The Snow Dragon Galaxy is not a spiral or bar spiral galaxy; it is an irregular galaxy. The planetary systems are either scattered or concentrated without any set pattern. Setting aside some more isolated celestial bodies, the Snow Dragon Galaxy has been artificially divided into ten major star sectors, from Sector A to Sector J. Four of these sectors are completely devoid of interstellar civilizations because they are very distant from one another, and the civilizations within the Snow Dragon Galaxy lack the means of effective long-distance travel, so there has been no colonization there.
Sector C is the most populous and prosperous of all the major star sectors. Through cooperation with the Snow Dragon Alliance, Bai Zhongqi also obtained more astronomical intelligence about the Third Universe's Snow Dragon Galaxy.
"Sector C is the largest major star sector of the Snow Dragon Galaxy, with a diameter of over 8,000 light-years. The Zhalan Civilization is located on the edge of the star sector, while the Steel Ancient Civilization is in a more central position. Several civilizations conquered by the Spiral Mosquitoes are hundreds of light years away on the other side of the Zhalan Civilization. Currently, the Spiral Mosquito Fleet has found a new spacetime corridor and, through this passage, has reached a relatively central location in Sector C. However, the original corridor near the Zhalan Civilization is still of great importance to them, and the reinforcements for the Spiral Mosquito Fleet are all coming from Sector G, their location, through here, and then heading to other parts of Sector C," said Xu Lanzhou, whose hair had grown a bit longer, while sitting in front of Bai Zhongqi.
When she looked at Bai Zhongqi, her eyes no longer concealed certain emotions, but she never made any direct requests to Bai Zhongqi.
Bai Zhongqi nodded slightly, his gaze sweeping over Sector C displayed as a holographic star map before him, and said, "So, it's indeed necessary to fortify this node."
The navigation method used by the Spiral Mosquito Civilization is quite unique. Some civilizations imagine the universe as a vast cheese with many holes within it. These holes are known as spacetime corridors, and they often connect to form a vast network. When one traverses these corridors, their position in the material world changes. This allows objects to travel at speeds exceeding that of light over large cosmic distances. Spacetime corridors are fixed, so travel through them is predetermined.
Essentially, spacetime corridor navigation does not require superluminal speeds because the significance of a spacetime corridor is to reduce a journey of thousands or tens of thousands of light-years to a matter of tens of millions or hundreds of millions of kilometers, which is essentially "shrinking the earth to an inch" as understood in popular folklore.
Similar to prospecting, the Spiral Mosquito people search for wormholes in the universe that serve as entrances to spacetime corridors, and then they control a route to other locations.
Therein lies the difficulty of spacetime corridor navigation: first, locating the entrance to the corridor; second, ensuring that a spaceship can safely navigate within the spacetime corridor.
Bai Zhongqi indeed possessed the ability to discover spacetime corridor nodes but could not guarantee the safety of a spaceship traveling within them due to special energy waves in the corridors that interfere with a ship's operation. Yet, he owned an Elder Race mothership and could travel wherever he wished, so understanding spacetime corridor navigation wasn't of much use to him.
"There are indeed two high-level civilizations within the Snow Dragon Alliance, the Light Valley Civilization and the Klaren Civilization, but both of these civilizations are barely beyond the threshold. They may hold sway in the Snow Dragon Galaxy, but when faced with the Spiral Mosquito Civilization, which has mastered the third phase of universe navigation technology, they are helpless," Bai Zhongqi did not hide his disdain for the civilizations within the Snow Dragon Alliance.
There are many methods of superluminal universe navigation. Basic warp speed travel and phase jumps constitute the first stage; second-stage warp speed, which allows travel at speeds over 3,000 times the speed of light; and Stargate travel, spacetime corridor navigation, critical curve speed (also known as third-stage warp speed), and transition are considered as the third stage.
"Alas, since I as an Elder have the ability to transition, the Iridium Star United Empire doesn't feel an urgent need to research the third stage of interstellar travel technology, which isn't a good sign. It seems necessary to engage them in further research in critical curve speed or spacetime corridor navigation," Bai Zhongqi reflected while preparing for war with the Spiral Mosquito Civilization.
Xu Lanzhou did not delve into technological topics, focusing instead on her expertise as a general, and analyzed, "The Spiral Mosquito Fleet is extremely confident, hence their attacks on multiple fronts rather than a joint offensive. All military actions organized by the Snow Dragon Alliance at this stage have failed. According to the news from Barbaro, led by the Light Valley and Klaren Civilizations, the Snow Dragon Alliance has decided to organize a large-scale offensive to first defeat a portion of the Spiral Mosquito Fleet, hoping to boost their morale."
Bai Zhongqi asked, "What's the size of each Spiral Mosquito Fleet division?"
"There are currently four Spiral Mosquito Fleets carrying out military actions against other civilizations; their sizes are not equal. The largest fleet has about three thousand warships, and the smallest fleet has just over four hundred. However, this smallest fleet recently wiped out over a thousand warships and flattened a mid-level civilization slightly stronger than the Zhalan Civilization."
"What about their own losses?"
"The losses are not significant, typically ranging from a few to a dozen ships. After each battle, the Spiral Mosquito Civilization would gather the wreckage, leaving no technological traces for the Snow Dragon Alliance to decipher."
This is actually a common practice among many civilizations. They take away what they can and destroy what they cannot because there are countless examples of civilizations studying the wreckage of warships to find a way to break their enemies' defenses. No one wants to take that risk.
Bai Zhongqi asked Xu Lanzhou, "What's your suggestion?"
"It's really unnecessary to fight alongside the Snow Dragon Alliance, but they possess a lot of important intelligence, which is helpful in reducing our risks in battle. My suggestion is to first merge our fleet with the main force of the Snow Dragon Alliance to observe their combat situation, and then exert our strength," she proposed.
Bai Zhongqi nodded in agreement. While he didn't believe that the current Spiral Mosquito Civilization would evolve to the level of the top ten giants and become a high-level civilization of level 30 or above, being cautious never hurt.
Iridium Star is currently undergoing technological integration, and in a few years, it should be able to ascend to a level 30 civilization. However, Iridium Star Warships are still at a level 27 standard. Bai Zhongqi could use his abilities to eliminate the enemy, but that would violate his initial intention of training Iridium Star's military strength. Therefore, in this upcoming war, Bai Zhongqi decided to remain an observer and see how the general and soldiers would bring him a victory.