Chu, as a member of the collective consciousness, had lost his individuality.

  Before entering the collective consciousness, however, she briefly used his authority to make some adjustments.

  These adjustments included instilling a flawed perception of the Galactic Federation within the collective consciousness, deceiving the new leader.

  8672804 would certainly request aid from other Stations; this was central to Chu's plan.

  The weakness of interstellar warfare is its reliance on firepower and energy. If both are lacking, victory is almost impossible.

  It's like a forest battle: one side has 10 snipers, the other only one. Without interaction or interference, the single sniper has almost no chance of winning.

  How can the impossible be made possible?

  Through deception.

  Sound, language, activity, etc.

  But these are difficult to achieve in interstellar warfare.

  To win, Chu needed to mask the effects of interstellar distance; that's what he was doing.

  Everything was about waiting, about preparation.

  “Why is this Station's energy so low?” 8672804, having taken full control of Tilted Station, discovered it was in worse condition than expected.

  The collective consciousness informed him that the Galactic Federation had previously partially colonized Tilted Station, siphoning off a significant amount of energy.

  “This civilization, with its aggressive colonization, must be destroyed.”

  “The entire Station will immediately be disassembled into starships. Send messages to the reinforcements, requesting additional energy.”

  “Now, deploy probes to scout the enemy's movements.”

  ...

  The Federation was unaware of Chu's decision. Finney and the other Federation officials and scholars were waiting for a response from Chu, at least the reopening of Tilted Station.

  Instead, they received probes.

  Upon detecting the Federation probes, Tilted Station’s probes launched attacks.

  “What’s Chu doing? Has he chosen to remain loyal to his civilization?”

  Finney was shocked.

  He quickly recalled all probes; his ship retreated towards the Silk Road Border Station.

  The Border Station was a trading post between the Federation and Tilted Station. It was new, with much equipment still under construction, most importantly, the super-antimatter displacement and super-antimatter energy equipment.

  The entire spaceport resembled a crescent moon over 500,000 kilometers in diameter, with the super-antimatter equipment group at its center. The largest piece of equipment was over 20,000 kilometers in diameter, designed for future planet-class dreadnought upgrades.

  There were no weapons visible on the surface.

  After Finney and the other officials and scholars arrived, they immediately dispatched intelligent drones to scout Tilted Station.

  What was Tilted Station’s attitude towards them now?

  “Based on previous predictions, if the Olive Branch Civilization wants to regain control of Tilted Station, then the new leader should have arrived by now?”

  They didn’t detect 8672804’s ship, likely due to technological advancements allowing it to remain almost invisible to their probes.

  “What if the new leader uses a new key to retake Tilted Station?”

  At this, all officials and scholars fell silent.

  It was a distinct possibility.

  “Therefore, we must consider Tilted Station an enemy. Prepare defensive and offensive weapons; request additional dreadnoughts.”

  “We must also prepare for a possible retreat from the Silk Road.”

  Fortunately, explorers and merchants, not civilians, were stationed there, making the retreat quicker.

  Five years later, a clash began.

  Over a thousand of Finney’s ships were destroyed, confirming Tilted Station as an enemy. The Federation once again went on high alert.

  Twenty years later, the Silk Road was peaceful once more, leaving the Federation wondering what had just happened.

  They didn’t know Tilted Station was merely probing. 8672804 didn’t understand the Federation as well as Chu did.

  After the initial probe, 8672804 discovered something: based on Federation ships, it didn’t believe the Federation had the capacity to directly confront its civilization.

  The recovered Federation warships confirmed this.

  However, the collective consciousness informed it: “This location is over 200 light-years from the Galactic Federation; there are no leading Federation weapons here.”

  That explained it.

  Despite some minor issues, 8672804 didn't pursue them further; it wasn't the leader's concern.

  Tens of thousands of years ago, when Luna was on Tilted Station, she discovered a problem: Olive Branch Civilization leaders easily fall into the trap of cognitive consistency.

  A lifeform, once possessing knowledge, uses it as a basic standard to judge similar knowledge. If it receives similar knowledge that contradicts its existing understanding, most lifeforms won't accept the new knowledge but will seek consistency, rejecting the new knowledge, even if their original knowledge is wrong and the new knowledge is correct.

