Chapter 402: The Greatest Respect

Fifty hours later.

The last two million-strong branches of the Human Fleet arrived at the starfield battlefield, ready to launch a decisive attack against that solitary yet majestic Guardian Battleship, 50 astronomical units away.

However, at this critical juncture, an indescribable fear swept through the heart of each warship like a chill, as if they were a flock of birds sensing an imminent storm. What was once a well-ordered formation quickly dispersed, as if some unknown force was stealthily advancing.

Naturally, Humanity had once again predicted the timing of the hidden Guardian Battleships' attack. Sure enough, in less than half an hour, the former rallying ground was subjected to an unprecedented bombardment that made the stars tremble.

And it was at that moment, numerous Guardian Civilization warships, like specters, silently appeared with staggering suddenness, exactly twelve in number.

And they occupied each of the most critical corners of the battlefield, echoing each other, creating a net of heaven and earth that sealed off all escape routes for the Human Warships, pushing this already difficult battle to an irreversible dead end.

Each of these twelve warships, like cosmic warlords, exuded a suffocating pressure, their presence causing the ferocity and intensity of the battlefield to soar to unprecedented levels. A battle concerning the survival of civilization was thus set in motion.

In this starfield baptized by war, the fleets of both sides engaged in a chase of life and death with unimaginable speed and precision, weaving between the stars. Each encounter was accompanied by dazzling light and deafening roars, as if the universe itself was mourning the endless slaughter or cheering for the arrival of a new order.

But the battlefield did not become one-sided even after the appearance of twelve Guardian warships.

Despite the Guardian warships having "Time-stop" armor that made all surrounding attacks seem to freeze in time, this did not mean they could absolutely dominate the battlefield.

If these warships inadvertently entered a Low Light Speed Zone or a "Zero Speed" trap, then no matter how powerful they were, they would instantly lose their combat ability, like being mercilessly stripped of life by the battlefield, no different from true annihilation.

Thus, even though the number of Guardian Civilization warships had increased to a remarkable twelve, they were not able to easily erase the seemingly insignificant yet resilient group of five million Human Warships.

This was a contest of quantity versus quality, a collision of wisdom and courage, with each side using every trick at their disposal.

The tapestry of war unraveled with the continuous exchanges between the two sides, the battlefield area constantly being kneaded and twisted by an invisible hand, changing its appearance. And the focus of the fight continually shifted, filling the entire battlefield with uncertainties and variables.

In such a situation, the advantages of the Guardian Civilization became increasingly evident. They were like the cosmic overlords, dictating the rhythm and direction of the battlefield.

The Human Warships, on the other hand, found their operating space being ruthlessly compressed, as if pushed towards the abyss of the Dark Border by a giant invisible hand.

It seemed the Guardian Civilization was intentionally pushing Humanity to the brink of desperation, aiming to end their struggle and hope.

In the eyes of the Guardian Civilization, this war could perhaps last at most another twenty days, and the demise of the Human Fleet was already sealed.

In the career of the Guardians, this battle might not even count as a real war, but the tactical innovations and tenacity of the Human Warships left them with an indelible shock and respect.

A civilization so weak, yet able to shine such a dazzling light in the depths of despair, had fought a war that even the Guardians had to take seriously.

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Until this moment, the Guardians had always believed they were leading the war, driving the Human Warships step by step into the seemingly inescapable abyss of desperation.

However, they could never have dreamed that not only did the Human Warships' display of wisdom and courage on a tactical level leave them with a deep and unforgettable shock, but the strategic layout of Humanity would be even more unforgettable.

The "desperation" of the Human Warships was actually a carefully planned deception, "part of the plan," a clever misdirect of the Guardians' perception.

When the Guardians' twelve warships revealed themselves like behemoths on the cosmic stage, Humanity had also roughly calculated the true military strength of the Guardians in this region.

The course of the war subtly began to change, and it seemed that the situation might soon evolve into one where the enemy was exposed, and we were hidden.

