Luna didn't hesitate; An Li might have considered the potential unknown influences in the message, but Luna couldn't.
She couldn't afford to.
She bore the weight of the entire Galactic Federation; they were at a disadvantage and needed a breakthrough, and quickly.
It's like being outnumbered; what choice do you have?
After years of warfare, Luna had abandoned her absolutist stance. Her previous self-interest wasn't inherently negative; self-interest is fundamental to human civilization.
But… with the flourishing of Federation life, countless individuals sacrificed themselves for the collective; this renewed Luna's perspective on life and death.
What is the ultimate goal of life?
Why did intelligent life develop intelligence?
Immortality?
If so, natural selection should favor longer lifespans, not limitations. Even cells prioritize reproduction over survival; yet, Luna hadn't observed immortality in any civilization.
Conversely, some lower lifeforms live longer than intelligent ones.
Like Finney and his colleagues; thousands or tens of thousands of years felt like a burden; they desired brief moments of connection and gratification.
Luna pondered this.
Immortality was painful; she often felt lost, believing she was sustaining the Federation, but realized the Federation was sustaining her.
Without the Federation, Luna wouldn't know her purpose.
It's like playing Minecraft; you and your friends spend a year or two building a world, but the save file is lost; do you still want to play? You might not even be able to start again.
Luna needed to resolve the Olive Branch Civilization issue.
She could abandon the Federation and create a new one, but that would be excruciating; the Federation wasn't a save file; each life within it was real.
She used her implant to process the Olive Branch Civilization's language.
Upon receiving it, she understood.
It was like learning a new language in elementary or middle school; exposure to a different language brings a cultural shock unlike anything experienced before.
No.
It was even more profound.
The Olive Branch Civilization's perception of the world differed completely from Humanity's.
Their language had 37 colors, not seven; they didn't have three primary colors but fourteen.
Up, down, left, right, forward, backward.
This is Humanity's perspective, but the Olive Branch Civilization's encompasses more, including higher and lower dimensions.
This wasn't an abstract concept; Olive Branch Civilization lifeforms could perceive higher and lower dimensions.
The sheer impact left Luna stunned.
Most Humans in the 20th and 19th centuries understood that visible light was limited; infrared and ultraviolet light, and other wavelengths, were invisible to the human eye.
A prism refracts sunlight into seven colors, which combine to form white light.
But other Earth animals differ; many mammals can only see blue; this explains the orange coloration of predators like tigers and lions; other mammals can't see red.
Some creatures have more acute senses than humans; birds have four types of cone cells, allowing them to see ultraviolet light.
Is the world as a bird sees it the same as the world a human sees?
Even the visual fields of fish and birds differ from humans. Fish see a circular world; straight lines appear curved; curves appear straight. If fish developed a civilization, it would be unlikely to merge with human civilization in its early stages.
What does the Federation look like now?
Luna knows this perfectly well.
Other species in the Federation are forced to learn Human language; those without mouths are fitted with vocalizers.
Unable to understand Human concepts of length, width, and height? A standardized measurement system is imposed.
Unable to grasp the difference between 2D and 3D? The information is directly implanted.
This ensures adaptation.
But Luna never knew how other species perceived the world, what sounds they heard.
Only those who genetically altered themselves might have insights.
"We never understood the Olive Branch Civilization, Ayla!"
Ayla paused, then said, "Indeed."
Luna noticed Ayla's hesitation; machines perceive the world differently than humans; machines can sense a broader spectrum. Olive Branch Civilization lifeforms are essentially machines; perhaps Ayla could perceive a portion of their world.
"What is the nature of reality? This is an eternal question."
"I once believed I had seen everything, but now I realize I've only seen a fraction, perhaps less than 1%."
"Our perceptions are limited to our senses: hearing, smell, touch, taste, and sight."
The breadth of perception determines a civilization's potential.
Humanity uses technology to perceive a broader reality; the Olive Branch Civilization achieves this by becoming machine-like.
These are different approaches.
Seeing ultraviolet light allows its utilization; not seeing it requires its discovery.
Luna understood why they couldn't detect the weapon that destroyed the Silk Road.
They couldn't "see" it.
This differs from lower civilizations not detecting dark matter; technological advancement eventually leads to dark matter's discovery, but not necessarily its observation.
The Federation has discovered and utilized dark matter, but can anyone see it?
So, Luna didn't need to transfer her consciousness into an Olive Branch Civilization lifeform.
Language could convey this; descriptions could make the invisible visible.
"Imagine a weapon that targets a specific wavelength of green light. The weapon uses this light to strike the enemy; the enemy is destroyed because the weapon contains a destruction factor that disrupts the target's structure; this chaos prevents reassembly; the target disintegrates into its basic components, irretrievable."
