Chapter 271: Electromagnetic Celestial Calamity

Chapter 271: Chapter 270: Electromagnetic Celestial Calamity

The Lyra G16 Star was a stellar body slightly larger than the Sun, with a surface temperature of approximately 6,500 degrees Celsius.

The surface of such a colossal star—with its extremely high temperature and exceptionally hostile magnetic field and radiation environment—seemed incapable of supporting any form of life.

Even with the most advanced protective measures available at his current technological level, Li Qingsong couldn’t build a ship capable of surviving on the star’s surface.

‘Under these circumstances… why are these unidentified lifeforms approaching the star?’

Previous scans had already confirmed for Li Qingsong that these flame-like, unidentified creatures were composed of plasma and possessed extremely high temperatures themselves.

This seemed to align perfectly with the stellar environment.

‘In that case… are they planning to live on the star’s surface? Are they trying to use that hostile environment to shield themselves from my attacks?’

‘Whether that’s their plan or not, I can’t let them get what they want!’

Li Qingsong made his decision in an instant.

At that moment, a vast number of warships surged forward, giving fierce chase from behind the unidentified lifeforms. The fleet stationed on Planet One also deployed rapidly, forming a defensive line ahead of the creatures in an attempt to block their path.

An endless barrage of Energy Cannon shells was launched into space, violently hunting down one unidentified lifeform after another, reaping their lives as a scythe cuts through wheat.

But even with Li Qingsong giving his all, over 20,000 of the unidentified lifeforms still managed to reach the star.

With no other choice, Li Qingsong had to call off the pursuit.

The fleet was now only five million kilometers from the star. At this distance, the stellar body before them already filled a fifth of the sky, and the heat and radiation had climbed to almost unbearable levels.

Any closer, and even Li Qingsong’s fleet would be annihilated.

Left with no alternative, Li Qingsong could only pull back.

“This might be for the best.”

He thought to himself, ‘Hiding inside the star means I can no longer hunt you down. But as long as I establish a defensive line nearby, you won’t be able to come out and cause trouble for me either.’

Li Qingsong wasn’t actually concerned with the survival of these unidentified creatures. It didn’t even matter if he could eliminate all of them, as long as they stopped causing him trouble.

At this point, the crisis triggered by Harville had finally come to a close.

‘I can finally focus all my efforts on developing technology…’

Li Qingsong sighed internally.

The next step was to use the abundant resources of the Lyra G16 Star System to build upon his existing foundation, advance his technology, and enhance his combat strength. Then, he would face the Intelligent Mechanical Calamity in a final, decisive battle and completely annihilate the calamitous civilization that had clung to him like a persistent plague for thousands of years!

Of course, there was one thing he needed to do first.

Clean up the battlefield!

Conduct a comprehensive search for all wreckage the Harville Civilization left on the battlefield, look for any potential survivors, and squeeze every last drop of technology from the salvage!

Li Qingsong had actually begun this task over a month ago. But only now, with all other problems resolved, could he finally dedicate his full attention to it.

A vast number of satellites and search vessels fanned out across the battlefield, salvaging every potentially valuable piece of wreckage and searching for any living Harvillers.

Soon enough, the first living Harviller was found.

He had survived inside a small fragment of a massive residential ship.

It was a section of a cabin that had, by chance, remained sealed. It also contained some food reserves, allowing him to barely survive in the hopeless, zero-gravity expanse of space.

By the time he was discovered, he had already consumed all his food and was on the verge of death, simply waiting for the end.

After determining the required environmental parameters for Harvillers, Li Qingsong requisitioned a residential ship, configured it to their needs, and tossed the survivor inside.

As the search progressed, more Harvillers were discovered. After sweeping the entire battlefield, Li Qingsong’s forces had found a total of about 100,000 Harvillers.

Out of a total population of approximately 150 billion, only these 100,000 had survived.

Facing the interrogators dispatched by Li Qingsong, the Harvillers wept and pleaded, “Give us a quick death. Kill us. We’ll tell you everything we know. We beg you, please don’t torture us.”

Being captured by an alien civilization, tortured endlessly, and then executed after every last scrap of intelligence was extracted—this seemed to be the universal rule in the Cosmos.

‘But… if you knew this was the outcome, why didn’t you just commit suicide earlier? I didn’t even restrain you after I put you on the residential ship. You’ve had plenty of opportunities to kill yourselves.’

‘Why wait until now to beg me for it?’

Li Qingsong knew it was likely due to the instinct for survival.

Li Qingsong couldn’t be bothered to untangle the complex, twisting thoughts of the Harvillers. He stated directly, “Our Human Civilization is different from others.”

“In our civilization, as long as you demonstrate loyalty and obedience, even intelligent life from an alien civilization can become one of the races of Human Civilization, integrating with us and contributing to our collective development.”

“Another civilization has already done so before you.”

“So, cooperate with me, obey me, and you will live. But if you dare to be deceitful or slack off, I won’t waste my time on you—I’ll just kill you and be done with it. The choice is yours.”

“We’ll obey! We’ll submit!”

Upon suddenly learning they had a chance to live—and to live well at that—the Harvillers broke down, crying in a heap.

The identity verification and interrogation process began immediately.

Apparently aware that their civilization had long since fled and abandoned them, these Harvillers were extremely cooperative, offering no resistance whatsoever.

Among the roughly 100,000 Harvillers, the vast majority were civilians. Only a small fraction, less than a thousand people, were engineers, scientists, or officials.

From interrogating them, Li Qingsong obtained no intelligence regarding the supposed “destruction of Human Civilization.”

Li Qingsong let out a soft sigh.

This outcome was, in fact, expected.

Intelligence that classified and high-level would likely only be known to the core figures of the civilization. And those core figures, along with the frontline warriors, would have been at the heart of the Harville Fleet, under the most stringent protection.

The half of their population that perished had been on the periphery—mostly civilians, low-level officials, and non-essential researchers.

They were indeed unlikely to possess such information.

‘In the future, once I have the time, I must meticulously search for the remnants of the Harville Fleet. I’ll capture all of them and wring out every last secret they have about humanity!’

Li Qingsong secretly strengthened his resolve.

However, he did manage to extract some intelligence regarding the flame-like, unidentified creatures.

“An electromagnetic… Celestial Calamity? They’re a calamitous civilization?”

“They’re a civilization? They’re intelligent?”

Facing Li Qingsong’s questions, the low-level official answered, trembling, “Yes, that is what I’ve been told. It’s just that their form of intelligence is different from what we consider an orthodox civilization. They are extremely difficult to communicate with and hold intense hostility toward orthodox intelligent life…”