Juggernaut: Rise of the Zerg

Chapter 184 The Age of Stellar System Colonization

The universe is cold and dark, and it is inevitable to feel lonely in it, especially when the stars are almost exactly the same no matter which direction you look at.

When a race steps into space and faces the seemingly endless darkness alone, this loneliness will be infinitely magnified, thus clearly seeing its own smallness and weakness.

From humbleness to prosperity, in the end, he still finds that he is just a drop in the ocean, and the road ahead seems to be endless. Sometimes, Ling feels an inexplicable sense of loss.

The development of the Zerg on Planet No. [-] did not produce any twists and turns. As expected, there is no sign of life here, and it is a completely barren planet.

The harsh environment caused some inconvenience to the swarm's activities, so that within more than ten years, they failed to achieve the achievement of completely occupying the second planet.

The Zerg giant species that connects the surface and space has been redesigned by Sass, and has begun to be deployed on Ori. It will take a while for it to grow, and Sass and Dagus have once again shifted their scientific research goals.

The farther you go to the stars, the harsher the surface environment of a barren planet similar to Planet No. [-], but correspondingly, for the Zerg, it will be more convenient and quicker to collect energy.

And this is zero comparison.

Even with the appearance of Dags, Sass has not been idle at all, and the new projects are one after another, as if there is no end.

In order to solve the current predicament of the Zerg, it took its apprentice Dagos to move the position and began to study the strengthening of the tolerance of the Zerg unit again.

At this stage, Daggs still behaved in step, with few opportunities to intervene.

If that's the case, Sass is still very precious to Daggs, and he wished he could give him everything immediately.

It is always slower to explore alone than to get something for nothing from other civilizations. Looking at the development of Zerg technology, the two leapfrog developments were built on the corpses of two intelligent civilizations and absorbed their wisdom. and knowledge for self-improvement.

When building a car behind closed doors, even a cerebrum with extraordinary talents can hardly make breakthroughs in multiple directions at the same time.

With Sass alone, he has to be distracted to teach Dagus. He is even busier than before Daggs was born, and he doesn't know when his investment will pay off.

On the basis of previous research, further improving the Zerg's tolerance to the environment, especially extreme temperatures, is indeed a challenge for Sass, who just took advantage of the opportunity of integrating the knowledge of the octopus to solve it not long ago.

It has only been a few decades since the last time I went from flesh and blood to stepping into space. Even if the time spent on the original research is included, it is only a hundred years.

And this is still with the help of the technology of the octopus. It can be said that at that time, Sass had already done his best in this regard.In that state, the improvement of the Zerg space adaptability has reached the limit of what it can do.

One step further, this step may not be much easier than achieving this hundred feet.

In intelligent civilizations, generally speaking, there is such a phenomenon that when technology has developed to a certain level, it is already difficult to promote the overall progress of the technological level of the entire civilization by relying on a certain or a few amazing scientists. up.

When science is classified in detail and those details are brought to the forefront, each branch requires a lot of energy to learn and research. In this case, it is difficult for a single individual to promote the development of civilization, even if they are better than before. People are equally good, and even far beyond, and they cannot do this either.

The Zerg situation is slightly different, but not too different.Although Sass is actually fighting alone, and his only assistant, Dagus, is currently useless, but with the addition of the will of the hive, his intelligence is naturally much higher than that of scientists with a single wisdom and civilization. But the singleness of thinking is bound to have some blind spots, and this is why Zero also values ​​Dags.

As for now, all Zero can do is wait.

Waiting for Sass to give a conclusion, waiting for Dagus to grow up, waiting for time to give the final answer.

If there is no tricky plan, then take it step by step in a down-to-earth manner, with zero confidence that today's Zerg will not easily be in danger of survival.

On the "Moon" base, energy and resources began to be enriched. After satisfying its own consumption, a large amount of resources began to accumulate.

This means that the Zerg's colonization of this place has basically been completed. If the "moon" has any other value for the Zerg, in addition to the resources on the surface, maybe one day the Zerg will be able to directly attack the entire planet, and perhaps they can completely destroy it. The value is squeezed clean, but now you don't have to think about it.

When the valuable minerals under the surface become resources in the nutrient pool, apart from energy collection, there is nothing to miss here.

Even in terms of energy, Zero is still brewing a big plan in his mind, which is still difficult to achieve with the current biotechnology level of the Zerg.

If there is a chance in the future, the energy harvesting system on the surface of the planet can also be retired.

It's just that by then, it's probably time for the swarm to leave the star system.

After the resources became sufficient again, Zero began to conceive the idea of ​​expanding again. Now that it has got rid of the resource constraints on the surface, facing the vast universe, it has accumulated all the useful resources that can be collected, waiting for future technological breakthroughs. , it can be used directly.

