The Star of Hope was over nine hundred light-years away from the Azure Market broadcasted by the Molian Civilization. This distance, for the Xiao Yu who had not yet mastered faster-than-light travel, was an impassable gulf. But for the Xiao Yu of today, it was nothing more than a journey of less than two hundred years.

To Xiao Yu, this was not a long time. But for the Luka, especially the older scientists who were both aged and in possession of extensive scientific knowledge, it was a burden too great to bear. To address this issue, Xiao Yu had long since implemented a measure: any aging scientist approaching death would be placed into cryogenic stasis, to be thawed only after biotechnology had advanced sufficiently.

In fact, Xiao Yu had employed this practice consistently.

Within the Science and Technology Division, there were already scientists dedicated solely to researching biotechnology. Their mission was to extend the lifespan of the Luka. Xiao Yu even hoped that, when the time was right, their breakthroughs could help him resurrect humanity itself, to bring back not just the body, but also the memory and soul.

The body of the girl from the 90s Model Spaceship was still preserved by Xiao Yu. He could, at any time, clone her back to life. But Xiao Yu had no intention of doing that. What he wanted was not just the body, but the soul. A biological being with a human body but no memory of Earth would not give Xiao Yu any sense of emotional connection.

What Xiao Yu hoped for was to resurrect this Earth girl completely, once his biotechnology reached a certain level.

After the meeting concluded, Xiao Yu returned once again to his busy schedule. Under his command, countless robots and ships bustled with activity, continuously transporting resources into specially prepared cargo vessels. This process continued for three full years, until every ship was filled to capacity and could carry no more.

During these three years, Xiao Yu successfully broke through the technological challenge of receiving external photonic and electromagnetic signals during faster-than-light flight. This meant that the final obstacle to long-range travel had disappeared.

“Well then… begin the voyage,” Xiao Yu issued the command.

More than 600,000 ships of various classes such as warships, transport vessels, slowly left their stations and converged into formation, heading for the outer edges of the star system.

These ships would use conventional propulsion to leave the gravitational influence of large-mass bodies like stars before activating their faster-than-light drives. This was because initiating FTL travel within a star system could cause unpredictable errors in the space curvature devices due to the influence of massive celestial bodies, posing considerable risk.

This marked Xiao Yu’s first interstellar voyage spanning a thousand light-years, and also the first time he actively left a safe environment and set out into the unknown.

It signified a change in Xiao Yu’s mentality. He was no longer that fledgling, inexperienced civilization scurrying about in fear. Now, with Four-Dimensional Space Shields and the absence of higher-level civilizations maintaining order, Xiao Yu had begun to hold some real power in the Milky Way Galaxy.

Bidding farewell to the Star of Hope, Xiao Yu led the fleet into faster-than-light travel mode.

In the instant they entered FTL, all 600,000 ships vanished from the observable universe, as though they had never existed at all.

Once inside faster-than-light travel, due to the extreme effects of redshift and blueshift, communication with the outside world was severely impacted. Only internal communications remained stable, thanks to superluminal communication technology.

At this moment, Xiao Yu was using that very tech to converse with the Luka scientists.

The contact protocol document had already been completed by Luka Two in collaboration with hundreds of scientists from the Psychosocial Sciences Division. It was submitted directly to Xiao Yu, who immediately convened a general assembly to begin discussing each clause of the document in detail.

“I believe our main fleet does not need to approach the trade site too closely,” Luka Two stood up and said. “A Level 5 Civilization typically has a population of around two hundred billion. Based on the usual military allocations of a technological civilization, roughly one billion of that would be military personnel, including ground troops, occupation forces, defense units, special operations teams, and starship crew. This means, even for a Level 5 Civilization, the number of personnel directly involved in space warfare would be at most three to four hundred million.”

“But in terms of mass and volume, to fully operate our fleet of 600,000 ships, we’d need at least five hundred million personnel. That’s a glaring contradiction and one that would attract far too much attention. Why would a Level 4 Civilization possess such overwhelming military power? It would provoke scrutiny and unwanted trouble.”

“I object,” another Luka scientist stood and said. “When dealing with an unknown civilization, the stronger we appear, the safer we are. Are we really going to play coy and conceal our strength before a Level 5 Civilization?”

