Chapter 129 Glorious Battle
Following the signal, the screen came to a pulsar galaxy, which is one of the main battlefields where the two "far traveler" civilizations fought.
There is a neutron star as a gravitational source here, but unlike ordinary neutron stars, this neutron star rotates at a speed of up to 700 cycles per second.
Such a high rotation speed makes it release a large amount of pulsed radiation every moment, so this kind of neutron star also has the title of "pulsar".
Although the high-speed rotation of the pulsar does not affect the navigation of the spacecraft, the pulsed radiation it releases has a huge impact on the shield system of the spacecraft.
There was a famous interstellar battle in the history of the galaxy, which happened in a similar pulsar galaxy.
At that time, the number of fleets on both sides of the war was similar, but one of them had extremely high shield technology, and in battles it was often possible to achieve a battle loss ratio of 1:2 or even 1:3.
Although the other side countered with weapons that ignored shields in a targeted manner, the effect was not very good.
So they quietly set up a bureau, leading the enemy's main fleet into a decisive battle in a pulsar system.
The special cosmic environment here made the shield system almost fail. However, they had prepared for it and temporarily thickened their armor. They fought a beautiful victory and rewrote the balance of victory.
And this battle was also selected into the interstellar war textbook, making the galactic civilizations pay more attention to space wars in different cosmic environments.
To this day, space wars between galactic civilizations tend to avoid these special environments, but excellent war artists can always make the enemy jump into the trap actively.
The "Ancient Far Travelers" built a dock in this pulsar galaxy early on, and boiled frogs in warm water to create a sense of distance, giving the "Far Travelers" a "almost" ability to annihilate the enemy. illusion.
In addition, the shipyard in this place is also a strategic point that cannot be ignored, so the "far traveler" put a main fleet into this place, aiming to quickly capture this galaxy.
However, even if a main fleet is invested, it is still "almost" in this galaxy, and "Farwalker" has to increase the investment of the fleet.
This lost empire, which has fallen for a long time, still underestimated this group of "citizens" who could not be eliminated in ancient times.
When the "far traveler" realized that their fleet could no longer withdraw from this galaxy, the pulsar here was like a swamp, dragging them into the quagmire.
The fleet invested in this pulsar system has accounted for 50% of their total fleet, and the troops belonging to the "Ancient Far Traveler" are fighting with them with more advanced and cheaper armor and hulls.
They have completely abandoned the shields, and successfully put the "far traveler" into decline with a cheaper price and a stronger hull. These fleets invested in the pulsar system are constantly being eaten away.
Now the "far traveler" cannot withdraw the fleet here, and there is basically no stable environment for the transition in the chaotic battlefield.
Although they also have a way to evacuate in an emergency, it is difficult for those emergency jump troops to accurately locate in the galaxy, and more often they come to the barren space without hyperspace channel connection, and can only wait for the next jump.
And this situation is no different from the disappearance of this fleet. If more than 50% of the fleet is missing at one time, then they don't have to fight this battle.
So the current "far traveler" has to invest more fleets here, hoping to defeat the enemies here.
However, most of their colonial planets are controlled by robot riots, which cut off a large part of their production capacity. The "prosthetic body" legion who have been fighting for a long time can't take back those occupied planets, which makes them acquiesce The loss of these planets.
And relying on the resources accumulated all the time is simply not comparable to the seemingly endless "Ancient Traveler" fleet.
So the "Far Travelers" decided to put all their eggs in one basket. Except for the fleet that was dragged in the pulsar system, they abandoned the defense of every other galaxy, and even the fleet of the parent star "The Source of Knowledge" was also pulled away to form a "decisive battle." Fleet" and jumped to a galaxy closest to the "Infinite Lighthouse".
Their national border is very large, and they can rely on the "super-light speed suppressor" to prevent the enemy's transition, but can only use the relatively slow "hyperspace navigation" method to advance. To reach the "source of knowledge", at least ten hyperspace navigations are required .
In comparison, their enemy's borders are much smaller, and they only need three or four hyperspace voyages to directly hit the mother star.
And this decisive battle fleet is personally commanded by the supreme commander of the "far traveler", aiming to besiege the home planet of the "ancient traveler" and force them to rescue them.
The main force of the "Ancient Traveler" seems to have been transferred to the pulsar galaxy and several other small battlefields, completely powerless to stop the advance of this decisive battle fleet.
They successfully destroyed the outpost on the way, but they still couldn't wait for the enemy's rescue. Instead, the news of the continuous fall of the former border kept coming, which made the fleet commander have an ominous premonition.
