Age of Cosmic Exploration
chapter-394-30041322

Chapter 394: Summon!

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Understanding the giant tree didn't mean that humanity had a way to deal with it. It was the same problem as before, humanity was too weak. A level 2 space civilization at its peak facing up against a high tier space civilization with a four dimensional shield was like a unicellular organism facing off against humanity with nuclear weapons, the difference couldn't have been bigger!

Humanity's current technological level, excluding the Homo Evolutis cheat, was no different from a normal level 2 space civilization's. In fact, its level might be lower than other level 2 space civilization's due to its small fleet size. To counterbalance this, humanity had two secret weapons beyond the standard of low level space civilizations: the Gravity Cannon and the alien plant.

However, in this situation, the Gravity Cannon was practically harmless. After all, a space civilization that had mastered the four dimensional shield definitely would have access to the anti-gravity system. In that case, the power of the Gravity Cannon would be neutralized. Even if they didn't have the anti-gravity system, the essentially endless fourth dimension could be used to negate the effect of the Gravity Cannon just fine.

On the other hand, the alien plant that could consume anything, including energy… it was a mystery whether it could pose any harm to the giant tree. After all, this giant tree definitely came from a high tier space civilization, and the technological level of this alien plant… was unknown. The difference in technological advancement decided many things in space. Furthermore, humanity only had one chance to strike against such a high tier space civilization, so if the alien plant failed to consume anything, then humanity could be considered done for. Naturally, Yao Yuan didn't dare to take such a huge risk…

Therefore, ever since leaving the fourth dimension, the Hope had spent almost a month idling in space, it had also circled around the giant tree several times. Every inch of this space was scanned and checked. This area that was surrounded by the green light was about as big as the distance between the sun and Jupiter. Other than the giant tree, there was nothing else worth noting occupying the empty space.

However, this place was indeed the coordinates for the star path taken from the alien merchant, Blue 6 and the ruined spaceships they stumbled across along the way. Even though neither of them described in details what a star path was, they did share a common description, one would know the identity of a star path entrance the moment one laid one's eyes on it.

Alas, humankind had seen nothing other than the giant tree here, definitely nothing that could be taken as the entrance to a star path.

With no other option, Yao Yuan's group had to go to ZERO for help, hoping that they could get more information on the star path from her, but honestly, Yao Yuan didn't think ZERO would even show up.

To his surprise, not only did ZERO answer their summons, she also gave them some useful information about the star path.

"The so-called star paths are not naturally occurring phenomenon, yet they aren't fully an alien creation either. Actually, your high end technology has touched upon the knowledge of this level briefly. Yes, I'm talking about the basic particle in quantum physics. If you cut a quartz into two and placed them each at two ends of the universe, when you touch one, the other will react the same way. This reaction crosses the limitations of space and time… Star paths work on a similar basis. Adjacent solar systems have this kind of relation, and this relation has been there since the creation of the universe. Even though the cosmos has grown over the past several billion years, thus causing such relations to get weaker, these relations won't be broken unless the universe has reached its end. Utilizing star paths is the most common mode of transportation for god tier space civilizations, a method of travelling that is beyond even space warp… in fact, star paths can be considered the incomplete version of this perfect method of travel.

"After a civilization becomes god-tier, they will naturally use this method to travel between the many corners of the universe, and as long as they use this to travel between solar systems, then there will be a star path. To put it simply, god-tier space civilizations are like trucks that have travelled across grasslands that are untrodden. Due to the size of the truck, it created a trail as a result of travelling. The other smaller trucks thus can use this trail to travel between solar systems easily. Therefore, star paths are not fully natural occurrences, but they are not alien creations either.

"Therefore, the majesty of the star path lies in the fact that it utilizes the fifth dimension. One wouldn't be able to tell it exists from afar and from outside; however, when one gets closer, the star path is like an unimaginably large river of light, it is impossible to miss…"

That was the end of the conversation with ZERO. She disappeared right after. However, Yao Yuan's group was still pleasantly surprised. After all, they had gained a new understanding of the star path and also understood its inherent problem.

To be honest, before this, even though they had gained a lot of information about the star path from many alien sources, Yao Yuan's group still had reservations about using it. After all, all of the information only mentioned the star path in passing; there was no concrete answer to questions like how it looked, who created it, what was the theory behind its ability to connect the impossible distance between two solar systems. This was a super distance that even wormhole and star gate were unable to pass, but a star path… managed to traverse this large distance in a short amount of time. This was something even space warp was unable to do.

After getting a concrete answer from ZERO, one that was believable based on ZERO's actions so far, the validity of the star path was proven. However, it left the Hope with another question: where was this star path…

"If the coordinates can be believed, then based on what ZERO said, the star path's entrance is quite possibly… inside this giant tree!"

In a whole new round of discussion, Xiao Niao gave the first hypothesis that came into his mind using his Thinker power. "First, I wish for everyone to really think about it. When we came across the junkyard civilization not long after we left Earth, it was the first time we stumbled across alien information, and we gained the Gaussian technology. It was the beginning of our space adventures. Can you still remember that? The process of the civilization being destroyed…"

Everyone present narrowed their eyes. Not to mention the officials who had been on the Hope since the very beginning, even the people who later joined the Hope from the Noah One had seen the footage of the junkyard civilization's destruction. They were reminded of how the several hundred million alien citizens were sucked into the liquid spaceship. Honestly, there was no one that did not feel fear watching that, because… that would've also been humanity's ending if they had stumbled across that liquid spaceship.

Xiao Niao continued after his reminder, "The junkyard civilization had how large a population at the time? At least several hundred million, right? However, they were all sucked into the small, liquid-state spaceship. This was supposed to be something physically impossible, so the liquid spaceship must've been equipped with some kind of space technology. It looked so small on the surface, but it was probably bigger than a Shelter inside. That spaceship probably belonged to a space civilization of similar level or maybe lower than this giant tree. So it is impossible that this giant tree doesn't have a space-folding technology inside it…"

Yao Yuan took over the stage at this point. "In other words, the star path could be hidden inside this giant tree? The only way we can get to the star path is to enter the ruin of this high tier space civilization?"

Everyone was silent. Obviously, they had all come to this conclusion after some contemplation, but this conclusion simply didn't align with the Hope's zeitgeist.

In reality, even among the Hope's top officials, they were split into various philosophies. One of them was in support of entering the giant tree. It would be best if humanity could end up with some high tier space technology. Of course, even grabbing a few products was already more than good enough. Even if they ended up with nothing, as long as they could get to the star path, then it was still acceptable. However, the number of officials in support of this idea was too small. After all, this was not a water park, this was the ruin of a high tier space civilization. One wrong move and humanity would be vaporized inside it. Therefore, only a single digit percentage of top officials was in support of this idea.

The rest of them were split into two main camps. One wished to remain still to conduct more analysis. These were those who were unwilling to give up on the ruin but worried about the possible risk. This was about 30 percent of the total, including most of the Homo Evolutis and even a few of the Black Star Unit members.

The rest, including Yao Yuan and Guang Zhen, voted to leave this star path after close consideration. After all, there had to be more than one star path. This solar system was adjacent to about ten other solar systems, so there had to be other options they could try.

Just as the discussion and argument continued among the Hope's top officials, suddenly, on the 37th day after the Hope had passed through the green light…

All the devices on the Hope died! Thankfully, the life support, anti-gravity, and mobility systems were unharmed, but the Hope… started to move on its own towards the giant tree!