Ou Zhanpeng carefully explained the difficulties facing humanity, and Lei, listening intently, fell into deep thought.
The vast dining hall was silent, with only the sound of suppressed breathing echoing intermittently.
After a long while, Lei leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "I understand your ideas, but I regret that I don't know which civilization you are facing, nor do I know how to contact them."
Ou Zhanpeng was instantly filled with despair. "Is there no way at all?"
Lei hesitated before saying, "Not entirely."
"What should we do?"
Lei's expression was conflicted. "You should know why I chose to go into hibernation."
Ou Zhanpeng nodded. "Yes, I've read your diary."
"Then you should be aware that if we interfere with your decisions, you are very likely to repeat the mistakes of previous generations of civilization. Do you understand what I mean?"
Ling Xiao's cheek twitched. This guy was clearly traumatized by humanity's development, so afraid of humans going astray that he didn't even dare to offer an opinion.
Ou Zhanpeng was also puzzled. He tried to persuade Lei, "Without your help, we have no future. What's the point of talking about right or wrong paths? Besides, as long as human civilization continues to exist, even if we take a wrong turn, there's still a chance to correct it and start over, isn't there?"
Lei still refused. "Let me think about it."
Ou Zhanpeng tapped his finger, and a star chart of the solar system appeared on his terminal, with several stars blinking continuously.
He pointed to the star chart. "Do you see? Each blinking point represents a supernova cannon. This includes our location. No one knows when they will activate, and no one knows how much impact they will have on Earth after these stars explode. We are standing at the brink of life and death, survival and extinction. If we still had enough time, we could evacuate all humans from Earth. The problem is that time is the scarcest resource now. We are out of time!"
Noticing Lei's continued hesitation, Ou Zhanpeng added more pressure. "Lei, you created humanity not to watch us perish, right?"
Lei's expression finally changed. He nodded and said, "I'd rather see you develop on your own and see how far you can go."
Ou Zhanpeng immediately seized on the key point. "From beginning to end, we have developed on our own. It was true in the past, it is true now, and it will be true in the future. It's just that now, we need a little help from our creator."
"Creator?" Lei's expression was peculiar. "I like that term."
"Then are you willing to help us?" Ou Zhanpeng asked.
"As I said, I don't know how to contact the civilization you mentioned," Lei replied.
Ou Zhanpeng was instantly plunged back into despair. Was there truly no way?
The others also looked crestfallen, their faces as if their parents had died and their spouses had remarried. After all the effort to revive this prophet, this was the result?
The chief cook was also displeased, banging his ladle against the pot and mumbling incessantly, "All that food wasted. Even a dog would wag its tail for you if you fed it!"
Just then, Lei suddenly said, "Why not destroy the devices that ignite these stars?"
Destroy?
Ou Zhanpeng blinked. "We've tried. We couldn't."
Lei looked puzzled. "How is that possible? How did you try?"
Ou Zhanpeng listed them off his fingers. "Particle disintegration cannons, thermal fusion rays, spatial shockwaves – we tried every weapon we had, but it was useless. We couldn't even penetrate their shields."
"That's all?" Lei's expression was extremely strange. "Didn't you try anything else?"
Ou Zhanpeng suddenly realized something. "Are there other exceptionally powerful weapons in the base?"
"Of course!" Lei agreed with such alacrity that everyone's hopes were rekindled at that moment.
"Follow me!" Lei rose and left the dining hall, leading the way deeper into the base.
Gong Yiding's eyes lit up as he saw the direction Lei was heading.
Despite the base having been under human control for many years, there were still areas that humans had never set foot in, and secrets that they had never touched.
Whether it was the military, Gong Yiding, or Ou Zhanpeng, they had all considered the idea of forcibly breaching these areas. However, these unknown regions were likely crucial to the base. At best, damaging them would result in the partial loss of the base's functions. At worst, it could lead to the complete paralysis of the entire base.
From the moment humanity left the solar system... no, from the moment the "broken ships" appeared in Earth's orbit, humanity was no longer a planet that lived in peace. Instead, it had to face all sorts of tribulations from interstellar space.
