Wizard: Become stronger by drawing cards from the potions variety show

Chapter 819

All is ready except for the opportunity.

Time flies by while we wait, and a year has passed in the blink of an eye.

With the relentless collaboration between AI and humanity, Earth's potential has been fully unleashed.

Humanity has deployed a large number of new weapons and probes on all the planets in the star system, turning the entire star system into a solid block. It can be said that Earth has exhausted all means.

At this moment, there is still one month until the scheduled time.

But this moment marks a crucial turning point in the fate of humanity.

Today, all news media, official channels, and website headlines around the world are focusing on the movements of that interstellar warship.

At this moment, it is following its predetermined trajectory, reaching the point closest to Earth's astronomical units. Once it crosses this point, its subsequent trajectory will gradually move away from Earth, meaning that Earth is not its target.

This is undoubtedly the best outcome, and the ending that everyone has been dreaming of.

All the assumptions and precautions turned out to be false alarms, and everyone is at peace.

The other party may just be passing by, may not have noticed, or may not care at all. Humanity knows that other civilizations exist, but the world order is still preserved. They have plenty of time to slowly prepare for their first meeting; there's no need to rush.

People in every corner of the earth are watching this crucial live broadcast.

People huddled together in bars drowning their sorrows, professionals working in office buildings, families gathered together—everyone waited quietly, their eyes glued to the screen, never before had time seemed to move so slowly.

Gradually, we got closer and passed by.

The orbit of that interstellar carrier remained unchanged.

It passed the closest point and continued along its original route, already intersecting with the direction of Earth.

This means that the other party indeed had no intention of coming to Earth.

"Great!"

What a scare!

"No need for war anymore!"

"We're safe!"

Around the world, people watching this scene simultaneously jumped up in excitement.

Some people inadvertently revealed a hint of disappointment. After all, after a long period of preparation, everyone was fully prepared to fight, only to be told that it was just needless worry.

"But wouldn't all of this have been meaningless?"

"Our purpose in preparing for war was to protect ourselves. Now that we have achieved that goal, that is the greatest significance."

In the official studio, the host and Dell were watching the situation unfold together.

The two witnessed the interstellar warship maintaining its course and gradually moving away from Earth.

"It seems the war we imagined won't happen, that's great." The atmosphere of the conversation immediately became much more relaxed.

"Mr. Dell, what are your thoughts on this incident?"

Dale visibly relaxed, a look of relief on his face that anyone could see: "I must say, the pressure was immense. We were well-prepared, but the enemy was unknown. Although I'm confident we're fully prepared, of course, the best outcome would be if everything went smoothly."

“That’s absolutely right. Now let’s look at the top comments… The most upvoted one right now is ‘Thank goodness we’re all still alive.’ Yes, we should cheer that our civilization has been able to continue without any sacrifice.”

Dell nodded in agreement: "That's exactly what we've been hoping for."

The host continued watching, then suddenly raised an eyebrow, his expression turning somewhat strange: "Oh ho, the next question might be a bit pointed. Mr. Dale, if you feel uncomfortable, you don't have to answer."

Dell nodded slightly: "Please go ahead."

"The second most popular comment says: If the interstellar warship's target was not Earth, did you know from the beginning that it wouldn't come? Are you just using this opportunity to establish an authoritarian government? Because now all resources are managed by AI, and our learning and development are all under centralized control."

"Wow, that's a very pointed question. Power has always been a focus of public attention. Mr. Dale, what's your opinion?"

Dale responded with a smile: "I'm glad we can still hear this question now. It's a good thing, because if we couldn't hear it, it would mean that the worst fears have come true. If war had broken out, the outcome would have been uncertain, and everyone's life would have been in danger. The fact that none of that has happened is the best outcome."

"Regarding the concerns raised in this question, we have always acted strictly in accordance with the Constitution. In the face of a major threat, a state of emergency must be declared. In such a situation, only by going all out can we buy time for civilization. Although it may seem superfluous to talk about this now, you will understand how necessary our preparations are if another situation were to occur."

"Once the crisis is confirmed to be completely resolved, we will naturally restore order and return power to everyone. Moreover, I believe that everyone has witnessed that in the past period, social development and social atmosphere have reached an unprecedented level of goodness."

At this point, Dale suddenly frowned and stopped speaking.

The host waited with a smile, and seeing that Dale hadn't continued for a while, he interjected, "Excuse me, everyone, Mr. Dale may have suddenly thought of something important. However, I think his statement is quite complete, so next, we will..."

As he spoke, he glanced at Dell, only to find the other man with a stern expression, quickly deploying something using a communicator.

At this moment, the host, following Dell's gaze, also noticed something amiss.

He squinted at the screen: "Director, could you zoom in a bit? Mr. Dell, could you help me check... are these black dots on the screen just my imagination? I feel like there's something there."

As he spoke, he even reached out and wiped the screen, as if trying to erase the black spots.

“That’s not an illusion.” Dale’s voice deepened. “It’s a small starship left behind by the enemy. They’re coming towards us. And they don’t mean any harm.”

After that enormous spaceship passed by, several tiny black dots quietly appeared in its remaining trajectory.

As the director's permission was granted, the content on the screen expanded.

These interstellar ships, with tiny exhaust plumes trailing behind them, were clearly heading straight for Earth. Judging from their intended trajectories, they clearly intended to make contact with our planet.

Despite extensive pre-war propaganda, panic inevitably spread among the people when the moment actually arrived.

Especially in the instant everyone was relieved that the crisis had passed and they had ascended to heaven, only to discover that the enemy had left behind troops to attack them, they felt as if they had plummeted into hell. At that moment, the host tried to remain calm, but his trembling voice betrayed his inner panic: "Is it possible... that the enemy is actually in a friendly and cooperative mood? After all, these ships aren't very large; they wouldn't expect to defeat us with just a few small boats, would they?"

