Rebirth of the Super Battleship

Chapter 454: Death of the White Dwarf

“It can now be confirmed that the Neutron War Star has been destroyed. All warriors who infiltrated the interior of the star system have died. The collision between the Neutron War Star and the white dwarf will trigger an extremely intense energy outburst. Based on the current imagery, in roughly three hours the gamma-ray burst carrying destructive energy will reach our present position. What should be done, please issue orders as soon as possible, Marshal.”

At the edge of the star system, the Radiance and the Meson were still pursuing each other. A somewhat urgent voice aboard the Radiance reported this news to the Marshal.

“Very well, this is something beyond our control. I must admit that our operation has failed utterly. Then are the capture squads prepared? This Divine Ark Civilization is certainly deeply entangled with the Taihao Civilization. The Taihao Civilization has profound research on how to break through to a Level 7 Civilization. As long as we seize the Divine Ark Civilization, we can obtain this related information and make up some of our losses.”

“The capture squads are fully prepared. They have already assembled within the small universe and can move out at any time.”

“Good. The Radiance and the other forces will continue to pin down the Meson and, by means of curvature flight, drive it away from this binary system so as to avoid the influence of the gamma-ray burst. The capture squads will continue to wait here. Once the outburst energy stabilizes, move out to capture the Divine Ark Civilization.”

“Understood.”

The brief exchange subsided. The clash between the two civilizations continued, but amid the engagement, whether the Radiance and the other Guardian Civilization starships or the Meson, both were deliberately or inadvertently moving away from this place. Starships of a Level 6 Civilization can switch between curvature space and normal space with ease. Short-range curvature flight poses no difficulty for Level 6 starships. Therefore, leaving this area during battle was not difficult.

At this moment Xiao Yu was still hiding behind the planet. A rock bulwark ten thousand kilometers thick provided strong protection, allowing him to hold out in such a violent region. To emerge entirely unscathed, however, was impossible.

This energy outburst was simply too powerful. Even with an entire planet as protection, some portion of the energy stubbornly penetrated it and ultimately reached Xiao Yu’s fleet. Xiao Yu set the shields of all starships to maximum power and positioned three Nation-Class starships, whose defensive strength was the greatest, at the very front to bear most of the outburst, barely keeping the damage rate within an acceptable range.

“This kind of thing is truly too dangerous. I hope I never encounter such a thing again.” Xiao Yu thought with some anxiety.Because the outburst energy was too overpowering, at this distance any instrument without sufficient protection would be destroyed, so Xiao Yu did not dispatch probes to directly observe this collision phenomenon. By observing the rays and energies that had penetrated the entire planet and affected him, Xiao Yu could roughly infer the situation at the center of the explosion.

Xiao Yu’s conclusion was that a black hole had been born. The gravity of a neutron star is extremely strong, so strong that it presses the electrons in atoms into the nuclei and combines them with protons to become neutrons. But this material structure is not the end. As the neutron star merged with the white dwarf, the neutron star’s gravitational strength would further increase, increasing until even neutron degeneracy pressure could no longer support a stable structure. Once it reached this point, continued collapse was unavoidable. Ahead lay the abyss of a black hole, and now there was no force left that could stop it from sliding down.

There was no longer any force capable of opposing its own gravity. No matter how much matter there is, in the end its volume will shrink to the infinitely small, while within the boundary of the event horizon the gravity is infinite.

The black hole was rampaging within the white dwarf, voraciously devouring its matter.

The rate at which a black hole consumes matter is not limitless; it depends on the black hole’s mass. Clearly, given the mass of this black hole, it could not possibly finish devouring the white dwarf in an extremely short time. Its tremendous gravity would draw the white dwarf’s matter toward it at extremely high speed, then set it orbiting around it. In that rotation, the white dwarf’s matter would collide with itself, and some portion would acquire enough energy to escape the gravitational field along the black hole’s two poles, forming a jet.

Now Xiao Yu saw this jet. It was rapidly extending in length, less than ten thousand kilometers in one moment and already one million kilometers the next. Its forward speed was scarcely less than the speed of light.

