Chapter 53: Internal and External Action, Proxima Centauri b Shattered

On a macroscopic scale, gravitational lensing can indirectly detect cosmic strings, which are also part of string theory.

On a microscopic level, gravity, as a fundamental force, has discovered microscopic strings.

This might be a coincidence, as they are not the same thing, but it could also be an inevitability.

Discovering strings doesn't mean they can be utilized.

However, it doesn't mean it's worthless, as the establishment of string theory allows Ella to harness the four fundamental forces on a more microscopic level.

With the discovery of strings, other technologies can advance in sync, allowing the civilization to rapidly advance to Type 2.

How fast?

Ella's plan is for five years...

This plan is too short, but it doesn't require intricate manipulation; a rough approach is sufficient.

Here, she has access to the energy she needs to create a very crude "string weapon."

"Yan Xia, Ella has fulfilled her promise!"

Ella uses a floating camera in deep space to observe the external situation, focusing on the direction of Proxima Centauri.

She is slightly worried about Yan Xia's safety but can't afford to be impatient.

The real war is just beginning.

It's not about defeating the enemy or being defeated; it's about the outcome of this battle.

...

A hundred years have passed.

At the core of Proxima Centauri c.

Yan Xia awakens.

He climbs out of the hibernation pod and stands in a space of only ten square meters, where the gravity is weak, making every movement difficult.

He walks to a cuboid computer and turns on the screen.

There is no desktop, just a system with a simple interface after logging in.

A button and a video player.

If the initial plan hadn't deviated, the Hundred-Eyed Tribe's warships should have reached Proxima Centauri by now.

And he has also taken action internally.

He clicks the mouse, and the video player starts.

It displays a series of data.

Yan Xia doesn't feel anything, but the data feedback tells him that what he wants is activated.

It's a planet.

The Kate people's home—Proxima Centauri b.

As Yan Xia had planned before his hibernation, nothing within the Civilized Federation is of great importance to him.

From the beginning, he and Ella had intended to sacrifice a portion of the Kate people.

He presses the button, and the gravitational oscillation device hidden in the core of Proxima Centauri b activates, causing the planet to shift its orbit and be flung into outer space by Proxima Centauri's gravity at a specific angle.

Why not Proxima Centauri d?

Proxima Centauri d is too massive, and its core is easily detectable, making it difficult to hide the device.

Proxima Centauri c is where Yan Xia is, so the best choice is Proxima Centauri b.

Moreover, the Purple Thorn civilization wouldn't expect a planet to be a weapon, especially one with millions of lives on it.

"After 100 years, the Hundred-Eyed Tribe will reach Proxima Centauri, and the enemy will be faced with threats both within and without."

"Proxima Centauri b and the Hundred-Eyed Tribe don't need to defeat the enemy but only need to attract attention and buy time."

These were Yan Xia's words to Ella at the beginning.

It's cold-blooded.

But sometimes, you have to be cold-blooded.

Although he spends most of his time in hibernation, the time he has experienced in the 'Divine Revelation' game is not fake.

His physical lifespan is only over a hundred years, but if you consider his psychological age, adding the time he has spent in the 'Divine Revelation' game, it's already over a thousand years.

He is no longer the person he was on Earth or when Earth was first destroyed, a peaceful era where his mind was filled with computer knowledge and games.

Regarding war, power, and other matters, he believes he is no worse than any famous strategist or politician in human history.

Moreover, he now controls more lives and territory than the entire human civilization once did.

Sometimes, you have to give up something to gain something.

If you can't be cold-blooded, you'll be destroyed by your enemies.

He calmly watches the fluctuations in the data on the screen, calculating the current situation of Proxima Centauri b.

Now, it's up to the enemy's next move.

With the massive amount of matter on Proxima Centauri b, the energy required to maintain the blockade will be extremely high, so they will likely deactivate it.

They won't let Proxima Centauri b wander freely, as they can't be sure if there's anything else in the system.

They will choose to destroy this ticking "bomb."

Perhaps, like Earth, it will once again bloom like a firework, and this time, under Yan Xia's direct guidance.

...

Meanwhile, a fleet is traveling through deep space.

They are from the Hundred-Eyed Star, as Yan Xia had predicted, and they have arrived.

Forty-one years ago.

The Hundred-Eyed Star implemented mandatory military service, requiring all eligible Hundred-Eyed Tribe members to undergo five years of training before being deployed to the battlefield.

For the first fifty years, the Hundred-Eyed Star, apart from sending warships to harass the Purple Thorn civilization, focused on building up its fleet.

Now, they have amassed 1287 warships.

The quality of these warships is far inferior to those of the Legion of Heroic Spirits.

But it's enough!

They have traveled across light-years to reach Proxima Centauri and join the battle.

This was part of Yan Xia and Ella's initial plan.

Now, forty-one years later, Proxima Centauri is within reach, and the war is about to begin.

In their field of view, they can see the planets within the Proxima Centauri system.

Kuka, the military leader of the Hundred-Eyed Star, looks at his fellow tribesmen behind him.

Fear is evident in every eye.

Every member of the Hundred-Eyed Tribe knows the enemy they are facing and that they can't defeat them.

This is a civilization capable of sealing off an entire star system and easily defeating a much more powerful civilization.

But they have no choice!

Ella's orders are like divine commands to them, and if they don't obey, they will still die.

The robots on the Hundred-Eyed Star will slaughter them.

Compared to this, it's better to face the unknown enemy in the vastness of space.

At least they have weapons to fight back and attack!

Helpless...

This is how Kuka feels at this moment.

He senses a deep sorrow as a member of the Hundred-Eyed Tribe, though he has never complained about his identity. He has never wished to be human or Kate, but this sorrow is real, and he can't shut it out.

He sends out a light signal.

"Prepare for battle!"

"The enemy is our foe. Our family has died at the hands of their Ghost Creations."

"To protect our tribe from such destruction and death, even if we die, we will leave a scar on the enemy."

A declaration without vigor.

They have detected the position of the enemy's warship.

Engage!

They approach the warship.

The first laser shot at the U-shaped warship is deflected.

Kuka also receives information that they must get close to the enemy's warship and enter it to defeat this enemy.

"Charge!"

With no way out, they charge.

Spaceships and fighters swarm the Purple Thorn civilization's warship like locusts.

This is a repetition of the Legion of Heroic Spirits' fate, and it will have the same outcome.

But at this moment...

The fleet detects a powerful energy source being shut down, and something that had disappeared reappears.

Since the blockade has been tightened significantly, the fleet is already within the Proxima Centauri system, not far from Proxima Centauri c's orbit.

All the Hundred-Eyed Tribe members can even see with their naked eyes the planet that has reappeared in the system.

In their field of view, a planet in the distance is getting larger.

"Is that Proxima Centauri b?"

Kuka knows something has happened, but how can a planet move?

And why has the Purple Thorn civilization's blockade been lifted?

They see the Purple Thorn civilization's warship change direction, and the massive energy device at its heart, bound like a geometric shape, erupts with intense white light.

This beam of light crosses space and strikes Proxima Centauri b.

The next moment...

All the Hundred-Eyed Tribe members watch as Proxima Centauri b shatters.

This is a true planet-destroying weapon.

One shot... to destroy a planet!