There are no enemies here, and there seems to be no natural threat except star explosions or planetary collisions. After the octopus perished, this place became the private land of the Zerg. There are four rocky planets in the inner galaxy and a natural satellite. Among the three gas giant planets in the outer layer, the number of satellites that have reached hydrostatic equilibrium alone exceeds double digits, let alone those huge but irregular celestial bodies.

In this star system, which is very similar to the solar system, the resources contained in it are unreasonable.

Today, the Zergs on planet [-] are temporarily unable to land, so now that planet [-] has started colonization activities, it is also a matter of success to set their sights on the outer planet [-].

However, going outward is not as good as going inward. With the expansion of the orbital radius, the distance between Ori and the orbital anomalous point of planet No. [-] alone exceeds [-] million kilometers, and the chance of the two arriving at the closest point at the same time is rare in tens or hundreds of years. See.

Therefore, even if a colonization plan is to be launched, rigorous calculations and arrangements are required, and it will also consume a lot of time and resources.

On the outer planets, the energy from the stars will weaken sharply. Although this is the deep space of the universe and the density of matter is extremely low, there will still be energy dissipation during the process of light propagation. The less influence the central star has, the slower the rate of energy harvesting.

At present, when the Zerg's main conventional energy source basically relies on stars, colonization activities far away from stars are bound to face energy problems.

Speaking of which, on the "Moon", the various resources collected by the Zerg still have a lot of surplus except for the necessary consumption. It was not obvious at the beginning of the construction of the colonial base. After the full-scale development of , the accumulation speed of these resources suddenly accelerated.

Compared with the consumption of Zerg resource transportation channels on Auri, there is not such a huge expenditure here on "Moon". The mining activities are relatively simple, and the transportation cost is relatively low. The conditions here are unique.

For this reason, Zero intends to establish the Zerg's second space base here, responsible for launching colonization activities to potential colonies on the outskirts of the star system.

Given the natural conditions of the "Moon", it will be valuable until the resources on it are exhausted.At least now that it has been able to independently produce resources, it is more than enough to supply several colonial teams with the resources of one planet.

So, following Ori, the Zerg giant species resource transportation channel improved by Sass began to grow on the surface of the "moon".

There is no interference from the atmosphere here, and even the gravity is only a quarter of that of Ori. Here, its growth is completely free of many restrictions on the planet, and it does not need to grow to a height of more than a hundred kilometers. It only needs One-fifth, about twenty kilometers.

This is not a problem at all, and it also saves the energy consumed by resisting the external environment. Its superiority is not the same as that of Ori, and it is extremely convenient just for the transportation of resources.

Compared with a planet with a huge mass, this place is undoubtedly more suitable for building a space base.

It only takes a few months to grow at a height of [-] kilometers. Due to the consideration of transportation efficiency, its body shape will not change much in the horizontal direction.Even so, it's not a big project for the current Zerg.

As for the construction of the space base in the future, it is not a problem. Compared with these, planning the colonization plan and how to quickly and easily reach the fourth planet are more challenging than this.

Going to the planets with larger orbital radii in the outer reaches of the star system, the grasp of the window period is particularly important. With the current maximum speed of the Zerg, once you miss it, you may have to wait a few more years. Therefore, even if you went to No. [-] before You already have some experience in planetary time, and you must be more cautious.

Although there is plenty of time, I don't want to waste it at all.

Seven months later, the Zerg colony team headed towards the orbit of planet No. [-] set off. Its scale was basically the same as that of the previous planet No. [-] colony team. It was not huge, but it almost transferred the resources accumulated during the period on the "moon" empty.

At this time, in front of them, the No. [-] planet is not there, and they will take six months to reach the planetary orbit. After repeated calculations, if there is no accident, the No. [-] planet will be there waiting for them.

For living space worm species, even if the result is slightly off, as long as it is not too outrageous, the same goal can be achieved in the end by consuming energy to accelerate or decelerate. Therefore, although the schedule of this journey is tight, it does not Too stringent requirements.

Under the premise that Zero can control the movement of the swarm at any time, their fault tolerance rate is not low.Starting directly from the space base and orbiting Ori can provide them with a not-so-small initial velocity, so they can save a lot of energy for acceleration. At least in theoretical calculations, their energy reserves are quite sufficient, fully supporting Accelerate or decelerate several times.

Planet No. 0.7 is slightly smaller in size, with a mass of about 3.2 Ori, and an average orbital radius of about 17 million kilometers, or about [-] light minutes. The atmosphere is slightly thinner than Ori. It is not known how, but only from the appearance, the overall color is light yellow, which is the color of the upper atmosphere reflecting the light from the stars.

From this, it can be confirmed that the composition of its atmosphere is complex, at least completely different from Ori.

Seen from a distance in space, it is like a pale yellow hemisphere hidden in the darkness, slowly rotating, desolate and lonely.

