Wolf 1061, Lanzhou Research Station.
This is a red dwarf star only 14 light-years from Earth. Three planets orbit the star, and the second planet, Wolf 1061c, was once considered the second closest habitable planet to Earth.
The closest suspected habitable planet is Proxima Centauri b.
However, on-site investigations proved that Proxima Centauri b's natural environment was even harsher than imagined; the military wasn't even interested in setting up a research station here.
Wolf 1061c was slightly better. At the very least, the military had established a research station here. Although its scale was far from that of New Orange Star, it still had over a hundred personnel stationed there.
At precisely 8:00 standard time, He Yuqiong entered the communications station and greeted her on-duty companion, "Anything happening?"
"No, everything's normal." Shen Jiating, who had pulled an all-nighter, stretched, her beautiful figure fully displayed.
He Yuqiong checked the communication logs and, confirming there were no issues, signed the document.
Shen Jiating rolled her eyes in exasperation, striking a pose of injured vulnerability like Xi Shi holding her heart, "You don't trust me that much? My dear, don't you love me anymore?"
He Yuqiong smiled slightly, "How could I not? It's just the regulations." She didn't have time to fool around with this drama queen!
Shen Jiating pouted, "You're so boring, can't you cooperate a little?"
He Yuqiong chuckled, "Go find your Brother Pan. He'll definitely cooperate unconditionally!"
Brother Pan, whose name was Pan Yue, worked in the damage control department. He was a decent person, just a bit blunt and honest, the type of dull fellow whom girls liked the least.
"Him? Forget it." Shen Jiating shivered instinctively, "You watch, I'm leaving now. See you."
"See you!"
Just as Shen Jiating was about to exit, the communication console suddenly emitted an urgent beeping sound. She immediately turned around and took a swift step to her seat, "Emergency communication from the New Orange Star system!"
He Yuqiong acted swiftly, "Received, connecting... Connected!"
Static hissed from the equipment, and a faint, distorted voice could be heard, "Orange Light calling... hiss... New Orange Star... hiss... please immediately send to Earth... hiss hiss..."
The two women exchanged glances.
"What happened?" Shen Jiating asked in surprise.
"Separate the audio track immediately!" He Yuqiong moved quickly, pulling the audio file into visualization analysis software to eliminate extraneous background noise.
As soon as she separated the audio file and was about to click to replay it, the soft lights in the communications room suddenly turned a dim, bloody red. Simultaneously, an alarm blared, and a voice echoed throughout the entire ship: "Unidentified wormhole detected, unidentified wormhole detected..."
The two women could no longer bother with anything else, immediately switching to the public channel, "Lanzhou calling, Lanzhou calling, please state your identity immediately!"
They quickly received a reply, "Lanzhou, this is the battleship Orange Ark. The New Orange Star system has been attacked by an unknown fleet. My ship is ordered to transfer all scientific research personnel. My ship will immediately return to the Solar System. Please immediately warn other star systems. Repeat, please immediately warn other star systems!"
Now everything was clear.
He Yuqiong urgently replied, "The New Orange Star system has encountered an attack by an unknown fleet; we must immediately warn other star systems!"
At the same time, Shen Jiating reported this news to the high command of the research station.
Once confirmed that the research station had received the warning, the Orange Ark activated a wormhole and departed.
Upon receiving the news, the station chief attached great importance to it. He quickly issued an evacuation alert, ordering everyone to evacuate the research station as quickly as possible. They then left with the two battleships stationed at Wolf 1061, heading to the nearest star system to deliver this message.
Not long after, there was no trace of anything unusual, no sign of human activity could be found.
When the research station was designed, it had considered the possibility of being attacked by space pirates or even other civilizations. Therefore, from the beginning, it was disguised as an asteroid. Once the personnel evacuated and it was sealed, the research station would enter a dormant state. Its volume and mass would be identical to that of an ordinary small celestial body.
The possibility of being discovered by the enemy was extremely low.
In the future, when the warning was lifted and personnel returned, it could be reactivated and used again.
Solar System, near the Moon.
Six formations, each consisting of twelve large ships and an equal number of heavy battleships, floated silently above the Moon.
In the supreme command, the three top leaders Zhou, Shan, and Mu, along with many high-ranking officials, watched this scene in real-time through remote data feeds.
At 8:00 AM sharp, headquarters received a report from Luojianshan: "Headquarters, the immigration fleet is ready to depart. Please issue instructions!"
