After discovering the third civilization's device, Luna once again entered hibernation.

Ayla and Luna's clone continued their discussions with the Kate leadership.

Due to their long-standing cooperation, the Kate leaders agreed to a new plan within days of Luna's clone presenting the concept.

The expanding Kate civilization, now numbering 13 billion, would provide support for this new plan.

This plan was a variation on a theory proposed by physicist Freeman Dyson in 1960.

A Dyson swarm.

A Dyson sphere was impractical due to its immense resource requirements.

A Dyson sphere completely encasing Alpha Centauri B would require more metal than an entire planet.

A Dyson swarm, however, wouldn't require such resources.

A Dyson swarm would consist of countless smaller energy-collecting satellites forming a shell around the star. Its distributed nature meant that the required resources were only a thousandth or even a ten-thousandth of what a Dyson sphere would need.

This made Dyson swarms quicker to build, easier to maintain, and cheaper to construct.

Of course, "smaller" in this context still meant substantial structures.

The Dyson swarm's components would consist of two types.

First, energy-collecting satellites, each with a surface area of 100 square kilometers and a mass of 1 billion tons.

Second, habitable space stations, essentially eco-domes built within the star system's habitable zone. Each eco-dome is a standard sphere. The lower hemisphere houses spacecraft and energy storage; the upper hemisphere is a habitable zone with vegetation and structures, resulting in a 5-kilometer diameter.

The initial Dyson swarm plan called for 100,000 energy-collecting satellites and 10,000 habitable space stations.

While relatively few, this would be enough to capture 0.67% of the energy output of the two stars.

Alpha Centauri A and B are estimated to be twice the mass of the Sun, releasing approximately 6 x 10²⁶ joules of energy per second—1.56 times that of the Sun.

The initial Dyson swarm would capture approximately 4.02 x 10²⁴ joules per second.

A Type 2 civilization's energy output is defined as 1 x 10²⁶ joules per second.

Theoretically, a completed Dyson swarm would provide a Type 2 civilization with 25% of its required energy.

This is why the Kate civilization agreed.

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Their total dark matter energy production was only 1.71 times greater than that of the Dyson swarm, barely reaching Type 1.9 standards.

Just 2.5 million energy-collecting satellites would be enough for a civilization to reach Type 2.

This was incredibly attractive. The Kate civilization's projected 2000-year timeline for reaching Type 2 could be shortened to 500 years.

Of course, the Kate civilization's technology was still relatively primitive.

After acquiring various technological advancements from the Kate civilization, Ayla's technological level reached 1.92, with a significant contribution from the light-based technology. If photon propulsion research were completed, Ayla would reach Type 2.

Earth's technology, however, was still at Type 1.8 for Ayla.

Her energy production had only recently reached Type 1.8.

Ayla's ability to intimidate the Kate civilization was due to Luna's decision to invest heavily in Project Babel and exploit internal conflicts within the Kate civilization.

However, with 100 years of development, Ayla could easily overwhelm the Kate civilization in a direct conflict.

The disparity in energy output stemmed from Luna's fleet's limited resources. It's similar to the difference between a lone mage and a powerful mage clan in fantasy novels: they might have comparable magic levels, but their access to resources would be vastly different.

Construction of the Dyson swarm began in Luna's 19th year of hibernation.

Ayla, collaborating with the Kate civilization, began collecting materials from around Alpha Centauri, essentially depleting nearby asteroids.

After 340 years, the first phase of the Dyson swarm was finally completed.

To commemorate Earth, Ayla named it the "6397 Swarm."

The year was 6397 A.D.

1649 years had passed since they left the Multi-eyed planet. The human population on Proxima Centauri c had reached 250,000, marking a significant step in humanity's recovery.

Around the same time.

Ayla received a message from the Multi-eyed planet.

She had been monitoring events there continuously.

Since their departure 1932 years prior, the Multi-eyed planet had experienced over 800 rebellions, the largest resulting in a 60-year global war with 70 million casualties.

The total war dead exceeded 311 million.

The good news was that, despite this, the Multi-eyed planet now boasted several major cities, and their population had exceeded 1 billion.

The planetary thrusters on the Multi-eyed planet had been upgraded using technology transmitted by Ayla, increasing their number to 150.

Their speed increased from 250 km/s to 427 km/s.

The relatively small increase was due to deceleration requirements. Excessive speed would create dangerous inertia, potentially causing the planet to collide with something within the Proxima Centauri system.

The Multi-eyed planet had already traveled 1.923 light-years, much faster than initially predicted.

It would reach Proxima Centauri in another 814 years.

This message was to inform Ayla that the first group of Multi-eyed visitors to Proxima Centauri had made all preparations for the occasion!

The Multi-eyed were being brought to Proxima Centauri because a significant faction within the Kate civilization, including a sizable portion of the Kate population, denied the existence of the galactic federation.

No one had ever encountered another civilization besides humanity.

More importantly, the Kate leadership harbored doubts—something Ayla needed to address.

Therefore, Ayla needed the Multi-eyed to arrive at Proxima Centauri as soon as possible.

Decades earlier, Ayla had dispatched a newly developed warship to retrieve them.

Ayla's antimatter annihilation efficiency had increased from 34.85% to 67.22%, and the larger warships now reached speeds of 5975 km/s. Smaller fighters could reach 10,000 km/s—one-thirtieth the speed of light.

The Multi-eyed planet was now one light-year from Proxima Centauri. At the warships' speed, it would take 54 years; using fighters, only 32 years.

In 54 years, the Multi-eyed would meet with the Kate civilization.

Of course, Ayla would control this encounter.