Humanity is missing, luckily I have billions of clones.

Chapter 353 General attack!

For a full-scale war between a civilization of advanced nuclear caliber, let alone an asteroid, even a dwarf planet would contain negligible resources, far too insufficient to sustain such a conflict.

But the key issue at this moment is that our side has already explored the resource reserves of the Lantuk civilization and detected that huge flying star.

After careful calculation, it was determined that the Lantuk civilization's resources were insufficient to support them in changing course, pursuing them, and waging war against them, given their current plan to attack the star and forcibly set sail.

That is why our proposed solution was approved.

But... if we add this asteroid, and the Lantuk civilization is even more frugal, it might be able to support a war against our own civilization!

However, let's not forget that our side has not fully completed its material reserves either, and our side also set sail under duress!

If a war were to break out with the Lantuk civilization, how much of our resources would be left?

It might not even be enough for the next slowdown...

"Don't worry too much, it's almost impossible to do."

That was just a small fleet, while the total mass of this asteroid reached about 6.5 trillion tons. Even the star of the Lantuk civilization at its peak had a mass of less than one-tenth that of this asteroid.

"It's impossible for this squadron to complete the mission of propelling this asteroid, continuously accelerating it, and ultimately catching up with the main fleet. It's impossible..."

The analysis by the scientific advisors gradually reassured the high-ranking officials of the Purple Moon Civilization.

Yes, the Lantuk civilization couldn't possibly do that. This is most likely just a conspiracy by them, trying to achieve some other purpose through this incident, and not actually intending to package this asteroid as supplies...

At this moment, Li Qingsong's main fleet had largely completed its turn and began to accelerate once again.

Due to the excessive distance, long-distance communication with the fleet has been lost.

However, Li Qingsong was still able to roughly perceive the condition of the asteroid through the telescope.

He witnessed the construction of factories on the asteroid's native planet, thanks to the collaborative efforts of hundreds of millions of intelligent life engineers and the Primordial AI. One giant engine after another was installed and fixed in its predetermined position on the asteroid.

That's right, Li Qingsong didn't intend to achieve any other purpose through this operation. His true purpose, as clearly seen at this moment, was to package this asteroid as a supply replenishment, without any ulterior motives, openly and honestly.

Originally, Li Qingsong would never have been able to do this. Even as a "cloned catastrophe" with engineering capabilities far exceeding those of ordinary civilizations, he still couldn't accomplish it.

Because once the main fleet is far enough away, long-range communication will be lost, and Li Qingsong will be unable to extend his forces there.

But at this moment, the existence of intelligent life forms helped Li Qingsong overcome this obstacle.

Without Li Qingsong needing to extend any industrial power, the engineers of those vassal races were able to carry out the tasks autonomously.

Even if a group of intelligent life engineers were mobilized, it would have been impossible to complete this task.

This project is too massive; how many engineers would be needed?
This is also why ordinary civilizations cannot carry out this task.

But this obstacle was easily overcome by the Primordial AI.

The Primordial AI is a fusion of two major AIs, Akainu and Shin'en! In this mission, it was actually the one that carried out the main tasks, not the engineers.

Those engineers merely served to assist the original AI, providing it with life intelligence.

Of course, this also requires the participation of a large number of intelligent life engineers. This, in turn, raises the third obstacle.

For an ordinary civilization, if you allocate so many engineers to carry out this task, then what about the construction of the main fleet?
Does the spaceship still need maintenance and repair? If war breaks out, will new spaceships still be built? Will the factories continue operating?

After all, the number of qualified engineers in an ordinary civilization is always limited.

But this obstacle is nothing to Li Qingsong.

My main engineering power comes from my own clones; those intelligent life engineers are merely auxiliary.

Sending them all out now would have almost no impact on the engineering capabilities of my main fleet.

It was the combination of these factors that enabled Li Qingsong to accomplish something unimaginable in ordinary civilization.

So, after some time, to the somewhat astonishment of the high-ranking officials of the Purple Moon Civilization, the asteroid moved.

Its tail spewed out bright flames, like long dragons, waving wildly in the vast space, just like a comet approaching a star.

But its speed at this moment is much higher than that of the comet.

Propelled by those numerous giant thrusters, it directly broke free from the star's gravity and began to track the direction in which the Purple Moon Fleet and Li Qing Fleet had departed, with a fixed acceleration of 1.1 meters per square second.

At this moment, a strange sight appeared in space.

First, the massive Purple Moon Civilization main fleet led the way, with Li Qingsong's main fleet hot on its heels. Then, a colossal asteroid, like a giant beast, also relentlessly pursued both fleets.

