“Can you lock onto and detect them?”

“No, Captain. Their psionic interference system is at least one generation more advanced than our radar. We simply cannot lock onto them!”

In the command pod, Kotalen, the captain of the Wayfarer, belonging to the Talin Elder Council, had already secured himself in the pilot's seat with his four clawed limbs.

He sat very steadily, even when the propulsion nozzles suffered several damages, causing the ship to shake violently from time to time.

However, compared to his stable posture, Kotalen's heart was filled with unusual anxiety.

Since receiving the mission from the Elder Council fifteen days ago to 'explore the Black Zone Forbidden Area,' Wayfarer 12 had changed its original investigation mission and set off towards the periphery of the forbidden area located at the edge of the galaxy.

This was not a long journey, but it was definitely not simple. If Wayfarer 12 had started directly from the Talin homeworld instead of already being near the Black Zone Forbidden Area, it might not have reached the edge even with the latest generation warp engine, taking two or three years.

Even Wayfarer 12 had to occasionally enter planetary systems for safety, entering their inner orbits to replenish fuel and supplies from gas giants or planets. This greatly prolonged the exploration time.

Conservatively, Kotalen believed that it would take Wayfarer 12 at least four months to reach the planetary system inside the Black Zone Forbidden Area where the Ω-level psionic civilization might exist.

This was not long; for interstellar travel, it could even be considered very fast.

But who would have thought that Wayfarer 12 would encounter an exploration ship of a hostile force just ten days after setting off towards its destination?

Yes, a hostile force.

Since the Silent Era began, the original cosmic structure was completely wiped out and shattered. The most powerful and glorious interstellar empires and giants all self-destructed and collapsed due to the disappearance of psionics and hyperspace warp.

Therefore, the civilizations currently active on the galactic stage are basically reborn civilizations or native civilizations that have re-developed or emerged in the last few thousand years after the Silent Era.

Reborn civilizations, as the name suggests, originated from the homeworlds or colonies of many interstellar forces before the Silent Era. They relied on analyzing ancient technological relics to re-enter the starry sky – reborn civilizations sound good, but scavenging is more realistic.

Native civilizations, on the other hand, developed step by step on their own, avoided the biggest storms of the Silent Era, and entered the universe in recent times.

The Talin Elder Council is about half and half.

This race with four clawed limbs, similar to arthropods, was originally a native planet race within the sphere of influence of the 'Corporate Alliance,' a super civilization before the Silent Era. Their entire homeworld was a nature reserve established by the Corporate Alliance, a key target for primitive civilization observation.

However, with the arrival of the Silent Era, the Corporate Alliance disintegrated on the spot due to the disappearance of psionics and the disruption of communication and transportation. The Corporate Alliance researchers originally stationed on the Talin homeworld were also trapped in the observation station on the Talin homeworld's satellite due to the loss of supplies.

The Talin people then rapidly developed to the lunar landing era by reverse-analyzing the survey stations left by the Corporate Alliance scientists on their homeworld. Then, through the observation station technology on the satellite, they rapidly progressed and entered the interstellar stage.

They thought they could fully inherit the legacy of the Corporate Alliance, slowly learn from the experience of the former powerful civilization, and gradually transform into a higher civilization.

But unfortunately, they were not the only civilization to emerge from the legacy of the Corporate Alliance.

The 【Kelo Manufacturing Conglomerate】was such a civilization.

Born on the former industrial manufacturing planet of the Corporate Alliance, the 'Mechanical Manufacturing General Bureau,' the Kelo were originally artificial auxiliary races created by the Corporate Alliance to carry out various dangerous deep-space operations and some dangerous production work at close range.

The word Kelo meant 'laborer' in the language of the Corporate Alliance.

Their shape is similar to a regular dodecahedron. Except for the top and bottom, each face has an exceptionally strong multi-functional exoskeleton limb. This robot-like shape allows them to perform various complex maintenance and construction work in all aspects and terrains. The artificially designed exoskeleton shell allows the Kelo to survive in outer space to a certain extent – even without psionics.

