Age of Cosmic Exploration

Chapter 372: Fire!

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Blue 6 was indeed acting quite arrogant. After all, the person he kicked was not just any random nobody but a representative from an actual level 3 space civilization. This was not a provocation but an actual face slap. He had practically tossed the level 3 space civilization’s honor to the floor and stomped on it.

The Black Star Troopers around him broke out in cold sweat. Not only them, even the surrounding level 2 space civilizations looked on with utter shock. The originally chaotic scene became eerily quiet, everyone looking dumbly at Blue 6 and the level 3 space civilization’s representative.

Blue 6 might’ve looked unperturbed on the surface, but it did not mean that he was feeling the same within. However, since he was given the order to stall, this was a risk he had to take.

After he kicked this representative away and said those words, he did not pause before rushing to pull the representative upwards. He hissed at him through a private channel, "We’re both familiar with the underflow effect of soul. If you dare to kill us, then level 4 and 5 space civilizations will come to wipe you out. No space civilization will complain that they have too many cosmic adapters, right?

"I know that if we met privately, your race would not hesitate to destroy us or even secretly keep us as livestock, but there are so many people here. Unless you dare to kill all the races here and destroy this entire Shelter. But that might not even work, because middle to high tier space civilizations might have the means to discern the leftover electrical signals and know how many cosmic adapters you have killed. Are you really that brave to risk extinction?" Blue 6 continued his threat.

This representative from the level 3 space civilization was stunned. His original plan was to intervene into this conflict, punish both parties, and reap the rewards. They had done this kind of thing many times, and this representative was experienced in doing that. However, this time, before he could finish his sentence, he was kicked to the floor by this officer from a level 2 space civilization. This kind of situation had never happened before, so he was lost for quite a few seconds.

When he recovered and was ready to order his people to slaughter everyone there, Blue 6’s words had drifted into his ears. Instantly, he regained his senses and was reminded of his actual purpose... The fact that more than 10 cosmic adapters had shown themselves at their Shelter was unprecedented. Furthermore, they were from a level 2 space civilization, and the key detail was that they had violated the law and rules of the Shelter. This was a godsend. Either through threats, trades, or any other methods, his mission was to obtain at least 5 to 10 cosmic adapters to prevent the decline of this Shelter.

Actually, just as how Blue 6 had observed when the Hope arrived, this Shelter was already on its decline. The real situation was that this Shelter had no cosmic adapter, and all the space civilizations, including the level 3 ones, could only obtain soul through raiding other races and killing their enslaved members to extend the lifespan of the Shelter. Therefore, throughout the year, there would only be one level 3 space civilization defending the Shelter, while the rest would be out hunting.

It was because of this that they were desperate for cosmic adapters; even just one might be able to save the entire Shelter...

However, obtaining and killing were two completely different concepts. For killing, if there was only their own race present, and if the secret was kept well, then it would have been fine. Wiping out a whole race of cosmic adapters would be fine. However, if the news was leaked, then... a level 3 space civilization would truly be crushed like a bug.

"Aren’t you afraid of a level 3 space civilization? Your spaceship is parked within our port and electromagnetic shields alone will not be enough to sustain our attack. One attack from us and it will be punctured. Aren’t you afraid we will completely destroy your mothership?" This level 3 space civilization’s representative even in a spacesuit was only around 1.3 meters tall. He barely reached the height of the space armor’s knees. After he was pulled up by Blue 6, he roared as he waved his hands and feet in mid-air.

"Mothership? Listen to me, we are just a small scouting fleet of our race. I wonder which is more important, the spaceship of a level 2 space civilization or the entire level 3 space civilization. Furthermore, our battle suits are equipped with the ability to self-destruct if you plan to capture us alive. Do you believe that even if I murder you now in cold blood, your superiors will not do anything to save us?" Blue 6 said with a cold laugh, ignoring his threat.

This representative was immediately silenced as if he had confirmed what Blue 6 was saying. However, Blue 6 then put down this representative, took several steps back, and knelt down officially on one knee, adding, "I wish for level 3 space civilization to judge this incident fairly. A group of gangster races wished to assault us humans. That is such deplorable conduct, and it was against a guest race of this Shelter. This is something that cannot be forgiven. I wish level 3 space civilization would oversee this judgement fairly and return to us humans the respect that we deserve!"

Blue 6 had switched back to the public channel. His actions once again had shocked everyone present. The representative was stunned for yet another few seconds before finally declaring, "We have looked through the actual process, and both sides have committed their mistakes. Furthermore, this incident has violated..."

Once again, before he could finish, he was grabbed into the air by Blue 6. Blue 6 used the private channel to warn him, "Stop giving me the official nonsense. Don’t act like this is not your fault either. You allowed them to do this to us humans. Do you really believe I won’t kill you and demand for another representative?"

This representative was so pissed that he almost coughed out blood. He demanded with extreme hatred, "Then what do you want? You’re speaking in the Blue Race’s language, right? This race is one of your vassal races? We’re both level 3 space civilizations, so don’t push it!"

Blue 6 smirked. "Whether they are a vassal or not is none of your business. You better say something that I want to hear, and not that official nonsense, or else I will dispose of you and have your race send over another representative."

