Super Spender

Chapter 843: Chapter 837 Princess_1

But now, Jasmine Davis’s words made Finn Lewis realize that humans existed not only in the Galactic Federation but beyond the Milky Way, in extragalactic systems as well.

“We come from the West Flame Galaxy, about 1.8 million light-years away from the Cape Star Cluster formed by the Milky Way, and roughly 2.9 million light-years from the Milky Way itself,” Jasmine Davis said seriously.

Finn Lewis remained composed, but inside he was astounded by this distance. What did 2.9 million light-years mean? Even at the speed of light, it would take 2.9 million years. Though nowadays ships can perform jumps, a single jump can only span a few thousand light-years at most, tens of thousands being difficult. Even for a 10,000 light-year jump, one would need to jump 10,000 times. The amount of energy required for that many jumps was staggering.

Unless a powerful perpetual energy source was found, much more potent than current ones, it wouldn’t be possible. Moreover, this didn’t account for the myriad of factors that could affect jumping, which shouldn’t be thought of as something that could be done recklessly.

In fact, jumping also had its designated routes; the Galactic Federation had mapped out the Milky Way quite extensively, marking various jump zones clearly. In some unknown regions, jumping could have terrifying consequences.

Take black holes, for example, they could pull a ship out of jump state with their massive gravity, making jumping impossible. Then there were common cosmic threats, such as famed twin stars nearing the end of their lifespan, drawn together and collapsing into a gamma-ray burst.

The gamma rays released in that instant could pierce through the entire Milky Way in a flash. Not exaggerating, the gamma rays from just that burst could, within seconds, sweep across the entire galaxy, extinguishing over ninety percent of life within its reach.

About 600 million years ago, the Milky Way underwent such a gamma-ray burst. These are some of the universe’s greatest threats, where human strength, technological power, is utterly fragile by comparison, and no life could possibly survive.

So, interstellar travel is extremely difficult, because of the vast swathes of darkness between galaxies; you simply don’t know what’s out there, what dangers await, be it numerous black holes or cold and dark planets.

“What is the Cape Star Cluster?” Finn Lewis asked a seemingly unrelated question.

“The Cape Star Cluster is the name we from the West Flame Galaxy gave to this region, consisting of the Milky Way, the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, the Andromeda Galaxy, and a total of 37 galaxies nearby. These 37 galaxies are close together, connected and forming a huge galaxy cluster that we named the Cape Star Cluster. The cluster you are from is referred to as the Heritage System on your planet,” she explained.

“Hmm,” Finn Lewis nodded.

“Then what about the West Flame Galaxy?” Finn Lewis inquired further.

“The West Flame Galaxy is part of another galaxy group close to the Cape Star Cluster, which we call the Red Wheel Galaxy Group. From a cosmic viewpoint, our galaxy group is situated atop the largest one, about a thousand times the size of the Milky Way and appears pink in color. Therefore, our entire galaxy group is also known as the Red Wheel Galaxy Group, and the West Flame Galaxy is one of its eighteen galaxies,” Jasmine Davis continued.

“Alright, so how did you end up here?” Finn Lewis asked.

Jasmine Davis hesitated for a moment.

“If you don’t wish to speak of it, you don’t have to,” Finn Lewis said directly, noticing her hesitation.

“Well, it’s not really a secret. Actually, my background is somewhat similar to yours,” Jasmine Davis paused, then let out a bitter smile.

“I am the last heir to the throne of the Bingda Freedom Federation, the princess. My true name, translated into Flame Nation’s language, is Hermione Wood, meaning ‘light in the darkness'” she said earnestly.

Finn Lewis touched his nose, realizing that his subordinate also had a story to tell, and from what it seemed, her nation was far more prestigious. And while she was the legitimate heir to the throne, his own claim felt insignificant in comparison. Even though he was of the royal family, he felt that his status was purely a result of the unusual structure of the Galactic Federation.

Under the geopolitical situation and international environment of Earth, such a nation would have been eradicated long ago. However, Finn Lewis now was not interested in that; he wanted to understand what had caused Jasmine Davis to appear in another galaxy, 2.8 million light-years away.

“Well, it looks like I should address you as ‘Your Highness,’ considering you are the true princess,” Finn Lewis remarked with a sense of admiration.@@novelbin@@

“Your Highness jests. Someone like me, a lost dog of a nation, has no right to the title of princess.” Although her words held a grim content, Jasmine Davis’s tone was surprisingly calm, as if she was discussing something unrelated to herself.

“You mustn’t say that. Since you’ve spoken of it, if you don’t mind, could you tell me exactly what happened?” Finn Lewis asked after some thought.

“There isn’t much to it, our nation was destroyed. We fled on two ships, the last few hundred thousand survivors of our people. While escaping, we intended to open a Wormhole to another galaxy, but unexpectedly activated it right beside another natural Wormhole. The two merged, and we were instantly transported to the Milky Way. We had set out on two ships, yet the other was torn apart by space during the long-distance Wormhole traverse,” Jasmine Davis said with a long sigh and an air of resignation.

“Wormhole,” Finn Lewis repeated the term.

“Yes, Wormhole, our technology is different from yours. It is hard to say which is superior as though much is similar, the varied minerals lead to different technological approaches. For instance, our methods of interstellar travel, we rely on Wormhole traversal while you use space-time jumps,” Jasmine Davis promptly nodded in clarification.