105: Stellar-class sniper

One year later.

Babel Space Station welcomed a special returnee today.

The Cross-Star technology verification ship, with its slender, silver-spear-like profile, slowly cut into the docking guidance lane of the space station, accompanied by two new frigates.

Its hull was covered in tiny scratches and traces of cosmic dust erosion—medals of its high-speed racing through deep space.

When the antimatter engines shut down and the cooling nozzles ceased emitting that faint blue light, the entire command center erupted in thunderous applause.

"All data is perfect!" Dr. Li Jingheng's voice was exceptionally excited as he stared intently at the steadily falling engine monitoring curve. "The antimatter catalytic fusion engine had an energy output fluctuation rate of less than 0.0003% over 4,000 hours of continuous operation. The magnetic confinement field never triggered a critical threshold alarm, and even during cruising after six months of acceleration, the super inertial damper perfectly protected the crew's physiological functions."

Lei Wen stood before the command console, watching the warship slowly entering the port, a satisfied curve tugging at the corners of his mouth.

This was not just the success of a test flight; it was a crucial step for Human Civilization to break free from the gravity well and move toward deep space.

"Give the order," Lei Wen turned to the Minister of Interstellar Warfare beside him and said, "Start the mass production plan immediately. All warships of the First Interstellar Fleet, including the flagship pacific, must complete their engine retrofits within five years. We are going to build an expeditionary force truly capable of spanning star systems."

"Yes, Director!"

Meanwhile, good news came from the top-secret antimatter factory located at Lagrange point L2. With the maturation of production processes, antimatter output began to grow gradually, which also meant that the antimatter weaponization project, which once existed only in theory, could finally be put on the agenda.

...

After finishing a busy day of work, Lei Wen declined the celebratory banquet arranged by his subordinates and took a shuttle directly back to Tianqiong City.

Although as the Director of the Interstellar Affairs General Bureau, he needed to work in New York most of the time, the home in Tianqiong City and the command room hidden deep underground remained the most peaceful harbor in his heart.

Returning home, Lei Wen washed up briefly and was just preparing to pour himself a soda to enjoy a rare moment of tranquility.

"Father."

white flower's voice suddenly sounded in the room, breaking the silence of the night. Unlike the usual emotionless electronic voice, this time Lei Wen actually heard a hint of urgency and gravity in it.

"What is it?" Lei Wen put down the bottle in his hand, his brows slightly furrowed.

"The underground command room has received an activation signal from the high-dimensional quantum communication device," white flower reported. "The signal source is from the Central Council of the Falem Homeworld, but this is not within our scheduled weekly routine report time. This is an emergency communication."

Lei Wen's heart sank.

Since the establishment of formal contact between the two sides, the Faleim Civilization had been in a state of stable recovery and rapid expansion. Although Price and Zeral often came to him to "chat," most of it was to report good news or ask for advice on development directions.

An emergency call that broke the routine like this was the first time in so many years.

Lei Wen didn't even have time to change his clothes. He sat in the shuttle sent by white flower in his pajamas and immediately entered the secret elevator to the underground after arriving at the lightning factory.

When the elevator door opened deep underground, the lights in the command room were already fully lit. On the huge holographic projection table specifically used for contact with the Faleim Civilization, the air was twisting violently.

Soon, the figure of Consul Price clearly emerged.

But his appearance at this moment startled Lei Wen.

This Faleim leader, known for his composure and dignity, had a face so grim it seemed as if water could drip from it.

In those blue eyes that always shimmered with rational light, a raging fire was burning.

"Great Guide," Price bowed slightly, his voice hoarse and low. "There is an emergency situation. I must report to you immediately."

Lei Wen walked quickly to the holographic table, supporting the tabletop with both hands, and said in a deep voice, "What happened?"

Price took a deep breath, seemingly calming his mood. "Do you remember the sentry surveillance array we reported to you before?"

"Of course, that giant structure capable of real-time monitoring of intelligence within a radius of one hundred light-years."

"Just three standard hours ago, the first phase of the project was completed, and we conducted the first full-power test run." Price waved his hand, and a huge holographic Star Map appeared between the two.

At the center of the Star Map was the Faleimland System, and at a location not far from it, a star was marked with a glaring blood-red color.

"When we opened this all-seeing eye..."

Price pointed at the red dot and said, "This star is numbered S-56. It is only 56 light-years away from Faleimland. In our old astronomical charts, it was a supernova about to erupt, but its theoretical lifespan was at least another thousand years."

"However, the high-dimensional gravitational wave detection results from the sentry surveillance array show... it is erupting."

"Erupting?" Lei Wen's pupils constricted. "You mean a supernova explosion?"

"Yes, its core has collapsed, and the outer layer is ejecting matter at sub-light speed." Price's voice turned cold. "The most disturbing thing is that its rotation axis underwent an extremely strange deflection during this process."

With Price's operation, two terrifying cone-shaped ray regions extended from the two poles of the S-56 star on the Star Map.

"Its current rotation axis is precisely locked onto the Faleimland System!"

"This means the gamma-ray burst produced by the supernova explosion is already on its way to our capital!"

