165: Chapter 165 Dual Planets, The Truth Unveiled

The third person standing directly in front of the projection screen was Anthony Bradley, fifty-five, former Deputy Director of the CIA's Directorate of Science and Technology, now the head of the joint intelligence analysis team for The Five Great Families, holding the core summary compiled overnight.

"Gentlemen, Mr. Rockefeller,"

Soren pushed an encrypted tablet labeled with Moth Star files to the center of the conference table, his tone steady, yet every word carried the lingering resonance of suppressed shock.

"Our professional analysis team has spent the entire night reviewing all the archives from the Solomon Crane Family underground base."

"Initially, our search objective was very clear: to find any backup facilities or experimental records related to the Mothman container vessels and confirm if any other finished vessels existed."

"But after reading through all the documents, we discovered something far more significant than the container vessels themselves."

Rockefeller III crossed his hands on the table, said nothing, and just gave a very slight nod, signaling him to continue.

Samuel Astor sat to his right, gently closed the folder at his hand, and focused all his attention on Holmstrom.

Isabelle DuPont leaned forward slightly.

Jacob and William also locked their gazes onto the tablet in front of Soren, and the air in the room suddenly tightened.

"Based on the archives accumulated by three generations of the Solomon Crane Family, we have finally discovered the truth about the Moth Star."

Soren opened the projection screen and displayed a star map.

"The star system where the Moth Star is located is referred to in the Crane Family records as the Erebus system, surrounded by a cosmic void with a diameter of one hundred thousand light-years."

"A full one hundred thousand light-years, with nothing."

"No stars, no planets, no meteorites, no interstellar dust, no observable matter whatsoever."

Irene Chen pushed a printout marked with spectral analysis data to the center of the conference table, her tone more hurried than Soren's, but equally precise:

"This means that the Mothman living on the Moth Star cannot see any stars from their night sky."

"The night sky is an absolute, total darkness."

"There is no North Star, no constellations, no Milky Way, no celestial bodies of any kind."

"For their civilization, the concept of astronomy fundamentally does not exist because the objects of observation themselves do not exist."

Anthony Bradley turned the core summary to the page marked "Conclusion," looked up at the five heads of the families present, his tone low and slow:

"In other words, the physical space where the Mothman reside is a room without windows."

"They have no direct observation channels for the existence of any other celestial bodies in the universe, such as the moon, stars, or neighboring planets."

"Any basic discipline that relies on astronomical observation to be derived has no possibility of natural development on the Moth Star."

Isabelle DuPont raised her eyes, her gaze sweeping back and forth between Soren and Margaret, her tone calm but with undisguised confusion:

"This doesn't make sense."

"Since the Erebus system where the Moth Star is located is a void with a diameter of one hundred thousand light-years, why does the storage device of Grey Alien record the distance between the Moth Star and Earth as two thousand six hundred and sixteen light-years?"

"This distance doesn't sound like it's in that void at all."

Anthony Bradley braced his hands on the edge of the conference table, his tone unhurried, but every word precisely answered Isabelle's question:

"When we first analyzed the Crane Family's archives, we were also very confused by this question."

"But in the end, we found the reason: there are two Moth Stars."

"One is the Great Moth Star, the planet located at the center of the Erebus system, completely surrounded by a one hundred thousand light-year void, which is their home planet."

"The other is the Little Moth Star, located two thousand six hundred and sixteen light-years from Earth, a colony they established about three thousand years ago through military expansion in the star regions surrounding the Solar System."

Rockefeller III and Samuel nodded slightly at the same time.

The word "colony" required no extra explanation for the old Western aristocrats present;

each of their family histories was stained with the brand of colonialism, from the North American continent to South African mines, from the Indian subcontinent to the spice islands of Southeast Asia.

The Great Moth Star was the mother country, the Little Moth Star was the colony.

The distance between the two perfectly explained why the Mothman could maintain communication with the Crane Family two thousand six hundred light-years away on Earth, while their home planet was isolated in a void where no stars could be seen at all, because the colony could see the starry sky.

Rockefeller III withdrew his gaze from the star map and looked at Soren Holmstrom, his tone still steady but a few degrees heavier than before:

"Since the Mothman already have colonies in the universe, does that mean the Mothman's technological power... is stronger than Grey Alien?"

Samuel Astor straightened his body from the back of his chair almost immediately.

Isabelle DuPont tightened her fingers, which were clasped over her knees.

Jacob Rothschild slowly withdrew his hands, which were always as steady as a rock, from the tabletop to his lap.

William Vanderbilt V moved his empty coffee cup aside and leaned his upper body toward the conference table.

This question was directly related to their lives and livelihoods:

they had already killed the Mothman's agent and defected to Grey Alien;

if the Mothman's technology was strong enough to crush the Zeta Star, then after Grey Alien were defeated, the Mothman's retaliation would fall upon them without distinction.

Irene Chen pushed a handwritten note found deep within the archives to the center of the conference table, her speaking speed faster than before, but every word spoken in a deliberately lowered tone:

"Before answering about the Mothman's technological level, I need to explain a piece of history regarding the origin of the Moth Star to everyone."

"Only by first understanding how their civilization was born in an impossible environment can one truly understand what kind of technology they possess."

Rockefeller III crossed his fingers on the table and leaned forward slightly.

Samuel, Isabelle, Jacob, and William also adjusted their sitting postures simultaneously, focusing all their attention on the yellowed file in front of Irene Chen.

This question was exactly the core of what they wanted to know:

just how strong were the Mothman, and could they drag The Five Great Families down with them in the face of the Zeta Star's million-strong fleet?

Everyone displayed great patience; no one urged, no one interrupted.

The entire room was so quiet that only the extremely subtle low-frequency hum of the air conditioning vent could be heard.