Two hundred years flew by.
Luna felt her life was akin to a cultivator's.
Cultivators spent their lives in arduous training, with little time for actual living.
This thought reminded her of her parents.
Whenever she pulled an all-nighter or skipped meals, her parents would ask, "Are you cultivating?"
Her memories were fading.
She regretted not having saved photos of her parents on her phone.
Her usual melancholic mood lasted an hour.
Luna left her room and waited for the robot to deliver breakfast while conversing with Ayla.
"The final planetary thruster is complete."
"When do we activate it, and set the Multi-eyed planet's course for Proxima Centauri?"
Ayla, seemingly dissatisfied with her holographic form, was using a silicone-based robot. This time, the robot was dressed in a qipao, serving drinks in a small bar.
Ayla expertly used a jigger and shaker, occasionally demonstrating some flair before pouring a cocktail into a glass, adding ice and a sugared rim, a lemon twist.
After preparing the drink, she presented it to Luna.
"Now."
As Ayla spoke, the entire Multi-eyed planet trembled.
The planetary thrusters were activated!
Luna calmly picked up the sunset-colored cocktail, asking, "What's this called?"
"Dream!"
Luna downed the cocktail in one gulp. It was intensely hot, like swallowing a chili pepper.
"What loneliness can't be escaped, what bitter pain can't be overcome!"
"The star of my dreams returns, bringing tears to my eyes."
"Who shares my high rise? Longing for the distant stars."
"The past is gone, like a dream."
Luna had never liked poetry; she was forced to read it in school, unable to connect with the emotions it conveyed.
Only now, experiencing this moment, did she truly grasp the emotions it contained.
"The activation of the planetary thruster marks our departure from this planet."
While the planet's speed had reached 250 km/s, reaching Proxima Centauri would still take 3600 years.
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This was far too slow.
"The Hope is now equipped with antimatter annihilation thrusters. What's our current speed?"
The Hope had previously used electromagnetic thrusters, then fusion-powered ones. But the conflict with the Multi-eyed and the development of antimatter annihilation weapons led to the creation of even more powerful antimatter annihilation thrusters.
This was a significant technological leap.
"3220 km/s," Ayla replied.
More than twice as fast as before.
Theoretically, with continuous acceleration, any object could approach the speed of light.
Antimatter annihilation could accelerate a spacecraft to 10% the speed of light.
This was purely theoretical.
The discrepancy between the theoretical and actual weight of the spacecraft was significant. A vessel the size of the Hope, with a mass of 2 billion tons, required a colossal amount of energy for acceleration.
Accelerating such a massive object to 10% the speed of light, under ideal conditions, would require at least 500 million tons of antimatter—nearly a quarter of the ship's mass—an almost impossible feat.
Realistically, deceleration would also need to be considered. There are no brakes in space.
The theoretical maximum acceleration was nothing more than a suicidal maneuver.
A more realistic approach would be to accelerate to 10% the speed of light, then impact the target planet, causing widespread devastation.
After finishing her drink, Luna had dinner.
Once satisfied, she began making arrangements.
While Ayla could consider all aspects of a problem, Luna still needed to approach it with human emotion and perspective.
Leaving everything to Ayla could lead to conflicts between machine-like logic and sentient life forms.
Before leaving the Multi-eyed planet, Luna needed Ayla to secure everything relating to the Multi-eyed.
This included restricting their access to technology, preventing them from overthrowing their rule during the 3600-year journey to Proxima Centauri.
To achieve this, the number of robots on the planet would increase to 300 million, exceeding the total population of Multi-eyed.
All cities would be fully automated, ensuring the Multi-eyed would lack access to any threatening weaponry.
These preparations took Luna a full month.
Finally.
Ayla completed all the pre-flight checks.
"Luna, we now have a fleet of 157 ships, including four main fleets and one exploratory fleet."
"All ships are equipped with the latest antimatter cannons and high-energy lasers, and their magnetic shields have also been upgraded."
"The ships now carry third-generation mechs, using antimatter annihilation for propulsion, capable of reaching speeds of 7810 km/s."
"In addition to these ships, the second fleet's flagship is the light-based warship excavated from underground. I have integrated its light-based weaponry with our own."
"With our current combat capabilities, we can wage war against Type 1.6 civilizations or higher."
"All warships are now in their launch positions."
"Are we ready to leave the Multi-eyed planet?"
Luna pondered, reviewing her preparations. She felt they were ready.
"Launch."
"Time to bid farewell to this planet."
"I actually like the current Multi-eyed planet, but it's not suitable for human habitation."
During her awakenings, Luna had explored many parts of the Multi-eyed planet.
Thanks to Ayla's modifications, it had become much more aesthetically pleasing to human sensibilities.
"Initiating launch sequence on Platform One."
"Beginning departure from the Multi-eyed planet."
The ship shook violently as a platform propelled the Hope into the sky.
Due to its immense mass, the Hope required a two-stage launch to escape the Multi-eyed planet's gravity.
Once the launch platform reached an altitude of 60 kilometers, the Hope's engines ignited. At 210 kilometers, the Hope finally broke free from the planet's powerful gravitational pull.
Luna watched the Multi-eyed planet shrink on the screen.
All the lights on the planet blazed to life.
From space, the Multi-eyed planet was a dazzling spectacle, like a giant eye in the cosmos, watching the departing fleet, resembling a colossal neon sign.
"Our target has remained unchanged."
"Let's conquer it!"