Chapter 369: The Cosmic Retreat

At this moment, two and a half of Dream Technology’s fleets—Fleet 4, Fleet 5, and Du Qiu’s Fleet 1—had not yet completed their faster-than-light modifications, leaving a large number of warships unable to break light speed.

Fortunately, the Heavenly-Class spacecraft already sold to various countries have been upgraded for faster-than-light travel; they will scatter in no fewer than 60 different directions, fleeing beyond the Solar System.

Once they jump to faster-than-light, the Dark Matter Lifeform likely won’t be able to duplicate itself to chase after them all.

Instinctively, Du Qiu felt that the enemy’s speed wasn’t slow, and he wasn’t confident that he could escape its grasp at forty times the speed of light.

So, on one hand, Dream Technology’s fleet would launch a blocking maneuver, while on the other, they would disperse in countless directions to confuse the enemy’s pursuit.

If not, Du Qiu wouldn’t have prioritized upgrading the Heavenly-Class spacecraft for faster-than-light travel and assigning intelligent robots to maintain the warp engines.

Based on his skirmishes against the Ge Ya Civilization in Dreamland with his small fleet, Du Qiu was certain that once they were more than ten lightyears away, even the faster-than-light detector could no longer pick them up.

Even for a Level 6 pinnacle civilization, it was unlikely that the Dark Matter Lifeform had reached that level—its detection range for faster-than-light travel would be within ten lightyears.

Du Qiu believed that if Dream Technology’s Heritage Fleet could escape beyond ten lightyears, the enemy would lose track of them.

Whether the vast cosmos held even more terrifying dangers, Du Qiu felt that such challenges had to be faced; he was convinced that with enough time and the right star system, Dream Technology could quickly evolve.

The evacuation plan was proceeding methodically, but Du Qiu was also making his final efforts.

Besides finding a way to detect the enemy, the crucial task was to inflict a crippling blow or even annihilate them.

Since the Level-Extreme alert was issued, Du Qiu noticed that the Heritage Fleet in the safe zone hadn’t moved at all. Right then, he received a holographic video call from Ning Shuangshuang.

“Du Qiu, have the enemies broken into the Solar System?”

Looking at Ning Shuangshuang’s hologram before him, Du Qiu shook his head. “Not yet, but we’ve detected it siphoning energy from the Sun. Its life expectancy is now less than two years.”

“We must immediately commence the evacuation and be ready to proactively open the Civilization Bastion to launch a tentative counterattack.”

Ning Shuangshuang couldn’t help but gasp, “The Sun only has two years left? Shouldn’t it have already turned into a red giant by now?”

Du Qiu explained, “Those two years are calculated at the current rate of energy consumption. In reality, the Sun still has a billion years left, but its energy output is plummeting exponentially—so fast that, by that rate, it’s effectively less than two years.”

“Understood. When will you join us?”

“You all pull out first. I need to adjust the blocking plan based on the latest information…”

Ning Shuangshuang interrupted, “Du Qiu, you can’t stake everything on the frontline like last time. We need you to return to command. Besides…”

After a brief hesitation, she continued, “Besides, our son wants to see his father when he’s born!”

Du Qiu laughed and replied, “Don’t worry. I’m actually terrified of dying. I’ll pull the flagship out to the Transit Space City, 20 astronomical units beyond the traditional bounds of the Solar System.”

Once the fleets ahead can’t hold their ground, I’ll immediately rocket out of the Solar System at maximum speed.

Besides, I’m staying behind to figure out how to engage the Dark Matter Lifeform; only by knowing both sides can we really evade its pursuit.”

Ning Shuangshuang asked, “Can’t the detection network scattered throughout the Solar System relay the battle situation back to us?”

Frowning, Du Qiu replied, “Shuangshuang, I’m the commander. If I run at the first sign of trouble, how do you expect the fleet to block the enemy up ahead?”

While she knew he was right, Ning Shuangshuang couldn’t accept it. “I’m not listening—I want us to stick together!”

Ning Shuangshuang, only three months pregnant, found her pregnancy symptoms exacerbated by the threat of the Dark Matter Lifeform.

