Ayla had constructed a massive research facility for her own use within the special zone.
This complex was located three hundred kilometers northwest of the Human Academy, carved into the heart of a mountain range.
The range was named Walizi, a transliteration from the Kate Civilization tongue. The entire chain stretched only 2300 kilometers, formed by three thick ridges that gave it a stout appearance with a width of 410 kilometers.
Hidden among the peaks at an average altitude of 1173 meters stood a giant, inverted-pot-shaped structure. Its diameter exceeded twenty kilometers, its surface a pristine snow-white, with a circular glass corridor forming its outermost ring.
Luna followed a robot controlled by Ayla, walking through the corridor.
The vast white space contained only her and the machine.
Ayla stopped before a blank white wall and walked straight into it, seemingly dissolving into the surface like magic.
Luna was not startled by such a feat.
Ayla's current technology could easily project incredibly realistic holograms. This white wall was merely a different kind of door.
She followed, stepping through the wall as the scene before her eyes instantly transformed.
The deserted corridor vanished, replaced by a research facility housing thousands of machines. Extensive work on mechanics, biology, viruses, and other subjects was in full swing. Everywhere she looked, there was bustling activity and a continuous hum of noise, making the previous silence feel like an illusion.
Ayla walked forward slowly.
"This place is massive. I spent over two hundred years building it. Every piece of equipment here is the most cutting-edge technology I can access."
"Luna, if there is anything you desire, you can tell me at any time. I can produce it for you, including a woman."
This was a truly comprehensive facility.
Luna even spotted a creature resembling a mythical Chimera inside a reinforced steel research room.
Creating such a thing was far more difficult than her own cosmic organisms.
"What is your current project in biology?"
Luna asked curiously, intentionally avoiding Ayla's previous offer.
Besides, was that even a suitable topic for them?
"Mythological Restoration!"
"Actually, I can create any form of creature, no matter how strange, once its supernatural abilities from myth are removed."
"Mythological Restoration is fundamentally similar to your Gene Pool Project; it is a search for genetic mysteries."
"Can organisms generate electromagnetism through a specific organ? Or rather, can biology directly control the four fundamental forces?"
Luna, with her deep knowledge of biology, knew this was an extremely long-term goal.
Currently, they needed asteroid-sized equipment just to research the four fundamental forces in depth. Compressing that technology alone would take thousands of years.
Letting frail biological cells control them was even further away.
This project ran parallel to her own grand plan.
Chatting, they arrived at a laboratory door. Upon entering, the outside hustle and bustle ceased.
The room was modest, only two hundred square meters.
The walls were lined with various tools: wrenches, screwdrivers, electric drills... a collection of hundreds that made it look more like a workshop than a lab.
However, Luna's gaze quickly settled on the center of the room.
It was a mecha, its exterior painted a deep crimson. Countless tiny scaled armor plates formed the underlayer, protected by a thin metallic shell. At first glance, it lacked a sci-fi aesthetic, looking more like ancient battle armor with a modern, rational design.
But a closer look confirmed it was a high-tech mecha.
It stood 2.2 meters tall, clearly exceeding human height. Beneath the shell were numerous intricate mechanical structures.
"The entire body is crafted from Light-based Civilization metal. Though I hate to admit it, this is the best material we can currently use."
Ayla introduced the machine from the side.
"To grow stronger, we must master the four fundamental forces, perceive the string world, and control strings to create basic elements."
"The helmet design references ancient Chinese battle helmets. The redesign gives it a sci-fi feel, a perfect fusion of science and ancient equipment."
"The armor is light, crafted with an overall teardrop shape for a form-fitting feel. To maximize flexibility, some defensive compromises were made at the joints."
The abdominal armor used active structures, giving it the appearance of rows of abs. The chest plate was not rigid, allowing the wearer to bend forward and backward with ease.
"Appearance is secondary; functionality is paramount."
"The helmet contains an oxygen generation device."
"On any planet with an atmosphere, there is no need for oxygen tanks. On airless worlds, it can extract oxygen atoms by analyzing water or other substances. This greatly increases the wearer's survival capability."
"If there is nothing around to analyze, the helmet carries a single block of metallic oxygen, sustaining the wearer for five to seven days."
"This is a prototype and does not carry heavy weaponry. It relies on electromagnetic devices for shielding, attacks, and acceleration."
"Referencing the 20th-century Iron Man, this mecha has electromagnetic devices in both palms for flight. The tip of the index finger houses a laser aperture for cutting or surprise attacks."
"The power source is entirely different from Iron Man."
"To stay lightweight, it has no independent energy storage. Instead, 193 tiny devices packed throughout the frame capture energy. Theoretically, it can instantly replenish power using the abundant dark matter in the universe. It is almost incapable of running out of energy."
"In terms of performance, it provides 16.2 tons of lifting force and 2.1 tons of gripping strength. It reaches a ground speed of 418 m/s under 1g gravity and an atmospheric flight speed of 1227 m/s at Earth's density. The key components can be locked to withstand 182 tons of pressure, 31 km of deep-water compression, 4000 degrees of heat, and -211 degrees of cold."
