Humanity is missing, luckily I have billions of clones.

Chapter 362 Stay safe
At that moment, three "suns" suddenly appeared in this vast and deep space.

Because these three suns are so close together, from a slightly farther distance, they appear to converge into one.

A radiant sun unrestrainedly poured out its passion and energy, its intense light completely obscuring the exhaust plumes of 100 integrated spaceships propelling at full power.

The sun appeared for a few seconds before quickly dimming. However, the "dust" composed of the space carrier's hull and its cargo, completely vaporized by the hydrogen bomb explosion, still possessed extremely high temperatures.

According to the principle of blackbody radiation, when the temperature rises to a certain level, an object will begin to emit light and radiate heat to the outside world.

Because it hasn't been spreading for very long, this cloud of interstellar dust is still quite dense and has a very high temperature.

Thus, this nebula replaced the previous "sun" and continued to emit a deep blue light into the universe.

But this eerie blue light didn't last long. As their volume rapidly increased and their temperature rapidly decreased, the eerie blue light turned bright white, then yellow, then red and dark red, before finally diluting completely and disappearing.

The entire process lasted less than five hours.

The 100 integrated spaceships, each propelled at full power in different directions, accelerated to within five hours.

In fact, to be on the safe side, it's only four and a half hours.

Before the nebula completely faded, acceleration had already stopped, the engine had been completely shut down, and it had entered a state of electromagnetic silence.

Within a fleet, the largest and slowest spacecraft is undoubtedly the space carrier. Next is this type of large, multi-purpose spacecraft.

Previously, with the space carrier, the fleet's maximum acceleration could reach 21 meters per second squared. Now, without the drag of the space carrier, and with full-power propulsion regardless of cost, the acceleration of these 100 integrated spacecraft has reached 80 meters per second squared.

The four and a half hours of acceleration time provided each of these integrated spacecraft with an acceleration of approximately 1300 kilometers per second in different directions.

The two spaceships furthest apart are about 2100 million kilometers apart and are still moving away from each other at a speed of 2600 kilometers per second.

Originally, this separation between each other was meaningless.

Even if there were 10,000 spaceships, the bright exhaust flames from their full-power acceleration would expose the flight path data of each ship, allowing the Purple Moon Fleet to track them down one by one.

But now, the bright exhaust plume from the acceleration has been obscured by the light of the hydrogen bomb explosion and the vaporization of the space carrier.

Even so, it wouldn't have made any real sense.

Even if the brightness of the exhaust flame is masked, the trace of the exhaust flame will always remain.

Even after detecting the trail of exhaust plume, its flight path data could still be determined.

but now……

The rapidly expanding interstellar dust cloud formed by the vaporization of the space carrier has spread here.

At this moment, the radius of this interstellar dust cloud has reached 2100 million kilometers, it is roughly spherical, and its total surface area is about 5500 trillion square kilometers.

With a mass of 18 billion tons, it expands outwards in a spherical shape. When its radius reaches 21 million kilometers, the average mass passing through each square centimeter of the surface of this giant sphere is about 1/327 billionth of a gram.

This mass may seem very small, but when converted into the number of particles, it becomes an extremely astonishing figure.

There are approximately 1000 billion particles!

At this moment, in the interstellar space where the fleet is located, the average particle density under normal circumstances is only 0.001 particles per cubic centimeter!

The so-called exhaust trails are essentially the interaction between high-speed plasma ejected by the engine and interstellar dust particles. By analyzing the abnormal kinetic energy, direction, and energy level of interstellar dust particles in a certain area, it is possible to determine whether a fleet has passed through that area in the near future.

but now……

These interstellar dust particles, each containing only about 0.001 particles per cubic centimeter and bearing traces of their tail flames, were subjected to indiscriminate bombardment of 1000 billion particles per square centimeter.

The exhaust plumes of these 100 integrated spacecraft, propelled at full power, were not only completely obscured by the hydrogen bomb explosion, but their traces were also thoroughly erased by the high-temperature plasma stream generated by the space carrier!

This method of eliminating exhaust plume traces cannot be used by large-scale fleets.

The reason is simple: a large-scale fleet occupies too much space and requires far too much mass. And in interstellar space, where resources are so precious, how much can be wasted in such a way?
Furthermore, even if there were enough resources to squander, it could only provide cover for a short period of time. A large fleet is a huge target in itself, and it cannot be concealed in just a few hours.

