Deep Space Wandering Fleet
Chapter 317 - Chapter 317 Chapter 316 Speculation and Testing

Chapter 317: Chapter 316 Speculation and Testing Chapter 317: Chapter 316 Speculation and Testing 600,000 kilometers, a slightly worrying distance.

“Where’s the Cosmic String Network?”

“Captain, sir, the nearest Cosmic String is about 20 million kilometers away. This distance is considered safe unless gravitational fluctuations as massive as a black hole occur. However, ahead of us is an intersection of multiple Cosmic Strings, and we will approach one named Cosmic String GB0902.”

Although Cosmic Strings are the highways of the Universe, they are also very dangerous places. If a hostile civilization uses a Super Graviton Cannon to cause strong gravitational forces, it could easily tear a spaceship apart.

Therefore, after entering formal navigation, human fleets maintain a certain safe distance from them.

However, encountering Cosmic Strings is sometimes unavoidable; there are horizontal and vertical strings, and according to our current course, the horizontal Cosmic String right ahead of us must be crossed, and the nearest spatial distance is about 1.2 million kilometers.

Fortunately, Supergravity Bombs that cause gravitational fluctuations are slow for precision, making them easy to detect and intercept with lasers.

If that alien spaceship nearby caused significant gravitation, the first to be affected would be themselves.

Zhang Yuan pondered for a moment before issuing several orders, “Tighten the formation, maintain a constant state of vigilance, keep observing the exterior, especially for mines near the Cosmic String ahead.”

“Laser Weapons, be ready to fire at any moment.”

“Electromagnetic gun… let’s forget the electromagnetic gun for now.”

At a distance of 600,000 kilometers, the sluggish electromagnetic gun is not very useful. Electromagnetic guns and nuclear missiles only show their full effectiveness in close-range combat.

But then again, the power of laser weapons isn’t quite comparable to electromagnetic guns and missiles. To completely destroy Kunlun Mountain with lasers isn’t impossible, but it would require at least a hundred, perhaps even a thousand Kunlun Mountains’ worth of lasers!

The most powerful weapon aboard Kunlun Mountain is– the Helium-Hydrogen Ion Cannon!

This ion cannon, made from the strongest acids in the Universe, can reach speeds up to about 70% the speed of light and can corrode almost any conventional material, making it the strongest weapon next to antimatter weapons!

It is the presence of these military weapons that gives humanity the confidence to embark on interstellar voyages. After all, the 8 million inhabitants of Kunlun Mountain are not there for show.

Zhang Yuan took a slight breath and assured in a calming tone, “Everyone, no need to rush, during this journey, we will definitely be coming into contact with aliens… let’s follow the standard procedure for making contact.”

As there had never been a real interstellar war, many still felt uneasy about the prospect; if a battle truly ensued, no one knows what might happen… The spaceship contains the lives and fortunes of everyone on board, and war carries a very, very high risk for humans, requiring a decisive victory.

Of course, the risks are the same for the opposing side as well, which makes unmotivated acts of war highly unlikely.

Seeing that no one spoke up, Zhang Yuan asked again, “The other spacecraft is leisurely voyaging here, but I have a strange feeling… We have 30 hours before we encounter them, and it’s too late for the fleet to make any major course changes. Does anyone have any specific thoughts?”

“Perhaps we could send a signal, exchange some cosmic knowledge, or even engage in technology exchange. As for material exchanges, that’s almost impossible since our spaceship is moving so fast it’s very difficult to receive any physical objects from them… Since both parties are passing each other like ships in the night, there’s no need to be too anxious.”

Before he finished speaking, a critical report suddenly appeared on the central large screen–it was an electromagnetic wave message from the other spaceship!

The relevant technicians had already completed the entire translation work, and Li Zhendong, sitting nearby, lit up and read it out loud:

“Unknown civilization, greetings, this is the Amoeba Civilization-D00987 information relay station.”

“We hope to trade first-hand information on the movements of interstellar civilizations within the Milky Way, and provide technological data for civilizations below Level 4… If you wish, you can communicate with us.”

The translation of this segment was very clear and easy to understand: It was an information technology trading hub.

There was also a long string of dictionary sequences for the Gaia Civilization language; with these sequences, one could easily translate these texts, seemingly in fear that humans would not understand the information.

Even though humans had already mastered this script.

“This dictionary sequence is more complete than the information we have,” an information scientist exclaimed while flipping through a few pages on his tablet computer, “Great stuff, what a find!”

“This way, we have full mastery of the Gaia Civilization’s language.”

Moreover, the Amoeba Civilization was one that humans had heard of, which made many people excited. Universal knowledge, especially the common knowledge among interstellar civilizations, which humans sorely lacked, might just be supplemented in this trade!

Dr. Li Cheng suddenly said, “The Amoeba Civilization… I seem to have heard of it somewhere. Oh, right, Captain Zhang had heard about it in that high-dimensional prison; it was a story from hundreds of years ago, a very powerful civilization, right?”

This comment garnered a lot of agreement.

Especially since this civilization had freely given out dictionary sequences from the start, without any concealment, which won everyone over.

Birds of a feather flock together; a civilization that could interact with the Gaia Civilization must be very powerful, and surprisingly there was an information relay station here, and the content of the trade was precisely what humans most needed.

“Having enough universal knowledge would make future interactions between civilizations safer, smoother.”

“There might even be curvature technology.”

As everyone buzzed with excitement, Zhang Yuan shook his head and said quietly, “Let’s not be too careless. First of all, just because it claims to be the Amoeba Civilization, does that mean it is?”

“Secondly, in any case… a civilization that can interact with the Gaia Civilization is at least a thousand times to ten thousand times more powerful than us!”

“Even if the Amoeba Civilization’s fleet is very friendly and upholds agreements in front of the Gaia Civilization, that’s also because the Gaia Civilization is powerful enough. Who knows how the Amoeba would treat a lower-level civilization…”

The Deputy Captain, surnamed Song, said, “Regarding this issue, I don’t think we need to worry too much. If the Amoeba Civilization is a very powerful civilization, there’s no need for it to plunder lower-level civilizations. Otherwise, it would have gained a notorious reputation long ago and wouldn’t have become renowned cosmic merchants. We, being just a Second-level Civilization, don’t have any real reputation or valuable fame.”

His reasoning was quite sound; even if they were to rob, they would need to choose the right fat sheep. Frankly, humans didn’t have anything special worth tarnishing their reputation.

“That is to say, since this is just a relay station, there might not be any lifeform present, and it is likely that artificial intelligence solely controls the spaceship… This would also explain why the movement of this relay station is so slow, staying at the intersecting point of cosmic strings. Is it actually lying in wait to intercept interstellar civilizations coming for information exchange?”