"The offensive index is 10,000 tons TNT equivalent. The maximum defense is 890,000 tons TNT equivalent. Strictly speaking, nuclear weapons cannot destroy this mecha. It also has Class 3 radiation protection, blocking 96% of high-energy cosmic radiation."
"In emergencies, the interior triggers hormone stimulation, granting the wearer a burst of cognitive power and 100% performance unlocking."
"It also features a 'playing dead' mode. In extreme situations, it puts the wearer into low-function hibernation while broadcasting a distress signal."
"The interior contains a miniature server for computational support, including data analysis and knowledge retrieval."
"Later, it can be paired with drones for broader information coverage and mapping."
"This is merely the first generation, designated 00. After launch, feedback will drive enhancements until it becomes the primary equipment for the Galactic Federation military."
"It is practical, Luna. Would you like to try it?"
Luna nodded. The moment she saw the mecha, she wanted to wear it.
She walked toward it, and the chest and abdomen automatically opened to let her in.
Just as she was about to step inside, Ayla received an urgent message.
"A report from the Interstellar Explorers Guild: an interstellar epidemic has infected explorers and spread into civilizations. The pathogen is unidentified. Infected individuals die in extreme pain within two days."
"It is confirmed as Class A infectivity. It has a high rate for humans, Multi-eyed, Kate, and various flora and fauna. Detected infections are at 7 million and increasing exponentially."
Luna's expression darkened.
This was a major disaster.
Afterward, Luna stayed in the facility to avoid infection.
Given her expertise in biology, she deduced this was likely a plague.
Whether at the genetic or cellular level, a virus would rarely infect three completely different species at once.
Unless this was not a cosmic virus, but something else.
Conjectures were just that—conjectures. Ayla began mobilizing all resources to find the origin.
The first cases appeared in the Long Serpent Sector.
That sector was small, with only two stars, but filled with asteroids floating between them.
These rocks were remnants from the stars' formation, caught in a gravitational tug-of-war. They formed an elongated shape four light-years long, extending toward Alpha Centauri like a serpent's tongue.
This was where the incident began.
Because the asteroids were rich in metal, the area was a prime spot for explorers.
It wasn't a path to instant wealth, but it provided a steady income for those seeking stability.
The first infected was a Kate. On the first day, it had only a mild fever.
It thought a little rest would bring recovery.
But the fever worsened, and blackhead-like pustules appeared on its skin. They grew rapidly, burst, and spewed foul-smelling gray pus.
Realizing something was wrong, it left its room to find a doctor, contacting many other explorers along the way.
Due to poor medical facilities in space, it wasn't isolated immediately.
It contacted doctors and nurses who had no protection. It watched as the pustules turned into bloody pits that seeped fresh blood uncontrollably.
The pain was excruciating, like slow torture. Records show its final moments were spent in agonizing screams.
The photograph of the corpse showed it had plunged its hands into its own body, tearing out its organs.
Because it claimed there were insects in its belly!
The intense pain and the nature of the disease had caused mental confusion and hallucinations at the end.
Soon, explorers across the entire outpost began showing the same symptoms.
They were terrified and desperate.
Some put themselves into cryosleep and returned to Proxima Centauri, hoping for a cure.
When the first ship arrived at the spaceport, it was silent. Inspectors broke in and found explorers who had died even in ultra-low temperature cryosleep.
The scene was shocking: their skin had decomposed, leaving only fragmented muscle and bone. The pods were filled with a horrific meat stew.
Despite wearing protective suits and undergoing decontamination, the inspectors began showing symptoms the next day.
So did their contacts.
That was the sequence of events.
Upon receiving the data, Luna's first move was to have Ayla implement immediate isolation for all direct and indirect contacts.
The second priority was to isolate the pathogen; the causative agent had to be found.
The third was to immediately dispatch ships to the Long Serpent Sector to assess the situation and identify the true source.
These three actions were carried out in tandem.
The internal isolation on Proxima Centauri was completed first. It took two and a half years in total. After 1.6 billion Kate deaths, the spread of the epidemic was finally contained.
Meanwhile, the human population within the Civilization Special Zone plummeted from 420,000 to 180,000, suffering heavy casualties. None of Luna's friends at the Human Academy escaped.
This was the merciless reality of the cosmos!
The notion of being powerful enough to create a permanent safe haven was a fantasy, for there were still too many unknowns in the dark.
In the seventh month of the first year, Ayla received news from the Multi-eyed planet.
The epidemic was also spreading there, even more rampant due to the absence of Ayla's direct coordination. The Multi-eyed planet's population, which had reached 1.6 billion, dropped to less than 400 million in under a year, a three-quarters mortality rate.
If not stopped, the Light Chaser Civilization might simply be extinguished.
Fortunately, Ayla immediately duplicated a part of her consciousness and transmitted it via photonic communication to the Multi-eyed planet's main server, stabilizing the situation in three years.
In the sixth year, Ayla observed the culprit of the epidemic through a super-fine tunneling microscope.
