Chapter 523 — Starship Civilization! Dark Campaign! It's Okay — It's All the Same!
This starship human civilization consisted of five warships: the Blue Space, the Enterprise, the Deep Space, the Ultimate Law, and the Natural Selection.
A total crew complement of 5,500, they were convinced they would be the sole heirs of human civilization, bearing the responsibility of continuing it as they voyaged ever deeper into space.
Even though Zhang Beihai had already learned that an Endless-class carrier had destroyed one Droplet, he still held to his original view.
After all, the Trisolarans still had sophons, nine more Droplets, and a powerful fleet — even if one Droplet was destroyed, what difference would it make? It would still be of no avail.
With that thought in mind, over the past three years Zhang Beihai had led the five stellar-class warships to linger at the edge of the solar system, searching for opportunities to resupply fuel before leaving this homeland again.
What no one expected was that Earth civilization was not destroyed by the Trisolaran fleet; on the contrary, it went on to defeat nine Droplets in succession and capture the Trisolaran fleet.
Humanity achieved final victory in this defense of the solar system, and the Damocles sword that had hung over humankind was finally lifted.
This, of course, was something to be happy about and to celebrate.
Although they were all staunch proponents of escapeism, convinced human civilization would inevitably be defeated, deep down they still wanted to preserve humanity.
Now that the Trisolaran fleet had collapsed, the crews felt joy but also anxiety about their own situation.
After all, humanity's victory meant that their apparent foresight in fleeing had become nothing but outright desertion.
Human civilization no longer needed them to continue; these people had all become shameful traitors.
This put the starship civilization in a dilemma.
They desperately hoped Earth civilization would allow them to return and start anew on the new Earth.
But everyone knew clearly that if they returned now, they would certainly be brought before a military tribunal — traitors in any era never had good ends.
The most likely fate awaiting them was execution by shooting! At this moment, they faced only two choices: first, send part of the fleet back to plead for Earth humanity's mercy, to try to get a second chance.
If Earth accepted them, then all the ships would immediately return.
If Earth did not accept them, then there was only one path left.
They would continue according to their original plan, fleeing forever and drifting through deep space, scraping together a civilization from space debris.
However, on the question of returning, the starship civilization was split into two factions.
The Blue Space and the Deep Space, from the Asian fleet, insisted on returning; many of their crew were from the Huaxia region, and the tradition of returning to one's roots ran deep.
No matter how far a wanderer goes, they will eventually return home.
But the Enterprise from the North American fleet and the Ultimate Law from the European fleet wanted not to return — they knew better than anyone how their people would treat traitors.
If they went back, they would surely be killed, and die nailed to the pillar of shame.
At that moment, Zhang Beihai, commanding the Natural Selection, held the deciding vote that would determine the starship civilization's future; his choice would directly lead these 5,500 people to one fate or another.
To tell the truth, Zhang Beihai felt some regret; had he known the arrival of the Universal Mega-Corp would change the situation so drastically, he would have returned earlier to assist the Asian fleet in attacking the Droplets.
Now the Asian fleet, having destroyed nine Droplets, had become the heroes of all humanity, while they — the shameful escapeists — had become ridiculous clowns trapped between choices.
"If we'd known earlier that antimatter missiles produced by high-energy accelerators could destroy the Droplets that terrified us, perhaps we wouldn't have had to flee," Zhang Beihai lamented, rubbing his temples. He had to admit his approach had been wrong — humanity was not without hope; had they stayed, things would not be so difficult now.
But then again, who could have predicted how many aces the Universal Mega-Corp had up its sleeve?
They had chosen cold, rational cruelty for the sake of humanity's continuation — in other words, shameful desertion.
Really, no one was entirely at fault; everyone simply held different beliefs. But people must accept responsibility for their actions, and Zhang Beihai was willing to accept judgment and shoulder all the blame himself.
The next second, after Zhang Beihai announced his decision, the unexpected happened.
Suddenly the Ultimate Law and the Enterprise struck, simultaneously launching infrasound hydrogen bomb attacks against the Natural Selection, the Blue Space, and the Deep Space.
The Euro-American fleet had launched an attack against the Asian fleet! In an instant, harsh alarms blared relentlessly; malfunctions and warnings popped up on the interfaces, and the screens displayed the Natural Selection under attack.
"What are you doing—!" former captain Dongfang Yanxu shouted angrily at the Ultimate Law and the Enterprise, but received no response.
Only a large number of missiles flew toward them.
Zhang Beihai understood the Euro-American fleet's intention almost instantly — this was not a fit of temper, but a premeditated slaughter.
If the Ultimate Law and the Enterprise wanted to continue fleeing through space, they needed sufficient fuel and supplies — but the starship civilization's entire fuel reserves were only enough for two ships.
This hastily formed civilization force had virtually no deep-voyaging capability.
Now that the three Asian warships had all chosen to return, it was simply unrealistic for the Euro-American fleet to try to keep their fuel-starved ships going.
There was only one choice left.
Extend the butcher's blade toward their own comrades and take the necessary supplies from their corpses.
No matter how Zhang Beihai chose, the Ultimate Law and the Enterprise would, in any case, attack the Asian ships.
This was the mindset of humans who had moved from the industrial age into the interstellar age.
Born and bred in the boundless dark of space, the newborn humans had learned from birth how to ensure survival through cold, rational killing.
Away from the warm cradle of Earth, humans could be as rational and ruthless as the Trisolar
The ultra-powerful infrasound waves generated were enough to kill every crew member inside the ships, yet they did not cause any damage to the ships' facilities or equipment.
From the form of the weapons used, it was already clear what the purposes of the Ultimate Law and Enterprise were: they were here to seize fuel and resources!
