The stars, but they become the gray wind

"Yes, our superluminal engine will naturally create a closed timelike curve. And because the naked singularity formed by gravity itself symbolizes infinity in many aspects, it is a "point" of infinite density, infinite spacetime curvature, infinite heat, and infinitely small volume. The closed timelike curve of the superluminal engine and the infinity represented by the gravitational singularity itself are aptly called the Timelike Infinity Sign."

"I understand. Then the registered name of this ship will be Time-Like Infinity." Lina entered the ship's name into the operation interface, and the newly built spacecraft officially had a name.

When I observed the wormhole's movements at Jupiter's Lagrange point again with telescopes on the Martian surface and in orbit, everyone was startled once again. A massive fleet of over 900 ships emerged from the stargate. Each ship trailed a plasma tail hundreds or even thousands of kilometers long. Calculations of the thermal radiation emitted by these ships indicated that the combined power of this fleet's plasma tails alone reached tens of thousands of terawatts. This frightened the newly arrived researcher on duty at the Phoenix Observatory so much that he nearly stumbled.

Kelly and Kuznetsov hurried to look for the alien prismatic cube that often appeared without warning in the Happy Valley base on Mars.

"Don't worry. Remember the civilization I told you about within 50 light years of our solar system?"

"We recently built a stargate in their galaxy. We previously borrowed one of their unmanned exploration vessels that was launched outside the star system for research for a while. Now we plan to return it to them. This fleet is responsible for transporting the unmanned exploration vessel back." Facing Kelly and Kuznetsov who were running all the way and panting, the translucent prismatic alien cube just spoke slowly.

Note 1: The equivalent of the dinosaur killer asteroid is about 10 trillion tons of TNT. 360 trillion tons of TNT = dinosaur killer asteroid x 36

Note 2: The total power output of a yellow dwarf of the mass and volume of the Sun is about 375 Yottawatts.

Chapter 202 The sudden appearance of the alien fleet

When the news of the discovery of the alien fleet at Jupiter's Lagrange point was transmitted back to Earth from Mars, it can be said that the entire Earth was shocked. A fleet whose thermal radiation power alone exceeded the total power of human civilization by tens of thousands times, added hundreds of bright morning stars to the night sky of the Earth. At this time, everyone, from governments and armies to grassroots people and scientists with relevant knowledge, suddenly felt a deep sense of powerlessness. In front of such a fleet whose output power may exceed the total power of human civilization by tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of times, no matter what they did, it would be in vain.

This is a gap in technology and civilization scale that cannot be bridged at this stage.

"Is the news confirmed?" Inside the United Nations General Assembly hall, representatives from various countries were almost all whispering in private.

"It's confirmed. It's from Mars. The source of the information is 'that person'."

"Who?"

"It's the alien cube that often appears in the Mars base and talks to Ms. Carrie Baldwin."

"NASA and other international SETI research organizations have assembled a team of linguists and sociologists to analyze the conversation between him and Carrie Baldwin."

"According to the information provided by the cube, this fleet belongs to the quasi-Type II civilization within 50 light-years of Earth that is currently constructing a Dyson cloud."

"It is said that this fleet is here to transport back an interstellar probe they once launched."

"Probes? Like the Voyagers and Pioneers?"

"The scale is incomparable, sir. Although I'm not a professional in the field of aerospace, the speed, size, and mass of an interstellar probe are definitely far greater than those of Voyager."

"Is there really nothing we can do about this?"

"We can't do anything... Sir, this is a quasi-Type II civilization's space fleet, with an energy output tens or even hundreds of thousands of times greater than that of human civilization. Even without any weapons, the plasma wakes from their ships alone could incinerate the entire surface of the Earth."