Luna studied old data from before the Silk Road's destruction.
Based on Olive Branch Civilization linguistics, the closest equivalent she found was a "factor."
A factor is a substance that can target and disintegrate matter; it disrupts ordered systems, causing chaos.
For example, a substance requires the weak force to form neutrons and the strong force to form atomic nuclei; a factor might break down nuclei and neutrons, causing beta decay.
But the underlying principle requires further research; this factor is a particle unknown to the Federation, possibly undetectable by Federation instruments.
In their descriptions, the factor and green light are always associated.
Green light is an abstract term; the Olive Branch Civilization frequently uses it, such as "I walked on the green light; it was fast and convenient." This translates to "path," but this isn't accurate; paths are usually "unflyable routes." This suggests that paths appear as lines to the Olive Branch Civilization.
Green light is therefore visible light, different from unflyable routes. If unflyable routes are ground paths, green light might be paths in space.
Luna was struggling to learn.
"Ayla, do you understand green light?"
Ayla shook her head: "If green light is a guiding channel, we don't know what green means to the Olive Branch Civilization, nor if it has multiple meanings, like English words. We don't know if it's even light."
"Also, photons aren't affected by anything other than gravity. If green light is merely light, how do we interpret 'target green light'?"
"Finally, I can't see this light; perhaps I could, but my definition might differ from the Olive Branch Civilization's."
This would be a long process.
Perhaps only by returning to the Olive Branch Civilization and having them point out the green light would Luna truly understand.
But this was irrelevant.
Luna now understood the weapon's operational principle.
She didn't need to see it; hypothesizing its existence was sufficient.
While Luna analyzed, Ayla wasn't idle.
She used the new language to re-examine the data from the "infected" individuals.
She found something.
These individuals had been communicating, undetected by the Federation because neither the lifeforms nor machines understood the Olive Branch Civilization's language.
The Olive Branch Civilization's language wasn't within the range perceptible to Humans or other Federation lifeforms. Its frequency was too high, beyond the capabilities of many machines.
The language had far more complex rhythms and frequencies than Human language.
It was so complex that machines perceived it as random noise.
But when Luna processed the language and re-analyzed the sounds, she detected communication.
They called the Silk Road-destroying weapon "Annihilation Bloom."
"Bloom," in the Olive Branch Civilization's language, doesn't mean the same as in Human language; it's synonymous with destruction, a specific type of death.
This death isn't explosive but more like withering.
"The factor's effect isn't an explosion but dissolution," Ayla added.
"The factor, carried by green light, targets lifeforms; it disrupts their structure, reducing them to fundamental particles. The factor isn't precise; it also affects nearby objects, causing their disintegration."
"This factor might be exotic matter, or perhaps common to the Olive Branch Civilization but exotic to us."
"Perhaps we should send another team to the Silk Road; this time, a thorough sweep is needed to collect all factor data."
If the factor is a fundamental particle, it must exist on the Silk Road.
If not, it would leave traces of other particles.
These particles would be unknown to the Federation; while the universe is vast, this is the Federation's only option.
"Green light is adjustable; it can mark targets. If it's not a natural phenomenon, it's Olive Branch Civilization technology."
"Annihilation Bloom might be just a name; we call a weapon Hawk-283, but is it a hawk?"
Luna felt she was getting closer.
If the factor could be identified, the Federation could develop defenses.
Language offered much.
"Deriving a principle from a single word demonstrates the knowledge embedded in language."
Luna's only concern was whether Chu had genuinely left this treasure for the Federation, or if he would willingly relinquish it.
"Tell An Li's team not to return; use the micro-factories to build a Star City. We need to return to the Silk Road; it's our closest point to the Olive Branch Civilization."
"Ayla, prepare for war."
"We must engage the Olive Branch Civilization and understand the true meaning of their language."
Reactivating Independent Victory might be better.
But Luna had strong reservations.
The Federation used language to spread its culture and assimilate other civilizations. Would Chu use language to make the Federation subservient?
Olive Branch Civilization language was arguably superior to Human language; it contained more knowledge. Would Chu use a linguistic strategy?
Luna didn't know; she refused to obtain information through intermediaries; second-hand information could be manipulated.
Then, the Federation launched its first proactive attack against the Olive Branch Civilization!
...
The Federation, having obtained the Olive Branch Civilization's materials, had begun constructing planet-class warships.
Ten thousand years had passed since then.
The situation was far more challenging than Luna had anticipated; they were investing heavily in planet-class warships; a slightly larger sub-planetary warship would be pointless.
