——AD.2157.4.17——

The Pojiang Constellation Galaxy, the Zhiyuan Star Skyfield, the Spartan Military Space Station.

The Poe Galaxy is a galaxy about 1 billion Earth years old with a total of six planets, the fourth of which is the "Gaia Planet" that routinely appears in each galaxy where a Mass Effect repeater exists, and is named "Zhiyuanxing" by the Second Fleet of the Star Federation.

Due to the eerie red color of the second repeater in the system, the Second Fleet judged that there might be an enemy on the opposite side, so it built a military colony on the Zhiyuan Star, and built a large military space station in the satellite orbit, with the premise that "behind the Mass Effect repeater are hostile aliens" for armament and construction, after the Star Alliance decided to send a formal investigation force, it can also be called their supply base.

At this time, the Star Alliance forces that stayed behind to defend Zhiyuan Star ushered in the Third Fleet, which was ready to explore the unknown and dangerous galaxy.

"Great, the legendary career of the ace driver 'Joker' began with driving a cargo ship."

Cicero piloted the Dunkirk, grumbling while chewing bubble gum.

"There is no way, neither the space station nor the military base is enough for such a large fleet to dock, and the supply can only be carried out through frigates." Connor looked out the porthole at the frigates that traveled densely to and from the fleet battle group and the space station and ground base.

"And the amount of these supplies is too large to be replenished in the near-Earth system, otherwise the 'Earth Guardians' will take the opportunity to attack them with excuses such as 'if you suspect danger, don't develop them'. Anderson of the bridge also participated in the conversation remotely.

Although it is not necessary for the captain to stay on the bridge during such non-combat operations, after all, it is better to leave an impression of discipline on the others after having just joined the Third Fleet.

"Hmph, it's true that I admit that the earth is my hometown, but these guys who just want to stick to their homeland are really annoying," Cicero burst a bubble: "The journey of mankind is a sea of stars~"

Connor thought about it for a while, and decided to give up pointing out that this person with dreams of stars and seas was a brittle bone patient, and instead talked about other things:

"If that weird Mass Effect repeater is really an alien behind it, and there's no chance of peace, then this battle has to be won, and it has to be won beautifully, or General Grisham will be in trouble."

"If there were not hostile aliens on the other side of the repeater, then there had been at least one cosmic catastrophe that could destroy the repeater. EDI suddenly interjected.

"EDI? What did you find? Connor wasn't surprised that EDI was able to take over Dunkirk's ship management system, and at her current rate of calculation, even destroyers' systems could be taken over, but cruisers weren't.

"[Starlink's analysis of the mass repeater is only limited to 'can be jumped' and 'the opposite situation cannot be identified', but after my actual inspection, it can be determined that the structure of the repeater on the other side has been greatly damaged and cannot respond to the EKS signal here, so the repeater on this side will light up red. EDI replied in a flat, waveless electronic voice.

"Is that some kind of weird traffic light?" Connor spread his hands: "Then we will inform General Grisham about this?" ”

“【…… Itty paused: "[There is no problem for the fleet to jump between the two repeaters, and the repeaters on the opposite side are not completely damaged, which proves that the situation over there is basically stable. 】”

"Disaster relief, or fight aliens?" Cicero concluded.

————

"[This is the Karachi, and I'm General Grisham. "Okay

As the fleet left the Reach after resupply, lined up in front of the mass repeaters again, General Grisham began to make a full-range broadcast:

"In front of us are unprecedented challenges and opportunities, and it is also an important turning point in the history of human cosmic development, no matter what we find, it will completely change the current cosmology of human society, and each of us will leave our own name in this history. 】”

It was a regular mobilization speech, but it worked, and Connor stopped hearing some of the nervous whispers on the Dunkirk.

"[Now, I ask you, all of you are ready for battle, and enter the battle state as soon as the jump is over, but you are not allowed to fire without my order, after all, except for me, a bad old man, none of you can afford to 'fire the first shot at war with aliens', haha~]"

Although it was a one-way communication, and no response was heard from the other captains, Connor felt the atmosphere of the entire fleet suddenly relax.

"[Come on, let's see, what's at the End of Rearch', this is Grisham, over!] 】”

Buzz Buzz –

As General Grisham ended the call, the eerie red Mass Effect repeater suddenly lit up with crimson lightning.

Connor tilted his head to look at it, and it was obvious that even though all the crew members present had experienced multiple repeater jumps, the mere change in color made many people's hearts beat faster and their palms sweaty, and sure enough, the unknown was terrifying.

Zizizi——

The crimson lightning did not "light up" all ships in an instant like ordinary repeaters, but slowly "dyed" the warships as if they were in poor contact, and although the speed was not slow, the pressure on people was gradually increasing.

Eventually, the Crimson Thunderbolt covered all the ships involved in the operation, successfully opening the Mass Effect Channel and teleporting the fleet.

What was even more shocking was that the "Mass Effect Tunnel Wall", which was originally dominated by white and light blue, was actually different shades of pale red like bloodstains this time, causing a small commotion among the crew of the Dunkirk.

"I think I'm going to meet aliens......" Cicero endured for a while and began to mutter, "What to do, does the alien spaceship also have a forward and backward direction?" If it's a UFO type, how do you find their PP? ”

"I think—" Connor's reassuring words were finished before the jump ended abruptly, "...... What is that? ”

"There is no doubt that it is an alien creation. Anderson replied in a deep voice.

Looking out of the porthole of the Dunkirk's cockpit, a Mass Effect repeater twisted into a twisted shape could be seen not far from the fleet, but its core still stubbornly flashed red.

However, it is not the protagonist of this stage.

Behind that miserable-looking Mass Effect repeater, there was only a lone star, and there were no celestial objects like planets or asteroid belts or even comets around it.

Instead, there were nine unusually large silver rings.