Chapter 88: The Exploration Team

After about two hours, aliens stopped flipping through the computer.

"We can begin communication now, there is an urgent need for haste, time waits for no one, time flies, time...sorry, please wait a moment, I need to make some adjustments."

A moment later, with an urgent tone, the alien said, "Danger!"

After uttering just one word of "danger," the alien fell silent. After a short pause, seeing a crowd of people looking at it, the alien said again, "Sorry, I need to make another adjustment."

Again, after a short pause, the alien spoke with a calm tone and pace, "Hello, now we can begin our communication. First, I must explain, originating from..."

Stuck again.

Wang Hu inquired tentatively, "Are you talking about those aliens?"

"Yes, the names you use for star systems are very different from ours, I need to make a small adjustment to explain in a way you would understand, please wait, okay."

Waiting about a minute, the alien then spoke calmly, "I have gained a preliminary understanding of Earth's civilization. According to your space exploration, the hostile aliens come from Ophiuchus, based on the Frandested Star naming system, from the Ophiuchus-55 star system, 4600 light-years away from Earth."

Nodding is the right response, whether you understand or not.

"According to Earth time, the Ophiuchus-55 star system began space exploration 11,000 years ago. When we monitored this civilization's attempts to leave their home planet, their spacecraft could reach one-fortieth thousandth of the speed of light. But very quickly, according to Earth civilization's standards for speed, they surpassed the third cosmic velocity, reaching one-thousand four hundredth (1/1400th) of the speed of light."

Wang Hu glanced at a young military officer behind him, who quickly said, "The first cosmic velocity is the orbital velocity around Earth, 7.9 kilometers per second; the second is the velocity to escape Earth's gravitational pull, 11.2 kilometers per second; the third is the speed to break free from the Sun's gravitational pull, 16.7 kilometers per second."

Wang Hu nodded, then eagerly asked the alien, "May I ask a question?"

"You may."

"What is the Ophiuchus aliens' current speed?"

"Light speed is the common speed unit for advanced civilizations in the universe. The current maximum speed of the Ophiuchus-55 star system civilization has reached thirty-one percent of light speed."

One-third the speed of light, roughly 120,000 kilometers per second.

One hundred twenty thousand kilometers per second.

Human spacecraft have yet to break 16.7 kilometers per second.

Wang Hu fell silent, everyone did. After a moment, Wang Hu asked in a low voice, "What about you? How fast can you travel?"

"Sixty-five percent of the speed of light at maximum, and the commonly used ships can achieve fifty percent of light speed."

More advanced than the Serpent People.

Smiles quickly returned to everyone's faces.

But Gao Yuan kept remembering the danger mentioned by the alien, yet his status was too low to overstep Wang Hu and ask questions.

After pondering for a while, Wang Hu asked, "So how do you intend to deal with the Ophiuchus aliens? Can you help us repel their invasion?"

The alien was silent for a moment, then spoke calmly, "I cannot repel the aliens from the Ophiuchus-55 star system. To get away from Ophiuchus..."

Feeling slightly embarrassed, Wang Hu interjected, "Would it be alright to just call them Serpent People? It would save us some trouble..."

"About five days ago in Earth time, my spacecraft was discovered by the Serpent People and they attempted to intercept me. In outer space, they pose no threat to me, but after entering Earth's atmosphere, our speeds are essentially the same. To evade the Serpent People's interception, my spacecraft has crashed, so I can only provide assistance to Earthlings and cannot directly help you to repel the invasion of the Serpent People."

A chill in the heart, followed by another long silence.

Wang Hu let out a sigh and said softly, "Aren't there more of your kind coming? May I ask, from which planet do you come, and what kind of civilization is yours?"

The aliens fell silent this time.

Wang Hu hurriedly said, "If it's not convenient to answer, forget I asked."

"Our civilization has been destroyed. Our homeworld came from the Milky Way, approximately 6300 light-years away from Earth. Around five thousand Earth years ago, our homeworld was destroyed by a supernova explosion, which Earth observed and recorded. It occurred in the Zhihe First Year in May, visible in the morning to the east, at Shoutianguan. As bright as Venus during the day, with rays extending in four directions, with a color of red and white."