Planet-class warships required highly sustainable energy sources.
The initial plan involved storing massive quantities of matter and antimatter, but antimatter production requires energy; the Federation's antimatter reserves were limited; sufficient for warfare, but not for propulsion.
The annihilation of 1 gram of matter and antimatter releases 1.8 x 10^14 Joules, equivalent to 43,000 tons of TNT; 1 kg is 43 million tons; 1 ton is 43 billion tons; 10,000 tons is 430 trillion tons—roughly the impact of 5-6 dinosaur-extinction asteroids.
How much antimatter would be needed to propel a planet-class warship?
Perhaps 1 million tons.
Reaching escape velocity might require 50 million tons or more.
Reaching 30,000 km/s (and the desired 40,000 km/s) would require…?
Unclear, possibly 50 trillion tons.
This is enormous, potentially depleting the Federation's entire supply.
The alternative plan involved placing a planet inside the warship, using its gravity for sustained power. This would also use gravity-assisted electromagnetism and a combined Tokamak device for nuclear fusion, antimatter capture, and gravitational energy.
Nuclear fusion and gravitational energy would primarily power the ship, while antimatter would be directly fed into the propulsion system.
This was the most viable option; gravity would significantly reduce fuel consumption; the ship wouldn't need to expend energy maintaining gravity.
The drawback was reduced sensor accuracy; gravitational wave detection would rely on auxiliary vessels.
To minimize volume while maximizing mass, the Federation chose stellar cores.
When stars are destroyed, they only rarely become neutron stars, particularly smaller stars; they typically die, leaving behind a stable core; these cores can have densities exceeding 20 g/cm³, higher than gold.
Some stellar cores are only slightly smaller than Earth.
Most of these cores come from red dwarfs.
The problem: where to find these cores?
They didn't need to search; the Federation had destroyed numerous stars for fuel; they could freely choose suitable cores.
As the first planet-class warship, the Federation minimized costs; this would be a practice run, like Kunlun before it.
But the stellar core meant the dreadnought couldn't be small.
The dreadnought was oval, not like a rugby ball but more like a smooth egg.
Its horizontal length was 24,100 kilometers; its height and width were identical: 20,200 kilometers; its core diameter was 15,700 kilometers (Earth's diameter is 12,742 km); its core mass was approximately 7.66 times that of Earth.
The ship's total mass was 7.1967 x 10^25 kg, 12.05 times Earth's mass.
Forty thousand years after the first sub-planetary dreadnought, Kunlun, the Federation's first planet-class dreadnought, Kunpeng, was completed.
Using the Federation's most advanced 7125-km-diameter antimatter thruster, it achieved a stable speed of 34,217 km/s.
This wasn't just significant; it was monumental.
Yet, the improvement felt marginal; Kunlun's speed was 24,858 km/s; the difference was only 37.6%; this meant that thruster technology hadn't undergone a revolutionary change in 40,000 years.
Kunpeng represented numerous Federation firsts:
The first planet-class dreadnought.
The first dreadnought with a planet as its core.
The first warship with an onboard Boundary God.
The first warship with a complete ecosystem.
The first ship with a massive thruster.
The first warship carrying interstellar weapons.
The first warship with a Lagrangian point system.
The first warship equipped with sub-planetary matter extraction technology, converting sub-planetary bodies into energy.
...
Numerous firsts.
Of course, Kunpeng had its own first.
It was the first to reach the Silk Road, the true battlefield.
Thanks to the P=NP breakthrough, Kunpeng was the only warship entirely controlled by a computer; it had no onboard lifeforms. The onboard ecosystem was an experiment.
Having a planet as its core allowed for a complete surface ecosystem; the experiment succeeded.
But the ecosystem was later destroyed because maintaining it consumed too much energy.
Kunpeng could theoretically disassemble and reassemble via super-antimatter displacement, but this wasn't practical.
The core was fixed; the warship could disassemble, but the planet couldn't.
Kunpeng could only travel to the Silk Road under its own power.
"Planet-class dreadnoughts will shine on the battlefield," Ayla told Luna, expressing absolute confidence in Kunpeng.
"Kunpeng's Boundary God gives it more processing power than I had before P=NP. Theoretically, it's not a warship but a fortress."
Ayla changed the naming convention; planet-class warships were officially designated as interstellar fortresses.
They were too large, capable of holding massive amounts of resources. Kunpeng didn't need to carry any warships; it could produce them en route, becoming a vast fleet upon reaching the Olive Branch Civilization's sector.
...
2367 years later, An Li and her team, stationed at the Silk Road, saw Kunpeng; its size was overwhelming.