Time slips away quietly, and several years have passed.

At this point, Li Qingsong's fleet had increased its speed to 85% of the speed of light.

We can't add any more. Adding more would take us beyond the optimal speed, leading to a significant increase in resource consumption and frequent malfunctions.

On the contrary, the asteroid's speed is still increasing.

It is made of water ice, rocks and other materials, and is not afraid of damage.

It is expected that in about twenty years, it will be able to catch up with Li Qingsong's main fleet and deliver its own supplies to him.

At this moment, the Purple Moon Civilization fleet was traveling at approximately 85% of the speed of light.

However, their advance was not over yet; it continued to accelerate for more than six months until the speed of travel reached 90% of the speed of light before it stopped accelerating.

At this moment, the distance between Li Qingsong's fleet and the Purple Moon Civilization fleet is constantly increasing.

Every second that passes, the distance between them increases by 1.5 kilometers. In a year, that's an increase of over 4000 billion kilometers!

Unless the Purple Moon Civilization deliberately slows down, Li Qingsong will never be able to catch up with them given their current technology and speed.

but……

This doesn't really matter to Li Qingsong.

It's just a 5% difference in speed, like the speed of light. What's there to be afraid of?
Even if you chase for 100 years, your Purple Moon Fleet will only expand the distance to 5 light-years. And is 5 light-years really that far for a civilization at our stage?
On the contrary, because the pursuit was closer this time, the exhaust flames of the Purple Moon Civilization fleet were "fresher". Even when the inertial navigation was not in operation and the engines were not running, their course could be determined by analyzing some interstellar remnant molecules.

Even if only one out of ten thousand ships in such a large fleet has a very slight leak, the total amount of gas leaked by so many ships would be easily detectable. Moreover, the various activities within a massive fleet are far more complex than just a leak.

It can be said that Li Qingsong had absolutely no chance of losing track of them during this pursuit.

Since we won't lose track of it, why the rush? Just keep chasing it slowly.

I don't believe your Purple Moon Fleet can travel more than a thousand light-years at a time without stopping for resupply. I don't believe you can travel more than a thousand light-years at a time like before, without completing the resupply!

However... as long as you slow down, I can easily cross a distance of only a few light-years in just a few years.

With this belief in mind, Li Qingsong followed behind with great patience, like a seasoned hunter adept at catching cunning prey. No matter how far the distance grew, he remained unhurried and calm.

Throughout this process, Li Qingsong did not forget to continue developing technology.

Of course, due to the shortage of resources, some costly experiments could not be carried out, so we could only study the theoretical level and do things like mathematical reasoning and calculation.

Time slips away quietly, and decades have passed in the blink of an eye.

The two fleets had already traveled tens of light-years in this chase and escape.

Inside the conference hall of the Great Moon spaceship, all the high-ranking officials of the Purple Moon Civilization wore solemn expressions.

"This Bluetuk civilization is really like a sticky worm; once it's stuck, you can't shake it off..."

The Purple Moon leader thought bitterly.

Sticky worms are a disgusting type of insect found on the homeworld of the Purple Moon civilization. They are highly sticky and will trap you once you come into contact with them.

They had initially thought that the Lantuk fleet, unable to catch up, would give up on its own after a decade or two. But to their surprise, the Lantuk fleet had actually been chasing them for decades, and it seemed they would continue the pursuit.

They're just some human prisoners! Are they worth it?
What you're doing is no different from disgusting slime bugs!
At this moment, the Purple Moon leader wished he could strangle the entire fleet that had been following behind him.

but……

He finally managed to suppress his emotions and said with a slightly dejected expression, "The fleet's supplies have been depleted by more than half, and we must plan ahead for resupply by docking at a star system."

Let's all discuss what to do about the Lantuk fleet.

The meeting room was silent; no one spoke.

What else can I do?
Once our side docks in a star system for resupply, before we can finish, the Lantuk fleet will arrive in the star system, and our side will still be entangled and unable to escape.

Time was already tight to get to the Star Gate, and if we got bogged down in other things, we'd probably miss it again.

Seeing that no one spoke, the Purple Moon leader struggled internally and slowly stood up.

It seems... that's the only way.

"Does no one have any suggestions? In that case... let's execute the rearguard action."

The rearguard plan… The high priest suddenly raised his head: “Doing so will expose our secret!”

The Purple Moon leader said in a low voice, "If we are entangled with the Blue Turk civilization again, there is a very high probability that our secrets will be exposed."

The high priest gritted his teeth and remained silent, his mind racing.

