Light Speed ​​War

Chapter 25: Mini Beetle

A massive, silver-white warship hovered silently in the air, gazing at the Earth's human fleet from afar.

Five transport ships of the Earth Federation fleet, carrying more than 3500 children aged 6-8, slowly made their way toward the silver warship.

As a condition for following the gods of Thor, the Federation fleet presented the divine messenger with two conditions. First, the messenger would impart propulsion technology, enabling humanity to reach 50% of the speed of light in this space domain within a short period—in other words, doubling humanity's speed to match that of the Celestials. This was the minimum condition humanity demanded, as they believed they would only feel comfortable following the gods of Thor if they could travel at the same speed as the Celestials. The second condition was that some children be sent to visit the messenger's massive warship, allowing humanity to directly experience the greatness and wisdom of the gods of Thor.

Regarding the first condition, the divine messenger understood perfectly. After all, assembling a large expedition team would present a challenge in terms of sailing speed, and one couldn't favor one team over another. As for the second condition, the divine messenger agreed after considering it for over ten minutes. After all, what great things could 6-8-year-old children possibly accomplish? Moreover, with over 3500 children, if humans were to truly dare to play tricks, wouldn't these children be the best hostages? "I actually hope there are as many children as possible," the divine messenger thought to himself.

Half an hour later, five transport ships arrived near the massive silver warship. The divine envoy, seemingly to demonstrate his power, emitted five beams of white light from the warship, teleporting all the children directly to a large, conference-like hall, where a young woman hovered. All the children seemed stunned by the teleportation; the younger ones burst into tears. The divine envoy smiled smugly, and a synthesized mechanical voice said, "Babies, don't be afraid, it's alright, be good."

Among the children, an older boy, seemingly the leader, said loudly, "My Lord, please believe in us. We will be strong and powerful, and we will dedicate ourselves to the great god Thor and all the gods."

The messenger nodded, seemingly quite satisfied.

"My children, you are the future of Martian civilization and our hope in defeating our enemies. Today, I am very happy to lead you on a tour of this behemoth created by the gods of Thor. This warship is enormous, 314 kilometers long. Like your warships, we have everything you have, but our specific propulsion system, weapon system, and shield system are very different from yours. It is certain that we are very advanced."

The divine messenger's warship was indeed different; light was everywhere. Layers and rings of light floated and flowed, seemingly forming some kind of circuit. These magical halos existed without any support, yet they simply did.

"My lord, what are those sparkly things?"

"Oh, those are optical crystals. Some store energy, and some store data."

"My lord, what is that large sphere of light?"

"Yes, it's the computer you're talking about."

The children chattered excitedly, and the divine messenger patiently answered their questions one by one.

"My Lord, why are you all alone? Where are the others?" a little girl's voice rang out.

They're all sleeping.

"My Lord, I need to pee." A little boy bent over, seemingly unable to hold it in.

"I want to pee too!" "I want to pee too!" A dozen children shouted.

"What does 'shh' mean?" the messenger asked, not understanding.

"My Lord, they're just going to relieve themselves," the young man leading the group explained.

"Oh, I see. Humans are such a hassle. Go ahead, turn right, there's a row of tunnels, just take care of it there. Don't go too far."

A dozen or so children, laughing and joking, ran over, bending over. They turned a corner and came to a row of thick metal pillars, each with round holes at its base.

As if by prior arrangement, some of the children actually urinated, while others rolled up their pants and peeled off a thin, metallic film from their legs. Then, these children placed the metal films they had peeled off on the ground, stacking them layer by layer.

A miracle occurred. The layered membranes automatically curled, then stretched and retracted, moving back and forth like a needle in a sewing machine at incredible speed, or like a master painter sketching rapidly. Amazingly, two minutes later, the head of an insect appeared, followed by antennae, mandibles, compound eyes, a body, and then legs, finally forming a beetle! This beetle was about 1.5 centimeters long, with a distinctly science fiction appearance. Impressively, after taking shape, the beetle suddenly moved, and its exoskeleton changed from human skin color to a shimmering, metallic silver-white, blending seamlessly with the color of the divine envoy's warship. It looked like a miniature child's toy, but it was no toy; it was a replicator created by Earth's humans—a replicator capable of consuming most metals and rapidly self-reproducing!

The metal beetle crawled into the small hole at the bottom of the metal cylinder and disappeared in a moment.

The children, humming nursery rhymes, hurried to catch up with the procession led by the divine messenger, and then dispersed within the group.