To be honest, Zero is not sure what kind of environment exists on this planet. In the star system, although its position is a little behind, it can barely be regarded as the "golden zone" in the galaxy, and obviously There is a non-weak magnetic field, which firmly locks the gas from the planet around itself, acting as its "armor" against cosmic rays.

Therefore, referring to Ori, it is possible that it has an environment suitable for life activities. Compared with the No. [-] planet, it seems to have better conditions.

Regarding this point, the conclusions from the octopus people can still be used as some references.

Although they chose Auri directly at the beginning, they undoubtedly did their homework for the entire star system.

They believe that with the current state of planet 5.00, the probability of having life is less than [-]%.Of course, due to the relationship from the ocean, they pay more attention to the liquid water stored on the planet, which cannot be observed at least on a macroscopic scale.

With the conspicuous target of Ori, the octopus was almost out of ammunition at the beginning, so there was no time for it to explore. However, the conclusions drawn through scientific analysis still have certain reference significance.

Now, the Zergs are also moving forward here, and the details will be known after they land.

It has to be said that the theory of aerospace technology left by the Octopus has greatly helped the Zerg's galaxy colonization. These scientific and mature theoretical knowledge allow Zero and Sass to draw a more accurate conclusion through calculations and guide the Zerg to complete the astronomical distance. long voyage.

Six months later, the Zerg colony team arrived at the orbit of planet No. [-]. Although there were some twists and turns due to the problem of observation accuracy, after going around and around, when they arrived here, the planet with a pale yellow appearance Already quietly waiting there.

This is not the closest point in the orbits of the two planets, but it will be the closest they will come together in the next few years.

Here, the distance from the central star is 3.6 million kilometers, which means that the light from the star will take 10 minutes to reach here. In other words, the central star seen from here is what it looked like 10 minutes ago!

According to the theory of the octopus, the yellow atmosphere may contain a large amount of sulfide gas, which is harmful to creatures like the Zerg. Simply put, it is poisonous.

However, this is not a problem either. The biological internal circulation of the Zerg has been strengthened and improved again and again. They can directly cross space with their bodies, and they still have a certain resistance to this environment. At least it is not a problem to complete the landing.

As for the long-term survival after landing, the improvement for the specific environment will be done directly on the surface of the planet.Even if there is no reference sample, as long as there are vitamins here, it shouldn't be too difficult to survive.

And as long as he can survive, then everything after that can be planned slowly.

This can be regarded as the guiding principle of Zerg galaxy colonization activities, survival, evolution, adaptation, development.

If one day you really encounter a planet that you can't even land on, and Zero doesn't want to give up, then you can directly build a space base in its orbit, and use the energy you carry to sample, study and analyze the problems you encounter, even if you really can't It can also be used as a scientific research activity to provide information support for subsequent colonization.

All in all, those environments that are difficult to adapt to or even deadly for ordinary life, it is difficult for the Zerg to cause absolute obstacles.Although they don't have any protection, it doesn't mean that these flesh and blood bodies are weak.

In the orbit, the weather on the surface of the planet can be observed more intuitively. It has an atmosphere with a similar thickness to Ori, and naturally has corresponding meteorological activities. Login event.

The Zerg units that entered the atmosphere immediately showed some discomfort. The atmospheric environment here can slightly erode their bodies. Although it will not be fatal for a while, it is naturally not a good experience.

Zero therefore accelerated the landing process and changed the previous plan.

It is absolutely not suitable to establish a Zerg base on the surface, because when it is in orbit, he observed that there is "rainfall" activity on planet [-], which is associated with the sulfide gas analyzed by the octopus before, and the landing process The erosion phenomenon in the water, I am afraid that these "rainwater" will not be a good thing.

Therefore, getting back to the old line, sneaking into the ground to build a safe camp, and ensuring survival is the top priority.

The average temperature here is slightly higher than that of Ori. Judging from the area where the Zerg landed, the temperature alone can satisfy the survival of life from Ori.

However, although the temperature was suitable, the existence of the corrosive atmosphere made everything come to naught.

If the original lizardmen hadn't perished, when they went into space and also entered into space colonization activities, their first choice would definitely not be planet No. [-].

Whether it is the "Moon" or Planet No. [-], although the temperature difference between day and night is a bit larger, there are no problems that are too difficult to overcome. The Zerg even found traces of water on the surface of the "Moon"!

Compared with overcoming toxicity and corrosion, this difficulty is much simpler, because even Zero feels a little tricky after going through the landing process.

Looking into space from the surface of planet No. [-], the yellowish atmosphere makes all this difficult. In addition, it is far away from the star, and it looks a little dim even on a "sunny day".

These are not problems, even if it is slowly eroded by corrosive gas, Zero never found it difficult to deal with, but when the acid rain really fell, Zero felt that he still underestimated the environmental threat here.

That's really sulfuric acid!

Liquid sulfide may not be a fear, but sulfuric acid is completely different. With the body strength of the Zerg, if you can't dodge it, it will melt in an instant!

(End of this chapter)