Although human military strength had made significant progress over the years, and they possessed a preliminary ability to protect themselves, when it came to high-end firepower, the Star Ark base was their only hope.
Whether it was the military or anyone else, as long as they understood the crisis facing humanity, they would never dare to risk the base being paralyzed.
Therefore, those areas remained sealed, and to this day, no one knew what secrets were hidden within those mysterious forbidden zones.
Lei soon arrived near the docking bay.
This was not the docking bay for manufacturing warships, but the exclusive docking bay for the Star Ark itself.
Upon realizing this, everyone's spirits soared further. Ou Zhanpeng cautiously ordered irrelevant personnel to return to their posts.
Not long after, the group reached the end of a sealed corridor. Lei did something, and an entire wall simply became ethereal, shocking everyone.
No wonder they could never open it; the activation method was so advanced!
Lei stepped in first, and the others followed, only to discover that this mysterious space housed half a warship. Based on its design, it appeared to be a Star Ark of the same model that was still under construction!
It wasn't cut in half in the middle, but rather sliced horizontally, with only the upper half of the warship visible, lacking its belly and lower decks.
Ou Zhanpeng really wanted to ask what was going on, and if this warship was even more powerful than the Star Ark, such that its completion could destroy the supernova cannons.
But Lei didn't give him the chance. He walked a few steps to the other side of the hangar. The wall there also became ethereal, and everyone could clearly see the Star Ark on the other side.
Then, gravity disappeared. Several impossibly thin mechanical arms clamped onto the warship, moving the half-completed warship out of the hangar.
Several other mechanical arms secured the Star Ark, and more arms extended from the cabin walls, suddenly piercing into the Star Ark.
It was as easy as slicing tofu.
The thought spontaneously crossed everyone's mind: was the Star Ark so fragile?
However, the subsequent change astonished everyone. The upper half of the Star Ark was lifted by those mechanical arms with ease. The crew members still inside the warship were stunned, their mouths agape as they looked up, as if frozen in place.
How could it be fine one moment and open the next?
The mechanical arms immediately detached the half-ship they had just retrieved from the hangar. Dozens of mechanical arms probed the hull of the Star Ark, and in no time, the new upper section was fitted.
Even the slowest learner realized at this point that it wasn't an unfinished warship, but some kind of module for the Star Ark.
"What is this?" Ou Zhanpeng asked blankly.
"This is a star-annihilator cannon," Lei said with a sigh. "Given humanity's development speed, I thought it was too early to hand it over to you now, but the situation you face is indeed far more dire than I imagined."
Gong Yiding's heart skipped a beat. So all those mysterious spaces in the base were deliberately sealed off?
And they talked about handing over the base to humanity. Was this considered handing it over?
If this fellow hadn't suddenly detected something was wrong and awakened, who knew when these hidden secrets would have been discovered.
Cough!
Given humanity's current predicament, whether they would have a chance to discover them was debatable. Perhaps they would only find out about the advanced weaponry hidden in the base when aliens destroyed the Star Ark base.
What was all this about?
"Star-annihilator cannon?" Ou Zhanpeng repeated subconsciously.
Now, everything became clear. The upper half of the Star Ark was actually the weapon section, while the lower half integrated functional modules such as power, propulsion, and life support.
There was no rule stating that modularity was exclusively a human patent, but the prophet's warship designs were incredibly advanced.
Lei looked down at Ou Zhanpeng. "It cannot turn stars into supernovae, but it can destroy planets. Whatever is there, it can destroy it all."
Ou Zhanpeng let out a long sigh. "I understand... Are there any other modules?"
Lei was taken aback and didn't answer immediately.
Ou Zhanpeng immediately guessed the answer but didn't pry further. Instead, he changed the subject. "If used at a lower power setting, could it preserve the planet and only destroy the supernova cannons?"
From the bottom of his heart, he didn't want to destroy planets, even if there was no life on them.
"Theoretically, yes, but as you just said, the shields of the supernova cannons are very strong. If the shields cannot be destroyed, then only the planet can be destroyed."
"Oh!" Ou Zhanpeng nodded. "Are there any other weapons on this module? It can't just be the star-annihilator cannon, can it?"