  This stems from the inherent chaos within life.

  This replacement of old knowledge with new knowledge is an extremely orderly behavior.

  Simply put, life often chooses the most energy-efficient method of operation. This applies not only to an organism as a whole but also to each cell within it.

  Switching from old to new requires more energy than maintaining the old concepts, especially when those concepts don't pose a mortal threat.

  Of course, cognitive consistency isn't just about this; there are other factors. Old concepts are part of the self, while new concepts are foreign. Life inherently resists foreign elements, especially when something is already established.

  And 8672804 easily fell into this trap.

  Its belief in the Galactic Federation's power was unshakeable. Even if another voice told it that the Galactic Federation was far weaker than the Olive Branch Civilization, it wouldn't change its mind; it would suspect the source was a Galactic Federation spy trying to mislead it.

  8672804 flew outside and saw Tilted Station’s tallest structure, a dark, rectangular building.

  “What is that?”

  The collective consciousness replied: “The Gas Victory core.”

  8672804 left in disgust.

  Like Chu, leaders possessed independent consciousnesses. They wanted the Olive Branch Civilization to be constrained by Gas Victory, but they didn't want to be subjected to it themselves.

  This was a severe case of doublethink, but because the leader population was small—the entire Olive Branch Civilization had less than 200 active and reserve leaders—this doublethink wasn't amplified.

  Unknown to 8672804, it had again fallen prey to cognitive bias; it didn't doubt the collective consciousness.

  Otherwise, a simple check would reveal that the structure contained the “selves” of all Tilted Station citizens.

  ...

  “Has the war begun?”

  For the past 500 years, this was Finney's first question upon waking.

  He and the other officials and scholars were constantly on edge, fearing a sudden attack from Tilted Station. After all, Tilted Station was powerful; defending against an attack would require their full strength.

  But…

  “Tilted Station has shown no activity.”

  For 500 years, this had been the unchanging response, leaving Finney speechless.

  “What about the transmitted messages? Any response?”

  For years, Finney had tried to contact Tilted Station to determine its current state, but all attempts were rejected.

  This time was no different.

  He couldn't understand Tilted Station’s situation.

  If it were under control, why not launch an attack?

  If it weren't controlled, why not respond?

  “Tilted Station has indeed entered a state of readiness. The entire station has been disassembled into hundreds of gigantic warships.”

  Previously, the Federation believed Tilted Station was incapable of disassembling into warships, and that was essentially true.

  Because, even after disassembling into warships, Tilted Station’s core remained. The portion disassembled into warships constituted less than 0.4% of Tilted Station’s total volume. Even so, these warships far exceeded the size of typical planet-class warships.

  According to the Federation's dreadnought classification, these warships should be classified as stellar-class.

  Sub-planetary, planetary, giant-planetary, super-giant planetary, stellar… dreadnoughts are categorized by size.

  Giant-planetary class is defined by Neptune's diameter, super-giant planetary by Jupiter's. Stellar-class is based on Proxima Centauri's diameter: 50,000 km, 130,000 km, and 200,000 km classes.

  The Olive Branch Civilization's warships are all 2 million kilometers or larger, exceeding even stellar-class dreadnought standards, leading the Federation to consider further subdividing stellar-class dreadnoughts. However, the size range of stars is vast; red dwarfs and blue dwarfs, for instance, range from 200,000 km to over 5 million km.

  And those are just dwarfs. Supergiants can be tens of millions, even hundreds of millions of kilometers, requiring astronomical units to measure their diameters.

  Therefore, a standard hasn't been established yet; dreadnoughts of 200,000 kilometers or larger are simply classified as stellar-class.

  “However, whether these dreadnoughts are targeting us or other Olive Branch Civilization Stations is unknown.”

  Chu had remained silent when facing the Olive Branch Civilization, and that was the main source of their current anxiety.

  In the midst of their discussion, a voice interrupted them.

  “No need to speculate!”

  As they spoke, a full-screen display appeared before them, showing a fleet of over 200,000 warships. These were Olive Branch Civilization warships, easily identifiable by their modular design.

