It has been determined that the target of the other party is indeed them, and there is a high probability that they have malicious intentions.

Secondly, judging from the opponent's acceleration again, it is obvious that the opponent wants to catch up with the natural selection number as soon as possible.

Why did the other party want to catch up with them as soon as possible? Zhou Heng believed that it was because the other party knew that if they didn't catch up with them quickly, they would never be able to catch up with them again.

In other words, the opponent's conventional power system is definitely not as fast as the natural selection signal. After leaving the range of the cosmic string, the opponent cannot catch up with them.

This is good news for Zhou Heng and others.

But just when Zhou Heng breathed a sigh of relief, the crew's urgent voice came from the earphones again.

"The deep space probe reported that it detected that the opponent was accelerating again, at a speed of 75% of the speed of light, and there were signs of acceleration."

"Everyone, don't panic."

Zhou Heng remained calm.

Even if the opponent accelerates to the speed of light, they can still escape the scope of the cosmic string before the opponent gets close.

As long as the other party cannot exceed the speed of light, then they are safe.

It's just that God doesn't fulfill people's wishes.

Just as Zhou Heng was staring at the star map, he suddenly felt waves of vibrations coming from the ship's hull.

Zhou Heng's expression suddenly changed, and his heart skipped a beat.

The Natural Selection spacecraft is a very stable spacecraft. Even if it just made an approximately ninety-degree turn, it still could not cause the slightest vibration to the interior of the hull.

Therefore, it is impossible for the Natural Selection Number to vibrate, and it is already obvious what the vibrations generated now represent.

Something happened.

Before Zhou Heng could take any action, the panicked shouts of the crew members could be heard in the headset.

"Report to captain, there is damage on the left side of the hull."

At the same time, a hull damage report also appeared on the screen in front of Zhou Heng.

The system showed that the No. 3 steering engine was damaged, causing a large amount of gas to begin to leak.

Zhou Heng, the No. 3 steering engine, knew about it. In order to stop the attack of the Thrall civilization, he ordered the emergency ejection of the No. 3 engine.

As a result, the position of engine number three has always been vacant.

Although he did not conduct an investigation, Zhou Heng could roughly guess why there was damage there.

Probably due to the emergency steering just now, due to the lack of engine support, the surface of the ship's hull was under excessive pressure. In addition, the Natural Selection has been sailing for thousands of years, and various equipment and hulls have aged to varying degrees.

Therefore, under the condition of exceeding the load, the hull was damaged.

"Damn it, this is the right time." Zhou Heng punched the podium table hard.

However, although he was angry, Zhou Heng understood that at this time, as the captain, he could not panic.

"Everyone should immediately evacuate the vicinity of Engine 3 and close all nearby air pressure valves."

"The maintenance team, put on the space suits immediately, go check the damage, and come up with a repair plan as soon as possible."

"Everyone, don't panic and stay at your jobs. This accident is just a minor problem and it will be repaired soon."

"yes."

With Zhou Heng's order, everyone seemed to have a backbone and no longer panicked.

Soon, all the valves near the No. 3 engine were closed.

At the same time, the maintenance team is also in place.

"Report Captain, we have arrived at the designated location and are now inspecting the damaged location."

"After the test, send the necessary supplies as soon as possible, and I will find a solution."

Not long after, a damage report and a list of supplies needed for repairs were sent to the command room.

After seeing the damage report, Zhou Heng frowned slightly.

The damage was more serious than Zhou Heng imagined.

The entire bulkhead where the No. 3 steering engine is located has been severely deformed, and there is a hole about one meter in diameter in the middle.

In just a few minutes, dozens of tons of material were leaked.

If Zhou Heng hadn't reacted quickly, the entire spacecraft might have been destroyed.

However, although the loss was stopped in time, Zhou Heng was still distressed by the loss of dozens of tons of material.

Supplies that were already very tight have now lost so much.

But Zhou Heng also understood that now was not the time to feel distressed.

The hull must be repaired immediately.

The damage to the hull just now not only caused the hull to vibrate, but also caused the hull's course to deviate.

The No. 3 engine is located on the left front side of the hull, and the large amount of escaping gas caused the hull to shift fifteen degrees to the right.

This fifteen-degree deviation means that Natural Selection must change its course again, which also means that their arrival at Kepler 22b will be delayed again.

At the same time, it also means that their departure from the cosmic string has been delayed by another week.

Not only that, the damage to the No. 3 engine compartment caused the main circuit steering the engine to malfunction.

As a result, all automatic steering engine systems were damaged, and all engines could only use manual mode until the circuit repairs were completed.

To make matters worse, due to an accident, the Natural Selection did not enter forward four immediately after turning.

After turning, the Natural Selection's speed dropped and it was necessary to enter forward four again to reach the maximum speed. However, due to the damage to the hull, they were unable to enter forward four immediately.

The house leaked and it rained all night, which was more than one unfortunate thing.

Just as Zhou Heng organized the crew to repair the damaged hull, the crew's voice came from the headset again.

"Reporting to the captain, it has been detected that the opponent's fleet has accelerated again and has now reached 80% of the speed of light."

"Continue to observe and report in time." Zhou Heng rubbed his eyebrows. Bad news came one after another. Fortunately, they were all within control.

Even if they reduce their speed, the opponent will not be able to catch up in a short while.

Staring at the star map on the screen, Zhou Heng prayed that no more accidents would happen next.

Probably because Zhou Heng's prayers had an effect, there were no more accidents during the subsequent voyages. After the twenty-seventh day, the Natural Selection finally smoothly escaped the range of the cosmic strings.

Once out of the range of the cosmic string, Zhou Heng focused all his energy on monitoring the rear fleet.

It is not completely safe outside the range of the cosmic string, because they have not yet turned, and the opponent can still calculate their heading based on their sailing direction.

But they can't turn yet, because no matter how they turn, the opponent can still use the acceleration effect of cosmic strings to wait for them on their forward route.

Therefore, the best time to turn is after the opponent leaves the acceleration range of the cosmic string.

After that, if they turn again, the other party will lose the acceleration effect of the cosmic string.

As long as their regular power does not exceed fifteen percent of the speed of light, they are safe.

However, it will take hundreds of days to know whether the opponent's conventional power can reach 15% of the speed of light.

A distance of 1.2 light years, even if the other party travels at 80% of the speed of light, it will still be hundreds of days later.

By this time, their two-year term has passed.

Because of the alien fleet, Zhou Heng and his group of crew members decided after discussion that everyone should postpone hibernation until this matter was over.

They don't want the next crew to wake up and face the fear of being attacked by alien civilization.

It's enough for them to bear this kind of fear.

Besides, they have a better understanding of the current situation of the spacecraft, so it is easier for them to face the next situation.
Chapter completed!