**Location:** Unnamed Star Region at the Edge of the Known Universe
**Time:** 15,000 years since the establishment of the Holy Keisha's Order of Justice (during the Fourth Angel-Demon War, 2000 years before the start of the Xiongbing Company storyline).
In the vast expanse of the universe, a celestial body awaits our gaze. Spherical in shape, countless rays of light encircle its periphery, with a deep darkness at its center. Around its equator, a bright ring glows. From the side, the ring appears curved, creating an indescribable cosmic spectacle as if the stars are revolving around it. This is a black hole—or perhaps a quasar!
Let's shift our focus to the event horizon of this black hole. What do you see? Nothing? Then let's magnify our view. Beyond the event horizon, in the potential habitable zone of the black hole, a deep blue planet orbits the black hole at high speed. Due to the black hole's immense size, a single orbit takes a very long time. Surrounding the planet is a ring of asteroids, similar to Saturn's rings, reflecting light brilliantly. Additionally, there are three moons, each resembling Earth.
Inside the planet, within a massive structure, a man sits at a desk, writing.
**Ethan's Journal, July 2, Year 10,000 of the Nova Calendar:**
"Time flies. It's been about a hundred years, which is roughly the same as a century on Earth. Here, we use the time it takes for the farthest moon to orbit the planet as our time unit. It feels like a dream, filled with endless memories.
As a member of the Earth traveler army, I guess I've done quite well. No special powers, no systems, yet how many can achieve what I have? Unfortunately, I still can't remember my name. I can barely recall Earth's fragments now. It's like a dream, faded and distant. From now on, call me Ethan.
I'm Ethan, from Earth. Of course, I didn't arrive by spaceship. I passed away at eighteen, and when I opened my eyes, I was here. This place is different from Earth. Firstly, it's a hundred times the size of Earth. Guess its mass? It's 21,544.3469 times that of Earth! Imagine a planet smaller than Jupiter but heavier than Jupiter—a terrifying planet with gravity a thousand times stronger than Earth's!
It's incredible that life could exist in such an environment. The atmosphere is denser, taking nearly half a year to fly around the planet in the fastest space fighter (traveling at 10,000 kilometers per hour). With colossal tsunamis and frequent meteor showers due to the black hole's massive gravity, and super creatures spread across the planet, this place is both dangerous and magnificent.
This is the edge of the black hole. This is Nova. I'm an orphan. My parents died in the war shortly after I was born. If nothing changes, I'll die in war too, even as a traveler.
Luckily, I met an old man here who raised me and taught me how to survive and fight on this hellish planet. My advantage as a traveler includes superior physical fitness and unmatched combat skills. It feels like my brain's capacity increased multiple times, learning any knowledge quickly. Still, no systems or special powers.
My nine years of compulsory education left a deep mark on me. At twenty, after the old man died, I began to shine, winning battles and gaining fame. I started my organization, arming people with my mentor's teachings. By the time I was fifty, the oppressive forces over us were overthrown, though at a great cost—out of billions, only 70-80 million Nova people remained.
In the next fifty years, the population recovered to a hundred million. Through practice, we developed to the fourth industrial level. Under Nova's thousand-times gravity, Earth's materials are incomparable. Today, my mentor's ideal world has been realized on Nova. They call me 'Holy Leader.' Honestly, I feel embarrassed.
Alright, let's move on to something else."
Ethan's face turned slightly red with embarrassment at his self-praise, but he quickly became serious, writing:
"Recent news from the Academy of Sciences: breakthrough progress in controlled heavy material nuclear fusion. The old scientists boasted that in two years, mature heavy material nuclear fusion would be realized. I hope other projects progress as quickly. I'm confident!"
"But I worry that heavy material nuclear fusion technology might not help us truly leave the planet, much like controlled nuclear fusion. Ten years ago, controlled nuclear fusion provided us with near-infinite energy, but we still can't send satellites into near-Earth orbit due to the planet's gravity. We had to miniaturize fusion reactors and attach propulsion units to satellites, creating a global surveillance and communication system with fifty thousand satellites and twenty large spaceports built in three years, thanks to AI automation."
"Nova people can't be confined to the planet. For a brighter future, we must explore the universe. The stars guide us, and nothing can stop us!"
Ethan furrowed his brows deeply and wrote:
"Anyone who obstructs us will die!"
Closing his journal, Ethan stood and walked to the window, gazing at the sky with a heavy heart. Though a century old, he looked like a young man in his twenties, but his eyes betrayed a sense of age and experience.
After a long silence, Ethan spoke without turning, "What do you think of the observatory's message this morning, Aiden?"
As soon as he finished, a light coalesced into a holographic projection in the room.
"Ten days ago, the observatory detected a three-meter diameter object fifty billion kilometers away, approaching Nova at one percent the speed of light. This suggests wormhole travel or spatial transition, although these remain theoretical. But the evidence is undeniable, proving our theoretical models correct."
The hologram's voice was cold and mechanical, coming from all directions.
"Regardless of the possibility, it's not an asteroid or meteorite but an extraterrestrial technological artifact."
Aiden hesitated before continuing, "This morning, the observatory confirmed it's a humanoid extraterrestrial lifeform. This is a disaster for Nova! Whether through wormhole travel or at one percent the speed of light, this technology is far beyond us, by several eras. It's ten days away from Nova.
BOSS, I suggest we fully activate the Shelter Plan to prepare for potential interstellar war."
Aiden stared at Ethan, awaiting his next command. Ethan pondered deeply. The Shelter Plan, devised over a decade ago, aimed to protect against asteroid impacts or various disasters by moving all human-made structures underground, creating a subterranean world for industrial and agricultural production, ensuring survival even if Nova was struck. Currently, only one-thousandth of the plan was complete.
"How long would it take to complete?" Ethan suddenly asked Aiden.
"With current productivity, ten years to build an underground space for our entire population and all industrial facilities. Accelerating robot production could shorten it by a few years."
Without hesitation, Aiden provided the pre-calculated data.
"Immediately issue the highest directive: increase resource collection and robot production to complete in five years. Notify the Academy of Sciences and the Education Department to move underground immediately."
"Authorize you to activate three massive underground quantum supercomputers to support all scientific projects. Also, take over all surface quantum supercomputers to assist the military in monitoring the alien's every move. From now on, Nova is in a Level 3 emergency state. Everyone must prepare for war!"
Ethan hesitated, knowing this directive would disrupt many plans and people's lives, but he had no choice. They must prepare for the worst.
"This world is beautiful. We must protect it," Ethan murmured, gazing at the sky and the people in the square, with a tinge of reluctance. With a wave, Aiden's hologram vanished.
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