With bodies far stronger than the normal races in the Corporate Alliance, the Kelo survived the disaster of the Silent Era. After losing their masters, they gradually developed considerable wisdom, then formed their own civilization, inherited the industrial manufacturing legacy of the Corporate Alliance, and entered the universe.

Coincidentally, the Kelo and the Talin were not far apart.

Twenty-five years ago, they discovered each other, and the result of the exchange was quite unfriendly.

The Kelo, who regarded themselves as the legitimate heirs of the Corporate Alliance, treated the Talin like monkeys who had walked out of the zoo and put on human clothes. Their attitude and actions were rude and disrespectful... In one diplomatic communication, the Kelo even put the Talin ambassador in a cage and displayed him to the public as an animal, declaring that this was the correct position for the Talin.

Since then, the relationship between the two civilizations has deteriorated sharply, and even many armed conflicts have occurred.

And they have the right to do so, because the Kelo, who were originally born on the industrial planet of the Corporate Alliance, are far stronger than the Talin in terms of both fleet and production capacity.

However, since they are both newborn civilizations after the Silent Era, the Kelo do not have the logistical capability to send a fleet to raid the Talin homeworld – and the Talin, as a native civilization, are far superior to the Kelo, who were only designed as laborers, in terms of psionic talent. Therefore, although the two sides are currently in a state of semi-war, there is no trend of any violent hot conflict.

But if they happen to meet in the universe, both the Kelo and the Talin will undoubtedly shoot down each other's ships.

And in most of these conflicts, the Kelo have the advantage.

Just like the current situation of Wayfarer 12 – because of the technological disadvantage, even if the Kelo exploration ship hidden in the dark launches an attack on them, they cannot lock onto the other party in return.

“That Kelo exploration ship obviously heard the warning signal from the ship in the Black Zone Forbidden Area, so they plan to go and see what's going on...”

At this moment, Wayfarer 12 suffered another attack – it was a particle beam with psionic elements that could be guided to another psionic target. If this attack were on the battlefield, it would not be easy to use, but in the empty universe, it is almost a guaranteed hit artifact.

Boom! Bright white light bloomed on the side of Wayfarer 12's trapezoidal appearance, creating a small gap. Automatic repair robots are urgently filling it, and it will not develop to the point where the ship stops – but if this continues, being shot down is only a matter of time, and now that they cannot lock onto the enemy, Talin reinforcements can never arrive before they are shot down.

In that case, Captain Kotalen has no choice.

“Display the star chart.”

After issuing the order, the crew immediately displayed the star chart on the light screen in the command pod.

Through his already electronic brained neural tumor, Kotalen rapidly browsed the star information in the star chart... Unfortunately, there are no planetary systems nearby that can be used for hiding, or special celestial bodies that can block search signals. They have no choice but to escape.

But where can they escape to? Even if they activate the warp engine, the other party can still track them based on the hyperspace signal – the Kelo's sensor technology is at least linked higher than theirs, and Kotalen doesn't think the other party can't do it.

But as the captain of a ship, Kotalen still has enough decision-making power in times of crisis.

“Long-distance warp, target the Black Zone Forbidden Area.”

Sending an electronic signal to notify every crew member in the exploration ship, Kotalen's tone was extremely calm, which made all the slightly panicked crew members calm down: “Don’t worry about energy anymore, warp continuously towards the source of the signal!”

Since there is a ship in the Black Zone Forbidden Area that can send psionic signals, then it proves that the ship should still be usable, and even have some energy.

As pursuers with a sure chance of winning, the Kelo's ship cannot be as desperate as they are, completely ignoring the danger of being trapped in an unfamiliar planetary system, and continuously warping, which consumes a lot of energy – using continuous warping, a suicidal method, to get rid of the pursuers, and then relying on the ship parts that sent the signal to repair Wayfarer and replenish energy to leave, this is his plan.

Continuous warping that lasts for more than ten days will lead to the failure of the plan if it fails even once.

