Devouring World Dragon

Chapter 257 The Dilemma of the Second Step
What would war be like in the space age?
In ancient Earth times, many science fiction works like to depict life forms piloting all sorts of spaceships and then exchanging beams of light in space.

However, most of these science fiction works overlook the changes brought about by technology. In the eyes of science fiction authors from the ancient Earth era, they often habitually believed that space was simply an expansion of the ocean, and space warships were simply expansions of ocean warships. Therefore, in this vast space, one could imagine a series of naval battles unfolding.

Therefore, wooden warships powered by dark matter engines roamed the space, colliding with each other using sturdy neutron star matter ramming tools. Warriors wielding greatswords made of neutron star matter used boarding maneuvers to fight their way in and out of crowds. The space age employed tactics from the sailing age, and black hole weapons were like giant bombs, arbitrarily altering the laws of dimensions...

Unfortunately, this situation does not exist in the physical universe.

Even if interstellar humans expand their reach throughout the entire Milky Way, they will still not employ the "mathematical modifications" or "law-based weapons" found in science fiction works from ancient Earth, just as humanity, even in the 22nd century, will not create a robot cat that can grant any wish.

In this exceptionally rigorous, sometimes even tedious, physical universe, countless fantasies have been extinguished. At the same time, the tactics of interstellar humans far exceed the understanding and imagination of humans in ancient Earth times.

With the advancement of technology, humans will no longer fight wearing increasingly thick armor and increasingly sharp swords. Instead, they will wear lightweight military uniforms, because even the thickest armor is meaningless in the face of bullets from several kilometers away.

The Middle Eastern countries once believed they possessed countless artillery pieces and tanks, relying on their experience from World War II to think that firepower was everything. However, the United States effortlessly achieved a kill ratio of 50:200000 in information-based warfare.

Technology, its changes always exceed the understanding and imagination of the ancients.

……

In space, amidst the fluctuations caused by the psionic jump, a massive spaceship appeared.

"General Tiloan, the army has been assembled."

The information from afar was received by the processor in his brain. The middle-aged man, known as General Tiloan, didn't say much, but simply signaled to prepare for battle.

However, he only has one spaceship, so what kind of operation is he commanding?

Yes, he only had one spaceship... a flagship spaceship that didn't have any weapon systems at all. This massive flagship spaceship had no combat capabilities, only a large number of command systems.

Because 10 billion kilometers away from him, in the vast expanse of space, a swarm of drones, numbering over 100 trillion and arranged in neat rows, floated silently, like a silent army, awaiting orders.

With the development of AI technology, the idea of ​​relying on humans to pilot warships is now outdated.

Humans need food, clothing, and shelter, and need to plan numerous extra areas on warships as living quarters; but AI doesn't. AI only needs a power source, and a loyal AI will execute all commands without hesitation. Spaceships with greatly compressed space can therefore carry more efficient weapons, becoming high-speed, deadly, and inexpensive killers.

As long as factories keep producing, armies can be formed in an endless stream. How can flesh and blood compete with steel in terms of quantity? A swarm of drones, numbering in the hundreds of billions, is meaningless to interstellar civilizations, even if that number were increased a hundred million times.

Based on this, the ancient profession of soldier has almost disappeared, and the army consists only of generals who manage drones and commanders who manage generals.

Therefore, long ago, space warfare transformed from a life-or-death struggle between humans into a cold, numerical calculation, which in some ways is closer to playing strategic games in ancient Earth times.

"A-1 Group...C-6 Group..."

Inside the flagship, which carried only a few dozen people, the general calmly issued orders, each of which would directly affect the fate of over ten billion drones.

Any one of those drones equipped with anti-planet weapons could easily destroy an asteroid, and some were even armed with planet-destroying weapons. Although they could only be used once, these cheap machines didn't need to be reused; once destroyed, they were destroyed.

These drones are like billions of incredibly powerful munitions; all that's needed now is to unleash them.

According to the probe, in about 17 galaxy hours, the target will be in front of the massive military force composed of drones.

During this break, Tiloan even took the time to connect to a private channel and exchange command tips with his teammates.

"General Tyloan, do you think this test will be successful?"

Beside him, a young reserve general asked, his body radiating flickering mental energy, seemingly curious.

Tiloan glanced at the young reserve general beside him, pondered for a moment, frowned, and then shook his head.

"To be honest, I'm not very optimistic about it."

Clearly, this answer was completely unexpected for the young prospective general. In his view, this well-established general should be bolder and more radical, so why was he so pessimistic?
He asked, somewhat surprised.

"why?"

Instead of answering the young prospective general's question directly, Tyloan asked a question in return.

"Newcomer, why do you think you were able to win?"

"We have the most advanced weapons, the most advanced drones... If our power were truly unleashed, it could completely destroy a star."

The young reserve general straightened up and answered proudly.

Indeed, in this era, no human nation can rival the technology of the Second Republic. The Second Republic is currently expanding rapidly, and many believe that the day when humanity in the galaxy is once again unified is not far off.

The general neither agreed nor disagreed, and then asked again.

"And what about your opponent? What do you know about your opponent?"

opponent?

The young reserve general was speechless for a moment. He knew his army's composition well and was clear about the advantages and disadvantages of those unmanned machines, but his opponent? Even academic conferences didn't know about it, so how could he know?

Looking at the prospective general before him, Tiloan sighed and stopped using mental fluctuations to communicate telepathically. Instead, he spoke softly.