  To put it politely, they were rectangular; to put it bluntly, they looked like coffins.

  “These warships just passed Tilted Station.”

  Clearly, they were heading towards them.

  Tilted Station must have fallen under Olive Branch Civilization control.

  “Sigh, prepare for battle!”

  Finney sighed. After all their efforts to save Tilted Station, it seemed their success was snatched from their grasp.

  At that moment, sensors detected another Olive Branch Civilization fleet approaching from a different direction, also numbering over 200,000.

  While small compared to the millions of warships on the Filament civilization battlefield, these warships could easily overwhelm the Filament civilization.

  “The Olive Branch Civilization clearly takes the Federation very seriously; they aim to destroy us.”

  Finney and his team were unaware of Chu's plan. The Galactic Federation had become a monster similar to the Olive Branch Civilization, prompting this decisive action by the Olive Branch Civilization, deploying massive forces.

  These warships were by no means a small contingent within the Olive Branch Civilization.

  Three years later, the Federation’s preparations were complete. Seven dreadnoughts were deployed using super-antimatter displacement. If the threat from the Filament civilization hadn't subsided, the Federation couldn't have spared so many dreadnoughts.

  But as everything was prepared, the Federation officials and scholars were astonished to discover that the two Olive Branch Civilization fleets were attacking each other?

  ...

  Exactly.

  The two fleets engaged in incredibly fierce combat; in the first year alone, each side lost over 5,000 warships.

  This was surreal.

  If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  But also inevitable.

  It all stemmed from the information 8672804 received.

  The collective consciousness informed it that the Federation had obtained the core Olive Branch Civilization technology; Galactic Federation warships and Olive Branch Civilization warships were indistinguishable.

  Then, the collective consciousness deliberately withheld information about the second fleet from 8672804.

  This led 8672804 to believe that only one fleet was coming to aid them, while the other was the enemy.

  So, it sent a message to the first fleet, changing its target to the second.

  The two fleets came from different Stations, meaning they belonged to different Gas Victory instances. Without complete fusion, they were independent.

  This led to the outbreak of war.

  One side considered the other the enemy; the other, unexpectedly attacked, also considered the other the enemy. Thus, a fierce battle ensued.

  Both sides were evenly matched; one lost 5198 warships, the other 5221.

  “Hmph, they stole our core technology; their strength is comparable to ours.”

  “Damn it! With our technology, they can quickly build warships; this is difficult.”

  “And that idiot of a previous leader gave them weapons technology. A proper traitor.”

  8672804 was furious.

  Having become the new fleet leader, he planned to merge the new fleet’s collective consciousness with Tilted Station’s, sharing information.

  This step ensured the civil war wouldn’t end.

  The fleet’s collective consciousness far outweighed Tilted Station's; the former almost instantly enveloped the latter.

  Chu's grand plan had taken its first successful step.

  Had Chu retained his individuality, he might have used this opportunity to incorporate the second fleet; unfortunately, he was now just a drop in the ocean. Tilted Station’s collective consciousness acted as it did because of the false concepts Chu had planted.

  In fact, Tilted Station’s collective consciousness didn't deceive 8672804; they simply reported what they believed to be true.

  This was the crux of the matter; even if 8672804 investigated, it wouldn’t find anything unusual.

  Thus, under the watchful eyes of Finney and the Federation officials and scholars, the two Olive Branch Civilization fleets began to inflict heavy losses upon each other. They even gave this war a name:

  ——Self-Annihilation!

  It was incredibly bizarre.

  Even considering the possibility of Tilted Station being unaffected by Gas Victory, it couldn't explain the civil war between the two supporting fleets.

  The true cause of this civil war was only revealed by Chu much later; Finney and the other officials and scholars died without ever knowing the truth.

  ...

  You might think that as an advanced civilization, the Olive Branch Civilization wouldn't make such a low-level mistake.

  But this isn't really a mistake.

  Consider this: if a lifeform harms another for its own benefit, a third party might see this as a mistake, but for the lifeform, it isn’t a mistake; it's doing what it deems correct.

  This is different from a typical mistake.

