Geothermal civilization, Absolute Zero weapon.

The falcon soars through the air like a ghostly specter.

After its first acceleration to 482 km/s, it abandons its thrusters, resembling a rocket, and switches to using compressed gas jets for maneuvering.

The coordinates of the target are located 417 astronomical units away from the Hope spacecraft, which is equivalent to a distance of 62.4 billion kilometers.

It would take the falcon four years to reach its destination at its flight speed.

This is interstellar space.

Every war, even a single exploration, becomes lengthy due to the vastness of space.

In the solar system, the farthest distance from Earth to the Kuiper Belt's Pluto is only 60 astronomical units.

Four years later.

The falcon's camera captures a celestial body in the pitch-black starry sky against the backdrop of the universe.

The signal takes 2.4 days to reach the Hope spacecraft.

As he looks at the gigantic celestial body on the screen, Yan Xia's face shows surprise.

Although the transmitted image does not provide precise information about the size of the celestial body, its shape and roundness indicate that it cannot be small.

Ella calculates on the side.

"I've calculated it. The radius of this celestial body is 8,426 kilometers, with a surface area of approximately 892.18 million square kilometers and a volume of approximately 2.5058 x 10^12 cubic kilometers. The gravity acceleration based on the data transmitted by the falcon is 11.0547 m/s^2."

This planet is enormous.

Its surface area is approximately 380 million square kilometers larger than that of Earth.

Clearly, this is a wandering planet that does not belong to any star system.

It may have originally been a planet located in the core region of a star system, but something must have happened to its parent star, causing the planet to break free from its orbit.

"The temperature in this void is -261.8 degrees Celsius. How could civilizations emerge in such space?"

Many scientists on Earth have focused on the habitable zones of star systems for the birth of life.

Not only Yan Xia, even top astrophysicists would be astounded by this scene.

Keep in mind that this temperature is lower than that inside hibernation cryostasis chambers.

Atomic-level processes would be affected, electron motion would slow down. It's simply impossible for life to emerge, whether carbon-based or silicon-based, at such temperatures.

Ella conducts urgent investigations as well.

"The temperature in outer space around this planet is higher than expected, at -198.33 degrees Celsius."

"It is speculated that this planet has a hot core."

Half a month later.

The Hope spacecraft receives another piece of information.

"Confirmed, the planet's surface has many active volcanoes and abundant geothermal resources."

Ella brings up a very blurry image.

"Yan Xia, look here, here, and here. These are relatively large volcanic vents."

"There are traces of structures near this area, indicating that this civilization relies on geothermal energy for survival."

A geothermal civilization.

Earth also has many volcanoes, but the volcanic resources on Earth are far from sufficient to support a geothermal civilization.

The celestial body in the photo is much larger than Earth, and its core is more active than Earth's, resulting in numerous surface volcanoes, making it impervious to extreme cold.

Yan Xia notices that the outer space of the planet in the photos sent back differs from the previous ones by some additional objects.

"Zoom in on those points."

He points to those small dots and asks Ella to enlarge them. After zooming in, the outlines of those objects become visible.

They are spaceships!

Densely packed, there are at least thousands of spaceships.

"They must be preparing for a star sweep, intending to find us."

That's the only possibility.

Otherwise, there would be no need to assemble so many spaceships, especially at this time.

Seven days later, Ella receives the final message transmitted by the falcon in the last minute before being shot down.

The first falcon has successfully completed its mission.

Many details can be deduced from the information.

"The falcon was shot down by lasers, originating from these areas, which are the main volcanic vents on the planet."

"This also confirms that this civilization is extremely dependent on volcanic geothermal energy. Most of the planet's surface temperature is below -100 degrees Celsius. The population is definitely small, likely between 100 to 500 million."

"Due to its small population, it cannot benefit from the technological revolution caused by a large population, which is likely the main reason for its slow development."

"Geothermal energy also greatly limits its total energy capacity and the branches of its technological tree. Based on its spaceship speed analysis, this civilization probably does not possess controlled nuclear fusion technology. Their magnetic development is underdeveloped, and they still rely on geothermal and nuclear energy for their energy supply."

"This civilization's level should be around Level 1 or 1.1."

It is a geothermal civilization that has just entered Level 1.

The planet's surface is very dark, so its civilization pursues light and has invented lasers.

Yan Xia thinks for a moment.

"To launch an attack on a civilization, we must suppress its development speed."

"As far as I can think, we need to limit their energy and disrupt their technological development."

"Ella, do you have any good suggestions?"

Ella can generate a lot of military-related information.

"Ella suggests that we start by disrupting their energy development."

"Disrupting technological development is a very complex process. It requires understanding their civilization's technological direction, level of development, whether it is from big to small or from small to big."

"The physics, chemistry, macro, and micro aspects of the universe follow a set of theories, known as the universal theory."

"But we cannot assume that the other party is pursuing the theory of everything. Their civilization may not have unified gravity, magnetism, weak force, and strong force in theoretical terms. Instead, they may focus on one of the four fundamental forces separately."

"In short, we cannot scientifically destroy their theories until we can observe the direction of their civilization."

"The simplest and most effective method is violence."

In terms of civilization level, Yan Xia does not have an absolute advantage over this geothermal civilization.

The set of rules in science fiction novels is useless to him.

Ella generates a result.

"This civilization is a geothermal civilization. We can limit their energy development by cooling their planetary core, causing their civilization to stagnate."

Yan Xia scrolls through the screen, looking at the plan.

This plan is more powerful than any known warfare of mankind.

It is a world-ending war launched against a planet and its civilization.

The weapon recorded above is the Absolute Zero weapon.

The planet's core generates powerful energy through fission, and Absolute Zero can freeze the protons, neutrons, and electrons in atoms, stopping their movement.

Of course, achieving absolute zero is currently impossible in the universe, as it requires more energy than the universe itself possesses.

However, it is possible to create weapons that come infinitely close to absolute zero. The effect cannot completely freeze the protons, neutrons, and electrons, but it can slow down their movement countless times.

As long as fission is in an extremely slow state, the planet's core can cool down.

"Let's go with this plan."

"How long will it take to produce?"

Ella has parked the Hope spacecraft on a wandering asteroid, which is over 80 kilometers long and nearly 45 kilometers wide.

Hundreds of robots are repairing the wounds of the Hope spacecraft.

"The estimated time is 25 years."

25 years is not long in a war, especially in an interstellar war.

"It's too little!"

"One Absolute Zero weapon can only cool the planet's core for 40 years, which is far from enough. We need 10 of them."

Since the decision to wage war has been made, a comprehensive consideration is needed.

They need to leave sufficient room for their own development.

After issuing the command, Yan Xia enters the hibernation chamber again. He can't waste too much time; after all, he is already 41 years old.

When he wakes up again, it will be the beginning of the war.