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Even in the hearts of many human fighters, the strength of the Guardians seemed "weaker" than they had anticipated. Until the last moment, no one knew who would ultimately prevail on this battlefield.

In cosmic military science, a modern interstellar war is never something that can conclude in a short time. Even wars that span decades are but ripples in the long river of history.

If a Second Type Civilization were to exert all its strength in a war of civilizations, the duration could be reckoned in tens of thousands of years.

The vastness of the interstellar battlefield, and the difficulty of chasing and counter-chasing in that vast space, would cause the duration of the war to stretch indefinitely.

Twelve days later.

The plight of the human warships had plummeted further into the abyss of despair. Their losses had reached nearly 700,000 vessels. And what was even more chilling was that the rate of this loss was like a runaway wild horse, all the more difficult to contain.

In these twelve days of fierce confrontations, humanity and the Guardians had battled across the vast expanse of a thousand astronomical units, like two irreconcilable forces engaging in a fight to the death on the cosmic chessboard.

The Human Warships, under the pressure of those twelve colossal Guardians, were being compressed step by step into a specific spatial region, where their destiny would hinge.

In the Guardians' Staff Office, a stern voice echoed through the spacious command room, "Our strategic goals have been fully achieved. Their warships have been skillfully 'guided' to the predetermined array region. Now, it is time to unveil our true power.

"We request immediate activation of the small 'Space Anchor Array' designated as HIP80161."

The Space Anchor Array, akin to the interstellar minefields deployed by the Guardian Civilization. Countless large, medium, and small minefields like these were scattered throughout their defensive line, like invisible killers waiting for the arrival of the enemy.

On this lengthy defensive line, just twenty warships were clearly insufficient to hold back the foe, thus, the interstellar minefields became an indispensable defense for the Guardians.

In the heart of the Guardian Commander, a trace of emotion welled up: "They have forced us to employ the lowest-ranked 'Space Anchor' array—such tenacity and courage are enough to make them proud.

"Prepare to engage the 'Space Anchor' Array!

"This, is also

"Our greatest respect to them."

PS: HIP80161 is a real star coordinate, likely the prototype for Cheng Xin's DX3906 Constant Star.

As for the duration of interstellar wars, the author believes that in lower civilizations one might find the sentiment, "Destroying you, what does that have to do with you?"

Yet, in the stage of high-level civilizations, even with a few ranks difference in civilization levels, the battlefield would not be so one-sided. The duration of interstellar wars would also be extremely protracted.

Since both sides have nearly reached a sort of cosmic limit, strength and weakness may not dictate the course of a battlefield. Similarly, on a planet, atomic bombs, hydrogen bombs, three-phase bombs, and even cobalt bombs have different levels of power, but they are all testing the limits of a planetary civilization. Wars are not solely dictated by these weapons.

If both have reached light speed, there's no longer a question of who is faster.

As for superluminal speed, although it violates all current laws of physics, the author still considers it a possibility. Our understanding of space may still be superficial; multiple spaces, parallel spaces, multiverse... Although now they are merely mathematical tools to explain certain phenomena, no one is clear if they actually exist. If they do indeed exist, the emergence of superluminal speeds in the future is not entirely out of the question.

But in the Trisolaran Universe, up to the end of the universe, true superluminal speed had not appeared. The Small Universe is not superluminal either; it's just that the flow of time in the Small Universe is different from the large universe. This can be understood using relativistic effects. For example, if one goes to a place 100 light years away, time in the Small Universe remains unchanged, but 100 years have passed in the large universe, giving the impression that one can appear anywhere at will.

The only superluminal instance in Trisolaris involves the transmission of information, such as Sophon Communication and the Returner's universal broadcast, both of which are superluminal in terms of information.

It should be noted that our reality's inability to exceed light speed also includes the transmission of information. For instance, quantum entanglement is thought by some to have "action at a distance" that can achieve superluminal information transmission, but in fact, it cannot, and currently, no theory allows for such.

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