The stars, but they become the gray wind

"Analysis completed...confirmed that the reaction is muon cold fusion...evaluation in progress..."

"Assessment completed... The probability that the phenomenon is natural is 0.7 percent, and the probability that the phenomenon is man-made is 99.3 percent."

"Calculating the probability that this planet may harbor an intelligent species... Evaluating..."

"Assessment complete… The probability of this planet potentially harboring intelligent species is over 93%."

"Calculating the possible technological level of the advanced intelligent species on this planet...Assessment in progress..."

“No large-scale space launches were observed… No space structures or exploration satellites were observed…”

"We are gathering all observation data on this planet within 100 orbits... querying..."

"Query completed... Confirmed that within the past two orbits of this planet, a small object has crossed its Karman line... Recalculating the results..."

"Comparison is underway with all observational data from the past 100 cycles... Comparison completed... No events similar to this large-scale cold fusion phenomenon have been observed on the planet's surface in the past 100 cycles..."

"All data comparisons completed... Conclusion: This planet may harbor an intelligent species. However, its reported level of development cannot be confirmed. The energy output demonstrated by this species is significantly inconsistent with the atmospheric cold fusion phenomenon detected this time."

"The species' development level is being recalculated..."

"We are currently gathering data for comparison... We have confirmed that the large-scale stellar activity two orbital cycles ago caused severe interference in our observations of this planet..."

"Replanning is underway... Planning completed... This probe's deceleration trajectory will be altered... We will attempt to dock within the radius of the planet's Hill sphere for more accurate exploration... Remaining fuel is being calculated..."

"Fuel calculation completed... Current fuel remaining is 0.05... Fuel remaining is insufficient for active docking... Recalculating..."

"Calculations complete... Querying the gravity slingshot plan... Replanning the orbit..."

"Calculations completed... Confirmed that the gravity slingshot method is feasible... Estimated arrival time... is four planetary revolutions... Calculating the probability of successful docking..."

"Calculation completed... Probability of success is 8.438... Judgment... The probability of success of this operation is extremely low..."

"Search for other options...Search completed...Conclusion

: Unable to complete the final stage of the docking mission in the planetary synchronous orbit... The plan is being changed..."

"New plan confirmed... Calculations in progress... Calculations completed... This probe will carry out the final phase of its scientific research mission... Mission objectives confirmed... This probe will ultimately utilize the planetary atmosphere to decelerate... Will perform a forced landing on the target planet... Success probability calculated... Calculations completed... Success rate 47.23."

"The probability of success... is still too low... We are comparing it with the gravity slingshot docking method... We have confirmed that this method has a higher success rate... We have confirmed that this method will be adopted..."

"Final mission confirmed... Periodic system self-tests initiated... Self-test complete... This probe has traveled approximately 22271 light-speed cycles from its starting point. Antimatter fuel remaining at 0.05%. The magnetic confinement system is functioning normally. Multiple damage to the propulsion system has been detected. The self-repair system is operating inefficiently. The AI ​​control system has a low energy reserve of 11.4. Multiple damage to the outer shell has been detected... The interstellar communication system is functioning normally... Calculating the feasibility of interstellar message transmission using the remaining energy reserves... Calculation complete... Conclusion: feasible... Estimated message transmission will consume 5% of the remaining 11.4% energy reserves... Calculating message arrival time... Calculation complete... Estimated message arrival time: 22271 light-speed cycles."

"Operation order confirmed... Beginning orbit change... Target... The third planet in this system... Calculating the possibility of utilizing stellar heat to increase its energy reserves during approach... Calculation completed... Estimated energy reserves can be increased from 11.4% to 14.1% by utilizing the stellar heat in this system..."

"Adjusting the communication antenna angle... Communication antenna pointing angle adjustment completed... Starting message sending..."

"Message content: This probe arrived at this galaxy 22171 light-speed cycles after departing from its origin. It observed various celestial bodies within this galaxy for approximately 100 cycles... During this period, no traces of a civilization capable of space travel were observed. In cycle 22271, 100 cycles later, this probe observed a large-scale muon cold fusion reaction within this planet's atmosphere. We believe this large-scale cold fusion reaction in the atmosphere is highly likely artificial. Two cycles ago, an object was observed crossing the Kármán line on this planet. Based on this data, we infer that this planet may harbor an intelligent species."

