Chapter 179: The Aging Star

Words : 1532 Updated : Sep 25th, 2025

Before mastering elemental decay technology, whether it was the nuclear fusion Xiao Yu mainly relied on or the nuclear fission he had already abandoned, both had extremely strict requirements regarding fuel for example, fusion required hydrogen, and fission demanded heavy elements like uranium or plutonium. But elemental decay had no such requirement. Any element could be used as fuel. In other words, even the lightest element, hydrogen, could be used for elemental decay, albeit with slightly lower efficiency. This meant that during his long voyages through the universe, when Xiao Yu lacked fuel, he could even dismantle his spaceship and use its materials as fuel. Best of all, thanks to the nature of elemental decay, the fuel could be recycled: for instance, one kilogram of iron could decay into five hundred grams of hydrogen, and this hydrogen could then continue to be used as fuel. By repeating this cycle, Xiao Yu could theoretically convert the entire mass of matter into usable energy. Thus, in terms of overall efficiency, elemental decay was already not much different from matter-antimatter annihilation. The only difference was that the energy release from matter-antimatter annihilation was extremely violent, whereas elemental decay was much more gradual. According to Xiao Yu’s plans, the future would see both matter-antimatter annihilation and elemental decay technologies coexist: matter-antimatter annihilation would be mainly used for weapon manufacturing and devices requiring large amounts of instantaneous energy, while elemental decay would serve as the primary source of conventional propulsion. These two different energy acquisition methods would coexist aboard Xiao Yu’s ships, each fulfilling different roles. Currently, Xiao Yu’s development of elemental decay technology is still at the laboratory stage. However, because its technical demands were slightly lower than those of antimatter production, large-scale application could potentially be achieved within a few hundred years. By then, the problem of insufficient power for Faster-Than-Light travel would be resolved. Based on elemental decay technology, Xiao Yu hoped to finally achieve the long-awaited breakthrough in Faster-Than-Light travel. In the silent depths of space, Xiao Yu’s fleet was speeding toward a distant, aging star. This star had entered its senescence phase. Its mass was about 1.9 times that of the Sun, not enough to trigger a supernova explosion. It would end its life in a relatively gentle manner. It had already become a red giant. Due to the outward expansion of its outer layers, its surface temperature had decreased, giving it a reddish hue. Its size was enormous with a radius reaching sixty million kilometers, dozens of times that of the Sun. If placed where the Sun was, it would engulf Mercury, reach near Venus, and turn Earth’s surface into a living hell. Xiao Yu knew that, billions of years from now, the Sun would meet this same terrifying fate. In his preliminary observations, Xiao Yu hadn’t found any trace of planets around this star. However, he wasn’t too worried just because he hadn’t seen them didn’t mean they didn’t exist. It was quite possible that the star’s brightness was simply too overwhelming, obscuring any planets. Moreover, even if planets didn’t exist, as long as there was an asteroid belt or even a single decent-sized asteroid it would be enough for Xiao Yu’s needs. Even a single asteroid with a diameter of over ten kilometers would have a mass of several hundred billion tons. Throughout the long journey, Xiao Yu continued his intense research while also carefully observing nearby stars. Xiao Yu firmly believed that the war between Taihao and the Sweeper Civilization would at minimum result in stellar-level catastrophes, affecting all entities within the surrounding area. At that time, there would definitely be extraordinary phenomena such as sudden stellar explosions, abrupt increases in brightness, unexplained X-ray or gamma-ray bursts. In other words, from Xiao Yu’s current location, he might catch traces of the battle. This intelligence would be of little use for now, but once Xiao Yu’s technology advanced sufficiently, he could analyze it to gauge the true strength of the Sweeper Civilization. Time slowly slipped by in the boundless silence. After traveling for about 150 subjective years over (300 actual years) Xiao Yu finally reached the vicinity of the red giant. Now, he was about 30 billion kilometers away. Due to the star’s aging and expansion, its stellar atmosphere extended far beyond that of the Sun. At this distance, Xiao Yu had already entered its heliosphere. This was the domain of the aging star. Before Xiao Yu’s eyes, the star appeared as bright