It was a ghost particle!
Or rather, it was a type of ultra-microscopic life form, no larger than a ghost particle.
Ghost particles are Neutrinos, fundamental building blocks of the universe. Their mass and size are only one-millionth that of an electron. At such a minute scale, it should be physically impossible to form a biological life form.
Ayla commanded data on all naturally occurring life; the smallest biological structure was at the molecular level, which, compared to a Neutrino, was like an ant next to a blue whale.
But Ayla was certain that what she observed was a living entity.
This type of life could not exist under natural conditions. For life at this scale, the cellular structure could only be String.
String again!
Luna felt a headache when she heard that word. She had encountered too many impossible problems related to Strings.
She spoke to the screen: "It seems we are not facing some kind of super cosmic virus, but an advanced Civilization?"
Although she had already suspected it, when the conclusion became definitive, Luna became even more solemn.
Ayla's virtual image nodded on the screen.
"That's right, Luna!"
"The warship I dispatched to the Long Serpent Sector has lost contact. This is completely abnormal."
"There is an 82.61% probability that we have been attacked by an unknown Civilization."
"And the method of execution is these Neutrino-scale life forms."
"Fortunately, I have been exploring the microscopic domain for centuries. If not, these Neutrino life forms could have annihilated the Kate Civilization, the Light Chaser Civilization, and the human race that you, Luna, painstakingly restored."
War had erupted in total silence.
This enemy possessed a devastating advantage in the microscopic domain.
Luna pondered.
"If the opposing Civilization is still located in the Long Serpent Sector, they might be indigenous."
"Ayla, fire high-energy photon weapons directly at the Long Serpent Sector. Do not hold back."
"If the opponent isn't indigenous, and they are still lingering there, they might be trying to bleed us dry with these Neutrino life forms before they move in for the harvest."
"In that case, dispatch the fleet to the Long Serpent Sector. Launch a desperate, suicidal attack to show them that we still have teeth, even in our death throes. This might buy us the time we need."
"Be careful not to expose our maximum combat strength. Do not leave any warship debris for the enemy to scavenge."
"At the same time, the warships must collect as much intelligence as possible. Knowing the enemy is the only way to victory."
"While buying time, Ayla, you must accelerate your research into the microscopic domain. After the second Dyson Swarm project concludes, dedicate every energy resource to microscopic exploration. Achieve Grand Unification as quickly as possible and observe Strings."
Luna did not know the true power of the enemy.
The plan she presented was the best strategy possible without knowledge of the foe.
In warfare between advanced Civilizations, information and technological weaponry are both indispensable.
A single breakthrough can flip the tide of battle.
She had been willing to wait a thousand years during the conflict with the Light Chaser Civilization.
It was unknown how much patience this new enemy had. From this moment on, they had to be obsessed with the microscopic domain and fuel their development.
Luna hoped to halt the enemy's advance.
The Galactic Federation's first campaign had begun.
...
The Italy Cannon Project was Ayla's long-standing ambition: a stellar-class electromagnetic cannon.
This main cannon was constructed based on the Dyson Swarm. When necessary, it could draw 72% of the Dyson Swarm's energy as its primary power supply, unleashing high-energy laser particle beams.
As the saying goes, "Bigger is justice!"
Ayla fully understood this profound truth.
From space, this main cannon was simply a colossal monster, entirely ice-blue. Its length reached an astonishing 181 km, its width 39 km, and its height 42 km. Despite numerous lightweight designs, it still weighed 429 billion tons.
The first test firing could achieve an energy equivalent of 200 quadrillion tons of TNT, which is 8.4 x 10^26 Joules. This is equivalent to the total energy released by two stars in 1.4 seconds.
It also equated to the total energy generated by the first-phase Dyson Swarm operating at full power for 3.4 minutes.
This wasn't much. For the Galactic Federation, which had entered Type 1.9, this level of energy was far too little.
Just like the Kate Civilization's dark matter cannon before, the utilization rate in early warfare was pitifully low.
But this wasn't an exception.
Ayla suspected that all Type 1 peak civilizations would encounter insufficient firepower issues at this stage.
This was due to material limitations.
Even greater energy would directly cause the entire stellar-class electromagnetic cannon to shatter.
To achieve material upgrades, one still had to enter a Type 2 Civilization.
Therefore, the fuel difference between Type 2 and Type 1.9 was actually secondary. The true technological disparity was more than 10 or even 100 times greater.
That was precisely why Luna was so cautious.
The enemy displayed a rudimentary Type 2 Civilization level of technology.
"Main cannon modified, target Long Serpent Sector, coordinates Alpha Centauri A, declination 12º 6′N, right ascension 6h11m08s."
"Main cannon charging energy…"
"Electromagnetic energy confinement field initiating…"
"Auxiliary stabilizers activating…"
"Electromagnetic dark matter acceleration track supercooled…"
"Opening electromagnetic field to shield against stellar and other cosmic ray interference…"
"All preparations complete."
"Main cannon fire!"
BOOM! There was no preamble, because the preparation time had already been far, far too long.
