Beneath a sky dotted with stars, a wormhole opened silently, and the Starship passed through, appearing on the outskirts of an unfamiliar star system.
Ouyang Zhanpeng moved his arms, and a star radiating light and heat, along with several planets orbiting it, immediately materialized in the center of the cabin.
The fourth planet was particularly striking, its outer space encircled by a synchronous orbit ring, a sight only seen in science fiction movies. Hundreds of spacecraft were docked on the orbital ring, some close, others distant, creating a scene of bustling activity.
Ling Xiao asked with curiosity, "Is this the Shallow Cloud Star System? Where are the clouds?"
"Who cares if there are clouds or not!" Ouyang Zhanpeng sighed, wishing he could turn his head away and pretend not to know this guy.
With a wave of his hand, the image of the fourth planet, initially tiny, rapidly magnified, and the orbital ring and the ships moving around it became even clearer.
"Here!" Ling Xiao pointed to the projection, where two white ships were docked.
Only white ships were present in that location, with no other spacecraft, indicating it was a military port.
Ouyang Zhanpeng immediately made a mark on the projection.
Ling Xiao marveled, "I truly never imagined that there would be such an advanced civilization so close to us!"
Upon hearing this, everyone else readily agreed.
At this moment, even Ling Xiao felt that the gold allocated to the space pirates had not been wasted – according to the intelligence provided by the pirates, the Glorious Star Kingdom, also known as the White Kingdom, was one of the most remote star kingdoms in the entire star domain. Due to its location on the edge of a spiral arm, it was sparsely populated with few stars. It had a total of only four administrative stars.
There were many mining stars, perhaps eighty or ninety.
Furthermore, the White Kingdom was indeed a star kingdom governed by humans.
However, the situation in the White Kingdom was not as united as imagined. The four major planets were far apart, with little interaction between them. Nominally one star kingdom, in reality, each governed itself, much like the city-states of ancient Greece.
Of course, as an interstellar civilization, it had kept pace with the times, and should perhaps be called a "star-state system."
Whatever it was called, it was ultimately a very loose alliance system.
Among the four administrative stars, the Shallow Cloud Star System was the closest to Earth, at a straight-line distance of 48 light-years.
This news confirmed that the information provided by the Brain Fish was flawed. The entire crew was grinding their teeth, eager to return quickly and have those Brain Fish steamed, braised, and stewed, allowing them to experience the eighteen culinary arts of the Great Gourmet Empire!
They would at least develop thirty-six ways to eat them, making Brain Fish the most popular dish on the tables of major interstellar civilizations, and they would not rest until they were completely wiped out.
The four administrative stars of the White Kingdom each controlled a sector of space, and they were like wells that did not interfere with each other's water. Therefore, ninety-nine percent of the white ships appearing at Earth must have come from the Shallow Cloud Star.
Thus, the Starship immediately rushed here.
However, the original deterrence plan was not so easy to execute.
According to the pirates, the Shallow Cloud Star System was one of the most remote administrative stars, lacking resources and status. Even pirates rarely operated in its vicinity.
There was no other reason than the lack of significant profit.
But the Shallow Cloud Star was, after all, one of the four administrative stars of the White Kingdom. No matter how barren or remote it was, it was still in comparison to other interstellar civilizations. Compared to Earth, it was not just a little bit advanced.
Still according to the intelligence provided by the pirates, neither the Shallow Cloud Star nor any other administrative star in the White Kingdom refused entry to foreign spacecraft. However, each star system had White Kingdom fleets patrolling day and night. Although the star systems were vast, entering them was not that easy.
First, one must have a legal identity as a legitimate spacecraft from another administrative star, to prevent pirate attacks.
For unknown spacecraft like the Starship, they would likely be targeted by White Kingdom fleets before they even got close.
Even with a legal identity, allowing entry into the star system, they had to fly along pre-planned routes. No one was allowed to deviate without authorization, or they would be destroyed by the White Kingdom fleets.
It was one thing to restrict routes, but the key was that the entire journey was under the control of the White Kingdom fleets, who could launch a storm of attacks on any foreign spacecraft at any time.
Ouyang Zhanpeng couldn't quite understand how many warships the White Kingdom had to control such a long route from the outskirts to the planets, given the vastness of the star system.
Did they also possess super-long-range weapons similar to shear cannons?
Based on humanity's understanding of white ships, this was completely impossible!
Ouyang Zhanpeng had planned to purchase a batch of jump drives from the White Kingdom. It turned out that their defenses were so strict that they couldn't even get in the door, let alone buy equipment.