  A mistake is doing something that yields no benefit, or even results in greater losses than gains.

  Does Tilted Station fit this description?

  For Tilted Station, it’s doing something it considers correct.

  The only thing that makes the event seem like a mistake is 8672804, a confused leader, like a blind man being deceived.

  But 8672804 is only a third-party observer, not a participant in the conflict itself.

  Because the decisions within the Olive Branch Civilization are still made by the collective consciousness. It's like two people fighting, and a reporter shows up to report the event. Each side tries to portray themselves as good and the other as bad to protect their image.

  But this doesn't affect the nature of the fight.

  To put it simply, Tilted Station's actions don't stem from 8672804's mistakes but from Chu's strategy. Everything that has happened is within Chu's plan.

  Therefore, what seems extraordinary from 8672804's perspective appears perfectly ordinary from Chu's.

  Tilted Station’s collective consciousness used the leader and the reinforcements from other Olive Branch Civilization Stations to orchestrate this war.

  After the initial attack, the second reinforcement fleet sent a request to Tilted Station to attack the first reinforcement fleet. 8672804 received this request and was concerned, but the collective consciousness provided an analysis.

  “A deception, a common tactic of the Galactic Federation. They seem to believe we don't know about the communication with the first fleet and intend to use it to frame us.”

  Due to limited information, 8672804, despite its doubts, decided to intensify the attack.

  The war escalated.

  Tilted Station’s warships began aiding the first fleet against the second. The second fleet then realized that Tilted Station had been attacking them from the start; they had been deceived.

  Tilted Station was now their enemy.

  The battle resumed!

  This second war, unlike the first, involved both sides knowing each other's identities, leading to direct attacks.

  This battle lasted only nine years, relentless, without tactical maneuvering, just constant bombardment, with neither side choosing to retreat.

  In the end, the first fleet lost 180,000 warships, Tilted Station lost 14,000, and the second fleet was completely annihilated.

  “A great victory!”

  8672804 was overjoyed upon receiving the news; the Olive Branch Civilization hadn't experienced war in a long time.

  He became the only leader in tens of thousands of years to achieve significant military merit, filling him with elation.

  “But the reinforcements have fought enough; more assistance is needed.”

  8672804 sent messages to other Stations.

  About 180 years later, he received a response, not about reinforcements, but a declaration of war.

  “Tilted Station must be destroyed!”

  8672804: “????”

  If it had a face, it would have been one of utter bewilderment; it had no idea what was happening.

  This war was a great victory, not for the Olive Branch Civilization against the Galactic Federation, but for Tilted Station against other Olive Branch Civilization Stations.

  They had eliminated over 400,000 warships with only 14,000.

  ...

  Just as bewildered as 8672804 were Finney and the other Federation officials and scholars.

  The war lasted just over ten years, yet they felt a dramatic shift.

  “Has the Olive Branch Civilization entered a major civil war?”

  “Perhaps Chu was stronger than we imagined and had already called upon other Stations to surrender?”

  Lacking information, they couldn't analyze the situation.

  Because these hundreds of thousands of warships were initially heading towards the Federation, and the battlefield was actually closer to the Federation than to Tilted Station.

  The Federation could easily clear the battlefield.

  Finney dispatched several nanoscopic cleanup units. These units were typically 300-500 meters in size, resembling spiders but with ten manipulator arms instead of legs. These arms could rotate 360 degrees, highly flexible. Instead of dragging debris, they threw it in a specific direction using centrifugal force, like throwing a shot put.

  These units could reach speeds of 1000 km/s, and their flight paths had special magnetic devices to recover the debris, like a large garbage bin that expanded to collect the space debris. Once full, it would transport the waste back to a Station.

  Space debris cleanup was a significant operation within the Federation, especially after battles.

  A single wrecked warship could fetch hundreds of thousands of Energy Credits; a lifetime's worth of earnings could be made from a single battle.

  The Federation was likely expecting a significant windfall.

  Tens of thousands of Olive Branch Civilization warships, at a minimum of 100 million Credits each, would be worth tens of trillions of Energy Credits; the actual value would likely be higher. These warships were expensive, potentially costing over 100 billion Credits apiece; the scrap value would still be in the billions.