"There are thermal fusion cannons and spatial shockwaves," Lei said. "The advantage of the shear cannon is its long range, and the advantage of the star-annihilator cannon is its immense power."
Hearing this, Ou Zhanpeng understood.
So, the previous one was a module that focused on long-range attacks, equivalent to a sniper. This one, however, focused on power, equivalent to heavy artillery.
Both had their advantages, with their common disadvantage being their enormous size.
"Actually, it's not impossible to turn a star into a supernova!" Lei suddenly said in a peculiar tone.
It sounded like he was somewhat unwilling to be surpassed by another civilization, with a hint of showing off.
Ou Zhanpeng's mind raced, and he immediately thought of a possibility. "You're not talking about spacetime bubbles, are you?"
"You guessed right, it's spacetime bubbles!" Lei said. "I don't know how the supernova cannons work, but we can accelerate the stars!"
Ou Zhanpeng suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. "Let's forget it. What better things could we do with that time? If we used it for research, humanity might even be able to utilize neutron stars."
From ordinary stars to red giants, and from red giants to supernovae, each stage took hundreds of millions of years. The Star Ark base could achieve this, but with that much leisure time, it would be better to cultivate more generations of researchers.
"Utilize neutron stars?" Lei looked stunned. "You certainly have some ideas."
Ou Zhanpeng grinned. "Just a random thought, don't take it seriously!"
Novels often featured the use of neutron stars, but anyone with a modicum of common sense knew that mining or utilizing neutron star matter, while not impossible, was extremely difficult.
First, one must overcome the gravitational pull of a neutron star, which requires a sufficiently powerful artificial gravity field to counteract it. Otherwise, even landing would be impossible, let alone development.
Some might argue that by hollowing out a space in the center of a neutron star, gravity would cancel itself out.
Theoretically, this could be achieved, but in reality?
Setting aside the issue of how to extract neutron star matter, even if one could land and extract it, what would be the ultimate outcome?
The gravity of a neutron star is so strong that it crushes atomic structures. Since it consists entirely of neutrons with no other microscopic material structure, neutron star matter should be a fluid-like substance, similar to a liquid.
Therefore, any space within a neutron star would be flooded by the flowing neutrons, rather than supporting a fixed internal space like ordinary matter.
Even if, as some theories suggest, neutron star matter is the hardest substance in the universe, it depends on whether gravity allows for space to exist within a neutron star.
One theory posits that neutron stars have a solid outer shell composed of dense iron atoms, with fluid neutron star matter beneath it.
Ou Zhanpeng strongly disagreed with this viewpoint – if other matter was compressed into neutrons, why would iron be spared?
In any case, opinions are just speculation, calculations, or something else, unless backed by overwhelming evidence. It's a matter of "everyone has their own reasons," with no need for debate or targeting. Sooner or later, humanity would uncover all the secrets of the universe.
By then, let alone neutron stars, perhaps even black holes would be within humanity's grasp.
Lei didn't take Ou Zhanpeng's words to heart, dismissing them as ramblings.
Ou Zhanpeng was impatient. "There's no time to lose. I want to start immediately. Is that okay?"
Lei shrugged. "Of course. This base has been handed over to you."
His tall stature and large physique made the shrugging gesture seem particularly imposing.
Ou Zhanpeng curled his lips into a smile. "Elder Gong, please entertain our prophet. Everyone else, board the ship and prepare to depart!"
Gong Yiding was displeased. "What's this? You're not planning to take me?"
"We have to leave one of us behind, don't we?" Ou Zhanpeng said righteously. "You can watch the live broadcast from the base, can't you?"
"Don't joke. I can watch the live broadcast, but can you move the base first before returning to deal with this planet?" Gong Yiding reminded him in time.
Ou Zhanpeng immediately came to his senses. "Yes, yes, you're right. Look at my brain, I almost forgot!"
As they spoke, Gong Yiding had already relayed the orders. Various departments within the base made preparations for movement. Soon after, Ou Zhanpeng moved the base to the outskirts of the galaxy.
Subsequently, the Star Ark separated from the base.