Stars, Players and Immortals

Chapter 8: Lagrange Point

"I will handle the abnormal entity issue."

Zhang Qiming repeated it again, and then shifted the topic to Zhang Nanhai.

"You cleaned up the mess after you took action, didn't you?"

Zhang Nanhai replied, "After the operation, I have ordered the Jingwei spacecraft, equipped with a sub-light speed thruster, to temporarily retreat from the asteroid mining hideout on Mars L5. The Jingwei is currently traveling along the arc from Mars L5 to Mars L3."

As he finished speaking, he tapped his knee lightly with his fingertips, giving Zhang Qiming a brief report on the relevant tactical arrangements.

"Mars L5 was originally suitable for hiding outposts because it is a mining area with a lot of old industrial debris and natural clutter cover. It is usually convenient for camouflage, resupply and transport of aircraft. But now that the assassination has happened, as long as those people in the church are not out of their minds, they will definitely prioritize searching these places that are easiest to hide things."

"Although Jingwei has a stealth field generator, for safety's sake, I still had Belisarius Caul drive Jingwei backward to avoid being detected by the church's ships."

The Lagrange points that Zhang Nanhai mentioned refer to are, in celestial mechanics, the five positions at which a negligible mass object can remain relatively stationary with respect to two massive celestial bodies under their gravitational pull.

These points are special solutions to the restricted three-body problem, and spacecraft operating at these locations can save a great deal of fuel.

It is actually a set of natural space anchor points, with several relatively stable positions existing between the gravitational pull of two celestial bodies and orbital motion.

By placing the object at a Lagrange point, a relatively effortless state of equilibrium can be maintained.

Such places are naturally strategic nodes; whoever occupies them first gains the best position for observation, resupply, and hiding.

L1 and L2 are close to the line connecting the main celestial bodies, making them suitable for establishing transit stations and deep spaceports; L4 and L5 are located 60° before and after the planetary orbits, making them suitable for establishing deep space bases, large shipyards, mining stations, resource processing stations, and several military support facilities.

As for L3, its location is the most remote and too far from Mars, making resupply and transportation extremely troublesome. It's a case of being neither useful nor worth abandoning.

Therefore, the Martian Church only built a few outpost probes in L3, and these probes had difficulty detecting the Skydrive's mobile armed bases.

"There's one more thing. Because this assassination has brought the struggle between the reformists and conservatives to the forefront, the one who was originally kept high in the heavens has been urgently recalled by the church."

Zhang Nanhai revealed the information that Zhang Qiming cared about most: "Hanoi Sophia has returned to the surface of Mars in the high sky."

"She was originally at the L2 deep spaceport command center, which is close enough to Mars to facilitate dispatching. It also has the name of deep space security and industrial defense, so she can avoid direct interference from church factions and still continue to intervene in some high-level affairs... But now the church dares not leave her alone in the sky anymore."

He paused, his voice now carrying a hint of instinctive wariness. "After the assassination, the higher-ups were afraid that the reformists would take the opportunity to grow too powerful, and they were also afraid that if she stayed on track, she would extend her reach into more control chains. So they simply transferred her back to the Martian mainland, ostensibly to assist with the aftermath, but in reality, to put her back under their watchful eyes."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Qiming's eyes flickered. This assassination attempt was never just about killing a few cardinals.

On a smaller scale, it's about using the livestream about not eating beef to heat up the Homeworld world and draw players' attention and enthusiasm to Mars; on a larger scale, it's about disrupting the stagnant situation of the Mechanical Age and completely throwing off the already tense balance between the church leadership and the four major factions.

On a deeper level, what Zhang Qiming truly wanted was to bring Saint Sophia, this reformist leader, back to Mars from the heavens.

If he wants to unify the Mechanical Church, Saint Sophia must return. She is a key figure that cannot be bypassed in the future unification of the Mechanical Church, and she is also a force that he must win over and unite at this stage.

More importantly, he also needs to acquire the advanced knowledge he needs for his next career change from Saint Sophia.

Thinking of this, Zhang Qiming slowly raised his head, looked at the night outside the protective shield that was cut into sections by industrial lights, and announced his next move.

"I will represent Skywards in making the first contact with her."

Zhang Nanhai's brows furrowed little by little.

"Is it too early to contact Hagia Sophia now?"

His voice carried a hint of barely suppressed doubt. This doubt was not about Zhang Qiming's judgment, but simply because he felt that Zhang Qiming's recent pace was somewhat abnormal. In his memory, this leader, who was both a father and a brother, had always been steady and methodical in his work over the years.

Based on his understanding of Zhang Qiming, he could completely understand that such a major event involving the church, the reformists, the anomalous entities, and the overall situation of Mars would take several more months or even a year or two to slowly unfold.

Zhang Qiming certainly wanted to proceed steadily, but once the window of opportunity was missed, some things could not be caught up in just a few months or a year or two.

Development is a snowball effect; if you fall behind at one step, you'll fall behind at every step. Once those civilizations in the border star regions have truly established themselves, and humanity tries to venture outwards, it's very likely that it will be treated like a talking can of meat.

However, he could understand Zhang Nanhai's concerns. After all, Nanhai was not himself and could not see the future version development. He also did not know whether the seemingly localized struggle between Terra and Mars would ultimately determine whether humanity would stand or kneel among the stars.

The reason he regarded Hagia Sophia as an object that must be won over and united with was actually not complicated.

Because that saintess, like herself, will inevitably rebel against the four major factions of the church in the future.

Yes, this saintess will also rebel in the future. My great Mars is full of talented people. If you dig deep enough, you can find several anti-freeze π.

"Don't worry, this is just a brief contact at this stage." Zhang Qiming spoke slowly, tapping his finger lightly on the edge of the terminal. His tone remained calm and unwavering. "And I myself will not be going there now."

Zhang Nanhai was stunned for a moment, then he realized what was going on.

"You're planning to send Chiseiro to contact her? Won't that be a problem? After all, St. Sophia can hear the voice of the Machine Gods, and even Ares was subdued by her. What if Chiseiro goes and gets caught up in her trap...?"

"No, that won't happen." Zhang Qiming interrupted Zhang Nanhai, and then continued, "It's precisely because she can hear the words of the Machine God that I want Zhishilang to talk to her first."

— Chishiro is a Type III AI developed by the Sky Drive organization, while Ares is a Type III AI rooted in the Mars Network. Both belong to strong artificial intelligence.

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