Age of Cosmic Exploration

The Gravity Cannon’s power was unleashed without reservation. In just a few minutes, this Shelter, which the size of a normal planet, was dismantled and around 90 percent of its structure was destroyed. Not only that, everything inside the Shelter that was past a certain size, spaceships included, received varying degrees of damage, the extent of the damage dependent on the size of the spaceship.

This kind of attack method was not something that could be utilized by a low tier space civilizations. It ignored electromagnetic shields, plasma shields, and the tensile strength of the building structure. The infrastructure of the Shelter was torn apart like paper, without resistance. Be it the Shelter, or the spaceships of level 2 space civilizations, and even level 3 space civilization’s ships, they were easily ruined by this power that was way beyond the understanding of low tier space civilizations!

One minute after the Gravity Cannon was fired, the plasma shield that surrounded the Hope disappeared. Instantly, the shrapnel of various crumbling materials flew right at the Hope. An electromagnetic shield was not strong enough to defend against these smithereens. Just as the Hope was going to be punctured, a layer of shield suddenly appeared out of thin air. This layer was unlike an electromagnetic shield, which was invisible to the naked eye. It glowed weakly as it surrounded the Hope like a liquid cover!

Instantly, all the debris that shot towards the Hope disappeared. This was not some electromagnetic shield but an actual plasma shield.

One of the icons for level 3 space civilizations!

Outside of the Hope, where Blue 6’s group fought, there were quite some aliens that were alive. These few "lucky ones" were hidden behind metallic plates that had been pulled apart from the floor but hadn’t snapped off yet. When the plasma shield sealing the Hope disappeared and the Hope was going to be punctured by debris shooting at it with incredible speed, another smaller layer of plasma shield appeared around the Hope, blocking the innumerable shrapnel.

"Plasma shield?"

"Plasma shield!"

"Plasma shield..."

The few words sounded completely different in varied alien languages, but they all meant the same thing... one of the icons of level 3 space civilizations. It was defense technology way above the level of the electromagnetic shield. It was something that could defend against all physical and non-physical attacks, its name was plasma energy shield!

At that moment, all the aliens who were lucky enough to be alive had their hearts chilled. When the Hope pulled out the Gravity Cannon, it was enough for all the civilizations residing at the Shelter to pee their pants. However, when the Hope first entered the Shelter, the internal sensor scanned the Hope’s technological level. It was teetering between the peak and the middle of level 2 space civilization, meaning it was impossible for them to possess such a scary weapon.

Of course, they could not rule out the possibility of them being cheated, like there being a level 4 or 5 space civilization hiding in the shell of a level 2 space civilization. However, the bigger possibility was that the Hope had stumbled across a high level space ruin and had obtained one or two future-tech products from it. That was the more logical explanation.

Everything in the cosmos survived on a delicate balance. If it’s yours, it’s yours. If it was not yours, no matter how hard you begged for it, it would not be yours. Oftentimes, when a low tier space civilization obtained some powerful products from a high tier space civilization, they would not be powerful enough to use them. Even if one or two could be used, using it would exhaust a great amount of resources. That was fairness in space, one gives to take.

If the Hope relied on such a method to obtain the Gravity Cannon, then it was logical that it would not last for long and the negative effect would be huge. They predicted that the Hope would be stranded there for quite some time. It was then that the civilizations at the Shelter had their chance. After all, even though the Shelter was destroyed, there were still alien units remaining, and overtaking a level 2 space civilization’s spaceship was going to be easy,

However, the moment the plasma shield appeared, this thought was shattered. A level 2 space civilization’s spaceship and level 3 space civilization’s spaceship represented completely different statuses under such circumstances. This was made clear here. It was the straw that broke the camel’s back. To put it simply, the Shelter was practically powerless before the Hope.

While despair was spreading throughout the Shelter, it was not entirely peaceful within the Hope either. In reality, the use of the Gravity Cannon was truly a great test on the Hope’s energy system.