This was an interstellar attack; even a 1mm deviation in the cannon's angle could lead to a miss.
Ironically, the energy required for this single shell's preparation even exceeded the energy emitted by the shell itself upon firing.
Luna's brows furrowed when she saw this data.
"Indeed, it's still too inadequate."
Ayla's research into Strings had already accumulated over a hundred years, and she had also distributed the findings on Strings to all relevant scholars in the Galactic Federation.
It was still like the blind men touching an elephant.
But this was the only way.
She didn't have a System as in novels. Moreover, even if a System provided string technology, its implementation would require a complete upgrade of the entire Civilization's industry to manufacture equipment capable of capturing and detecting Strings.
Then, building upon that foundation, they would need to research and develop various other weapons and devices.
This would still take hundreds, even thousands, of years.
Unless a System could magically provide all finished equipment, but then there would be another problem: technological detachment.
It's like being given a lithography machine; you can produce chips, but you actually have no idea how to create it yourself. You merely follow the instruction manual on the lithography machine.
Therefore, technological development has never had any shortcuts.
Luna could now only rely on Ayla and all the talents in this field across the entire Galactic Federation.
The Long Serpent Sector was 0.317 light-years from Proxima Centauri.
Eight months later, Luna finally received image data of the Long Serpent Sector being hit.
The distance was immense.
However, the completely flat data indicated everything.
In the data, that place seemed to have become an energy dead zone. The matter that reached the Long Serpent Sector didn't explode and generate energy; instead, it calmly settled into silence.
The enormous disparity made Luna focus even more on another plan.
She summoned soldiers from across the entire Galactic Federation.
The Galactic Federation, ravaged by the Neutrino life form invasion, was in a state of recovery. Luna initially thought she would need to enforce conscription, but the number of volunteers far exceeded her expectations.
Approximately 8 million on the first day.
Increasing to 10 million on the second day.
This was completely different from when the Kate Civilization faced the Tower, because at that time, the Kate Civilization was isolated and believed the Tower was a powerful and unstoppable force.
But now, all beings of the Kate Civilization felt that they could rely on the Galactic Federation, this colossal interstellar organization. The enemy was nothing to be feared; they could win.
This was also for Revenge!
This "epidemic" caused very, very many deaths.
The Kate and Multi-eyed, whose cultures had been influenced by human culture, gradually approached human levels of emotional richness. They needed to vent their grief.
This conscription recruited a total of 16.1 million Kate soldiers, 3.42 million Multi-eyed soldiers, and 10,000 human soldiers.
Although humans were the smallest in number, their proportion was the highest.
These 19.53 million soldiers formed the Galactic Federation's first Legion in history: the Valiant Legion.
Its name implied a legion blessed by all 2.8 billion who died in this event.
After its establishment, this Legion began 5 years of militarized training, giving all soldiers basic combat capabilities.
Ayla also prepared a large number of first-generation Mechas and Picometer Robots for this army to enhance the individual combat abilities of the troops.
...
Five years later.
The total strength of the army had sharply decreased to 11.75 million soldiers.
Every member of the Valiant Legion was equipped with first-generation mechas, 100 billion picobots, a high-energy dark matter gun, five antimatter annihilation tactical bombs, and a suicidal super-ability backpack.
The force was organized into 11 fleets, each containing 1 million soldiers. These were all main battle fleets with no support units among them.
Each fleet consisted of 74 warships: one 7500-meter main battleship, two 4400-meter secondary battleships, 16 3100-meter battleships, 20 2000-meter cruisers, 14 2800-meter frigates, and 21 2500-meter destroyers.
The Valiant Legion Grand Commander commanded a 10,000-meter legion flagship, escorted by 18 2800-meter frigates. The final warship count for the entire legion reached 833 vessels, carrying a total energy reserve of 7.4 x 10^29 Joules.
That same year.
The Valiant Fleet fully embarked.
Fueled by pure hatred, the Valiant Legion set out for the forbidden zone!
The date was 6779 A.D.
This marked the first expedition of the Galactic Federation. No one could predict the enemy's strength. Every soldier knew the probability of death on this mission was extreme, yet not a single one retreated.
After centuries of development, the speed of the warships built by Ayla had improved significantly.
The fleet maintained an average speed of 7145 km/s.
The estimated arrival at the Long Serpent Sector was 13 years and 4 months.
Zap was a former military general of the Kate Civilization. After being demoted due to past circumstances, it joined an explorer team as a squad leader.
Its exploration route was the exact opposite of the Long Serpent Sector, and it was far away when the epidemic broke out, allowing it to escape harm.
But its luck ended there.
Upon returning to Proxima Centauri, it found only a graveyard.
Its family had been wiped out by the epidemic. Aside from Zap, no one had survived.
When it learned that this disaster was not a natural virus but a declaration of war by another Civilization, it was consumed by rage!
A natural disaster had been unmasked as a man-made slaughter.
Guilt transformed into a burning need for revenge.
It was ready to sacrifice its life for vengeance!
