Making this choice was, in truth, an act of helplessness. Xiao Yu knew very well that basing such a decision on nothing more than a conjecture was reckless. But he had no choice.
Yes, no choice. If he did not destroy it, was he supposed to heed its words and follow it back to the Guardian Alliance? At that point, he feared he would not even be allowed the mercy of death. Since it was fundamentally impossible for Xiao Yu to follow it back, then destroying it became the only option.
No matter what, destroying it at least offered a sliver of hope. Perhaps his speculation was correct, maybe the Guardian Civilization’s fleet truly had been delayed for some reason and could not come for the time being, and this Droplet probe was only here to stall?
Xiao Yu understood this point clearly, but he could not say it aloud. Perhaps Luka Two and the other outstanding psychosocial scientists had already guessed it as well, but they dared not voice it. Because such words would only harm the unity of the fleet.
The reason was simple. As the saying goes, ‘better to live in suffering than die outright.’ If they surrendered to the Guardian Alliance, Xiao Yu himself would surely suffer a fate worse than death, but the intelligent beings under his command might not necessarily die. Yet if they destroyed the Droplet probe and his speculation proved wrong, then every intelligent being under his command would die together with him. That meant Xiao Yu was gambling with not only his own life but also the lives of all the beings under him. For them, this was naturally unfair. Thus, such a thing could not be said, it could only be done.
“Honored envoy, we have reached a decision.” Xiao Yu said.
His reply seemed to catch the Guardian Civilization off guard. After a pause, an answer finally came, “Oh? Tell me, what decision have you made? I hope your answer is a rational one.”
“Our answer is simple…” Xiao Yu said slowly. Mid-sentence, however, he suddenly issued a covert order, “Attack!”
The Nation-Class ship Russia, at the forefront, immediately unleashed the full arsenal of its ship-mounted negative matter cannons. According to Xiao Yu’s calculations, the negative matter cannon was the most suitable weapon. The Droplet probe’s total mass could not exceed two hundred tons, and factoring in the energy reserves within it, Xiao Yu was certain that with the release of just one thousand tons of negative matter, he could completely annihilate it.
For a Nation-Class ship’s negative matter cannon, one thousand tons was a mere trifle. Thus, in the instant the attack began, the Droplet vanished.Prior to the assault, Xiao Yu had already placed the Droplet under rigorous monitoring. After its disappearance, he could no longer detect any trace of it within his monitoring range. Xiao Yu knew then that he had succeeded. The torrent of negative matter tachyons and the positive matter composing the Droplet probe had mutually annihilated, both reduced to nothingness, erased from the visible universe.
Back in the Tianyuan IV system, a single Droplet probe had nearly wiped out Xiao Yu’s entire fleet. Yet now, before the present Xiao Yu, it could not even withstand a single second of concentrated fire from one ship.
Such was the tremendous increase in combat power brought by technological advancement. In the end, the Droplet was nothing more than a chicken-rib design, though technologically sophisticated, it was essentially a device leased to civilizations under the Guardian Alliance to earn Alliance Contribution Points. It sufficed as a probe, but was utterly inadequate for war.
“I don’t know whether my assessment is right or wrong, but since the choice has been made, there is no turning back. Perhaps the Guardian Civilization’s fleet is currently being held up and cannot pursue me. In that case, the right move is to flee while there’s still time.”
“This course has been exposed. We can’t continue on it. Then… change trajectory.” Xiao Yu quickly made his decision.
Under his command, two million warships, still in curvature flight, immediately altered their heading. Along a new course diverging nearly forty degrees from the old one, they sped away at thirteen times the speed of light.
“I have already destroyed the Droplet probe.” Xiao Yu said to Luka Two and the group of outstanding psychosocial scientists still waiting in the virtual conference room for further updates. “The result was no surprise. Against us now, the Droplet probe is utterly worthless. The Nation-Class ship Russia used only a fraction of its strength to eliminate it.”
“Good, good that it’s gone…” Luka Two nodded. “Now all we can do is gamble, gamble that we can escape the pursuit of the Guardian Civilization.”
