124: Coming soon

In the void about 5 light-years from the Solar System, a massive steel fleet was performing a silent maneuver.

This was the Human Federation First Interstellar Fleet.

Over the past forty years, this massive fleet, composed of one hundred and one capital ships and two thousand frigates, had been hurtling through the ocean of vacuum at a quarter of the speed of light, propelled by the deep blue antimatter flames streaming from their tails, bright enough to illuminate the darkness.

For the fleeting lives of humans once on Earth, forty years was a duration long enough to turn youthful faces into gray hair or for an infant to enter middle age. In the maritime history of the old era, forty years was enough for a sailor who left home to be completely forgotten by their homeland.

Yet, within this fleet, the passage of time seemed to have become somewhat viscous and blurred.

On the bridge of the flagship pacific, Commander-in-Chief Li Zhenhua stood quietly before the massive viewport.

His reflection was cast upon the transparent, ultra-high-strength glass. His face remained resolute, and the gray hair at his temples had not spread with the passage of forty years; instead, thanks to the continuous nourishment of the fountain of youth serum, his skin even radiated the healthy glow characteristic of a young person.

For the members of the Interstellar Fleet, all of whom had consumed blood orchid products, their theoretical lifespan of three hundred years had completely altered their coordinate system for perceiving time.

Just as a child feels a year is very long, while an elderly person feels a year passes in a flash, when the length of life is stretched threefold, the density of time is subjectively diluted.

Coupled with the relativistic time dilation effect—weak but real—brought about by the fleet sailing at 0.25 times the speed of light, as well as the rotational "shallow hibernation" measures implemented mid-voyage to conserve resources.

For these hundreds of thousands of conquerors far from home, this forty-year long journey seemed in their memory to have been nothing more than a slightly long decade.

"Commander, we are three astronomical units away from the gravitational edge of the target system."

The navigator's voice broke the silence of the bridge, "According to the scheduled procedure, the fleet is about to perform a major turn maneuver and begin deceleration."

"Execute," Li Zhenhua's voice was as steady as a mountain.

With the order given, the entire fleet began a breathtaking ballet.

Under the fine-tuning of their attitude control engines, the massive warships slowly turned their bows in space, aiming the main engine nozzles, which had previously been facing backward, toward that red star ahead—the sun of the Kari Star System—which had now become visible to the naked eye.

"Antimatter injection ready... magnetic confinement field at maximum power... ignite!"

Boom—! Although no sound could be heard in the vacuum, everyone inside each warship could feel that spiritual vibration.

Thousands of dazzling blue-white beams of light erupted once more; they were no longer pushing the fleet forward, but had transformed into the most powerful brakes, forcefully resisting the fleet's own terrifying inertia in this universe with almost no resistance.

The immense overload was slowly offset by inertial dampeners, with only slight vibrations reminding everyone that they were undergoing a super deceleration capable of tearing apart ordinary metal structures.

Five years later.

Outside the viewport, the red dwarf star known as D-21 (kari) now had the brightness of the moon as seen from Earth. It emitted a bright and eerie red light, as if it were a demonic eye peering from the darkness.

And sheltered beneath that red light was the destination of their journey, and the first alien world that Human Civilization was about to conquer—Kali Star.

"Look, that is our prey." The adjutant stood behind Li Zhenhua, watching the star, eyes flashing with complex emotions. There was excitement, apprehension, and the desire for conquest that comes with being the strong.

"That is our new territory," Li Zhenhua corrected. "Notify all ships to maintain deceleration posture. The ship-based AI has calculated that we will enter the synchronous orbit of Kali Star in 5 years."

"Also, summon all senior commanders and staff members to meet in the strategic conference room in ten minutes."

"We need to confirm one last time how to knock open this door."

pacific, strategic conference room. The air was filled with a solemn atmosphere.

The holographic projection table did not show the real-time dynamics of the Kari Star System, but rather the simple Star Map provided by Paradox Technology forty-five years ago.

They did not have the "God's eye view" that Lei Wen had; for Li Zhenhua and everyone in the First Interstellar Fleet at this moment, they were conducting an exploration into the unknown.

They did not know of the existence of Grey Wind, nor did they know that an extremely powerful nano-ghost had already helped them lock down the technology of a civilization for forty years.

In their intelligence database, the information about the Kari Civilization was pitifully scarce, consisting only of the crude Star Map that Director Raven had given them before departure and that "naive" message the Kari People had broadcast to the universe forty-five years ago.

Forty-five years. For a civilization in a period of technological explosion, what did forty-five years mean?

Humans themselves had once gone from civil war on Earth to interstellar expeditions in just over forty years, evolving from chemical rockets to antimatter engines. So what about the Kari People?

