14: Conflict is inevitable

The Star Walker, flagship of the Tigaden people exile fleet.

Its bridge was a stark contrast to the simplicity and elegance of the "rathia".

It was crowded and antiquated, with the air permeated by the distinct smell of ozone from overloaded circulation systems.

Countless cables, like tangled vines, extended from gaps in the ceiling and walls, connecting a mix of instruments of various models and ages.

Every person on the bridge wore a look of bone-deep exhaustion, characteristic of those who have spent a long time traveling in deep space.

The Tigaden people were an ancient arthropod race that had evolved from the dark, damp caves of their home planet.

Their appearance resembled upright mantises from Earth, covered in dark brown, metallic-sheened chitinous exoskeletons.

To adapt to their dim environment, they had long ago lost their conventional "eyes".

In their place were four long, elegant antennae extending from the top of their heads, resembling meticulously polished obsidian antennas.

The tips of the two shorter antennae contained complex compound eye structures, capable of sensing a broad spectrum of light waves from infrared to ultraviolet, as well as the polarization state of light.

This allowed them to see energy flows and spatial anomalies that conventional vision could not capture.

The other two longer antennae were covered in billions of microscopic chemical receptors, serving as their primary sensory organs—their sense of taste and smell.

They perceived emotions, judged their environment, and even conducted close-range communication by "tasting" the pheromones and energy particles dispersed in the air.

Vorlag, the fleet's supreme commander, known as "Elder", was staring blankly out the viewport with his light-sensing antennae.

It was an eternal darkness, one he had been watching for decades, and it had long since lost any novelty.

They had been fleeing for too long.

The catastrophe on their home planet, the long voyage, the depletion of resources, internal strife... all had nearly exhausted the last bit of passion in their race.

The only thing supporting them to keep moving forward was that one, faint hope—the habitable planet 10.5 light-years away.

A blue planet with a G-type star, confirmed to have liquid water and an oxygen-rich atmosphere.

That was their new "Promised Land".

"Elder! All... all systems are showing anomalies!"

A terrified scream broke the dead silence of the bridge.

Vorlag turned sharply to see that every screen on the bridge—whether online or offline, whether monitoring navigation systems or life support—had been covered in the same instant by a strange, incomprehensible script.

"Alarm! Unknown data intrusion! Cut the main network!"

"It's useless! Elder, even the air-gapped backup computer is displaying the same content!"

Panic spread across the bridge like a plague.

This had surpassed their understanding of "hacking".

This was an unfathomable intrusion that defied all laws of physics.

It was as if an invisible entity had directly carved these words onto every one of their display devices.

Immediately after, those strange characters began to automatically and fluently translate into their own language.

【To: Commander of the Tigaden Fleet. Hello. I am Talon, Commander of the Far Star Fleet of the Faleim Scientific Conglomerate. We are your neighbors, from the Faleimland System 2.5 light-years away. Our fleet discovered you while traveling to our predetermined destination. Our current distance from you is roughly equivalent to the distance between the Tigaden star and Tigaden F, the outermost planet of the Tigaden system. We are currently speaking in real-time with no delay. We have no hostility toward you. We are also explorers in this strange universe. We hope to exchange information with you in a friendly manner. We would like to know, why did you leave your home? And, is your destination also the system with the blue ocean planet? We look forward to your reply.】

The content of the message was polite, but the way it appeared brought extreme terror.

"Real-time? What kind of sorcery is this?" Vorlag's voice trembled. "Star to... instantaneous information? That's impossible! Even light takes two hours!"

"Put the entire fleet into maximum silence! Shut down all external communication equipment! Shut down all unnecessary energy output!" Vorlag issued the desperate command.

The massive exile fleet, like a herd of frightened bison, began clumsily shutting down its systems.

Engine power was reduced to the minimum, and all external antennas ceased operation.

However... it was useless. The text remained stubbornly displayed on all their screens, as if mocking their primitive and futile actions.

In the understanding of the Tigaden people, the laws of the universe were ironclad. The speed of light was an insurmountable barrier.

Any existence that violated this law was not a "civilization", but a "monster".

An unknown entity that could ignore distance, ignore physical isolation, and directly "stuff" information into your brain—how could it possibly be friendly?

This universe was a dark forest, and every civilization in the forest was a hunter, or rather... prey.

Vorlag believed this was a show of force. A morbid teasing by a predator before consuming its prey.

Fear completely overwhelmed reason.