Another point was that if the White Kingdom was well-governed and valued commercial credit, it would be fine. But if it was a place with corrupt officials, where the rot started from the top, it would be uncertain if the Starship could get out after pouring a large sum of money into it!
It was precisely for these considerations that Ouyang Zhanpeng finally decided to jump to the outskirts of the Shallow Cloud Star System to assess the situation before making any plans.
Admittedly, the situation was much more severe than imagined. Just near the orbital ring, they found over forty white ships. There was no hope of a head-on confrontation.
"What do we do?" Ling Xiao asked.
Ouyang Zhanpeng thought for a moment and said, "Reveal our identity directly and declare war!"
Everyone was stunned by this statement. Ling Xiao's eyes widened, "Will that work?"
Before the Starship departed, the command center had formulated several action plans. Revealing their identity was one thing, but what was this declaration of war?
Ouyang Zhanpeng narrowed his eyes, a hint of sharpness appearing, "Whether it works or not, let's try it first!"
He immediately activated the communication equipment and issued a stern ultimatum to the entire Shallow Cloud Star System in Universal Tongue.
The gist was that the warships of the Shallow Cloud Star had invaded the Solar System, severely damaging its interests. It demanded that the Shallow Cloud Star immediately cease its invasion and provide necessary compensation for the previous acts of invasion, otherwise, both parties would enter a state of war, and the White Kingdom would be responsible for all consequences.
Although the ultimatum had been issued, Ouyang Zhanpeng felt that the rigid wording of the Universal Tongue was not severe enough.
Within a few minutes, the orbital ring, which had been bustling with ships, suddenly became chaotic. All civilian ships docked, and a large number of white ships departed and took off, guarding the planet from all directions.
Another group of warships disengaged from the planet and began searching for the Starship's location.
Ling Xiao sighed, "I knew it!"
Although the other party had not given a clear answer, they had already given the most definitive answer through their actions.
What surprised everyone the most was that the orbital ring had activated its shields. Although it was only a narrow band, it also provided protection for the planet.
Ouyang Zhanpeng wasted no words. The shear cannon fired at full power, and a white ship silently split into two.
The remaining white ships were somewhat panicked, immediately increasing their shield power to the maximum, and frantically searching for the enemy's trace like headless flies.
The Starship was far outside the star system; it would be strange if they could find its location.
However, Ouyang Zhanpeng seemed to underestimate the opponent's technology. Just over ten seconds later, an alarm suddenly sounded in the bridge, and the spatial projection near the warships automatically switched, displaying seven or eight opening wormholes.
The Starship continued to fire, fiercely bombarding the opening wormholes, splashing the white ships on the other side.
Although not sunk, they were quite disheveled.
What's more, the Starship also opened a wormhole at this time, targeting not the fourth planet, but a moon of the third planet.
There were no enemy warships in that direction, so the 4-meter-tall beings had no way to counterattack.
Before the wormhole was fully opened, a sub-ship from the Starship detached and plunged into the wormhole, disappearing.
When it reappeared, it was already above the moon, descending at an extremely high speed.
A moment later, the sub-ship crashed onto the surface of the moon, and instantly a bright light erupted, dimming even the light of the star at this moment.
Next, a giant fireball rapidly expanded on the surface of the moon, like an inverted bowl placed on the moon's surface.
However, the fiery bowl appeared and disappeared quickly. In just a moment, it vanished, leaving behind a massive, gaping crater on the moon's surface.
The specially designed mushroom bomb had an astonishing yield. It was only because the volume and mass of this moon were sufficient that such a mushroom bomb would not have shattered it on the spot.
Ouyang Zhanpeng issued another ultimatum, stating that this was the last chance given to the other party. The next time, it would not be on the moon, but directly bombarding the Shallow Cloud Star.
Not a few people on the ground, the 4-meter-tall beings, or the spacecraft in orbit witnessed this scene. Many White Kingdom dignitaries gasped and no longer dared to underestimate the newly emerging interstellar civilization from the Solar System.
That's right, they already knew about the Solar System and were planning how to incorporate it into the White Kingdom's territory.
But this mushroom bomb seemed to explode in the hearts of the 4-meter-tall beings, instantly shattering their little thoughts.
It was a joke; if the other party could bring such a powerful weapon to the moon, they could certainly bring it to the Shallow Cloud Star.
The barefoot were not afraid of the shod. If the Solar System had no power to resist, they could dispose of Earth as they pleased, but the aggrieved party not only came knocking at their door but also blew up half a moon?
Whether the moon was bombed was secondary. The key was that the weapon in the other party's hands was indeed capable of destroying the Shallow Cloud Star!