Due to the overload of energy, currently, around four reactors on the Hope were forced shut down. This was a great mechanical crisis. If they continued using them, it would cause perhaps even a hydrogen explosion. In fact, there were already fatalities due to leaked electricity. The four reactors that suffered the most damage were instantly shut down by the AI that detected their problems. The remaining reactors more or less also received some damage.

This information was sent to central command through the AI. Yao Yuan followed them closely especially after the information came that a large amount of reactors had collapsed, causing the Hope’s total energy level to dip severely. This series of information made his eyes twitch with nervousness.

"...Stop the Gravity Cannon in five seconds!"

When the number of reactors that were forced to shut down increased to seven, Yao Yuan finally gave this command. The people in central command sighed in relief. Instantly, the order went down the chain of command, and as the energy source was switched off, the virtual energy that made up the Gravity Cannon slowly dispersed. After five seconds, the gravitational pull and tidal force caused by the Gravity Cannon finally ended. By then, the Shelter had the appearance of a rubber ball after it was rolled over multiple times by a truck. It was sad on the eyes.

Even so, the people in central command did not dare to put their guard down. After the Gravity Cannon stopped and the Hope’s energy supply returned to normal level, Yao Yuan yelled, "Activate the creator’s particle and the ship’s ECS System! Deploy all the Space Combat Jet Prototype 011s!

"Break a hole through this debris and metal wall, release us into space! Command all the Black Star Troopers to indiscriminately attack anyone who exits the Shelter! Be it a big ship or a small ship, anyone who tries to escape the Shelter is to be shot down! I need to see that in the next 24 hours, no ship dares to exit this Shelter’s ruins!

"Go now!"

Following Yao Yuan’s order, all of the Space Combat Jets departed from the Hope. Other than the small number of Troopers who had to stay back to guard the ship, almost all of the Black Star Troopers had moved out in their own units. Several hundred Space Combat Jet Prototype 011s that were specially paired with Homo Evolutis left the Hope and crowded the space around the Shelter.

Back in central command, everyone saw how the Hope had shot a hole through the Shelter’s wall that had lost the defense of the plasma shield. The Hope then escaped easily into space, surrounded by the several hundred Space Combat Jets.

"The number is still too small..."

Standing beside Yao Yuan, Guang Zhen sighed when he saw those Space Combat Jets.

When Yao Yuan heard him, he also whispered in response, "That is true. Military numbers, spaceship numbers, and weapon numbers are all lacking. At least until we can find a solar system where it is safe for us to rest, this situation cannot be helped... Also, a space combat unit made up of pure Homo Evolutis is simply too wasteful."

Yao Yuan’s volume was low, but what he said drifted into everyone’s ears. Many in central command sighed involuntarily.

The more time they spent in space, the more they learned about it. Especially with Blue 6’s addition, the Hope’s originally blank understanding of the cosmos and its culture had expanded tenfold. By then, even the civilians on the Hope knew about the value of Homo Evolutis. These were not normal expendable soldiers, they were the real protectors of humanity, the single biggest force that would help humanity extend its lineage. Any race could live on with only one or two cosmic adapters, while only humanity was extravagant enough to use Homo Evolutis as a military unit. This was an action frowned upon even by a high tier space civilization...

Because of this, after Blue 6 joined the Hope and during the period spent in warp drive, other than normal development, the Hope focused on the two ultimate weapon task forces. The Gravity Cannon was the result of the group headed by Bo Li. Other than that, the intention to expand the Defense Unit and the variety of weapon types were proposed.

As mentioned earlier, Homo Evolutis were not normal soldiers that could be expended on the battlefield, even though their combat prowess was much greater than that of normal soldiers, a prowess that would only increase after being paired with the Space Armor. However, when humanity increases in size, like after building the mothership Kun Lun and after a decade of population expansion, several hundred Homo Evolutis were no longer enough to sway the result of a space war of that scale. By then, mankind’s real main combat force should be the Defense Unit, whose power would be calculated by numbers. This point, be it humanity’s leader, Yao Yuan, or the Defense Unit’s general, Guang Zheng, everyone had an implicit understanding of it.

Of course, all that could only be a worry if they could escape this solar system alive. The biggest hurdle right now... was still this Shelter and the many space civilizations that called it home!