Chapter 129: A Severed Finger

Words : 1522 Updated : Sep 21st, 2025

Because Xiao Yu’s fleet and the unidentified black dot were moving toward each other, their combined relative speed reached an astounding 18,000 kilometers per second. At such a high velocity, they would merely pass by each other, making it impossible to capture the object. Thus, Xiao Yu’s capture fleet first needed to decelerate, reducing the relative speed between themselves and the black dot. Only under low relative velocity could they successfully capture it. The location was within a cosmic dust belt, where the material density was hundreds of times higher than that of interstellar vacuum. At this density, any high-speed object would inevitably collide with interstellar dust, emitting weak radiation in the process. By detecting this radiation, Xiao Yu could identify any nearby objects with mass and velocity traversing the area. In fact, Xiao Yu’s fleet itself constantly emitted such radiation. If any hidden presence were deliberately searching, they could easily gather data on Xiao Yu’s fleet, including the number, size, and mass of the ships. This was the drawback of navigating within a nebula: any object with sufficient speed and size would inevitably expose its position. The fragment from the white dwarf Alien Beast undoubtedly possessed these characteristics. Thus, as long as Xiao Yu’s initial predictions were accurate and the fragment passed through this region, no matter how dark the environment or how faint the visible light, Xiao Yu would find it. The search involved a total of 30,000 spacecraft. These ships were arranged in a vast circular formation with a diameter of 1 billion kilometers, akin to a massive net. The effective search range reached 5 billion kilometers in diameter. If the black dot entered this range, Xiao Yu would undoubtedly detect it. While observational data could never be entirely error-free—meaning Xiao Yu couldn’t pinpoint the exact trajectory of the black dot—the 5-billion-kilometer net covered all possible paths. Xiao Yu was at least 90% confident of capturing it. With one day remaining until the estimated time of encounter, Xiao Yu’s capture fleet had reduced their relative speed with the black dot to 50 kilometers per second. All detection devices aboard the 30,000 spacecraft were operating at full power. Any radiation passing through the region would be captured. These signals would undergo preliminary screening by automated systems, and any data meeting certain criteria but beyond the capabilities of the automated programs would be sent to Xiao Yu for processing. At this level of precision, trillions of data points were captured every second, with tens of millions of possible matches being handed over to Xiao Yu for review. Amid this ocean of data, Xiao Yu was meticulously searching for the target signal. “Too far. The estimated radiation source is 300 billion kilometers away. Not this one...” “Intensity too low. The relative motion to the nebula is only 1,000 kilometers per second. Not this one...” Gradually, Xiao Yu filtered through the data until one signal caught his attention, causing his eyes to brighten. “A relative motion speed of 6,700 kilometers per second relative to the nebula. The radiation source is 700 million kilometers away... Hmm, back-calculating the trajectory shows its orbit overlaps almost perfectly with the Aquila Two binary system. This is it!” Xiao Yu immediately locked the target with the fleet’s observational instruments. As the analysis deepened, more data surfaced. “Based on multi-point radiation intensity measurements, it’s irregularly shaped... Hmm, but overall cylindrical. Its diameter is approximately 300 meters, length about 1 kilometer, with a volume of roughly 70 million cubic meters. Its mass... about 350 million tons.” “I wonder which part of the white dwarf Alien Beast’s body this is,” Xiao Yu mused while maneuvering the landing ships to prepare for capture. Given the current data, their relative speed was 50 kilometers per second, with a distance of 170 million kilometers between them. The estimated encounter was 40 days away. However, Xiao Yu didn’t intend to wait that long. He accelerated the landing ships forward at 2,000 kilometers per second. As they approached, the landing ships spread out, forming a cylindrical formation. Once the unidentified object passed through this cylinder, the ships would attach to it one by one, like leeches latching onto a host. Five days later, the first spacecraft finally encountered the object. The relative speed between Xiao Yu’s spacecraft and the unidentified object was 300 kilometers per second. However, this velocity posed no challenge to the exceptional maneuverability of the spacecraft. After just over a hundred seconds of reverse