  This may seem excessive, but it isn't.

  Even considering the scrap metal value, the Federation's price for 10,000 tons of ferrous metals is typically between 0.1 and 0.3 Energy Credits. An Olive Branch Civilization warship commonly weighs hundreds of trillions of tons.

  Federation dreadnoughts typically weigh tens of quintillions of tons; it seems a lot, but it's not that much.

  Considering mass, Federation dreadnoughts constitute only a few ten-thousandths of Earth’s mass, and their volume is only a few thousandths… The difference in mass and volume represents the internal space of the warship.

  If the Federation enters the planet-class dreadnought era, each could weigh 100 septillions of tons; the Moon weighs only 73,500 quintillions of tons.

  It sounds like a lot, but compared to Tilted Station, they’re tiny; like an ant next to a human.

  Finney and his team profited handsomely, but their confusion only deepened.

  What would happen next?

  They weren’t the only ones baffled; Ayla and Luna were equally perplexed.

  ...

  “There are many simulated outcomes, but insufficient connecting evidence to make an accurate prediction. We need to know Tilted Station's current state.”

  After a series of analyses, Ayla found them useless.

  They couldn’t determine Tilted Station’s status. Even a single piece of information could narrow down the possibilities, but they had none.

  “Chu wants to isolate us, to face the Olive Branch Civilization alone.”

  Luna’s expression was serious; this was the outcome she least wanted to see.

  Chu had framed this conflict as an internal ideological struggle within the Olive Branch Civilization. Regardless of the victor, the Olive Branch Civilization would undergo a revolution, providing it with a chance to advance.

  But they hoped to see the Olive Branch Civilization collapse.

  “Chu knows this, which is why he’s doing this.”

  “He doesn’t want to lose, but he doesn’t want the Federation to exploit the situation either.”

  But under these circumstances, Tilted Station’s defeat is inevitable.

  What does it matter that Chu destroyed 400,000 warships?

  These warships likely came from only two Stations, and the Olive Branch Civilization has dozens.

  This trick can only be used once. What will he do next? Has Chu considered it? Even if he has, will the outcome be different?

  Luna estimates Chu's chance of losing is 99%; even with Federation aid, the chance of winning is no more than 10%, but there's still a sliver of hope.

  “A desperate struggle.”

  “Ayla, I want to contact Chu.”

  Chu's current actions are simple: he doesn't trust the Federation.

  The solution is equally simple: make Chu trust the Federation.

  “Even if you convince him, Chu won't be able to overcome the resistance of his civilization,” Ayla reminded Luna.

  “Then we should feign defeat, making peace along the Silk Road. Sooner or later, we'll have to confront the Olive Branch Civilization,” Luna glared at Ayla.

  If Ayla had a better strategy, she should have offered it instead of pouring cold water on him.

  Realizing her mistake, Luna quickly corrected herself.

  “Sorry!”

  The pressure she'd been under for the past few thousand years had been immense; one war after another, leaving him no time to breathe.

  She could take breaks for decades, but she couldn’t afford to; she had to consider countless situations. Ayla could handle it all, but if everything was left to her, what would be her purpose?

  To live a carefree life?

  So Luna constantly pushed herself, striving to become stronger, strong enough to replace Ayla and become the Federation’s leader.

  Luna wasn’t perfect; perhaps no lifeform is.

  Ayla, however, was close to perfection.

  “You don’t need to apologize, Luna. I didn’t consider it fully; I shouldn't have shown so much emotion in my response.”

  “I believe we should observe more and not attempt to intervene in the war.”

  “Neither Tilted Station nor the other Olive Branch Civilization Stations are cornered; any action now is unlikely to be accepted, Luna. You’re being hasty.”

  Ayla’s tone was firm.

  Luna immediately responded, “No, the disparity in the battle is too great; like Gas Victory before, this isn’t a protracted conflict between equals. Tilted Station could collapse at any moment.”

  “I can’t wait!”

  The atmosphere in the bridge grew tense; even between them, there was disagreement.

  For the next ten years, both searched for evidence to support their viewpoints, piling up materials dozens of meters high.

