Chapter 100 - Chapter 1oo: The Two Civilizations Testing Each Other Out!
Chapter 1oo: The Two Civilizations Testing Each Other Out!
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
“One hundred million kilometers away from the orbit of Mars.”
“Stop!”
Within the solar system, one scout ship stopped at a distance of one hundred million kilometers from the orbit of Mars.
This distance was predetermined by Captain Moro before their departure. At one hundred million kilometers away, there was a layer of laser defense system. Considering the power of Moro’s laser defense system, this distance was the maximum range the scout ship could withstand.
The laser moved at an incredibly fast speed. If the scout ship were to be destroyed at this distance, it would send a signal: the laser defense system of the native star system surrounding the four stars was stronger than that of the Moro fleet.
The strength of a laser defense system was determined by its power, not its speed. After all, both systems emitted rays at the speed of light. The farther the distance, the weaker the power.
When talking about waging warefare in the cosmos, defense was more important than offense.
“Captain Seer, are we going to die?”
Inside the s.p.a.cecraft, a Glenarian said nervously.
“I don’t know…”
Seer shook his head. If he had known earlier, he wouldn’t have worked so hard to enter the starry sky for the sake of so-called glory.
The strong were respected when it came to star battles, while the weak had no rights to reproduce and were mocked as caretakers of the offspring of the strong.
“Send a signal to Captain Moro…”
“Yes!”
Although they would be detected by the gravity wave detector on the other side, and their location would be known, they still had to follow the proper procedures.
The scout ship remained stationary in the starry sky without making any additional movements. It seemed to be waiting for something.
Time pa.s.sed slowly, and the tension grew among the crew as they occasionally reported numbers.
Finally, after three hundred seconds of Earth time had pa.s.sed, Seer spoke up.
“Activate the energy shield…”
A transparent shield appeared outside the scout ship, but the Glenarians inside remained uneasy and even more nervous than before.
Seer walked slowly to a window and looked toward Mars. When three hundred and thirty seconds of Earth time had pa.s.sed, he gave the order, “Maximize the power of the shield!”
3
2
1
After three seconds, the expected impact did not come. Several more seconds pa.s.sed, and Seer’s tense heart finally relaxed.
“Move quickly…”
He didn’t need to say it, as the scout ship swiftly flickered and left its previous position.
“We survived again…”
The entire crew cheered.
At this distance, the laser struck at the speed of light. It would take a maximum of 333 seconds of Earth time to reach the scout ship.
Although they were on a scout ship, they couldn’t prevent laser attacks. The detection waves moved at the speed of light, so even if they detected a laser attack, it would arrive simultaneously, making the best way to prevent laser attacks to keep moving. As long as they didn’t stop within 300,000 kilometers, there was a good chance of avoiding the lasers.
But they were just a scout ship, which was usually the first to be destroyed. This time, they couldn’t even move and had to rely on their lives to deliver the message to the Moro fleet.
Fortunately, the enemy didn’t attack. It was unclear whether it was due to insufficient power or a lack of desire to attack.
••
Moon Base.
Zhao Yu looked at the stationary warship on the gravity wave detector and felt puzzled.
“Why did they stop?”
“I don’t know…”
“How far is it from our first defense line?”
“One hundred million kilometers…”
Uncle Da tried different sets of data to find any significance in the distance of one hundred million kilometers, but he couldn’t find anything.
Frowning, Zhao Yu was also puzzled. After waiting for a minute and seeing no movement from the other side, she couldn’t help but ask, “Could they be attacking us?”
“Commander, judging by the shape of the Moro fleet’s ship exchange list, this vessel should be just a scout ship with limited offensive capabilities…”
“Then, if they detonate a micro black hole at this distance, could they pose a threat to us?”
“They can’t!”
Uncle Da shook his head. “The distance is too far…”
The two of them observed for quite a while. After five minutes, the Moro scout ship finally moved.
In a blink of an eye, it moved three thousand three hundred kilometers in the same direction.
At the same time, Uncle Da’s calculations finally matched.
“Commander, I’ve discovered something…”
“Tell me!”
“The enemy scout ship remained stationary for 333 seconds. This time period coincides with the time it takes for our first defense line’s laser to reach their position…”
Zhao Yu furrowed her brow and began to contemplate the significance of this time period.
Although the Moon Base’s gravity wave detector was called a detector, it had never emitted or received any signals from s.p.a.ce. It relied solely on “ripples in s.p.a.ce-time” to detect celestial bodies.
Gravity waves, though referred to as waves, couldn’t be visually observed in any way.
The ability to detect gravitational waves from celestial bodies was the result of calculating various data such as the universal gravitational constant, the moment of inertia of celestial bodies, the speed of light, and distance.
The only variable was spatial distortion. s.p.a.ce was like a mesh, and when a finger was pressed down, it wouldn’t create a cylinder, but a cone.
Every celestial body was like a finger, leaving a trace in the vast cosmic mesh, regardless of whether it had moved or not.
That’s why the gravity wave detector could calculate the changes in celestial bodies within the entire solar system in a way that surpa.s.ses the speed of light, almost synchronously.
Of course, the closer the distance, the better the effect. If it crosses star systems, the perception of spatial distortion decreases, making it harder to observe.
It’s like poking a big net with a finger. In the central area, the distortion is greater, providing more information. At the edges, there are only slight changes that are difficult to calculate.
“333 seconds, exactly the time it takes for our laser to hit them…”
Zhao Yu had a sudden realization and said, “Could this be a test?”
“A test?!” Uncle Da was confused.
“The enemy wants to test the strength of our laser defense system…”
He quickly asked, “Uncle Da, how far can our laser defense system destroy our scout ship if it doesn’t move?”
After careful calculations, Uncle Da replied, “If the scout ship doesn’t move, it should be able to destroy it within a range of 4-58 million kilometers. Even if the energy shield is maximized, it won’t be able to withstand it.”
Two variables, the energy level of the laser and the shield level, both rely on energy technology.
Zhao Yu nodded and said seriously, “So, this action from the other side is a test based on their data…”
“Are you saying their laser defense system can destroy a motionless scout ship with a fully charged energy shield within a range of one hundred million kilometers?”
“Commander, have we exposed our weaknesses?” Although Uncle Da could instantly calculate terrifying amounts of data, it didn’t have much effect in this situation.
“No!”
Zhao Yu shook her head. “The enemy can think that our laser defense system is weak or that we don’t want to attack them. They might even think we’re luring them in…”
“Now that the enemy is strong and we are weak, we can only create ‘deceptions’ continuously to deceive them and buy time until we’re ready for battle…”
Zhao Yu’s brain was working at an unprecedented overload. He finally spoke after a while, “Increase the speed of all the ships that were meant to be ‘displayed’ to the Moro fleet to 135 Mach….”