章 10: Chapter 10: Missile Impact, the End of Civilization
In the depths of space, a giant planet roamed, traveling at a speed of 115 km/s.
This planet had abundant geothermal energy, which nurtured countless life forms, including bacteria, algae-like plants, and other unique species.
Around each volcanic crater, a distinct ecosystem formed.
After billions of years of development, intelligent life emerged and became the dominant species on the planet.
They did not belong to any of Earth's known biological kingdoms: Animalia, Fungi, Plantae, or Protista.
If they had to be classified, they could be loosely categorized as Eukarya, as their cells also contained a nucleus and nuclear membrane.
However, their morphology was somewhat difficult to describe, resembling bacteria more than anything else.
Their bodies were covered in hundreds of eyes.
They were like a mass of toad eggs, each cluster measuring 2 to 2.4 cubic meters, making them gigantic.
On the planet's surface, their buildings emitted a soft light, making the entire planet appear bright from space.
However, their true core was located deeper underground, where it was hotter.
At that moment, deep within their underground tunnel-like structures, hundreds of these creatures were connected to crystal tubes, using light signals as a means of communication.
Each of them had a strange screen in front of them, allowing them to see with their hundreds of eyes.
And on the screen, there was the Hope.
They seemed to be analyzing the Hope's flight trajectory and speculating where it came from.
This exchange had been going on for almost 200 years.
For this species, 200 years was not a long time.
The next moment.
Their screens flashed brightly, blinding them.
As the screens dimmed, an image of a cylindrical object appeared.
They immediately ordered their ships to intercept it.
They fired laser weapons.
But the lasers couldn't penetrate the object.
Its silver-white surface was so smooth and reflective that most of the laser energy was deflected, and the small amount of energy that hit it couldn't penetrate its material, leaving only tiny pits on the surface.
The planet's inhabitants were in chaos.
In their history, there had never been a weapon that light couldn't defeat.
They continued to activate the super-laser weapons on the planet's surface, aiming at the missile, but to no avail.
They couldn't let that thing land!
All the creatures on the planet made a collective decision to use their ships to block the missile.
But the missile, traveling at 1,000 km/s, was unstoppable, and the ships that got in its way were instantly torn apart.
They didn't know that to ensure the missile's structural integrity, Ella had made the entire warhead into a giant iron lump.
The terrifying metal warhead, nearly 200 meters thick, was impossible to destroy.
The Absolute Zero missile was now 1 million kilometers from the planet.
Suddenly, a force affected the missile, causing it to change direction.
It was magnetism!
As one of the four fundamental forces, magnetism was the easiest to master, and this Level 1 civilization had also mastered it, although it wasn't strong enough to confine nuclear fusion. However, it was sufficient as a weapon.
Using magnetism to change the missile's direction was very clever.
The creatures on the planet's surface were excited to see the missile change course, and the light fibers on their heads glowed brightly.
But the next moment.
To their shock, the missile automatically corrected its course and continued toward the planet.
During the development of the first Absolute Zero missile, Ella had conducted simulations and considered various scenarios, including the possibility of magnetic deflection.
After three failed attempts, the creatures decided to try signal jamming or signal misdirection to stop the missile.
However, it was to no avail.
The missile itself was designed to prevent intrusion, so it didn't have any advanced systems. Instead, it had the simplest... a heat sensor.
In the dark depths of space, the planet was the largest source of heat.
After trying everything.
Two and a half hours had passed.
The missile was now 1,000 kilometers from the planet's surface.
Time was running out!
In twelve minutes, the missile would hit the planet's surface.
All the creatures on the planet were in a panic, but they could only watch helplessly as the missile approached from above.
They had no idea what this flying object was, but they felt an immense threat.
Twelve minutes later...
The missile directly impacted the planet's surface, and its tremendous weight and kinetic energy easily pierced the planet's crust.
It was like a needle piercing a block of tofu, effortlessly and without any resistance.
After penetrating several kilometers, the missile encountered magma.
"Beep, beep, beep..."
A faint sound came from inside the missile.
The heat of the magma triggered the missile's detonation device.
This was a pre-set mechanism.
The missile's detonation was a highly complex technology.
If it had been hit, as it was when the ships tried to intercept it, it might have detonated prematurely.
If it were remotely controlled, it would be impossible, as the distance between the missile and the planet was too great, resulting in a 5.4-second delay.
So, a stable heat-triggered detonation was set.
The terrifying explosion didn't cause any air currents or dust to rise.
There wasn't even any sound.
Only a cold storm invaded the planet's crust and mantle, cooling the magma at the atomic level. All the glowing, hot magma became dark and cold.
This cooling spread and expanded 4,000 kilometers, directly reaching the planet's core.
At the same time.
Cold!
This was what the creatures on the planet gradually felt over the next day.
Every volcanic crater's magma began to cool down, and the planet's magnetic field weakened.
The coldness of deep space gradually invaded the planet's surface, like a storm.
On this day.
For this entire civilization, it was the end of the world.
From space, the once-bright planet now appeared dim, like a dead star.
The terrifying cold enveloped the planet, freezing countless life forms that relied on geothermal energy.
The creatures on the planet's surface were instantly frozen, without any time to react.
The planet's surface was filled with life forms in various poses, frozen in time like a paused video.
Two creatures, engaged in a conversation, stared at each other, their hundreds of eyes filled with love, simpler than human love.
...
One creature was calculating how long it would take to get the job it wanted.
...
A maintenance worker was repairing a ship.
...
Civilizations may vary, but many aspects are similar.
In this moment, countless lives were lost.
In just one day, one-third of the planet's population of 3.87 billion died.
Fortunately, they didn't solely rely on geothermal energy and had also developed nuclear energy, which provided electricity to protect most of the life forms from the cold.
After half a month, the planet's lights gradually came back on.
They flickered slowly, one by one.
Like a silent, sad melody.
...
Far away, the Hope had moved to a quiet region of space.
Yan Xia didn't think about the devastating impact of an Absolute Zero missile on a civilization.
He hadn't gone into cryogenic sleep for two years.
His body was now 43 years old.
However, he was full of energy because he and Ella had invented something new.
This achievement might raise their civilization level by 0.1 or even 0.2.
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