Disappearing into the darkness did not mean that he was dead.
In fact, none of the stars in this universe had truly died. It was just like the star in Galaxy 857, the surface or the nearby outer space was blocked by dust-like dark spores. The light and heat gradually accumulated in the enclosed space, and no one knew when they would erupt.
"This is a slow process. There's no need to worry about the collapse of the star in a short period of time. In addition, the lack of illumination from the fixed star will lead to a drop in the temperature of the galaxy, which will be troublesome for the low-level civilizations. Fortunately, the humans don't have to worry about these problems now. "Shen Yunmai's voice rang out in the battleship.
At this time, the Charred Tail was millions of kilometers away. Using the miniature warp hole communication technology, there would be no delay in the conversation.
"Just spores?" Jing Jiu asked.
The number of organic matter in the universe was relatively small, so why were there so many spores, enough to block Star 857 and the stars in front of it?
He felt that there was something strange about those black dust particles.
Shen Yunmai said, "The density of the Sea of Dark Matter can't lower the temperature of the permanent star for the time being; but it has slowed down the speed of the photons and other particles, which is why the star has become dimmer."
This explanation was reasonable, but it was not enough to convince Jing Jiu. As he was about to ask more questions, the Scorching-Sun Battleship started to decelerate with a slight quiver.
In the distant universe, the Scorched Tail battleships began to decelerate at the same time and then changed their course.
"We'll arrive at the seaside after we go around the Big Goat Black Hole. Get ready," Shen Yunmai said and turned off the communication device.
After passing through the warped black hole and bypassing the large goat black hole that had become a legend in the Federation of the Milky Way, he arrived at a corner of the local galaxy.
The universe was still incomparably dark, and the distant stars were hard to see in the endless void ocean.
A bright starry sky appeared in front of the two warships.
The Star Chain Fleet's reconnaissance fleet was on a mission here.
More than seven thousand battleships were in space, facing that dark world from afar. They looked like countless people carrying surfboards and preparing to go into the sea.
The spores sprayed by the uninfected life forms were the medium. The spreading speed of the Sea of Dark Matter was extremely slow compared to the speed of the celestial bodies in the universe, and there were no waves. In other words, these battleships were on the shore, but it was unknown how far they were from the coastline.
It was evident that the military was well aware of the scope of the Sea of Dark Matter.
The science and technology of the Federation of the Milky Way couldn't detect the existence of the dark matter, not to mention capture it. How did the humans determine it?
An invisible light curtain hung down from the floor-to-ceiling window and quickly thickened, forming an extremely complicated three-dimensional star map.
The dim spots were the permanent stars; the densely packed bright spots were the battleships; and the dark space was the Sea of Dark Matter.
Jing Jiu looked at the star map in Silence. He was not bothered by this question because he already knew the answer when he was at the base.
The humans couldn't observe the dark matter, so they had no way of knowing where the boundary of the Sea of Dark Matter was; but they could observe it indirectly through the infected beings.
The Sea of Dark Matter had already flooded the places where the life forms had been released into the universe and had been contaminated.
In a sense, this method was very similar to the sonar used by ancient humans, and those lifeforms were the sound waves.
Of course, these lifeforms could also be regarded as scouts, but they carried out a mission of no return.
The infected lifeforms would turn into monsters, so the selection of these lifeforms was very strict. It was necessary to ensure that they could survive in the vacuum for a long time and that they wouldn't be too powerful after turning into monsters; otherwise, the Sea of Dark Matter would expand at a faster rate by relying on these lifeforms.
The scouts couldn't be humans. To reiterate that this had nothing to do with humanitarianism, it was simply impossible.
These conditions also excluded the wild animals and the birds.
Those microorganisms and viruses were too small in size and could be easily destroyed by the cosmic rays, and it would be difficult to clean them up after they turned into bloody thumbs. As such, it was impossible to select them.
So, logically speaking, plants were the best choice. The early experiments of the humans proved that the living plants could survive in the universe for a while, and the mosses and some algae could survive for a longer time. However, the plants needed a longer time to be infected by the Sea of Dark Matter, which didn't meet the requirements of the scouts. The dead organic matter, like the fat, could also be infected by the Sea of Dark Matter, which was not a threat to the humans; but they had a similar problem to the plants, which was that it was difficult to observe the changes in a short time. By the time the humans discovered that the plants were infected, the Sea of Dark Matter would have already surrounded the battleships.
In order to find the most suitable scouts for exploring the boundary of the Sea of Dark Matter, the scientists of the past generations and the populace had come up with many plans with their imaginations. Some of the plans were extremely peculiar and had no origin, like the Escherichia coli; some of the plans sounded reasonable but were actually based on stereotypes, like the white mice; and some of the plans were indeed practical, like the maggots; but they failed in the experiments. Even the maggots with the strongest vitality couldn't withstand the transition between low temperature and high temperature.
In the end, the humans were forced to choose a lifeform that most of the humans hated and didn't want to deal with: the cockroach.
It was the cockroach.
The cockroach was a kind of lifeform that was stubborn and peculiar.
The scientists couldn't find a better candidate after many rounds of experiments. In the end, the military chose the cockroach, which was native to a certain planet, as the scouts.
