Interstellar Survival: Invasion

Chapter 214: Artificial Wall of Light

Chapter 214: Artificial Wall of Light

Under Zhang Bao'er's control, Fearless slowly advanced. Suddenly, we entered an even more obvious wall of light. Compared to the light we had noticed previously, the light in this region was thicker and clearer. The ship seemed to have gone through a pink barrier of light and reached a different space. Before us, a mystical sight of the universe appeared.

The giant concentration of dust clouds we saw in Nommo's recordings was before us. However, we weren't looking at any recordings this time. Rather, we were looking at the real thing. Within each thick cloud, some vague flashes of light could be seen. Those were energy sources.

Different from what we saw in the recordings, there were over a dozen dust clouds here. This was much higher than in the past. The massive energy harvest machines were nowhere to be seen. Rather, countless orange beams were shooting out of each cloud toward the pink wall of light.

"These dust clouds are probably the original form of unborn stars. What I don't understand is, why are there so many stars being born here?" asked Baron Sisse.

"I suggest that everyone see this. From what we can see, there aren't any obvious dangers here. We need to notify Spacetime and Skyhawk as soon as possible and have them reconvene with us," I said.

Following my order, Zhang Bao'er contacted the other two ships and had them go through the wall of light as well. A minute later, Zhang Xingxing's and Kelly's ships came through the wall of light. We had successfully reunited.

"Phew! We're lucky to get away in time. If we were a few minutes later, the enemy ships would have found us," said Domo.

But at that moment, everyone was more occupied by their shock at witnessing the sight before us.

"What is this? Why are there so many dust clouds? How can so many newborn stars appear in a single place? This is a great discovery," said Dodo in excitement as they hurriedly started recording.

"I believe these beams had replaced the machines used to harness the energy within these clouds," said Old Du.

"I think I understand. The space fort creates a massive wall of light with the energy source here, shielding the situation here from any prying. At the same time, they're utilizing the light transmission method to harvest the energy within the dust clouds," said Baron Sisse.

"But why are there so many of these dust clouds here? This is too weird," said Master Crystal in bewilderment.

"Old man, anything is possible in the universe. What's the point of asking that question?" said Zhang Bao'er.

"No, I believe these clouds were actually gathered here by that giant wall of light. The Divine Empire is powerful enough militarily that they don't need to build such a big space fortress just to hide an energy source. I believe the fortress is actually here to control the permissions of the wall of light, and the wall of light definitely has more functions than to hide the clouds," said Old Du.

"Old Du, are you saying that the wall has some sort of attractive force that can pull these clouds near it?" asked Dodo.

"I agree with Old Du. In the royal library, I once saw a theory resembling how this wall works. This wall is capable of breaking apart the space occupied by dark matter to create some sort of spatial whirlpool. The whirlpool effect would grow without limits, to the point where many giant objects would start to approach the whirlpool," said Prince Toruse, who similarly voiced his agreement.

To control the dust clouds with the wall of light, to use the wall to harness the energy, and to process and deliver the harnessed energy with transport ships. That was a level of technology high enough to awe all of us.

"I have one more question. When we found Skyhawk, it was powered by bioelectricity and nuclear power. In that case, what is the empire using the energy harnessed here for?" asked Zhang Bao'er, ever doubtful.

"Maybe the core of their artificial planets and the raw materials for their space forts and battleships were transformed from this energy somehow," said Jack.

"Transforming energy into metal and other materials? In that case, wouldn't this energy be of some structural makeup with countless possibilities?" questioned Zhang Bao'er.

"Jack makes some sense. The league scientists have long confirmed that the byproduct of supernovae contains numerous elements, including the many metallic elements. Thus, the energy harnessed from embryonic stars should probably contain many elements, including the metallic elements," said Old Du.

"Yeah. It won't be odd to see these elements in a star. What's difficult is the way to extract the elements. Surprisingly, the Divine Empire's technology has actually reached a level where they can transform star energy into different elements. This makes them an extremely difficult opponent," said Zhang Xingxing with a sigh.

"Commander Xingxing, do you still remember Nommo's recordings? Back then, they had attacked the empire's energy harness installations here. Looks like after tens of thousands of years, those machines have been upgraded into a space fort. Should we follow the senior's footsteps and destroy this fort?" I asked.

