Age of Cosmic Exploration

Chapter 379: Salvage
Chapter 379: Salvage

Translator: EndlessFantasy TranslationEditor: EndlessFantasy Translation

After Zhang Heng arrived at central command, many others slowly filed into the room. These included officers from the Barracks like Guang Zhen, and experts in the creator’s particle, the study of the cosmos, and related fields.

”First, the creator’s particle has both adhesivity and dispersity as well as immeasurability. To put it simply, they have unique qualities.”

The great physicist, Silewei, was explaining the qualities of the creator’s particle to everyone in the meeting room next to central command. Even though most of them there already knew some of the qualities of creator’s particle, like how it could block all electrical signals and electricity, they were unclear about its scientific properties, or at least compared to experts like Silewei, they didn’t know much about it.

”I will not get into the details here. If you really wish to find out more about creator’s particle, feel free to visit the human library. I will only focus on two points here… First, the creator’s particle is not a natural creation of the cosmos, unless it was some really unique situation. Of course, the probability of that happening is less than 1 over 300,000,000,000, so there’s no point even discussing that.

”Secondly, the creator’s particle has the tendency to disperse at the speed of light, and at the same time, it has a constant half-life. Based on these two properties, we can predictably calculate when the space war occurred.”

As Silewei said so, a set of numbers appeared on screen behind him. Then the calculation was done by the AI. The speed was fast since the algorithm was provided, and soon a number appeared.

”Yes, just like Professor Silewei explained, about eight days ago, there was a space war happening in this space. Based on the extent the creator’s particle has dispersed, this space war included at least thousands of spaceships, but… from our analysis of the remains of the spaceships, they are all level 2 space civilization ships. That is the only good news.”

After the data finished calculating, Yao Yuan continued, ”From our current light radar analysis, there is no alien presence at least one light year away from the Hope. Furthermore, there were traces of space tearing, signifying the use of warp drive. Therefore, we can be certain that the two or more space civilizations that were involved in the war have left the area.”

Suddenly, the seated Ebon said with a chuckle, ”Ol’ captain…”

As he said so, Liu Bai, who was sitting beside him, slapped him on his arm and Ebon scratched his head and began again, ”Chancellor, are we going to go chase after these civilizations?”

Yao Yuan shook his head and explained patiently, ”We should be avoiding them, not chasing them. Everyone here is the heart of the Hope, so I will not go in circles, and this is the truth… The war three years ago at the Shelter, even though we vanquished the Shelter, that was totally dependent on luck and surprise tactics. If we come face-to-face with an alien civilization, we might still lose to a normal level 2 space civilization. Therefore, we should hold back whenever that is possible and not act like we humans are invincible…”

Then Yao Yuan’s tone softened. ”The reason for calling this meeting, other than to familiarize everyone with the danger around this area, is to hand out the mission for the next 3 to 6 months.

”I hope we can salvage this space war’s ruins. One is to gain the possible technology left behind and two is to search for materials and supplies. This is because we will be heading to a star path next, and there will be no supply depot once we start that journey. Furthermore, time is crucial. We have no idea how many years we will need to spend in the star path, so we need to collect as many materials as we can. Third, the alien spaceships’ computers might still be salvageable from this ruin, so more information, like how the war started, would not hurt. Dismissed…”

Of course, this meeting was merely a heads up from Yao Yuan to the core members of the Hope. The real administrative decision still needed to go through the legal channels. This was to make official the power of the House of Representatives and the democratic system on the Hope.

After the meeting was over, everyone left the room with the related information. The last to leave were Yao Yuan and Bo Li, who was called to stay behind by Yao Yuan.

”…Let’s go for a meal tomorrow, it’s the harvest season for Bread Fruit. It’s your favorite, fresh-picked Bread Fruits are the best,” Yao Yuan dropped nonchalantly as he picked up the files on the table.

Initially, Bo Li wanted to reject him, but when she saw how his fingers shook as he picked up the paper document, her heart softened and she bowed her head to say, ”I can’t make it tomorrow, there’s an experiment on the effect of gravity on space distortion… How about the day after tomorrow, I’ll ask for a day off.”

Yao Yuan sighed in relief under his breath. He stood up with a bright smile. ”Then let me escort you home. Do you mind if I have dinner at your place? I have no intention of mingling with the politicians at the canteen, since I will have to meet them again at the House of Representatives tomorrow.”

This time, Bo Li was silent, but Yao Yuan took that as silent confirmation.

In fact, since the fainting spell Bo Li suffered three years ago when she overexerted her power to create the Gravity Cannon, their relationship had recovered somewhat. At the time, the doctors were close to announcing her as a vegetable, joining the ranks of Jay and little Eva. She was unconscious for ten days, and for those ten days, Yao Yuan never left her side. When she woke up, the first thing that she saw was Yao Yuan resting by her bedside with his eyes half-closed.

After that, the two of them would occasionally come out for walks or dinners. They even spent a few nights in bed after a great deal of alcohol. In any case, there was hope that their relationship was rekindling…

However, their precious alone time did not last for long. Just as the two of them left the meeting room, they were accosted by Guang Zhen, who was already waiting outside of the meeting room. Bo Li nodded and took several steps back, giving them the privacy they needed.

Yao Yuan commented with a bitter smile, ”Ol’ Wong, what is so important… So be it, is there anything you need from me?”

Guang Zhen chuckled and nodded at Bo Li with thanks before addressing Yao Yuan. ”Actually, it is not that important, but I feel like I have to get it off my chest… Is it really necessary for us to salvage this ruin? This place is quite close to the star path already, right? According to our previous hypothesis, if the space civilizations in this universe could observe, predict, or calculate the presence of the Song of Destruction, they would definitely pass this way, right? Is this safe? For us to stay.”

Since this was work, Yao Yuan’s expression turned serious and solemn. He nodded and replied, ”I’ve thought about this as well. In fact, as you said, one definitely has to pass this place if they are going to the star path, and there is a certain danger stopping here, but one, we have Diviners, so we will know if there’s danger. As long as they have a space warp engine or launch an attack at us from light years away, we will be relatively safe…

”Two… it is because we are so close to the star path that we need to stop and salvage. We need to know the reason behind this war. Was it plunder or were they enemies? Or because the star path is only exclusive to a certain number of space civilizations? Only after knowing all this information can we plan accordingly for the star path journey.”

Guang Zhen thought about it and smiled. ”I guess you’re right… Alright, I won’t disturb you anymore, enjoy these few months of rare breaks.”

Yao Yuan waited until Guang Zhen left before turning back with a smile. He realized with a start… that Bo Li had already disappeared. She left when he was talking to Guang Zhen…

On the other hand, in a place about 10 light years away from the Hope, this was an empty space between solar systems. In reality, the further one was from the center of a universe, the rarer the presence of solar systems. This was the edge of the universe, so the distance between solar systems were at least more than 10 light years, and the bigger the distance, the larger the empty space like this between the solar systems. After they left the solar system, it would be an empty space that stretched for several thousand or billion light years.

However, this stretch of empty space was different. The place that should be a slather of darkness was crowded with tens of thousands of alien spaceships, ranging from level 2 to level 3 space civilizations. There might even be spaceship of a higher level hiding among them.

All the spaceships were heading towards the same set of coordinates. Of course, there were plenty of space wars along the way. Various combat ships and space cannons, or curious-looking weapons from future-tech, fired at each other… This place was filled with space war remains; destroyed motherships littered the space.

However, none of the surviving spaceships showed signs of retreating. In fact, all of them kept pushing forward towards that same coordinates…

Their target destination was the center of that empty piece of space, it was…

A ball of green…