This method is only applicable to the current situation where the fleet consists of only 100 integrated ships, and each ship is independent of the others.

Even so, this "wipeout" operation came at an extremely high cost.

Even if these spaceships eventually reach their destination, they will lose all hope of returning due to insufficient resources and fuel.

But at this moment, no one, including Haimeran, cared about any of that anymore.

At this moment, only one thought remained in Haimeran's mind.

Go to that galaxy! As long as we can get to that galaxy, all this effort will not have been in vain!

In the vast and deep space, the previous four and a half hours of full-power propulsion had ended.

The gravity, which was 8.16 times that of Earth, suddenly vanished. Every intelligent life form, including Haimeran, abruptly broke free from the back of their chairs, gasping for breath.

Such high gravity is practically torture.

Fortunately, it only lasted a few hours. Any longer, and it probably would have broken bones and tendons.

As the acceleration ended, Haimeran immediately got up and staggered to the control panel. Only after realizing that the "stardust impact" generated by the hydrogen bomb explosion had swept past their own ships did she breathe a sigh of relief.

The trail of exhaust plumes from the previous acceleration phase has been completely cleared. The spaceship has now entered a state of complete radio silence.

The engine shut down completely, emitting no more radiation and leaving no trace. Even the energy shield that protected against interstellar particle bombardment was reduced to its lowest setting, emitting only a very dim light that was barely visible from a distance.

One hundred integrated spaceships, like one hundred lifeless stones, each moved away in different directions at a speed of 1300 kilometers per second, on top of the original 85% speed of light.

Haimer knew that from this moment on, everyone was truly at the mercy of fate.

Time passed quietly, and in the blink of an eye, the distance of hundreds of billions of kilometers between the two fleets was traversed, and the Purple Moon Fleet arrived near the hydrogen bomb detonation point.

At this moment, the two farthest spaceships on our side are about 170 billion kilometers apart.

Is 170 billion kilometers a long distance?
In this interstellar era where travel speeds are often seventy or eighty percent of the speed of light, it is clearly not far off.

But the key issue is...

The Purple Moon Fleet did not know which direction its 100 ships were in within this 170 billion-kilometer range.

Pursuit and search are two different concepts.

Furthermore, the search also takes time. And with every second that passes, the radius of the area they need to search expands by 1300 kilometers.

Through an optical telescope that did not emit any radiation, Haimeran quietly observed the movements of the Purple Moon fleet.

After slowing down slightly, they began to conduct inspections at the site of the hydrogen bomb explosion.

It took three days to slow down.

Great, the radius of the search area has been expanded by 3.3 million kilometers.

Clearly, they were trying to find some trace of their own fleet at the site of the explosion. It was equally clear that they wouldn't find anything there.

Because all traces have been erased by the light and radiation of the hydrogen bomb explosion.

After staying there for about two days, the Purple Moon Fleet seemed to have finally confirmed this.

Great, the radius of the search area has expanded by another 2.3 million kilometers.

The Purple Moon Fleet arrived at the location where their own ships had activated acceleration, and began another inspection there.

This time it lasted longer, a full 15 days.

The radius of the search area has been expanded by another 17 billion kilometers.

The Purple Moon Fleet seemed to have finally confirmed that the only way to find their own ships was to conduct a thorough search of this airspace.

This requires advance planning and arrangements, the division of search areas, and the deployment of search resources.

This took about five days.

The radius of the search area has expanded once again by approximately 5.8 million kilometers.

Numerous probe satellites and combat ships began to spread outwards, launching a comprehensive search.

The moment of true destiny has arrived.

Haimer sat in her seat, quietly watching the large screen, awaiting the verdict.

Whatever the outcome, we have no power to interfere. The only thing we can do is accept it.

Silence fell over the public communication channels that relied on long-distance communication technology.

Time slipped by quietly, and several days passed in the blink of an eye.

When the radius of the search area expanded once again to approximately 70 billion kilometers, a message appeared on a public communication channel.

"Ship No. 37 reports that we have detected traces of the Purple Moon warship 970 million kilometers away. According to the comprehensive judgment of the Primordial AI, our exposure probability has increased to over 99.95%, exceeding the trigger threshold."

Based on the previous agreement, in order to avoid our intelligence being leaked due to being captured by the enemy, our ship will initiate the self-destruct procedure.