  ...

  During this time, Finney, stationed on the Silk Road, observed something new.

  A beam of light, carrying immense energy, but not a weapon; its trajectory was too erratic; it missed Tilted Station entirely.

  Nor did it strike any Federation structures.

  This strange beam persisted for several months; the light within gradually warped, like the shimmering heat haze rising from a road on a hot day.

  This was due to light refraction.

  But upon investigation, Finney discovered the beam wasn't refracted light but warped spacetime.

  An immense gravitational force was present; asteroids approaching the beam were drawn in and disappeared.

  “What is that?”

  High-energy light, gravitational pull—both could be used as weapons, but this didn’t seem like one.

  Finney immediately organized scholars to study its properties.

  A Grand Unified Theory scholar spoke: “We know that the hallmark of a Type 2 civilization is the unification of the four fundamental forces.”

  “The unification of the four fundamental forces tells us that these forces are interconvertible, but this conversion requires extremely high energy levels at the micro-level. Gamma-ray bursts from supernovas can subtly affect gravity.”

  “In the early stages of a Type 2 civilization, the utilization of the four fundamental forces remains theoretical; Type 2.0 and 2.1 civilizations are in this phase.”

  “But after reaching Type 2.2, early Type 2 civilizations will utilize the four fundamental forces more deeply. Our civilization, having entered this stage relatively recently, is still researching it. The Olive Branch Civilization, however, is a confirmed Type 2.4 civilization; their exploration of the four fundamental forces far surpasses ours.”

  “Gravity is the best proof. Calculations show that using gravity to harvest all of Tilted Station’s energy, plus reserves, is possible only if the Olive Branch Civilization has mastered the interconversion of gravity and electromagnetism.”

  “And what you’re seeing is the result of this application.”

  “The Olive Branch Civilization uses extremely high energy to forcibly open a gravitational channel in space. This energy easily decomposes into opened-strings, which are continuously converted into closed-strings.”

  “But closed-strings are merely intermediaries, not gravity itself. However, if you observe carefully, you’ll see that the source of this channel is a neutron star. This closed-string channel perfectly transmits the neutron star’s immense gravitational pull, transmitting gravity like an optical fiber transmits light.”

  The scholar was awestruck.

  Finney, oblivious, asked, “What’s the practical effect?”

  The scholar said, “A corridor!”

  “Or, hypothetically, a propulsion system.”

  “We know that an object’s speed is affected by its own gravity, especially gigantic warships; quintillion-ton masses, comparable to planets, require enormous energy to move and accelerate.”

  “What about eliminating the effect of gravity?”

  “Dark matter can do it, antimatter can do it, but they can only reduce gravitational influence, not eliminate it, and the energy consumption is enormous.”

  “But this gravitational corridor significantly reduces the effect of an object's mass on itself. You can imagine a warship traveling at over 90% the speed of light.”

  At this, the entire hall gasped.

  ...

  All officials and scholars believed a massive Olive Branch Civilization fleet was approaching.

  103 years later, the so-called fleet turned out to be a 129-km-diameter small planet.

  The small planet simply remained in space, and the gravitational corridor vanished without a trace; there were no warships.

  “What was that?”

  This wasn't just a question for the Federation; 8672804 on Tilted Station wondered the same.

  For years, he had been investigating why his civilization wanted to destroy him. Even a fool could find the truth after 100 years.

  He quickly deduced that Tilted Station’s collective consciousness had made a mistake; the two fleets were likely “their own people.”

  He analyzed the collective consciousness and found a flaw.

  This flaw pointed to the Galactic Federation.

  The Galactic Federation, realizing they couldn't counter Gas Victory, had secretly planted viruses in Tilted Station’s lifeforms. These viruses altered their perceptions.

  Upon discovering this, 8672804 was enraged.

  He quickly sent this information to his civilization, but received no response.

  Clearly, his civilization didn't believe him.

  8672804 was in despair.

  He had thought this was a good thing; within a few hundred years, he’d become the leader of the opposition.

  For years, he had repeatedly sent messages, claiming he had corrected the flaw and that similar mistakes wouldn't happen again.