Three hours later, Commander-in-Chief Zhang Xiaoyu sent a message to the Divine Envoy, the gist of which was: "Thank you, Divine Envoy, for imparting the technology to enhance our navigation capabilities. We have verified that it can indeed reach 50% of the speed of light in this space. In ten days, we will follow the Divine Envoy at 50% of the speed of light. Currently, we can only travel with the Divine Envoy to the five stars of Tian Shen at 25% of the speed of light. Visiting the Divine Envoy's warship will provide us, the flowers of humanity, with a very good, direct education and scientific enlightenment, making all of humanity believe that the gods of Thor are great and extraordinary, worthy of our homage." The Divine Envoy couldn't help but smile slightly.

On Earth, humanity was indeed extremely busy. Several child volunteers who accompanied the tour were secretly isolated, and their nearly four-hour experiences were downloaded, stored, edited, and then uploaded to an artificial intelligence computer. The computer then reproduced and repeatedly played back everything the children saw on the divine messenger warship. Meanwhile, a large number of scientists from the Academy of Sciences devoted themselves to in-depth and meticulous research.

In the night sky, the human warships started up, their propulsion flames obscuring the starlight. The divine envoy's massive warship simply waited silently. A few minutes later, the divine envoy's warship swiftly turned, its tail flashing, and sped towards the star Trisolaran at 25% of the speed of light in this space. The moon and the human warship accelerated, following closely behind. Approximately 11 days later, the divine envoy's warship increased its speed to 50% of the speed of light in this space.

Six months later, the divine messengers and Earthlings arrived within the vicinity of the Gastropoda star system.

The Celestials had already learned that the divine messenger and the Martians would arrive at Celestial V at this moment, so Yasuo led a large number of warships to wait for the divine messenger at a distance of 100 million kilometers from their home planet.

"Welcome, Divine Envoy! Congratulations on your subjugation of the Martians!" Yasuo expressed his respect to the Divine Envoy.

"Yasuo, from now on, the Celestials and Martians are one family. Let bygones be bygones. Tomorrow I will personally preside over the signing ceremony of your peace and friendship agreement."

"Yes, Your Excellency."

Following the divine messenger's advice, the moon orbits in a synchronous orbit around the planet Trisolarane, serving as a "satellite," while human warships remain near the moon.

At night, the Celestials looked at the moon. The super fortress that held such fear in its heart was now reflecting the light of Celestial V, a huge surprise to them, for the moon was now shining brightly. Countless Celestials rejoiced and celebrated throughout the night; the war with the Martian civilization would finally be over tomorrow.

Late at night, Zhou Yuan, Wei Shan, and others secretly returned to the Earth Federation Fleet Command, where their secret plans regarding the Divine Envoy and the Celestial Ginseng People were finalized.

The following morning, tens of thousands of people at the Tiancan Five-e Royal Square were in a frenzy, ready to witness firsthand the signing of a peace agreement between the Tiancan and Martian civilizations. On the east-west oriented platform, Yaso was already seated on the east side.

Suddenly, a beam of light shone on the platform, and the divine envoy sat directly in the center seat. Then, people saw another beam of light, and then a person sat upright next to the divine envoy. All the Celestial Beings exclaimed, "My God!" They seemed stunned. How could Martians and Celestial Beings look so alike? Yasuo, seeing Zhang Xiaoyu, was also greatly shocked. The square fell silent. All the Celestial Beings and Earthlings watching the live broadcast were also stunned.

The divine messenger remained silent, as if recalling something.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the great and sacred moment has finally arrived," the divine messenger finally spoke. "Under the guidance and revelation of the gods of Thor, the Celestial Civilization and the Martian Civilization have now set aside their differences and concluded a peace and friendship agreement, following the gods of Thor to jointly form an expeditionary force to fight against the enemy. Now, please have the leaders of the two civilizations sign."

Yasuo and Zhang Xiaoyu signed their names on the document, which had three versions.

“Your Majesty Yasuo, I’m also quite surprised. We look so alike. I bet we were family a long time ago.” Zhang Xiaoyu smiled, and the celestial beings in the square also smiled, easing the awkward silence.

"My Lord, you have instructed us to form an expeditionary force. When will we set off?" Zhang Xiaoyu asked. Upon hearing this, Yasuo seemed to sway slightly, but quickly sat up straight again.

"Commander Zhang, there's no need to be in such a hurry. Let's first celebrate how our two civilizations have turned hostility into friendship."

"Yaso, the situation at the front is critical, and we definitely need to form an expeditionary force as soon as possible."

"My lord, you know the travel speed of our two civilizations and the vast distance between our star systems. How can we possibly be of any help?"

The divine messenger smiled. "It's alright, look at the sun." He pointed towards the sun, and everyone looked in that direction, but there was nothing there. The messenger's face darkened. He held his breath and pointed at the sun again, but still, there was nothing.

"Wait a moment, I'll be right back." With that, the divine messenger vanished. Everyone was astonished, wondering what had happened.

Zhang Xiaoyu took the opportunity to secretly touch his ring.