Bridge of the rathia.

"Commander, there is no response from the other side," the communications officer reported. "Their fleet has entered a state of complete silence; it seems they are avoiding us."

Talon watched the screen as the energy signals of the massive fleet extinguished one by one, like candle flames blown out by the wind.

A trace of confusion appeared on his face, along with an imperceptible arrogance belonging to a higher civilization.

"They cannot understand our method of communication," he concluded. "Their technological level is even more backward than we estimated. To them, high-dimensional quantum communication is perhaps like incomprehensible magic—they are terrified."

"Then what do we do now, Commander?"

"Fear stems from the unknown," Talon said slowly. "Since they cannot understand intangible language, then let them see something tangible."

He believed that continuing to send messages unilaterally would only exacerbate the other side's fear. He had to use a more primitive, more intuitive way to demonstrate their existence and express goodwill.

He made a decision that, in his view, was logical and full of sincerity.

"Order the cruiser sifidia to deactivate the level-five stealth field."

"Then, using sub-light conventional propulsion, approach the front of the Tigaden fleet slowly and without any threat, keeping at the optimal observation distance for their visual and radar systems, so they can clearly see us, and see that we are only one ship."

"When a beast hears an incomprehensible sound in the dark, it feels fear."

"But when you extend an empty palm toward it in the sunlight, it will at least understand that you do not have the intention to kill it immediately."

Talon summarized confidently. He had made a very fundamental mistake. He used the cold and absolutely rational logic of his own civilization to speculate about an exile civilization that had already been pushed to the brink of despair by fear.

"Yes, Commander! Order transmitted!"

In the void tens of millions of kilometers from the Tigaden fleet, space was like a canvas that had been crumpled and then slowly smoothed out.

Light stopped its eerie bending and returned to its original trajectory.

A warship filled with elegant and deadly beauty appeared out of thin air in the dark universe.

The Far-star cruiser sifidia.

Its hull presented a perfect streamlined shape, and the silver-white Zhong-zisu composite armor and partial Gray-Goo Storm-type nano-regenerative armor looked as smooth as a mirror, reflecting the faint light of distant stars.

It did not look like a war machine, but rather like a work of art crafted by the hands of gods.

Its appearance was silent yet shocking.

The bridge of the Star Walker was in total chaos.

"What is that?! Where did it come from?!"

"Holy ancestors! Such a huge starship... it just... appeared?"

"At a distance visible directly through astronomical observation equipment! It's too close!"

"It looks like the light was distorted. Is it a space jump? Does such technology really exist?"

When the elegant and alien silhouette of the sifidia appeared clearly on their main observation screen, and even to their naked eyes looking out through the bridge windows, the last line of psychological defense for the Tigaden people completely collapsed.

That "monster", that unknown entity capable of uttering ghostly words, had manifested!

It was not a hallucination, not a data attack, but a real entity with a physical ship! It was likely a super-civilization possessing god-level technologies like "teleportation" or "full-spectrum absolute stealth"!

Elder Vorlag looked at that solitary, silver-white warship on the screen, which exuded an ominous beauty, and his insect-like light-sensing antennae began to twitch rapidly.

He could not see any goodwill. He only saw an absolute, insurmountable, and despair-inducing technological gap.

He remembered the legends of his home planet. Legend had it that a certain deep-sea predator would illuminate its beautiful, glowing tentacles before attacking, luring foolish prey closer.

This was it! The "monster" had finally lost patience after toying with them. It had revealed its true form, preparing to launch the final attack!

Escape? Where to escape? With the enemy's elusive capabilities, their clumsy fleet didn't even have the qualifications to serve as a target.

Since they were going to die either way... since this universe was going to strip away even their last hope...

"All fleet units!" Elder Vorlag used all his strength to let out the final and most resolute roar of his life.

"All combat vessels, main gun energy to maximum limit!"

"All civilian ships still capable of firing, aim your meteor-shattering cannons, mining lasers, everything you can fire, at that target!"

"For the Tigaden civilization!"

"Fire!!!"

In an instant, the once-silent exile fleet erupted, like a swarm of enraged bees.

Dozens of scorching plasma beams, hundreds of nuclear fusion missiles trailing long tails of flame, and thousands of miscellaneous, unevenly powered energy beams and solid projectiles merged into a torrent of steel, desperate and full of fury, pouring down overwhelmingly toward that solitary, beautiful silver-white warship.