Zhang Beihai let out a long, heavy sigh. "So this is our ending. From the day we fled, we could never go back."
"We did nothing wrong, but fate turned our choices into mistakes."
Zhang Beihai felt that dying in space like this was not so bad. Whether it was retribution or self-inflicted, he was tired. After laying down the burden he had carried for so long, he felt an immense sense of relief.
As long as humanity did not perish, as long as humanity still endured, he could die without regret.
At that moment, the light of nuclear detonations flared, illuminating the pitch-black starfield. The nuclear fusion fireball lasted nearly half a minute.
During that time, the nuclear blast flickered at an infrasonic frequency, changes invisible to the human eye.
Yet just then, the Blue Space suddenly moved to shield the Natural Selection, using its own hull as a barrier, absorbing much of the electromagnetic radiation from the infrasonic hydrogen bombs on behalf of its ally.
Though most of the crew aboard the Natural Selection still suffered grievous injuries of varying degrees, the cover provided by the Blue Space at least allowed them to cling to life.
They had not perished in the first wave of attack.
The Deep Space, however, which had no such protection, was in trouble.
The battered Deep Space first shuddered lightly, then the energy of the tremors transformed into infrasonic waves that pierced into the ship's interior. Clouds of foul-smelling blood mist burst forth and spread, shrouding the entire cabin.
Zhang Beihai's organs quivered from the onrushing infrasonic shock. He collapsed to the deck, coughing up mouthfuls of blood, his lungs spasming violently as he gasped for air.
But more than his own danger, he worried for the Blue Space. If even these residual waves could wound them so badly, then the crew of the Blue Space, who had borne the full brunt of the assault, must be suffering horrors beyond imagination.
Fortunately, before coming under attack from the Western battleships, the Blue Space had already ordered everyone to don spacesuits and evacuated the ship's interior into a vacuum.
Because in a vacuum no infrasound waves can propagate, there were no casualties among them.
Only the outer hull had sustained some light damage from the intense electromagnetic pulse, but it was nothing serious.
Captain Chu Yan of the Blue Space immediately contacted Zhang Beihai, asking with concern, "Sir, are you all right?"
Chu Yan had always held Zhang Beihai in absolute reverence. Before the rise of the Universal Megacorp, every decision Zhang Beihai had made had proven utterly correct.
Even now, Chu Yan did not believe Zhang Beihai had been wrong. And regarding the North American and European warships, which had never cooperated with the Asian Fleet, he had always remained wary.
He had never expected that day would truly come.
Zhang Beihai struggled to his feet on the deck, swallowing the blood in his mouth. Gasping for breath, he asked, "Chu Yan, you already knew they would do this, didn't you?"
Chu Yan did not answer directly. He only said that he had never trusted the officers of the North American and European fleets.
History had proven countless times that Westerners had plunder and conquest etched into their very bones. Even when cooperating with them, one must remain vigilant against being bitten in return.
Of course, Chu Yan had also withheld advance warning from Zhang Beihai for reasons of self-preservation.
If Zhang Beihai and the other ships had chosen to strike him down, then revealing such secrets ahead of time would have been nothing but a death sentence.
On the surface, the starship civilization looked united. But with five ships that could be combined into countless different alliances of interest, things were never so simple.
Just because Zhang Beihai and he both came from the Asian Fleet and were both Chinese did not guarantee they would always be on the same side.
In any case, no matter how the situation evolved, Chu Yan would do everything to ensure his own survival, and to draw other ships into his camp.
Thanks to the protection of the Blue Space, the Natural Selection did not fall in the first round of attacks.
But the situation was still dire.
Although Zhang Beihai and the others had survived the deadly infrasonic hydrogen bomb strike, they were gravely wounded, and the command systems of their ship had collapsed entirely.
They had no strength left to counterattack the Enterprise and the Ultimate Law.
Only the Blue Space remained to face two stellar-class battleships at once. Though their models, scale, and combat power were roughly equal, one against two would inevitably end in defeat.
Having already chosen to turn their guns on former comrades, the Ultimate Law and Enterprise now attacked with even greater ferocity.
Nuclear missiles burst in relentless succession, releasing torrents of electromagnetic energy as they streaked toward the Blue Space.
To protect the crippled Natural Selection, the Blue Space had no choice but to hold the line and fight back, but fighting while dragging such a burden would only hold them down.
Seeing this, Zhang Beihai's face twisted in pain. He urged Chu Yan to take his crew and withdraw, to return to the Solar System.
"Go, quickly. Stay here and you'll all be annihilated. Leave this place—go home."
But Chu Yan stubbornly insisted on shielding their comrades aboard the Natural Selection. He answered firmly, "No, Sir. We'll go back together!"
Zhang Beihai could only sigh helplessly, muttering to himself: "It doesn't matter. It's all the same."
He had already accepted everything fate decreed. Whether human or Trisolaran, whether individual or entire civilizations, the universe had already written their destinies.
Death was eternal.
Just then, from out of nowhere, a plasma cannon blast streaked in and punched straight through the Ultimate Law, shattering the balance of this grim and hopeless battle.
The Ultimate Law's hull was torn open with a gaping wound, its compartments thrown into chaos, blazing fire devouring countless crew.
This stellar-class battleship had lost all combat capability.
The one who saved the Blue Space was the Hyperion of the Universal Megacorp. For the past three years, the Hyperion had been shadowing this starship civilization, monitoring them closely.
Only upon discovering their internal strife did it finally emerge from stealth, revealing itself to overturn the battlefield.
With the Ultimate Law destroyed, the Enterprise could no longer hold its ground. It immediately turned tail toward the Solar System.
Better to be executed by their own people and leave a whole body behind, than to die at the hands of an unknown civilization of mysterious origin.
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