Chapter 533: To Gain, One Must Give! Pursuing the Singer Ship! Black Domain Strike!
"Opportunities like this are rare—we have to at least try."
Li Ang ordered AI Europa to locate the ship that had initiated the dimensional-reduction strike. The Universal Megacorp wasn't without faster-than-light technology—catching up to a light-speed vessel was not difficult.
It was only because they hadn't wanted to expose themselves too early that they had been restraining themselves to sub-light engines. But now that the two-dimensional foil had arrived, there was no longer any need to keep hiding from other advanced civilizations.
Immediately, AI Europa began compiling a series of data parameters and calculated the position and distance of the Singer civilization's ship. It was only two light-years from the Solar System—practically within arm's reach!
"Boss, you're not seriously thinking about capturing that ship…?"
Song Zhaomei was incredulous.
"Only if we intercept that ship can we know what to do next. Civilizations in this universe are far too reserved—they won't easily establish communication with us."
Li Ang gave a helpless nod. For years, he had been secretly trying to reach out to other civilizations, but every effort had been met with silence.
The broadcasting method he used was similar to super-membrane broadcasting, but with a smaller range—spanning tens of thousands of light-years—and crucially, it did not reveal their own location.
But all of it had been futile.
Now, the Universal Megacorp needed contact with more civilizations, needed more channels of information.
"Boss, we have to be cautious. If they realize there's a civilization in the Solar System, a dimensional-reduction strike targeting us could arrive ahead of schedule."
Lucius also spoke in warning. He feared the Megacorp would plunge too deep and find itself unable to withdraw.
"If we let this pass, the Solar System will still be hit by the two-dimensional foil in four years. Miss this chance, and humanity will never again have a way to make contact with the Singer civilization."
Li Ang's words cut off all further objections from Song Zhaomei and Lucius. He had always trusted his intuition—there had to be intelligence worth risking everything for on that Singer vessel.
If they abandoned this chance, all clues would end here. Every prior hypothesis and speculation would be left without proof.
"If the Singer civilization really exists in data-form, prying open their minds would be as easy as it was with the Trisolarans.
"With the Matrix, just power them up and we can instantly seize control of their thoughts, strip the information from their minds—maybe even leech some of their technology while we're at it."
Chisaji fox couldn't hide his excitement. Of course he longed to seize that ship.
During their struggles with the Trisolarans, the Universal Megacorp had already gained immense technological resources by capturing Trisolaris. Perhaps they could gain even more unimaginable things from the Singers.
"Exactly. And the Singer civilization almost certainly possesses some method to limit the expansion speed of two-dimensional foils—otherwise, they wouldn't dare use them so freely."
"If we obtain that technology and can delay dimensional collapse by decades—or even centuries—that would buy us time to complete the unification campaign."
Alt Cunningham, speaking on behalf of the Science Nexus Division, also voiced agreement.
There was no such thing as having it both ways—gaining everything without risk. If you want to obtain, you must be prepared to give.
In the end, Li Ang's decision was accepted. The Universal Megacorp's Expeditionary Corps immediately selected a small elite unit to intercept the Singer ship.
This was, of course, a supremely dangerous task. Even Li Ang knew very little about the Singer civilization—the information they had was vague, ambiguous, mostly guesswork.
Intercepting a Singer vessel under such conditions was as difficult and perilous as when the United Fleet had tried to intercept a Droplet.
They couldn't imagine the enemy's weapons, nor foresee what kind of counterattack they would face.
So the commander-in-chief of the operation, V, decided to begin with a probing move: test the enemy's hand, then strike a fatal blow when the opportunity arose.
The first forward detachment would consist of just four warships—the Endless-class carrier, the Hyperion, the Long Night, and Arasaka Division's White Whale.
To catch up quickly, they would need to use dark-matter wormholes. Spatial folding alone, no matter how fast, would always be slower than direct engine thrust.
Once the plan was set, the whole Megacorp moved into action.