After a moment, he also let out a long sigh.

There was really no other way.

"I...agree."

"Agree."

All the high-ranking officials of the civilization raised their hands in agreement. Thus, in just one month, of the approximately 250 million manned warships of all sizes in the Purple Moon Civilization's main fleet, 200 million slowly broke away.

Along with them, there were also their supporting unmanned combat forces, transport ships, supply ships, logistics support ships, and so on, as well as... a total of 400 large integrated living spacecraft with combat control functions.

The main fleet of the Purple Moon Civilization contains a total of over 100,000 residential spaceships.

A mere 400 habitation spaceships seem like nothing at all.

But as they watched the 400 residential ships gradually leave the main fleet, the high-ranking officials of the civilization felt their hearts ache so much they almost bled.

Because every person carried in these 400 habitation ships is a qualified soldier, or a battlefield engineer, battlefield science advisor, officer, etc.

Such high-level talents number less than a billion out of hundreds of billions in the entire civilization.

And now, 800 million has been distributed all at once!
Of these 800 million elite troops, how many will return after this mission?

How many will perish in space, never to return to the main fleet of their civilization?

As the massive fleet receded into the distance, the Purple Moon leader clenched her dark red hands tightly.

"Lantuk civilization, you just wait. Once this is over, I will make sure every single one of you suffers a terrible death!"

……

Li Qingsong quickly discovered what was happening within the Purple Moon Fleet.

At this moment, even Li Qingsong was taken aback.

“What’s going on?!

Two million warships and their supporting combat forces! They deliberately separated from the main fleet and then slowed down. Is this to carry out a rearguard action, prevent me from continuing the pursuit, and buy time for the main fleet to escape?
This tactic is relatively easy to understand, but...

Your entire main fleet only has about 250 million warships, and now you're suddenly offering 200 million?

With such a large main fleet, you only rely on 50 warships for protection?

Besides, your supplies aren't plentiful, are they? Giving at least half of your supplies to this rearguard fleet...aren't you afraid of starving to death along the way?

Most importantly, the distance is too great for you to operate the warships remotely, so you have no choice but to send the soldiers who operate the warships to the rearguard as well.

Those who can carry out rearguard missions must be elite, right?
Such a dangerous rearguard mission, dispatching so many elite troops...won't these soldiers themselves resist?

At this moment, even Li Qingsong couldn't help but feel a sense of admiration for these Purple Moon people.

Ordinary civilizations simply cannot execute such tactics.

Sending hundreds of millions of elite troops on such a dangerous mission at once—even if the civilization could approve it internally, would the people carrying out the mission agree to it themselves?
If things go wrong, this could even cause unrest that affects the entire civilization, leading to a tearing apart of it!

But the Purple Moon Civilization still managed to send out hundreds of millions of elite troops—the very fact that they were able to ultimately send them out meant that those warriors themselves had agreed.

If they disagree or harbor resistance, they simply won't be sent out. The reason is simple: if they harbor resistance, their combat effectiveness will inevitably decline, and in that case, what's the point of sending them out?
The Purple Moon Civilization has such a high level of internal integration that it's probably second only to an existence like myself.
Upon seeing the fleet coming to block him and carry out the "rear guard" mission, Li Qingsong truly became serious.

This is a group of warriors who are ready to die for their cause. This is a group of warriors who, from the moment they set out, were prepared that they would never be able to return to civilization or the main fleet. This is a group of warriors who deliberately put themselves in danger to cover the main fleet's escape.

How powerful a fighting force could such a warrior unleash?
Even though his technology had advanced significantly compared to before, and even though his own supplies were greater than those of this fleet—because they had allocated at least half of their supplies to the main fleet while he could use all the supplies of the entire fleet—and even though he had more warships than them, Li Qingsong dared not be careless in the slightest.

I'm afraid that if I'm not careful, I could be wiped out by this fleet!

Even with a distance of trillions of kilometers, Li Qingsong began his preparations.

One warship after another detached from the space carrier, activating their own energy shields to withstand the impact of interstellar particles during high-speed travel. One supply ship after another was emptied, and large amounts of fuel and war supplies were loaded into the warships. Numerous factories began to roar, producing more war supplies in advance for unforeseen circumstances.

Even though the installation of the unified force field components did not begin immediately, all the preparatory work for the installation was completed.

Under these circumstances, the Purple Moon Fleet finally approached within a few hundred million kilometers of its own territory.

They maintained a speed of over a thousand kilometers per second relative to their own fleet, and while continuing to decelerate, countless energy cannons were already activated.