as a full moon seen from Earth. If the Sun were observed from this distance, it would look dimmer by several thousand times at most a bright point of light. Xiao Yu had launched thousands of satellites to thoroughly survey the star’s sphere of influence. Yet the results left him disappointed. “It... it actually doesn’t have a single planet? Not even an asteroid belt? Barely any asteroids at all?” Facing this outcome, Xiao Yu felt a strong sense of disbelief. After the sweep by thousands of satellites, Xiao Yu had a full view of the star’s surroundings yet no major planets were found, and only a handful of asteroids were detected. As for comets, not even a trace. Only a few tiny asteroids less than ten meters across were lazily orbiting the star. “This is truly unbelievable. Such a situation should be almost impossible for a star within the galaxy... Maybe it’s because the outskirts of the galaxy naturally have sparse material?” Xiao Yu pondered this while slowly edging closer to the star. Ideally, Xiao Yu wouldn’t have wanted to approach such a chaotic and aging star. But he had no choice; the nearest other star was over 200 light-years away, and his remaining fuel wasn’t enough for such a journey. Thus, establishing a base around this star became his only viable option. After all, even if there wasn’t much left, there would still be some residual matter and at the very least, there was still solar energy to utilize. If he left this star behind, he would truly have nothing. Considering all this, Xiao Yu resolved to stay temporarily. After mastering elemental decay and Faster-Than-Light technologies, he could then set out again. By then, he could dismantle parts of his own ship for fuel, and a journey of hundreds of light-years would no longer be insurmountable. “The matter here is really too sparse. But since a star was able to form, that proves there was once sufficient material. No large planets I can understand but not even small asteroids? That’s highly abnormal,” Xiao Yu thought. “It must have formed inside the galaxy and, during countless gravitational interactions, been flung out to its current position. During that long journey, its planets and nearby material may have been captured by other stars. Still... that doesn’t fully explain why the interstellar matter around it is so scarce.” As Xiao Yu pondered, he continued approaching the star at a speed of about 100 kilometers per second. At that speed, invisible interstellar dust constantly bombarded his ship, producing faint X-rays. Meanwhile, Xiao Yu detected that his fleet was being slowly decelerated. Upon seeing this phenomenon, Xiao Yu suddenly understood. “So that’s it... the star’s material had been ejected outward, filling its system with dense interstellar dust. Under constant collisions, the orbital speed of any surrounding planets or asteroids would gradually decrease, causing them to spiral inward and eventually be devoured by the star.” “In other words, the celestial bodies that once orbited it weren’t captured by other stars, they were eaten by the star itself!” “What a tragedy, you devoured all the matter yourself, and left nothing for me,” Xiao Yu sighed. Within this star system, although the interstellar dust concentration was high compared to interstellar space, it was still essentially a vacuum. It would be impossible to gather enough material from the dust alone. In other words, aside from stellar energy, Xiao Yu would have almost no way to replenish materials for a long while. “Better to have something than nothing,” Xiao Yu thought, gradually slowing down until his speed was around 10 kilometers per second, adjusting his orbit to circle the star. Now, he was about 2 billion kilometers away. At this distance, the star appeared much brighter than the Sun, resembling a giant fireball suspended in the pitch-black void. After entering a stable orbit, Xiao Yu began his work. He first manufactured a batch of stellar energy collectors to save as much fuel as possible, then reassembled components from his large particle collider around the star to prepare for his upcoming research. “This time, I must succeed in developing elemental decay technology and Faster-Than-Light travel,” Xiao Yu silently resolved. Just then, Xiao Yu suddenly received a message. This message, like before, was transmitted via spatial broadcast and was automatically translated into a language Xiao Yu could understand as soon as it entered his mind. From this message, Xiao Yu immediately sensed something familiar. “Guardian Civilization! I am a Taihao Civilization entity from the Large Magellanic Cloud, currently fighting your nemesis. Come quickly to the tail of the Milky Way Galaxy’s Orion Arm to assist me!”

Chapter 179: The Aging Star

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