"If I had been stuck on those problems for a bit longer, or if my movements had been slightly slower, I might have been trapped in the system by the Mechanical Disaster fleet.

However, the distance between us is still too close right now. My next actions need to be even more careful and cautious."

Tom once again initiated random maneuvering. However, this time, the thrust power of the random maneuver was much smaller, only about 1% of full power.

This would make the exhaust plume much fainter and the trajectory harder to detect. Even if the Mechanical Disaster fleet could still discern the trajectory, it would likely require more time and effort.

Time quietly slipped away. The clone remaining in the Pegasus V342 star system clearly saw the exhaust plumes from the Mechanical Disaster fleet growing brighter and larger.

But their brightness did not truly reach its peak before disappearing, seemingly having ceased deceleration.

At the same time, another, smaller but much brighter, exhaust plume lit up.

A realization dawned on Tom.

He knew that the Mechanical Disaster main fleet would probably not enter the system this time.

Their previous deceleration was merely preparation to change course. Also, while the main fleet decelerated, another sub-fleet did not.

They would arrive inside the system earlier. And because of the smaller number of ships and more flexible maneuverability, they could decelerate at a higher rate and enter the system more quickly.

What was this sub-fleet here for?

The answer was obvious: they were certainly here to dock with those spy detection devices inside the system and obtain information.

After deciphering his own fleet's course from this information, the main fleet, which had not fully decelerated, would directly change course and begin pursuit.

"Fortunately, I took countermeasures in advance… Otherwise, I wouldn't have escaped this time."

Tom silently analyzed the traces of the main fleet's exhaust plume he had observed earlier. He noticed that the scale of the Mechanical Disaster main fleet should have recovered to its previous state, with the total number of warships once again reaching over 2 million.

"Sure enough, the Mechanical Disaster fleet recovers its strength very quickly."

More than a year quietly passed.

Tom clearly saw the exhaust plumes of the Mechanical Disaster main fleet reappear in the depths of distant space.

They had clearly read the data from the detectors inside the system. At this moment, the main fleet did not enter the system at all; it directly turned its course and pursued in the direction his own fleet had departed.

Several years later, the detection devices Tom had set up near the separation point of his main fleet and the disguised fleet detected the Mechanical Disaster fleet.

They stopped here, and a large number of scientific research ships, exploration ships, and others began surveying in this void far from any macroscopic celestial bodies.

Within the logical processing units of the supercomputing mothership, Akainu, numerous logical thinking data points were still rapidly flashing.

"Six trajectory data points confirmed. A total of six fleets escaped in six different directions, with an acceleration of approximately 0.06 m/s^2.

The propulsion start time was 35 years ago.

Based on the estimated speed of the prey fleet, they have already escaped a distance of approximately 4 light-years.

Due to the relatively close distance, this search does not require searching each star system individually; it can directly initiate space pursuit based on trajectory data.

Considering the random maneuvering mode that the prey civilization will inevitably adopt, our fleet is expected to locate the first fleet in approximately 50 years.

Thereafter, each fleeing fleet will be tracked down at an average rate of one every 50 years.

It is currently impossible to confirm which fleet is real and which is fake. Thus, our side will catch up to the prey fleet at the earliest in 50 years and at the latest in 300 years.

It needs to be noted that there is ample evidence indicating that the prey civilization has completed the breakthrough from an Electroweak Civilization to a Strong Nuclear Civilization.

However, they should not yet have completed the transformation from fundamental physics theory to industrial and military strength.

There is also ample evidence that this prey civilization carried an unimaginable amount of material, estimated to be around 150-250 trillion tons, during their escape.

Such abundant material support is sufficient to support their technological transformation during the escape process.

When our fleet catches up to them in the future, their applied technology may have undergone significant breakthroughs, and their combat power may have greatly increased.

And in the previous stage, due to encountering a trap in that star system, a large number of slave organisms died, resulting in a severe shortage of our life intelligence supply, which led to a severe decline in the performance of my combat system.

But even with this give and take, it is expected that our side can still maintain an absolute technological suppression over the other side.

At the same time, the prey civilization's extraordinary speed of technological explosion means that the prey civilization possesses higher life intelligence.

And at this moment, our life intelligence is severely lacking.

Considering our current situation, to prevent encountering other civilizations in the future where our side lacks sufficient combat power and technological level, leading to the master's life being threatened, this time, capturing the prey civilization and supplementing our life intelligence deficiency is the top priority.

We must go all out!"

The massive fleet only stayed in this void for less than ten years before setting sail again, rapidly moving in the direction indicated by one of the trajectories under propulsion that far exceeded the acceleration of Tom's fleet.

Seeing this scene, Tom was slightly startled but also finally relaxed a little.

He was startled because the Mechanical Disaster fleet set off so quickly. He was relaxed because the course they chose was not the course of his true main fleet.

There were a total of six trajectories. In a completely random mode, the probability of selecting the correct course on the first try was only about 16.7%. If the Mechanical Disaster fleet could hit that, then he would be too unlucky.

This meant that he had at least another 50-100 years of development time.

After the Mechanical Disaster fleet departed again, Tom lost their traces.

In the future, how they would choose and how they would track was no longer something Tom could know.

At this moment, the only thing Tom could do was to develop with all his might.

During the decades of travel before, with ample material supply, Tom never stopped his research and development of technology.

At this moment, the total mass of that Flying Star had decreased from approximately 202 trillion tons to about 140 trillion tons, a reduction of a full 30%.

This was equivalent to the mass of several previous migration fleets having been consumed by Tom's long acceleration and numerous experiments and research.

With the Unified Field Formula as the foundation of physics, the consumption of these materials finally allowed Tom's various technologies to make significant progress.

At this moment, Tom's attention was focused on two spacecraft, one to the left and one to the right, separated by about 30 million kilometers, located on either side of the fleet.

Each of these two spacecraft contained a massive piece of equipment. And at this moment, these two pieces of equipment, separated by such a vast distance, were connected in some peculiar way.

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