"I think the only thing we can do is pray that the two alien spacecraft currently hovering over Earth and Mars, likely a small group of individuals from a Kardashev Type III civilization, have an interest in or interest in humans. Otherwise... let alone the mountain-sized spacecraft overhead, even any of the ships in that fleet still seeking acceleration have power several times greater than the total output of human civilization at this stage. They wouldn't even need to do anything. All they need to do is aim their engines at Earth's atmosphere and run them at full power for a few minutes, and Earth would be reduced to a radioactive wasteland.

Just as representatives from various countries to the United Nations were whispering in the conference hall, the outside news media learned the truth about the huge alien fleet that suddenly appeared near the orbit of Jupiter.

An alien fleet has appeared in a wormhole structure near Jupiter! It's suspected to be the Kardashev Type II civilization mentioned by the alien presence on Mars, originating within 50 light-years of Earth.

Hundreds of new morning stars have appeared in Earth's night sky, some even approaching the brightness of the Moon. These stars have been confirmed to be the plasma wakes of alien spacecraft appearing near Jupiter.

Today, we have invited several astrophysicists from NASA and the Goddard Space Flight Center, as well as astronomy experts from the SETI research project, to explain to us the news about this alien fleet that is accelerating towards Earth.

[Hello, host. First of all, I want to say that this isn't a quasi-Type II civilization's space fleet. It's still a product of a civilization whose technological level and scale far surpass Earth's.]

We analyzed the thermal radiation emitted by this alien fleet and concluded that the total power of the plasma wake ejected by this alien fleet alone is over 20 TW.

I know you might not have a clue about this number, so let me give you an example. Last year, the total power output of the entire Earth, with its six billion inhabitants, was less than 18 TW. In other words, the thermal radiation power of the plasma plume released by this alien fleet alone exceeds that of today's human civilization by tens of thousands of times. If this fleet were in low-Earth orbit, even without weapons, simply aiming its engine nozzles at the atmosphere, within minutes, the entire Earth's ecosystem would suffer a mass extinction-level blow.

This is just the thermal radiation power we observed from this fleet. Their actual power is likely even greater. We conducted detailed observations of the smallest units and found that even the smallest ships emitted an average thermal radiation power of over 50TW.

So, what can we do?

I think the only thing we can do is pray that this fleet has no ill intentions or interest in us, just like the giant alien spaceship still floating above us. At this stage, whether it's a ship that might be from a Kardashev Type III civilization, or the alien fleet accelerating towards Earth, it makes no difference to us.

Of course, I think this is also an opportunity, an opportunity for all of us humans to re-understand the universe. In the past, we always thought that we were the only ones in the universe and regarded ourselves as the center of the universe. I think we should rethink anthropocentrism and the question of what exactly is humanity's place in the universe?

[Although according to the information from the individual claiming to be from a Kardashev Type III civilization who communicated with Ms. Kelly on Mars, civilizations capable of interstellar travel are quite rare in the Milky Way, and Earth and this Kardashev Type II civilization that has appeared before us, possibly originating from within 50 light-years, are relatively rare examples.]

However, any civilization with a sufficiently large gap in development level is like the difference between single-celled organisms and human civilization. We are 12 orders of magnitude different from a Type II civilization, which is even greater than the gap between us and microorganisms like single cells or bacteria. Just like ants cannot understand the International Space Station, given this huge gap in technological level and scale, any action by the weaker party is likely to be futile.

We have already seen examples of this. The scale of the other civilization is conservatively tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands, or even millions of times larger than ours. The gap is unimaginable.

Aleida watched the news on TV. The host she hated was finally doing something serious. The scene of the embarrassing interview she had had was still vivid in her mind.

"Mom, you're Ms. Kelly's friend, you must know some inside information."

"Oh, maybe this alien fleet is really just here to transport some valuable cultural relics?"

"Precious cultural relics?"

"Just like you see in places like museums and banks, there's always a fully armed escort team responsible for transporting valuables and extremely historical artworks. Perhaps for this alien civilization, the first probe they launched outside their own solar system is just such a relic, so is it worth sending an entire fleet to transport it safely back?"