"Everyone," Li Zhenhua sat at the head of the table, his gaze sweeping over the serious-faced officers on both sides of the long table, "The forty-five-year voyage is about to end. We are about to face the first true alien civilization in human history."

"We must prepare for the worst."

The Chief of Staff stood up and called up a set of hypothetical data models.

"Based on humanity's own development experience, we must assume that the Kari Civilization has undergone a technological explosion during these forty-five years."

"Although they were still using chemical rockets forty-five years ago, no one can guarantee whether they broke through to nuclear fusion at some point, or even discovered some physical law unknown to us."

The Chief of Staff's baton tapped heavily on the position of the second planet on the Star Map.

"Intelligence indicates that they are a highly unified collectivist civilization. Once such a civilization enters a wartime state, its mobilization capability can be terrifying."

"We must assume that the current Kari Star System is already filled with orbital defense systems, and may even possess a fleet with preliminary interstellar combat capabilities."

"We must not only face their regular army but also be wary of potential space minefields, suicide drone swarms, and even antimatter weapons."

The conference room was exceptionally quiet, with only the Chief of Staff's voice echoing. This was not groundless worry, but the caution that an expeditionary force advancing alone must possess; they had no reinforcements, and defeat would mean total annihilation.

"Tell me about the battle plan." Li Zhenhua tapped the table.

"We have named this operation 'Iron Curtain Advance'," the Minister of Operations said, pointing to the Star Map.

"Since we know nothing about the current status of the Kari Star System, a rash advance would easily lead to an ambush, so we will adopt a step-by-step, cautious tactic."

"The first phase is blinding and reconnaissance."

"After entering the asteroid belt on the outskirts of the star system, the fleet will immediately release tens of thousands of electronic warfare decoys and launch probes. We must first figure out their radar frequencies, defensive deployments, and fleet size."

"At the same time, the entire fleet will maintain radio silence, with magnetic shields fully activated and main guns loaded, ready to respond to over-the-horizon strikes from any direction at any time."

"The second phase is firepower probing and suppression."

"Once enemy armed forces are detected, regardless of whether they send communication requests, we will ignore them and immediately conduct a round of particle cannon volleys for a firepower probe."

"If their counterattack is weak, we will advance rapidly to seize strategic points; if their counterattack is fierce..." the Minister of Operations said in a deep voice, "We will deploy antimatter missiles to conduct a devastating strike against high-value enemy targets."

"We must use overwhelming firepower superiority to paralyze their command system at the very first moment of contact."

"The third phase is orbital blockade and ultimatum."

"Only when we have completely mastered space supremacy and are confident that the opponent has no counterattack capability will we send the surrender ultimatum formulated by Director Raven to the kari planet."

"Before that, any unidentified flying objects approaching within ten thousand kilometers of our fleet will be treated as hostile targets and destroyed."

This was an extremely cold and conservative plan. Unlike what Director Raven had instructed beforehand, the plan formulated by the fleet's high-ranking officers, as soldiers, had almost no diplomatic maneuvering room; it was a preemptive strategy based entirely on the assumption that "the enemy has the ability to destroy us."

"If..." an officer in charge of logistics hesitated, "If we arrive and find that they are not that strong? Or if they are truly as peace-loving and defenseless as they said in their broadcast?"

Li Zhenhua was silent for a moment. In his mind, the look in Director Raven's eyes when seeing them off surfaced; it was a kind of expectation, and also a test.

"Then we will thank the heavens, or thank the mercy of the universe, and we will proceed according to the strategy given by Director Raven," Li Zhenhua said slowly.

"But as soldiers, we cannot bet on the enemy's mercy or weakness."

"If they are weak, that is their misfortune and our good fortune."

"If they are strong, then we will use the swords in our hands to carve out a bloody path for humanity."

"Remember, this time we cannot afford to lose."

"Dismissed! Return to your posts! Level 1 combat readiness!"

"Yes!"

With the meeting over, piercing combat alarms sounded inside every warship.

"All personnel, enter combat stations!"

"Main guns loading! Shield generators preparing for overload!"

"Antimatter engine output power adjusted to combat mode!"

One hundred and one capital ships and two thousand frigates, like bristling hedgehogs, bared all their fangs in the void as they entered the Kari Star System in a dense defensive formation.

On their radar screens, that purple planet was getting closer and closer.

And on that planet, the Kari People, indulging in art and virtual worlds, had no idea that in the starry sky above their heads, a massive, heavily armed fleet was rushing straight toward them with the will to conquer.

The "alien friend" they had looked forward to for decades had finally arrived. It was just that this friend was not holding flowers, but a loaded gun.

In front of the fleet, that red star grew larger and brighter, as if silently watching this group of uninvited guests from afar.

Grey Wind, hovering in the orbit of Kali Star with her stealth field active, yawned. "Ah... finally here!"