Chapter 102: The Sudden Signal

Words : 1556 Updated : Sep 17th, 2025

In the dense gas resembling liquid mercury, Xiao Yu watched as the lightning’s extreme heat caused the gas to boil. The uneven distribution of heat created a powerful convection effect, throwing all the surrounding gas into chaotic turbulence within hundreds of meters. The movements resembled the ferocious undercurrents of the deep ocean. “This place is incredibly dangerous,” Xiao Yu thought, deeply alarmed. If the lightning were to strike his spaceship, even with the Energy Shield at maximum capacity, the ship would undoubtedly be destroyed. And this was only 200 kilometers into the interior of Aquila A. With a radius of 60,000 kilometers, Xiao Yu’s current position was merely the “skin” of the gas giant. With lingering fear, Xiao Yu glanced back at the spot where the lightning had struck before carefully continuing the descent. However, Xiao Yu soon realized a significant miscalculation. The pressure within the planet’s interior was far greater than anticipated. Originally, the Prospecting-Type 1 spaceship was designed to descend to depths of 5,000 kilometers, but now it seemed optimistic to reach even 1,000 kilometers. The gas giant’s environment was far too extreme, complex, and perilous. And this was just the interior of a gas giant—no nuclear fusion, relatively low temperatures. Xiao Yu could scarcely imagine the conditions inside a star’s core. Still, Xiao Yu had no intention of giving up. After all, it was just a spaceship; losing it would not be a major loss. If he happened to discover Liquid Gold deposits here, it would be an incredible find. The deeper he descended, the greater the pressure on the ship. Each seven-meter descent added another atmosphere of pressure. The buoyant forces here were also immense; if Xiao Yu hadn’t pushed the spaceship’s engines to their limits, the craft would have been forced upward by the overwhelming pressure. Despite the odds, Xiao Yu’s descent continued, reaching depths of 300 kilometers, then 400 kilometers... At 500 kilometers, Xiao Yu decided against descending further. The extreme conditions of the planet’s interior were beyond his expectations. Massive undercurrents, combined with the dense and heavy atmosphere, created a force so immense that even with the spaceship’s engines running at full power, it was nearly impossible to maintain stability. Any further descent risked losing control of the ship entirely—a death sentence. Still, Xiao Yu wasn’t willing to leave empty-handed. Holding onto a glimmer of hope, he activated the prospecting instruments. “Hydrogen... helium... hmm, iron, silicon... plenty of elements, but none of them useful,” Xiao Yu muttered, disappointed. Five minutes into the exploration, the ship was swept by an undercurrent to another location. Suddenly, the prospecting instruments reacted. Xiao Yu’s spirits lifted as he closely examined the data. The results were astonishing. Here, Xiao Yu detected a high-density compound containing Liquid Gold. Each kilogram of the compound could potentially yield 30 grams of pure Liquid Gold. Elated, Xiao Yu immediately piloted the spaceship to this region, opened the cargo hold, and began collecting the material. The Prospecting-Type 1 spaceship had a maximum capacity of 700 tons. From this haul, Xiao Yu estimated a minimum yield of 20 tons of pure Liquid Gold—enough to construct ten Town-Class spaceships. However, this area was likely an unusually rich deposit, and the high material mobility within the planet meant that subsequent expeditions might not be as fortunate. Nonetheless, proving the existence of Liquid Gold deposits within planetary interiors was significant enough. “The Luka scientists were correct. The cores of giant gas planets indeed have the conditions necessary for Liquid Gold production. Through the complex convection currents within the planet, some Liquid Gold is transported closer to the surface.” Xiao Yu concluded his observations. Once the Prospecting-Type 1 spaceship was fully loaded, Xiao Yu immediately piloted it out of the area. After ten hours, the Prospecting-Type 1 spaceship returned to the main base. Xiao Yu reported the findings to the Luka scientists, eliciting a round of cheers. The 700 tons of Liquid Gold compounds were immediately sent to the refinery, and after half an hour, 20 tons of Liquid Gold were successfully extracted. The material technology barrier had finally been overcome through the joint efforts of Xiao Yu and the Luka scientists. With the fuel efficiency problem as the next challenge, Xiao Yu felt confident in reaching the era of 10,000 kilometers per second travel. Having proven the feasibility of mining within the interior of gas giants, Xiao Yu promptly began constructing specialized mining spaceships. These ships, further optimized for efficiency, were rapidly deployed in the first fleet of 500. On average, these ships were projected to extract over 500 tons of Liquid Gold compounds per