"But I still don't understand. Even if it's a precious artifact, it wouldn't be worth sending a fully armed space fleet over here, right?"

"No, based on our current observation data, this fleet can't be called fully armed. We can only say that there are almost no weapons or equipment on their ships. Perhaps to the other civilization, this is a purely civilian transport fleet."

"A fleet of civilian transport ships powerful enough to blow away an entire planet's atmosphere?"

"That can only be blamed on Earth's current civilization. It's simply too weak, not even as strong as the enemy's civilian transport fleet."

"And, child, you're still a little unclear about the power output of a quasi-Type II civilization, right?"

"Uh... a star must have a lot of power, right?"

"For example, do you know how many times greater the power output of 1% of a star like the Sun is than the total power of the entire planet Earth today?"

"How many?"

"The energy output of 1% of a yellow dwarf star like the Sun is equivalent to 500 billion times the energy received by the entire surface of the Earth."

"so tall?!"

"Now you probably have an accurate understanding of what a quasi-Type II or Type II civilization is like, right?"

"Assuming they're truly a Type II civilization constructing a stellar astronomical project, their energy output would be at least hundreds of millions of times that of Earth, which is not surprising."

"What about that thing above us? Aside from that ship as big as a mountain, I really can't tell what their technological level is."

"I can tell at a glance that you haven't read the details in Kuznetsov's diary. The surface of that spacecraft is likely made of a new type of hadronic material we haven't discovered yet, made from single quark materials that are separated by eliminating the quark confinement effect. Furthermore, when the spacecraft was operating normally, we didn't observe any heat changes on its surface. This means that either all of its equipment is heat-resistant and has ridiculously high performance, capable of operating in extremely high-temperature environments, or this spacecraft, which may have the technological background of a Kardashev Type III civilization, doesn't need to obey the laws of thermodynamics at all."

"If it's the fleet accelerating toward Earth, we can at least observe a large amount of thermal radiation. This proves that their technology, while highly advanced, is still within our comprehension. As for the ship overhead and on Mars, whose thermal radiation barely changes from the outside... who knows if they've truly broken the laws of thermodynamics in some way."

"But...didn't those guys above us take Aunt Margo away? Does that mean they're interested in humans?"

"Who knows? Judging from what Kelly said, their view of us is more like our view of the backward and ignorant Middle Ages hundreds of years ago."

"As for Margo... apart from the period during which I received some regular messages from her on alien spacecraft, reporting her safety, I don't know what they were trying to do."

"Today's human society is far too naive and immature for interstellar civilizations. We might not even be considered babies, but merely embryos still in their developmental stages."

Aleida looked out the window at the huge spaceship that was still floating in the Earth's low-Earth orbit. In the past few months, except for taking away Margo, the spaceship has been floating in the low-Earth orbit without any movement. Spacecraft from various countries have also tried to observe the giant alien spaceship closely, but all spacecraft, whether manned or unmanned, lost control when they approached within 100 kilometers of the alien spaceship. The spaceships and spacecraft were pushed away by some strange and unknown means. All the manned spacecraft that were pushed away did not suffer any damage, and the members inside were not hurt. However, afterwards, according to the pilots of those spacecraft, whenever the spacecraft they drove approached within 100 kilometers of this spaceship, they would completely lose control. No matter how high the power of the RCS nozzle or the main engine was, they would only be thrown away in a fairly gentle way by the other party. Their own spacecraft was just like encountering the tractor beam in various science fiction movies.

"If Enrico Fermi were still alive, I think he would be very happy that the Fermi Paradox he proposed has been solved, and that it was an alien solution given to him personally."

For some reason, Aleida felt that the alien spaceship in the sky that she had been staring at seemed to have become a little smaller?

…………

"Chief! The alien spaceship above us is moving!"

"!!!"

"It's raising its orbit, and fast!"

"Where is it now?"

"It has already risen to an orbit above 2000 kilometers above LEO, and is still rising!"

"Director!" Another technician from the control center rushed into the director's office in a hurry.

