Chapter 188 - 187: Shield?

Over the years, Li Qingsong had never stopped monitoring information coming from the Solar System.

Due to the vast distance, the information was delayed by more than a decade; the images he saw were all events that had occurred over ten years ago. Still, it was the only first-hand information Li Qingsong could obtain.

This was only possible due to the connection between his own consciousness and his Clones, a link whose principles even he didn’t understand. Any other Electroweak Civilization wouldn’t have been able to obtain this information, even with its decade-plus delay.

Through pairs of eyes hidden in the vast Deep Space of the Solar System, and with the aid of automated observation equipment, Li Qingsong watched with his own eyes as a dim star gradually brightened and expanded. By now, it resembled a Bright Nebula, appearing several times larger than the moon.

Li Qingsong grew increasingly grim.

After some telescopic observation and calculation, Li Qingsong estimated that the fleet’s overall scale was even larger than his own former migration fleet from the Solar System.

It contained at least 800 massive Space-Air Carriers. Each one was bristling with a dense array of small and medium-sized ships, along with numerous giant cylindrical vessels and countless Unmanned Warships!

Including the Unmanned Warships, the total number was at least 50 million vessels!

’Such a massive fleet...’

Li Qingsong narrowed his eyes slightly.

Based on information from the Blutuk Civilization and knowledge gained from developing his own AI over the years, Li Qingsong knew the limiting factor on the scale of this machine civilization’s fleet likely wasn’t technology, but the number of captives it held.

Only with enough captives, converted via special algorithms, could the AI gain sufficient intelligence, productivity, and the fine-tuned control needed to manufacture ships.

Judging by the fleet’s size, the number of intelligent beings serving as a ’brain-mine’ within it was likely no less than one hundred billion...

The entire population of the Blutuk Civilization had only been around one hundred billion.

Factoring in the extremely high attrition rate for intelligent life within the machine civilization, this ’brain-mine’ population of over one hundred billion must have come from at least two civilizations, possibly even three or four.

If he hadn’t wiped out the Blutuk Civilization, its people would have met the same fate—becoming part of the ’brain-mine,’ further swelling the ranks of this Intelligent Mechanical Calamity’s fleet.

As Li Qingsong watched intently, the fleet finally completed its deceleration and came to a halt within the Jupiter System.

Li Qingsong saw countless mining ships leave the main fleet and descend upon numerous planets.

During this process, one detail caught Li Qingsong’s attention.

He watched as a small warship moved to intercept an incoming asteroid. It fired only a single, unknown projectile, and the asteroid—over 20 meters in diameter—violently exploded and disintegrated.

’What kind of weapon is that! How could it be so powerful?’

Even his most powerful Electromagnetic Cannon could, at best, only pierce such an asteroid. Shattering it with a single shot would be impossible.

This seemed to imply their projectiles had a mechanism for releasing a much higher amount of energy.

After the asteroid was shattered, its fragments continued onward at extremely high speed. However, the ships in the debris’s path didn’t dodge, almost as if they hadn’t detected the fragments at all.

As the debris reached the ships, Li Qingsong saw a pale yellow curtain of light, made of some unknown material, flare into existence around them for just an instant. The light curtain blocked the fragments, which bounced right off without causing any damage.

’An Energy Shield?!’

Li Qingsong was stunned once again.

’This technology actually exists? And... a Level Three Strong Core Civilization has mastered it?’

’If that’s the case, then Energy Shield technology must also be how Strong Core Civilization fleets solve the problem of Particle impacts when traveling at seventy to eighty percent of the speed of light?’

’No wonder they can travel so fast...’

’If ships that small can be equipped with Energy Shields, then the larger vessels undoubtedly have them as well.’

Offensively, Li Qingsong had no idea how many types of weapons they possessed. But the one that shattered the asteroid was likely just the tip of the iceberg.

’Now they’ve revealed a powerful defense like the Energy Shield. If I had to face this Intelligent Mechanical Calamity right now, how could I possibly win?’

’My armor, no matter how strong, probably couldn’t withstand a hit from a weapon like that. My Electromagnetic Cannons, Missiles, and space Landmines, no matter how powerful, probably couldn’t penetrate that Energy Shield!’

’In that case, even if my Warships outnumbered the enemy ten or even a hundred to one, it would be useless.’

This wasn’t a gap that could be bridged with numbers, unlike the one with the Blutuk Civilization!

But after observing covertly for a while longer, Li Qingsong discovered something even more terrifying.

The fleet was enormous, spread out over a vast area with a breadth of up to one hundred million kilometers.

Normally, this would mean a significant communication delay from one side of the fleet to the other, as electromagnetic waves travel at the speed of light.

One hundred million kilometers would mean a delay of at least five minutes.

But judging from the fleet’s overall maneuvers, its movements were perfectly coordinated, as if there were no communication delay at all.

’Then...’

’Super-distance Communication?’

’A technology that allows for real-time communication, ignoring any delay, regardless of distance?’

’If I could master this technology, why would I have to endure a communication delay of over a decade between the Solar System and the Oriental Star System?’

’With Super-distance Communication, how much more coordinated could a fleet become? On the battlefield, what kind of massive boost in combat effectiveness would that provide?!’

But there was an even more important point...

Realizing that the Intelligent Mechanical Calamity Fleet likely possessed Super-distance Communication technology, Li Qingsong’s heart leaped into his throat, and his entire body tensed.

’If they have Super-distance Communication technology, and can communicate in real time between two different Interstellar Systems more than a dozen light-years apart...’

’...then their main fleet wouldn’t even need to travel to a Star System to determine if it contains intelligent life.’

’They could launch a Detector with Super-distance Communication capabilities—or even a small scout fleet—to every suspected target Star System, every system I might have fled to. Then, without their main fleet moving an inch, they could determine which Star System is their true destination.’

’If they did that, all my attempts at camouflage would be useless. Once they pinpointed my location, the main fleet could head straight for me. They would only need a very short time to reach my Star System and complete the capture!’