"After observing this phenomenon, this probe is about to conduct its final orbital maneuver and exploration mission. Currently, the remaining fuel is insufficient to complete docking in the planet's synchronous orbit, and the mission's success rate is expected to be extremely low... This probe will utilize the planet's atmosphere to perform atmospheric deceleration and make a forced landing within it... To prevent adverse interference with civilizations within the planetary range, this probe will execute a self-destruct sequence after completing its final scientific exploration mission... According to calculations, the home planet at the initial departure point will receive this probe's information in at least 22171 light-speed cycles... At that time, this probe's mission will be complete and it will self-destruct..."

"Since this probe's departure... it has conducted close flyby observations of nearly ten thousand star systems along its route, and detailed exploration of thousands of these systems... Therefore, this machine concludes that the probe's objectives and mission have been largely accomplished... It will self-discover after this mission, and will attempt to transmit all close-in observation data for this planet back to its parent star."

"This probe has observed nearly ten thousand star systems along its route and has found no traces of advanced intelligent life or civilizations... Discovering clues and evidence of the possible existence of advanced intelligent life in these final stages of exploration is a truly unexpected and pleasant surprise... If this final phase of exploration can confirm the authenticity of this information and clues... it will be the greatest achievement since this probe set out..."

"If this final phase of the scientific expedition confirms the existence of advanced intelligent life and civilization on this planet... this probe will prove that the creators are not alone in the universe..."

"May the creators prosper... Call ended."

Although the AI ​​system on board this probe is not a truly strong AI with self-awareness, it does not have true self-awareness like intelligent life, nor can it truly understand the meaning of the information it sends, but the original instructions contained in the basic hardware still allow this probe to faithfully perform its tasks and mission, that is, to search for traces of the existence of higher intelligent life and civilization. Although the probe has traveled more than 22000 light-years from its original location, the smooth and sturdy shell originally made of hadronic material has become badly damaged during the long interstellar voyage of tens of thousands of light-years. During this long period of time, countless hydrogen atoms, cosmic dust, and micrometeoroids hit the outer shell of the probe at close to the speed of light. Although the high-strength hadronic material that makes up the outer shell of the probe is enough to withstand such damage, the accumulation of tens of thousands of light-years still leaves mottled traces of wear and tear on this layer of material.

After leaving the two black holes that accelerated themselves to near the speed of light and spun around each other at high speed, the probe swept through the starry sky at a speed of 0.9999c, passing through one star after another, one galaxy after another, and finally arrived at the solar system located inside the Orion Arm.

Before arriving in the solar system, in order to gradually reduce its own speed, the probe began to slow down in a rather violent way. After a long-distance spectral analysis of some of the stars, it was confirmed that there was no possibility of life in the galaxy where the star was located. The probe would then directly pass by the star at a speed close to the speed of light to reduce its speed. In this process, the consequences for the star that was hit by the probe at near the speed of light were often extremely tragic.

Most of the stars that were rubbed during the initial stage of the probe's deceleration experienced coronal mass ejections of terrifying scale. A huge amount of plasma in the reaction stage was pulled out from the interior of the star by the probe, and under the influence of gravity, a spiral ring of reacting plasma was formed around the star. Nearly half of the mass of these stars was ejected.

Under such a rather brutal and rough deceleration method, the probe continuously brushed past at least 142 massive stars and gradually reduced its own speed from 99.99 of the speed of light to only 1670 kilometers per second, which is about 100 times the third cosmic speed of the solar system. As the speed of the probe gradually decreased, the damage caused to each star by deceleration by collision became smaller and smaller. In addition, the probe deliberately chose navigation routes with dense interstellar dust and gas nebulae in its path planning, and further slowed down with the help of those gas nebulae and interstellar dust. When approaching the Oort Cloud at the edge of the solar system, the probe slowed down again, and by consuming the large amount of antimatter fuel it carried, it produced a gamma-ray jet close to the speed of light, which eventually reduced the speed of the probe to a state just slightly higher than the third cosmic speed of the solar system, and was eventually successfully captured by the gravity of the sun, entering an extremely eccentric, elliptical orbit around the sun. The aphelion of this elliptical orbit is located in the Kuiper belt, and the perihelion will be close to the orbit of Jupiter.

