"There are many simulation results, but the lack of evidence chains makes it impossible to make an accurate judgment unless we know the current state of Xingcheng."
After a series of analyses, Ella realized that the analysis was useless.
At this point, they couldn't determine the situation in Xingcheng. Even if they obtained a little information, they could narrow down the possibilities, but they had nothing.
"Chu wants to exclude us and face the Olive Branch Civilization independently."
Yan Xia's expression was serious, as this was the outcome he least wanted to see.
Chu had always defined this battle as an internal ideological conflict within the Olive Branch Civilization. Regardless of who achieved victory, the outcome for the Olive Branch Civilization would be a revolution. A revolution would provide the Olive Branch Civilization with further opportunities.
What they actually wanted to see was the decline of the Olive Branch Civilization.
"Chu is well aware of this, which is why he is doing this."
"I don't want to fail, but even more so, I don't want to give the Federation an opportunity."
However, under such circumstances, Xingcheng's defeat was inevitable.
At this stage, Chu had destroyed 400,000 battleships. So what?
These 400,000 battleships were estimated to come from only two Xingchengs, and the Olive Branch Civilization had dozens of Xingchengs.
Such a trick could only be used once. What should they do next? Did Chu think of it? Even if he did, would the outcome be the same as this time?
Yan Xia felt that Chu's chances of losing were 99%. Even with the help of the Federation, the odds of winning were still less than 10%, but at least there was a glimmer of hope.
"It's just a last-ditch effort."
"Ella, I need to contact Chu."
The reason Chu was doing this now was actually very simple—he didn't trust the Federation.
So the solution to the problem was also simple—make Chu trust the Federation.
"Even if you persuade him, Chu won't be able to overcome the constraints of civilization." Ella reminded Yan Xia.
"Then we should have pretended to be defeated earlier and created sufficient buffers along the Cosmic Silk Road, as we will eventually have to face the Olive Branch Civilization." Yan Xia glared at Ella with a hint of anger.
If Ella had a better tactic, she should have suggested it at this time instead of pouring cold water on Yan Xia.
Realizing his mistake, Yan Xia quickly adjusted his attitude.
"Sorry!"
In the past few thousand years, the pressure on him had been immense, with wars one after another, leaving him no time to breathe.
He wished he could take a break for a few decades, but he couldn't because he still had to consider many situations. Ella could handle all of this, but if everything was left to her, what would be the point of his existence?
To eat, drink, and play?
So Yan Xia had been pushing himself to improve and become stronger, to the point where he could even replace Ella and become the leader of the Federation.
Yan Xia wasn't perfect, or perhaps there wasn't a single perfect life in this world.
And Ella was only close to perfect.
"You don't need to apologize, Yan Xia. It's true that I didn't consider everything. At this moment, I shouldn't have appeared more like a life using more emotions to control language."
"I believe that at this stage, we should observe more rather than try to intervene in the war."
"After all, whether it's Xingcheng or other star cities of the Olive Branch Civilization, none of them are on the brink of disaster. Any action at this time will not be accepted, Yan Xia. You're being too hasty."
Ella spoke in a stern tone.
Yan Xia immediately responded, "No, the gap between the two sides is too obvious. Just like the last time with the Glory of Gais, this war won't be a stalemate. Xingcheng might even be defeated at the next moment."
"I can't wait!"
The air in the cabin gradually froze, and even they had disagreements.
Over the next ten years, both sides searched for evidence to prove that their viewpoint was correct, and the accumulated data piled up to several tens of meters high.
...
During this period, Fenili at the end of the Cosmic Silk Road also observed something new.
It was a beam of light carrying very high-level energy, but it wasn't a weapon because it was way off target and didn't hit Xingcheng.
If it was meant to target them, it didn't hit any of the Federation's facilities.
After this bizarre beam of light persisted for several months, the light inside gradually became distorted, just like how on a hot summer day, if you lie on the ground and look into the distance, you'll notice that the ground near the horizon appears distorted.
This is due to the refraction of light.
But after investigating, Fenili discovered that the beam wasn't a distortion of light but a distortion of spacetime.
There was a huge source of gravity there, and asteroids near the beam were pulled in and then disappeared within it.
"What is that thing?"
High-level light, gravity—these two things could be used as weapons, but this thing didn't seem like a weapon.
Fenili immediately organized scholars to study its nature.
A scholar specializing in Grand Unified Theory spoke up, "As we all know, the hallmark of a Level 2 civilization is the unification of the four fundamental forces."
"The unification of the four fundamental forces tells us that they can be converted into each other. However, this conversion can only be achieved at a more microscopic level and under extremely high energy conditions. Even the gamma-ray bursts from supernovae can subtly affect gravity."
"In the early stages of a Level 2 civilization, the utilization of the four fundamental forces is still theoretical. Both Level 2.0 and Level 2.1 are considered to be in this stage."
"However, after reaching Level 2.2, a Level 2 civilization that has passed the initial stage will make deeper use of the four fundamental forces. Our civilization has only recently entered this stage, and research is still ongoing. In contrast, the Olive Branch Civilization is a well-established Level 2.4 civilization, and their exploration of the four fundamental forces far surpasses ours."
"Gravity energy is a good example. According to calculations, to obtain the energy supply of an entire Xingcheng, including reserves, the Olive Branch Civilization must have already mastered the mutual conversion and application of gravity and electromagnetic forces."
"What you see before you is the result of utilizing this."
"The Olive Branch Civilization used extremely high-level energy to forcefully open a gravity channel in the universe. These energies can easily decompose into open strings, which should be constantly converting into closed strings."
"But closed strings are just a medium, not gravity itself. However, if you observe carefully, you'll find that the source of this channel is a neutron star. This closed-string channel perfectly conducts the neutron star's huge gravity, transmitting gravity like an optical fiber transmits light."
This scholar was astonished and fascinated.
Unaware of the situation, Fenili asked, "What is the specific effect of this thing?"
The scholar replied, "A corridor!"
"Or an accelerator."
"We all know that the speed of an object is affected by its own mass, especially for large-scale battleships weighing billions of tons, comparable to planets. It takes a tremendous amount of energy to move and accelerate them."
"What if we could eliminate the influence of mass?"
"Dark matter can do it, and so can antimatter, but they can only reduce the influence of gravity to a certain extent. They can't bring about a qualitative change, and the consumption is also enormous."
"But this gravity corridor can significantly reduce the influence of mass on objects. You can imagine a battleship flying towards it at over 90% of the speed of light."
After he said this, the entire room was shocked.