Over the past century, some Kate had interacted with the Purple Thorns, learning their language, customs, and other details.
This information allowed the reconnaissance vessel to gather more intelligence.
After two years of reconnaissance, the vessel detected a war within the Tau Ceti system.
This war was between two civilizations.
The Purple Thorns and an indigenous civilization within the Tau Ceti system.
News of the Purple Thorn fleet's destruction might have triggered this war.
Or it could have been something else entirely.
This differed from Luna and Ayla's predictions.
The Purple Thorns aimed to create a vast interstellar empire, but they weren't agrarian like East and South Asia; they were more like the nomadic civilizations of Central and North Asia.
Their expansion was like a space-faring version of the Mongol Empire.
They would conquer civilizations and leave behind a small governing force.
This greatly accelerated expansion.
And it worked; within a thousand years, the Purple Thorns had conquered a vast territory. The reconnaissance vessel's preliminary data indicated at least four conquered civilizations.
While seemingly few, this suggested control over ten or more star systems.
Even if life is abundant in the universe, not every star system will give rise to a civilization.
According to Ayla's calculations, the Purple Thorns controlled approximately 11 civilizations.
Such a vast empire was inherently unstable.
They couldn't fully control all the conquered civilizations.
Internal conflict was inevitable.
Especially now, with the destruction of their main fleet, their empire was collapsing faster than it had expanded.
Those thousand warships represented 97% of the Purple Thorn's military strength.
Now, the Purple Thorns were vulnerable, their resources exposed.
"The plan can proceed."
Luna, receiving this update while lecturing, smiled.
Three species of students were listening intently. They were unaware that their usually serious professor had received this news and was even chuckling.
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Then, she announced, "Class, I will be unable to continue teaching."
Numerous robotic soldiers entered, escorting Luna from the classroom.
Only that afternoon did the students learn that their professor was Luna herself, a revelation that left them speechless.
Of course.
These were minor details for Luna.
She had already arrived in a gravity-defying vehicle near the Multi-eyed planet's shipyard.
All their warships were built here.
Warship construction had been scaled back in the previous century, with all resources dedicated to a single flagship.
The Hope had completed its mission. Luna had begun designing a new flagship over 400 years ago.
But this project had been delayed for over 300 years.
The technology hadn't met her standards. As a flagship, it had to incorporate the most advanced technology.
Ayla had integrated string manipulation technology into the design.
The shipyard was in space, less a shipyard and more a massive space station.
It was 200 kilometers long, 148 kilometers wide, and 32 kilometers high.
At its center was the warship construction dock.
A giant, mirror-like, oddly shaped hull awaited completion.
It resembled a raft, with six energy storage units held in place by electromagnetism.
This was their new flagship.
—The Celestial Palace.
The ship was a colossal 32,800 meters long, with a comparatively narrow width (4628 meters) and height (3872 meters), making it extremely slender.
Each energy storage unit resembled a giant, curved, rhombus-shaped shield, 6300 meters long.
These units housed state-of-the-art dark matter decay devices, generating sixteen times more energy than antimatter annihilation devices.
Furthermore, Ayla had implemented rapid thermal energy conversion technology, abandoning humanity's long-reliance on "heating water."
This technology directly converts thermal energy into electrical energy with an efficiency of 92%, eliminating the need for cooling systems.
This was a major breakthrough; their energy reserves on a single asteroid now reached Type 1.8 levels.
"The Celestial Palace flagship is three months from completion?"
Luna asked, observing the new warship.
Ayla took control of a nearby robot.
"Yes. It will be launched in three months."
"Its hull utilizes a new super-material. This material is exceptionally stable and surpasses the light-based alloy in strength and heat resistance."
"Its half-life is 21 million years, with a density of 41.10 g/cm³, a Mohs hardness of 24, a melting point of 170,000°C, and a tensile strength of 54,721 MPa."
"The increased density is to create a mirror-like surface, reflecting more light and providing greater protection against high-velocity particle impacts."
"Of course, the hull's strength is designed to withstand the pressures of high speeds. The true technological advancement lies in the manipulation of the four fundamental forces."
"The Celestial Palace flagship is equipped with shields and weapons based on all four fundamental forces. Its main cannon has a maximum output of 40 quadrillion tons of TNT."
"The ship features a fully functional artificial gravity system, allowing for normal movement within the vessel. It also utilizes anti-gravity technology, negating the effects of space. Its theoretical maximum speed is 20,872 km/s; the actual speed should be comparable."
They still lagged behind the Purple Thorns.
The Purple Thorns had access to vast resources and had been a Type 2 civilization for over a thousand years.
While it had been 500 years since the discovery of strings, they were still transitioning from Type 1.9 to Type 2 and weren't yet a fully fledged Type 2 civilization.
But this configuration was sufficient to deal with the Purple Thorns.
Luna would wait for the Celestial Palace's completion and then travel to Tau Ceti.
Given their current distance, it would take 192 years to arrive.
Even if the war at Tau Ceti had ended by then, full recovery would be unlikely.