Chapter 109: Voyage to Proxima: The First Contact

Seven months later.

The Void Zone, Kuiper Belt.

This spherical area measures about 13,000 kilometers in diameter—roughly the size of Earth.

All around, countless asteroids and cosmic debris seemed to swerve away on purpose, not a single one daring to drift into the void.

Inside this emptiness, two highly unusual regions appeared. The space there looked warped, everything beyond twisted and blurry.

Those two hazy patches? Gateways to the currents of the cosmos.

One pointed precisely toward Proxima Centauri, 4.22 light-years away—a lone-star system. The other…

…to Barnard’s Star, another single-star system, this one 5.96 light-years out.

Lin Yu’s destination lay at Proxima Centauri, 4.22 light-years away.

On one hand, there was a strong chance a planet in the Proxima system could harbor life; on the other, the Klein had once come down the route from Barnard’s Star.

Their interrogation of captured Klein revealed Barnard’s Star didn’t have any life-bearing planets, nor much of value for resources.

And it wasn’t just Barnard—every system along that route had proven worthless, at least according to Klein testimony.

Otherwise, the Klein would have rebuilt their civilization there instead of pressing on for the Solar System.

So Lin Yu settled on Proxima as their new target.

A few minutes later…

Zhulong took the lead, plunging straight into the cosmic current—vanishing in an instant.

One after another, the other eighteen warships followed suit.

Until—

They’d all vanished, not a single trace left. If you’d shown up now, you’d never know a fleet was ever here.

——

Inside the bridge, Lin Yu watched out the porthole, curiosity shining in his eyes.

“Dr. Lu, are we really inside the current now? Why does it look exactly the same out there?”

Sure enough, from inside the ship, the view was as before—endless black, deep space pressing in, no hint of movement from any warship.

“That’s normal. With nothing to use as a reference point, no matter how fast you go, everything just looks static.”

“Actually, according to the equipment outside, we’ve now reached eighteen times the speed of light. It’s wild—I still can’t grasp how we aren’t experiencing any sort of time dilation.”

“We didn’t enter hyperspace, so by all rights, we should be stuck obeying the normal speed-of-light rules. None of this should be possible.”

“In any case, if we keep this pace, we’ll reach Proxima in eighty-five days.”

Lu Bo scratched his head; he was just as lost for an answer.

“Proxima, huh? For centuries we’ve speculated there might be a life-bearing planet there.”

Lin Yu nodded and let out a sigh.

It was a theory as old as humanity’s first steps into the stars.

But…

No one had ever managed to prove it.

“You’re talking about Proxima II? Yeah, there’s been plenty of guesses, but we’ll only know for sure once we get there.”

“Let’s hope this first trip brings some good luck…”

——

Eighty-five point six days—that’s how long it’d take to ride the cosmic current and reach Proxima.

A long journey, sure, but a breeze compared to the haul from Mars to the Kuiper Belt.

So, for most, it wasn’t much to stress over.

And on this day…

The fleet was finally leaving the current and arriving at Proxima.

“Attention! Prepare for collision risk—this ship is about to exit the cosmic current! All crew, brace yourselves!”

“Attention! Repeat, collision alert…”

Red lights flashed. The warning echoed again and again.

After all, this was humanity’s first time attempting the cosmic current. No one could say for sure what would happen on the way out.

Just as they’d done eighty days ago upon entering, everyone took full precautions—no one dared let their guard down.

A split second later—

Zhulong emerged from the current, now orbiting Proxima.

Everything went smoothly—almost suspiciously so.

So smooth, in fact, that people started to wonder if they’d really exited the current at all.

After repeated checks from Lu Bo and his team…

“Lin Yu, confirmed. We’ve arrived at Proxima. We’re mapping the system now—it’ll take around three days.”

“Understood. Hold position; the fleet won’t move until you’re done with the star chart.”

Lin Yu nodded at the news.

He was no slouch himself—of course he understood what was going on.

Sure, humanity had found Proxima with space telescopes centuries ago, along with various companion planets, basically a collection of exoplanets.

But even now, nobody could swear with certainty those were the only planets Proxima had.

So the next step, the actual exploration, all hinged on Lu Bo and his team finishing that first star chart.

——

Three days zipped by.

Lu Bo was practically bouncing with excitement.

He dragged Lin Yu straight to the star chart they’d just pieced together.

“Lin Yu, look—humanity’s only spotted three planets around Proxima, for hundreds of years. Can you guess how many there really are?”

“There’s no need to guess—it says twelve planets right here, doesn’t it?”

Lin Yu gave a sheepish grin.

The answer was plastered all over the star chart in front of him.

“Damn, I forgot to switch the chart off!”

“Anyway, our observations these past few days only confirm it—Proxima II is very likely to be habitable for humans. But that’s not all…”

“Proxima V might be just as promising!”

“Do you realize what this means?”

“It means there’s a real chance Proxima could have not one, but two life-bearing worlds.”

“Of course, we still have to get to Proxima II and V to check. But if we’re right…”

Lu Bo trailed off, barely able to process it.

This would be, without a doubt, humanity’s greatest discovery.

Seriously—

Two habitable planets!

“Alright, alright, I get it—calm down!”

“Calm down? I can’t! Let’s go already—I can’t wait any longer!”

“Alright, no problem!”

Lin Yu shook his head, half exasperated, half amused.

Still, he couldn’t blame Lu Bo. He was feeling the same excitement—he was just hiding it better.

“George, plot a course for Proxima V.”

“On it!”

——

With the fleet on the move again, Lin Yu and Lu Bo worked together to map out their exploration plan.

First, they’d travel seventy days to reach Proxima V, spend three days analyzing the environment, and, if conditions allowed, build a surface base.

Then, forty-two more days would get them to Proxima II, where they’d repeat the process.

Whether these two worlds were truly habitable…

They’d have their answer soon enough.