The seemingly endless energy projectiles gained unprecedented speeds at this moment. Because their muzzle velocity had already combined with the warship's own speed, their speed instantly surged to thousands of kilometers per second. Their kinetic energy alone was enough to smash through a mountain!
Faced with this overwhelming torrent of energy projectiles, Li Qingsong did his best to cope.

Countless spy satellites, warship radars, and other equipment worked together to closely monitor every projectile attempting to approach. Then, interceptor missiles were launched one after another, detonating the energy projectiles while they were still en route.

All spacecraft, whether civilian or military, simultaneously increased their energy shield power to the highest level under normal conditions.

Even so, hundreds of thousands of facilities of all sizes were destroyed in this first engagement.

Li Qingsong showed no weakness and immediately maneuvered his own warships to launch an attack.

Traveling at up to 85% the speed of light, amidst endless high-energy interstellar radiation and the collision of dust particles, the massive fleets belonging to the two civilizations engaged in a desperate battle.

As soon as the battle began, Li Qingsong noticed that the Purple Moon Fleet seemed to be intentionally expanding the battlefield and reducing the density of warships.

"This is to counter my unified force field..."

Li Qingsong immediately understood.

After all, the smaller the coverage area of ​​the unified force field, the higher its average lethality. Now that the Purple Moon Fleet has expanded the battlefield, the lethality of the unified force field will decrease.

"It doesn't matter. I don't plan to use it right now anyway. Besides, a decrease in the density of warships will inevitably affect your offensive, which I'd be happy to see."

Li Qingsong focused intently on maneuvering his own warships, setting up layer upon layer of defenses around the main fleet, doing his utmost to resist the attacks from the Purple Moon warships.

Indeed, at this moment, Li Qingsong adopted a completely defensive stance, appearing to be on the defensive and being attacked.

The Purple Moon Fleet had a significant advantage and was practically dominating the situation.

But Li Qingsong was not in a hurry at all.

Why launch an attack now? The enemy's supplies are not as plentiful as ours, and time is on our side. What's the rush?
As long as I can hold out, the enemy's supplies will gradually run out, and that will be the time for me to launch a counterattack.

At this moment, it seems that he is being suppressed, but Li Qingsong's various defenses are like the most resilient energy shields, which cannot be broken no matter how hard they are attacked.

Judging from the overall war situation between Li Qingsong and the Purple Moon Civilization, Li Qingsong is the attacker, while the Purple Moon Civilization is the defender.

One chases and the other escapes.

However, in this battle, the Purple Moon Civilization is on the offensive, while Li Qingsong is on the defensive.

One side attacks, the other defends.

The relationship between offense and defense changes flexibly according to the development of the situation, sometimes attacking and sometimes defending, and sometimes defending and sometimes attacking.

Time passed slowly amidst the fierce battle, with large amounts of warship wreckage, damaged satellites, torn metal armor, and other debris being scattered across the battlefield every moment.

Throughout this process, the travel speed remained unchanged at 85% of the speed of light.

Thus, a wreckage belt gradually formed behind the battlefield, stretching for trillions of kilometers.

This debris field also maintains an ultra-high speed of over 80% of the speed of light.

Even a peak-level, weakly powered civilization would likely face total destruction and extinction if it ventured into this wreckage. Even an early-stage, powerful nuclear civilization would suffer heavy losses just to escape.

If these debris were to collide with a star, and an intelligent civilization existed around that star, even if that civilization had reached the early stages of electroweak development, it would be wiped out by the star's violent reaction to the impact.

Looking at this wreckage, Li Qingsong sometimes even thinks of a question.

"The higher the level of civilization, the stronger the combat power, and the greater the impact on the environment."

A mere debris field created by a battle between powerful nuclear civilizations can have such a tremendous impact on outer space, and could even lead to the demise of early-stage powerful nuclear or peak-stage weak nuclear civilizations.

So... how much impact will the battle between the Crimson Star Alliance and the Space-level Demon Eye have on the universe?

"After destroying the Purple Moon Civilization and ending this matter, I should heed the advice of the Yunluo Civilization and leave this star system as soon as possible."

At this moment, the fierce battle continues, and the scale of the debris field continues to expand.

Li Qingsong gradually realized that the Purple Moon Fleet's offensive was becoming increasingly fierce, seemingly because its supplies were about to run out.

At this moment, it seems that the Purple Moon Fleet has launched a general offensive!

They no longer cared about resource consumption or casualties. They mobilized all available warships and launched a true, all-or-nothing attack on Li Qingsong's defenses.

(End of this chapter)