Curvature flight left behind traces in space that were difficult to erase. Even Xiao Yu could find them, and it was precisely with this technique that he had once located the Molian Civilization’s one hundred thousand fleeing mineral transport ships. Xiao Yu did not believe that what he could find, the Guardian Civilization, who had already attained an initial mastery of space technology, could not. To them, such traces would likely appear as clear as footprints in the snow. That made matters difficult.
These traces needed at least two months to gradually fade. Xiao Yu’s only hope was that the being, or obstacle, that was tying down the Guardian fleet could hold them off for another two months.
But even this was not secure, because as long as his fleet remained in curvature flight, new traces would continuously be generated. Moreover, two months of travel at his current speed would only cover a little over two light years. The risk was still immense.
Exiting curvature flight and switching to conventional propulsion was even less feasible. Conventional flight left even clearer traces, and its speed was despairingly slow.
The road ahead seemed shrouded in fog, keeping Xiao Yu in constant unease.
“What should we do?” Xiao Yu muttered. “Is our only hope really for the Taihao Civilization, the one treating us as experimental subjects, to come forth and save us? Since they consider us test subjects, and even once intervened in our chosen path, they probably won’t abandon us so easily.”
“Still, this feeling of leaving my fate to be decided by others… it’s really unbearable.”
Xiao Yu longed urgently for technological advancement. If only he could reach the level of a Level 6 Civilization, even if he still could not contend with the Guardian Civilization, he would not be so utterly helpless as he was now, unable to fight back, almost unable even to flee.
Bitterness filled Xiao Yu’s heart, but he pressed on with what needed to be done. The escape had already lasted for a month, during which he had covered a distance of a little more than one light year. Back when he first left the Solar System, such a distance had required him to muster tremendous resolve and preparation to dare attempt it. But now, to him, or to the Guardian Civilization, that distance was nothing.
The situation was still confined to a tiny circle of knowledge. Only Xiao Yu, Luka Two, and a handful of the most outstanding psychosocial scientists knew. Not even Luka Three, Luka Four, or Senya were aware. On this matter, Xiao Yu concealed it well. He even continued every day alongside the other scientists in analyzing the complete Level 5 Civilization technology tree inherited from the Molian Civilization.
Watching the scientists eagerly expand their knowledge, celebrating their progress, and cheering at each breakthrough of a technical barrier, Xiao Yu felt a pang of discomfort in his heart.
“I really don’t know how much longer this situation can last, ah…” Xiao Yu sighed lightly.
“Foolish Divine Ark Civilization! Have you truly decided to persist in this obstinacy? You dared destroy a probe under the Guardian Civilization’s command, you have committed a grave mistake! Turn back at once, surrender wholeheartedly to the Guardian Alliance, and you may still have a slim chance of survival. Do not remain blind to reason!”
After more than a month of fleeing, Xiao Yu once again received a transmission. Activating the detection systems, his fleet discovered yet another Droplet probe ahead.
“What…” Xiao Yu stared wide-eyed, thoughts surging in turmoil. “Where did this thing come from again?!”
“Still clinging to me, are you? Fine then! Since I’ve already gone this far, I may as well finish the job, kill you too!” Xiao Yu hardened his heart and immediately issued the order. The Nation-Class ship Russia once again fired its mounted negative matter cannons, and after a torrent of negative matter, the Droplet probe once again vanished without a trace.
“Hopefully this thing just stumbled upon me by chance. If it was deliberately tracking me, that would be far too terrifying, that would mean my course has been completely exposed, leaving me no secrets at all. Still, the fact that it was another Droplet probe, and not a Guardian Civilization fleet… perhaps their fleet truly is tied down somewhere, unable to break free…” Xiao Yu thought silently.
The desperate flight continued. Half a month later, Xiao Yu once again encountered another Droplet probe.
“Foolish Divine Ark Civilization! You have already offended the Guardian Civilization twice! Do you truly intend to continue down this path of error?”
“I… I don’t have time to waste words with you. If I’ve already killed two, then killing a third makes no difference. You too, go and die.” Xiao Yu gritted his teeth and once again gave the order to destroy it.
[T/N: Nah the Guardian Civilization are basically stalkers lmao.]