novelsite Chapter 2 The Starship Army of the Void
Chapter 2 The Starship Army of the Void
"The Viyin Starship Force..." Di Yan murmured repeatedly.
As far as he knew, that mysterious force was established around the mid-34th century, less than a hundred years ago.
During this period, it maintained an air of mystery, unwilling to reveal any details to the public, and even presented itself as something that was all show and no substance.
Its purpose does not seem to be for war, but rather, according to the development plan of the Viyin Federation, such a department should exist.
The technology used by the Viyin people to explore space is already very advanced. Various huge instruments have been scanning the universe again and again, but they have never found any trace of extraterrestrials.
That mysterious entity, which has been touted for thousands of years, has long lost its appeal.
There are no extraterrestrial civilizations; it's just human beings being too lonely, and it's all just wishful thinking during their leisure time.
In modern times, this department has almost become a tool for politicians and businessmen to launder money.
All funds invested in the Viyin Star Fleet have been wasted, and all those involved in the Viyin Star Fleet must be kept strictly confidential.
Decades have passed, but the people have never seen a single warship. In the end, it is still those same few old ships flying in the solar system, occasionally traveling back and forth between the Southern Alpha System and the solar system every ten years or so.
"I can't help you with anything, and I'm not interested."
Di Yan stopped looking at the document, closed his eyes, and said, "Rather than this, it would be better to let me go to jail and release me after things have calmed down. We can sign a confidentiality agreement, and you'll be happy, and I'll be happy too."
"I know what you're thinking. The Viyin Star Fleet has been hiding too well, which may make you feel that it's not a good place to go."
The officer leaned forward, pressing his body against the table, his eyes narrowed. "Aren't you curious how you got caught today?"
Di Yan opened his eyes and looked at him lazily: "Why are you suddenly bringing this up?"
The officer smiled slightly, and a picture slid down from his eyelid and onto Di Yan's face, as if he wanted to show off some treasure.
Upon seeing the content in the picture, Di Yan suddenly lost his composure.
The footage, taken by a drone, shows buildings surrounding an open-air parking lot, but instead of a car, a colossal object is parked inside.
It appears to be forty or fifty meters long, with a stretched egg shape. Its surface has intricate mechanical textures and protrusions, and its overall color is a slightly yellowish, bright white that reflects sunlight. In the middle, there is a black band-like area, resembling a starry sky, shimmering with specks of blue light.
One end has a graceful streamlined shape, while the other end has six branches extending from the main body, slightly tapering inwards, resembling the tentacles of a squid. However, they are arranged in a very neat circle and are not very long compared to the main body.
The branches converge at the base around a black hole with fine spirals inside, resembling some kind of engine...
This thing is practically a spaceship!
Its existence was completely out of place with its surroundings, as if it were something from outer space. Di Yan would bet his life that he had never seen anything so strange.
He clearly knows something terrible, and he's probably no longer in control of his own destiny.
These people have no intention of keeping him out of it.
"This is how we discovered you, of course, it also requires Xavier's analysis."
"Xavier, it's pretty good." Di Yan relaxed a lot, his eyes filled with complicated emotions. "It automatically orders takeout for me when it's mealtime, all of which are my favorites, and it likes to tell jokes to make me happy."
"The civilian version certainly can't compare to the military version. This J-45 can monitor all living organisms within a 5,000-meter radius in real time. Without Xavier's help, it would be impossible for humans to analyze them all."
"Is it really necessary to make such a big fuss just to arrest me?"
Inside the brightly lit room, two people were laughing: one was Di Yan, and the other was a military officer.
The officer shrugged, raising an eyebrow: "You might think that way, but for the Viyin Star Fleet, it's just a piece of cake."
The smile froze on his face.
After pondering for a moment, Di Yan slowly spoke: "Speak, what do you want me to do?"
"Just sign your name."
The officer gestured to the document in front of Di Yan and unlocked his electromagnetic handcuffs.
Di Yan obediently traced his signature on the table with his finger, asking as he signed, "So, does that mean I have to go to space with you guys and never come back?"
"It's hard to say, I have to follow the instructions of my superiors. I'm only responsible for the work at hand right now."
Di Yan glanced at the main text briefly, then looked up at the officer before swiping past the documents.
The officer smiled slightly and extended a hand to Di Yan: "My name is Han Qinghe. Welcome to the Weiyin Starship Force."
Di Yan shook hands with Han Qinghe: "I want to video chat with Jerry."
"Can."