After being captured by the sun's gravity and docked in the solar system, the various equipment on board the probe also scanned and observed the celestial bodies in the entire solar system. Because human radio power was too small at that time, even the probe, whose closest perihelion to the earth was near Jupiter's orbit, did not detect the weak radio on the earth. In addition, humans had just entered the first industrial revolution at that time, and the waste heat generated in industrial production was too little. If humans at this time were a genuine Type I civilization, then the waste heat generated by the development and operation of civilization and daily industrial production would 100% be observed by the probe. Unfortunately, humans, who have only entered the first industrial revolution stage, have no chance of attracting the attention of this probe at all.

Until... the foursome was brought to this planet by Cabot. Although the industrial system created by the foursome was not too large in scale and had high energy recycling efficiency, it did not generate much waste heat. In addition, most of the main parts of this industrial system were located deep inside the planet. Even if these industrial systems produced huge energy outputs, detectors that were unable to scan the deep layers of the planet would still not be able to detect anything unusual on this planet.

Moreover, the solar flare and coronal mass ejection caused by Cabot caused serious interference to the probes that were observing the Earth at the time, causing the sensors and weak AI processing systems on the probes to ignore the spacecraft that Renlong was piloting that crossed the planet's Karman line.

Until this time, in order to prevent the war, the four-man team detonated at least hundreds of high-yield muon cold fusion bombs on the surface of the planet at one time. This is different from the deuterium-deuterium fusion reactor in the enclosed protective device. Even though the deuterium-deuterium fusion reactor will produce a large amount of neutron radiation during operation, the existence of the protective layer will completely cover up the reaction of these neutron radiations. However, the reaction process of the cold fusion bombs detonated in the atmosphere this time can be said to be completely unconcealed.

Since mesons are difficult to exist in the natural environment, not to mention the natural meson fusion reaction with an impossibly low probability, the sudden occurrence of such a large-scale abnormal meson fusion phenomenon on the planet naturally attracted the attention of the probe in space. At this time, it has pointed almost all of its equipment and sensors at the earth, hoping to find more traces and clues of the existence of advanced intelligent life and civilization on it.

But it is obvious that before it flies close enough to the earth, it is almost impossible for it to observe any abnormal phenomena from the earth's surface. Since the four-person team has not yet carried out a planetary super project of the size of a space elevator, nor has it carried out any larger-scale space industry construction. Even if a mass accelerator as huge as a mountain has been built on the surface of the planet, it is still impossible for a probe far away in the Kuiper belt to observe a mass accelerator that is as small as a hair relative to the entire planet.

Due to the size limitation of this probe, it does not carry equipment such as large-aperture survey mirrors. In addition, some of the advanced technologies used on this probe were not perfect when it set out. It can even be said that when this probe just set out, a considerable part of its technologies were still in the immature experimental stage. These immature technological products were installed and integrated into this probe in a rather radical way, and most of the equipment miraculously survived the interstellar voyage of more than 20,000 light-years. However, after such a long time and voyage distance, even if these devices can still operate, they have become seriously aged and their operating efficiency has been seriously reduced.

The probe had very little fuel left when it entered the solar system, and the remaining energy reserves for the probe, which could be used for various equipment operations and interstellar communications, were also becoming increasingly tight. As a result, the probe could only use its magnetic skin to absorb the extremely scarce solar energy in the outer solar system when approaching the sun.

According to calculations, this orbit change will consume most of the last fuel, and the entire probe will eventually fall directly into the atmosphere of the target planet. Although in the final stage, due to its proximity to the sun, it can absorb more solar energy and slightly increase its own energy reserves to send interstellar communication information in the final stage of the probe's life, if advanced intelligent life and civilization can be discovered on the target planet, then the mission of this probe will be truly accomplished.

On the other side, on Earth, four people who were planning to celebrate the end of the unjust war between the two sides called Charlotte and others who were still unaware of the matter and planned to have another barbecue party.

