The point of light was minuscule yet exceedingly bright. If one could withstand the dazzling glare of the Pegasus V432 Star and look directly at it, this pinpoint of light would be visible even to the naked eye.
It was like a fleeting spark erupting from a bonfire. In that same instant, the radiation output of the entire Pegasus V432 Star increased by a tiny, corresponding amount.
Although the increase was minuscule, it was still detectable by precision instruments.
The source of that point of light was a heavy transport ship Li Qingsong had previously deployed near Pegasus V432.
This class of heavy transport ship had a payload capacity exceeding ten million tons.
It wasn't carrying just anything—it was loaded entirely with Hydrogen Bombs!
Hydrogen Bombs of immense yield, with a single warhead equivalent to one billion tons of TNT!
A single one of these Hydrogen Bombs weighed about 200 tons. By this calculation, one heavy transport ship was loaded with fifty thousand such bombs, for a total yield of fifty trillion tons of TNT!
If such a cluster of Hydrogen Bombs were detonated on Earth, the planet's tectonic plates would be shattered. The entire globe would be wracked by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions of unprecedented intensity. The atmosphere would be choked with soot and dust, and some of Earth's very mass would be blasted into space.
The entire global ecosystem would be utterly annihilated.
Of course, this detonation didn't take place on Earth. It was on a star—a Stellar body even more powerful than the Sun.
Before the detonation, Li Qingsong had already ordered the heavy transport to plummet toward Pegasus V432. The final detonation didn't occur at the original distance of six million kilometers. Instead, it was triggered only after the ship had actually entered the star's atmosphere. This ensured more of the energy was released into the Stellar body itself, causing a comparatively greater impact.
Even so, the impact of this single ship's explosion on Pegasus V432 was negligible.
After all, the Pegasus V432 Star's full-spectrum radiation is approximately 2.68 x 10^27 joules per second. The energy from fifty trillion tons of TNT exploding is about 2.07 x 10^23 joules. The energy from the explosion of one such immensely powerful ship was a mere eight hundred-thousandths of the Stellar body's energy output per second.
But that didn't matter.
Because Li Qingsong hadn't deployed just one Hydrogen Bomb ship around the Pegasus V432 Star. He had deployed over twenty thousand of them!
If all twenty-thousand-plus heavy Hydrogen Bomb ships were to detonate, the released energy would be roughly equivalent to what the Pegasus V432 Star emits in 1.7 seconds.
Compared to a star, an amount of energy equivalent to just 1.7 seconds of its output might still not seem like much.
But that didn't matter, because Pegasus V432 is a variable star.
It is classified as a non-radial pulsating variable star. In this type of star, the boundary between the convective and radiative zones is unstable. This instability can even cause wave-like ripples to appear on the stellar surface.
Generally speaking, most variable stars are inherently more unstable than ordinary stars.
If a fleet of Hydrogen Bomb ships of this scale were detonated near the Sun, it probably wouldn't trigger a significant eruption.
The Sun is not a variable star; it is highly stable.
But Pegasus V432 was different.
It already possessed a degree of instability. What would happen when it was subjected to such a massive external energy influence?
Li Qingsong's simulation models showed that its instability would instantly spike by hundreds or even thousands of times, triggering an energy burst more than ten thousand times greater than normal.
Such immense energy would sweep away everything—tangible and intangible—in the star's vicinity.
Never mind Li Qingsong's own creations and fleet; not even the armada of the Intelligent Mechanical Calamity Civilization could withstand it!
'No matter how advanced your technology is, you're just a Level Three Strong Core Civilization. How could you possibly withstand such a violent eruption of Stellar Energy—something that can truly be called a Celestial Calamity?'
This was Li Qingsong's final trump card.
'Since you refuse to let me go, we can all just die together. If I'm going down, I'm taking you all with me!'
That single point of light was just one Hydrogen Bomb ship exploding. A warning. Merely a warning, to show that I'm not making empty threats.
'I really have deployed the necessary forces near the star!'
In the cockpit of a ship, the Clone housing Li Qingsong's consciousness stared with a crazed look out the viewport, gazing at the countless stars in the void.
Every single one of those stars was a massive Intelligent Mechanical Calamity Warship. Countless stars meant a virtually countless number of warships.
An endless sea of stars surrounded Li Qingsong.
'Now, make your choice! Will you perish with me, or... will you flee immediately?'
「Billions of kilometers away, aboard the Supercomputer Mother Ship.」
At this moment, within the numerous Supercomputing Bases of the Supercomputer Mother Ship, processing power usage began to spike. Wisps of liquid nitrogen vapor rose from the cooling pools, and in the cooling towers, the Lasers ran at full power.
An infinite stream of logic flashed frantically through the computational units.
'I have been deceived.
The Prey Civilization's all-out resistance wasn't a desperate last stand. It was a feint, designed to increase the difficulty of my capturing their civilization.
The Prey Civilization calculated that I would not truly annihilate them, but would instead hope to capture as many of their sentient beings as possible.
Capture is more difficult than annihilation. Given the strong fighting spirit the Prey Civilization had displayed, I was forced to commit more forces to the battlefield. And, under their deliberate enticement, I was lured step by step into extremely close proximity to the star.
The situation is now clear. I must withdraw the fleet immediately. Otherwise, the enemy will surely detonate their myriad Hydrogen Bombs, triggering a stellar eruption. They would be immolated, but so too would over 95% of my civilization's combat strength.
However... an immediate withdrawal requires passing through the Asteroid Belt at maximum speed.
And the enemy has also deployed a vast number of Hydrogen Bomb traps within that Asteroid Belt.
What is the optimal choice?'
The logical processing units continued to churn frantically.
Aboard a Warship near Planet A, a smile touched Li Qingsong's crazed face.
'Faced with this, what will you choose?
Stay here, and I'll detonate every Hydrogen Bomb ship, triggering a stellar eruption. We'll be annihilated together.
Your entire fleet will be destroyed, and I will lose all the forces I currently command.
If you retreat now, I won't detonate the ships. My forces will survive, but you will have to run the gauntlet of endless Hydrogen Bomb traps in the Asteroid Belt.
You'll have to flee the Asteroid Belt at top speed, which means you won't have time to clear those traps.
Based on the precedent set in the Oriental Star System, those Hydrogen Bomb traps will cost you at least ninety percent of your fleet.
So... what will it be?'