Goodbye, my fellow countrymen, and best of luck to you all.

On the big screen, the green square numbered 37 turned red.

In the distant depths of space, a faint flash of light emanated from the location corresponding to Ship No. 37.

Haimeran watched quietly, her heart unmoved.

There is nothing to be saddened or pitied.

This situation was entirely expected.

Even though the radius of the search area has now increased to more than 500 billion kilometers, it is still far too small for the Purple Moon Fleet.

It's impossible to expect all the ships to escape. Some will inevitably be discovered by the Purple Moon Fleet and trigger their self-destruct mechanisms.

This time, it was just bad luck for ship number 37. The next ship to be discovered and self-destructed might very well be its own ship, number 1.

Just 16 hours later, when the search area had expanded by only about 7500 million kilometers, information came through public communication channels again.

"Ship No. 55 reporting..."

"Our ship is about to initiate its self-destruct sequence. My fellow countrymen, good luck."

"Ship No. 46 reporting..."

"Ship No. 7 reporting..."

"Ship No. 89 reporting..."

"Ship No. 32 reporting..."

……

Inside the first ship, everyone remained silent, waiting.

Fortunately, after the initial rapid increase in the number of ships detected, its growth rate has now gradually slowed down.

At this moment, more than half of the 100 blocks in the 10x10 grid have turned red. Even among the remaining small portion of green blocks, some are still turning red.

The retrieval of these 70-plus integrated spacecraft took the Purple Moon Fleet more than three years. During those three years, the radius of the search area expanded by approximately 1350 billion kilometers.

The remaining fewer than 30 integrated spaceships, each about 10 kilometers in size, are now scattered throughout the starry sky, where the total radius has expanded to about 2000 billion kilometers and the total volume has reached 335 trillion trillion trillion cubic kilometers.

If we consider this expanse of starry sky to be the size of Earth, then what the Purple Moon Fleet is doing is trying to find more than 20 specks of dust, each only 3.45 millimeters long, within a space as vast as Earth.

Even PM2.5 dust particles, which are already invisible to the naked eye, are 7.25 trillion times larger than the dust particles we see now.

It is countless times more difficult than finding a needle in a haystack.

However... this is still not impossible for a powerful, peak-level civilization.

The long search continues. Tens of millions of modified spy satellites, along with ten thousand warships and hundreds of thousands of unmanned warships, tirelessly continue their search across the cosmos.

Gradually, more than a dozen more multi-purpose spaceships were discovered during this large-scale search. Correspondingly, more than a dozen squares changed from green to red.

Time slowly passed until the search area radius expanded to one trillion kilometers—this was both the limit of our own long-distance communication and almost the limit of the Purple Moon civilization. On the big screen, the number of the green squares remained fixed at 15 and no longer decreased.

Perhaps it will still decrease. But Haimer knew that even if another of their ships were detected, he would not be able to receive the news.

Hemer Blue kept the spaceship silent for another two years.

At this moment, the search area radius has exceeded 10820 trillion kilometers.

This number has already confirmed that it exceeds the ultra-long-distance communication limit of the Purple Moon Civilization.

Haimer Blue finally breathed a long sigh of relief.

He knew that he was most likely safe.

Because such a large-scale search is almost unsustainable and impossible to conduct when the distance exceeds the limit of long-range communication.

It is highly likely that the Purple Moon Fleet's search has ended.

More than twenty years of repression and torment have finally come to an end at this moment.

Looking at the square on the big screen, which had turned permanently red and could never be restored to green, and listening to the background noise in the public communication channel that would never again transmit information from her compatriots, even Haimeran couldn't help but shed tears at this moment.

But now is not the time to act rashly.

Although the Purple Moon Fleet has most likely stopped searching, the glow of their tail flames could still reveal their location if they activate their thrusters.

Haimer calmed himself down and waited another ten years. Only when he knew that if they didn't change course, they would truly miss their destination and never be able to reach it again, did he finally launch their first advance in decades.

Bright plumes of exhaust shot out, propelling the massive ship slowly to change course and correct its previous deviation from the target route.

He looked up at the vast, boundless sky, but saw nothing but a sky full of stars.

There was no trace of the Purple Moon Fleet, nor any sign of our own ships starting up and propelling.

"My compatriots...where are you? Are you still alive? Are you also heading towards our destination?"
Will we be able to meet again at our destination?