In a corner of the island, Cabot stared at the gradually changing orbits within the solar system on the holographic display in front of him and squinted his eyes.

"Interesting... Did they really choose to prioritize the original mission objectives?"

"Even if they create a probe driven by a weak artificial intelligence program that doesn't have self-awareness, are they still obsessed with this?"

"Should I say they're worthy of it? From the moment I, as one of their creators, first created them, I designed them to be a species naturally suited to space exploration and interstellar expansion. This talent might be abnormally high for other civilizations. Even the obstacle of the speed of light cannot stop their progress."

"Even though I've only been able to interfere and influence them in subtle ways over these tens of thousands of years, they're still so persistent in searching for our missing creator and the existence of other advanced alien intelligent races in the universe?"

"Interesting... As a creation and civilization, it is truly excellent. I approve of it. Soon... both of you will receive gifts commensurate with your achievements." Cabot muttered silently to himself while gazing at the starry sky.

Chapter 102: Valkyrie Shuttle and Gray Gu Ascension (6000 words)

"The vector engine is operating normally, switching to autopilot mode." Sitting in the spacious cockpit, Kalisi monitored the various data on the holographic display in front of the monitor and reported to Renlong on the ground.

"Got it. How is it? How does it feel to see the Earth from a synchronous orbit at an altitude of 36000 kilometers?" Renlong's voice came from the holographic display in front of Karis.

"It's beautiful... From this height, the earth is completely a blue and green planet." Carlisle looked out the cockpit window and saw the blue and green planet.

"It feels like a pearl in the dark universe..." Khalisi sighed.

"It is said that people who go to space for the first time have this feeling when they see the panoramic view of the earth from this angle." Renlong said in the communicator.

"By the way, how does it feel to fly the Valkyrie shuttle?"

“It feels great!”

"Whether it's its dual-mode fusion engine or its flight speed, it's simply impeccable!"

At that moment, Kaleese was sitting in the spacious cockpit of the Valkyrie space shuttle. The pure white delta-wings reflected the bright sunlight. The black insulation material on the belly added a unique technical beauty to the aircraft.

The two fusion orbital engines at the tail of the aircraft are operating at low power, spraying liquid hydrogen heated to extremely high temperatures by the reactor backwards.

"It's a pity that this is just a test flight and there is no payload in the cargo hold. Otherwise, I would definitely throw a few spacecraft into orbit as the commemorative first orbital satellite launch for this planet." said Calisi, who was sitting leisurely in the cabin.

"We can launch satellites at any time, right? We can use mass accelerators to throw thousands or even tens of thousands of tons of objects into orbit at once. Why would we need to go through the trouble of using the Valkyrie space shuttle for orbital transportation?" said Renlong in the communication.

"That's right. After all, we have means that are far more efficient than the 35-ton payload of the Valkyrie space shuttle."

"But speaking of this, Yuki actually didn't object to you testing and flying the Valkyrie for the first time?" Renlong asked jokingly over the comms.

"She didn't object, but she firmly refused to board the plane I was flying." Carlisle replied with a pout.

"Pfft! It seems like she has suffered a serious psychological trauma from the consequence of letting you fly the plane?" Renlong couldn't help laughing over the communication.

"No way! I'm a very good pilot! And this thing isn't a fighter jet, it's a transport plane. With my skills, I can guarantee it's very stable, right?"

"Who knows? I'm not surprised that you can fly a transport plane in aerobatics." In the control center on the ground, Renlong, sitting in front of the communication equipment, spread his hands helplessly.

"Why do I feel like you don't trust my driving skills?" Carlisle muttered.

"Forget it, forget it. Let's not talk about this anymore. This test has another purpose. When you return to the atmosphere later, remember to turn on the Valkyrie's atmospheric gas collection function and test its ability to obtain antihydrogen and deuterium."

"I see. However... deuterium isn't a problem, but collecting antihydrogen atoms, which are already extremely rare in Earth's atmosphere, won't be efficient enough to meet future antimatter needs, right?"

"Of course I know that... so this time I'm just testing whether this function in my headphones is working properly. When high-energy particles from the sun hit the Earth's atmosphere, the amount of positrons produced is quite rare. Even for Valkyrie, the amount of antimatter it can collect in this process is quite limited."

