Light Speed ​​War

Chapter 81: The Core of the Rich Star

The Tarantula Nebula, with its numerous radiant stars, exudes intense light and heat that can be felt by the Combined Fleet's humans even from a thousand light-years away.

Two Hercules-class sniper ships, piloted by a super artificial intelligence, arrived at the edge of the Tarantula Nebula's rich star cluster via warp drive. The AI ​​on both ships quickly conducted a preliminary survey, mapping the distribution of stars and gravity. All test data was then transmitted to the combined fleet via quantum teleportation. After mapping the gravitational distribution, the two sniper ships began another warp drive, reaching the core edge of the rich star cluster, which is also the edge of the core region of the Tarantula Nebula.

This core region, with a diameter of approximately twenty light-years, contains over ten thousand stars. Essentially, there's a massive star distributed every light-year, resulting in an extremely high stellar density. For two sniper ships to attempt a warp-force jump using warp space, the complex interplay of gravity makes it virtually impossible.

Most importantly, according to calculations by the fleet's scientists, the density wave in this core region is very small, meaning the ratio of energy density to matter density is very low. Based on the law of the speed of light, this core region should be a "slow light speed region." This "slow light speed region" is different from the "light speed barrier" created by the "light-dropping civilization" in the solar system. This "slow light speed region" still exchanges a significant amount of energy with external stars, hydrogen ion clouds, etc., so the "dark zone" phenomenon caused by the light speed barrier does not occur.

Based on past experience, fleet scientists believe that if the two sniper ships were to directly enter this "slow light speed zone," the time they would experience inside would be extremely long relative to the time spent outside. Perhaps one day outside would be equivalent to millions of years inside.

Everyone in the Joint Fleet, including the fleet scientists and Zhou Yuan, did not know how long the two sniper ships would stay in this "slow light speed zone," nor did they know the precise proportion of this time, nor what was in this "slow light speed zone." The two sniper ships might encounter accidents and unforeseen events, which was something the Joint Fleet did not want to see.

Therefore, after joint discussions among the fleet commanders and scientists, the joint fleet decided to gradually move these massive stars in the core region of the Tarantula Nebula's star-rich cluster to the outer periphery of the Tarantula Nebula through a super-large teleportation portal!

The eighty fleets instantly released a large number of portal modules. These portal modules were divided into two batches. One batch followed the trajectory of the two sniper ships to reach the vicinity of the sniper ships, preparing to teleport to the stars. The other batch of portal modules moved away from the combined fleet and dispersed towards the outer edge of the Spider Nebula, preparing to receive the teleportation.

The portal modules near the two sniper ships approached eighty stars at the edge of the core region of the Rich Star Cluster in batches. These modules then self-assembled near the stars, quickly forming eighty super-large portals. The portal modules on the outer edge of the Tarantula Nebula had also automatically assembled.

Just as the eighty super-large teleportation gates surrounding the core region of the Rich Star Cluster were assembled and ready to transport nearby stars, the stars near these eighty teleportation gates suddenly began to move, rushing rapidly towards the gates. In addition, eight hundred and eighty stars suddenly surged out from the core region of the Rich Star Cluster, launching a long-range, rapid attack on the eighty fleets of the joint fleet. Ten stars from each fleet attacked from different directions, and another eighty stars flew towards the eighty teleportation gates on the outer edge of the Spider Nebula.

The combined fleet's super artificial intelligence instantly and rapidly connects to the network, performing parallel and rapid calculations and simulations to find the best defensive measures.

The eighty fleets immediately locked onto the smallest of the ten attacking stars. Each fleet accelerated towards this smallest star, penetrating through it, and the eight hundred attacking stars all missed their target.

The stars that attacked the portals also failed. These stars swept over the portals like a dome, and since the portals were also made of superphoton quark cryogenic insulation, the stars' high temperatures did not melt them; the portals remained in place. After the failed stellar attacks, the eighty portals in the core region immediately and rapidly searched for the nearest stars, rushing towards them to join them. When the distance was sufficient, these portals stopped moving.

The portals automatically initiated the teleportation process. Eighty stars, like hesitant young girls, were dragged into an abyss by an invisible hand and transported to the outer reaches of the Spider Nebula. After completing the teleportation, the eighty portals simultaneously activated. The eighty portals in the core area quickly searched for the nearest star, while the eighty portals on the outer perimeter moved significantly away from the location of the recently teleported star, finding a suitable spot to stop and prepare to receive the next teleported star.

Then, another eighty stars were transported from the edge of the core region of the Star Cluster to the outer edge of the Tarantula Nebula. These eighty pairs of portals acted like interconnected intelligent robots, rapidly moving stars from the core region of the Star Cluster.

