships of other civilizations also rushed to evacuate, and no one cared about the Roel people's attitude anymore.
The Roel people were also stunned by this situation. They made a decisive decision and actually issued an order to abandon the base. Dozens of lifeboats flew out rapidly.
Before the enemy ships even arrived, the base exploded violently. One lifeboat actually flew near the Starship.
Ou Zhanpeng didn't think much of it, immediately grabbed the lifeboat with a tractor beam, and then plunged into a wormhole, escaping this troublesome place.