The 4000-meter Crimson Dragon was like an ant.
It was like looking at a section of a road compared to the entire Earth; the sheer scale was daunting. In the 21st century, some people lived their entire lives within a 4-kilometer radius; the world was vast.
Kunpeng's surface area was four times that of Earth.
The colossal warship was distant, but its immensity was palpable, like a planet passing by.
A small package was ejected from the warship.
The Crimson Dragon approached; the package grew larger, revealing itself as a 600-km-diameter sub-planetary body.
Resources were scarce at the Silk Road; Kunpeng had approached An Li's team to deliver this sub-planetary body; using the micro-factories, this body would become a massive super-antimatter displacement device, allowing more warships to arrive.
Luna intended to make this the Federation's first line of defense.
...
2582 years after Kunpeng's launch, it entered the Olive Branch Civilization's sector; a violent shockwave pierced its defenses, cracking its shell-like exterior.
The Olive Branch Civilization, having detected such a massive object in their sector, immediately attacked.
Kunpeng's defenses proved stronger than they appeared; its hull had undergone material rearrangement; each atom was evenly distributed; this distribution dispersed incoming energy, like an eggshell distributing force.
This explained the ship's egg-like shape.
Interstellar warfare was always like this; you wouldn't know when or if the enemy had detected you before attacking.
Upon being attacked, Kunpeng deployed its defenses—a high-dimensional geometric defense system. Incoming energy, striking any point on Kunpeng, entered a surrounding geometric channel; this channel redirected the energy like a gravitational slingshot.
This technology used spacetime curvature; it could be considered a gravitational slingshot; matter entering the vortex orbited the gravitational center before being ejected.
But this wasn't sufficient against high-energy attacks; sufficiently dense energy would penetrate the geometric channel.
Kunpeng adjusted its trajectory, hiding behind a star to avoid attacks.
Then, it deployed numerous warships, spreading throughout the sector.
Kunpeng detected no planets or asteroids near the stars; the largest celestial body was less than a meter in diameter.
This sector had been thoroughly exploited by the Olive Branch Civilization.
Here, Kunpeng was like a rootless tree.
It didn't approach the stars closely, fearing hidden weapons; Kunpeng wasn't here to fight.
"Kunpeng, analyze the safety of this location."
"Safety rating: 82%; relatively safe."
"Stabilize position; deploy light probes."
Probes were launched; Kunpeng's gravity interfered with its sensors, necessitating additional equipment.
The light probes acted as extra-sensory observation devices, a type of robotic telescope.
Numerous lenses gave these probes unparalleled visual acuity; theoretically, they could identify the color of clothing on a person one light-year away.
"Detected: 1 Olive Branch Civilization Station within 50 light-years; 19 within 100 light-years; 37 within 200 light-years; unknown beyond."
"Targeting the Station 118 light-years away, designated L; this Station has detected Kunpeng and is evading."
"No enemy warships or craft detected; analysis suggests the enemy's detection method is based on super-frequency interstellar optical sensing."
"…"
The Boundary God aboard Kunpeng completed its analysis, logging its findings for transmission to the Federation.
"Resource density: 0.004; far below the standard resource density of 1; deploying large-scale warships to harvest energy within the star system."
Standard resource density was an average calculated from 100 deep-space locations. For example, if the total mass of asteroids in a region exceeded 0.57 Earth masses, the rating would be above 1; below that, it would be below 1.
This region's resource density was too low to warrant exploitation.
To ensure the war's sustainability, Kunpeng's Boundary God, determined that stellar energy could be used, harvested by conventional warships, while Kunpeng remained distant.
"Prepare warship factories; commence warship production…"
"Current warship count: 19,203; combat ships: 8203; one-third, or 2735 combat ships, will be the first wave, targeting the nearest enemy Station, designated d."
These 2735 warships departed immediately.
28 years later, they left the star's cover and entered the Olive Branch Civilization's observation range; 102 years later, they were attacked.
Kunpeng: "Gathering data; analyzing combat data; analyzing enemy weaponry…"
"Enemy weapons: conventional interstellar ranged weapons; no factor detected; no green light detected…"
"Fleet continues advance; estimated arrival at target Station's system: 157 years; estimated warship survival rate: 8.57%."
This war differed from previous Federation wars; it was fully automated, with no lifeforms involved.
This included bio-engineered warships and Swarm units.
Only in this way could the Boundary God completely control everything. This wasn't just about studying Olive Branch Civilization weapons; it was about testing whether future wars could be fought by Boundary Gods, eliminating the need for biological soldiers.
...
A magnificent metal hall; its length and width exceeded 400,000 meters; its height approached 10,000 meters.
