484: Chapter 484 Fleet, Assemble!

As soon as the news broke, the Silver Rail network instantly exploded.

But this time, the point of public opinion's explosion was a bit different from usual.

A headline appearing on the Interstellar Peace Broadcast was pushed to the number one trending spot on all platforms.

"Breaking! New Eden CONCORD has discovered an unknown high-threat biological The Swarm in the outer Star Domain; Interstellar Peace Corporation has decided to dispatch the Yaoqing Fleet to handle the situation."

Upon clicking in, the press release was written with such stability that it emphasized a purely official tone.

Summarized by AI, the thousand-word article boiled down to this: a "The Swarm"-like entity appeared on the outskirts of New Eden; it is very dangerous and has already devastated a planet. CONCORD couldn't handle it and asked the Corporation for help. Being righteous, the Corporation decided to send a Xianzhou Fleet to settle the matter.

That was the gist of it.

However, the onlookers within the Silver Rail's reach—especially those civilizations connected to the Corporation's network with technology advanced enough to at least have an internet and browse broadcasts—were generally a bit dazed after reading it.

There were two points that left them dazed.

First, a The Swarm? Does such a thing really exist?

No, although the Universe is vast and full of wonders, as human or pan-human civilizations expanded outward alongside the Corporation and the Eastern Federation over the years, they had indeed discovered many alien lives; even "humanoid civilizations" were no longer news.

Some looked ninety percent like humans, while others only had a general outline with bizarrely different details.

For example, there were the Fox People, who were well-known to the people of the Eastern Federation, and a feudal imperial human-like civilization still in the Iron Age discovered within an isolated island-type star system.

Classified by technological level, they ranged from those still using bronze tools to those who had just touched the threshold of the information age; there was every kind imaginable.

Although the density of life made the concept of loneliness somewhat relevant, with the help of the Silver Rail, everyone had long since grown accustomed to the setting of "diverse cosmic neighbors."

But a "The Swarm"... this concept was a bit beyond the curriculum.

It was a frequent guest in various sci-fi movies, games, and novels, carrying labels like: covering the sky, devouring everything, hive mind, fearless of death, and so on.

But those were all made up!

In the real Universe, of the civilizations discovered and recorded by the Corporation and the Eastern Federation that were capable of interstellar travel, which one hadn't endured the slow evolution from single cells, the development of technology, and the establishment of social structures?

Even if there were different developmental paths, no one had ever heard of a civilization achieving interstellar-level status by relying solely on absolute numbers, mindless expansion, and treating all organic and inorganic matter as fuel.

"Can this thing really evolve naturally? Isn't it more likely that some mad scientist cooked it up in a biological lab?" said a highly upvoted comment on a certain tech forum.

"No matter where it came from, the news said it has 'already caused a devastating impact on the planet's native ecology'."

"An entire planet, brothers! Even if it's a barren planet without intelligent life, being able to wipe out the entire ecosystem is terrifyingly destructive," someone replied below.

"The key points are 'rapid proliferation' and 'high organization,' right? It feels like some kind of cosmic natural disaster..."

"Natural disaster +1, I don't even dare to start my games anymore. And the Corporation actually sent troops? A Xianzhou Fleet? It's said that's enough to plow through an entire star system. I feel like the water here is very deep."

Exactly, this was the second point that confused everyone, and it was also the point that made many political observers, military analysts, and high-level officials of various civilizations furrow their brows.

The Interstellar Peace Corporation had taken the initiative to send troops.

And it wasn't a small-scale peacekeeping operation, nor was it just sending some security forces from the enforcement department to maintain Order; it was formally, in an official capacity, dispatching a super fleet to a Star Domain that was not its direct territory to perform a "purge" mission.

The nature of this was entirely different.

You have to realize, since the name "Interstellar Peace Corporation" was officially established nearly three hundred years ago, what has been the impression the Corporation gives people?

A rancher for commercial titans, a wholesaler of black technology, a guarantor of peace, a mediator of trouble, and an unfathomable generator of "urban legends."

What? You're asking on what basis they guarantee peace? Get this troll out of here!

Is the Corporation's armed force strong? Nonsense, of course it is. Otherwise, how could they keep things under control and ensure that the business of those employees in the Traditional Projects Department can proceed without hindrance on various planets?

But the Corporation's armed forces, especially those legendary Xianzhou Fleets, are perceived by the public more as a strategic deterrent, a backdrop, a kind of ultimate insurance that says, "I know you're very powerful, but you'd better sit down and sign quietly so I don't have to take action."

