As S’mugu spoke, the tentacles drooping from his waist began to writhe. One fine tendril snaked into the keyhole of his shackles. The lock was a simple mechanical mechanism, not one of those electronic contraptions. The tentacle poked and prodded inside, and with a sharp click, the handcuffs sprang open. A gasp rippled through the other captives; apparently, they lacked this particular skill, proving S’mugu possessed the innate ability to lead—this manipulation alone earned him respect.

S’mugu flexed his arm, then began freeing others. These newly liberated U-Sapiens immediately began scouting for suitable tools and organizing the mass release of their comrades. Soon, thousands of U-Sapien prisoners were free. After a brief moment of confused relief, they clustered around S’mugu, awaiting his next directive.

S’mugu remained outwardly calm. He spoke nothing at first, instead moving deliberately to a terminal in the compartment to pore over data. Only then did he smile. “Their fatal error was keeping us aboard their own warship. They thought disabling the engines meant they could rest easy. But these heavy cruisers are equipped with a backup energy system. Everyone, follow my lead: use the reserve codes to unlock the main hatches, then everyone to your posts and prepare to bring the vessel online.”

Among the U-Sapien captives were several seasoned bridge officers. They burst from the hatches and rushed out. Three hours later, the auxiliary power system was successfully engaged. Reports flooded in from every control station confirming systems were nominal. S’mugu threw back his head and roared with laughter—it wouldn’t be so easy for the Terrans to kill him.

But time was clearly running short. He estimated the Terrans had already retreated to a safe zone, meaning the Black Hole Bomb was likely already streaking toward their sector. Action was paramount. S’mugu instantly issued the launch command. The colossal warship swung its bulk around, changing vector to fly back toward their home galaxy.

They had flown for less than an hour and a half when the ship’s alarm system shrieked—a fast-moving threat was closing rapidly from behind. S’mugu knew instantly it had to be the Terran Black Hole Bomb, successfully launched. He believed his own presence hadn't been detected, and if they could simply evade this single projectile, they would be safe. Yet, S’mugu harbored little confidence about escaping its impact. He felt the two Earthlings who had guarded him hadn't lied and had no reason to. Calculating based on the planned trajectory, if the bomb’s destructive radius was indeed capped at ten thousand square kilometers, they might survive. If there were no restrictions, even an area five times smaller than a million square kilometers would mean instant death.

A blinding white flash erupted behind them, brilliant enough to sear the vision of a normal human, making even S’mugu, staring intently at the screen, wince. The warship shuddered violently. After the light faded on the display, only absolute darkness remained, with a churning vortex at its center. In mere seconds, the vortex expanded, spinning faster and more furiously. Peripheral wreckage—shattered ships and drifting chunks of asteroid—were sucked in like autumn leaves. Even the nebulous gases of space were not spared. Heaven and earth seemed to invert, and the warship’s proximity alerts screamed again as an overwhelming suction force tugged at their stern, threatening to tear the cruiser apart.

S’mugu bellowed, “Full thrust! If we cannot outrun this catastrophe, we are finished! Hurry!”

The U-Sapiens on the bridge knew they were at the precipice of annihilation. Before S’mugu could finish, they were already pushing the controls. The heavy cruiser bolted forward like a wound-up frog. Auxiliary structures, not firmly secured to the hull, tore away and vanished. The gargantuan black hole relentlessly devoured everything in its path. Some experimental vessels engaged their automatic navigation sequences, but even their maximum propulsion was useless against the black hole’s gravity. As vast quantities of space debris vanished into the deepening spiral, they were instantly erased from existence.

Under normal physical laws, no one should be able to observe a black hole, as not even light can escape its pull. However, this particular Black Hole Bomb had been deliberately constrained; while it consumed all physical matter, it apparently had little effect on photons. This gave S’mugu and his crew the terrifying privilege of witnessing the phenomenon, especially as they were outside the bomb’s effective kill radius.

Finally clear of the immediate danger, a wave of U-Sapiens collapsed onto the deck. The brush with death had frayed every nerve; even S’mugu’s normally rigid Kyngba face was slick with cold sweat. He refused to believe they could artificially create a true black hole, but what he had just witnessed was undeniable. Even if it wasn't a true black hole, its destructive power was far beyond anything their current fleet could withstand.

Considering the intense pressure of his recent interrogation, S’mugu’s fear of the Terrans reached a zenith. Regardless of the weapon’s exact nature, the mere ability to construct such a device signaled a technological advancement surpassing that of the U-Sapien system. Based on the potential destructive yield, even the weakest iteration of this ‘Black Hole Bomb’ could annihilate a small fleet. If the Terrans equipped their warships with such armaments en masse, the U-Sapiens stood no chance.