The Temple Legion and the Star Luo Fleet, observing from a distance, watched in astonishment as stars suddenly disappeared and reappeared.

The entire combined fleet was confident that, given enough time, all ten thousand-plus stars located in the core region of the Star Cluster, from the outside in, would be transported out by the eighty pairs of portals.

But they were all wrong. They also witnessed a terrifying scene: where those stars had been moved, new stars suddenly emerged, filling the void!

The combined fleet looked at the stars that had been moved to the outer reaches of the Spider Nebula and were emitting bright light, and then at the stars in the core region that had already filled the gaps. They suddenly felt that this world was not real.

The eighty pairs of portals naturally ceased their stellar transport operations, awaiting further action from the combined fleet.

"Lunar Empire, this is the Earth-Moon Joint Fleet. Half an hour ago, your 'Gemini Eyes' observed a large number of stars, such as 160 stars, disappearing in the Large Magellanic Cloud and then reappearing in the core region of the Tarantula Nebula Star Cluster. We would like to know where these stars came from." The Joint Fleet had no choice but to send a message to the Morse Binary Modulation Matrix to inquire.

Since the formation of the Earth-Moon Joint Fleet, the lunar empire of the Triangulum has been using the long-range "Gemini Eyes" to carefully observe the Large Magellanic Cloud.

Less than an hour later, the Combined Fleet received a reply: "Combined Fleet, four hours ago we observed a large number of stars, nearly nine hundred stars, flying away from the core region of the Tarantula Nebula's star cluster. Three hours ago, another one hundred and sixty stars flew away. About two and a half hours ago, another one hundred and sixty stars suddenly appeared in the core region of the star cluster. These one hundred and sixty stars should not have come from the Large Magellanic Cloud, because at that moment, apart from the Tarantula Nebula region, only thirty-five stars in other parts of the Large Magellanic Cloud showed abnormalities. These thirty-five stars did not suddenly disappear; they all exploded."

"Everyone, we now have two choices. One is for us to work together and use the Star Sniper Ship to destroy all the stars in the core region of this star cluster, turning it into a supermassive black hole. The other is to go inside this core region and take a look. I personally think there's something strange about this core region. It may be hiding something or a secret that we don't know about yet. If we want to know, we must go in and take a look. I'm willing to go in and take a look." Zhou Yuan stated his thoughts and attitude to everyone.

Wei Shan and Lefia immediately expressed their willingness to go inside with Zhou Yuan to take a look.

"Dean Zhou, the area inside is a slow-light-speed region, and the dangers are unknown. I suggest we adopt the first option: destroy all the stars."

"Judging from the Moon Empire's reply and the current situation, this core area may be a secret passage between star systems in our universe, from which those mysterious stars suddenly appear. This is just my personal speculation."

"Using this passage for long-range precision strikes across the river system?"

"Yes."

"Then why don't we just destroy this passage?"

"This is just a stopgap measure. Such a large-scale attack on stars is clearly the behavior of an intelligent civilization. We should find out the truth while they are still relatively weak. Once they become stronger, we may be powerless to stop them. If we don't find out the truth, the secret passages will reappear in other galaxies, such as the Milky Way, the Triangulum, and the Andromeda Galaxy. When the 'Star-Bombing Civilization' uses these strongholds to launch star attacks, it will be too late for us to conduct detailed observations and in-depth research."

"Well, that makes sense."

"Here's what we'll do. Using this spacetime as a benchmark, if we haven't come out or received any news a year after entering the core region of the Rich Star Cluster, then you should destroy all the stars in the core region."

“Alright. Dean Zhou, I’ll give you a fleet, the Alpha Fleet.”

"Alpha Fleet? George, I wouldn't dare accept that title. Let's just call it the 7th Fleet."

"Alright. Princess Lefia, if you go in too, what will happen to your compatriots?"

"Commander, let them follow you. Take good care of them."

“Okay.” George then added, “By the way, according to regulations, all of you must download, copy, and store your consciousness before the 7th Fleet enters the core area.”

"clear."

After the portal transported the star, the "Star-Bombing Civilization" also ceased its attack.

George ordered each of the seventy-nine fleets to dispatch warships into warp space to launch a surprise attack on the Temple Legion fleets that were still observing from afar. These Temple Legion warships were naturally no match for them and fled, never to return. The Star Luo warships naturally returned to their original positions as large warships.

After everyone, including Lefia, completed the download, copying, and storage of their consciousness, the 7th Fleet first began a warp jump, and then slowly began to travel towards the core region of the Rich Star Cluster at a constant speed.

The 7th Fleet continuously sent normal and long-range communication waves to the Combined Fleet in order to determine whether the speed of light in space changed during its journey.