Chapter 233: Fortress of Opportunity

Compared to how things were when Lin Yu and Mu Qingxue first set out for Proxima, their current situation was leagues better.

Back then, how many people did their fleet even have?

Now, they’ve got over 200 custom-built super emigrant ships carrying 263 million people, and every single one is a talent.

This gave them a massive workforce right from the start as they began to settle here.

Not to mention those custom-made super transport ships—each one stretches 9.8 kilometers long, 3.2 kilometers wide, and 2.8 kilometers tall.

Even the Houyi looks like a little brother next to them.

With 1,200 of these transport ships, they managed to migrate the entire human industrial system here in one go.

The only thing lacking is sheer numbers, but aside from that, nothing’s really missing.

And with a complete industrial system in place, numbers are just a matter of time.

Besides, that time won’t be long.

Once they can mine resources locally, anything can quickly go into mass production.

——

Two years later.

Human Federation Year 280.

With 263 million people and a fully functional system behind them.

Kory VII has already been developed into a holiday planet, letting folks here take turns for leave and deal with any psychological stress.

Floating in space, more than twenty megacities—each able to house tens of millions—and several huge spaceports…

All of this sprang up in just two short years.

And 37 million kilometers away, just outside the planetary belt closest to Kory VII, rows and rows of space factories are already deployed.

Once asteroids are towed over, they’re melted down right on site, and in that very process, they’re also processed and shaped.

Afterward, they’re shipped out to the surrounding industrial zones for assembly.

The efficiency is off the charts.

You can even see production lines for a ton of ships here.

There are lines for both civilian and auxiliary industrial ships—and of course, military warships.

The numbers aren’t huge yet. For instance, there are only 32 Zhulong-class Type C production lines right now, but the count keeps climbing with a few more added nearly every month.

As for the Zhulong-class Type D…

It’s not that they can’t be built here, but the second-generation hyperspace engine is the bottleneck.

That’s why Lin Yu decided to focus on producing the Type C model for now, shoring up their shortage of warships. After all, activities within the system don’t need the Type D anyway.

Everything is moving at an astonishing pace.

Still, there’s one thing about the Large Magellanic Cloud that Lin Yu just can’t figure out.

Namely…

After exploring more than 200 light-years outward.

Lin Yu found that this place is unimaginably rich.

Life planets are everywhere—on average, every 17 star systems there’s a naturally occurring life planet. Even those systems that don’t have one usually feature planets in the habitable zone perfect for terraforming.

Everyone was floored by this discovery.

If it were just Kory that was special, fine.

But this? What’s going on now?

Turns out Kory isn’t the exception—it’s the rule. Every star in this region is just as promising…

It’s flat-out unbelievable!

But here’s the kicker: is there really no Tier 2 or 3 civilization in the Large Magellanic Cloud?

Otherwise, how could such an incredible place not have been grabbed by anyone?

It just doesn’t add up—utterly unreasonable.

In these two years, Lin Yu and the others did run into intelligent species—over a hundred, actually, though that’s still not many.

But all of them were primitive civilizations, not even at Tier 1.

Could it be that the Large Magellanic Cloud is truly a no-man’s land?

But today, they’ve finally found the answer!

——

Inside the conference room.

Lin Yu, Mu Qingxue, plus the military, government, and all the top brass from the Science Department were present.

Lin Yun also joined today’s meeting.

After all, she was appointed Minister of Science thanks to joint support from both Lin Yu and Mu Qingxue.

Right now, she pulled up a star chart.

It covered a region over 300 light-years across—this was the area Lin Yu’s ships had mapped over the past two years.

Within the chart, every planet was connected to others by one or more fine lines.

These lines represented the Cosmic Current network.

And here’s where things got interesting.

A zone spanning more than 300 light-years was surrounded by a gulf—a completely empty gap encircled the whole star region.

Outside that gulf, more stars could be seen.

“Lin Yun, how wide is this gulf?”

“About 38 light-years.”

“So that’s it…”

Lin Yu nodded in understanding.

He finally realized why no civilization had ever invaded this place.

With these conditions, this star region would be among the most prosperous, even in the Milky Way.

The reason lies with that gulf encircling the entire region.

We’d discussed before that Cosmic Currents form between stars because of their mutual gravitational pull.

But there’s an extra condition.

Namely…

The distance between two stars can’t exceed 10 light-years.

Once the gap goes beyond that, the stars’ gravity isn’t enough, so no Cosmic Current forms.

And even within 10 light-years, a Cosmic Current only has a chance of forming, not a guarantee.

So with this gulf being 38 light-years wide…

The outermost stars just can’t produce outward currents.

And that’s how the gulf on the star chart came to be.

That means Tier 2 or 3 civilizations can’t get into this star region at all.

Sure, a Tier 4 civ could make it in—they have jump engines, so they don’t need the currents.

Of course, that’s only if…

There even is a Tier 4 civilization here in the Large Magellanic Cloud.

As for Tier 2 or 3, Lin Yu can’t be sure, but Tier 4s…

Are probably absent!

This revelation was a huge relief for many.

As long as there aren’t any Tier 4 civilizations, it doesn’t matter how many Tier 2 or 3 ones exist.

And so, ultimately, the entire Large Magellanic Cloud…

Will belong wholly to humanity.

“So what you’re saying is, this Driss Star Region we’re in is basically a paradise hidden from the rest of the Large Magellanic Cloud?”

George’s eyes went wide with amazement.

Off to the side, Lin Yu just shook his head.

“Maybe calling it a ‘Low-Level Civilization Forbidden Zone’ is more fitting.”

That’s right—a place where no civilization below Tier 4 can ever set foot!