468: Liyang's solemnity

The civilization their fleet belonged to was merely an ordinary third-level civilization in the interstellar rankings; its entire operation was basically maintained by plundering lower-level civilizations.

And a civilization capable of building starships with super-long-range spatial jumps would be at least a fourth-level civilization—that was an existence that could easily crush them.

The chasm in civilization levels could never be filled by numbers.

First and second-level civilizations might still be able to mutually constrain each other through various factors and scales, but from third-level upwards, the gap at each level was an insurmountable chasm.

Just as they could easily sweep aside a second-level civilization's planet, a fourth-level civilization destroying their fleet would be nothing more than a flick of a finger.

For civilizations above that, each level was a dimensionality reduction strike against the level below it.

"General..."

The Black-Robed Person next to him tentatively spoke.

"Perhaps... this is just a starship that got lost due to an accident? After all, the territories of advanced civilizations are so vast, they might not care about this fringe planet..."

The General did not respond, only staring intently at the azure planet in the holographic projection.

The planet was still slowly rotating, like an enticing candy, but at this moment, in his eyes, it was shrouded in an aura of danger.

The wreckage of an advanced civilization's starship appearing nearby was no accident—should they continue to plunder this planet, gambling that the advanced civilization had long forgotten this place? Or should they withdraw immediately, abandoning the fat meat at their mouths?

The Command Room fell into a dead silence, with only the indicator lights of the control panel silently flashing, reflecting the General's conflicted, eerie green eyes.

The greed of plunder and the fear of an advanced civilization repeatedly pulled at his heart, like a silent wrestling match.

"Let's do it!"

The General slammed the control panel, a desperate ruthlessness flashing in his eerie green pupils.

"I refuse to believe it's such a coincidence that an advanced civilization's power would just happen to appear in such a fringe starfield!"

He turned to look at his subordinates, his tone carrying an unquestionable resolve.

"Bring that starship wreckage back to me as well—the materials capable of building such a hull, even as fragments, can fetch astronomical prices on the black market; it might even be worth more than that planet!"

"Yes!"

The subordinates bowed in unison, the hems of their black robes sweeping across the ground with a rustling sound.

"Pass down the order, all starships enter battle formation and proceed to the target planet!"

The General's voice echoed in the Command Room, carrying the unique ruthlessness of a plunderer.

"Remember, be swift; don't leave any time for unexpected events to react!"

The starship fleet immediately sprang into action, dark purple energy patterns lighting up on their hulls, and eerie blue flames spewing from their engine nozzles, like poised poisoned arrows, accelerating towards the azure planet... Meanwhile, in the top-floor office of Xili Tower, Li Yang was dealing with corporate affairs on a screen.

Real-time data streams of the global energy network scrolled across the screen; he lightly swiped his finger, approving a promotion plan for new agricultural technology and forwarding it to the executive department.

With a "bang," the office door was suddenly pushed open, and Qi Yu rushed in, her face pale, tightly clutching a tablet in her hand, her breathing trembling.

"Brother... Brother Yang! Is it... is it people from the Empire?"

Li Yang looked up, his brows slightly furrowed.

"The Empire? What do you mean?"

He had not received any message from the black sphere, and couldn't help but look at the black sphere floating beside him.

The black sphere swayed slightly, shaking its head like a person, its surface indicator lights flashing steadily, clearly also unaware.

"Look at this!"

Qi Yu quickly stepped forward and handed the tablet to Li Yang; the screen displayed a satellite image urgently transmitted by the National Aerospace Administration—in the dark starry sky, dozens of menacing starships were arranged in a wedge formation, their hulls glowing with an eerie dark purple light, speeding towards the azure planet at an extremely fast pace, their trails carving distorted light streaks in the cosmos.

"This was... captured just ten minutes ago."

Qi Yu's voice carried an uncontrollable tension.

"The Aerospace Administration says these unidentified flying objects are far faster than existing spacecraft, and... their trajectory points directly at Earth!"

Li Yang's gaze fell on the outlines of those starships, his pupils contracting sharply.

"starships?"

Li Yang stared at the image on the tablet, his fingertips quickly swiping across the screen, giving a solemn command.

"Retrieve all images captured by spacecraft."

In a short while, a large number of images slowly displayed on the screen, dense data streams scrolling like a waterfall, finally settling on a clear star map.

It was exactly as Qi Yu said: dozens of menacing starships were rapidly approaching in a wedge formation, their hull designs completely different from the Empire starships' silver, streamlined designs Li Yang remembered.

"How is it? Are they people from the Empire?"

Qi Yu leaned over, her eyes sparkling with excitement; in her opinion, these suddenly appearing alien fleets were most likely rescue forces sent by the Empire to which Li Yang belonged, as he had previously mentioned that the Empire's technology far surpassed Earth's.

Li Yang's brows furrowed deeply, his fingertips tracing the details of the starships in the image.

"No... they are not people from the Empire."

His voice carried an unprecedented gravity.

"Empire starships, whether civilian or military, will always have the Empire's insignia on their hulls; even the smallest and most dilapidated starship is no exception."

He zoomed in on a side view of one of the starships; only distorted biological patterns flickered there, with no familiar Empire insignia to be found.

"And look at this style; the Empire's design emphasizes efficiency and balance, while these... seem more like they were born for pure plunder."

"Ah! Not from the Empire... then that means..."

The excitement on Qi Yu's face instantly faded, replaced by panic, her voice tightening.

"Is it... is it other aliens?"

"It's a fleet from another unknown civilization."

Li Yang nodded, his gaze sharp as a knife.

"In interstellar law, when a higher civilization discovers a lower civilization, nine times out of ten, it's for resources. Peaceful trade? That's treatment reserved for civilizations of equal standing."

He paused, recalling the Empire's attitude towards non-human civilizations, and added,

"Even the Empire's goodwill towards other civilizations is only extended to intelligent species like humans; other civilizations are not much different from resources to be exploited in the Empire's eyes."

Li Yang paused, then said with a solemn expression,

"They are not here as guests; they are here to seize resources."

"Then what should we do? Can we... can we win?"

Qi Yu's voice was tearful, and she subconsciously clutched Li Yang's sleeve, her knuckles white from the force.

The sunlight outside the window was clearly warm, yet she felt cold all over; those starships, which looked like mere dots on the star map, represented a power capable of overthrowing an entire civilization.

Li Yang gently pushed her hand away, his gaze still fixed on the image, his tone now more composed than before.

"Don't panic, let's observe the situation first."

He paused, then said something that completely baffled Qi Yu.

"Even if they come with ill intent, it's best... if they are a higher-level civilization."

"Huh?"

Qi Yu was completely stunned, her eyes wide.

"Higher-level civilization? At a time like this, isn't it better for the level to be as low as possible? We might still be able to handle a lower-level civilization..."

Li Yang did not explain further, but instead communicated silently with the black sphere...