……

After initiating the course correction mission, Haimeran was on tenterhooks for a while. But perhaps because the Purple Moon Fleet had truly given up the pursuit, nothing unexpected happened during this period.

After thinking it over, Haimerlan concluded that this was quite reasonable and not just a fluke.

The reason is simple: the Purple Moon Fleet didn't know their true destination. They couldn't arrive at the destination in advance to ambush their prey, nor could they continue along the roughly correct course. After losing track of their own forces, they had no choice but to turn back.

After the route was corrected, the distance to the destination was no longer far.

The dim white star had come into view.

After some time, the deceleration action finally began.

Facing the dim white star, a bright and powerful tail flame was unleashed without restraint. The long-lost gravity brought about by acceleration and deceleration reappeared in the cabin and was felt by every crew member.

At this moment, unlike when he was desperately trying to hide it, Haimeran was even hoping that the tail flame of his multi-purpose spaceship would be brighter, and brighter still.

Based on the distance and flight path, if there are any surviving companions or ships, then they have probably arrived near this star system and it is time to start deceleration.

If our exhaust flames were brighter, they would be more likely to see them.

The crew on board the spaceship resumed their observation of the surrounding environment, desperately searching for any trace of a tail flame.

In the first month, people were disappointed.

It seems that no human spaceships other than ours have come here.

The second month, people remained disappointed. The third month, the fourth month…

It continued until the fifth month.

A faint point of light appeared in the field of view of the optical telescope. Upon closer inspection, Haimeran's heart began to pound.

In terms of both jet intensity and jet type, it is similar to the No. 1 ship I was on!

That's very likely another one of our own ships!
At that moment, every crew member in the massive cabin cheered and embraced each other.

At this moment, the distance between the two is still about two trillion kilometers, and they have not yet entered the range of long-distance communication. But that's okay. Although the two are heading in different directions, they are both slowing down towards that dim white star. As time goes by, the distance between them will get closer and closer.

Slowly, after two years of slowing down, a greeting finally came from the long-silent long-distance communication equipment, spanning decades.

"Ship No. 29 calling, Ship No. 29 calling, please respond."

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Haimeran gave a solemn reply.

"Ship No. 1 received. Ship No. 29, how have you been?"

"Report to Ship 1: Ship 29 is in good condition. What is the status of Ship 1?"

"Ship No. 1 received. Ship No. 1 status... good."

Haimeran's smile finally broke out and she could no longer contain herself.

During the subsequent deceleration process, seven more tail flames were observed and reconnected with each other.

Thus, a total of nine spaceships have arrived in this star system.

This number remained until the deceleration ended and the nine spaceships finally regrouped.

No more exhaust plumes appeared in space. And... when the long-range communication failed, our side should have had 15 spacecraft still alive.

The remaining 6 spaceships...

"Perhaps there were delays on the way, or some other unexpected event occurred; a slight delay is normal."

Now that we have finally arrived at our destination, it is time to fulfill the mission of this long voyage.

Gazing at that dim, tiny white star, Haimeran was filled with emotion.

This is a desolate galaxy.

That white star was not a real star, but a white dwarf.

It once had a time when it freely unleashed its energy and brilliance, but that is long gone.

Over time, its fusion fuel was gradually depleted, causing it to age and expand, much like the main star of the Pegasus G76 galaxy where the main fleet of civilization is located at this moment.

The star material that made it up was gradually ejected into space, completely stripping the two poor planets of their atmospheres, leaving them bare.

After the matter was scattered, only the remnant of the densest core star remained, quietly emitting a dim light thanks to the residual heat from the past.

From any perspective, this is a fairly ordinary star system with almost no value.

But this star system carries their hopes for survival, their hopes for defeating the Purple Moon Civilization and rescuing the Crimson Star Alliance.

And it is truly, truly, and the only hope.

If all hope here is lost, then... I'd better commit suicide immediately to avoid the torment of endless despair in the future.

The nine existing integrated spacecraft have moved closer together and connected their respective electromagnetic communication systems to enable them to withstand higher communication power.

With all preparations complete, Haimeran stood in front of the microphone under the watchful eyes of the crowd.

Gazing at the quiet white dwarf star that showed no outward signs of abnormality, Haimer Blue finally uttered the words that had been brewing in his heart for decades, words that he had endured countless hardships and never forgotten even in moments of life and death.

"Blue-green!"

(End of this chapter)