With the support of a ninth-level civilization, do you want me to believe in electronic gods?

Chapter 473: The Swarm and the Queen!
Violet is in the 85th year of the calendar.

Ten years go by in a blink of an eye.

Under my orders, the expeditionary fleet did not stop its voyage.

It searched hundreds of surrounding star systems but found no trace of life.

That unknown creature seemed to be the only one in this starry sky.

When the news came, the royal family and the research institute had mixed feelings - they were happy because there was only one such powerful creature and the Xinalo civilization would not suffer any disaster as a result; but they were worried, of course, about the higher-level energy system. Without a living organism to serve as a research sample, this high-end technology might not be able to achieve a breakthrough in the short term.

I tried to pray to the Star God, but...

Since the last time we asked for information about the Light Stone Array, the Star God has stopped responding to our prayers.

In the red starry sky, the starlight is dim, and even the star clusters produced when the star gods are active no longer appear.

perhaps……

The Star God fell into a deep sleep again.

This is not surprising.

Such situations were not uncommon during the terms of office of successive queens. Some unlucky ones' terms even coincided exactly with the Star God's dormant period.

Yes, that's not surprising!
Star God is above.

……

Violet is in the 90th year of the calendar.

Damn!

The expedition fleet was attacked!
According to the report sent back by the fleet, when entering an unknown star system, twelve giant life forms hidden inside a gas giant planet simultaneously attacked the expedition fleet! !
This attack was obviously premeditated. Those giant creatures that looked like insects must have been quite intelligent - they coordinated with each other to attack the expedition fleet. Compared with fighting alone, the opponent's offensive was obviously much more fierce.

No, it should be hunting.

They destroyed starships and devoured them one by one as food.

Fortunately.

After paying a heavy price, the fleet successfully eliminated the twelve bugs.

only……

The fleet was severely damaged.

31 warships crashed and 132 warships suffered varying degrees of failure.

In order to prepare for the next exploration, the fleet needed to rest, so under the guidance of the research institute, the fleet headed towards the star system that had been explored before - there were the mineral resources that the fleet needed.

Violet is in the 92th year of the calendar.

The expedition fleet successfully arrived at the target star system and began to repair its own injuries. During this period, the institute and the expedition fleet maintained contact and conducted in-depth research on the corpses of the insects.

……

Violet is in the 93th year of the calendar.

The expeditionary fleet was attacked again.

This time, there were 53 bugs.

The fleet suffered heavy losses - a total of 47 warships were destroyed.

These two wars caused uneasy voices in the royal family and the research institute, and many people wanted to withdraw the expedition fleet. After all, we don’t know how many such bugs there are in that river system.

After thinking for a long time, I agreed to the proposal and issued a return order to the expedition fleet.

After abandoning some heavily damaged warships, the expedition fleet set sail again, but this time the destination was the home planet of Xinalo.

During the return journey, a very fatal question was laid bare on the table - how did those bugs accurately find the star system where the expedition fleet was hiding in the vast starry sky and launch an attack on the fleet?
The research institute suspected that the problem was with Guangshi Broadcasting.

You're right, those bugs did have a certain reaction to the light stone broadcast, which was shown during the first contact, but no one paid attention to it at the time.

When I learned of this conclusion, a trace of uneasiness flashed through my mind.

The light stone broadcasting array is not only used by the expedition fleet.

In the Xinaluo home planet area, there is a light stone broadcasting array with enough power to cover the entire universe!

If it is really as the institute said, then our home planet is...

Has it been completely exposed to the eyes of those insects?
In panic, I ordered the blocking of all technologies related to Light Stone Broadcasting. No one except the next Queen is qualified to unlock this technology.

As for the expeditionary fleet...

The research institute required the expeditionary fleet to shut down the light stone broadcast and maintain silence, and also ordered the cessation of the super-large light stone broadcast array that had been in operation for thirty years.

This was the first time in decades that the institute had lost contact with the fleet—the tachyon communication equipment equipped by the expeditionary fleet was an old model and was not yet capable of cross-galactic communication.

Unlike the Guangyao crisis of more than a hundred years ago, this time, there was peace and prosperity outside the imperial city, but people in the imperial palace were in panic.

The Star God has not awakened yet, and my prayers have not been answered.

This is normal.

The Star God's dormancy period usually lasts for hundreds of years, and the longest one is said to be thousands of years.

Yes, this is normal!
Star God is above.

……

Violet is in the 96th year of the calendar.

Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!!
Those damn bugs, they found the expedition fleet again!
Even though the fleet has been sailing at high speed, even though the fleet has turned off the light stone broadcast! !

How on earth do they do it!!

No one can give an answer.

This time, in order to get rid of those bugs, the fleet lost more than half of its men.