Zhou Guangyi took charge without hesitation, picking up the conversation, "Comrades, fellow countrymen, today marks another departure for the deep space immigration fleet. I said during the departure of the first two fleets that you are the hope and future of humanity. Today, I still want to say that the immigration fleet is not only scattering the torch of humanity into the farther depths of space, but also carrying forward the torch of human civilization!"
"I have only one request for you: no matter where you eventually take root, whether it be a hundred light-years, a thousand light-years, or ten thousand light-years away, always remember where you came from, remember the heritage in our blood, remember where our roots lie!"
At this point, Zhou Guangyi was filled with emotion, "Comrades, fellow countrymen, I wish you a safe journey. My words are finished!"
A voice immediately appeared in the communication channel, "Headquarters, Expedition Nine requests departure!"
"Expedition Ten requests departure."
"Expedition Eleven..."
"Expedition Twelve..."
Zhou Guangyi took a deep breath and waved his hand decisively, "Depart!"
The four fleets activated their wormholes in succession, flying in different directions towards their respective targets.
This was the third departure of the human immigration fleet.
Logically speaking, although humanity's development was rapid, it was far from reaching the level of deep space immigration. Venturing into deep space at this time was not only time-consuming and labor-intensive but also carried immense risks.
Humanity had only recently ventured beyond the Solar System, and had always operated in the vicinity. Any farther was unfamiliar space.
No one knew what dangers lay hidden in those distant deep spaces.
Perhaps it was tranquility, but it could also be violent cosmic storms or dangerous deep-space celestial bodies.
But precisely because space was so dangerous, humanity had to colonize deep space.
As the old saying goes, don't put all your eggs in one basket. Therefore, the military resolutely launched the immigration plan. Even if the vast majority of immigration fleets couldn't find suitable planets, as long as three to five fleets succeeded, it would be a victory for all of humanity.
Many people worried that the colonial planets were too far away, and even if colonization was successful, they would be separated forever. By the time they re-established contact with Earth, it would be an unknown amount of time later.
But the higher-ups didn't think so. The purpose of immigration was not to expand humanity's territory but to take precautions against unforeseen events on Earth.
Life was too fragile. Foreign invasions or even brief interstellar disasters could wipe humanity off Earth.
Therefore, deep space immigration was imperative.
Hence, whether to obey Earth was never the key.
"Yi Di entering Hua Xia makes them Hua Xia; Hua Xia entering Yi Di makes them Yi Di."
Some of our little friends on Blue Star were still talking about bloodline inheritance, as if their own bloodline was so noble.
But in China, the foundation of civilization lay in cultural identity, not bloodline or race, let alone who ruled.
In this small patch of China, regardless of whether one was surnamed Zhao, Qian, Sun, or Li, tracing back dozens of generations of ancestors, whose family hadn't been prosperous? Talking about nobility and bloodlines? What nonsense! Here, only livestock talked about pure bloodlines.
Therefore, the most significant meaning of deep space immigration was to branch out. Even if Earth were destroyed, humanity could continue to be passed down.
The departure ceremony concluded successfully, and the participants left in sequence.
However, just then, a wormhole appeared at the edge of the star system. The remote early warning system immediately issued a warning, and alarms blared in the command hall. Everyone immediately stopped, looking around in surprise.
A few seconds later, the communications department made contact with the Orange Ark, confirmed its identity, and the alarm was lifted.
Everyone continued to leave.
However, observant individuals immediately realized that something was wrong. The Orange Ark should have been stationed in the New Orange Star system; why was it returning to Earth at this time?
Zhou Guangyi realized this and immediately left the command hall, connecting with the Orange Ark's communication, "This is Zhou Guangyi."
"Greetings, Commander. This is the Orange Ark. Earlier today, the New Orange Star system was attacked by an unidentified fleet..."
The Orange Ark explained the situation in the most concise terms and also sent back the video it had recorded before departing.
As the Orange Ark recounted the events, Zhou Guangyi and the others' expressions changed repeatedly.
Although everyone had long known that humanity was still weak at this time and that invasions by extraterrestrial civilizations would eventually occur, they still felt a sense of unreality when this day actually arrived.
"Understood." Zhou Guangyi's tone was calm, "Orange Ark, you will immediately return to Earth. First, send the scientific research personnel to Luojianshan. We will discuss the rest later."
"Yes, the Orange Ark understands!"