"For now, our priority is to locate the beast-breeding base and destroy it. If we can't destroy it, we need to take the information back to the league and ask for reinforcements. We do not have enough strength to destroy this space fortress," said Zhang Xingxing.

"I agree with Commander Zhang. We are lucky to be able to sneak through the Midstar Army's defensive perimeter. If we rashly attack the space fortress, the enemy can easily put an end to us. We should stick to the plan and focus on searching for the beast-breeding base," said Prince Toruse.

Prince Arude, Principal Sosse, Baron Sisse, and Master Crystal, whose words held some weight, also voiced their support for that suggestion. Thus, Zhang Xingxing ordered everyone to proceed according to our original plan and enter the dark nebula. Dodo and Dondon worked together to resume scanning, attempting to look for the system with red, yellow, and blue stars.

"I remember that Nommo had to get through the dark nebula before encountering the three-star system. Around the three stars are nine planets, and that was also where the man in black went missing," reminded Old Du.

"I know. But this place is too big. There are also too many newborn stars in the dark nebula. To look for the three stars, we need to use the light positioning method," I said.

"Deputy commander, should we start moving toward the predetermined coordinates at the edge of the dark nebula?" asked Dodo.

"Go," I answered.

The three ships started leaving the region of enormous dust clouds. All around us were stars in the process of being born. They were at the very beginning of their lives, but the Divine Empire was forcefully harnessing their energy, inhibiting their growth.

"Retribution will come for them for violating the natural order of things," I said as I looked at the dust clouds.

"I disagree, Canyue," said Baron Sisse.

"What is your opinion, Baron? Please tell me. I am willing to listen," I said.

"I have seen previous cases of stars being devoured by black holes. Even Sagittarius A* at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy was formed through devouring other stars. Therefore, I believe that the relocation of energy is part of the natural order," said Baron Sisse.

"I disagree. The natural order will always follow the law of the conservation of energy. Everything happens for a reason. But artificial destruction such as energy harnessing does not care for natural balance. It will disrupt the natural balance of the universe," I countered.

"Are other existences not part of the universe? Sentient life forms and the celestial bodies of the universe are all made of different elements. If harnessing the energy of stars is wrong, how about the iron you harvest? Isn't that an act of damaging the planets you harvest from? If you insist on such logic, you will only confuse yourself," said Baron Sisse. I found myself unable to counter his argument.

"Enough," Kelly said. "I don't think there is right or wrong in this matter. For example, Zhang Bao'er and the green worms. The green worms are life forms as well. Why must Zhang Bao'er eat them?"

"How is this related to me? Also, I don't even eat green worms!" said Zhang Bao'er, who felt incredulous at being dragged into the argument for no apparent reason.

"We have arrived at the edge of the dark nebula," Dodo suddenly said.

"Let's stop our philosophical debate. All of you are right. What I want to know now is what we should do next?" complained Domo.

Only then did we notice that we had gone far away from the dust clouds. The ships had entered a dark place, and right ahead of us was a dark cloud of immeasurable size.

"Orion Constellation's Horsehead Nebula. We're currently at the waist of the nebula. Further below is the underlay of the nebula, and it is incomparably large. Back then when we saw the recording, Dondon and I had spent a long time calculating. We both agreed that in theory, the three-star system should be located at the horse's torso," said Dodo.

"Since that is the result of your calculations, I'll trust you. We shall enter the torso," I agreed.

With my order, we prepared to join the shields of three ships before entering. That way, we could ensure that we would remain together even after entering the nebula. Suddenly, the alarm in the ship blazed.

"Shit! A battleship's offensive system has locked onto us," Dodo exclaimed.

"What? Have you discovered any enemy ships? Start scanning immediately!" I ordered quickly.

"I have scanned behind us. No enemy ship has been discovered yet," replied Lin Feixue from Skyhawk.

"No discovery here either," Zhang Bao'er replied.

All around us, only darkness could be seen. Both our probes and our naked eyes were unable to detect any enemies.

"That fellow must be hiding somewhere near us while invisible. It must have followed us for quite a while," analyzed Zhang Bao'er.

"Deputy Commander, the enemy ship is preparing to attack. According to the system, their weapons will open fire in around 100 seconds," reported Dodo. The atmosphere in the ship turned nervous.

Once again, we were faced with a crisis.