"what happened again?"

"That alien spaceship that's gaining altitude has sent a message! It's a message sent in the form of an electromagnetic wave broadcast!"

"What information? Show it to me!" the director urged impatiently.

"The specific content of this broadcast message is: That place is not suitable. Come to the L1 Lagrange point of the third planet, which is more suitable for handover."

…………

Ground-based and space-based observatories on Earth and Mars first observed a slight shift in the trajectory of the fleet accelerating toward Earth. Calculated from this trajectory, its destination shifted from Earth to the Earth-Moon L1 Lagrange point. At that moment, the massive alien spacecraft, which had been floating in a 500-kilometer low-Earth orbit for months, suddenly began to increase its orbital altitude. After reaching a synchronous orbit of 36000 kilometers, it suddenly accelerated to nearly one-tenth the speed of light, hurtling toward the Earth-Moon L1 Lagrange point. It arrived there in less than a minute. Then, with a similarly instantaneous braking, the over-20-kilometer-long spacecraft, once in the gravitational equilibrium zone of the L1 Lagrange point, reduced its speed from one-tenth the speed of light to zero in a matter of seconds.

.........

"Has the handover location changed?" Moia was sipping a bottle of sulfuric acid gasoline drink in the Theia civilization fleet that was accelerating in a straight line towards the Earth on a torch route.

"It seems they're worried about our fleet. If we get too close to a planet, the high-powered flare engines might affect the planet's atmosphere. So they've changed the handover location to the third planet's L1 Lagrange point."

"It's said that the satellite of the third planet is the origin of all life on our home planet? I'd like to visit it."

"Don't worry, there will definitely be such an opportunity. The reason we brought so many unmanned spacecraft packed with scientific research equipment together this time is to confirm the connection between this satellite of the third planet and the origin of life on our home planet."

"So, can we go visit together?"

"I don't think much about it."

…………

"Based on this fleet's acceleration trajectory, they'll reach the Earth-Moon L1 Lagrange point in about six days at most. This fleet has demonstrated astonishing interplanetary transfer capabilities. Since emerging from Jupiter's L2 Lagrange point, they've maintained extremely high exhaust velocities and accelerations. Based on our observations and calculations, we've concluded that these ships consistently maintain accelerations exceeding 1g and jet velocities of 300 kilometers per second, or one thousandth the speed of light."

"At this rate, I think we should soon see them turning their engines around and slowing down towards Earth."

"So what can we do after the other party docks at the L1 Lagrange point?"

"Again, there's probably nothing we can do. That broadcast message didn't mention humans at all. Since this is a matter between two interstellar civilizations, I think it's best for humans not to act like uninvited guests."

"Given the current level and scale of human technology, we are not yet qualified to take our place on the grand stage of the Milky Way, or even the universe."

"Perhaps the only thing we can do is to quickly improve the technological level and scale of our own civilization. Otherwise, we will be left forever behind other advanced space or interstellar civilizations."

.........

Sky galaxy, star ring orbital dock

As for spaceships, Sky Star Ming does not have anything like a launching ceremony. Every day, the orbital dock produces so many spaceships that it is impossible to count them. No one has the leisure to name each spaceship one by one, or hold a launching ceremony. Most of the unmanned spaceships even have only a number. Only a small number of spaceships specially customized by the Sky Star people themselves have names, such as the newly built and launched Time-Like Infinity. Her narrow and sleek hull is much smaller than many large spaceships of the same size as Titans, but although small, it has everything inside, including fully automated production and replenishment facilities for relativistic missiles installed in the spaceship, a small ecological dome, two hangars that can berth small spaceships, a von Neumann self-replicator repair system, four super orbital cannons that are enough to wipe out an entire mountain range on a planet with a single salvo, and main weapons that can destroy the entire surface of a planet with a single shot, making the entire spaceship look small and exquisite.