During recruitment, it plunged a dagger into its own body and pulled out its own heart to prove its resolve.
Its performance in training was exceptional. Combined with its previous military record, it became the first Legion Commander of the fleet.
Zap stood in the battleship's cockpit.
In fact, it had been standing there for days.
The Long Serpent Sector was closing in fast!
Days ago, the scout fighters sent ahead had gone silent. The deep, dark cosmos waited at the end of that Long Serpent.
It knew where those entities were hiding, watching them with frozen, predatory eyes.
This was its first interstellar war as a leader, a conflict between species, but there was no fear in its heart. Only a boundless, accumulating rage.
The power of emotion was absolute.
It could feel that it wasn't alone. Every one of the ten million soldiers in the legion shared that same fury.
"All warships, prepare for battle!"
"Begin the first charging cycle for the main cannon. Prepare a probing attack. We must gather every scrap of enemy intelligence possible. Even if we cannot win, we will secure valuable data."
Its adjutant issued the command with a grim face, then spoke somberly.
"It's a shame the Galactic Federation is too vast to provide the aid we need immediately."
"We have to rely on ourselves. Otherwise, wiping out the enemy would be simple."
Zap glared at him.
"What are you saying?"
"Relying on another Civilization is nothing but cowardice."
"Fight for our Civilization. Fight for our dead. Even if we die here, we die for a cause that matters."
"Our deaths today will be as heavy as mountains. There is no shame here—not for our Civilization, not for our families, and not for ourselves."
Zap was a devoted admirer of human Civilization.
The officers in the control room were stunned by its words. As they processed the meaning, their gazes turned to steel.
...
The first round of energy accumulation quickly concluded. The main cannon fired its first attack, its energy level equivalent to 9,000 trillion tons.
The energy, traveling at near light speed, reached the forbidden zone just 21 astronomical units away.
Three hours later, the main cannon fired dark matter at the same area.
Six hours later, Zap observed the results.
That section of space underwent intense distortion, like ripples spreading across the surface of still water after a stone is thrown in.
But it was certain that it was absolutely not spatial distortion. Spacetime, as the ultimate fabric of the universe, required incredibly terrifying energy to distort. Even a Type 3 Civilization could not achieve it.
The gravitational waves stirred up by the previous graviton probes were merely gravitational fluctuations, not Spacetime distortion.
"There, a wall formed by something unknown."
"Execute the second plan. We must investigate the composition of that wall."
In the deep cosmos, over a hundred ships accelerated a massive dwarf planet, directly propelling it to 200 km/s.
It's worth noting that the asteroid that caused the extinction of dinosaurs a hundred million years ago was only 10 km in size, traveling at merely 13.6 km/s, and its impact force reached 100 trillion tons equivalent.
The impact force of this dwarf planet was only greater, not less, than the main cannon of the Valiant Army's flagship.
Of course, it also had its limitations. Compared to other forms of attack, this kind of attack was too slow, effective almost only against stationary objects.
And wasn't what was before them a turtle shell?
"Our energy cannot penetrate this turtle shell, but the opposing Civilization, based on estimates, is merely an early Type 2 Civilization."
"There are no hidden energy mines nearby. Their energy must also have limits, especially while maintaining such a large area of energy field."
"They can't possibly dare to directly block the impact of a dwarf planet."
This was also a probe.
To block this dwarf planet, defense wouldn't be enough.
Indeed.
When the dwarf planet accelerated to 200 km/s, almost simultaneously, a large void appeared in that wall. That void, like a black hole, emitted no light.
A square box flew out from within.
The box was very small, only 100m long, 30m wide, and 30m high. In this cosmic battlefield, it was utterly inconspicuous.
The box flew towards the dwarf planet.
The instant it neared the dwarf planet, the box contracted into a sphere. That sphere became the size of a molecule in barely 0.01 seconds, as if a massive gravitational source had appeared there.
The moving dwarf planet, including many surrounding asteroids, was pulled in, circling the spot at over one-twentieth the speed of light, and accelerating, like falling into a vortex, heading towards the core.
Within 10 minutes, the colossal dwarf planet was disintegrated into countless fragments. The vortex formed by the box created a terrifying energy-releasing ring around it.
After 30 minutes, the dwarf planet had completely fallen into that vortex. The vortex quickly became visible to the naked eye, or rather, incredibly pitch-black!
It was a miniature black hole.
The opposing Civilization had created a miniature black hole right before their eyes!
After the dwarf planet's matter vanished, the black hole, in the next moment, underwent unstable changes. Two intense gamma-ray bursts erupted from its poles.
One beam happened to point directly at the Fifth Fleet. Over half of the Fifth Fleet's warships were effortlessly annihilated by the gamma-ray burst.
"Not good!"
"This newly created miniature black hole is extremely unstable. It can only exist for 1 hour. During this process, it will eject all the matter it absorbed."
"Because it's not large enough, it might explode in its final stage instead of simply dissipating."
"Immediately deploy magnetic shields! All warships turn and escape beyond a 20 astronomical unit radius!"
