Chapter 1647 - 634: The Grief and Anger of the First-Class Mother Empresses

Chapter 1647: Chapter 634: The Grief and Anger of the First-Class Mother Empresses

One planet after another began to accelerate, gradually leaving their respective orbits.

The initial positions of different planets during acceleration varied, as did their acceleration rates,

but as they broke free from the star’s gravity, many planets roughly aligned in the same direction, only at different speeds.

Due to the protection of the space membrane shield, the atmosphere of the traveling planets did not disperse, yet the planets still dragged long comet tails in space.

This phenomenon was formed by high concentrations of stellar wind particles inside the star system colliding with the unusually moving planets and aggregating into clusters with the help of the planets’ gravity.

As the distance between the planets and the star increased, the light began to fade. Radiation towers on the planets’ surface commenced operation, beams of light shot into the sky, accurately hitting the high-energy modules embedded in the space membrane.

Then these modules started to emit a faint glow, reflecting light back onto the ground.

This is how the planet ships maintain the ecosystems on their surfaces during interstellar voyages.

The prototype of this technology originated from the Source Star Ship.

Initially, the Source Star Ship used anti-gravity high-altitude balloons. Tens of millions of anti-gravity balloons floated high in the sky, reflecting light onto the ground. Besides, the Source Star Ship extensively developed geothermal energy and nearly exhausted all fusion materials in the Source Star System. Thanks to this huge energy consumption, the Source Star Ship barely preserved the planet’s temperature during its millennial voyage.

Now, the performance of the space membrane shield has been improved again, with greater sealing efficacy, capable of absorbing and converting a large portion of the thermal radiation without needing anti-gravity high-altitude balloons for light supply, which is much more convenient.

Ren Zhong asked Um Wei Wu to look at the sky; in fact, Um Wei Wu didn’t see much. It could only see the Pegasus Constant Star moving farther and farther away during the daytime.

...

When the Hundred Emperors arrived at the burial ground of Long Guci, a month had already passed since the demise of Long Guci.

The remains of Long Guci and its subordinate army of reproductive subunits had all been dragged away.

This place was clean and empty, nothing was left.

The Hundred Emperors could still see the long trailing flames emitted by the accelerating Red Blade Fleet in the distance, along with speckles of twinkling light.

God knows what propulsion technology this Red Blade Fleet was using, as its absolute speed in three-dimensional space had exceeded 0.5 times the speed of light, yet it continued to accelerate, clearly out of reach.

Of course, the Hundred Emperors had no intention of pursuing. What if they strike back unexpectedly?

The Hundred Emperors didn’t even know what to say.

It suddenly recalled a joke from its years of battlefield battles.

Back then, it had just completed the assassination of the Empire’s military hub in the Hundred Clusters Star Domain. Exhausted and unwilling to cause more trouble, it carefully made a strategic retreat.

However, a sizeable Star Cluster Level Imperial Fleet discovered its whereabouts. The fleet noted its "weakened" state and resorted to gravity sling acceleration, desperately maximizing ion engine thrust, and finally caught up.

The Hundred Emperors could only graciously accept the opponent’s heads delivered to its doorstep.

After the event, the Hundred Emperors nicknamed this Imperial Fleet as the "Transport Captain." With the vast amount of materials and energy delivered across the stars by the so-called captain, the Hundred Emperors’ perilous return journey became smooth sailing.

"This Long Guci too was clearly a transport captain!" thought the Hundred Emperors to itself.

Next, it received new bad news.

The Eye of the Void above the Seventh Star Cluster—an enormous information stream scanning biological telescope—provided new intel.

The intel revealed that over fourteen thousand planets in the Seventh Star Cluster simultaneously left their orbits, flying into the distance.

Meanwhile, the hundred thousand planet ships of the Red Blade Army began slow acceleration, following those planets.

Numerous medium and large warships started ultra-slow acceleration as well.

Clearly, the Red Blade Army had drained the Seventh Star Cluster dry, preparing to make an escape.

Even the gluttonous existence of the universe like the Hundred Emperors, who never held back, felt it had broadened its horizons while watching the simulated images provided by the Eye of the Void.

Ruthless, truly ruthless.

They could really pack up and move.

Every sizable planet was slipping away.

The density of asteroid belts in thousands of planetary systems had decreased by 70% compared to before.

After the Red Blade Army departs, the total mass of the Seventh Star Cluster would drop by more than 5%.

Yet there was nothing the Hundred Emperors could do, chasing was not an option.

With Long Guci’s precedent, all five administrative Mother Empresses, including the Hundred Emperors, became compliant.

Fine, chase over to catch some exhaust fumes, then show some phony aggression to at least make it seem like they were there, and call it a day.

...

Five years passed.

Fifteen First-Class Mother Empresses finally reached the edges of the Seventh Star Cluster.

By then, the Seventh Star Cluster was peaceful and harmonious, silent and still.

The once stellar energy-absorbing biomembrane was gone, and the interstellar web transportation network within the star system was no longer present. The major biological hubs outside the fold jump subspace entrances in the cluster were also gone.

As far as the eye could see, aside from solo stars, only minuscule space debris resembling dust floated sparsely in the Seventh Star Cluster.

The Red Blade Army didn’t even spare the star rings. The saying "scraping the earth three feet deep" couldn’t compare.

If the stars in the Seventh Star Cluster could possess life and thought, they would probably jump out and curse the rogue actions of the Red Blade Army for not even leaving behind a fig leaf.

The Hundred Emperors and its peers could do nothing.

Pursuing? That’s unrealistic, they couldn’t catch up.

Garrison? No way, the enemy wasn’t foolish enough to return and meet their doom.

Conducting a cleansing and reestablishing control like the Ascenders did when occupying Imperial territories? Forget it, there’s barely anything left here except a few stars; what’s there to rule? Constructing biological hubs on the star’s surface?

The many Mother Empress Ships didn’t even contemplate establishing a Star Gate in the Seventh Star Cluster.

After all, once a Star Gate is established, defensive forces must be stationed. Without at least one First-Class Mother Empress staying behind, the defense wouldn’t hold. Long Guci’s lesson was clear to all Mother Empresses that leaving only one would likely just offer up another head.

If one remains, at least two First-Class Mother Empresses must stay. But none of the First-Class Mother Empresses were willing to remain in such a formerly flourishing, now desolate, bitter cold star zone.

After some discussion, the Hundred Emperors, half a local, took on the arduous task.

The other fourteen First-Class Mother Empresses were responsible for allocating resources and manpower to construct several routes linking the Seventh Star Cluster directly to other clusters, connecting with the star cluster’s internal subspace network, at least compressing the rescue time from over thirty years to under two years. If the Red Blade Army dared to return, the Ascenders wouldn’t be left helplessly watching.

The Hundred Emperors’ task was to release a plethora of new bacterial strains capable of space photosynthesis and element capturing.

These bacterial strains could consume particles in the stellar wind and use stellar radiation energy as a photosynthetic power source, continuously aggregating matter.

Then, in a few thousand years, at least a smaller habitable planet could be recreated around each star, roughly restoring the basic ecology of the Seventh Star Cluster.

Even if the Seventh Star Cluster turned into a desert, the Ascenders could not abandon it.

Just leaving it like this is absurd, in case the Red Blade Army only pretended to withdraw, waited a few decades, and then returned to continue accumulating power here.

In sum, the First-Class Mother Empresses felt quite aggrieved.

They certainly empathized with the hardships the people of the Mechanical Empire faced when confronted with them.