Meanwhile, humanity on Earth also learned of Trisolaris' destruction. As news of the two-dimensional foil strike spread through both human and Trisolaran worlds, their worldview was once again shattered by the cold reality of the Dark Forest.
But this time, there was no plunge into despair, no all-consuming terror. With Trisolaris' star system destroyed four light-years away, humanity simply waited quietly for the Megacorp's next move.
What else could they do?
All they had was flesh and blood, and childlike hearts.
If the Megacorp wanted them to build accelerators, they built them. If they wanted nuclear warheads deployed in the Snowfield Project, they went up into the skies to deploy them.
Fragile individuals fused into one collective, though such strength required time to ferment. But time was exactly what they lacked.
Four years. What could be done in that span?
This time, the Megacorp didn't ask them to build any new accelerators. Confronted with this unprecedented dimensional strike, humanity knew only that the Megacorp was attempting to capture that ship.
Whether the outcome would be a song of triumph or an even heavier retaliation from the Singer civilization—no one could know.
But Li Ang still held his hidden card.
If all actions ended in failure, he would immediately lead humanity and the Trisolarans through the Star Gate, leaving behind this cruel Trisolaran universe.
The Aether-Phase Engine would end it all.
Whether human civilization in the Three-Body universe stayed behind or departed would depend entirely on the outcome of the coming mission.
…
A newly expanded dark-matter wormhole was ready at the edge of the Solar System—this would serve as the acceleration channel for the Enterprise fleet in their pursuit of the Singer ship.
At the Pluto-orbit base, Luo Ji stood gazing at the completed wormhole expansion. He turned to Paul Atreides beside him and asked:
"I heard you people have some secret weapon called the Aether-Phase Engine. What exactly is that for?"
Since joining the Megacorp's Science Nexus Division, Luo Ji had learned bits and pieces—especially about the Aether-Phase Engine—but he had never fully understood it. No one had told him the details.
So he sought out his one true friend in the Megacorp, Paul, hoping to learn something.
"You should really be asking Director Alt and the others. I'm not a member of the Science Nexus Division." Paul was curious, at first not understanding why Luo Ji had come to him.
It wasn't until Luo Ji shrugged and gave a quiet sigh that Paul realized the reason.
Luo Ji had only just joined the Universal Megacorp, and asking directly about something as classified as the Aether-Phase Engine was far from appropriate. So the only one he could approach was Paul.
"I only know that this thing is the key to unraveling all ultimate truths. As for its specific function—probably only the Boss himself would know."
Paul was telling the truth. He really didn't know much about it; most of what he had heard was nothing more than rumors.
In fact, it was hard to even say whether such a thing truly existed.
"Ultimate truths—you mean the secret behind the Megacorp's ability to traverse multiple universes?" Luo Ji lifted his gaze toward the deep void beyond the porthole. He feared the truth might be endless.
"Who knows? But maybe someday we really will see the day the Aether-Phase Engine detonates a universe. At the very least, it's bound to be a spectacular sight."
Paul smiled. For now, worrying about such things was nothing but needless anxiety. Their first task was to deal with the immediate problem—the Singer civilization.
…
Three days later, the elite team arranged by the Universal Megacorp was ready. The four warships slated to depart first were already stationed near the wormhole, ready to intercept the Singer ship at any moment.
At V's command, the Endless-class carrier, the Long Night, the Hyperion, and the White Whale entered the wormhole in sequence. Passing through the surging torrents of the dark-matter ocean, they instantly arrived in the starfield two light-years from the Solar System.
The Singer ship was nearby, but the squad did not rush toward it. Their task was only to probe—charging in recklessly would be suicide.
Against an opponent of unknown strength, the only wise course was caution.
The Hyperion first launched three Droplets as probes. The Droplets' mobility and defense were exceptional, far surpassing most of the Megacorp's AI drones.
Using them as the first wave of testing was naturally the best choice.
At once, the three Droplets streaked across the black void like meteors, heading straight for the seemingly unguarded Singer vessel.
But in truth, the Singer had already detected the presence of the Megacorp's warship squad. The Seed ship's main computer could easily identify any suspicious object in its surroundings.
