Chapter 432: The Fear from the Dark Forest_1

Jiang Yu's first thought was, "Did the enemy broadcast the position of the New Continent Star System to the universe?"

Bernice answered, "The weird thing is that none of the detectors have received any kind of cosmic broadcast.

"If they used gravitational waves to broadcast, the detectors would definitely have been able to pick up the broadcast signal.

"Based on our observation of the enemy, both the Strategic Department and the Academy of Sciences believe that the enemy does not possess a more advanced method of broadcasting."

Cao Yang's brows furrowed deeply, "So, you're saying that the enemy hasn't broadcasted to the universe at all?"

The Dean of the Academy of Sciences said, "That appears to be the case for now!"

Everyone was somewhat anxious about this issue; logically, not broadcasting to the universe should be good news.

But it was totally unreasonable!

This made everyone unable to fathom the enemy's intentions, and such an enemy was the most terrifying.

"Maybe they want to get some distance before broadcasting!" Jiang Yu guessed, "They're afraid that a Dark Forest Strike would come too fast, and they wouldn't have enough time to escape, so they plan to broadcast after moving some distance away."

If the enemy hadn't mastered the technology of a lightspeed engine, rashly broadcasting to the universe would be very dangerous.

In case a Dark Forest Strike wasn't particles but two-dimensional foil, their cosmic broadcast would be utterly suicidal.

Jiang Yu's speculation made a lot of sense, but there was still one baffling behavior that couldn't be explained: why had the enemy retreated when they were in complete control of the situation?

This was even more unreasonable than not broadcasting to the universe!

Number Three also reported, "There's another strange thing—their search for survivors of the Pioneering Fleet has been very passive. After the war ended, their main forces immediately began to leave the New Continent Star System.

"Later, they deliberately destroyed the equipment they couldn't take with them and left the New Continent Star System in three separate groups.

"They must have a reason for doing this!"

"Exactly!" Jiang Yu crossed his arms, "There must be some internal logic driving these odd behaviors."

Cooper from the Solar System State, however, said, "I believe every civilization's culture is different, and so are their patterns of thinking; this internal logic might be very difficult for us to guess."

Jiang Yu paused for two or three seconds before saying, "Perhaps it's not so complicated. A universal rule among civilizations may be what drove them to leave!"

Cao Yang also came to a realization, "The Dark Forest Law!"

"Exactly!" said Jiang Yu, "We've always felt that we lost this battle, and that it would only be logical for the enemy to wipe us out completely.

"But if we put ourselves in the enemy's position, suddenly having warships appear in their territory,

"The Dark Forest Law would make both sides start fighting immediately, but after the battle ends, whether the enemy wins or loses, they know they've been exposed!

"And after all, we do possess the technology of the curvature engine, which is a highly sophisticated technology for the enemy.

"They're afraid we'd retaliate, so they want to leave quickly!"

The people on both sides of the screen broke out in a cold sweat, another confirmation of the Dark Forest Law.

Even though everyone firmly believed in this law, each confirmation still surprised them.

No matter how complex the cosmic environment, no matter how much civilizations' cultures and thoughts differ, some harsh laws are always universal!

Jiang Yu heaved a deep sigh but then suddenly smiled, "If that's really the case, we don't need to keep hiding so cautiously.

"At least before the Dark Forest Strike arrives, we are safe!"

Over half a century ago, the Solar System State sent a large number of probes to the periphery of the Solar System.

The main reason for choosing the New Continent Star System for large-scale migration was not only because there were three Earth-like planets in its habitable zone, but also because there were only two small gas giant planets in the system.

Their total volume was even less than Saturn's, rendering them virtually useless as cover.

Once the New Continent Star System was exposed, there was more than a 90% chance that the strike from the Dark Forest would be particles of light rather than two-dimensional foil.

If the enemy broadcast into space after moving away from the New Continent Star System, and the star of the New Continent Star System was destroyed, then the system would ironically become safe.

But one should not leave the future to chance, Jiang Yu asked again, "Have probes been sent to trail the enemy?"

"They have," Number Three answered: "Each group was followed by a probe. According to the intelligence sent back by the first probe, the enemy's speed had unexpectedly broken through 15% of the speed of light, and it was still accelerating.

"We speculate that though the enemy may not have mastered the technology of the lightspeed engine, they must possess an engine more advanced than nuclear ones for regular use."

Jiang Yu said, "Keep a close eye on them!"

The conversation had already lasted over two hours, and everyone was tired from standing.

Just as Jiang Yu was about to propose ending the call, Number Three reported another piece of information: "The reason for the great deviation in your course was due to an accident, or rather, a coincidence."

"A coincidence?" several people, including Jiang Yu, almost asked in unison.

"After the Pioneering Fleet set out, we received lots of key information about the New Continent Star System!" said Number Three: "The planet you are on is actually the target planet of the Pioneering Fleet."

The group was surprised, because their destination planet was supposed to be one with 90% ocean coverage and islands full of bizarre flora and fauna.

But now, the planet had nothing but white snow everywhere, and the sun was only as big as a pigeon's egg.

Could it be that in just over twenty years, some force had caused this planet to noticeably shift outward?

Then Number Three revealed the answer: "After years of observation by the probes, we discovered that all the planets in the New Continent Star System have elliptical orbits.

"And the center of these elliptical orbits is not the star of the planetary system.

"These paths are somewhat like those of comets, with one side far from the star, and the other side close to the star.

"When they are near the star, it's summer, and when they are far from the star, it's winter, except the winters are much longer than the summers.

"Roughly, there are 1.5 Earth years of summer and 3.6 Earth years of winter."

Jiang Yu and the others were astonished. Is this the universe, harboring such bizarre planetary systems!

"The reason for this planet's peculiar orbit," continued Number Three, "is due to a massive source of gravity on one side of the star system.

"This gravitational source has also caused the New Continent Star System to shift significantly in position over almost thirty years, which is why you ended up inside the planetary system despite following the calculated course."

Cao Yang asked, "Is it a black hole?"

"It's not a black hole," replied the Dean of the Science Academy: "If it were, we would have detected it in advance.

"At a distance of more than twenty light-years, optical telescopes can hardly see any details of the New Continent Star System.

"However, the Wallfacer obtained a method from the Trisolarans to observe distant galaxies based on changes in dark matter.

"And here's the strange thing: if it were a black hole, we would have seen disturbances in the dark matter.

"But that massive gravitational source does not affect the surrounding dark matter much."