Xiao Yu had done the calculations. His conclusion was that the two jets would each extend to about three light-years. The length of the jets also depends on the black hole’s mass. The more massive the black hole, the longer the jets can reach when it consumes enough matter. Some extreme black holes, because of their enormous energy, can shoot jets for several million light-years, enough to connect the Milky Way and the Andromeda Galaxy. Such black holes are without question among the most powerful existences in the universe.

By comparison, the power of this black hole was much smaller, but its majesty was still beyond dispute. However small it was, the energy it was unleashing at this moment was enough to make Xiao Yu cower like a frightened quail behind the planet, trembling and not daring to move.

The violent energy outburst was still continuing, and by the looks of it would not subside for several months. But Xiao Yu did not intend to wait until the outburst fully subsided before leaving. The reason was simple. Once the outburst subsided, even if he wanted to leave, he would not be able to.

Xiao Yu knew the Guardian Civilization still eyed him like a tiger watching its prey. He had destroyed the Neutron War Star that the Guardian Civilization had been determined to obtain, creating an enmity of such magnitude that he had no hope for peaceful coexistence. In the end he was only a Level 5 Civilization, and a Level 6 Civilization wiping out a Level 5 Civilization would likely feel no guilt, like a person stepping on an ant.

“Wait three more days. It is estimated that after three days the outburst will drop to a level I can barely tolerate. At that time I will leave this star system and begin my road of escape… I will maintain curvature flight at light speed and keep moving along with this energy… The traces left by curvature flight will be completely erased by this outbursting energy, and in this way the Guardian Civilization will be unable to pursue me…”

This was Xiao Yu’s escape plan, and the reason he had to destroy the Neutron War Star. He had long since planned all of this. Whether detonating the sphere to set the Guardian Civilization and the Taihao Civilization at war, or destroying the Neutron War Star, the ultimate goal was to create convenience for his escape.

The tremendous energy released by the collision of the neutron star and the white dwarf was advancing into the cosmic void at the speed of light. The logic was simple. As long as Xiao Yu also advanced at the speed of light, he would always remain together with this violent energy, and the traces of his flight would be erased on his behalf by this energy.

This was Xiao Yu’s only way to flee, his only hope of getting out alive. The sole flaw in the plan lay with the Radiance, because the Radiance was too powerful and its instruments far too advanced. Even with the violent energy erasing his traces, Xiao Yu had no confidence he could escape under the Radiance’s pursuit. But luckily, with the cooperation of the Taihao Civilization, Xiao Yu had successfully provoked a clash between the two civilizations. The Radiance had been pinned down by the Meson and was unable to pursue him. Thus the final obstacle to Xiao Yu’s escape vanished.

“All I need to do now is continue to wait… wait until the outburst energy drops to a level I can accept.” Xiao Yu pondered silently and waited in silence.

The black hole’s furious devouring continued. This was a completely different mode of consumption. Under normal cosmic circumstances, for example if a black hole moved near a star and, in their mutual orbit, slowly consumed the star, it might take hundreds of millions of years to finish devouring it. But this time was different. This time the black hole had been born directly at the white dwarf’s core. This meant the black hole could raise its feeding rate to the maximum and consume the white dwarf as fast as possible. Of course, during the process, because of the jets, some portion of the mass would be blown off into space and wasted. In this rapid eat-as-you-waste process, in just three days a white dwarf with a mass of 0.6 times that of the Sun was completely eaten by the black hole.

What remained now were only some remnants of the white dwarf. These remnants were presently orbiting the black hole at extremely high speed, and because of that high speed there were still extremely intense outbursts of radiation across various bands. They would serve as the black hole’s dessert and be gradually consumed over the long ages.

“Radiation levels and the energy outburst have dropped to a level I can barely accept. Then so be it. It is time to execute the escape plan.”

Xiao Yu calmed his slightly excited mood and issued his order.

“All starships, move out… First proceed by conventional flight for three hours to exit the black hole’s gravitational influence, then enter curvature flight…”