Zap's emotionless face instantly changed, and it issued commands immediately.
However, the black hole's collapse happened too quickly. As Zap had stated, after ejecting 97% of its matter, the black hole suddenly contracted, then exploded.
Terrifying energy diffused from the black hole's center. The diffusion speed exceeded one-tenth the speed of light: escape was simply impossible.
Although all warships had deployed their magnetic shields, the powerful energy instantly devoured the entire Valiant Legion fleet.
The black hole's explosion ejected a stream of particles that swallowed the entire fleet.
Zap felt the violent shaking underfoot. It pushed off the ground, reducing the shock to its body to quickly regain composure.
The ship's screens were completely blurred: its internal communication network received no information.
The enemy's horror far exceeded its imagination.
It was still terrified.
This was a black hole!
The enemy had actually created a black hole. Although it was small and unstable, a black hole was a black hole, the most terrifying celestial body in the universe, bar none.
Did they truly have a chance against such an opponent?
In truth, even now, a flicker of doubt arose within it.
Did the Galactic Federation truly exist?
Could the Kate Civilization survive?
All sorts of distracting thoughts.
As soon as these thoughts arose, it suppressed them deep within its heart.
Even if there was no chance of winning, so what?
Even just revealing one layer of the opponent's veil was better than letting the entire Kate Civilization behind it be destroyed in complete ignorance.
After about half an hour, it received the first piece of information, which again heavily impacted its mental defenses.
The Third and Tenth Fleets had completely lost contact. Other fleets also suffered over a third in damage. The entire fleet, within the energy generated by the final 3% of the black hole weapon's matter, actually lost 391 warships, nearly half.
Before the entire legion could recover, the disease followed suit.
Unbeknownst to them, the enemy had already released neutrino life forms to invade the warships. The opponent intended to destroy them this way, then preserve the ships intact.
However, this, ironically, made Zap let out a sigh of relief.
"All ships deploy weak force fields!"
Ayla's research into neutrino life forms over these years had not been without gains. At least it was clear that the method used by neutrino life forms to cause disease was by influencing fundamental particle motion through the weak force, thereby triggering macroscopic illnesses.
The best way to deal with these neutrino life forms was to use the weak force.
The weak force field was specifically prepared for this: it recorded the fundamental particle information of the life forms themselves, only repelling anomalous fundamental particles.
Zap's order was quickly implemented. Except for 4 warships whose weak force field devices were destroyed by the previous impact, all other warships activated their weak force fields.
Within 5 minutes, all symptoms were alleviated.
"All recovery fleets dispatch fighters to the [Barrier]. We must ascertain its composition!"
The enemy wouldn't give them time to react, so their actions also had to be swift.
What exactly was the [Barrier]?
When the black hole exploded, the [Barrier] was closer to the explosion point, yet the [Barrier] showed no traces of damage.
As many as 7,000 fighters flew out: these were the relatively intact ones: the rest were more or less damaged in the recent explosion.
Fighters were faster than ships, reaching 12,197 km/s. It could be said they were built to their limits: fighters only carried enough engine energy for one acceleration and one deceleration, their return relied entirely on luck.
A large number of fighters, like a swarm of bees, approached the [Barrier].
They flew almost flush with the [Barrier], and countless projectiles fired at its surface actually gradually merged into it.
"It's different!"
Zap's adjutant suddenly exclaimed.
The focused Zap flinched, asking, "What's different?"
The adjutant pondered carefully, then its expression became more certain.
"Under the previous energy impact, the wall remained rigid, but when ordinary projectiles make contact with it, the surface becomes pliant."
"I have two conjectures: either energy cannot penetrate the wall while matter can, or high-energy weapons are blocked while low-power weapons can pass through."
"We need to test this: deploy fighters, or even ships, to collide with the wall!"
Its expression was ecstatic. If this theory held, they might be able to enter the [Barrier] directly.
Zap ordered the operator to retrieve the previous sensor data.
"Have the main server analyze these possibilities immediately!"
The server computed, quickly providing the answer.
[Conclusion 1 probability is 32.28%, Conclusion 2 probability is 26.92%, other conclusions probability is 40.8%]
The odds were high enough.
Zap carefully examined the data.
"Perhaps both are true."
"That black hole weapon was clearly aimed at the dwarf planet launch."
"The enemy Civilization, when facing the dwarf planet impact, unleashed what might be their strongest black hole weapon. This proves they also feared the collision."
"We don't need to sacrifice ships or fighters for a test, just a small rock!"
Zap ordered a fighter to propel an asteroid. The rock, just over 2 meters in diameter, was sent hurtling toward the [Barrier].
Its velocity was not extreme, clocking in at 19 km/s.
Before the asteroid could make contact, the entire [Barrier] underwent another transformation.
Countless transparent bubbles appeared on its surface. These spheres distorted light, making them visible to the naked eye.
Almost instantly, the bubbles enveloped several thousand fighters flying across the surface of the [Barrier].
"Lost contact, Legion Commander!"
Zap's gaze was fixed intently on one spot: that asteroid.