"If we really want to mass-produce antimatter, we'll have to build stellar-scale particle accelerators orbiting gas giants in the future. Of course, if you want a simpler and more brute-force method, you could also use fast-spinning, charged microscopic black holes to produce antimatter."

"Forget it. If we try to create something like that on Earth, it will be a disaster if something goes wrong." Although Carissa is a fan of mechanisms and equivalent supremacy, she is still very aware of the dangers of creating a miniature charged black hole on Earth.

"But speaking of which, there's still some time before we return, right?"

"That's not urgent. It doesn't matter if you return to the atmosphere in a few hours."

"In that case... I might as well go outside the cabin and take a look. I've always wanted to try an extravehicular spacewalk (EVA)."

"Come to think of it, there doesn't seem to be any spacesuits on this space shuttle?" At this point, Carlisle suddenly remembered something.

"Space suits? We don't even need that right now, do we? Even if we were exposed to the ultra-low temperature vacuum of space without any protection, we wouldn't be harmed at all. After all, we don't even need to breathe right now. The only thing we probably need to worry about is our long hair blowing around in the weightlessness."

"Yeah, I almost forgot. We're not human anymore... Then I'll trouble you to help monitor the spacecraft. I'll go to the airlock and experience space walking first!"

"Remember not to let yourself drift too far!" Renlong reminded his companion considerately.

"Got it!" Carlisle opened the door of the cockpit and walked towards the airlock on the lower deck.

…………

At the same time, in the Kuiper Belt of the outer solar system, a very large probe is slowly sailing.

"It has been confirmed that an object has crossed the target planet's Karman line again... We are reassessing..."

"Evaluation completed... The probability of the target planet harboring advanced intelligent life has increased to 100%..."

"We are currently analyzing the wake material ejected from this aircraft..."

"It has been confirmed to be hydrogen heated to extremely high temperatures... We are currently conducting further investigation into the propulsion method used by this aircraft..."

"Based on the temperature and exhaust velocity of the ejected Element VIII working fluid, this aircraft is very likely equipped with a fission or fusion reactor, using the reactor to heat the working fluid and then eject it as the aircraft's power source... Further analysis of the aircraft's size and proportions is underway..."

"Analysis completed... The spacecraft is 80.03 meters wide, 101.73 meters long, and 8 meters high. Based on the available information... the spacecraft is very likely to be an SSTO (single stage to orbit) spacecraft."

"Without more detailed data... we cannot confirm the spacecraft's detailed dry mass ratio, payload, and composition. We need to further observe and analyze the planet before making a judgment..."

"Given the technological level demonstrated by this aircraft... this system believes the level of development of intelligent species on this planet should be reassessed."

"The species on this planet is very likely a planetary civilization with a fairly advanced spaceflight capability... To avoid disrupting or damaging this civilization's development, this probe will self-destruct its main mass immediately upon entering the planet's atmosphere during its final observation phase... to ensure that the remaining antimatter fuel is sufficient to completely destroy this probe upon entering the planet's orbit..."

"This probe will continue to observe and monitor the planet and its civilization as it approaches... Over."

This scarred ancient probe continues to move towards Earth. According to calculations by its weak AI system, each communication it sends from this galaxy at the speed of light will take at least 20,000 years to reach its home galaxy. By the time these messages reach the home galaxy, it will have been shattered. And if the creators of the home star receive the message and immediately set out to find the answer they have been searching for for ten thousand years, it will take another 20,000 years. The probe, which has been 20,000 light-years away from its home, has no idea what level its creators have developed at this time, but the original instructions left by the creators in the probe are still being faithfully executed.

…………

Kalisi's feet wearing magnetic boots were attached to the pure white shell of Valkyrie. The weightlessness made Kalisi's long purple hair tremble in the vacuum. At this time, Kalisi had no protective measures on her body. She was wearing that very fashionable purple and black coat and standing in the cold vacuum, but she did not feel any discomfort at all. The body composed of nanomachines has almost perfectly adapted to the harsh environment of space. Neither the cold vacuum nor the dangerous cosmic ray radiation can cause any harm to this body as a nanomachine aggregate.