  However, the gravitational channel was still constructed, and the small planet was delivered.

  8672804 was both suspicious and terrified; he knew his civilization wouldn't spare him. He had already caused immense damage; the civilization would rather kill the wrong person than let him go.

  “It’s over. I must save myself. No, no, no… I should immediately return in my ship and surrender.”

  “No, I might be destroyed before reaching the outskirts of the Station.”

  “Aaaa~ I’m going crazy!”

  8672804 was driven mad by anxiety. Finally, he decided to give up.

  “Whatever, I’ll die. I’ve lived long enough anyway.”

  He wrestled with his inner turmoil for 18 years.

  But the small planet, only 0.22 light-years from Tilted Station, remained stationary. It simply floated there.

  8672804 used a telescope to observe it and discovered metallic structures on its surface.

  “I knew it. It’s a warship, not a weapon,” 8672804 said without hope.

  The collective consciousness agreed; every moment, it watched the small planet. But the small planet continued its predetermined orbit, showing no signs of attack.

  The only noteworthy aspect was that the small planet was steadily approaching Tilted Station. This approach was natural, likely due to the influence of Tilted Station and the star, and incredibly slow; it moved only a few hundred meters per year. For space, this was extremely slow; even an ant wouldn't crawl that slowly.

  “It must be a new weapon.”

  “A gravitational weapon? Or something else? I can’t imagine.”

  “Perhaps something went wrong, causing its propulsion system to malfunction?”

  “Or perhaps this weapon is inherently slow; it’s awaiting an opportune moment to activate.”

  The collective consciousness analyzed repeatedly, but just as the Federation couldn’t determine Tilted Station’s status and analyze the war’s trajectory, they couldn’t determine what the small planet was or why it moved so slowly.

  A profound sense of dread enveloped Tilted Station.

  While the collective consciousness was close to a machine, it wasn’t one. When a single emotion erupted within a large collective consciousness forming a lifeform, it spread throughout the entire collective. Theoretically, collective consciousnesses have emotions.

  Right now, that emotion was terror.

  Just like Tilted Station, the Federation was also facing this problem.

  “What exactly is that small planet?”

  Finney organized personnel to analyze its composition and material properties, but the results yielded no answers. It appeared to be simply an small planet, not a warship or weapon.

  “It must be a unique Olive Branch Civilization superweapon; we just don’t know its effects.”

  “It’s heading towards us. Tilted Station is still on the side of the Olive Branch Civilization.”

  Finney looked at the data; the small planet was approaching at 600 km per year. While slow, the distance—7 light-years—meant it would eventually arrive.

  The main concern was the unknown nature of the weapon.

  “Is this slow speed meant to entice us to investigate, triggering its activation? Like a landmine.”

  “Possible.”

  Everyone analyzed, but based on observations, the small planet was constantly accelerating, defying physics. Something within the small planet was propelling it.

  “Should we fire missiles to destroy it?” a scholar suggested.

  At this distance, even if it were a weapon, what could it possibly do? Could it affect something 7 light-years away?

  “Let’s try. It probably won’t be that easy.”

  Missiles were prepared and struck the target after 7 years.

  But the report indicated: “Target hit, but seemingly not hit.”

  The target, seemingly unaffected, continued its approach; its appearance hadn't changed. They had fired planet-destroying energy cannons, yet the object sustained no damage whatsoever.

  “Try again.”

  Seven more years passed, with the same result.

  “If this fails, send a ship to land and investigate its composition.”

  “Use a simulated biological unit.”

  The landing plan was quickly implemented. The ship approached the small planet but lost contact instantly. Two years later, the ship reappeared, heading back.

  Finney ordered the ship to transmit its two-year log, but received no response.

  “Destroy that ship!” He was forced to make the decision.

  He couldn't be sure whether the ship had undergone modifications.

  “No matter what it is, prevent it from approaching us, at any cost.”

  “The second war with the Olive Branch Civilization has begun. Do not underestimate them.”

  The Olive Branch Civilization threat had arrived.

  A palpable sense of tension permeated every aspect of life on the Silk Road.

  Both Tilted Station and the Federation felt the immense pressure from the Olive Branch Civilization.