“I’m afraid that’s really what they’re planning,” Dale said grimly. “In our long-term observation, the type of ships they use for diplomacy is not like that—this is a standard combat destroyer.”

“We have already sent out our intention to communicate. As long as they respond, we are ready to move towards cooperation at any time. Perhaps this will actually become an opportunity.”

"Of course, it all depends on the other party's response."

The host forced a professional smile: "Thank you for your analysis, Mr. Dale. We hope the other side can make a decision that benefits both sides. However, if they insist on fighting, I believe we are fully prepared, aren't we?"

Dell nodded solemnly: "Yes, we have been on high alert for a long time."

Just as he finished speaking, Dell's communicator suddenly rang.

After looking down, his face turned ashen: "The other side rejected our request for cooperation and issued us an ultimatum—demanding that we all surrender within one Earth day, or they will turn Earth into a transit station."

The host was so shocked he forgot to maintain his professional demeanor: "But they are still at least a month away from us! Even the fastest light-speed spaceship couldn't arrive in a day... How is this possible?"

Instead of answering directly, Dell pointed to the star map: "Look here."

As if to prove his words, a long, narrow black passage suddenly opened up in front of the small ships.

The fleet filed in, and then the passage disappeared along with the fleet.

Without hesitation, Dell typed a string of encrypted commands on the screen, connecting the communicator to the live stream. A similar void appeared on the outer edge of the solar system, from which several alien ships sped towards the horizon.

"They have mastered wormhole technology and can already apply it to small ships."

The host asked with concern, "Have we... also mastered this technology?"

“Of course.” Dale nodded, but his tone was heavy. “However, we can only realize large wormholes in theory at present. Neither the scale nor the stability is far from meeting the requirements of actual combat.”

"But that doesn't matter. As long as we capture their ships and reverse engineer them, we can achieve a technological breakthrough."

The host looked incredulous; he simply couldn't understand how Dale could say such a thing.

The current situation is that their technology is technologically superior to ours, so why are we confident that we can defeat them? Is it because we are better prepared?
"Okay... Mr. Dale, could you tell me what contingency plans we have in place for potential dangers?"

Before the host could finish speaking, the briefly-arriving alien fleet broadcast a message to the entire Earth, with text and a shrill voice appearing directly on all communication devices: "Inferior civilization, surrender immediately. Any resistance is futile."

Along with this message, a ship fired a distorted beam of light.

The light, though seemingly slow, traversed the universe in an instant, precisely striking the interstellar weapon that was charging on Neptune.

With a dazzling explosion, the dense steel defenses that Neptune had built up over a long period of time were instantly reduced to a fine dust of fragments.

This scene sparked global panic.

"What kind of weapon is this?" The host could no longer maintain his professional demeanor and exclaimed in shock, "Mr. Dale! Their deployment on Neptune has been destroyed! This... was this also part of the plan?"

Dell remained calm: "Of course. We anticipated the possibility of a technological gap. In fact, this is already a relatively favorable scenario in our contingency plans."

Several points of light suddenly appeared at the edge of the solar system—a number of large escape ships carrying eco-capsules were captured on the spot.

Like moths caught in a spider's web, these spaceships, despite their thrusters frantically spewing flames, could no longer move forward an inch. The next second, they exploded one after another, bursting into brief bursts of fireworks in space.

It turns out that these alien ships had already enveloped and isolated the entire solar system while issuing their ultimatum.

Dale shook his head with a cold laugh: "It seems that the surrender faction can never be completely eliminated."

"It's clear now that the other side has no intention of giving us a way out. This is a war for the survival of civilization; there is no option to surrender, only survival or destruction."

"They are delusional to think they can conquer an entire civilization with just a few ships. This is their arrogance, but it is also our opportunity."

"Please rest assured, everyone. We have a comprehensive plan in place. The Earth Federation will prevail!"

"Please note that our counterattack has already begun."

Before he could finish speaking, Neptune's surface suddenly cracked open.

A deep, dark core emerged from the planet's interior, beginning to frantically devour the surrounding rocks, metals, ice crystals, and plasma, as if tearing open a greedy vortex in the universe.

A magnificent torrent of deep purple energy erupted from the dark core, shooting straight at the alien fleet like a rainbow.

The alien ship immediately deployed a honeycomb-shaped force field shield, but under the onslaught of the purple torrent, the shield and the ship were stretched into thin metal strips in an instant, eventually disintegrating into cosmic dust.

This arrogant alien vanguard fleet was annihilated in a single blow.

Witnessing this scene live, people around the world erupted in cheers, creating a sea of ​​joy.

The host was so excited that his face turned red. He ripped off his tie and punched the camera with all his might.

Dell remained calm, extending his hand and gently pressing down:
"Keep calm, everyone. As I said, we were prepared. But it's too early to be happy. Based on countless simulations, the enemy will not back down because of this setback; on the contrary, they will intensify their efforts."

As if to confirm his judgment, a larger and brighter wormhole was slowly unfolding in the dust cloud formed by the fleet wreckage.

That colossal interstellar ship, which had already sailed far away, was using the coordinates of the wreckage to perform a space jump.

At the same time, a shrill voice pierced through all communication channels: "You have made the worst choice; only destruction awaits you!"

The piercing sound waves made everyone who heard them feel uncomfortable.

Dale replied in a deep voice, "We are fully prepared. There may be civilizations in the universe that choose to surrender, but it will never be us. If you want war, then let's fight!"

Neptune was now nearly disintegrated, its dark voids becoming increasingly clear. Then, an even thicker torrent of deep purple energy shot towards the planetary behemoth like a sword.

(End of this chapter)