The Luofu Fleet, the Zhuming Fleet, and the recently established Yaoqing Fleet.

These names can easily be searched for on the Interstellar Peace forum because they are completely public. But if you want to know information beyond just their names, that will test your hacking skills.

In any case, no one has succeeded yet.

Therefore, after Pierpoint held its founding ceremony and became the most important hub for human civilization's interstellar navigation network, the Xianzhou Fleets, accompanied by various rumors, replaced the niche originally occupied by rumors about the Corporation's headquarters, consistently dominating the top of the "Milky Way Galaxy's Unsolved Mysteries" and "Urban Legends" lists.

Tied with them are questions like: how long has the Corporation's Chairman lived? And what kind of person is the Chairman's Wife?

...Off-topic, back to the fleet.

Some say they've seen the silhouette of a cruiser from the Luofu Fleet, so massive it covers the sky.

Some say the engine flares of the Zhuming Fleet can ignite asteroids.

The most outrageous claim is that the Corporation's headquarters, "Pierpoint" itself, is a super mobile fortress, and those fleets are just a few fingers it extends.

Rumors are rumors, a mix of truth and lies, but one thing is universally acknowledged.

The Corporation has never fully and proactively dispatched any of its super fleets in any public, large-scale conflict.

The only time they showed a bit of their hand was during the "Mega-Corp Rebellion Incident" over a hundred and seventy years ago.

Several large-scale mega-corporations at that time united to challenge the trade rules set by the Corporation, even harboring anti-human intentions.

At the height of the conflict, the rebel fleet once occupied an important space city belonging to the Corporation.

Then, the Luofu Fleet made its appearance.

As for how much force was deployed, no one can say for sure.

According to battlefield records released later—which still rank in the top ten of historical video views—that fleet, in less than one standard hour of engagement, crushed the main force of the rebels, which was several times its size, with zero damage, and incidentally demonstrated faster-than-light warp technology.

After that battle, no one had any more misunderstandings about the Corporation's "peace."

Everyone also understood that the Corporation's fleets weren't for fighting wars, at least not conventional ones. They were for setting rules and solving troubles.

From then on, the name Luofu became a symbol. A symbol of the Corporation's absolute power, hidden behind its smiling commercial face, which was too intense to look at directly.

And in over a hundred years of development, Luofu gradually became one of these symbols.

Now, this power is moving once again.

The Yaoqing Fleet sets out.

The departure ceremony was broadcast live, held at the outer anchorage of the Pierpoint star system.

When the live signal connected and the camera pointed at that deep starry sky, everyone watching—no matter which planet or space station they were on—subconsciously held their breath or let out an involuntary gasp of wonder.

First to come into view was an "object."

It was hard to describe it with simple terms like "spaceship" or "warship."

It was too massive.

So massive that even from a great distance, it occupied a significant portion of the live broadcast frame.

The hull, shaped like a gallery boat, shimmered with a wooden luster, and its surface was covered with countless regular, faintly glowing structures and cloud patterns.

From a distance, it didn't look like a man-made spaceship, but more like a real grand ship floating on the sea of stars.

This was the yaoqing immortal vessel, the flagship and core of the Yaoqing Fleet, and also the newest member of the Xianzhou Fleets.

There were countless guesses about its size among the public. But until this moment, as it appeared before everyone without concealment, people finally had a vague concept.

It was truly as large as a small planet.

The live broadcast switched, giving the Xianzhou a slow, panoramic 360-degree shot.

That towering hull, those complex superstructures, those port channels that showed no sign of what new technology was used, and the visible sense of weight—all spoke of the terrifying volume and power contained within.

"Friends in the audience, what we are seeing now is the core of this expedition, the yaoqing immortal vessel," a voiceover sounded, the voice of a spokesperson for the Interstellar Peace Broadcast. "As the Corporation's newest generation of integrated strategic platform, the yaoqing immortal vessel possesses..."

The spokesperson continued introducing various parameters and the significance of the Xianzhou, mentioning things like "inter-system deployment capability," "integration of cutting-edge technology," and "symbol of peace guarantee"... but most viewers weren't listening carefully.

Their gazes were firmly captured by the images from another camera.

It was a shot of the Pierpoint star system from a further, wider perspective.

In this busy Star Domain, objects were arriving from all directions.

From the main inhabited and industrial planets in the system, from the space stations and star cities scattered like stars, and even from the Star Gate exits that were constantly swallowing and spitting out ships connecting to other star systems.

Countless points of light, like a galaxy pulled by an invisible force, were converging toward the outskirts of the star system, toward the position of the yaoqing immortal vessel.