Enrogete Alliance border.

Flat on all sides and convex in the middle, the saucer-shaped border post stands silently in this vast universe, guarding the frontier of the Enroget Alliance.

Hume sat silently in the observation room, his gaze fixed on the scene outside the porthole.

Outside the porthole, the starry sky remained unchanged.

Outpost watchman—that's his job title, and also his code name.

It sounds good, but in reality, it's a tough job that nobody wants to do.

Its parent civilization was an insignificant Tier 3 civilization within the Enrogett Alliance.

Almost all the watchmen at the outposts are from a level three civilization.

This is normal.

Individuals from Level 1 and Level 2 civilizations have too low a level of scientific literacy and the training cost is too high, so they are not considered candidates for outpost watchmen.

As for Level 4 civilizations... they already have considerable influence, so naturally they look down on this arduous task.

No one wants to stare blankly at the unchanging starry sky all day long.

Moreover, in a sense, daydreaming is already the most ideal situation.

In the event of any unexpected situation, the name of the watchman at the outpost is often the first to be written on the death list.

Thinking back to the terrifying scene from a while ago, Hume felt a deep sense of lingering fear.

...

The border of the Alliance has been peaceful for a long time, and the civilizations in the surrounding star systems all know that this area belongs to the Enroget Alliance.

Especially after the Enroget civilization mastered the Grand Unification Theory and advanced to a Level 5 civilization, the Border Watchers became almost the most leisurely job in the Alliance.

Hume never imagined that he would encounter such a situation one day!

On that day, the quiet border post was suddenly filled with the sound of alarms, and the dark blue warning lights flashed at an extremely high frequency.

Then it saw the highest warning level indicator light come on, and at the same time, three extremely conspicuous signals appeared on the tachyon radar.

Hume instinctively held his breath.

This situation has only appeared in training materials.

Because the situation happened so suddenly, its thinking went blank, and it completely forgot the operation it was supposed to perform.

The eerie blue warning lights flashed wildly, and the signal strength in the tachyon radar increased at a visible rate.

All of this was stimulating Hume's fragile nerves.

It was panting heavily, its body trembling violently as it searched for the instruction manual that had been tossed aside somewhere.

finally.

Hume found it on the dining table next to him.

Ignoring the oil stains on the guide, it stretched out its slender fingers and turned to the last page.

"Level 5... Level 5 civilization invasion..."

"It should be reported to the Alliance Council immediately..."

thump.

It sat slumped on the cold deck, fragments of memories flashing through its mind.

A scrolling marquee is an example of this.

There was no way around it; being located on the Alliance's border, it was the first thing any invader would see.

That's a Level 5 civilization!

If nothing unexpected happens, it will be the first to die.

How can I not panic?!

Although countless memories flashed through my mind, in reality, only a second or two had passed.

It suddenly came to its senses, scrambled to the control panel on all fours, and sent a report using its slender fingers.

More than ten minutes later.

Information from the council appeared before Hume.

Looking at that line of cold text, Hume's body, which had finally recovered, began to tremble again.

attack!

The Alliance Council is actually going to launch a direct attack!

It was just a small outpost watchman, whose only job was to carry out orders.

Despite its immense fear, and knowing the consequences of disobeying orders, it still followed the training procedures and launched three of the latest warp missiles.

...

Hume trembled slightly as she snapped out of her reverie.

According to the poem fed back by the tachyon radar, the three Level 5 civilization probes have been confirmed to have been destroyed, so there's no need for me to panic.

But no matter how much it tried to hypnotize itself, that inexplicable fear still lingered in its mind.

That's why it hasn't had a full night's sleep in the past few days!

Its gaze was vacant, staring unconsciously at the tachyon radar display screen in front of it.

A straight line that never changed suddenly had a slight peak.

Hume's eyes widened suddenly, and the drowsiness that had been creeping over him vanished instantly.

Under its gaze, the wave crests expanded instantly, and their numbers increased rapidly!

Although it didn't understand the working principle of tachyon radar, it still realized the problem by looking at the more intense and numerous wave peaks.

"one two three……"

Hume's eyes widened, and he exclaimed in shock, "Thirty detectors!!!"

Having prior experience, it easily pressed the warning button on the control panel and uploaded all the detection data to the Alliance Council.

Clearly, the council was prepared.

The order to attack appeared before it once again.

It skillfully unlocked the permissions and launched ten warp missiles at the intended target.

Meanwhile, two other outposts near its location also received the same attack order.

A total of thirty warp missiles were launched simultaneously from the three outposts and flew toward the target at a speed of 50c!

...

A few days later.

Unlike the leisurely days of the past few months.

These past few days, Hume has been radiating an aura of exhaustion.

It hadn't slept in a long time—since learning that the second attack had failed.

Hume stared blankly at the ten signals that were constantly approaching in the tachyon radar.

The other twenty signal sources recently changed direction.

It knew that was the direction of two nearby border outposts.

As a watchman at an outpost, the word "retreat" does not exist in its dictionary.

It must acquire the most critical data for the alliance.

Even if the cost of this data is its life.

As Hume watched the approaching crest of the wave, his expression grew increasingly complicated.

For a moment, it couldn't quite explain what it was feeling.

Panic? Anxiety? Or confusion?

Time passed by, second by second.

Finally, under its watchful eye, the ten wave crests aligned with the location of the outpost.

Subsequently, the intensity of the wave peak rapidly decreased until it dissipated.

It suddenly raised its head and cast its gaze toward the large porthole.

Under the intense illumination of searchlights, in the deep darkness of the universe, ten silver-white probes hovered silently in front of the outpost.

The detector has a spherical structure with almost no superfluous structures on it.

Even though it knew nothing about the structure of aircraft, it still exclaimed in genuine admiration.

"So beautiful..."

At that moment, it suddenly became aware of its true feelings.

It is expectation.

Watching the intruders approach step by step each day, the intense panic and anxiety gradually transformed into anticipation.

Gazing at the ten silver-white detectors, Hume's mood suddenly calmed down.