Encountering the Enemy in the Dark Void

"Beep beep beep~"

Yan Xia woke up and, seeing the glaring red light all around, immediately crawled out of the sleep chamber.

"Ella, what's going on?"

Ella's voice, unchanged for hundreds of years, sounded.

"Yan Xia, we are under attack from an alien civilization."

"The enemy's weapon system is too powerful. Our alloy shell is quickly melting under their laser weapons."

Yan Xia glanced at the lower right corner of the screen, noting the time: the year 2806 AD.

He had been in hibernation for such a long time.

He quickly walked to the cockpit and saw that the white-haired Ella was standing at the control panel, skillfully piloting the spaceship.

It seemed to be… a holographic projection.

His attention was soon drawn to something on the screen.

It was a fleet—seven ships in total.

The main ship was oval-shaped, like a gigantic football floating in the starry sky. It was adorned with magnificent rose-red patterns, and numerous white tendrils seemed to hang down from the ship as if it were a living being.

Each of those tendrils was thousands of meters long, and upon closer inspection, they appeared to be made of crystal, resembling strands of optical fibers.

A series of deep blue lasers shot from those tendrils towards them. Another laser struck the Hope, causing the entire ship to shudder.

"Can we retaliate?"

In other words, they could only passively endure the attack. He approached and, as he asked the question, realized that his original plan had not included designing weapons for the Hope.

It was unclear whether Ella had developed any weapons over such a long period…

The answer was no.

Ella turned her head to look at Yan Xia. Although small and delicate, her expression resembled that of a commander or a ship girl.

"Yan Xia, our weapons are insufficient. We are not on the same level as the enemy civilization."

"The enemy is 0.7 astronomical units away. Their main ship is approaching us at a speed of 625 km/s."

"I need your orders."

The enemy was being very proactive, likely because they had not detected any offensive weapons on their ship.

As they spoke, another laser struck the ship.

The Hope shook violently, and an explosion occurred somewhere in the hull.

"Then change course, Ella, and make a full-speed escape from the enemy ships."

Yan Xia made a quick decision without hesitation.

The enemy's speed was slightly inferior to theirs.

As long as the enemy's maximum speed was only 625 km/s, they should be able to escape.

The Hope changed its course.

The pursuing ships were indeed unable to increase their speed and were left behind by the Hope.

However, they still relentlessly pursued, with countless lasers shooting from behind, resembling a torrential rain.

These lasers, carrying extremely high heat, easily melted the Hope's outer shell upon impact. The hull had been hit dozens of times, its surface pitted and riddled with holes.

"Yan Xia, the hull has been breached."

Ella's expression turned grim.

"Damn it, quickly seal the cockpit and prevent air from escaping outside."

Now, they could do nothing but passively endure the attacks.

Yan Xia anxiously watched the rear ship positions on the signal radar displayed on the screen. Fortunately, as the distance increased, it became easier to dodge the lasers.

The chase lasted for 21 days.

The distance between them had expanded to 350 million kilometers. The enemy ships had ceased their pursuit, resorting only to occasional harassment with their weapons.

"Finally shaken them off!"

Yan Xia finally breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn't had a good night's sleep in 21 days.

The Hope was severely damaged, with one-fifth of the ship completely destroyed. It was a miserable sight.

"We indeed didn't anticipate weapons at the start. After all, the starry sky is so vast; we didn't expect to actually encounter an alien civilization."

He now had heightened vigilance and planned to install some main guns on the Hope in the future.

At the very least, they needed some means of retaliation.

"From the nature of the attacks, this civilization seems to be one that excels in laser weapons."

"Oh, right…"

Yan Xia suddenly remembered that a long time ago, shortly after Earth's destruction, he had been hit by a laser beam when he went to the asteroid belt, nearly dying. Perhaps that laser had come from this civilization.

It was on the path between Earth and Proxima Centauri. Could it be the fabled Trisolarans?

"Analyze the probability of this alien civilization coming from Proxima Centauri."

This question was crucial.

However, Ella shook her head and provided an answer contrary to his speculation.

"2.38%. The enemy's ship speed is not fast, and their primary offensive method is lasers. From this, we can deduce that their civilization level is around early Type 1, not exceeding 1.2."

"A civilization of this level does not have the capability for light-year range space travel. If they were from Proxima Centauri, there would be no need for them to come here. Even if they did, they would be an elite fleet."

"Moreover, after comparing the laser direction from 769 years ago, it is confirmed that it overlapped with the direction in which the enemy ships departed."

"Analysis complete. The homeworld of this civilization is likely located within this star system, and their development has been extremely slow, with their civilization level increasing by only about 0.1 levels over 769 years."

Yan Xia observed the space outside the screen.

They were in a vacuum between stars. Could such a place really give rise to a civilization?

Previously, the discovery on Europa had confirmed that life is widely present in the universe. If there are Type 1 civilizations even in such places, how many civilizations must there be in the cosmos?

Still, he chose to trust Ella's analysis.

"Beep beep beep~"

At this moment, the alarm sounded again.

"Yan Xia, an enemy fleet has been detected in the front-right…"

Yan Xia looked and indeed saw a fleet similar in form to the ships they had encountered before, with more than ten vessels.

Before he could react, the enemy's lasers were already upon them.

Hundreds of lasers poured in, dazzling the entire screen with blinding white light.

"Continue to escape."

"The enemy cannot be ahead of us. They must have already been exploring this area, and we are still within their star system."

It seemed that this alien civilization was not willing to let them go.

"Ella, what is our current civilization level?"

Yan Xia's mind was already occupied with other thoughts.

This civilization was extremely unfriendly and carried a strong sense of aggression.

Upon discovering them, the enemy immediately launched an attack. If the lasers had been even stronger, he might have never woken up from hibernation. Since the enemy was not being polite, he would not be either.

"During the 664 years you were in hibernation, I never ceased the development of our civilization. Our current civilization level is 1.3."

"However, as a wandering civilization, we do not have a complete and large-scale civilization system. Even against lower-level civilizations, we would not hold a significant advantage."

"It is recommended to develop a fleet before carrying out any plunder, colonization, or destruction of other lower-level civilizations."

Ella seemed to sense Yan Xia's thoughts, and her virtual figure donned a suit of armor.

Years ago, when controllable nuclear fusion was mastered, they entered the Type 1 civilization category. After several more centuries of development, they had only reached 1.3 due to limitations and a lack of extensive resources to facilitate qualitative changes through quantitative growth.

Moreover, the 1.3 level was still largely theoretical.

Since their civilization level was now higher than that of the enemy, Yan Xia made his decision.

"Ella, produce a probe. First, investigate the scope of this civilization's domain, its type, and its life forms."

"Ensure we know both ourselves and the enemy."

Following the order, Ella quickly began the production of an unmanned reconnaissance ship.

The reconnaissance ship, named **Falcon** by Yan Xia, was completed half a month later. It was 10 meters long, with a shuttle-like shape, entirely black with light-absorbing layers, and equipped with 12 cameras on its head. 

Its primary capability was invisibility.

The invisibility of the **Falcon** was not achieved through optical technology, but through signal masking, ensuring that the enemy's electronic devices could not detect any signals.

Watching the unmanned reconnaissance ship venture into the depths of space, Yan Xia's expression grew solemn.

This would be his first interstellar war, a war of civilizations.

He had no choice but to proceed. Any civilization might have a compassionate side, but such compassion would only be extended to those who were fully submissive to their own civilization. The alien civilization had already discovered him and would likely continue to pursue him relentlessly. Now, it was a matter of survival—either he would live, or they would.