Chapter 590: Chapter 587 Goal – Tabby Star! (End of Volu)
Zhang Yuan saw these paraters and couldn’t help but wrinkle his nose. Two light seconds, in astronomical units, was a very small number, as the distance from the Sun to Earth is one astronomical unit, equivalent to 8.3 light minutes. One light year equals 63,241 astronomical units.
Yet for human high-precision equipnt, it was a significantly large number.
On a Curvature Missile, it was impossible to install a super telescope with a diater of several kiloters or to install high-power radar. How could it detect a small target and then guide the missile precisely?
As for other space weapons such as lasers and ion cannons, once fired they lacked any guidance capability and could only hit targets within two light seconds.
Yes, only within two light seconds!
The slower electromagnetic guns, only within 0.5 light seconds, have a chance of hitting the target.
Ordinary nuclear bombs were pitifully slow, only practical for close-range deploynt through drones.
“That is to say, distance remains the best protective asure between civilizations.”
“In summary, Curvature Missiles are the only weapons capable of causing significant damage to Curvature Spaceships from extrely long distances, so we still need to develop them … very vigorously!”
The eting room was silent, with so councilors who were less familiar with the matter beginning to whisper and discuss.
Zhang Yuan swallowed. What did this general an? Was he just taking this opportunity to blatantly ask for money?
A Curvature Missile equated to a spaceship, right? They had to install a curvature engine and a supercomputer with massive computing capability, and even dark matter tracking devices to vaguely predict the enemy’s position—the production cost was outrageously high!
Oh, right, with such exorbitant costs, the missile’s destructive power must be astonishing; they must use the most powerful antimatter available!
Even so, the hit rate was still extraordinarily low, one in ten thousand?
Zhang Yuan licked his dry lips, seeing that the face of the Captain on stage looked displeased; he was secretly pleased… Fortunately, he was not the Captain in this era.
And fortunately, their civilization was strong enough; otherwise, it couldn’t afford such expensive weapons.
The general ignored the experts responsible for national finances: “… Through long-term military exercises, we believe that the actions of a Fourth-level Civilization are no longer confined to Cosmic Strings, but should avoid them as much as possible. Engaging in war near Cosmic Strings, the high gravitational fluctuations disrupt Curvature Motion.”
“If we lose Curvature Navigation, even if we are stronger than a Third-level Civilization, it becos the difference between fifty steps and a hundred. We don’t need to be on the sa starting line as a Third-level Civilization.”
Next, displayed on the screen was the sub-light speed beehive combat mode.
Due to poor communication environnts at superluminal speeds, sub-light speed environntal warfare would beco the mainstream combat mode for a Fourth-level Civilization.
A swarm of drones, like a flash of lightning, could instantly annihilate targets on a planet, even before the “target defense systems” had ti to react.
All kinds of dizzying numbers and video displays caught Zhang Yuan’s eyes.
He didn’t know how effective they were; at least they seed quite impressive, with a good deal of flair. With his neural response speed and field of vision, it was impossible for him to observe sub-light speed spaceships in semi-stealth mode.
However, the problem was, the “Curvature” drones were incredibly costly. They needed equipped with Quark Energy Rooms and Curvature Engines, had limited production capabilities, and were unlike traditional drones, which were disposable. Their cost was almost equivalent to manned spacecraft. If they wanted to form a swarm, the budget would be massive.
The last segnt showcased the latest weapons: electromagnetic kinetic energy weapons, nuclear weapons, lasers, ion cannons, all just upgraded old toys.
The newest toys were Photon Torpedoes, antimatter weapons, and special Electromagnetic Pulse Bombs, specifically designed to disrupt battlefield communications.
“He who does not think far ahead will find trouble close at hand!”
“We are not going to choose to invade others, but we should have the capability to defend ourselves… I hope these weapons will allow us to protect ourselves in any future crises! Thank you all!”
After the military representative finished speaking, a round of applause erupted from the audience.
Next, the two civilizations began discussing future directions for developnt. The majority still felt that they should go out and interact with other civilizations.
Continuing to stay here for slow research could lead to so progress, but it definitely would not bring about the rapid advancents as before. The potential technological advancents were nearly exhausted.
