Chapter 250: Chapter 249: A Slim Chance of Survival
“We believe that true intelligent civilizations should cherish every encounter, for this Cosmos is far too vast, and intelligent life—especially true intelligent civilizations—is far too rare. Every meeting is incredibly precious.
We believe that every encounter, every exchange, is a precious opportunity to promote the development of both our civilizations. With Celestial Calamities rampant, only through communication can true intelligent civilizations increase their chances of survival.
Based on this, we have adjusted our previous decision and are willing to offer a planet for your civilization to use as a base. We can coexist peacefully within a single Interstellar System, engage in multifaceted exchange and cooperation, and advance and progress together.
Having abruptly changed course, we believe your fleet must be low on supplies. To compensate for the losses our previous error caused you, we have already dispatched a supply fleet with abundant resources to rendezvous with your fleet.
After receiving these supplies, we are confident your fleet will have sufficient resources to change course and come into the Star System.
We eagerly hope to engage in exchange and cooperation with you.
Sincerely, the Supreme Leader of the Harville Civilization and all its intelligent life.”
Looking at the message before him, then at the bright engine flare within the Star System, Li Qingsong’s heart grew heavy.
He realized that this civilization calling itself Harville had no intention of letting him leave this Interstellar System!
Whether that Harville Civilization Fleet, already underway to rendezvous with his own, was a supply fleet or a Warship fleet—Li Qingsong didn’t actually care.
That wasn’t the point.
The point was the possibility: if it *was* a Warship fleet, then even if his side won a battle in Deep Space, their already scarce supplies would be heavily depleted. They would be left without enough resources to even reach the next Interstellar System.
He would be trapped to die in the vastness of space.
That possibility was the crucial part.
And without mutual trust, a truly benevolent civilization, even one genuinely intending to resupply them, would have deliberately avoided this possibility to prevent any misunderstanding.
But now, it was obvious the other party had not tried to avoid such a misunderstanding.
Communication between civilizations is different from communication between individuals.
It’s like the communication between two nations. If one country deploys Nuclear Missiles on the other’s border, there’s no need to wonder whether their motive is scientific research or war. The very act of deploying Nuclear Missiles on the border can be considered a declaration of war.
Just like now. The Harville Civilization dispatching a fleet to rendezvous with his own—regardless of their true purpose, the act itself could be seen as a declaration of war!
From this, Li Qingsong immediately concluded that they had no intention of letting him leave the Interstellar System.
But… why? What happened?
How could their attitude have changed so drastically in such a short time, after such a simple back-and-forth exchange?
Li Qingsong’s mind raced.
‘It’s obvious this Harville Civilization didn’t want to get involved at first.
A chance encounter, both sides keeping their distance—that’s the unspoken understanding spacefaring civilizations should have.
But… why did they suddenly change their minds?
Is it because they realized my fleet’s technology is inferior to theirs?
No, that’s impossible. If it were just about technology levels, they could have analyzed that from my engine trails long ago. They would have known before they even sent the first message.
Back then, they must have been unwilling to make contact with me. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have needed to send any message at all; they could have just waited for me to walk right into their lap.
So, the reason they changed their minds could almost certainly only have come from me.
So, what did I do in the time it took for them to change their minds?’
Li Qingsong had only done two things. One, change course. Two, send a reply message, clarifying that his fleet would leave this Star System and find another place to settle.
‘Changing course was the proper thing to do; there’s no way that would have made them change their minds. In that case, the only remaining possibility seems to be… my reply message?’
Li Qingsong quickly pulled up the message and read it over and over again, tens of thousands of times, from top to bottom.
But no matter how he looked at it, it was a perfectly normal reply. There was nothing noteworthy in its content.
You asked me to leave, and I left.
Your message maintained at least a superficial peace, and so did mine.
No matter how he looked at it, there was no reason for them to be hostile. But the fact was, they had suddenly changed their minds and were now showing strong hostility.
This change was a complete mystery to Li Qingsong; he couldn’t figure out the reason for the life of him.
But now didn’t seem to be the time to dwell on it.
The key issue now was that the other party seemed determined to keep him here, to prevent him from leaving.
What should he do?
Li Qingsong realized they hadn’t left him any other choice.
Because once a war started, regardless of victory or defeat, he would be trapped to die in space.
The only way to survive was… to change course again and head into the Star System!
Li Qingsong gritted his teeth and looked toward the brilliant star.
‘If that’s how it is… then I won’t leave! I’ll head into the Star System and seize a planet first!’
So what if this Harville Civilization is more technologically advanced than me!
So what if my fleet has barely any supplies left!
If you won’t give me a way out, then I’ll have to fight for my life and carve out a bloody path.
My technology just had a breakthrough, and my strength has greatly increased. This is the perfect chance to test your mettle!
Fortunately, he hadn’t been on his new course for too long. He hadn’t traveled too far from this star, so there was still time to change direction again.
Having made his decision, Li Qingsong didn’t hesitate for another moment. He immediately initiated another course correction, heading straight for the star.
While the fleet’s velocity steadily decreased, Li Qingsong also launched numerous Detectors, sending them ahead at greater speeds to conduct preliminary scans of the Interstellar System.
Soon, these Detectors began transmitting back the information they had gathered.
On the surfaces or in the orbits of the three large planets, their moons, and the dwarf planets, Li Qingsong saw sprawling, mountain-range-like industrial complexes. He saw one colossal spaceship after another. He saw countless vessels, large and small, shuttling between the different planets. He saw innumerable giant industrial facilities thrumming and operating day and night. And he saw space elevators rising one after another from the planetary surfaces, with vast quantities of materials flowing between worlds along these “sky-ladders.”