But he believes that the strategy of exchanging space for time is feasible. Even if there are any problems, he will still have time to go back.
Finally, they came to the galaxy where the "Infinite Lighthouse" is located.
The ring world here seems to have been repaired, but every section of the ring world is lifeless, completely uninhabited.
Only some old warships that look very simple and seem to have been on the battlefield stay here.
The ominous premonition of the commander of the "Far Traveler" fleet also reached its peak at this time.
"... Where are people?" According to speculation, it is impossible for their group of "old-fashioned enemies" to leave these symbolic places full of beliefs and ideals.
But soon, he received a familiar communication message, which was from their former compatriots, those artificial life forms who had completed "synthetic evolution".
【"Dear" compatriots, this may be the last time we call you "compatriots"】
【We have understood one thing for a long time. If the "far traveler" only sticks to one place, can he still be called a "far traveler"? 】
【In order to move forward, there is nothing that cannot be given up, even the "infinite lighthouse" that carries our lofty ideals】
【I am honored to be able to witness the prosperity of the Star Sea with you in ancient times, but now, it is time for you to end the curtain】
With the termination of communication, the ring world of "Infinite Lighthouse" began to collapse.
Originally, there was only one section of the ring world that was still intact, but under the restoration of "The Ancient Traveler", at least it seems that every section of the ring world seems to have been repaired.
Originally, the fleet commander of the "Farwalker" still wondered why these former compatriots wanted to restore the ring world but couldn't live in it, but now he understands,
These ring worlds just look like "ring worlds", they are actually another kind of megastructure.
"You..." The fleet commander sitting in the Titan flagship couldn't help but want to speak out. He knew that the other party couldn't hear him, but at this moment he seemed to be able to hear the response:
"Let's have an honorable duel..."
Accompanied by it are those ancient battleships that are active again.
Their simplicity is not a disguise. The "Ancient Travelers" dug up their warships from the remains of the ancient battlefield, and transported them here after restoration.
These old antiques are completely impossible to be the opponents of the "Far Traveler" cutting-edge warships, but the "Ancient Travelers" have no intention of defeating this decisive battle fleet. Their purpose is only for the "sense of ritual" and to delay time.
Their real goal is the unmanned "far traveler" home planet - the source of knowledge.
With the activation of a giant structure under the shell of the ring world, the entire "Infinite Lighthouse" galaxy seemed to be shielded and lost its trace on the star map.
Li Wenyuan, who was far away on the earth, also received this special fluctuation, and immediately felt a little emotional: "...It is indeed a scene full of ritual sense..."
For this group of "Ancient Travelers", he actually has a lot of good feelings. When they decided to launch a war against the "Far Travelers", he even asked if they needed help.
But the "Ancient Traveler" declined his kindness, and told him that this was an ancient custom that had been circulated within civilization before they were promoted by humans.
If you want to obtain a certain title, you must defeat the holder of this title in a duel.
After entering the interstellar space, they have forgotten this custom, but this time the alternation of the old and the new has rekindled this idea for these "ancient travellers".
"—Of course, this is actually a 'conspiracy'. In the 'duel', we really can't defeat the current 'far traveler'. After all, our background is still a little bit less."
"But since we have progressed to the interstellar era, it is okay to have some 'interstellarization' of the custom? As long as whoever can capture the enemy's 'home planet' first, it will be considered a victory in the duel!"
It's hard to imagine that these "synthetic evolution" mechanical life forms would occasionally be this mischievous, but Li Wenyuan couldn't help laughing when he heard what they said.
He witnessed the disappearance of the "Infinite Beacon" from the star map, and finally he set his sights on a special technology on the technology tree:
【Fleet Doctrine: Glorious Battle】
【Technology level: 6】
【Introduction: According to sociological research, most creatures seem to be strongly moved by the image of a "decisive battle" that can determine the outcome. This kind of irrational behavior is obviously not suitable for use in a real space battlefield, but... coming here once in a while may greatly enhance our cohesion. We can lock the enemy and us in a "arena" that cannot leave for a short period of time, and then have a glorious duel]
【Possible Technology: None】
【Special Note: This is actually a performance thing, why did we build this thing? We need to build a megastructure that can reinforce space-time while temporarily blocking the hyperspace lanes. After activation, at least none of the faster-than-light methods we know will work in this area. Maybe this is more suitable to be called "close the door and beat the dog" instead of some "glorious showdown"? 】
(end of this chapter)