Chapter 128: An Unseen Threat and New Frontiers

Proxima Research Institute.

A strange scene was unfolding here.

A little girl who looked no more than five stood on a stool, reaching as best she could to work the controls on top of a lab bench.

Her small face was set in an expression of deep focus.

Lu Bo watched her from behind, his eyes full of admiration.

This experiment might not have been that complex, but for a five-year-old to pull it off alone? That was something special.

“Teacher, I finished!”

A moment later, Lin Yun let out a relieved breath, spun around, and beamed with joy.

At the same time—

Inside Houyi’s holographic training room, George once again brought Lin Feng in for a duel.

This time, determined not to lose face, George put real effort in from the start.

As expected, after a pitched battle, he managed to defeat Lin Feng.

So, last time was just because I underestimated him. As long as I take things seriously, beating this kid isn’t a problem at all!

After the match ended, George let out a relieved sigh.

He felt a rush of satisfaction.

But before three seconds had passed, a different thought hit him.

Wait a minute…

Lin Feng is only five, and even though I didn’t go all out, I did take it pretty seriously.

Even so, it still took me a while to find the opening to win?

Does that really…

Deserve celebration?

Right now, Lin Yu and Mu Qingxue had no idea their children were already miles down a rather extraordinary path.

——

Time moved on. In the blink of an eye, more than a year had passed.

The central city on Proxima Centauri V had grown to an impressive scale. In just half a year, it would be completed ahead of schedule.

Meanwhile, orbiting above, the Houyi—

The entire ship was suddenly on high alert.

“What’s going on?”

Lin Yu burst onto the bridge at top speed, his voice booming.

“Commander, we’ve spotted a large number of unknown warships at the Proxima current leading toward Alpha Centauri!”

George reported immediately, pulling up a three-dimensional star chart of Proxima.

On the outskirts, dozens of red dots were clustered together, and more appeared every minute or so.

At the same time, footage collected by surveillance devices was transmitted back.

Lin Yu only needed a glance to know the truth.

This was a battle fleet. Every ship was a full-fledged warship, built in standard formation.

They all shared a unified design—same specs, same insignias etched on their armor, even serial codes.

It was just like how humanity did things.

“Cancel all leave, right now. Dispatch ships to bring everyone back as fast as possible.”

“Raise our alert level to Level 2.”

“Comms officer, get me the Governor immediately.”

Within seconds of his orders, the call connected.

Mu Qingxue’s figure appeared before Lin Yu in a holographic projection.

“Qingxue, there’s trouble. Execute Protocol Three over there. Be ready to evacuate from Proxima at any moment.”

“What happened?”

“A fleet from an alien civilization has appeared. I don’t know yet if they’re hostile.”

Lin Yu didn’t mince words.

“Next, I’ll take the fleet to the current near Alpha Centauri and try to make contact!”

“If I send the signal, don’t hesitate. Take as many people as you can and retreat to the Solar System through the current—immediately!”

Even though the unknown force had arrived via a current, their entry point was different from Lin Yu’s route.

In fact, it was practically on the opposite side of Proxima.

So as long as the Sixth Fleet held the line, it wouldn’t be too hard for people on Proxima V to escape through the current before the newcomers arrived.

Still…

“I’ll make the preparations, but I’m not leaving.”

Mu Qingxue was nothing if not stubborn.

She’d left the fleet for politics in the first place, all so she wouldn’t be separated from Lin Yu.

And now you want me to run alone?

No way. Absolutely not.

After all these years—two kids, no less—Lin Yu understood her all too well.

He let out a long sigh and didn’t bother trying to persuade her.

“All right. Once you’ve made the arrangements, come aboard Houyi.”

“I will. I’ll leave Lin Feng and Lin Yun with Big Sister. Don’t worry.”

“The Sixth Fleet will depart in three hours.”

“Understood…”

Mu Qingxue nodded, then disconnected.

There was plenty more for her to do. After all—

Even if she’d decided to stay with Lin Yu no matter what, that didn’t mean she’d abandon a million immigrants.

So, within these three hours, she had to settle everything.

——

Alpha Centauri, also known as Alpha Centauri A-B.

It’s a binary star system, and it’s as close to Proxima as it gets.

How close?

Only 0.21 light-years away.

(By comparison, Earth is about 0.00001581 light-years from the Sun, while the Kuiper Belt is about 0.0005 light-years distant.)

That’s why the three stars are often seen as a single system, a triple-star system.

Centuries ago, a famous Chinese science fiction novel described this star system in detail.

Back then they imagined Proxima B—now called Elphoria, or Proxima II—with three suns so civilization had to dehydrate and endure to survive.

But in truth, Alpha Centauri’s binary stars are quite far from Proxima II, so nothing that extreme.

By Federation plans, once Proxima V’s city was built, the Sixth Fleet’s next target was Alpha Centauri.

They never imagined—

Humanity hadn’t even arrived when the others made the first move.

Whether these newcomers were natives of Alpha Centauri, or just passing through, Lin Yu had no way of knowing.

But one thing was certain—friendly or not, this was the start of a big headache for humanity.

Even if the newcomers saw it was human space and turned back…

That still meant humanity couldn’t expand from this direction anymore. Someone else was already there.

As for the other direction—toward Barnard’s Star—the Klein had already shown that even with a century of travel, not one habitable world had been found.

Of course, there were more routes branching from Barnard. Many more might open up later.

But missing one route—losing one direction for expansion—was still…

A huge blow to humanity.