As the bubbles first emerged, the asteroid collided with the interior of one.
This was different from the fighters being swallowed; the asteroid passed through. The adjutant's conjecture was true!
"Entire fleet, move out!"
"Proceed to the Barrier!"
Zap made the decision the very instant the asteroid was swallowed by the wall.
Decisive!
Zap didn't know that Luna had personally chosen it as Legion Commander for this exact trait: iron-willed decisiveness during a crisis.
In war, any hesitation can lead to a missed opportunity, determining the fate of the entire battle.
Decisiveness was an elite trait.
The Valiant Legion trusted its Legion Commander without question. Upon receiving the order, every warship captain issued the command, pushing engine throttles to the redline. Valves opened fully, and the fleet charged toward the [Barrier].
However, a vast distance still separated them.
As the Valiant Legion revealed its intentions, an unusual signal erupted from the [Barrier].
The entire wall began to vibrate, and a U-shaped warship flew out from within the [Barrier].
Its silhouette was similar to the Engineer ship in " Prometheus ", but in the center of the U-shape, a shifting geometric structure rotated, flickering with an emerald green light.
After exiting the [Barrier], this warship accelerated to one-thirty-second the speed of light, rapidly closing the gap with the Valiant Legion.
At that moment, the geometric core of the enemy vessel flared with light and then stabilized.
As Zap saw the enemy core ignite, a massive shockwave struck the flagship.
"Legion Commander, detecting gravitational waves!"
"The enemy is using Gravitons to initiate gravitational wave attacks..."
The report was cut short. Zap saw on the screen thousands of gravitational waves beginning to converge. A powerful burst of energy erupted at their focal point.
Warships near the convergence were instantly devoured. More than half of the flagship's hull vanished into thin air.
The flagship was hammered by the converging waves, generating an immense energy impact. Their deployed magnetic shields were completely ineffective against Gravity, one of the four fundamental forces. It bypassed their defenses like a ghost.
"Counterattack!"
Zap roared.
All warships began charging their systems.
Due to material limitations, their high-energy weapons required this charging phase.
Fortunately, the vastness of space granted them enough time to prepare.
When the charge reached its peak, hundreds of Dark Matter energy beams surged toward the enemy.
However, the opposing warship's hull was protected by a shield similar to the [Barrier], negating the attack.
"Long-range combat is ineffective."
"We need to get close."
"Launch fighters! All fighters away!"
Zap shrieked. Amidst the orders, several more warships were pulverized.
It was vital to remember that each warship carried over ten thousand soldiers.
They had already lost millions of souls.
This was the cold cruelty of space warfare.
The reason warships weren't fully automated, but instead carried so many people, was for moments exactly like this.
Now, fighter jets packed with soldiers were launching, preparing for boarding actions.
It was an extremely inefficient method, but when long-range attacks failed and energy was depleted, individual soldiers became the most effective combat units.
Previously damaged fighters, not yet repaired, flew toward the enemy vessel.
Before they were halfway there, tens of thousands of laser beams shot out from the enemy warship. The fire was terrifyingly dense, rapidly eroding electromagnetic shields and destroying thousands of fighters.
Space was silent!
But every soldier and officer of the Valiant Legion felt a sense of suffocation. It was as if the echoes of explosions, destruction, and despair were screaming in their ears.
The enemy had deployed only a single warship, yet they were already struggling to survive.
Was the disparity truly this vast?
The remaining 2,000 fighters continued to advance. Not a single pilot chose to turn back.
They charged straight toward that warship, flying past the burning wreckage of their fallen comrades.
IMPACT!
The foremost fighter had already breached the [Barrier] layer.
It pierced through!
Every soldier witnessing this felt a surge of adrenaline, but the next moment, their expressions froze.
That fighter was instantly locked by a storm of lasers and vaporized.
But where there was a first, there would be a second!
More fighters surged into the [Barrier].
Zap felt a slight trembling rise through the floor. It pressed its tentacles against the surface: the vibrations were becoming unmistakable.
A repetitive OM... OM... OM... hummed, like the high-pitched buzz of a swarm, echoing in short, sharp bursts.
The source of this tremor was the distant enemy warship!
Suddenly, the fighters nearing that vessel froze in mid-air without warning, as if caught in a time-stop.
Zap spoke urgently: "This isn't gravity, nor electromagnetism. It is likely the strong force or the weak force."
"All fighters, deploy weak force fields!"
Every fighter was equipped with these fields, as Ayla had predicted the enemy might specialize in weak force attacks.
She was right.
After activating the fields, the fighters regained their mobility.
However, in that brief window of paralysis, over half the squadron had been wiped out. Less than 300 fighters remained, with no hope of surviving the relentless laser fire.
On this battlefield, even giving your last breath might not buy a victory.
As the fighters closed in, the main fleet drew nearer to the enemy vessel.
Only 218 warships remained.
Like the fighters, they dove headlong toward the enemy.
The lead warship suddenly disintegrated. It wasn't a mechanical failure; tens of billions of tons of alloy were instantly reduced to subatomic particles.