"That's what I'm worried about. We don't know anything about the target, and we're just launching an attack based on overconfidence. Even if we do manage to test the target's fighting style and behavior, it's just a lucky victory."

Unlike his rather optimistic colleagues, Tyloan, who had distinguished himself in various space battles over the years, felt uneasy.

This unease stemmed from both his psychic perception of danger and his experience.

As we were talking, the AI ​​sent a message.

"coming."

Tiloan narrowed his eyes habitually, focusing on the information coming from ahead.

……

Ahead, there are some drones equipped with subspace communication capabilities. They lack combat capabilities and are easily destroyed when facing a fleet also composed of humans, rendering them essentially useless in actual combat. Originally intended for space exploration, some were deployed to act as long-range eyes, considering the target would not be aware of their purpose. These subspace communication drones will use their faster-than-light subspace capabilities to directly transmit information to the flagship 100 billion kilometers away for on-the-spot command.

In the information transmitted back by the subspace communication drone, Tiloan was able to see the enormous serpent that was regarded as a top-notch specimen at the academic conference and had caused a great deal of discussion in the human world.

Just as the rumors said, it was an incredibly large monster that was so fast that even with a prosthetic eye equipped with super-powerful abilities, it was almost impossible to catch a glimpse of its form; all that could be seen was a huge beam of light approaching.

Almost nothing can catch its trail, not even drones known for their high speed; however, one can simply lie in wait along its path.

The first wave of drones has already moved forward.

The weapons carried by these drones were not very powerful, only capable of penetrating some small celestial bodies. In Tyloan's view, they had no chance of penetrating the scales that could withstand stellar matter. However, neither Tyloan nor the Academic Council had any hope of this, since Tyloan's mission was testing, not carrying out a kill mission.

The first round of weapons successfully hit the target, at least according to the feedback, but it seems to have no effect.

"Test...small plasma...failed..."

Nearby, the spaceship's AI was quietly performing statistical work.

Almost immediately after, a second wave of drones rushed in, followed by a third, a fourth, a fifth...

Amidst the continuous barrage of weapons, the enormous light showed no sign of stopping; in just a few rounds, it had already traveled tens of millions of kilometers.

Tiloan's expression remained unchanged.

He was well aware of the target's high-speed characteristics; all the drones were distributed according to the target's speed, and these rows of drones covered a range of 14 billion kilometers. The underestimation of the target was actually more suitable for this test mission.

"test……"

The spacecraft's AI is constantly compiling the results.

In round after round of testing, after dozens of rounds of weapon attacks, the target seemed to be completely unaffected, causing Tiloan to frown slightly.

Although the target did not react at all, it was indeed a good opportunity to test the weapon's effectiveness. However, what was more important was the target's attack methods. If the target's attack methods were not known, then there was no point in talking about a real battle.

"Planetary-level weapon preparation."

Tiloan made some adjustments. It was expected that the previous weapons would not work, but the real highlight was the planet-destroying weapon. Faced with a weapon capable of destroying a planet, could the target continue to turn a blind eye?

Finally, facing the incoming planet-destroying weapon, the enormous light seemed to shift slightly, and instantly, an anomaly occurred...

"puff!"

Suddenly, the distant information that was being transmitted to them vanished instantly.

"what happened?"

No more information was being transmitted from the scene. The spacecraft's AI automatically attempted to reconnect via subspace communication, but the subspace communication drones also failed to respond. It wasn't just one drone that went unresponsive; it seemed that in an instant, hundreds of millions of drones distributed across various locations all went unresponsive.

Not only that, but even attempts to contact other weapon test drones yielded no response, as if the flagship spacecraft had lost contact with the outside world in the vast expanse of space.

"Tilland, we've detected something amiss... What's the situation up ahead...?"

Suddenly, a rapid subspace message arrived, showing the fleet commander of Sector 21 looking anxious in the image.

Not a malfunction?

A strange unease welled up in Tiloan's heart.

"Jump away immediately!"

Without even considering calling back the drone swarm ahead, Tyloan directly ordered the ship to perform a subspace jump.

The spaceship's AI executed Tiloan's command, and a dozen seconds later, the massive flagship spaceship vanished from its spot.

……

Several galactic hours later, a strange spacetime fluctuation formed at the original drone cluster site, and a fully armed spaceship appeared.

Tiloan gazed silently at the vast expanse of space before him.

"how so……"

Beside him, the young reserve general stared in disbelief.

In the pitch-black, desolate space, countless drone fragments floated in the 14 billion-kilometer-wide expanse of space, like remnants of a war.

What happened here several galactic ages ago? No one knows, not even Tyloan, who witnessed it all. It was as if, in a single instant, tens of trillions of drones had been reduced to fragments.

“We…we’ll test it again.”

The prospective general gritted his teeth, while Tyloan looked at the massive space mechanical graveyard in front of him and shook his head.

"It's no use. I think it'll be the same no matter how many times it's repeated."

Just as Tiloan had said, the subsequent tests also ended in strange failures, each time disintegrating into pieces in an instant, and no one knew why.

This situation quickly came to the attention of academic conferences around the world.

Faced with this result, the president of the 7th Circular World Society gritted his teeth and stared at it for a long time.

What kind of abilities does that giant serpent in space possess? How does it behave? To this day, it remains a mystery to the Second Republic, unknown to anyone.

The second step, however, still resulted in a predicament.

(End of this chapter)