Chapter 129: A Star of Warning
For years, Tom had been observing the Gliese 625 star system through a large-aperture telescope array.
But ever since the Bluetoth Civilization’s main fleet exited that nebula region, Tom hadn’t seen any trace of the Bluetoth Civilization for a long time.
There was no other way. The deep space was too vast; even a fleet of such immense scale, if it didn’t cause any major disturbances and merely traveled quietly, he wouldn’t be able to see it.
But now, Tom saw them again.
From that direction, Tom saw a shining star.
"They’ve begun the deceleration phase..."
He knew that in the vast deep space, the many spacecraft belonging to the Bluetoth Civilization had now collectively adjusted their postures, pointing their thrusters toward the solar system, and were simultaneously initiating a powerful thrust.
Only in this way could this massive fleet gradually decelerate and eventually stop within the solar system, rather than flying past it.
The countless engines of these countless spacecraft, with their countless thrusters firing in unison, converged their light, transforming into a single star.
A shining star that, while invisible to the naked eye, could be clearly seen through a telescope.
The Bluetoth Fleet’s maximum speed was 3% of the speed of light. Calculating from the thrust power, Tom determined that the Bluetoth Fleet’s current acceleration was 0.03 meters per second squared.
Based on this acceleration, decelerating from a speed of 9,000 kilometers per second to approximately 100 kilometers per second would take about 9.5 years, covering a total distance of approximately 1.34 trillion kilometers.
The solar system’s gravity boundary is the Oort Cloud. The outermost edge of the Oort Cloud is approximately 1.5 light-years from the Sun.
And at this moment, the Bluetoth Civilization’s distance of 1.34 trillion kilometers from the Sun is only 0.14 light-years.
From the perspective of the gravity boundary, the Bluetoth Civilization had already entered the solar system a long time ago.
"9.5 years, 1.34 trillion kilometers..."
Tom pondered these two numbers: "With my current deep space communication technology, I should be able to send a signal that far.
Since that’s the case... let’s talk first."
Looking at the solar system defense line, which had taken decades to construct, and observing the almost ubiquitous factories, warships, bases, space mine clusters, unmanned fleets, turrets, and so on within the solar system, Tom made his decision.
The foundation of negotiation is strength. Only when strength is roughly equal—or at least, there’s a possibility of threatening the other side—can negotiations proceed.
Otherwise, negotiations are meaningless.
From his heart, Tom did not want to fight this war. There was no hatred between the two civilizations, so why fight to the death?
It would be better for each to develop peacefully.
The struggle of the past few centuries, the painstaking development, and the full effort put into building the solar system defense line were precisely for this reason.
Only with sufficient strength could Tom have the right to say, "I don’t want to fight."
Without strength, whether to fight or not would not be Tom’s decision.
And there should be a basis for negotiation between himself and the Bluetoth Civilization.
The solar system is indeed your migration target, but what if you choose another target? You’ve already endured a journey of several centuries, so what’s a few more decades of flying?
Through multiple giant antennas deployed beyond Neptune, a message in the Bluetoth language was sent into the vast deep space, toward the Bluetoth Civilization more than a trillion kilometers away.
"Greetings, esteemed Bluetoth Civilization.
I am the Head of the Human Civilization. On behalf of the hundreds of billions of people of the Human Civilization, I extend our respects to our distant guests.
Our Human Civilization has spent tens of thousands of wonderful years in this star system since its birth in the solar system. Later, due to some unforeseen events, our civilization was forced to undertake an interstellar migration, traveling far to other star systems for a period of time.
However, we did not anticipate that our temporary absence would lead your esteemed civilization to mistakenly believe the solar system was uninhabited territory, and even designate it as your migration target, causing a huge misunderstanding. This is our fault.
Now that the unforeseen events have been resolved, our Human Civilization has returned to this beautiful star system that gave birth to us and nurtured us, and we will continue to live and multiply here for a long time.
Although we embrace a heart that loves peace and sincerely hope to engage in friendly exchanges with your esteemed civilization, the carrying capacity of a single star system is ultimately limited, and it is likely unable to host an entire civilization to develop in our home.
Based on this, we propose to your esteemed civilization that you consider changing your migration target, not decelerate, continue your journey, and choose another star system as your destination.
To compensate for the misunderstanding caused by our temporary absence and the losses incurred by your side as a result, our side can freely bear all your material needs.
Whether it be fuel or minerals, water, methane, carbon dioxide, gold, silver, copper, iron, and so on—any materials your side requires, our side can deliver them at any time via remote projection onto your fleet’s trajectory, for your long journey to the next star system.
Your personnel, such as Momolans and others, who were previously compelled to remain with us due to certain misunderstandings, will also be returned in full.
Over these years, our side has undertaken construction on an extremely vast scale within the solar system, building a comprehensive solar system defense line and acquiring countless advanced interstellar defense facilities.
We believe your side can also observe this through your observation facilities.
But please do not misunderstand; all our constructions are purely defensive measures and will not pose any threat to your side.
Our side eagerly anticipates your contact. If necessary, your side may also dispatch an exploration fleet to conduct on-site negotiations with us; our side will certainly be ready to welcome you.
May peace endure forever!
Respectfully, Human Civilization."
To prevent misunderstandings due to cultural differences, Tom ensured that the message was as candid as possible while maintaining friendliness.
The meaning was also very clear.
As long as you change your destination and don’t come to the solar system, everything is negotiable. Whatever resources you need, I can provide them to you.
But if you insist on coming, then I apologize, but the solar system defense line I painstakingly built is not to be trifled with.
At worst, we’ll fight a war.
Although I don’t want to fight you, if it comes to it, I’m not afraid.
The choice is yours.
This message had now been sent. It would reach the Bluetoth Fleet in approximately a month and a half.
If all went well, the Bluetoth Civilization’s reply would arrive in less than three months.
Time quietly flowed by, and Tom, while further reinforcing the solar system defense line, silently awaited the Bluetoth Civilization’s reply.