247: Chapter 247 Nebula Eruption

To stay or to leave?

Gao Yuan was caught in a dilemma.

How difficult was it to devour the core of a nebula?

Humanity currently lacked the capability to devour the nebula's core; even though he had already subsumed 95% of the nebula's volume, the remaining 5% held 30% of its mass.

Both he and Cangming No. 1 had underestimated the nebula before.

Gao Yuan felt lost.

Leaving was simple!

Evacuate now, board the Ideal Star, start the engines, and push the Ideal Star toward the Spiral Arm Core passage.

But...

Did humanity really have the ability to enter the core and follow the passage into the Galactic Center?

What was inside the Galactic Center?

What was the situation inside the Spiral Arm passage?

He didn't know at all, but Cangming No. 1 surely possessed some information.

Humanity needed to cooperate with Cangming No. 1, but how could they rescue it?

The devouring process could no longer continue.

Gao Yuan knew that every decision he made represented the future of a billion humans.

He fell into deep thought...

At that moment, Gao Gan arrived.

"I heard there's a problem with the nebula!"

"Yeah... Cangming No. 1 has gone into dormancy. The power and energy absorption of the Membrane Robots have reached a critical threshold; soon, they won't be able to devour matter anymore... In other words, we can't 'eat' the nebula anymore!"

"So... you're torn over whether to leave?"

Gao Yuan nodded.

"Do you think Cangming No. 1 is trustworthy?"

Gao Gan asked.

Five hundred years had passed.

Humanity and Cangming No. 1 had actually gotten along quite well; the other party had given humanity quite a lot of practical black technology.

If Cangming No. 1 could get out, Gao Yuan felt that humanity at least wouldn't feel so lonely in here.

"Relatively trustworthy!"

"Then that's it! If you think it's beneficial, keep doing it. So what if we can't continue devouring? If devouring doesn't work, is destruction impossible too?"

Gao Yuan fell into deep thought.

Destruction?

How to destroy it?

"Remember the Light-grain Weapons?"

Gao Gan asked.

Gao Yuan suddenly realized.

"You mean using a planet or a meteor to crash into it?"

Gao Gan nodded.

"Why not? Our goal is just to destroy the nebula and rescue Cangming No. 1, not necessarily to devour the nebula! Right?"

"But if we crash into it, the nebula core will erupt, then expand rapidly, and then extinguish because the pressure disappears!"

Gao Gan looked at Gao Yuan.

"Extinguishing means the nebula turns into ordinary gas clouds and meteors! Do you think that could trap Cangming No. 1?"

Gao Yuan suddenly understood.

"In that case, we must evacuate before the impact to avoid being swallowed by the erupting nebula core! We need to retreat at least two light-years away, then modify a meteor and drive it to strike the nebula core!"

"This process will probably take several decades!"

"We've waited five hundred years; do you really care about waiting a few more decades? Besides, with the Ideal Star now, people's lives won't be affected much! And actually, while we drive the Ideal Star away, we can build. Theoretically, thirty years should be enough!"

Gao Yuan calculated and felt it was indeed feasible.

Cangming No. 1 was currently forced into dormancy.

If he rescued them, it would be a life-saving favor.

Of course, there were still risks. For example, once Cangming No. 1 was out, would it be hostile to humanity? Was it possible it would annex humanity...

So Gao Yuan was gambling now—gambling that human civilization was absolutely safe within the Spiral Arm. Not necessarily invincible, but definitely not going to be wiped out.

That way, even if Cangming No. 1 turned against them, humanity would have merely wasted a few decades.

On a cosmic scale, several decades were but a fleeting moment.

But if Cangming No. 1 was friendly, the gains humanity would receive would far exceed the effort.

So, at this moment, Gao Yuan made up his mind.

"Gao Gan, I've decided. We'll rescue Cangming No. 1!"

Soon, Gao Yuan's order spread to all of humanity.

All humans began to evacuate from the Meteor City Cluster to the new Ideal Star. At the same time, scientists began to design and layout engines on the meteors.

When the time came, they would push the meteors into the gravitational range of the nebula core while accelerating them to crash into it.

Over the course of a year, more than a billion humans were all evacuated and entered the Ideal Star.

The Ideal Star was a Garden Mechanical Planet, a planet tailored for humanity, where temperature, humidity, and living environment were all most suitable for humans.

Having moved to a new home, everyone was very happy...

These new generation humans, born and raised in the Meteor City Cluster, had no experience living on a giant planet at all. After moving, they felt incredibly curious. Here, they could walk freely without needing Gravity Simulators. They didn't need an external star; there were Luminous Satellites orbiting the Ideal Star that allowed the entire planet to divide day and night according to human design and live a regular life.

In the Meteor City Cluster, the way people distinguished night was simply by looking at the time; when the time came, they would turn on the light-shading program and enter dark mode.

Here, that wasn't necessary...

Furthermore, the nights on the Ideal Star were extremely enchanting. Looking up at the starry sky at night, the sky was filled with purple and pink gas clouds along with many distant luminous nebulae!

Everyone was very satisfied with the Ideal Star because everyone had participated in its design and construction.

...

Gao Yuan, sitting in the tallest building at this time, issued the first order for the Ideal Star.

"Ideal Star... set off!"

The Planetary Engines built in various locations began to spout flames tens of thousands of meters long. The massive kinetic energy caused the Ideal Star to start moving.

The vibrations produced by these Planetary Engines would be absorbed by composite materials installed underneath and converted into electricity.

Otherwise, these vibrations alone would cause the planet's surface to shake, triggering unprecedented massive earthquakes and destroying cities.

But now, as long as one was away from the Planetary Engines, no ground vibration could be felt.

The Ideal Star slowly began to move away from the nebula...

As time passed, it went faster and faster...

Meanwhile, on the meteors, dozens of workgroups remained. They would complete the modification of the meteors through the cooperation of a hundred million robots, thereby driving the meteors to crash into the nebula core.

To ensure effectiveness, more than a dozen meteors were being modified simultaneously.

When the time came, these meteors would enter the gravitational range of the nebula core from different angles...

...

The lonely Ideal Star moved further and further into the distance!

Thirty years of time...

The speed of the Ideal Star became faster and faster. By now, its speed had reached 10% of the speed of light!

This was the speed limit of the Ideal Star.

Gao Yuan learned through Ultra-long-range Quantum Communication that the meteor group modification was complete.

"All workgroups, board your starships immediately, leave the meteor group, and follow the coordinates of the Ideal Star to rendezvous!"

Even if everything went smoothly, it would take those workgroups thirty years in their starships to catch up with the Ideal Star.