Chapter 371: The Trap of Antimatter
by xennovelDu Qiu listened, his heart stirred.
He immediately commanded Star Ocean, “Star Ocean, keep the Dreamer-I Probe.”
“Yes, sir.”
Several directors from the institutes exchanged puzzled looks, realizing that the Dreamer-I Probe mentioned by the boss had nothing to do with any of the institutes present.
Clearly, this was yet another invention crafted by the boss himself.
For a moment, curiosity filled the air.
Chen Guangnan shot a knowing glance at Director Best, though Director Best did not catch on at all.
However, Yu Fangzhong from the Biological Research Institute suddenly asked, “Boss, what secrets does this Dreamer-I Probe conceal? Can we learn anything about it?”
Du Qiu looked over the group and shook his head. “This is a research project—I can’t declassify it just yet. We’re about to enter superluminal travel. I believe you have corresponding assignments, so don’t linger here.”
Hearing Du Qiu’s dismissal, the institute heads fell silent. Although intrigued by the Dreamer-I Probe, their years at Dream Technology had taught them Du Qiu’s rules: what must be known will be known, and what must not remains a mystery.
After the directors departed, Du Qiu turned to Song Yuanting and said, “Thanks for keeping watch. I have an important experiment to conduct. If anything urgent arises, have Star Ocean notify me.”
“Yes, boss,” Song Yuanting replied, watching Du Qiu leave while his own curiosity about the Dreamer-I Probe grew.
In the void, the massive Dream Technology fleet accelerated before suddenly vanishing.
The emptiness rippled with distorted waves.
It would be at least three months before the Dream Technology fleet exited superluminal travel.
In real space, curvature bubbles in twisted realms remain invisible, as light bends under spatial distortion, evading traditional detection.
The moment the Dream Technology fleet disappeared, it was already 5.5 light-years away on the far side of the Solar System.
A flickering light abruptly halted its high-speed journey.
About ten seconds later, the colossal light surged toward Earth at twice its previous speed, reaching 60 times the speed of light!
Approximately 2.8 light-years from Earth, at this incredible pace, the light would take just over 17 days to arrive.
Yet, as the light neared the traditional boundaries of the Solar System—the Kuiper Belt—it suddenly veered off course despite having entered from above the Ecliptic.
Near the Ninth Planet in the Kuiper Belt, a fleet of 3,000 warships stood in vigilant ambush.
This fleet emitted natural electromagnetic waves, reminiscent of those from the original Tur Fleet.
“We’re waiting here. Are you coming?”
Simultaneously with its deflection, a spatial wave radiated outward.
“I’m coming!”
In less than half a day, the vast light appeared tens of millions of kilometers beyond the Ninth Planet.
However, by its arrival, the fleet that once patrolled near the Ninth Planet had retracted into the Kuiper Belt behind it.
Even though the fleet was no longer visible, the colossal light relentlessly barreled toward the Ninth Planet!
But when it was 50 million kilometers away, twelve holes—each 5,000 meters in diameter and 30 million kilometers deep—suddenly marred its immense form.
“You puny things, I want you dead!”
A spatial wave rippled as the giant light contracted to seal the 12 voids blasted out by the Negative Matter Cannon.
Clearly, the Negative Matter Cannon here was far more potent than the one aboard the initial fleet’s flagship.
Yet it still failed to inflict fatal damage, as the colossal light maintained its speed, surging toward the Ninth Planet.
At 40 million kilometers out, the vast light again displayed 12 voids.
“#%￥%￥#￥……”
Another spatial wave emanated.
The light contracted to fill the voids once more while accelerating toward the Ninth Planet.
When it closed to within 25 million kilometers, the immense light again revealed 12 clear holes.
“#%￥%￥#￥……”
After yet another spatial wave, the light’s speed soared to its peak. Just as it was about to engulf the Ninth Planet, 12 holes appeared once more.
Then the light completely covered the Ninth Planet!
At the moment the luminous shroud enveloped the planet, it suddenly erupted in violent explosions that kept intensifying!
It was as if the planet contained endless explosives—the encompassing light shattered into fragments, and strangely, its bright dots vanished.
The explosions continued relentlessly for a full seven days!
Not far from the Ninth Planet in the Kuiper Belt, a series of Negative Matter Fortress Cannons fired toward the Ninth Planet immediately after the explosions ceased.
In fact, even before the cannons fired, there was nothing left around the Ninth Planet!
After seven days of unyielding blasts, a planet larger than Earth had completely vanished!
The once-all-encompassing colossal light had long since disappeared!
This was Du Qiu’s antimatter trap.
When the Dark Matter Lifeform was lured and on the verge of covering the Ninth Planet, the antimatter trap detonated, unleashing vast amounts of antimatter.
Antimatter is essentially a natural bomb, and it ranks among the most destructive.
Unrestrained, antimatter detonates upon contact with any regular matter, and the amount in this trap was enough to obliterate the Ninth Planet completely.
Du Qiu believed that in such a massive matter-antimatter explosion even the Dark Matter Lifeform—a form of regular matter—would suffer severe damage.
Even with this trap in place, Du Qiu left the Solar System with the Dream Technology fleet, as it was a passive trap. If the Dark Matter Lifeform didn’t show up, the trap would be void.
When it comes to the survival of civilizations, Du Qiu couldn’t dare to take risks.
Moreover, an asteroid defense fortress in the Kuiper Belt behind the Ninth Planet, armed with 50 Negative Matter Cannons, would immediately fire at the Ninth Planet once the explosions ended.
This ensured that nothing would ever remain in that vicinity!
Fifty sweeping channels, each 5 kilometers in diameter, instantly appeared as the void rippled with a peculiar wave.
These were shockwaves from 50 torrents of Negative Matter, erasing every trace of regular matter.
The ripple extended for 80 million kilometers, indicating that the Negative Matter torrents had completely annihilated regular matter over that distance.
At the previous location of the Ninth Planet, there was now nothing but a pristine vacuum—without even a speck of cosmic dust.
A fleet of 3,000 warships arranged meticulously in the Kuiper Belt, positioned about 25 million kilometers from the Ninth Planet’s former location.
After the Negative Matter Cannon attack, the fleet began releasing gravitational marker reactants.
Should any Dark Matter Lifeform remain, these markers would reveal its presence.
However, before the fleet could act, the warships suddenly lost power, and their thruster flames died out completely.
Not only did the fleet lose power, but the asteroid defense fortress in the Kuiper Belt also shut down as its energy supply was completely drained.
Soon, rather than being stranded in the void like the previous Tur Fleet or blockade fleet, the warships moved in perfect unison.
Though their thruster flames failed to ignite as they would upon engine start, they advanced in formation toward the inner Solar System.
The 3,000 warships were arranged in three levels, 100 by 10, with 100 kilometers between them—a formation only 10,000 kilometers deep.
Intriguingly, the fleet charged toward the inner Solar System at a staggering 10 times the speed of light!
In just about 24 minutes, the fleet neared the asteroid belt.