Humanity is missing, luckily I have billions of clones

At this moment, Tom's previous excitement completely vanished, replaced by an incomparable solemnity.

The clone from the solar system had re-established its consciousness link with him, which clearly meant that the clone had been awakened.

His automated program would only awaken the clone when it detected unexpected situations, such as the arrival of an external fleet.

This seemed to indicate that something had happened in the solar system.

Indeed, after the connection was restored, some images seen and information received by the clone located in the solar system arrived in Tom's mind through a method of information transmission that Tom could not yet comprehend.

Tom saw a dim star appear on the telescope observation interface.

That star was unremarkable, like thousands of ordinary stars. But Tom knew that there had been no star at that location before!

Its identity was then obvious.

It was the tail flame of a fleet, just like when he first saw the Bluetoth Fleet! Moreover, this tail flame was ejecting toward the solar system; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to see it. And this meant that it was decelerating toward the solar system, its ultimate target being the solar system!

Through the telescope's observations, Tom quickly determined the current orbital velocity and acceleration of this dim light spot.

The final data shocked Tom.

Observations showed that the light spot's speed toward the solar system reached approximately 220,000 kilometers per second, a staggering 73.3 % of the speed of light!

Furthermore, the light spot was decelerating at a rate of approximately 0.8 meters per second squared. Calculated at this deceleration rate, when it arrived in the solar system, its speed would have precisely decreased to approximately 1,000 kilometers per second.

This speed could already be considered equivalent to staying within the solar system.

Currently, its distance from the Sun was still about 3.2 light-years, and it would reach the solar system in approximately 8.8 years.

At a distance of 3.2 light-years, his telescope deployed in the solar system could already see the tail flame released by this fleet. This...

How bright was this fleet's deceleration tail flame?! And how directional was its tail flame?

A single tail flame, and the level of technology it implied and contained, was so advanced that Tom could barely imagine it.

And... a deceleration rate of 0.8 meters per second squared?

When his fleet left the solar system, its acceleration rate was only 0.04 meters per second squared! This fleet's rate was currently 20 times his!

The number 0.8 meters per second squared seemed small. Even Tom's most rudimentary battleship could easily exceed it tenfold.

But don't forget, this number represents the acceleration/deceleration rate of an entire massive fleet, tens of millions to hundreds of millions of ships of various sizes acting in concert.

This is different from the acceleration/deceleration rate of a single ship.

Just like himself, a Mercury-class battleship's maximum acceleration/deceleration rate could reach tens of meters per second. But a migration fleet composed of hundreds of millions of ships could only achieve a maximum acceleration/deceleration rate of 0.04 meters per second squared.

It wasn't that they didn't want it to be higher, but that it was impossible to achieve higher.

How difficult is the coordination for a fleet composed of hundreds of millions of ships? With such immense coordination difficulty, if the acceleration rate were any higher, the ships would be unable to coordinate.

And yet, this fleet could decelerate at a rate of 0.8 meters per second squared...

The technological content implied behind this was truly astonishing, even more astonishing than him seeing the tail flame from a distance of 3.2 light-years.

Now, such a fleet, possessing super-high technology that he could barely imagine, was heading toward the solar system.

It was almost certainly the Mechanical Disaster that the Bluetoth had spoken of!

At this moment, although Tom was already in the Altair System and the Mechanical Disaster was heading toward the solar system, Tom dared not be negligent in the slightest.

The reason was simple.

Since this Mechanical Disaster had already reached the solar system, it meant that the disguise the Bluetoth Civilization used with empty ships when fleeing the Bluetoth star system could not completely shake off the Mechanical Disaster's pursuit.

These disguises should have been somewhat useful, otherwise the Mechanical Disaster wouldn't have arrived so late. But it still came in the end, which meant that while useful, their utility was limited!

At most, it could only delay for a little while.

Then...

Since the Bluetoth Civilization's disguise back then only delayed for a little while and failed to shake off the Mechanical Disaster's pursuit...

Could his own disguise, made with the same methods in the solar system, shake off the pursuit?

Impossible!

Tom could almost confirm that when this Mechanical Disaster reached the solar system and conducted an inspection, if they were lucky, it might take some time to eliminate the disguises of the other fleets before coming to the Altair System. If they were unlucky, they wouldn't even waste time and would directly come to the Altair System to capture him!

And... don't forget, there is currently a distance of 16.8 light-years between him and the solar system, so the communication delay is also as high as 16.8 years.

The information he was receiving from the clone at this moment was sent 16.8 years ago!

Calculated by the current deceleration rate of the Mechanical Disaster Fleet, they should have already arrived in the solar system by now. Perhaps they have already completed the relevant inspections and are already rushing toward the Altair System!

Tom's heart was filled with chill.

His many large-scale scientific facilities had only recently been completed, and this state of single-minded, full-effort technological development had only lasted for a mere two years, not even having time to produce a single significant technological breakthrough. Must it stop now?

What else could he do if he didn't stop? At this moment, besides immediately setting sail and fleeing, what else could he do?

It was also fortunate that after he arrived in the Altair System, he first made every effort to repair the fleet and replenish the necessary supplies for long-distance travel, allowing him to escape immediately now. Otherwise, even if he wanted to leave, he wouldn't be able.

It's just that...

Did he really have to flee in such a panic?

Tom thought rapidly.

The Mechanical Disaster had already pursued to the solar system, and it was highly probable that it would also come to the Altair System in the future. Even if he fled to the next star system, the Mechanical Disaster would still have a very high probability of pursuing him.

Furthermore, the Mechanical Disaster's speed was more than ten times his. Even if he fled with all his might, doing nothing upon reaching each star system and immediately fleeing to the next supply point after replenishing supplies, it was highly probable that it would catch up to him, eventually capturing him.

All of his future life would be wasted in fleeing.

After all, it was impossible to develop technology while fleeing.

Fleeing in such a panic would only slow down the speed at which he was hanged; ultimately, he would still not escape death.

Then...

He couldn't just flee in such a panic.