Chapter 529: Planet Killer_1

Although the Third Corps launched a fierce attack, they were not positioned directly in front of those sixty-plus warships.

After several attempts at encirclement, three enemy ships still managed to escape.

Three squads were sent by the Third Corps to continue the pursuit, but the Trisolarans' material flow engines performed exceptionally, and the pursuers could only chase using curvature engines.

However, once the pursuers entered the speed of light, the three enemy ships immediately altered their course and soon lost them.

The Trisolarans aboard the three enemy ships finally took a breath of relief, unaware that a little something extra had gotten on board their ships.

Of course, this is a later development; after activating the "Leaf Insect Plan," Zhuang Yue received a report from Yue Tong.

Dealing with aliens naturally required Jiang Yu's involvement.

Jiang Yu first inquired about the situation from Yue Tong, then ordered, "Yue Tong and his team must be rescued."

Zhuang Yue nodded and issued the rescue order. Once reinforcements from The First Army Group arrived, there would be enough manpower to carry out the rescue.

Jiang Yu asked Galaxy III, "Can the electronic signal received by Yue Tong and his team be deciphered?"

After a second or two, Galaxy III replied, "This signal is very strange, resembling an intelligent signal but overly concise. With the limited material we received, we are unable to decipher it."

Jiang Yu instructed Yue Tong, "Send an intelligent decoder to the source of the signal."

He added, "Send the full version."

There are two versions of the intelligent decoder, one being the simplified version, which is essentially a numerical translation system. Although it appears to be communication between languages or texts, it is in fact a dialogue between one computer language and another.

This simplified version had previously been used to persuade the Silicon Star People to surrender.

Then there is the full version, which not only has translation capabilities but also sends some basic concepts of the human world, allowing for smoother communication with other civilizations.

Upon receiving the orders, Yue Tong and the three lifeboats began to return to the source of the signal, sending out the intelligent decoder that could be used between computers.

Immediately afterward, Jiang Yu greeted the other side, "Hello!"

Two or three minutes later, a reply came from the other side, "Hello, does this war need to continue on?"

Jiang Yu responded, taken aback, "It was you who first attacked us, sparking this war."

The other side, "It wasn't us who attacked you; it was the Mother who attacked you."

Jiang Yu asked, "Mother? Can you explain in more detail?"

The other side explained, "Heavenly Mother is the ruler of this world; we all follow her will!"

"Sorry, that seems even more confusing. Could you tell me what is the relation between the Heavenly Mother and the mother you mentioned earlier?"

The other side, "The decoder you sent did not contain an accurate description of Heavenly Mother. The closest term was 'mother,' so initially, I used 'mother' to refer to Heavenly Mother.

"However, the two meanings are different, so using your concepts, I've coined a term that represents both heaven and mother."

Jiang Yu, trying to understand, "So you mean, she is both exalted and has nurtured you all?"

"That is one way to understand it."

Jiang Yu rubbed his temples, "Can you elaborate on your relationship with Heavenly Mother?"

"Heavenly Mother rules this planet; we are all her subjects. She is omnipresent, all-powerful. We believe in her devoutly and worship her."

Jiang Yu was stunned. Were there still such superstitious civilizations in the universe?

After pondering for a moment, he asked further, "Is Heavenly Mother a specific individual, or is she a concept?"

The other side: "Both are true!"

Jiang Yu smiled, thankful that the other party wasn't trying to proselytize to him. He asked, "You just said it was Heavenly Mother who attacked us, but it seems you don't want to fight?"

"A long, long time ago, we grew tired of fighting."

Jiang Yu scratched his head, "Sorry, this is beyond my comprehension. Aren't you devoted to Heavenly Mother? How can you contradict her wishes?"

"We believe in Heavenly Mother, but at the same time we know that Heavenly Mother's consciousness has perished, and now she's left with only instinctual reactions."

Jiang Yu pondered for a moment and guessed, "Can I understand it this way? Heavenly Mother is a First Epoch Life Form, and you... are creatures born of a First Epoch Life Form?

"Now that your Heavenly Mother is dead, only you are left... that's not right, either. Can't you decide your own destiny?"

The other side didn't seem like an enemy at all, speaking as if he were having a casual chat with Jiang Yu: "Heavenly Mother indeed is a life form that existed a very, very long time ago, basically matching your description of a First Epoch Life Form.

"She has devoured and absorbed one planet after another, annihilating civilization after civilization.

"Until one day, Heavenly Mother needed a group of faithful servants and soldiers, so she created us.

"Our consciousness is connected to that of Heavenly Mother's. Heavenly Mother's commands appear within our consciousness, and those commands become our life's pursuit and standard.

"We helped Heavenly Mother destroy enemies, helped Heavenly Mother breed new Heavenly Mothers.

"Each new Heavenly Mother would be born on a planet, then nurtured by that planet's energy until the planet died, and the immature Heavenly Mother would also have grown."

"They would migrate to another planet, and feed on the new planet..."

Jiang Yu and the others were stunned, not expecting that a First Epoch Life Form could actually procreate!

The other side continued to explain: "At the zenith of her power, Heavenly Mother's strength was unparalleled. She sought to become one with the laws of the universe, but she failed. From that moment on, Heavenly Mother lost her main consciousness and started acting on instinct alone."

This revelation surprised Jiang Yu a bit: "'Become one with the laws of the universe'? Is that a metaphor?"

"No," the other side said, "Our view of the universe is completely different from yours. Heavenly Mother believed the universe to be a giant living entity.

"All life forms residing in the universe must follow the rules of the universe just as we obey Heavenly Mother's commands.

"Thus, at her most powerful, Heavenly Mother believed she could replace the universe's role to some extent."

Is this how the First Epoch Life Forms see the universe? It's like a mythological tale, but it feels like more than just a myth.

Jiang Yu didn't continue to ask. The difference between humanity's and the other party's cosmology was indeed vast, and pursuing this direction was unlikely to yield any more clues.

He changed the subject: "Can you tell me about yourselves? Your warships are lacking in long-range weapons? And do you have a web-like nervous system?"

"We have no warships!"

Jiang Yu twitched the corner of his mouth. So was the Second Group Army fighting ghosts?

"What rushes toward you, that is us."

Jiang Yu frowned, "I know it's you. I mean..."

He suddenly paused and, after two or three seconds, shifted his sitting position and asked, "Are you saying that those flying objects that surged over, they are you...?"

Jiang Yu suddenly found he didn't know how to describe it, and after another pause, he continued, "Are they your brethren?"

"Yes, we have long since ceased to want to fight, for a very, very long time."

Scholars had just speculated that the enemy's warships had intelligent web-like nervous systems capable of remotely invading military warships.

It was beyond everyone's expectations. It turns out that it wasn't their warships that had the web-like nervous system, but the warships themselves were living entities!