Lei Wen felt a sense of scalp-tingling dread.

A gamma-ray burst is one of the most terrifying energy release phenomena known in the universe.

It is like a cosmic-level sniper rifle, concentrating the star's lifelong energy into two extremely narrow cone-shaped beams and firing them out in just a few seconds to a few minutes.

If hit head-on by a gamma-ray burst at a distance of 56 light-years, the entire Faleimland System would face a catastrophe. The atmosphere would be stripped away instantly, the oceans would boil and evaporate, and all life and structures on the surface would be decomposed by high-energy radiation.

This is a planet-killing disaster.

"Is this a natural disaster or man-made?" Lei Wen asked immediately, although he already had the answer in his heart.

A star with another thousand years of life cannot suddenly erupt. The Faleim People's deep space monitoring stations and astronomers are not playing around; they could not have had no warning before a supernova explosion.

"It is man-made. This is a carefully planned attack, a despicable act of war!" Price said through gritted teeth.

"The sentry surveillance array can not only see the present but also trace back images of the past by collecting photon residual information that is still on the way."

The screen changed, and a blurred but recognizable image appeared in the holographic projection.

That was around the S-56 star, where a black engineering fleet with a strange shape was working.

They deployed several huge gravity traction devices around the star, forcibly twisting the star's rotation axis. Immediately after, they fired some kind of device capable of inducing fusion runaway into the star's core.

"This is an image from 35 years ago," Price said. "Since then, the trigger has been pulled."

"At a distance of 56 light-years, light needs to travel for 56 years. That means the gamma-ray burst has been running for 35 years, and there are only 21 years left before it reaches Faleimland!"

Lei Wen fell silent.

What a vicious and covert way to strike.

Using the delay of the speed of light to pull the trigger without the victim even knowing.

If it weren't for the Faleim People building the sentry surveillance array in advance and possessing superluminal reconnaissance means far beyond tachyons monitoring devices, they might not have been able to react until it was too late.

"Do you have a way to deal with it?" Lei Wen asked.

This was his biggest concern. The Faleim Civilization was not only his hard work but also the biggest backing for Human Civilization at present.

Price took a deep breath.

"If we had just arrived in this universe, we could only abandon the Faleimland System, but now we are not afraid of this method."

"We have a way."

Price's fingers swept through the void, showing a grand defense plan.

"Since we cannot avoid it, we will face it head-on."

"First, we will assemble all engineering ships on the side of the Faleimland System facing the S-56 star, that is, above the ecliptic plane, to build a giant deflector lens with a diameter of over one million kilometers."

"This lens will be composed of millions of independent low-level shield generators. They do not need to withstand the full energy of the gamma-ray burst; their role is to use the principle of high-dimensional space refraction to create a huge artificial gravitational lens effect in three-dimensional space."

Zeral's holographic image also joined the meeting at this time, and he quickly added technical details: "This is like erecting a wedge-shaped stone in front of a torrent. We don't need to block the flood, we just need to divert it."

"But this is not enough," Price continued. "To ensure nothing goes wrong, we will initiate the dimensional submergence protocol for the homeworld and all colonial planets."

"We will use phase-shift technology to submerge the material phase of the entire Faleimland System into the lower-dimensional space by 0.001 degrees during the days when the gamma-ray burst arrives."

"In this way, the gamma-ray burst in the three-dimensional main plane will mostly pass over our heads, and only a very small part of the energy will reach us."

"Combined with planetary shield generators, we can basically survive this crisis unscathed."

After listening to this grand plan, Lei Wen let out a long sigh of relief.

This is the foundation of a high-level civilization.

Facing a cosmic disaster capable of destroying a star system, they can use technology and physical laws themselves to fight against it.

"Very good." Lei Wen nodded. "Since the safety issue is solved, the remaining problem is..."

His eyes became sharp.

"That murderer."

"Do you know who did it?"

Hearing this question, Price's expression became ferocious, and he pulled up another piece of data.

"We compared the energy characteristics of the engineering fleet operating in the S-56 system 35 years ago with the probe that crashed into our home system years ago."

"They match perfectly."

"That probe was an observer launched by that civilization. It confirmed our coordinates, confirmed our existence, and then sent the information back."

"Immediately after, that civilization launched this strike across dozens of light-years against us."

Price's hand drew a range on the Star Map, a range much smaller than what Zeral had previously speculated, narrowed down to a few specific star regions.

"We have already locked onto their general position."

"Since they like to play with the power of stars, they must be prepared to be devoured by stars."

"The Falaim Scientific Integration Nation must show our power in this universe."

"Great Guide, please allow us to take revenge."

"The Third Interstellar Expeditionary Fleet and the Seventeenth Interstellar Expeditionary Fleet have already started the modification of superluminal engines, and it is expected to be completed within five years."

"Five years later, we will go against the current along the trajectory of the gamma-ray burst."

"Any civilization that dares to wield a blade against the great Falaim Scientific Integration Nation will surely be punished most severely and thoroughly!"

Lei Wen looked at Price's murderous appearance and did not stop him.

"Go do what you must do," Lei Wen said calmly.

"This is a righteous verdict."