This representative was nursing a deep grievance. Normally, it was he who toyed with other civilizations. This was the first time he had to suffer such deep humiliation. The person treating him this way was only from a level 2 space civilization. This knowledge made him grit his teeth in anger. If not for the more than 10 cosmic adapters standing before him, he would order the siege engine above him to open fire immediately. In the end, he chose to not speak and stood there. No matter how Blue 6 threatened him, he would not utter a word. He really wanted to see whether Blue 6 had the courage to murder him or not.

Just like that, time ticked by. Blue 6 had broken out in cold sweat and dried out many times. The Black Star Troopers had stopped attacking. They stared at their enemies quietly and the atmosphere at the scene was incredibly curious.

(Time... Just one last minute, it’s almost time...)

Blue 6 stood before the representative calmly, but his eyes kept flitting to look at the timer inside his space armor. When the countdown of 15 minutes was over, he sighed in great relief internally. Then he suddenly patted the representative, who had been glaring at him wordlessly. This sudden action made the representative jump from shock. Blue 6 smirked and switched to the public channel to announce, "As I have said, we humans have been treated unfairly at this Shelter. We were seriously threatened and we humans have suffered great losses..."

These words made the level 2 space civilizations’ representatives there cough blood. Who were the ones that really suffered great losses?

"...Therefore, we officially requested the owner of this Shelter to give us a fair judgement. However, since thugs will only look out for thugs, the justice that we humans deserve was not given to us. Therefore, I, acting as humanity’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, wish to announce that...

"We humans are declaring war on all of you!"

After Blue 6 said that, he ignored the crowd and turned to walk into the Hope. The Defense Unit soldiers quickly went to protect him and the Black Star Troopers held up their rear. This group of less than 50 people strode calmly back into the Hope from the chaotic battlefield. The alien units that surrounded them did not dare to stop them. The representative stood there dumbly like he had lost his mind. The people in the siege engines were acting the same way.

"...Wait, have we heard it wrongly? A level 2 space civilization is declaring war on more than 100 level 2 space civilizations and one level 3 space civilization? They have really declared war?"

"He meant to say ’surrender’, right? Could it be the translation was mistaken due to the difference in languages? They’re talking about surrender, right?"

Many races, whether they were physically there or were watching it through a long range signal, were in bouts of disbelief. They could not understand what the Hope was doing. This kind of suicidal behavior would not be done by any rational space civilization.

However, just as they were discussing it among themselves, the Hope suddenly floated aboveground after Blue 6’s group had returned to it. At the same time, a great many layers of electricity appeared before the Hope. These electrical layers were so powerful that they were practically in plasma form. And they were slowly forming an electrical circuit in front of the Hope.

While this was happening, in the giant Shelter, the ceiling and floor both exuded great energy reactions. In just a few seconds, a thick layer of plasma shield had surrounded the Hope as if the shield was created by the Hope itself.

Yes, this was an internal defense measure of the Shelter. No matter how big or how strong the Shelter was, it was easier to dismantle it from the inside. This kind of example could be found anywhere in space. Therefore, the interior of the Shelter was equipped with great defensive mechanisms as well. One of them was to use the Shelter’s own gigantic store of energy to form a plasma shield to contain and seal the offending spaceship. This plasma shield’s supply came from the Shelter itself, so even for a level 3 space civilization, it would not be punctured easily. It was a very safe measure.

Of course, a plasma shield wouldn’t know the difference between inside and outside. The weapons of the ships captured would not be able to attack the people outside, and similarly, the people outside would not be able to harm the ship captured while the shield was still up...

When the Hope activated the energy construction, the AI inside the Shelter ascertained that the Hope was going to use a large scale weapon, therefore, it reacted by sealing the Hope inside the plasma shield. When the alien races saw this happen, they started mocking humanity, saying humanity was so arrogant and conceited that they dared to even attempt to use a large-scale weapon inside a level 3 Shelter... Then this human civilization should be destroyed soon. Other than the cosmic adapters that would be preserved, the rest of the humans would be disintegrated to become soul energy.

Just as these space civilizations thought this, inside the Hope, Yao Yuan’s group was pleasantly surprised!

Surprised that the defense mechanism of this Shelter was so powerful to be able to create such a powerful plasma shield to seal up the entire ship and happy because this plasma shield had helped to protect the Hope during its most vulnerable moment.

Almost all of the Hope’s energy had been siphoned into the Energy-based Virtual Reality Constructor. In front of the Hope, the pure energy construction for the anti-gravity system was being created layer by layer. The layers had reached a number of at least ten thousand, and it was still going strong...

These anti-gravity systems could not be edited in size, shape, or even the arrangement of the internal parts. Therefore, it was the same for the virtual construction. The mess of systems covered the front of the Hope, waiting for that moment to arrive...

"Gravity Cannon charging complete... We can fire now!"

"The Hope’s anti-gravity efficiency maximized to counteract external influence..."

"Maximizing the output of all reactors. Reports from the 3rd, 5th, and 11th groups about minor errors..."

"AI triangulation complete, adjustment of anti-gravity system..."

A series of messages pooled into the Hope’s central command. As the messages were reported, Yao Yuan looked at the screen in front of him quietly. The screen showed the battlefield where Blue 6’s group was at earlier. The alien units were still standing there, waiting for humanity to fail...

"Gravity Cannon! Fire!"

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