Numerous scholars were gathered, discussing the war against the Olive Branch Civilization.
During the war with the Filament Civilization, Luna realized war wasn't her sole responsibility but the Federation's; she increased the involvement of Federation scholars, particularly during wartime, granting them the authority to discuss the war.
This wasn't simply casual discussion; it represented the power to make suggestions.
Theoretically, their suggestions could influence the war; if a suggestion significantly affected the war's outcome, the proposer would receive the Federation's highest honor.
"Flantoneil, you're here? The journey from your star system must have taken centuries," Gillismo said, surprised to see the Shore Tribe lifeform.
"Gillismo, if you can be here, why can't I?"
"This war will decide the Federation's fate; as a lifeform of this era, how could I avoid it?"
The Shore Tribe had strived for 30,000 years, integrating into the Federation; they were now fully integrated.
After exchanging playful banter, the two embraced.
"How long has it been? 500 years?"
"602 years, brother!"
Federation scholars typically lived far longer than ordinary lifeforms; many practiced psionics, extending their lifespans to 2000-3000 years.
These two had been classmates, only sixty or seventy years old at the time—young and vibrant.
After embracing, Flantoneil looked around, saying, "It's enormous."
Soft white light illuminated the hall; each seat was spacious; even a small Shore Tribe member felt like they were sitting in a plaza; the seats were sized for all species; species without buttocks had reclining seats, creating a chaotic yet organized scene.
The tiered seating ensured clear sightlines; each seat had observational equipment, shortening the visual distance.
There was no lectern, only seats.
"Bobby, Sicro, Lanton, Du Kangxiong…"
Gillismo listed names, all prominent scholars. Compared to them, he and Flantoneil were insignificant; Gillismo had once attempted to become a student of one of these scholars, but his application was rejected.
Only this war council brought them together; these figures were normally inaccessible; an appointment cost at least 1 million Energy Credits, and qualifications were strictly assessed; unqualified applicants were rejected.
"They're all big names; I've only seen them in academic programs," Flantoneil remarked, taking a seat near the front.
A Lightwing flew in and sat beside them; they were startled, quickly rising to greet her.
Kimposner, a top Lightwing scholar, ranked 2839th on the Federation's military scholar rankings; her specialty was post-war studies.
Both felt nervous, even though they were tens of meters apart; they barely dared to breathe heavily.
While 2839th might seem low, the Federation's military scholar rankings had billions of candidates; those ranked were elite scholars; their knowledge surpassed that of 99.99999% of scholars.
The council lasted 72 hours; the hall was packed with over ten million lifeforms.
These weren't ordinary individuals; even the lowest-ranked would be admired in any Star City; considering their earnings, no one earned less than 1000 Energy Credits per year.
That might seem low, but the median monthly income in the Federation was 7 Energy Credits. Using a 21st-century median salary of 3000, the lowest-paid here earned almost three times that amount.
"All invited scholars are present; the Federation's first war council officially begins."
"This council will last 50 years, with a 48-hour break each year. Scholars can speak freely, but to avoid confusion, only one scholar will speak at a time."
"Time spent in the council will be deducted from your lifespans; only the time spent deliberating will be counted."
Most Federation lifeforms chose cryosleep; the lifespan consumption rate in cryosleep is 0.005%; therefore, the maximum time spent here wouldn't exceed one year, protecting the rights of those contributing to the Federation.
"The data has been distributed. Use it to understand the overall war situation."
With the opening remarks finished, the scholars began reviewing the data.
They'd seen this data before, but the information was from various sources, incomplete and potentially exaggerated.
This review lasted 30 hours; the hall was utterly silent.
Finally, a scholar broke the silence.
"This war aims to obtain information about the Olive Branch Civilization's Silk Road-destroying weapon, but I see no clear strategic direction; this prolonged campaign has been chaotic and directionless."
"This is understandable; we previously knew little about the Olive Branch Civilization; we don't know how to guide, pressure, or deceive them."
"However, I believe this is insufficient and could affect the war's outcome, preventing us from achieving our goal."
"Our understanding of this war is incomplete; we're using casualties to acquire information, putting us at a disadvantage. Even though we initiated the attack, we're still at a disadvantage."
"I think this war was premature. We should slow down, emphasize deception; just as we don't understand the Olive Branch Civilization, they don't understand us. Tilted Station might not have shared our information; we're still unknown predators to them; they don't know if we're dangerous or docile."
"This hasty attack will only allow the enemy to understand us better, developing optimal strategies to destroy us…"
His voice was sharp; each scholar had a unique perspective, a testament to the Federation's millennia of accumulated knowledge.