Calis raised her head and gazed at the Earth 36000 kilometers away with her bright purple eyes. The white clouds dotted the blue-green land and ocean. Calis, feeling very relaxed and happy about this, leisurely strolled on the pure white shell of Valkyrie.

On the ground, Aze looked at Anjie, Dorothy and others gathered around the table. She picked up one of the rifles on the table, pulled the bolt, and adjusted the rifle to full-automatic mode. She raised the rifle and pulled the trigger at several metal targets in the distance. With a series of gunshots, the 30-round magazine was used up in just a few seconds.

"Alright, what I just demonstrated for you was the HK416D in full-automatic mode. It fires 5.56mm rounds, and the sight on this gun is a multi-function holographic sight. Do you have any questions?"

"It's nothing. I just feel that Miss Zeminlo, the way you use it is a bit too wasteful of bullets. And as a rifle, I always feel that its bullet caliber is a bit too small? Can such a small caliber really produce enough lethality?" Dorothy, who is a spy and has been using various types of semi-automatic weapons for a long time, said.

"Miss Dorothy, do you know why it's called a fully automatic rifle?"

"It's because its firepower density and sustainability are much higher than those of semi-automatic rifles and bolt-action rifles. When necessary, all 30 rounds can be fired at once in a very short time, just like pouring water. As for why such a small caliber bullet as 5.56 is used, it is because smaller caliber bullets have higher penetration. Although large caliber bullets have long range and great penetration, they also produce large recoil, which seriously affects accuracy. In comparison, small caliber ammunition produces much less recoil, has a high initial velocity, and is highly accurate. Although the range may be slightly shorter than some large caliber ammunition, its lethality is quite counterintuitively higher than that of large caliber bullets."

"This brings us to wound ballistics and cavity effects."

"Small-caliber ammunition actually has a better stopping power than large-caliber ammunition. First, you need to understand the cavity effect. The cavity effect refers to the fact that after a bullet enters the human body, due to the change in the medium, the bullet quickly loses stability, causing a change in trajectory. Simultaneously, the bullet violently rotates, forming a huge cavity in the human body, which in turn causes damage to the body's tissues and organs."

"The cavities created by small-caliber ammunition in the human body cause irreparable damage to tissues and organs, disrupting the body's internal organs and rendering the target incapable of movement within a short period of time, or even killing them directly."

"In contrast, large-caliber ammunition mostly produces penetrating damage, and the actual killing effect is often far less than that of small-caliber ammunition."

"More importantly, small-caliber ammunition has a hidden advantage, which is its carry capacity. Compared with heavier large-caliber ammunition, a single soldier can carry far more small-caliber ammunition than large-caliber ammunition under the same load."

"OK, everyone, do you understand?"

"I see...but I still have a question. I understand why you asked Charlotte to come along...but why did you bring Mary along as well?"

"Are you sure it's safe for underage children to handle guns?" Dorothy asked doubtfully.

"You can rest assured about this, we have this..." As he said that, Aze casually pointed the gun in an empty direction and pulled the trigger, but strangely, the bullet did not hit the target, but stopped in the air just a few meters after leaving the barrel.

"Kinetic Neutralization Field... If a target within this field exceeds the user's designated safe speed, its movement will be immediately halted and brought to a standstill."

"However, this thing is not without its drawbacks. A target that has exceeded the speed limit and is forced to a standstill will experience inertia from its high-speed motion. If the target's material structure isn't strong enough, it could be drastically deformed or even destroyed by the tearing of its underlying structure. For example, if this were applied to a high-speed aircraft, the inertia generated by its being stopped would directly act upon itself, completely tearing it apart."

"Another drawback of the kinetic protective field is that it only works on objects with sufficient mass. Electromagnetic waves, including light, will pass through it unimpeded. Electrons, which are negligibly light, will also pass through it without any hindrance. If the user is attacked by a laser, a neutron, or an electron beam weapon of negligible mass, then the protective field will be effectively non-existent, and its protective effect will undoubtedly be zero."

"I see..." Dorothy said as she stroked her chin and looked at the bullet that was suspended in the air by Neike.

"Of course, I asked Mary to come over and learn the basics of firearms. I also hope that she will have some means of self-protection when necessary."