For the Sky Star civilization, such a spacecraft with a length of only 2800 meters can only be regarded as a larger type of small spacecraft, and it does not even meet the minimum threshold of the medium-sized spacecraft standard.

"I almost forgot to ask you, why did you want to customize such a spaceship?"

On the bridge of the Time-Like Infinity, Aze communicates with Yuki, who is still on Earth in the parallel universe on the other side of the "gate".

"Have you noticed a problem with ships like the Fantasy Light and the Salem Slipper IV?"

"what is the problem?"

"Those are the so-called Titan-class ships like the Ultima and Salem. While they're highly functional and have excellent performance in all areas, using them for certain tasks often feels like overkill."

"Have it?"

"Of course, ultimately, this is because, in the Sky Star Civilization's position, fleets are of little use beyond scientific exploration. With just a spacecraft providing accurate coordinates, superluminal long-range strikes can reach any corner of the Milky Way and surrounding galaxies at any time."

"In this environment, fleets and spacecraft are essentially large, armed reconnaissance aircraft that provide positioning and fire guidance. However, in extreme cases, most of the spacecraft of the Sky Star civilization possess the ability to completely destroy planets or stars."

"But the key point is that most of the time you're flying a spaceship you're exploring and satisfying your curiosity, not blowing up stars. However, that's what the fully automated von Neumann self-replicator units responsible for stellar engineering are responsible for."

"So using a ship of the level of the Fantasy Light to solve some problems is really like using an anti-aircraft gun to kill a mosquito."

"So we need a small but fully equipped small- to medium-sized spacecraft. That's why I customized a spacecraft like the Time Infinity."

"It's not like every time you go out you have to use relativistic missiles and planet- or star-destroying doomsday weapons, although it's safer in many ways."

"The configurations on the Titans, the Ultima and Salem, are designed to handle challenging situations. Most of the time, a small ship like the Infinity is sufficient. Furthermore, any Skystar ship has the ability to directly provide coordinate positioning and guidance for the superluminal, long-range strike platforms of the stars behind it. Therefore, the ship's own defensive firepower doesn't need to be too strong."

"What's more, many of the Sky Star people's own spaceships have extremely distinct personal characteristics. For example, the Salem is a pure gunboat, while the Fantasy Light is an extremely specialized missile arsenal ship."

"Of course, a small ship doesn't mean it's weak. Otherwise, why do you think I would forcibly integrate and cram the function of launching naked singularity bombs into the small-caliber main gun of this ship?"

"It's a secret self-defense weapon prepared to deal with certain extreme situations."

"Speaking of secret weapons, doesn't the laser-powered gravitational wave weapon on that Night Fighter in our hangar fit the definition of such a thing?"

"Well... that thing is a bit troublesome. God knows how the Zerri people shrunk something that can instantly transform a star into a supernova into the size of a pistol. While we can replicate it, the volume of the thing we make will be much larger than the original."

"It's no problem to shipboard weapons for a larger ship like the Infinity, but forget about individual pistol-sized weapons like the original. We can't handle that yet."

"Anyway, I did consider adding a laser-powered gravitational wave weapon launcher to the Time-Infinity's main gun. However, adding the ability to launch entangled naked singularity bombs to the main gun has already reduced the number of relativistic missile launchers to only half of the original number. If the main gun is also integrated with a laser-powered gravitational wave weapon launcher, there will be no room left on the ship for other spacecraft or relativistic missiles."

"Also, the operating environment of this spacecraft...is mainly used to deal with some potentially hostile low-threat entities."

"A low-threat hostile presence?"

"I don't think I need to explain this, right? While I personally don't want to run into those blind people, and I'm willing to believe that all civilizations or intelligent creatures that have reached a high level of development in the universe are intelligent, with the infinite base of the multiverse, there are bound to be some special oddities..."

"I see... So, this thing is used to bully weaklings?"

"What do you mean by bullying? If the other party has no ill will or hostility towards us, then this thing is naturally useless. I believe there are still more intelligent people in the universe."