By identifying the Droplets, the Singer immediately judged that the intruders were constructs of the civilization that had just been annihilated—the Trisolaran system.
"So those low-entropy life-forms actually chased after us."
The Singer was surprised. In its long career, this had never happened before.
Ordinarily, when a civilization was "cleaned," a few remnants would always escape into deep space. That was normal, and the Singer paid them no mind.
After all, a civilization stripped of its home and foundation had no realistic chance of survival in this vast and brutal universe.
It was like expecting a primitive human to cross the Pacific Ocean on a raft—most would perish long before, and the chance of reestablishing civilization was practically nonexistent.
Yet this civilization, even after witnessing a dimensional strike, dared to pursue them for revenge. That, indeed, surprised the Singer.
The genetic instinct of every intelligent species placed survival and continuation as the highest priority. But this moth-to-flame, arms-against-a-cart approach ran counter to the very laws of nature.
Something so abnormal hinted at hidden trouble. Still, the Singer felt no fear. What seemed to humans an incredibly powerful Droplet was, in its eyes, nothing more than a toy.
The Singer was just an ordinary cleaner. But even the poorest of humans would not fear ants bristling with weapons—such resistance simply didn't matter.
Soon, the Singer activated the Seed's defense system, then leisurely returned to its work station.
In the next instant, several low-light-speed black holes appeared around the Singer vessel. They quickly merged into one, forming a deathly black domain that enveloped the Droplets.
Inside this low-light-speed domain, the Droplets' movement inevitably slowed. Their agility and defense no longer had any practical meaning.
Once trapped in the black domain, the Droplets were like deer stuck in a swamp—helplessly watching themselves sink deeper, never to escape.
Meanwhile, the Singer ship drove its far greater curvature engine through the domain, leaving behind a deathly trajectory, and with one surge of power flung the Droplets far behind.
The constructs that human civilization had once struggled so desperately to destroy were dismissed by the Singer without a second thought. This contemptuous response was like telling those behind the Droplets: The master does not care.
The Droplets' failure had already been within the Megacorp's expectations. If the Singer civilization were really so easily defeated, they wouldn't need to conduct dimensional strikes across such distances in the first place.
Watching the Droplets trapped forever, the Singer indifferently returned its attention to the main console, continuing to search for other civilization signals.
Such trifles were, to it, unbearably dull.
At the frontlines between its homeworld and the frontier civilizations, vast numbers of low-light-speed black holes had long since merged into one, stretching across tens of millions of light-years.
This colossal deathly barrier, like a Great Wall of the stars, effectively slowed the advance of frontier civilizations and bought the Singer civilization more time for dimensional conversion.
The low-light-speed defense system carried by the Seed ship was a standard measure from the frontlines, more than sufficient to shake off countless troublesome foes.
On the Megacorp's side, witnessing the Droplets' fate finally gave them a true sense of the enormous gulf between the Singer civilization and the Trisolarans.
Even an ordinary ship wielded a vast arsenal of law-level weapons, employed casually in the daily task of cleansing civilizations.
By comparison, the Megacorp's own methods—neutron annihilation, Manticore viruses, and other extinction weapons—were still cleaner, at least leaving no scars on the cosmic environment.
"These bastard dogs are rotten to the core. Always flinging around this kind of disgusting crap."
"First it's the two-dimensional foils, now it's these black domains—what a pack of damned beasts!"
Pani Wells cursed bitterly. To pollute a stretch of cosmic space like this was practically permanent. How much usable space had to vanish into nothing just to form these black domains?
It was like selling off your ancestral land and not caring.
Paul Atreides, however, wasn't surprised. There were far worse forms of pollution. In fact, black domains were relatively mild.
Those so-called godlike civilizations could pollute eleven-dimensional space until only three or four dimensions remained—that was the true crime.
The three-dimensional civilizations were merely following in the footsteps of their predecessors.
Lowering the speed of light and dimensional strikes were their compulsory lessons. Fail to learn them, and others would simply kill you and wipe you out.
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