Chapter 354: Celestial Gambits

If Pluto hadn’t been ousted from the big planet club, it would only be known as the tenth big planet.

This planet is roughly four-fifths the size of Earth and is terrestrial, sitting 45 astronomical units from the Sun.

It remains blanketed in perennial ice and snow, which means water is available.

Dream Technology has established a defensive fortress here. With human troops stationed, water supply won’t be an issue.

Moreover, resource detectors have uncovered abundant resources on this planet, making it the crucial core of the Kuiper Belt defense network.

Dream Technology’s current research team holds high expectations for Du Qiu. In recent years, this has been his top priority.

He had originally planned to methodically pursue his revenge against the United States while steadily advancing technology.

But then Earth fell into a major ice age and later, the threat of an attack by the Tur Fleet upended Du Qiu’s civilization development plans.

When he learned that the Solar System had been transformed into a Civilization Bastion by the Pleiadians, and that the Ge Ya Civilization had evolved over years from a fifth-level Pleiades Civilization to a pinnacle sixth level, everything changed.

From that moment on, Du Qiu knew exactly what his objective was.

Especially since the Ge Ya Civilization had been defeated by the Dominant Civilization, also at its sixth pinnacle, and now teetered on the brink of collapse.

This made Du Qiu extremely wary. If the technological insights gained from his dreams were merely crude imitations, Dream Technology’s creations would never stand a chance against the Dominant Civilization.

Thus, every piece of knowledge and principle acquired from his dreams must be reexamined by Dream Technology’s research team to develop superior tech.

Du Qiu believed that by standing on the shoulders of giants and persistently innovating, one could eventually surpass even those giants.

Dream Technology’s progress lacked depth, mainly because there had only been four years of development under Du Qiu’s leadership.

Had it not been for the arrival of the Tur Fleet, Du Qiu could have continued his planned progress—just like the sun-orbiting particle accelerator he had intended to build.

But now, facing an enormous threat and before having built enough space warships, Du Qiu dared not divert productivity to that project.

Without the particle accelerator, truly reaching fourth-level civilization or achieving faster-than-light travel seemed nearly impossible. Yet Du Qiu had no choice but to endure, allowing his scientists to complete all preliminary research.

What if someone’s ingenious idea managed to exploit a loophole in space folding and unexpectedly achieve faster-than-light travel before fully understanding the Unified Theory?

Although that scenario seemed more like a wild dream.

But what is life without a dream? That would be as lifeless as a salted fish.

Du Qiu did have dreams, and he had already realized one in a novel way—completing a superweapon that could be classified at a fifth-level civilization.

The essence of this superweapon is a particular particle, yet Du Qiu himself never discovered that particle nor knew how to create it.

However, with help from the AI of the fleet, they accidentally reverse-engineered a key component of the weapon, allowing them to create a limited version.

This ‘limited version’ means that due to the significant material gap with the Dominant Civilization, its combat effectiveness is merely one-third of their original.

But considering that this weapon is one of the Dominant Civilization’s arsenals against the sixth-level Ge Ya Civilization warships, achieving one-third efficiency is still remarkably potent.

It is precisely this Special Material Cannon that gives Du Qiu the confidence to face the Tur Fleet. He is convinced it can decisively counter the fourth-level civilization Tur Fleet.

Before receiving the Tur Civilization’s message, Du Qiu had aimed to finish and deploy everything within three months, addressing the matter of whether to proceed or not.

Now, though it’s unclear when the Tur Fleet might breach the Solar System, one thing is certain: they won’t do so easily.

Otherwise, considering that the Meteor Warship appeared in the Solar System six years ago, the enemy would have long since left the Solar System.

Not arriving over six years indicates either they lack the capability or they would require a tremendous expenditure.

If the Tur Fleet truly had sent that message from the White Spot, three light-years outside the Solar System, it should have been sent at least three years ago.

Three years have passed without any forceful entry or new transmissions, indicating that the Tur Fleet is having serious difficulty breaching the Civilization Bastion left by the Pleiadians.

With that in mind, Du Qiu not only ordered his research team to focus on shield and faster-than-light technologies, but also organized a special task force to optimize the Special Material Cannon so it could be mounted on warships as a trump card.

……

……

Time slipped away as research efforts intensified.

On Earth, people noticed that although aliens had once predicted an invasion in three months, nothing materialized after the time passed.

Instead, Dream Technology’s Earth Defense Fleet suddenly began a mock invasion exercise, making some nations temporarily experience an extraterrestrial attack.

Now, three months have come and gone repeatedly, yet the aliens still haven’t arrived.

At this moment, many regions on Earth have become uninhabitable, though fortunately, in the past six months Dream Technology has provided excavation equipment to several nations.

This has allowed the vast majority of civilians to seek shelter in underground bunkers.

However, life in these bunkers pales in comparison to the comfortable old days. In nations with weak governmental control, riots have led to regime collapses or even sparked conflicts that damaged the shelters, costing lives.

In short, only governments with strong authority can ensure the stability of these shelters.

Some nations have even traded large quantities of semi-processed resources with Dream Technology to obtain underground high-speed railway technology, linking their bunkers into subterranean states.

Others have acquired first-generation Pteranodon Aerospace Fighters discarded by Dream Technology, which can shuttle between Earth and the Moon—and occasionally even reach Mars.

Countries possessing the Wyvern Fighter display an even deeper respect for Dream Technology, having witnessed a massive space fleet near Mars using their fighters.

The main battleship, measuring 5000 meters in length, 3000 meters in width, and 2000 meters in height, exudes an overwhelming sense of dread.

There is also Du Qiu’s exclusive flagship, a new warship comparable to the mother ship of the Dominant Civilization, which is designed to carry the Special Material Cannon.

This colossal cannon stretches 6000 meters and is divided into five decks, each with only three turrets—making a total of 15 on a flagship.

Each deck’s turrets are equipped with dedicated power sources ensuring they never run short on energy.

Over the past six months, three such mother ships have been completed. Since the first one was named the Azure Dragon and designated the Azure Dragon Class, the subsequent two were named the Red Dragon and the Black Dragon, respectively.

Today, the Red Dragon leads a fleet composed of a main battleship squadron and new transport ships, escorting Heaven Realm III and IV out to 500 astronomical units beyond the traditional boundary of the Solar System to rendezvous with Heaven Realm I and II.

After relocating personnel and some equipment, Heaven Realm I has already returned to near Earth.

This spaceship, along with a set of first-generation escort ships, will be exchanged with his homeland in return for authorization to recruit 50 million citizens.

It’s a win-win situation. Dream Technology needs a larger population pool to nurture brilliant scientists.

Meanwhile, his homeland hopes to acquire spaceflight capabilities so that in times of crisis, Heaven Realm I can serve as the ark of national heritage.

Du Qiu stood in the command hall of the Azure Dragon, furrowing his brow as he silently fixed his gaze on the holographic projection before him.

The projection displayed the Solar System, and about 3100 astronomical units beyond the traditional boundary, a lone red dot shimmered.