Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Meng Tian’s finger gently moved and a transport route map appeared. According to the energy rating, it clearly showed signs of danger. “This barren planet should be filled with life reactions. Of course, due to physical phenomena, there could be errors. But everyone, look at the light blue ripple.”
Everyone in the meeting room wrinkled their eyebrows. The light blue ripple seemingly should not appear here.
“I’m not sure if everyone remembers the KPO237 interstellar incident,” Meng Tian mentioned, and instantly, everyone in the room sat up straight.
“What you mean is that everything before us is an illusion?” Lieutenant General Hobb remarked in a sunken voice.
“Too many incidental factors are inevitable. I think that what we see in front of us is an illusion. When this kind of light blue energy wave appears, it suggests that the planet that we see is two-dimensional, not three-dimensional!”
Meng Tian firmly stated. The dimensions of the universe was a feat that humans had yet to be able to get to the bottom of, but it could be certain that the general physical range was three-dimensional. However, a two-dimensional object, a flat planet, had appeared in space, which implied that everything in front of their eyes was a setting!
But this setting was disguised highly realistically.
Having said that, everyone in the room stayed quiet and just stared at the energy display. It was very, very realistic, which meant that there was one possibility, but it was not absolute.
“Meng Tian, you can voice out your opinion,” Hobb said.
“Yes, General. I believe that what we are facing is an illusion. The other party is an intelligent lifeform who has grasp more advanced technology than us. It could be humans or other civilisations. My personal judgement is that they have an enmity against us, as this sort of concealed habits and confusion is targeted towards us humans. I personally advocate that we do not miss this opportunity. Another connotation for exploration is taking risks. Once we miss this opportunity, it could possibly result in greater hidden dangers for the Milky Way Alliance, and we do not know yet if our comrades are still alive or dead. I am willing to be in the frontier!” Meng Tian said.
Everyone was debating aplenty, discussing the possibility of this. This meant that sixty percent of them still felt that Meng Tian was being ridiculous, but the other forty percent was supportive. The Milky Way Alliance’s exploration knowledge range was already very broad and the possibility of an unknown civilisation was very low, not to mention a foreign human civilisation. And the energy display could also have errors, so this solitary death planet could be a dead planet clouding the space reef.
Experienced captains generally would not take such risks. This unreliable factor was definitely not only picked up by Meng Tian alone, it was just that everyone opted to be safe. But this also missed the meaning of exploration. Humans innately had already lost the adventurous spirit in those days of interstellar voyaging.
Lieutenant General Hobb, however, had other considerations. Under such situations with doubts, he could not give up and ignore the two missing ships.
Finally, as the highest ranking commander, Hobb, who should have remained neutral, stated his stand that he supported Meng Tian’s speech.
The Milky Way Alliance exploration fleet was split into three units.
Meng Tian was arranged to the first unit, a frontier team consisting of three convoy ships, which will follow her line of thought to close in on the planet.
The second unit would be the reinforcement team, providing the three convoy ships all the support they require at any time.
The third unit was the safeguard team, which would consist of the fleet’s two motherships as its core. The meaning of safeguarding in this case was to survive regardless of what happened. The third unit warship’s mission this time was to break through and relay information back to the Milky Way Alliance at once should they encounter unpredictable danger!
It was obvious, with such an arrangement, that Hobb deep down also agreed with Meng Tian’s judgement and planned for the worst.
Meng Tian’s No.12 ship flew in front, and the other two frontier ships, the No.7 and No.11 ships, followed behind.
“Arrived at destination.”
The frontier team’s task was not to immediately carry out search and rescue, but to grasp control of the solar system preemptively and set up a sentinel defense line to prepare a safe and secure solar system environment for the reinforcement spaceship that would come in next.
Of course, at the same time, they were inquiring directions by throwing stones. Once danger occured…
They could effectively gain the safety of an entire fleet for a small price.
The three warships slowly slowed down and started a safety assessment around the solar system.
Sleek spaceships and space mecha rushed out of the warship one by one, taking control of the solar system’s surroundings.
Psst.
The display in front of Meng Tian gently flashed.
The other two warship captains relayed their messages.
“Captain Meng Tian, judging from the current situation, we did not discover any source of danger from other coordinate positions in the solar system.”
“There is only one coordinate left, the MG17A Death Planet. The exploration ship reported that spatial turbulence was detected in the coordinate positions. It could be the violent movements from the space collapse.”
What the two captains were implying was to carry out defense against the MG17A Death Planet, and not to take the risk and advance.
The gist of the frontier team was not to advance bravely without a plan, but to reach the goal. Just by looking at the current situation, there was no need to enter the death planet surrounded by spatial turbulence. The space collapse activity was akin to tide water, with moments of rise and fall.
“If you have no opinions, we would assume a one line battle array”
“Both captains, I have a different opinion.”
Meng Tian gave a glance at the planetary image displayed on the viewfinder window.
When observing from the space telescope, the ice scrap tracks spurned by the spatial turbulence could be seen with the naked eye. “What a beautiful picture.”
“What?”
“Captain Meng Tian, please keep in mind that you are the captain and you are responsible for the entire warship.”
Both captains were visibly dissatisfied. Meng Tian’s remark at the captains’ meeting did indeed did make them grow admiration for her.
But this did not mean that she would be able to lead the frontier team this time.
After all, she was only a student with aspirations, merely just a substitute captain.
If it were not for their prior admiration, they would not have asked for her opinion and would have just directly stated what should be done instead.
Meng Tian, however, did not pay heed to them. Her eyes stared fixedly on the planetary image. Now she was certain that everything in front of their eyes was definitely an illusion. If it was energy leakage caused by the space collapse, it would undoubtedly not show such patterns. This was absolutely a sign of life!
“All comrades, get ready for battle. Aim the main ship gun accurately at the MG17A Death Planet and shoot in fifteen seconds time, counting down from now!”
As the captain, Meng Tian held the decision-making power. This is the time for her to test out her judgement.
If it were a two-dimensional illusion, the planet could not possibly move by itself. This was its breaking point. Regardless of whether it was real or fake, it would be made known once a shot was made. Sometimes, concrete actions were more effective than thinking too much.
Boom… A laser shot blasted off as everyone in the rest of the warships quietly waited.
The whole space shook, and immediately after, everything in front of their eyes cracked, shattering like a mirror. The death planet disappeared, and replacing it was a vibrant planet!
“Immediately undergo scanning!” Meng Tian suppressed the excitement in her heart as she issued the command right away.
When the planetary landscape appeared on the display, everyone was stunned by what they saw. In this unknown solar system, there was actually…
Right at this moment, a chain of ripples appeared all around space.
Buzz!
In a flash, white rays blossomed one at a time like fresh flowers in the midst of the void. The entire fleet was brought to a standstill under the radiance, and all the engines stopped working.
The Milky Way Alliance Headquarters received only the exploration team’s S.O.S and an image before the entire exploration team completely vanished from the universe.