Unfortunately, the image of the cockroach didn't improve even though the cockroach was officially recognized and played a more important role in the history of the humans than in the past tens of thousands of years. Even the officers and soldiers of the interplanetary fleet didn't want to mention this "comrade". The cockroach was sent to the scouting battleships to release the cockroach, which became the most severe punishment in the military discipline.
…
…
The Sea of Dark Matter expanded smoothly, so there was no need to worry that a passage would suddenly appear on the inside. As such, the humans didn't need to release too many cockroaches to complete the demarcation work. According to the standard of the third level of defense, one cockroach would be released every ten thousand kilometers. In this patch of the universe, seven thousand battleships would release seven hundred billion cockroaches.
It sounded like a lot, but it was actually not a lot. The cockroach had a strong reproductive ability, so it could be supplied easily and continuously.
Thank God.
The real problem was that a microchip had to be implanted in the bodies of each cockroach so that it could be controlled, observed, and eventually destroyed.
They had to thank the young woman in the bathrobe by the hot spring. She was good at this kind of work, and it took her only a short time to solve the problem.
If seven hundred billion cockroaches appeared at the same time, it would be the most violent and densely packed bug rain in the world. Fortunately, the infinite space had reduced the possibility of this happening.
In the universe, these bugs were the tiniest specks. The people on the battleships couldn't see them except for the remote monitoring devices.
Jing Jiu gazed at the deep part of the universe through the floor-to-ceiling window. A dim flame suddenly flashed in the deep end of his eyes.
A cockroach encountered the Sea of Dark Matter and was soon infected, and the microchip self-detonated.
Nobody cared about the death of a bug, but the death of this bug was like the explosion of a nuclear bomb with the highest yield in the universe, the invisible shockwaves spreading in all directions.
Seven thousand battleships retreated at the same time, like the tourists retreating to the seaside after being frightened by the tide.
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…
The retreating battleships maintained a relatively steady speed, resembling the leaves drifting in the breeze.
The officers and soldiers on the battleships were used to this process; they didn't feel nervous; instead, they felt excited.
Most of the monitoring devices were aimed at the spot where the bug was buried, and the gazes of tens of millions of people were also fixed on that spot.
There was an ordinary galaxy in that space. It was so ordinary that this galaxy had its own name, the Long Ruler Galaxy, after the Science Academy deduced the time when it would be submerged a few years ago.
The galaxy was growing dimmer, and the color of the permanent star was also growing fainter and fainter.
The officers and soldiers of the starchain fleet had been sailing and living in the universe all year round and had seen many magnificent scenes in the universe; but few of them had seen the scene of a permanent star being swallowed by the Sea of Dark Matter. The communication system of the whole fleet grew quiet. The scientists from the Science Academy of the Federation and various research institutes were preparing to collect the data nervously. Tens of millions of officers and soldiers were waiting for the final moment with a complicated emotion.
After a long while, the permanent star had completely dimmed. It was not because it had stopped emitting light, nor was it because of the spores; it was because the peculiar existence in the Sea of Dark Matter had blocked the light.
More than seven thousand battleships were as quiet as the tourists who were shocked by the ocean, as if countless sighs that couldn't be heard were breaking out.
It was then that a sigh broke out in the communication system of the fleet.
Countless surveillance devices were aimed at a spot in the universe.
Tens of millions of officers and soldiers were also looking at that spot.
Though they couldn't see that spot, they knew who was there.
The Scorching-Sun Battleship and the Scorching-Tail Battleship faced the Sea of Dark Matter. Two people were standing in the space where the extension lines of the battleships intersected.
"If there is a creator, the cockroach must be his greatest creation."
Looking at the distant Sea of Dark Matter, Shen Yunmai went on, "Though the water bear is my favorite, it's too small to be observed and controlled from a distance."
"It's the humans," said Jing Jiu.
Shen Yunmai thought about it and found what Jing Jiu said was sensible.
The humans had encountered many disasters since their birth, including floods, earthquakes, wars and viruses; but they still managed to survive.
This kind of civilization had an unimaginable tenacity. Every time they were on the verge of destruction, they would be reborn from the ashes. The distant ancient civilization was the new product of a catastrophe.
Back when the Sea of Dark Matter was on the verge of swallowing everything, that god had ignited countless permanent stars. The local galaxy was swept away by an energy storm. The traces of radiation that could still be observed proved how dreadful that storm was. These hundreds of backup planets, including the Stargate, the No. 2 Forward Base, and the Topaz No. 3 Planet, were not within the range of the permanent stars; but they were still affected by the energy storm. The people hiding in the underground of these planets and those in the fleet had all died. Who could have expected that the humans could appear again? Apart from the role played by that god, it was undeniable that the humans were as tenacious as the cockroach.
Now, countless stars were disappearing, but humans were still alive. They could still look at these things as if they were scenery.
Shen Yunmai flicked his finger and a wine ball came out from the teapot. He opened his mouth and bit off half of it. Looking at the disappearing permanent stars, he remarked, "It's really beautiful."
Jing Jiu uttered "hmm".
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(Some readers have said that cockroaches and cockroaches are not the same thing. As a senior researcher, I have to say that they are in fact the same thing. My friend, I'd like to know more about the New Recovery Fluid. My family has been preparing it since a few years ago. I recommend it.
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