acceleration, the relative speed was reduced to 1 kilometer per second, and with a few seconds of precise maneuvering, it was further lowered to 100 meters per second. At this point, a nearby ship deployed five artificial suns. The so-called artificial suns were oversized illumination flares. Spaced tens of thousands of kilometers apart, these flares illuminated the entire region within their range. Now only 30 kilometers away from the object, Xiao Yu finally saw its full form through the visible light spectrum. It was a roughly cylindrical object, tapering at one end, black in color, and covered in uneven protrusions and indentations. Upon seeing this, Xiao Yu reached a conclusion. “This... this must be part of the white dwarf Alien Beast’s... finger. Yes, it’s most likely the terminal segment of one of its fingers.” The hand structure of the white dwarf Alien Beast was similar to that of a human, featuring segmented fingers. This object appeared to be the terminal phalanx of one of its digits, as Xiao Yu observed a structure resembling a fingernail at the narrower end. For the white dwarf Alien Beast, this was just a piece of a finger—insignificant compared to its overall size. But to Xiao Yu, it was a colossal object. To capture it, Xiao Yu had deployed 30,000 spacecraft. The disparity in strength between the two sides became glaringly apparent at this moment. As Xiao Yu finally made contact with the entity’s physical remains, he couldn’t help but feel a deep sense of awe—like gazing up at a towering mountain, inspiring both reverence and humility. The first small spacecraft initiated the landing operation. It was a Village-Class vessel, the smallest in Xiao Yu’s fleet but also the most maneuverable. Slowly approaching the object, the ship used finely tuned thrusters to make a precise landing on its surface. The hatch opened, and hundreds of robots equipped with miniature thrusters emerged. They carried a rocket-engine-like device, drilled into the object, and securely attached it. During the drilling process, Xiao Yu discovered that the object’s material was not as hard as he had anticipated. Based on his calculations, this level of structural strength wouldn’t even support the immense weight of the Alien Beast. However, without detailed material analysis, Xiao Yu couldn’t provide an explanation. After installing the first engine, the robots proceeded to install a second one. Following a specific pattern, they installed over a hundred engines on the object before returning to the Village-Class ship and departing. Of course, before leaving, they collected a small sample of the material to be sent to the Yanjing for analysis. Under the illumination of the five artificial suns, every detail of the object’s surface became visible. Xiao Yu closely analyzed every wrinkle, protrusion, and crevice. Once the first ship departed, the second wave of fifty ships arrived. The object’s surface area was approximately one square kilometer. These fifty ships spread out over the area, initiating a flurry of activity. At least 100,000 robots swarmed the object, propelled by their thrusters, bustling about in the confined space. Flashes of light and shadows of robots darted across the surface. Following the second wave was a third wave of over 100 ships, adding even more robots and engines to the operation. Because of the object’s immense size, Xiao Yu couldn’t fit it into any of his ships. He also hesitated to dismantle it for fear of damaging its structure. Therefore, he opted to install engines and transform it into a makeshift spacecraft with basic propulsion capabilities. This way, it could accompany the fleet to the Aquila Three system, where it could be studied in detail. Besides engines, the robots installed protective shielding devices on the object. These would safeguard it from collisions with interstellar debris. While the robots worked across the surface, Xiao Yu made an unexpected discovery. A strange conical spacecraft was embedded in the object. The cone-shaped ship was skewered into the material at an angle. It measured about 15 meters in length, with a base diameter of approximately 8 meters—smaller than Xiao Yu’s Village-Class ships. “What is this? Could it be a passing ship that accidentally collided with the object and became stranded? Or perhaps this ship was captured by the white dwarf Alien Beast for some reason and remained imprisoned until the nova explosion ejected it along with the severed finger, launching it into this cosmic journey?” Xiao Yu pondered while commanding the robots to excavate the conical ship. Once extracted, it was loaded onto a Town-Class ship and transported to the City-Class flagship, the Shijiazhuang, for further analysis.

Chapter 129: A Severed Finger

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