After the communication ended, Zhou Guangyi furrowed his brow deeply and looked at Shan Qiuyu and Mu Xingyu, "Order the stationed fleets to immediately enter Level One alert; notify the strategic reserve forces to return to Earth immediately; order the front-line fleets to prepare for reinforcement!"
"Yes!"
"Order the fleets to contract their defensive perimeter, withdraw from Jupiter, and seal Spirit God Star; order the stationed fleets to blockade the research stations and withdraw from the star system to await orders. Order the staff department to immediately formulate a combat plan!"
"Yes!"
"Also, immediately issue a notice to inform our other小伙伴 about the basic situation and ask the global population to prepare for evacuation, reminding all parties to stock up on food and water, and to close all non-essential public places!"
"Yes!"
A series of orders were issued immediately. The units that received the orders sprang into action. From the Kuiper Belt at the edge of the star system to the magnificent Saturn rings; from the radiant Jupiter to Spirit God Star, which was rich in mineral deposits, all the battleships stationed in the Solar System moved.
Not long after, the human fleets fighting the star beasts on the front lines, the strategic reserve fleets hidden outside the Solar System; and the defense fleets of various star systems all took action upon receiving the orders.
Human armed forces operated like a precision machine, running at high speed with unprecedented efficiency—as the fleet's scale continued to expand, the space fleet underwent a new round of reorganization.
First, the stationed fleets responsible for defending the Solar System, commanding over 300 battleships, were more than sufficient to deal with space pirates or low-intensity conflicts.
Second, the deep space fleets responsible for offensive operations, further divided into stationed fleets in various star systems, front-line fleets confronting star beasts, and strategic reserve fleets guarding against potential enemies, totaling over 1,700 battleships.
At this moment, no one knew the identity of the enemy, but from the images brought back by the Orange Ark, it was confirmed that this was a premeditated, large-scale invasion event, not a minor skirmish involving a few pirate ships.
Therefore, no matter how much importance was attached to it, it would not be excessive.
"Should we recall the Star Ark?" Shan Qiuyu cautiously suggested.
Without exaggeration, the Star Ark was humanity's strongest weapon, bar none.
At the current stage, the Star Ark was equivalent to the soul of the human fleet. With the Star Ark present, all battleships had a retreat and a fallback; without the Star Ark, even the three top leaders Zhou Guangyi, Shan Qiuyu, and Mu Xingyu felt uneasy, as if they had several rabbits nesting in their hearts.
Zhou Guangyi remained silent for a moment, but ultimately shook his head, "The negotiations are at a critical juncture. This is not just a matter for us humans; it will affect the interests of so many interstellar allies. My suggestion is that unless absolutely necessary, the Star Ark should not be recalled."
Mu Xingyu pondered for a moment, "Why not attack earlier, or later? Why did they choose this particular moment to appear? Could the enemy be related to the Roel people?"
Shan Qiuyu immediately understood the implication, "You mean... to disrupt the negotiations?"
"Yes!" Mu Xingyu said, "They say coincidence makes a story, but this is too coincidental!"
"Highly possible!" Zhou Guangyi nodded, "So many battleships, and with the Roel people supporting them behind the scenes..."
"Hey, look here!" Shan Qiuyu suddenly pointed at the screen.
The screen displayed the video brought back by the Orange Ark, showing a group of alien warships with unfamiliar designs.
Where Shan Qiuyu pointed, two battleships had completely different shapes from the others.
"Still a joint fleet?" Zhou Guangyi exclaimed in disbelief, "Could there be two ship designs?"
"I don't think so," Shan Qiuyu said. "Warships of the same civilization usually have some similarities in their designs, but these two types of warships are completely different in style."
"Regardless of how many civilizations' warships are involved, the problem now is how to deal with this crisis... I think it's possible that the Roel people are willing to step forward, so they are secretly supporting other civilizations to attack Earth. This way, even if Earth is destroyed, the Roel people won't be blamed."
"Makes sense!" Shan Qiuyu said. "Let's still inform the Star Ark. That way, if there are any unexpected events, it can provide timely reinforcement."
"Inform them," Zhou Guangyi finally nodded. "Also, send this video over and let the Star Ark identify it, to see if it knows which civilization's warships these are."
Passive defense was not the military's style. Since the enemy dared to attack proactively, they must bear the consequences of their attack!
War may start when the enemy dictates, but when it ends must be decided by humanity!