Moreover, the six large Mother Ships were nearing completion and soon to be fitted with the latest Curvature Engines, and in a while, they would be ready for a test flight.
So, after a thorough discussion, people set their next goal—Tabby Star!
Which was also that Dyson Sphere!
This was the target, concluded after long deliberations.
Tabby Star, designated as KIC 8462852, had been observed by humans for very, very long.
In the 21st century, humans had already discovered this star, whose luminosity varied periodically. At that ti, scientists were puzzled and thought that so celestial body was periodically obscuring the star.
But after long-term observation, it was finally confird to be a Dyson Sphere and, subsequently, that more powerful alien civilizations existed in the universe, which triggered trendous panic at that ti!
Speaking of which, this Dyson Sphere had a certain connection with the “Earth Era” project.
Had it not been for the discovery of this Dyson Sphere, people might still be engrossed in the idea that “humans are the only intelligent life in the universe”, much like a tribal chief on a solitary island, proud of ruling the entire island…
The discovery of the Dyson Sphere was a trendous shock to humans at the ti, first proving the existence of alien life. Secondly… it was as monuntal as creating heaven and earth, a sky-and-ant difference!
Whether it was panic or excitent, the discovery of this Dyson Sphere had a profound impact on the entire history of human society.
Of course, as things developed to the present, people were no longer strangers to alien civilizations, but in the Milky Way, this was still the only Dyson Sphere discovered.
This was very mysterious and strange…
According to human understanding at the ti, the Dyson Sphere indeed wasn’t much use, it was just a giant solar panel capable of collecting all the energy from a star, indeed very, very impressive, but a Level 4 Civilization wouldn’t be lacking in energy, so why do it? Even if there really was a shortage of energy, they could create thousands of Quark Energy Rooms, instead of building a Dyson Sphere, which was much more difficult.
This point was quite strange.
Not until later did people begin to speculate.
According to the Star Map exchanged from a Level 4 Civilization, it was a gathering place for a large number of interstellar civilizations, about 400 light-years from the current location, and there were mbers of the Amoeba Faction setting up trading markets there.
That is to say, a star that periodically changes luminosity could naturally attract the attention of interstellar civilizations. It beca the most important indicator in the Orion Arm, with the vast majority of interstellar civilizations showing interest in it.
Combining all these factors, humans were very willing to go there to explore and also wanted to invite the Tos Civilization, an ally, to join the journey, as having an additional ally always ant additional strength.
However, after much consideration, the Tos People actually rejected the proposal, “Regrettably, friends of the New Human Civilization, we are indeed very interested in that Dyson Sphere. But we have just acquired visual perception and want to popularize this technology across our entire civilization, which will take a very long ti.”
“Having gained optical perception, we collectively believe that our civilization’s technology tree is far too deficient. We need to adapt to this new perception ability and also to develop corresponding technologies for optical perception to adapt to the new era. So, we plan to continue developing here for about several hundred years.”
“Only after that will we choose to go there.”
The choice of the Tos Civilization was within people’s expectations, as people had clearly discovered this flaw during long-term interactions. It was quite reasonable for them to choose this way.
Having acquired a new perception, first, its safety must be studied, then it could be gradually popularized and adapted, developing new suitable technologies. Perhaps all existing equipnt had to be modified, a huge task.
And humans had no need to specifically wait for three to five hundred years; as the saying goes, a gentleman’s friendship is as clear as water, and for most of the ti, people still had to rely on themselves.
Thus, after the eting, all Tos People boarded their spaceship, ready to leave. Before parting, people also gifted so inexpensive technologies, such as LCD screens, foldable personal phones, clocks, computers, VR glasses, and the like, which were cheap but very useful.
If the other party really adopted these items, perhaps there would be more topics in common when they t in the future.
Finally, the two sides bid each other farewell.
“May your civilization advance forever…”
A standard interstellar etiquette.
A life form that truly understood the contents of this etiquette would never look down upon it; they all knew its significance.
Zhang Yuan, as a representative of the civilization, slightly bent his waist, “I also hope that your civilization will continue to progress.”
“Friends, goodbye.”
…
The Tos Civilization started up their spaceship and left, while the New Human Civilization was also about to embark on a new journey…
Target, Tabby Star!
…
(The volu ends here!)
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