day. With this issue addressed, Xiao Yu simultaneously continued researching fuel efficiency while advancing the construction of the large particle collider around Aquila A. At this point, over 500,000 large accelerator rings had been constructed. Each was equipped with its propulsion system and Energy Shield and positioned strategically in space to drive technological progress. Everything was progressing in a flourishing direction. Three years later, a significant breakthrough was achieved in fuel efficiency. Xiao Yu increased the efficiency to 40%, meaning the same amount of fuel could now release double the energy compared to before. With the limitations of materials and fuel efficiency resolved, Xiao Yu began constructing a new fleet. This fleet far surpassed the Luka Civilization’s technological capabilities. It consisted of one new City-Class spaceship, 500 County-Class spaceships, and over 9,000 Village- and Town-Class spaceships. These ships boasted maneuverability, endurance, defense, and attack capabilities that far exceeded those of the Luka fleet Xiao Yu had encountered near Tianyuan IV. Unless the Luka Civilization used Level 4 Civilization superweapons, Xiao Yu now had the power to crush fleets of equal size. This indicated that Xiao Yu’s technological prowess had entirely surpassed that of the Luka Civilization at the time of their encounter. As for how far the Luka Civilization had advanced over the millennia, Xiao Yu could only speculate. However, Xiao Yu estimated the rate of technological progress across civilizations. Luka Two had once mentioned that 70 million years ago, the Sweepers obtained the Neutron War Star. For the subsequent 70 million years, the Neutron War Star roamed the galaxy undefeated. This suggested a critical truth. Civilizations reaching a certain level of development tend to stagnate for reasons yet unknown, with minimal progress even over thousands or millions of years. Thus, Xiao Yu was not overly concerned about falling behind technologically. It was unlikely for a civilization to remain an advanced cosmic power for thousands of years, then suddenly halt technological development and be overtaken by countless others. Xiao Yu’s new spaceships, with maximum fuel capacity, could now continuously accelerate to a speed of 10,000 kilometers per second without endurance issues. This was approximately 3.3% of the speed of light, granting Xiao Yu true interstellar travel capability. He no longer had to rely solely on time to cover vast distances. If Xiao Yu were to embark on a 10-light-year journey now, it would take just 300 years—a staggering twentyfold reduction compared to his first interstellar voyage. The joy of technological progress temporarily eased Xiao Yu’s burdens, and he felt that his journey was once again full of hope. While Xiao Yu was busy, an unusual message suddenly arrived. This message was neither sent via radio waves nor through quantum-entangled superluminal communication. Instead, it was transmitted in a manner resembling the Guardian Civilization’s spatial broadcasts, directly received by Xiao Yu’s equipment. “Hello, stranger from a technological civilization.” The first sentence, translated into Xiao Yu’s language, contained only nine simple words. Xiao Yu froze for a fraction of a second before reacting. The 100,000-plus spaceships stationed in orbit around Aquila A immediately began assembling and entering emergency combat readiness. The newly built spaceships, stationed on Moon One since their completion, also launched into space and prepared for battle. At that moment, a second sentence came through. “From the moment you arrived here, I have been observing you. Watching your gradual development over these five years reminded me of the time when my civilization was still young. Therefore, I’ve decided to offer you some help. Let me ask you: do you wish to rapidly enhance your strength?” The words were laden with a peculiar allure. Xiao Yu wasn’t naive enough to trust the message immediately. The dark universe had taught him to approach all unknowns with caution. He didn’t respond, and, naturally, he had no means to. Instead, he pondered in silence. “I know you lack the ability to broadcast via spatial communication and thus cannot reply to me. But that’s fine. I am in a binary star system 1.4 light-years away from you. If you wish to advance your technology quickly, come and find me. Remember, I will wait for you for only 50 years. If you fail to arrive within that time, I will lose interest in guiding you, and you will miss this unique opportunity.” That was the final message. No further transmissions followed. Xiao Yu mulled over the situation and suddenly felt a chill. “The binary star system 1.4 light-years away... That’s near the white dwarf...” Through a high-precision optical telescope, Xiao Yu observed the white dwarf flickering in the distance like the eye of a demon.

Chapter 102: The Sudden Signal

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