The high-level officials of the Shallow Cloud Star immediately started arguing heatedly, and it was unlikely they would reach a conclusion anytime soon.
On the Starship, Ling Xiao was also filled with worry, "Ouyang Fat, will this work? What if they also bomb Earth with mushroom bombs, what will we do?"
Bomb Earth?
Ouyang Zhanpeng couldn't help but laugh and cry, "They need to have mushroom bombs first!"
"They don't?" Ling Xiao was suddenly stunned, "How could such an advanced interstellar civilization not have mushroom bombs?"
The others also perked up their ears, waiting for Ouyang Zhanpeng's answer.
Captain Ouyang sighed, "We shouldn't have had mushroom bombs either. This thing was created under the influence of the Prophet; not every civilization can master it."
Ling Xiao was full of doubt, "Really?"
"Of course, it's true," Ouyang Zhanpeng said. "Another reason is the elemental composition. Take the Shallow Cloud Star, for example. I've already scanned it, and the heavy element content in this star system is much lower than expected.
Ouyang Zhanpeng knew that there were some peculiar research projects in the base, one of which was to study the elemental composition of other star systems.
Analysis revealed that the Solar System was rich in heavy elements. While not unique, it was considered exceptionally fortunate, belonging to the rare minority that naturally possessed a large amount of heavy elements.
In contrast, most star systems did not have as many heavy elements, or even any heavy elements at all.
As is well known, uranium is the natural element with the highest atomic number. Elements with atomic numbers higher than uranium are all artificial elements.
Without uranium, how could alien civilizations have mushroom bombs?
Without small mushrooms, how could they create big mushrooms?
Therefore, the possibility of alien civilizations possessing mushroom bombs was not as high as imagined. The decisive factor was not the technological level of the aliens, but the elemental composition of their home star!
But why did alien civilizations possess fusion engines? This seemed to be somewhat contradictory.
Not really.
When a civilization reaches a certain level, it will inevitably question why the sun emits light and heat, and then conduct extensive research and experiments.
Humans had theoretical support, first developing fission and then fusion, which was both time-consuming and labor-intensive.
For civilizations whose home stars completely lacked heavy elements, how would they achieve fusion? They had no basis for researching fusion.
Therefore, these civilizations could only directly research stars, find the truth through various means, and finally discover the theory of fusion, and after long-term research, finally create fusion reactors.
This process would certainly be much longer than that of humans.
As for whether alien civilizations possessed fusion weapons, that was a matter of opinion.
Ouyang Zhanpeng believed that although fusion reactors were standard equipment for alien spacecraft, it was hard to say whether they had big mushrooms.
This was because mushroom bombs had to be delivered by a carrier; although powerful, they were slow.
In contrast, various energy weapons were not only powerful but could also hit instantaneously. They were more convenient by far, so aliens did not have an urgent need for fusion weapons.
Even if the White Kingdom had big mushrooms, at best, both sides would be planting mushrooms on each other's planets. Earth would not be spared, and neither would the Shallow Cloud Star. The ultimate result would be mutual destruction.
So, the question arises: the Shallow Cloud Star was far more developed than Earth. Would the 4-meter-tall beings be willing to exchange the Shallow Cloud Star for Earth?
The answer was certainly no. Since both sides had the power to destroy each other, the final outcome would definitely be a truce.
After World War II, why have there been no more world wars? Was it not because everyone had the ability to make mushrooms, and going to war would surely lead to the destruction of Planet Blue?
Therefore, Ling Xiao's worries were completely unnecessary.
The Starship had completed its mission and was also discovered by the enemy. Ouyang Zhanpeng did not want to engage in a protracted battle with them, so he opened a wormhole and left the Shallow Cloud Star.
For safety's sake, they did not return directly to the Solar System but flew to another administrative star of the White Kingdom, issuing a similar warning, providing a double insurance for this operation.
Therefore, Ling Xiao's worries were completely unnecessary.
The Starship had completed its mission and was also discovered by the enemy. Ouyang Zhanpeng did not want to engage in a protracted battle with them, so he opened a wormhole and left the Shallow Cloud Star.
For safety's sake, they did not return directly to the Solar System but flew to another administrative star of the White Kingdom, issuing a similar warning, providing a double insurance for this operation.
Therefore, Ling Xiao's worries were completely unnecessary.
The Starship had completed its mission and was also discovered by the enemy. Ouyang Zhanpeng did not want to engage in a protracted battle with them, so he opened a wormhole and left the Shallow Cloud Star.
For safety's sake, they did not return directly to the Solar System but flew to another administrative star of the White Kingdom, issuing a similar warning, providing a double insurance for this operation.