Everyone nodded in agreement, except for the history professor who exclaimed loudly, "I know, I know! It's recorded in the book 'Song Huiyao'."

The aliens continued calmly, "At the time of our homeworld's destruction, we already had the capability to undertake large-scale interstellar migration. Our new home is in the Milky Way, about 1800 light-years from Earth. Earth has no record of our planetary system because by the time you had the capability to see our planetary system, it had already been destroyed a second time."

Everyone was stunned. Destroyed twice?

"Why did it get destroyed?"

"War. Civil war."

The aliens didn't elaborate further, and Gao Yuan and the others let out a sigh of regret and pity.

The key issue was, there was no one left to save them...

"Unlike the disaster caused by the first supernova explosion, during the second disaster, the main body of our civilization couldn't escape, leading to the functional extinction of our civilization. Only about ten thousand of us remain, scattered in different corners of the universe, much like your astronauts, adrift in space. But now, the Serpent People have become a common threat to us, because after occupying Earth, the Serpent People's next target would be our new home."

What could one possibly say to that?

Truly, there were no words.

Gao Yuan, mustering up some courage, interjected, "Is there a possibility that we could defeat the Serpent People?"

"Yes."

Gao Yuan immediately pressed, "How likely is it?"

The aliens fell silent, and at that moment, Gao Yuan couldn't help but say, "Is it that there's actually no chance of defeating them...?"

"To answer that question requires a precondition, which is whether you are asking about the Serpent People's Expedition Team or the Serpent People's civilization as a whole."

"The expedition team?"

The aliens spoke very calmly, "The Serpent People who have arrived on Earth left their homeworld 7500 Earth years ago traveling at twenty-two percent the speed of light. Currently, the Serpent People's expedition team's spacecraft can travel thirty-one percent the speed of light, and they have occupied three habitable planets with a population that is beyond count."

An officer, puzzled, said, "But that timing doesn't add up, does it?"

The aliens, still calm, explained, "Wormholes. The descriptions of wormholes in Earth's astrophysics are essentially correct. This expedition team set off from the Serpent People's third planet, which is 5500 light-years away from here. However, due to wormholes, they only needed about two thousand Earth years to travel from the Serpent People's third planet to Earth. As for us, there are no wormholes between our planet and Earth, hence, despite the shorter distance and faster speed, it takes us longer."

It was all too confusing—when concepts of time, distance, and space got mixed up with wormholes, Gao Yuan immediately gave up trying to calculate the relationship between the time and distance involved. He didn't have the brain for it.

At this point, Wang Hu said in a low voice, "Are you saying that what's invading us now is just an expedition team?"

"Yes, just an expedition team—two basic unit motherships, meant for exploring and discovering habitable planets. If they confirm the planet is suitable for Serpent People to live, then they take over the planet. If there's a higher civilization on that planet, then they eliminate that civilization first."

After finishing, the aliens paused for a moment before shouting, "According to our... Earth lacks the vocabulary to accurately express it, but you can call it a cosmic observation device. Based on the findings from our cosmic observation device, the main body of Serpent People's civilization has already set off from their homeworld. Based on their speed and the potential propulsion along the way, they will arrive in 320 Earth years."

Wang Hu rubbed his chin thoughtfully before speaking with a bitter tone, "They've traveled thousands of years just to take over our planet? What's so good about Earth?"

"In the universe, every planet suitable for one's own civilization to thrive on is incredibly precious. Your greatest misfortune is that, like the Serpent People, you belong to carbon-based life forms, which are highly similar."

After a moment of silence, Wang Hu turned to the aliens and asked, "What about you? Are you also carbon-based life forms? Is your current form your true body, or is it a spacesuit or some other kind of device?"

"This is a spacesuit, a personal flight apparatus, an escape pod, a communicative tool suit for interacting with lower civilizations, a protective layer, and a number of other functions combined into an... exoskeleton. Let me find an appropriate word... Got it. Using a term that you might find easier to understand, this is mecha."