508: Chapter 508 What a huge city!

On an orbit slightly further out sat the elite fleet that the Shankong Civilization Interstellar Defense Force took great pride in.

A task force consisting of one Dreadnought-class mothership, four Heavy Cruiser-class battleships, and over ten fast frigates floated there silently.

They had arrived several hours early and assumed their formation.

However, at this moment, the only sound inside all the Shankong vessels was the hum of the air vents.

Officers on the bridge, radar operators, gunners... everyone stared with wide eyes and agape mouths at the fleet on the monitoring screens that had just exited warp, and the inconceivable manner in which they had appeared.

"Is that... space jumping? Faster-than-light travel? No, could it be the theoretically-only Curvature Drive?!"

On the bridge of the Shankong fleet's Dreadnought mothership, the head of the observation department rubbed his eyes. "Have they... have they truly mastered such technology?! It's even more advanced than in our movies?!"

"Energy readings cannot be parsed! Weapon System signatures are completely foreign; threat Rank cannot be assessed!"

"They haven't deployed into a combat formation, nor have they initiated any aggressive scans." The fleet commander, a veteran Admiral, struggled to keep his voice steady, but the cold sweat on his brow betrayed him.

"That's good news, right?"

"Or is it that we simply can't sense what they've done to us?"

Incomprehension—this was the shared feeling of every Shankong officer with even a modicum of military literacy.

That human fleet seemed to park there casually, but they had a strong premonition: if the other party wished, they could wipe them out with absolute ease.

Soon, amidst their panic, the pristine white diplomatic vessel, escorted by several slender frigates, began to slowly detach from the main formation and sail toward the Shankong fleet.

Simultaneously, an identification signal and a navigation request were sent over, asking the Shankong fleet to guide them to the designated starport for docking.

The other party really was just here for a visit. At least on the surface.

"Receive them," the fleet commander ordered, taking a deep breath.

He glanced at the screen beside him at the emergency authorization from the rear. Guidance permitted, full monitoring, maximum alert, but no provocative actions allowed.

Whatever the other side said, they would do.

The Shankong fleet clumsily adjusted its formation, clearing a path and sending out guidance signals, which the human warships followed steadily. Maintaining a safe distance, both fleets began to sail into the Aetherland star System.

The journey was silent, save for the exclamations and discussions on the Shankong fleet's internal channels.

"Look at their engine trails; what kind of technology is that?"

"The hull structure shows no obvious weapon platforms? Are they hidden?"

"Is there a layer of something on the outside of their ships? I just saw a sizable piece of interstellar dust get deflected away!"

"The gap... is just too large..."

Guided by the Shankong fleet, the visiting fleet passed through the outer defense perimeter of the Aetherland System, gradually approaching the azure primary planet the Shankong people called "Aetherland."

Members of the human diplomatic mission by the observation windows and internal screens were all drawn to the sight before them.

The planet was beautiful. From space, the vast oceans, clear continental outlines, and shifting cloud layers made it look like a truly vibrant world.

However, what truly caught the eye wasn't the natural scenery, but several wonders dotting the edges of the continents and oceans.

These were several behemoths clearly distinguishable even from planetary orbit.

They weren't natural mountain ranges, but obvious artificial constructs.

Overall, they took the shape of irregular truncated cones with exceptionally broad bases, like super-peaks growing out of the earth.

Their surfaces were covered in layered grid structures as dense as honeycombs or integrated circuits, with countless tiny windows and passages interspersed, flickering with starlike lights.

The outer walls of some structures were even covered in a dark biomass coating that seemed alive, embedded with luminous crystal arrays resembling biological organs.

The tops of these megastructures often vanished into the lower cloud layers, with some even piercing above them.

Their scale far exceeded any city human civilization would have built at a similar level of development, including the current Corporation and Eastern Federation.

The footprint of each one was comparable to the territory of some medium-to-large nations on Blue Star, and their vertical height was staggering. The tallest was conservatively estimated to be over thirty kilometers high.

"My god! What are those? Cities?" a young fifty-year-old attaché from the Eastern Federation pressed against the observation window, unable to help but whisper.

"Judging by the scale and structure, they should be. No, calling them 'cities' might not be accurate enough." A technical expert from the Corporation's department nearby frowned as he looked at the latest synchronized scan data.

"Our preliminary scans show that the concentration of life signals inside those megastructures is terrifyingly high. Conservatively, there are hundreds of millions of people."

"Wait, that many people?! Tsk, tsk, tsk." The young Eastern Federation attaché clicked his tongue in shock. "By the way, why haven't we tried building cities like that? The space efficiency seems pretty good."

"Is it a technical issue? Looking at their level of technology, the technical difficulty shouldn't be that high?"

Another Scholar from the Eastern Federation's urban planning department shook his head. "Super-cities of this scale aren't impossible to build with our technology; they're just unnecessary."

"Based on our developmental history, such cities are theoretically only used in extreme environments. For instance, heavily polluted industrial planets, ocean worlds lacking land area, or places intentionally converted into prisons—like the Corporation's new prison planet."

"The environmental data for Aetherland itself doesn't look harsh. The atmospheric composition is suitable, the temperature is moderate, and water resources are abundant. There are perfectly good conditions and space to develop more dispersed ground or low-altitude cities that are better for ecology and psychological health."

"Cramming so many people into these hive cities is inefficient and high-risk from both sociological and engineering perspectives, and it would cause unimaginable psychological pressure on the residents. Even if the internal space is vast, it's useless unless you were born there and never knew what the outside looked like for your entire life."

"Hive cities? That's a vivid name." The young attaché nodded in strong agreement.

"There's another possibility: they had no choice." Jade had walked to the observation window at some point, arms crossed, calmly gazing at the "hive cities" casting massive shadows on the planet's surface.

"No choice?" a diplomat from the Eastern Federation mused. "Records show they haven't suffered a global ecological collapse, nor do they mention a population explosion to the point where this is necessary. Could it be to defend against some unknown threat?"

"It could also be some civilizational development philosophy or social structural requirement we don't yet understand," a technical expert added. "Given that their tech tree leans heavily toward Biotechnica, the architectural style of these megastructures also carries the design characteristics of biological technology."

"Perhaps to them, these hive cities are more than just residences; they are structures with significant symbolic meaning."

"Whatever the reason," Jade retracted her gaze, "we will find the answer."

She adjusted her coat and looked at the other members of the mission. "Remember, we are visitors on this trip. Some of you may have experience visiting new civilizations, but I imagine visiting a quasi-interstellar civilization is a first for most."

"You can be curious, and you can analyze, but do not jump to conclusions easily."

"Basic respect for a civilization capable of entering space is necessary, unless the situation is exceptional and we can ensure no living thing leaves."

Everyone nodded, the doubt and wariness toward the Shankong Civilization deepening another layer in their hearts.

This civilization was likely far more complex than just some technologically stagnant, naive pushover.

The ability to incorporate hundreds of millions of people into a single megastructure spoke volumes about the underlying social control and resource mobilization capabilities.

The ship continued its descent, passing through the clouds. The details of the hive cities became clearer in their vision, as did a sense of silent oppression.

They stood quietly on the planet's surface like silent Titans, guarding this contradictory civilization that was open enough to send out its own DNA, yet locked countless of its subjects into mountains of steel and flesh.