Age of Cosmic Exploration

Chapter 290: Silent Journey

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

It had been half a year since the Hope had left that part of space, and within that half year, the Hope had only warped twice…

Yes, with the Hope’s upgraded energy circuits and the ample energy provided by the polymerized reactors, the Hope could warp at least 10 times every 24 hours.

However, those kinds of warps were completely random; they couldn’t be controlled. And in comparison, the two most recent warps were "controlled" warps. In other words, this meant that the Hope knew the location it was warping to, and the exit they would end up at wouldn’t be more than 10 light years away from their intended target coordination.

According to the information revealed by ZERO, this is a technology open to Level 6 space civilizations, or mid-high level civilizations after they had mastered the technology of star gates. It was a highly sophisticated space exploration technology that used a host of irregular calculation techniques and quantum entanglement frequency division techniques, technology which mankind hadn’t even heard of.

In conclusion, mankind, in its Level 2 space civilization stage, used technology that was available to high level space civilizations, half-controllable space warp!

According to ZERO’s calculations, the Hope needed to warp at least five times before they could reach the Noah One’s signal's origin. These five warps would happen in the intervals of three months each due to the limitations put on ZERO. In other words, these five warps would take fifteen months. Discounting the earlier three months spent idling in space, the Hope still had to stop for a total of one year at four different places!

This was unimaginably dangerous because no one knew what would happen after they warped. They might encounter some space catastrophe or hostile aliens. Furthermore, they wouldn’t be able to warp in that three months down period, or the earlier controlled warps would be wasted. In other words, if the Hope didn’t want to waste their effort, no matter the danger, they had to wait for the three months to finish every time!

Just like that, before the first warp was initiated and the Hope was still at that empty space, an operation that would last for the next year was initiated… Operation Safety Travel!

This was a plan that involved the overall improvement of the Hope and the survival of people on Noah One. This was a plan that would find itself in the history books because its effect would be felt for centuries. If succeeded, the scientific talent aside, the trained Special Ops from Earth would be more than enough to introduce indescribable change to the Hope’s Defense Unit!

Not to mention the Homo Evolutis on the Noah One…

Silent Journey was a plan specially tailored for all this. In other words, it was the plan to rescue the Noah One.

After the first warp, the Hope still had to warp four times, and after each warp, the Hope had to take a three month break. The Hope couldn’t warp anymore in these three months, or the earlier effort would go to waste. Of course, if absolutely necessary, like when facing the threat of extinction, warping would still be done.

Therefore, the fact that whether ZERO was still willing to initiate another five space warps for the Hope aside, it was impossible from the perspective of time. This was because ZERO had already told Xiao Niao, according to her calculations, that a neutron star fragment would arrive at the solar system where the Noah One had landed in three to five years. If they wasted any one of the controlled space warps, then they wouldn’t be able to save anyone from the Noah One!

Not only that, according to ZERO, since the Noah One’s signal was released randomly through space, the space civilizations around the Noah One would receive it as well. Of course, the distance would be an issue. With warp drive, the distance that one could cover was around 60 to 140 light years. The distance might seem huge, but compared to the size of the cosmos and density of space civilizations, it was more than likely not one space civilization would reach Noah One.

However… reality was often stranger than fiction. No one could guarantee there was no space civilization within 60 to 140 light years of the Noah One. If there was one and it was rushing towards the Noah One, it meant that the civilization had warp drive technology, because those without warp drive wouldn’t have wasted their time.

To put it simply, if there was another space civilization other than humanity itself rushing towards the Noah One, it meant that the civilization had access to warp drive technology, in other words, it was at the peak of Level 2 space civilizations or had even entered Level 3 Space Civilization, it would stronger than the space merchants…

Also, one couldn’t ignore the possibility of wormhole civilizations, civilizations that had stepped over the low level civilization threshold, and civilizations that had entered level 5 or 6 mid-level space civilizations. If they did make an appearance, low level space civilizations would be trapped like lobsters in a cage. According to the information provided by the space merchants, mid-level civilizations were powerful enough to shatter planets the size of Earth and collect they internal energy and minerals that way. The method was unimaginable!

Because of this, humanity, as a civilization that just become a Level 2 space civilization, would be the weakest before any of these space civilizations. The more warps they made, the closer they were to the Noah One, and the greater the possibility of running into these other civilizations. Under these circumstances, the three months waiting periods were like torture. They had to figure out a way to effectively evade the detection of other more advanced civilizations!

Yes, in the three months after ZERO started her first warp, the Hope’s higher officials gathered with a large number of tactical experts to discuss the possible outcomes of each warp. Discounting space catastrophes, the biggest danger was stumbling into hostile alien civilizations. Currently, the Hope was like a huge target for these civilizations. Waging another war was definitely an unwise decision.

It was foolish to commit to a war when mankind was at a disadvantage and when mankind had the potential to grow to be better than them all. Because of this, the experts scoured their minds to come up with the safest and easiest solutions to save the Noah One. This plan was called Silent Journey.

This was a famous hypothesis preferred when mankind was discussing the possibility of aliens. The hypothesis was the Dark Jungle Theory. Simply put, when the greatest speed in space was light speed and one couldn’t cross the barrier of space and time, going from one location to the next required hundreds, thousands, or maybe millions of years. This caused suspicion and untrustworthiness among the different civilizations. Therefore, each civilization had to hide themselves to prevent themselves from being found out by other civilizations.

According to this theory, the cosmos was so deserted because the other civilizations were hiding in the dark, unwilling to let their locations be exposed to others. This time, the Hope intended to employ this method, a silent journey, one that wouldn’t expose the Hope’s existence to others. Actual precautions that went into this plan included shutting down all devices that would give off light, and there was a two-month-long upgrade on the Hope’s surface. The upgrade was to introduce a layer of creator’s particle generators, and beyond that layer of creator’s particle was added another layer of creator’s particle shielding systems. In other words, the whole of the Hope was covered by a layer of creator’s particles that wouldn’t spread. This would ensure that all of the signals from within the Hope wouldn’t escape into space.

Other than that, the Hope’s surface was also equipped with a shield that blocked all external surveillance. The Hope was like an insignificant metallic object travelling in space. After all, the Hope’s size didn’t look like the conventional size of a civilization’s mother ship. Therefore, even if they were detected by other civilizations, as long as they didn’t take a closer look, the Hope would most likely be ignored because no other civilization would utilize this method to hide themselves. Since shielding went both ways, the Hope had also practically blinded and deafened themselves. This was akin to the dodo bird sticking its head into the ground, thinking others couldn’t see it because it couldn’t see others. Therefore, at the end of the day, luck would play a huge part in this plan. If the ship was attacked, it would be swift and without warning.

Thankfully, the Hope had its own back up surveillance system in the form of Diviners and a Sage that could see one month into the future…

This was the only reason Yao Yuan gave this Silent Journey plan the go-ahead.

Finally, there were only six months and another two space warps to go…