“It’s not about hiding our strength,” Luka Two countered, “it’s that our strength is too anomalous, too eye-catching. Such an immense fleet could provoke hostility from that Level 5 Civilization. What if they interpret our arrival as a threat? We must remember, we have no guarantee of victory against them.”

Xiao Yu projected a 3D holographic image of himself and gave a soft cough, signaling for the Luka scientists to quiet down. Only then did he speak.

“Luka Two makes a good point. We don’t fear trouble, but we certainly don’t need to invite it. We’ll proceed with his suggestion. When we reach the vicinity of the destination, we’ll hide the main fleet somewhere discreet. We’ll only reveal a portion of our forces, just enough to slightly exceed the appearance of a typical Level 4 Civilization, and with a modest display of advanced technology. This will make the Level 5 Civilization cautious, while not attracting undue attention. Alright, next point of discussion.”

And so time passed amid these discussions. Every clause in the contact protocol document was brought forward, examined from all angles, debated thoroughly, and finally ratified.

This was Xiao Yu’s first time proactively initiating contact with another civilization and that civilization was stronger than his own. Naturally, he treated it with utmost caution.

The debate over the document lasted a full ten years before most of the key points were finalized. Scattered discussions still continued. Up until arrival, anyone could raise new objections.

In addition to the protocol, Xiao Yu and the Luka scientists jointly conducted a comprehensive assessment of his current strength and compiled a wishlist, a list of the critical knowledge and technologies he needed most.

At the very top of the list was information on the basic traits of Level 5 and Level 6 Civilizations, what technologies they commanded, what capabilities they possessed. Only by acquiring this information could Xiao Yu clearly chart the next phase of his advancement.

Second was intelligence on the current state of the Milky Way Galaxy. What effect had the alliance between Taihao and the Guardian Alliance in their fight against the Sweeper Civilization produced? How long would it last? How were other civilizations reacting? These were urgent questions Xiao Yu needed answers to.

Beyond that, there were secrets of the universe, intelligence on dangerous regions, dossiers on major powerful civilizations like the Specter Race, the Alien Beast Civilizations, the Mechanical Civilizations, and others. Xiao Yu even hoped to find information about humanity.

In his estimation, before Earth’s destruction, many humans had already been abducted by various alien civilizations. The girl who had died aboard the 90s Model Spaceship was just one of those unfortunate individuals. What had happened to the rest? Were they still alive in some laboratory? Or had they all perished long ago? Xiao Yu needed to know, so he could begin either rescue or revenge.

That was the informational side. On the technological side, what Xiao Yu most urgently needed was knowledge on how to further enhance faster-than-light travel, how to fight and defend while in FTL, and the theoretical frameworks and development trajectories of Level 5 and Level 6 Civilizations.

In short, there were many things Xiao Yu hoped to acquire.

Throughout the long voyage, Xiao Yu’s fleet passed close to tens of thousands of stars. The closest encounter brought them within just a few tens of billions of kilometers, a distance that, during FTL travel, truly qualified as a near miss.

There were also several dangerous moments. The worst was when they accidentally detected a low-mass black hole, which lay directly in their path. Fortunately, Xiao Yu took swift emergency action, redirecting the fleet at the cost of burning out numerous space curvature devices. Had he not, at least half the fleet would have been lost to the black hole.

And so, through such perils, Xiao Yu’s fleet forged ahead at full speed and after nearly one hundred and ninety years, finally arrived near the coordinates broadcast by the Level 5 Civilization.

For the first time, Xiao Yu began direct observations of the target star system.

It was a stable, mid-life star, its size, mass, and age not far off from that of Earth’s sun.

Currently, Xiao Yu was still twenty light-years away. From that distance, the star looked quite dim. But using transit and wobble methods, Xiao Yu managed to gain a rough understanding.

The star had five planets: three rocky planets and two gas giants.

“So this… is where that Level 5 Civilization set up its market,” Xiao Yu thought.

Just then, Xiao Yu received another broadcast.

“Welcome to the Azure Market! All visiting guests must register at the security perimeter. Failure to do so will be interpreted as hostile behavior, and we reserve the right to launch attacks without warning!”