018 The entire fleet descends

The International Space Station was captured by aliens, and six astronauts from different countries went missing. At any other time, this might have made headlines, but not now. Because something bigger had happened.

The commander of the United Empire's Iridium Star R19 Exploration Fleet, Xu Lanzhou, ordered the flagship Sacred Falcon to engage its Warp Engine. A Warp Bubble instantly enveloped several other ships, including the giant space city Ruyi City and three other vessels. Pulled by the Sacred Falcon's Warp Engine, they arrived at low Earth orbit faster than the blink of an eye.

This was the advantage of the Warp Engine, when a ship equipped with a Warp Engine deployed its Warp Bubble, it could envelop surrounding vessels and carry them along in Warp Speed Travel. This allowed some ships, which lacked the capability for super long-distance interstellar travel, to hitch a ride for light-year scale journeys.

The Empire had invested heavily in warp research, and Warp Speed Travel had become the Empire's primary mode of travel between star systems. Through a curve function that was not complicated yet aesthetically pleasing, the people of Iridium Star could determine the travel speed at different warp levels. To this day, Iridium Star had completed class two Warp Speed Travel. According to Warp theory, Warp 1 equals one times the speed of light, denoted as Warp1, and Warp 10, theoretically, could place a warship at any point in the universe, but was considered impossible to achieve in the Iridium Star academic community. Warp 1 to Warp 9, which is one times to 1516.4 times the speed of light, is called class one Warp, where the speed increase isn't particularly significant, and the curve function is relatively smooth. Class two Warp starts from above Warp 9, where an increase of just one decimal place can lead to speed increases even more rapid than the earlier increase from 1 to 9. Class two Warp is denoted as Wrap-ER. The Warp Engine mounted on Sacred Falcon was the Empire's latest developed Wrap-ER5 level, capable of reaching speeds of 2.2 light-years per hour.

The distance from the Sun to Earth is measured as one astronomical unit, while one light-year equals 63,239.8 astronomical units. In reality, Sacred Falcon's journey from the Sun to Earth was faster than the blink of an eye. Naturally, like the Insight's Phase Jump Engine, just preparing for Warp Speed Travel took significantly longer. Hence, generally, over such "short" distances, fleets rarely engage their Warp Engines at full power, sometimes not even at half strength.

Xu Lanzhou led the Fleet to Earth's orbit, making no attempt to conceal it like the Insight had, but rather, made a brash appearance. Within the Fleet, there were different discussions about how to colonize or control Earth, and it was difficult to form a unified opinion. Xu Lanzhou also couldn't directly pressure other Fleet members to make the final decision. Even though the Iridium Star Fleet internally had not yet decided on which policy to adopt, this did not prevent her from continuing her own deterrence operations.

The airborne battle over San Francisco might not have been evident to Earthlings, but the people of Iridium Star had already collected plenty of combat data from Earth's main military forces. Now, bringing the Fleet directly to Earth's doorstep was akin to the strategic masterstroke of the United States Navy's "Black Ships" led by Commodore Perry, intended to intimidate and force the other party to surrender.

Under pressure from other members of the Fleet, the reconnaissance activities of the Insight on Earth essentially came to a halt. The Insight began reconnaissance of other planets in the Solar System and stellar systems outside it. This also indicated that a considerable portion of the Fleet Committee was not very interested in Earth. They wanted a blank slate to work on, not a sheet that needed erasing before drawing. Even though the latter might intrinsically be more valuable, the effort the Iridium Star people would have to put in was also valuable, perhaps even more so.

In the modestly lavish but exquisite captain's quarters, Fleet Commander Xu Lanzhou sat on the bed with her best friend. Xu Lanzhou's hair was loose, she wore a nightgown, and her usually icy demeanor had vanished. The heroic beauty in her appearance softened, becoming more gentle. Perhaps some aspects were only visible to the closest of friends, like a best friend.