Even if successful, the higher psionic civilization that may exist in the Black Zone Forbidden Area may destroy them as it destroyed the ship that sent the signal.

This is a glimmer of hope, and only a glimmer of hope.

But even at the risk of being annihilated by an Ω psionic civilization, for his own life, and the lives of many other Talin crew members, Kotalen must do so.

After hearing their captain's order, all the Talin crew members began to work silently.

Suddenly, among the stars, the trapezoidal ship began to change its course, and the originally bright propulsion engine began to gradually extinguish.

——Then, the light of pale gold psionic energy, like the morning light covering the earth, turned into a light gauze, covering the entire ship.

The buzzing sound in the spirit world sounded, and the warp engine in the center of the ship began to start, and the charging bar advanced rapidly.

In this way, accompanied by a phantom-like light and shadow change, the entire trapezoidal ship disappeared into the sky full of flying pale gold psionic light particles.

Earth Calendar, 2017, June 8, 11:23 PM.

Su Zhou brought the team members who were exhausted from the assessment to the large radio telescope matrix next to the northwest Gobi.

The starry sky was bright, and the Milky Way was like a waterfall. In the blue-black sky without urban light interference, stars were shining.

“Professor Su is good to you! Not only did he let you all pass the assessment, but he also brought you to see the stars!”

So said, Su Zhou laughed loudly, and threw Jin Qiong and others, who had a constipated look on their faces and were full of thoughts, into the research institute, and then prepared to go to the nearby green camp to pick up Shao Qiming: “Study hard, members of our New World Exploration Department, even if you can’t go to other planets in the future, it is still very possible to board a spaceship.”

After Su Zhou took off and left, a certain divine bird lady dared to stomp her feet angrily and secretly throw a tantrum: “What letting us pass the assessment, it is clear that our cultivation results are remarkable, and we can withstand lightning strikes!”

“Using thunder tribulation to test is simply abuse! It is power! Saying that ‘ancient gods used thunder tribulation as a test standard,’ and even wanting to promote thunder tribulation as an assessment method, all the candidates in the world must hate you to the core!”

“What you said makes sense.”

Just as Jin Qiong was complaining, the youth's voice came from afar. Su Zhou, who had unity of mind and could hear his own thoughts within a few kilometers, said leisurely: “But it is not a bad thing either.”

Immediately, Jin Qiong, who thought Su Zhou could not hear her and dared to speak, turned pale. The beautiful girl subconsciously pressed her heart, and even had a bit of Xizi holding her heart.

Li Yeyu, who was holding back her laughter, stepped forward, put her arm around the other's shoulder, and whispered in the blonde girl's ear: “Professor Su... his strength has improved again, now, should he have reached the realm of a high-level commander? It shouldn't be difficult to hear what you said from a few kilometers away.”

“Anyway, don’t arrange him in the future.”

Jin Qiong, whose legs were a little weak, immediately turned around and hugged back with tears in her eyes: “Wuwuwu, Yeyu, you are the best!”

On the other side, Guan Wanjing, who was full of muscles, was eager to try the radio telescope and had already begun to ask the automated Ai in the research institute about visiting matters, while Li Hanshan was not interested in these.

He was holding his mobile phone and coding rapidly – it was almost 12 o'clock, and if he didn't update, he might lose his full attendance and monthly votes.

On Earth, there are all kinds of beings. Although the world changes brought about by the revival of spiritual energy seem to have calmed down, both the large-scale afforestation action in the Gobi Desert of Zheng Guo and the land reclamation action in northwestern Europa are more practical changes to this world than the seemingly magnificent celestial changes.

In the Beast God Realm, Concord City has been built, and many divine beast offspring have been sent to it to carry out the first batch of humanized education and training; on the back of the moon, research on alien spaceships has gradually gotten on track, and the reverse cracking project led by the four permanent member states has begun to show some results.

Everything is moving forward, in a better direction.

Similarly, in that dark universe with countless black cracks spreading.

The stars are shining.