Chapter 341: Chapter 340 Unique Time Period

“Captain, let me answer that question,” Li Zhendong raised his hand, showcasing his own research findings.

“Our institute, the other day, decrypted something from the salvaged artifacts, how should I put it… might be a black box. There are many parts that are difficult to crack, but still, a small portion of the data was decoded. Everyone, please look at the screen.”

There was a lot in this black box, a whole hodgepodge of content, including the operating status of the enemy mother ship, the entire starship’s travel route, as well as some crew diaries, detailing everything they had seen and heard along the way.

“This indeed is great stuff!” Zhang Yuan’s heart lifted.

Li Zhendong said, “First of all, in the end, this spaceship didn’t send out a wide-range distress signal. I think there wasn’t enough time, it was blown up by our nuclear bombs before they realized what was happening… so for now, we are safe.”

Upon hearing these words, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

According to the data interpretation from the Information Research Institute, the home planet of the Badit civilization was indeed over fifty light-years away from the current position of the people. Besides the Mother Star, this civilization had two colonies, both near cosmic strings, close to their Mother Star.

“The entire set of information is consistent with what the Badit people have revealed; they didn’t lie about this point.”

“It seems they are somewhat honest.”

All the trade fleets traveled along cosmic strings, surveying and recording whenever they encountered planets with intelligent life.

Of course, even if they encountered intelligent life, they generally wouldn’t wantonly destroy or interfere with its normal functioning.

“Turns out it really is a commercial civilization; it’s just that they happened to rob someone and ended up encountering humans.”

Li Zhendong theorized, “The population of the Badit civilization has a habit of hibernation; under normal circumstances, their lifespan can easily reach over five thousand years. They are not particularly smart when it comes to logic and thinking abilities, but their brains have an extremely strong memory. Such capability matches their long lifespans. Every Badit individual possesses a photographic memory.”

A lifespan of five thousand years! Everyone felt a real sense of wonder; was this a naturally developed interstellar civilization?

“During their long developmental process and consistent external exchanges, they developed the Bassard Ramjet Engine technology, which is the interstellar ramjet engine. Near cosmic strings, their spaceships’ speeds could reach 20%-30% of light speed. Theoretically speaking, exploring their surroundings within a hundred light-years wouldn’t be a problem.”

“Thus, Gliese 581 should have been explored a long time ago; of course, having explored it doesn’t mean they could completely grasp all its movements. A domain of a hundred light-years is extraordinarily large, not something they can control entirely. Conventional scouting methods can’t see that far.”

“Their main operational area is still around a few planets near their Mother Star System… They have trade relations with 1 Level 4 civilization, 4 Level 3 interstellar civilizations, and 7 Second-level Interstellar Civilizations, totaling indeed 13. Fortunately, these interstellar civilizations are in different directions from our Gliese 581…”

Hearing this good news, everyone relaxed greatly, meaning the probability of encountering enemy fleets nearby was very low.

In this way, the homeland of the new civilization, Gliese 581, was still relatively safe.

The distribution of cosmic strings, like a spider web, extends in all directions; the farther the distance of exploration, the greater the risk for the fleet.

This interstellar civilization’s population had long lives, unlike humans with inherently short lifespans, hence their rise was far more relaxed and easier. From a “racial value” perspective, they were far superior to humans, but this also led to a naturally lazy tendency.

Li Zhendong finally concluded, “Plainly speaking, even if the other side knew this information, would they really organize a fleet to travel fifty light-years to take revenge on humans? It seems unrealistic from an ideological standpoint. Moreover, this fleet was only the trade fleet of a prince; it’s quite normal to disappear into the cosmos…”

“Nevertheless, just to be safe, we must leave this place and inform the humans on Gliese 581 to take the necessary defense precautions. That’s my view,” said Li Zhendong.

There was a moment of silence in the conference room as everyone contemplated Li Zhendong’s analysis.

Then, with an impassive face, military representative Ye Junchang adjusted his glasses and spoke, “So, based on this information, I still favor reaching the target planet 187j3x2. Our Kunlun Mountain has a full range of production capabilities; there’s no need to slink back home with our tails between our legs. Given enough resources and time, repairing this damage shouldn’t be difficult.”

“In the 11 years of travel, with shift work, we could nearly have the Kunlun Mountain repaired. As for the exhausted material resources, they can be replenished at 187j3x2.”

“Adviser Ye, please hear me out, the situation isn’t as simple as you imagine,” interjected a leader from the propaganda department. “Because of this war, many people have already succumbed to panic. In the conflict, the Kunlun Mountain was too fragile, incomparable to a planet. Therefore, they are desperate to return to familiar territory, to a safe harbor, and the calls for this are very strong.”

“Gliese 581g has a complete defense system, with railguns and the entire planet’s resources, which they see as a very safe place… That’s essentially what the populace believes; they care only about tangible security and don’t think like we do.”

Because of this war, humanity had developed a skeptical attitude towards interstellar expeditions. The majority of the newer generation had grown up in an extremely peaceful environment, all very gentle and kind, and they found it difficult to suddenly accept the oppressive nature of war.

Even though the war was over and humanity had won, panic still couldn’t be contained.

Zhang Yuan was also very troubled. How to put it… It was like during the most passionate phase of a civilization, it suddenly got drenched in a bucket of cold water, completely extinguishing that fervor.

This was the real Universe, forever filled with crises, where one could never tell when they might capsize in a gutter.

Even a roadside bandit, brandishing some bizarre, unknown weapon picked up from somewhere, could cause a great disaster to the Kunlun Mountain.

All the arguments also stemmed from such unknowns, even though humanity had indeed made significant progress.

“Everyone has made valid points,” Zhang Yuan said gravely, “but there’s one issue… If we go back, we can pretty much declare the roaming plan a failure.”

“Our civilization will never be able to launch another roaming plan again, it will be extremely difficult to leave the Gliese 581 system. Even if we develop new propulsion methods, better technology, we won’t have the same ambition again.”

“Much like the Badit Civilization, we might develop with our Mother Star as the center, extending outwards slowly. There’s nothing wrong with this model, but it must be driven by interests, not by a deep inner desire to explore and curiosity. Not to mention the slow pace of development, the public’s ideology may easily become like that of Earth’s civilization.”

Almost everyone paused heavily.

Yes, even if humanity successfully returned to Gliese 581 and fully repaired Kunlun Mountain, could we really launch a second roaming initiative?

No, that would never be possible again, never again would there be 8 million people willing to go on a spaceship.

It’s doubtful there would even be 800,000.

The dream of humanity’s boundless stars and oceans would be completely extinguished.

Any great endeavor has its own unique period, and once the opportunity is missed, it can never be seized again. Much like in the early days of the reform and opening up in Great Xia Country, which created countless billionaires, but as society progressed, opportunities for overnight wealth became fewer and fewer.