In order to send this message back, the fleet briefly activated the Lightstone Broadcast. I wonder if this will have any bad consequences...

Anyway...

Just leave it to fate.

……

Violet calendar year 97. The fleet was attacked again.

Those bugs became more and more arrogant. They had no intention of ambush and directly caught up with the fleet by sailing at warp speed and launched a frenzied attack on the fleet.

The battle report showed that after half a month of fighting, the fleet achieved final victory with great difficulty.

But the price paid was that almost all warships suffered varying degrees of damage.

Even most of the fleet has lost the ability to navigate in warp mode!
This is fatal to a fleet.

In desperation, the fleet could only rely on conventional navigation capabilities to sail towards the nearest star system - as long as they could enter the star system, the remaining fleet might still have a chance of survival.

For a time, people were in disarray.

Not only the morale within the fleet, but also the morale of the royal family and the research institute was shaken to a considerable extent.

Everyone knew that under such circumstances, if even one more bug came, the expedition fleet might have to pay a bloody price.

……

In the 100th year of the Violet calendar, the expedition fleet has not sent back any news.

I propose to significantly increase the production targets for battleships. Regardless of whether the previous speculation is correct or not, we have to prepare for a possible war.

The royal family did not object to my proposal.

The military factory established on the outskirts of the Xinaluo star system began to fully produce warships and various weapons and equipment.

In the 108th year of the Violet calendar, no information was received from the expeditionary fleet.

The number of Xinalo's fleet has increased by 30% compared to before. This abnormal phenomenon has attracted the attention of many people.

The huge increase in the number of weapons and fleets was bound to lead to such a situation, and there was no way to hide it.

In the 126th year of the Violet calendar, no information has been received from the expeditionary fleet.

The number of fleets has increased again, reaching more than double the normal number.

The surge in the number of fleets even caused a certain degree of social unrest. It was said that there were rumors outside the imperial city that the expedition fleet had discovered an alien civilization, and the increase in the number of fleets was to prepare for the upcoming war.

For the sake of civilizational stability, I explained myself as the Queen.

——The expedition fleet has found strong evidence of the existence of life, but the current expedition fleet is insufficient in size and the search progress is too slow. The royal family is preparing to increase investment in the expedition plan. As for the claims of discovering alien civilizations and responding to wars, they are pure rumors.

That's what I said.

Fortunately, thanks to the prestige I had established earlier, most Xinalo people believed what I said, and stability returned to the civilization.

even……

As the expedition plan began to show results, the civilization once again appeared to be in a state of rapid social development, having just emerged from recession.

It's a bit ironic to say.

Since I became the Queen, the progress of Xinalo civilization has been supported by one lie after another.

I really don’t know how the history books will comment on me, an unprecedented empress. I don’t think it will be good...

Hey.

Violet is in the 142th year of the calendar.

Bad news, still no response from the fleet.

The good news is that even after 45 years, no signs of those bugs have appeared near Xinalo's home planet.

Perhaps, this crisis will just pass.

Although the Star God still showed no signs of awakening, I still prayed from the bottom of my heart.

Star God is above.

……

Violet is in the 170th year of the calendar.

It has been 73 years since the expedition fleet lost contact. Everyone, including me, believed that the expedition fleet had been killed by insects and had completely lost hope of survival.

But at this moment, the light stone communication array, which had been maintaining a one-way listening state, suddenly fluctuated!
The expedition fleet has sent a message!!

Since Violet 97, the expedition fleet has not been attacked by insects again.

Relying on conventional propulsion, the fleet successfully reached a star system 0.3 light years away at 15 times the speed of light.

Relying on various resources within the star system, the fleet underwent comprehensive repairs. Although the fleet size is only half, its combat effectiveness has been fully restored!

After sending this Lightstone communication, the fleet has returned to silence and entered warp mode, heading at full speed towards the coordinates of the warp channel.

It is expected that…

Three years later, the expedition fleet will be able to return to the home planet of Xinalo with the remains of those insects!

This is really great news!

The imperial palace and the research institute, which had been suppressed for decades, received an unprecedented release today - the bugs no longer attacked the expedition fleet, and perhaps, all the bugs in that starry sky had been eliminated!

This crisis is completely over!!
……

Violet is in the 171th year of the calendar.

We were happy too early, the crisis is not over.

Only one year later, the expeditionary fleet suffered an unprecedented devastating blow.

When the message came, there was only one flagship and three frigates left in the fleet.

And the other party...

Hundreds of thousands of bugs and a giant bug the size of a planet.

Yes.

In the images sent back by the expedition fleet, the flagship was surrounded by countless insects, while the giant insect, which was as big as a planet, was quietly curled up at the back of the swarm.

The expeditionary fleet was completely wiped out less than fifty light years away from the warp channel.

(End of this chapter)