Du Qiu understood why the ever-reasonable Ning Shuangshuang felt this way and reassured her, “Shuangshuang, the Transit Space City is just over 20 days away at our current faster-than-light speed. I’ll be able to catch up to you.”

“No! If that Dark Matter Lifeform is faster, you’ll definitely have to retreat in another direction to draw it away!”

Ning Shuangshuang almost immediately voiced exactly what Du Qiu had been fearing.

Indeed, the reason Du Qiu separated from the Heritage Fleet to personally block the Dark Matter Lifeform was precisely out of that concern.

After all, the Tur Fleet—armed with Level 4 civilization technology—was completely annihilated without even a proper reaction; at the very least, the Lifeform’s speed could catch up with the Tur Fleet.

There was also the possibility that the Tur Fleet would be cornered outside the Solar System by the Civilization Bastion, allowing the Dark Matter Lifeform to silently creep up, leaving little time for escape once detected.

But Du Qiu couldn’t take that gamble. What if it wasn’t so? Would the entire Blue Star Civilization be wiped out, destined for extinction?

Moreover, the evacuation of all the ships to the edge of the Civilization Bastion would take over 30 days. Perhaps in those 30 days he could develop a detector capable of pinpointing the Dark Matter Lifeform.

Du Qiu was confident that once detected, the Negative Matter Cannon could be used against it—there’s no doubt that this weapon could wound the Lifeform.

If the Lifeform was indeed fast, then by directing the fleet to flee in a different direction, it would surely lure the enemy into pursuing, allowing the Heritage Fleet, already well away from the Solar System, to escape.

After all, once the Heritage Fleet and the national spacecraft travel faster-than-light for 2.5 months, they’ll reach a safe zone 10 lightyears away.

In other words, if I can keep the Dark Matter Lifeform entangled for 2.5 months, we’ll have succeeded.

“Shuangshuang, I know you want me by your side now, but if I can’t guarantee your safe departure, none of us may ever get out.”

Ning Shuangshuang took a deep breath and pleaded, “Du Qiu, don’t think I’m being unreasonable. In public, you’re the head of Dream Technology and the soul of the entire research system.

Privately, you’re my husband and the father of our child—there’s no reason for you to risk your life.”

With a hint of resignation, Du Qiu responded, “But that doesn’t mean we can let others sacrifice themselves.”

Ning Shuangshuang shook her head, “Du Qiu, we can avoid any sacrifice. With our level of artificial intelligence, all the warships could be operated by intelligent robots or a newly produced batch of clones, executing the blocking mission.

If they fail, it’s only a loss of warships—not our soldiers. If they succeed, we’ll be able to regroup.”

Du Qiu was momentarily stunned and silently cursed himself; even the wisest can overlook a detail!

Over the years, to alleviate everyone’s fears of an AI rebellion, Du Qiu had increased the proportion of manual control on his warships.

Before he knew it, his thinking had become fixed—always assuming that these ships were manned by countless warriors. How could he face their families if he abandoned them to die?

He had forgotten that his warships were always capable of automated operation—as long as they were equipped with the appropriate intelligent robots to work under the guidance of the warship’s computer brain.

Realizing this, Du Qiu said, “I apologize—I’ve been trapped in my own mindset. Shuangshuang, you truly are my wise partner.”

I’ll immediately readjust the fleet, handing over those ships that haven’t been upgraded for faster-than-light travel to be operated by their onboard computer brains and intelligent robots.

Also, to prevent the Dark Matter Lifeform from targeting sentient beings, I’ll urgently produce another batch of clones to man these ships.

Once I’ve finished the arrangements, I’ll lead the fleet to rendezvous with you immediately!

Ning Shuangshuang studied Du Qiu carefully and said, “Then I’ll wait here. Don’t even think about pulling a fast one on me.”

Seeing Ning Shuangshuang’s distrustful look, Du Qiu sighed and added, “Rest assured, I guarantee it’ll take only three days to make the arrangements. Then I’ll lead the fleet directly to you.”

After this bout of argument, the issue that had long plagued Du Qiu about the high casualty risks was finally resolved.