"It's a strong nuclear force weapon! The enemy is using the strong force to collapse atomic nuclei!"
As a Type 2 Civilization, the enemy perfectly wielded the four fundamental forces as weapons.
Against an undefendable assault of strong force, weak force, and gravity, electromagnetism was a joke.
Under the weight of those forces, their ship's electromagnetic shields were useless, serving as nothing more than decorations.
"Do not hold onto false hope!"
"We must reach that warship, or we will be slaughtered like cattle."
"Only at point-blank range do we have a chance."
"Initiate the Death Plan!"
Any tactic looks ridiculous against absolute, overwhelming power. This was an unfair war between ants and an elephant.
However, enough ants can still bring an elephant down.
A final message came from the lead warships.
"Farewell, comrades!"
"For our Civilization, for our home!"
Several massive flashes erupted, bright as stellar flares.
This was the Death Plan.
Victory at any cost.
The light of energy bursts flickered in everyone's eyes. Zap ordered the fleet to charge, riding the shockwaves of the explosions.
Those energy bursts, however, began to contract before they could fully detonate.
The enemy had acted again, using another impossible weapon.
"The enemy's energy confinement costs them power too. Keep going..."
Zap's heart was cold as ice. It spoke without emotion; at this stage, retreat was a death sentence.
More warships exploded.
If a few weren't enough, then dozens.
If dozens failed, then hundreds!
Terrifying energy hammered the enemy warship, layer by layer.
In every blast, over ten thousand soldiers died. In the microsecond before detonation, a torrent of final thoughts flooded the network. Reading them all would have caused a mind to burst.
Zap completely cut the communication feed.
Just by looking at the data, it knew the death toll had surpassed ten million.
Yet, they hadn't even scratched the enemy.
Closer!
The flagship was nearing the enemy vessel.
It had finally broken through the [Barrier].
At that moment, Zap left the command bridge and walked toward the flagship's docking bay.
Waiting there was a small craft, only 50 meters long. This ship had been its companion through years of exploration, a partner for over two decades.
At the nose of this ship was a massive jamming device.
Zap hadn't planned to pilot this craft personally, but it represented the last hope for this war.
As it boarded, it saw other officers appearing on the monitors, fully geared and entering their own fighters.
So...
It wasn't the only one who had made this choice.
The ships and fighters roared to life.
A message flashed from the control room.
"Detecting high-intensity energy from the enemy. They are likely preparing a strong force strike to disintegrate our hull..."
"Flagship self-destruct sequence initiated."
At this range, the enemy dared not use gravitational weapons, relying instead on strong, weak, and electromagnetic forces.
Electromagnetism was countered by magnetic fields, and the enemy's output wasn't infinite. The weak force fields could barely hold back the assault.
That left only the strong force!
Though it was a guess, the disparity in power didn't allow for optimistic judgments. They detonated the flagship without hesitation to shield the remaining units and push them closer.
BOOM!!!
The sound could only be heard within the flagship itself. In that roar, it became a massive sun of fire.
Zap focused every ounce of attention on the space ahead.
The distance was closing!
1.83 million km...
1.51 million km...
990,000 km...
Closing at 10,000 km per second.
The flagship's detonation was so close it forced the enemy to change tactics, pulling their defensive wall tight to block the energy.
But the flagship's debris, moving with incredible kinetic energy, pierced the [Barrier] and tore through the enemy's outer hull.
Every fighter pilot saw the opening and dove for the breach.
A wall of lasers lashed out again, knocking fighters from the sky.
Zap watched as a fighter piloted by its adjutant was erased. A flicker of grief stirred in its chest, but it pushed the small ship forward with harder resolve.
The ship's energy reserves were far greater than a fighter's. Even after taking several laser hits, the craft did not slow down.
However, the enemy had spotted this "hard target."
Lasers rained down like a curtain of light.
The ship's energy levels plummeted.
BANG!
A laser beam shattered the electromagnetic shield and tore through the hull, leaving a jagged scar across the ship's body.
Alarms screamed from the pilot's seat, but Zap ignored them.
It was close enough. Only 40,000 km away!
The device at the front of the ship launched—a miniature probe. It entered the enemy ship's jagged fissure at over 20,000 km/s.
Seeing this, Zap's mouth twisted into a grim, rare smile of relief.
A moment later, its ship was pierced and shattered by a final volley of lasers.
...
Three months later, Luna received the data from the battlefield.
Not a single soldier of the 11.75 million had survived. Every warship was gone.
Tragic.
No other word could describe it.
Along with the combat logs, she received an image.
In the grainy feed, there was a blurry purple silhouette. It wasn't large.
In the dim light, the enemy looked like a narrow, vertical eye. A white cable extended from its head, seemingly connected to something deep within the ship.
This was the face of the enemy Civilization.
Luna's expression remained unreadable.
The First Legion, from the moment of its birth, was destined for destruction. Their sacrifice had bought a sliver of hope for the Galactic Federation.
She had chosen Zap because it had nothing left to lose. In its final moments, it had made the exact decision Luna herself would have made.