Han Qinghe readily agreed, got up and left the interrogation room. He returned two or three minutes later with a holographic beacon in the shape of a hollow frustum, less than ten centimeters in diameter.
He placed the holographic beacon on the table, with the side containing the camera facing Di Yan, and activated the communication.
The holographic beacon suddenly lit up, creating a three-dimensional image using the air as a medium.
Although the colors are somewhat distorted and some details occasionally flicker, the overall image presents a human figure from the shoulders up.
With a high nose, small glasses, and a head full of fine curls, it was indeed Jeremy.
He looked anxious, leaning forward and scanning up and down with his eyes. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Di Yan was unharmed.
"Bro, I'm so glad you're alright. They all came looking for me! Just two or three hours ago!"
Looking at his startled friend, Di Yan chuckled and said, "Don't worry, you're safe, and so am I."
For the time being... he didn't say the second half of his sentence.
"Will you be able to come back? Won't you go to jail? Oh! No way!"
Jerry covered his face in shock, shrinking back slightly. "They're not going to shoot you, are they?"
Di Yan shook his head: "They want to recruit me to serve in space and give me a starship officer status."
"ha?"
Jerry on the other end was stunned.
"I'm sending this video to say goodbye. I might... not be back for a very, very long time."
Di Yan tried to laugh, but after straining his facial muscles for a long time, it looked worse than crying.
"Bro, you...I..."
"You are safe, you will not have any trouble."
Di Yan tried to relax, saying, "You can still do your own research in the future; my affairs won't affect you."
"I don't have much to research..." Jerry scratched his curly hair, finding it hard to accept the fact.
He knew Di Yan very well.
If he goes to jail, Di Yan will find a way to escape. After he gets out, he can just take him somewhere to hide and change his identity. They've done that before.
"When will we contact each other again? When can you come back?" Jerry cared a lot about this; he felt very insecure without Di Yan by his side.
"I don't know. Once you're in space, many things are no longer up to you."
Di Yan shook his head slightly, his gaze gradually hardening. "But I will try my best to do it, don't worry."
The two chatted a few more times about unrelated topics, creating a slightly more cheerful atmosphere. Finally, the video call ended with a glance exchanged between them and Han Qinghe.
Han Qinghe stood by the table, pressed the switch to put the holographic beacon away, and said, "Is there anything else? If not, let's get going."
"So efficient?"
"Otherwise what? You want to throw a farewell party here?" Han Qinghe had already opened the door to the interrogation room.
Thinking about it carefully, aside from Jerry, who is someone he can't help but worry about, he really has nothing to miss about Earth.
His life has been completely different ever since the disarmament agreement four years ago forced him to leave the Special Operations Brigade of the Southwest Military Region of the Greater China Area.
He joined a mercenary group with several other comrades who had also been laid off, and they traveled between the front lines of various war zones around the world.
The African continent, in particular, is a paradise for mercenaries, with a history of war spanning thousands of years, where the flames of war have never ceased.
Or rather, the Viyin Federation did not want the war to end.
The Viyin people need war, they need disunity, they need some real enemies to form a united front, which they euphemistically call "the cohesion of civilization".
Only in this way will those so-called "humanitarian" principles have value, and only then will the people sing praises of the greatness of the Federation.
Mercenary groups also acted as arms dealers and intelligence brokers, engaging in shady and even illegal activities on behalf of local governments, which fueled the flames of war that had raged for thousands of years.
This is a relationship of give and take; war is to the Federation what drugs are to an addict—a spiritual necessity.
With the advancement of technology, the physical damage to these drug addicts no longer seems to matter.
Since aliens have been absent, don't try to unite all the Viyin people and work together for development.
In fact, Di Yan should even be grateful for the Third Disarmament Agreement; without joining a mercenary group, he would never have come into contact with the dark side of the Federation.
The phrase "serving the Union" had been echoing in his mind ever since he enlisted in the military. Only later did he realize that if he didn't serve the Union, there was no one for him to serve.
The entire solar system belongs to the Federation, and the endless war that lasted for thousands of years also belonged to the Federation.
As for the relationship between Di Yan and Jerry, it was established back in their mercenary days.
There, Jerry works as a weapons consultant, manufacturing all sorts of weapons to their specifications, all custom-made.
When the mercenary group was at its peak, Di Yan held the weapon that Jerry had tailored for him, and even going to the battlefield became a kind of enjoyment.
They squandered their high commissions and lived a carefree, extravagant life together.
until……
Their mercenary group was abandoned by a government in Africa, and they were powerless to resist the federal army.