"Du Peng is quite cunning," Xu Lanzhou said with a pout, "managing not to offend anyone in the committee and not revealing his real intentions. He has already concluded that, given our current manpower, it would be very difficult for us to completely occupy Earth, which is why he isn't taking my planned military operations seriously," said Xu Lanzhou, who even before sleep couldn't stop thinking about work.

Her best friend looked at Xu Lanzhou's frustrated expression, giggled charmingly, and found her aggrieved look extremely cute. She said, "Actually, as long as we can mass-produce intelligent bionic humans, it would be sufficient to compensate for the lack of manpower and the inability to occupy. However, even you don't have the authority in the Fleet to approve the creation of a large number of bionic humans."

Bionic humans are essentially robots endowed with artificial intelligence that can be programmed to varying degrees based on different needs. Their bodies are crafted from biomimetic materials, directly imitating human tissues to form organs with various functions while being more robust and durable than human bodies. Even energy replenishment akin to human eating is possible for them. With regular maintenance, they can serve indefinitely, making them the finest cannon fodder for the Imperial Universe Army.

This is precisely why anyone who possesses a multitude of bionic humans is seen to have unlimited war potential. Therefore, the standardized industrial production line of the Empire must be authorized by the Imperial Congress or the Supreme Command to manufacture bionic humans, ensuring that these production lines are impenetrable to hacking. This fundamentally assures that no ambitious figures can use this technology to threaten the Empire's security. Moreover, control over all bionic humans can be stripped from the hands of junior commanders.

Xu Lanzhou nodded, "The R19 Fleet was approved to produce a maximum of 2,000 bionic humans before the deployment, which might be somewhat useful in a battle, but Earth's population is somewhat too large. The number of people living on a single planet nearly equals half the population of the Empire."

"Just a single, simple fight would paralyze all of Earth's defensive capabilities, compelling them to negotiate peace with us and to offer us various benefits, including the secrets we most want to know about Iridium Star and the similarities with Country C's culture, as well as the human resources we are somewhat lacking. I have already deployed 15 flying squadrons and asked Xiao Yu's Marine Corps to be on standby. If necessary, I will activate the Sacred Falcon's planetary bombardment weapon..." Xu Lanzhou rambled on to her best friend about her war strategy, even though it was still at the planning stage on paper, she had foreseen everything from initiation, to the process, and the possible outcomes of the battle. Although this foresight was undoubtedly aided by intelligent systems, it was clear how deeply Xu Lanzhou cared about these matters.

Her best friend couldn't help but feel worried, pulling Xu Lanzhou's hand, their fragile, boneless, and flawlessly white hands clasped together, a pleasing and delightful sight.

Her best friend spoke nervously, "But after all, those are the lives of millions of innocent people. Even you are not sure what you want, where the R19 Exploration Fleet is headed, what will be done with this beautiful planet in the future. You know all of this, but is it really okay to strip them of their right to live just like that?"

Xu Lanzhou, however, was resolute about this matter, "The mission bestowed upon me is to expand the Empire's territory, even though we're already in another universe. The existence of a major secret related to Iridium Star on Earth, I believe, is something the Chancellor has led us to. Conquering this place is also inevitably what the Chancellor wishes us to do."

Knowing she could no longer persuade Xu Lanzhou, her best friend heaved a long sigh, which ultimately dissipated. This best friend had the same appearance as Xu Lanzhou for she was, in fact, Xu Lanzhou herself.

Xu Lanzhou, who strived to exhibit her authority and capability in front of her subordinates, had no real friends. She kept everything to herself. The persona she hoped to become, or rather, the one others pinned their hopes on, gradually evolved into one personality, while her side as an ordinary girl formed another. Both personalities coexisted, with the Commander personality being her dominant one, treating the girl personality as her best friend. This was because the Commander personality could confide in the girl personality about all sorts of matters, akin to having someone to talk to.

Xu Lanzhou had never realized that she suffered from a split personality issue, nor had she ever questioned the logical existence of her best friend. Even though their opinions never aligned, Xu Lanzhou was still grateful for the presence of this best friend. It made her feel that she was not alone in this immense and cold fleet.