After a grueling voyage spanning sixty-odd days, S’mugu, leading the battered remnants of his command, finally located another stable wormhole nexus. The warship’s energy shielding had been repaired; by entering cryogenic sleep during transit, they could bypass the harmful exotic energies within the passage. Emerging from the wormhole, they navigated for another thirty-plus days before finally re-entering their own recognized stellar territory.

S’mugu was quickly ushered before the Supreme Leader, Galida—a stout Kyngba even more physically grotesque than himself. S’mugu knew failure was inescapable, yet driven by loyalty to the Leader and deep concern for the U-Sapien system, he recounted everything he had seen and heard with scrupulous honesty. In doing so, S’mugu inadvertently magnified the Terrans’ strength. He simply could not fathom that their supposedly invincible fleet of twenty thousand warships had been defeated by an opponent they considered technologically inferior; the only logical conclusion was that the Earthlings were indeed superior.

Supreme Leader Galida understood S’mugu’s character well. He knew that despite his arrogance, S’mugu was fiercely loyal and incapable of fabricating falsehoods. The notion that a minor extra-stellar civilization could evolve to such a high state in such a short time was staggering and demanded immediate, serious attention from the U-Sapien hierarchy.

“Commander S’mugu, the specific penalty for your failure will be determined by the System Court. For now, let us set that aside. I do not doubt your word, but the events you describe strain credulity. You held the initial advantage in the conflict; how did you end up at such a disadvantage, losing half your forces right at the start? Was this not a failure of command?”

S’mugu responded truthfully, “Respected Leader Galida, in that specific engagement, I undeniably underestimated that Terran named Zhao Qian. That individual possessed outrageous fortune. They had deployed a hundred-thousand-kilometer minefield around the Gemini Stars. Because we lacked an adequate reserve of mine-sweeping vessels, our operation was delayed, and the swept area remained too narrow. He suddenly concentrated fifteen thousand light cruisers and detonated the uncleared space mines in a single, massive wave, causing our staggering casualties. After that, we had regained the initiative and were on the verge of annihilating the Gemini Star population when the Terran reinforcements arrived. They possessed Energy Devourer Bombs; they crippled our shielding, and we, in turn, could not penetrate theirs. The battle became entirely one-sided, leading to our ultimate defeat.”

Galida pondered this for a long time before summoning several scientists. “Examine Commander S’mugu’s account of the Black Hole Bomb. Is such a device remotely possible? This information is critical to us.”

The scientists conferred briefly before one stepped forward. “Respected Leader, while we have not achieved a theoretical breakthrough in this domain, it does not preclude the possibility. The power of a true black hole renders it unobservable and untraceable. However, based on Commander S’mugu’s description, whatever they created—even if it isn't a genuine black hole—its sheer destructive force is far beyond our current capability to match.”

Galida’s expression shifted slightly. He then pressed, “What insights do you possess regarding countering their Energy Devourer Bombs? If we cannot breach their energy shields, we cannot fight these wars.”

The scientists exchanged glances. One eventually replied, “Respected Leader Galida, this theory was something we researched eons ago but never achieved a breakthrough. Without precise related data, attempting to retrofit our current energy shields will be exceedingly difficult. I estimate we won't see any definitive results within one or two years.”

Galida’s face darkened further. “You are suggesting that the mighty U-Sapien System is incapable of defeating the Earthlings? Are we to bow before them?”

The scientists, acutely aware of the need to placate Galida, spoke cautiously, “Respected Leader, these difficulties are temporary. Our ancestors reached Earth tens of millennia ago; it was then a savage, desolate, underdeveloped rock, possessing no intrinsic value for colonization. However, the low-intelligence lifeforms there were favored by our progenitors, so they collected genetic samples and performed transplant modifications upon the energy-rich Gemini Stars. From this perspective, both the Terrans and the Gemini Humanoids are nothing more than experimental mice for us. There is no way they could possibly surpass us. It is merely that in recent ages, we have grown complacent, and conservative thinking has severely retarded technological progress. Now that disaster looms, I trust that if the Twelve Civilized Planets unite their efforts, we will rapidly achieve the necessary breakthroughs to shatter these backward Earthlings without difficulty.”

Galida closed his eyes, reviewing the assessment. “You speak correctly. I hold the small world of Earth in low regard; they have simply gained a temporary advantage in isolated fields. With their current strength, the idea of them attacking the U-Sapien System is frankly delusional. Therefore, by my authority as Leader, I issue this command: mandate all scientists across the Twelve Planets to focus entirely on researching the Energy Devourer Bomb and the Black Hole Bomb. Simultaneously, organize the fleet once more, readying for an assault on both the Gemini Stars and Earth!”