Chapter 356: The Moon’s Bastion

The Moon: It has now become a vital outpost of the Star-Moon Defense Line.

Dream Technology has built six defense fortress zones here. The first two zones were equipped early on with electromagnetic railguns, while the subsequent four now feature Special Material Cannons.

Since they’re installed on a planet, space isn’t a problem. These Special Material Fortress Cannons stretch an astonishing 10,000 meters — a true massive cannon.

The enormous barrel boasts a diameter of 1,000 meters, with half rising above the surface and the rest concealed underground.

Encircling the cannon is a mobile alloy platform. When adjustment of the elevation is needed, the platform shifts to reveal a huge open pit.

Overall, these four Special Material Cannons can effectively block any assault on Earth launched from beyond the Solar System.

Fortunately, launching this special substance produces neither the recoil nor the barrel damage typical of gunpowder cannons.

This is because a magnetic field coil surrounds the barrel, ensuring the special substance is both constrained and accelerated, so the barrel remains unharmed.

So far, Du Qiu still hasn’t determined exactly what this special substance is; he only knows of a generator that can produce it and link it to the magnetic acceleration barrel.

When hostilities erupt, the generator will activate to create the special substance, which, once accelerated through the barrel, is launched outward.

The Physics Research Institute is working around the clock to decipher it. Du Qiu believes that once understood, it might finally unlock the Grand Unified Theory.

Defense Zone One.

A Planet Bus lands gracefully in the fortress’s designated landing area.

Moon Fortress Commander Zheng Song strides over to greet them. Stepping off the Planet Bus is Du Qiu, clad in a space combat suit, accompanied by his staff.

Human personnel at the Moon Fortress are few; most of the defenders are advanced robotic soldiers. Every human soldier posted here is fully prepared for sacrifice.

“Boss, everything’s ready,” one of his aides reports.

“Good. You’ve done well. Let’s move out,” Du Qiu replies.

Following the second message from the Tur Fleet concerning the lunar region, Dream Technology undertook an intensive six-month excavation and survey, ultimately making a discovery 1,000 kilometers beneath the Moon’s surface.

This site is practically at the very core of the Moon.

Moreover, as the investigation into the Pleiadians’ information jamming devices advanced, a research team led by Ding Shaoqiu discovered similar equipment buried on rocky moons orbiting various terrestrial and gas giant planets in the Solar System.

However, after completing their excavation, the team left the cube-shaped devices in place.

After all, beyond the Solar System, a Level-4 Civilization fleet is watching closely.

If these information jamming devices also serve as components of that marvelous Civilization Bastion, moving them could disable their fortress function, and that would be catastrophic.

Dream Technology has ramped up production by tenfold, yet the number of main combat ships has only just reached 2,000.

According to Rein Leinar’s earlier estimates, that was barely enough to hold back the Tur Fleet’s offensive using the fortress defense system.

But those estimates were based on limited information. Should the Tur Fleet’s technology be higher than expected, or if they have some unknown trump weaponry, their assault might still overwhelm the defenses.

Thus, preserving the defense capability of the Civilization Bastion is absolutely critical.

Du Qiu now suspects that similar arrangements might exist within the meteor belt at the edge of the distant Oort Cloud, and that the devices are networked via Quantum Communication — the only way to enable real-time central control from the Moon.

Although Du Qiu obtained Quantum Communication technology through Dreamland, there remains a significant gap in translating it into functional hardware.

For example, several key components of the communication devices use materials and production techniques that don’t appear in the Level-4 Civilization manufacturing database acquired from the Custodian.

Du Qiu has since learned about the Dominant Civilization’s artificial intelligence system and now realizes that production materials beyond Level-4 are stored with the Level-6 Artificers.

But the Artificers can only be reached at Base 11.

Regarding this matter, Du Qiu feels helpless; having abandoned plans to return to Base 11, he now has no way to realize that objective.

Originally, with command of half a Level-2 fleet, he should have been back at Base 11 after a year of faster-than-light travel.

Everything went smoothly at first, but when nearing 300 light years from Base 11, his fleet encountered an interception by the Ge Ya Civilization Fleet.

This forced Du Qiu to repeatedly engage in battle, then retreat quickly, rerouting to approach Base 11 again — only to meet the Ge Ya fleet once more.

Each encounter resulted in the loss of several main combat ships.

Now, over a year later, the remnants of Du Qiu’s fleet, controlled from Dreamland, still haven’t managed to reach Base 11.

However, through repeated clashes with the Ge Ya fleet, Du Qiu finally detected a pattern.

He has concluded that his fleet will never make it back to Base 11 because every time they approach within 300 light years, the Ge Ya fleet intercepts them.

Simply put, each time Du Qiu’s fleet hits this defensive barrier, they scramble to retreat, only to run into the Ge Ya fleet again upon reapproaching the 300-light-year mark.

Clearly, the Ge Ya fleet has completely encircled the Base 11 system, establishing a blockade 300 light years out to prevent any reinforcements.

At first, Du Qiu thought the Ge Ya fleet was merely intercepting his half-fleet, but he soon realized he was essentially diving into their defensive net — and naturally, he would be intercepted.

This revelation left him frustrated. His plans to return to Base 11, infiltrate it, and seize control of the Artificers have been completely upended by the Ge Ya offensive.

After several engagements with the Ge Ya fleet, his forces have lost 40 main combat ships, leaving only 316 in service.

Moreover, in the latest encounters, the enemy’s warship numbers have consistently outnumbered his own, suggesting that his current route may have encountered the Ge Ya fleet’s main force.

Forcing his fleet through would undoubtedly result in complete annihilation.

Consequently, Du Qiu has shifted his fleet’s course, moving 50 light years away to temporarily hide within a star system.

Du Qiu speculates that the Ge Ya Civilization is launching an offensive against the Dominant Civilization’s Base 11 in Sector 220. The recent ambush on his fleet during a resource-gathering mission may well have been the opening salvo of this campaign.

Through repeated encounters with the Ge Ya Civilization, Du Qiu has gained invaluable combat experience and a practical understanding of interstellar warfare among Level-6 Civilizations.

Thus, he has opted to lie low and wait for the outcome of the impending battle between the Dominant and Ge Ya Civilizations.

After all, he’s quite eager to witness this epic clash between two Level-6 powers firsthand.

According to data from the Fleet Database, the Ge Ya Civilization appears to be on the brink of collapse — perhaps this battle will be their final elegy.

Of course, this is based solely on information from the Fleet Database and may not be entirely accurate. If the Ge Ya Civilization were truly crumbling, they wouldn’t have the time or resources for a major counterattack — it would be a suicidal move.

Even so, Du Qiu intends to remain a keen observer — and maybe even salvage some wreckage from Ge Ya warships if possible.

After multiple engagements, Du Qiu has grown quite fond of the Ge Ya space weapons, and there’s even a type of thrown bomb from them whose destructive power far surpasses anything he’s known.

In several clashes, two-thirds of the warships lost by Du Qiu were taken down by these two types of enemy weapons.