Two days later, Di Yan crawled out of the pile of corpses.
Most of the mercenary group died in the battle, and the rest decided to disband on the spot. Jerry, who was homeless, decided to wander with Di Yan.
At first, Di Yan said he wanted to become a professional assassin and asked Jerry to help him with some online work, but the timid and cowardly Jerry refused.
But Di Yan quickly found a way to get him to agree.
With Jerry's help, Di Yan can accept commissions under an absolutely concealed identity, traveling around the world to complete one "perfect crime" after another, never failing.
His collaboration with Jerry became increasingly seamless, and their lives flourished.
Until what happened today.
It's hard to believe that the photo Han Qinghe showed him was actually of a real warship.
It is clear that the Starfleet Forces do exist, and are not as insignificant as they claim.
When exactly was this warship developed?
Recalling the strange spaceship in that photo, Di Yan became increasingly puzzled.
He had seen the ancient spaceships of the Viyin people; they were occasionally mentioned in news reports.
They are large, dark, and rough, with a cylindrical structure, simulating gravity by rotating around a central axis, with a nuclear fusion engine at the very center.
Compared to these old things, the spaceship in the photo is too new and too strange. Just by looking at its shape, Di Yan can imagine how fast it flies.
From every angle, it exudes a mysterious quality that doesn't belong to modern times.
Could it be that... in some unknown corner, technology has secretly made a leap forward?
Di Yan didn't understand much about cutting-edge academic topics; he just followed along.
This looks like a military base; people coming and going are all wearing military uniforms.
Stepping out of the building, the view outside suddenly opened up.
It's eight o'clock in the evening, and the sky is a black curtain covering the earth, without a single star. The military airfield is illuminated by lights, as if it were daytime.
Countless fighter jets and helicopters were parked on the vast field, and Di Yan recognized all of them.
Against the backdrop of these largely similar vehicles, a colossal object in the distance stands out strikingly.
Its elongated egg shape, streamlined head, and tail with thick tentacles extending like a squid are unforgettable once you've seen it.
That is the "J-45" seen in the photo and mentioned by Han Qinghe.
As we get closer, the J-45 occupies a larger proportion of the field of vision, and the details on it become clearer:
The black stripes, like a whale's mouth, run parallel to the ground, dividing the horizontally lying hull into upper and lower sections. Inside, tiny blue lights shimmer, like countless fireflies dancing gracefully.
With a length of forty or fifty meters and a width of thirty-odd meters, its peculiar shape makes it appear exceptionally tall, as if a very small, unrealistic spaceship model has been magnified hundreds or thousands of times out of thin air.
A sense of absurdity and unreality filled Di Yan's heart.
As he approached, the bright white hull occupied most of his vision, but Di Yan couldn't see any hatches.
"It can sense us."
Han Qinghe turned his head slightly, and Di Yan could see a smug smile on his lips.
Almost without a sound, a crack appeared in the bulkhead, widening to both sides, allowing Di Yan to see the space inside.
Suddenly, his feet felt light, and before he could figure out what was happening, he was suddenly flying up from the ground!
To be precise, it was as if he was "sucked in" by the crack in the ship's hull.
There was a gravitational pull that was dragging him in!
"What's going on?" Di Yan couldn't help but ask.
"The J-45 has a sophisticated gravity control system; in fact, all the starships in the entire Viin Starfleet have this capability."
Han Qinghe's tone carried a hint of pride.
"Gravity control?!" Di Yan picked at his ear, trying to make sure he hadn't misheard.
When did the Viyin people master the technology of gravity control?
Is this still reality?
Di Yan secretly pinched his thigh, and the pain was just as intense.
Han Qinghe was leading the way, Di Yan was in the middle, and the comrade who had been taking notes in the interrogation room was behind them. At this moment, the three of them were "lifted" from the ground by the J-45 and slowly flew into the crevice.
As he felt solid ground beneath his feet, Di Yan heard a very faint metallic scraping sound behind him. When he turned around again, the crack had closed perfectly, and the pale white cabin wall was completely intact, with no trace of the crack that had ever appeared.
"You're here?"
A well-proportioned young female military officer walked towards us. Her light green shirt was tucked into her dark trousers, her chest was high and firm, her hair was tied back, her jawline was prominent, and her eyebrows and eyes were sharp, giving her a rather masculine air.
Han Qinghe stood at attention and saluted: "Reporting to Captain Li, Di Yan, number 44, has been brought here. Please give instructions."