Chapter 267: The Silence of Deep Space, The Destruction of Xingcheng

An Li emerged from the sea of books, rubbing her temples and taking off her glasses that rested on the bridge of her nose, placing them aside. She reached for a glass of water on the table, and the host reminded her, "Diplomat An Li, this glass of water has been here for 247 days."

It had been 247 days since An Li last got up to stretch her legs.

Being born in this era was fortunate; not only did she have an exceptionally long lifespan, but she also didn't need to eat actively. The quark robots within her body could absorb water and nutrients from the surrounding air through the pores, sustaining her bodily needs.

Of course, regular air didn't contain nutrients. This required a specific type of mist, which had various applications. One was for medical purposes, catering to patients who couldn't eat. Another was for individuals with anorexia who disliked eating. There were also some normal individuals who didn't like to eat and could use this technology.

This wasn't considered high-tech in the present. Some citizens had never eaten a bite of food in their entire lives. In some star systems of the Federation, due to laziness and the desire to avoid speaking, this tradition had persisted for 20,000 days. Eventually, some citizens' mouths gradually changed, and some infants were even born without mouths.

The universe was indeed full of wonders.

An Li enjoyed eating, especially desserts, but she preferred reading. When immersed in reading, she didn't feel bothered by hunger.

The water that had been sitting for 247 days might contain cosmic bacteria. Although the quark robots could handle it, it was still recommended not to drink water or eat food that had been left out for too long due to the many uncertainties in the universe.

An Li asked the host to replace the water, which took only about 10 seconds.

After taking a sip to moisten her throat, she said, "Wake up all those in hibernation. We've reached the end of the original cosmic Silk Road."

An Li had learned from the data that this place used to be bustling, but now it was desolate. According to the host's analysis, the particle density in the vacuum here was 1000 times higher than in other regions.

"The Silk Road has disappeared, and all the Xingcheng and life have been turned into particles. This is a microscopic-level deconstruction. Collect some particles from the vacuum for analysis."

"Now, send a message to Xingcheng to explain our intentions."

"If we don't receive a response within 20 days, we'll have to force our way into Xingcheng."

At this point, the Federation couldn't afford to sit and wait for death. No one knew if the next target would be the entire Tiancangwu star region, where tens of billions of lives resided.

All those in hibernation had awakened and were heading to the cockpit of the spaceship in small groups.

The spaceship was enormous, but there were only 31 passengers.

These 31 individuals were absolute elites, including the previous Royce.

"Get ready, and set up the micro-factory."

The micro-factory was a larger and more precise factory that combined the unique metal advantages of the Olive Branch civilization. It had another name, the Wanwan Factory, which could be understood as a 3D printer of the next era. It could manufacture almost anything.

The micro-factory's body was a 3x2-meter machine. An Li instructed the spaceship to approach a planet and place the micro-factory on it.

The planet, which originally had no life on the Silk Road, had not been affected by the weapons of the Olive Branch civilization, so there were still some planets like this.

After the micro-factory was turned on, a cloud of mist burst out, and these weapons quickly disintegrated the planet, transporting the matter into the factory's interior.

The factory would process the matter into various components and then slowly assemble them into a gigantic factory. This factory began heavy industrial production, and in just half a month, a planet with a diameter of 10 kilometers had disappeared.

Numerous 10-meter-level drones began exploring the surrounding environment, collecting vacuum-type celestial bodies, and continuously producing larger and more comprehensive interstellar platforms, which required more time; 20 days were far from enough.

After the platform was half-built, the Red Dragon spaceship headed towards Xingcheng. Within 20 days, they received no response.

An Li set up the execution content in the factory: a complete ultra-hedging material transfer device, which would be manufactured within the next 300 days.

...

The Red Dragon spaceship was flying at high speed. The place they had docked was less than three light-days away from Xingcheng.

In just over 20 days, they had reached the outer edge of the star system where Xingcheng was located. At this time, Xingcheng appeared no different from before, at least on the outside.

However, as they got closer, the spaceship's weapon and defense systems were all activated, and An Li sensed something amiss.

It was too quiet!

The entire starry sky was devoid of any signs of life.

The main body of Xingcheng, which enveloped the star, and even the previously separated giant battleships, were all suspended in space. The spaceship's detector showed a planet approaching, but when it got closer, the host saw through the telescope that it wasn't a planet at all but a 26-kilometer-long giant fragment, seemingly a part of Xingcheng.

"It feels like something happened here," someone said.

The Red Dragon spaceship continued to approach, but no other spaceship came to stop them. The eerie silence made An Li think of the time she stood alone on the streets during a curfew.

There were no lights, only the stars in the universe to guide her. The pitch-black streets seemed like the gaping maw of a giant beast, silently waiting for someone to walk into it and then suddenly closing.

An Li shuddered all over.

"This doesn't look like a place with life," a scholar spoke up, and they used the spaceship to search but found no actively flying objects.

The oppressive atmosphere spread throughout the ship's cabin, and An Li ordered the spaceship to speed up and reach the skies above Xingcheng.

They were getting closer.

Some fine fragments were observed, and from a closer distance, it was apparent that the entire surface of Xingcheng was in ruins, and not a single intact "black box" building could be seen.

An Li took a deep breath. "Xingcheng... has been destroyed?"

What kind of existence had destroyed Xingcheng?

The answer was obvious.

It seemed that Xingcheng had been destroyed for a long time, and An Li suspected it might have been at the same time as the disappearance of the cosmic Silk Road.

"We must send this intelligence back first," a scholar was already operating the controls. There was no tachyon communication equipment on the spaceship; only giant ships had it installed, and a single piece was larger than 100 Red Dragon spaceships.

It would take 270 days to send this message back.

"Perhaps we should explore the surface of Xingcheng. Is there any connection between the destruction of Xingcheng and the disappearance of the Silk Road? If we can find something, then this trip won't be in vain."

Since Xingcheng had disappeared, diplomacy was out of the question.

Everyone who came here was prepared for the possibility of failure and death, and none of them were afraid.

"Agreed!"

"I agree too!"

Seeing everyone's agreement, An Li said, "Alright, let's start descending."

"The area of Xingcheng is comparable to the combined area of all the star cities in the entire Federation. We also have a micro-factory, which can use the matter from Xingcheng to manufacture some exploration robots. It would be best if we could find living individuals in Xingcheng."

All of them, fully geared in mech armor, left the spaceship and stood firmly on the surface of Xingcheng.