Although these "unmanned spacecraft" had no one on board, they were still controlled by warriors from the rear, so in an absolute sense, they could still be classified as manned spacecraft.

In contrast to these manned spacecraft were truly unmanned spacecraft.

This part was relatively simple, still consisting of facilities possessed during the Electroweak Civilization stage, such as space mines, satellites, turrets, fortresses, ground-based and space-based air defenses, unmanned warships, and so on. All of these did not require manual intervention and could perform combat missions and exert combat power under the control of a war AI.

However, compared to the Electroweak Civilization stage, the Strong Nuclear Civilization's unmanned combat forces were more powerful, and the performance of various facilities was higher.

For example, unmanned warships similarly equipped with energy shields and energy cannons, space mines using strong nuclear excited states as explosives, higher-performance spy satellites, more intelligent war AIs, higher-computing supercomputing bases, and so on.

Thus, the control bases, supercomputing bases, war AIs, and logistical support in the rear, and the intelligence systems, manned and unmanned combat systems on the front line, constituted the various elements of war, organically combined to form a large network, which made up the military power of the Strong Nuclear Civilization.

At this stage, the warship fleet had completed a comprehensive upgrade. Tom then manipulated his clone, along with the Goku AI, and while material reserves were still relatively abundant, he immediately launched an exercise and combat training in space, in order to better integrate this vast war network, connect its various nodes, and better coordinate its elements to unleash the strongest combat power.

Of course, because material reserves were ultimately limited and to avoid making too much noise that might lead to detection by distant observers, Tom did not conduct live-fire exercises, and warship propulsion was limited to lower power.

Although it was not a live-fire exercise, Tom's understanding of the Strong Nuclear Civilization's war mode grew deeper.

Feeling his combat power increase, Tom's heart was filled with excitement.

While conducting exercises and research in military technology, Tom continued with large-scale industrial construction tasks.

Not only warships, but also civilian spacecraft, industrial spacecraft, transport spacecraft, scientific research spacecraft, and so on, all began the process of upgrading and replacement.

However, Tom did not dismantle all of the old aerospace carriers and transport spacecraft.

For some large spacecraft, Tom retained their propulsion systems and overall structures, only dismantling and recycling their internal components.

Afterward, these large spacecraft, which had become nearly empty shells, became Tom's "junkyard."

Over these years, Tom's large-scale industrial activities generated a huge amount of "waste."

This waste was something Tom currently had no way to recycle or reuse.

But they could not be directly dumped into space.

Their quantity was too vast; some waste gases, particles, etc., once dispersed into space, could easily form a "garbage nebula," becoming a marker of his route, potentially leading to his exposure.

At this moment, these empty-shelled large spacecraft served perfectly as junkyards.

Large quantities of unrecyclable materials were dumped by Tom into these empty-shelled spacecraft, until all of them were completely filled.

At this point, Tom's non-military spacecraft modification and upgrade task was also successfully completed.

Whether aerospace carriers or transport ships, or industrial ships, all were upgraded to protium fusion power, equipped with high-speed ion thrusters, and fitted with energy shield systems suitable for non-military large spacecraft.

From now on, the plastic film that Tom had used for thousands of years could finally be retired.

Because now there were energy shields, even if the fleet's speed increased several times, there would no longer be any need to worry about interstellar particle collisions

Then… there was one thing that could be done.

Increase speed

Clearly, the higher his speed, the harder it would be for the Mechanical Disaster fleet to catch up to him, and the more development time he would have.

Looking at the deep and vast space, a cold smile appeared on Tom's lips.

"You all had a lot of fun in the solar system back then.

Like mad dogs, you constantly pursued me relentlessly, and you had a lot of fun chasing me.

Just wait, it won't be long before I make you even happier…"

Under Tom's command, the main fleet's thrusters were uniformly activated once again.

The surging energy from the protium fusion reactor made the high-speed ion thrusters rapidly operate, and a large number of ions were ejected at high speed, imparting continuous kinetic energy to the fleet.

At the same time, the empty-shelled spacecraft that had become Tom's junkyard did not follow the main fleet.

They were fully loaded with the waste Tom had generated over the years, and while accelerating, they flew in another direction.

"Let this garbage fleet provide one last cover for my main fleet."

The garbage fleet gradually moved away, eventually disappearing from sight.

At this moment, building on the original 8% light speed, Tom's main fleet began to further increase its speed.

After a brief period of low-power propulsion to create distance from the garbage fleet, the fleet's propulsion immediately entered full-power mode.

Back then, the Mechanical Disaster fleet's overall acceleration of 0.8 m/s^2 had made Tom incredibly envious.

Now, Tom's fleet, although its overall acceleration had not reached 0.8 meters, had reached 0.5 meters. The two were already in the same order of magnitude, and the gap was no longer huge.

Thus, after continuously propelling for 5 years, the main fleet's speed reached approximately 102,800 kilometers per second, breaking the 100,000 kilometers per second mark for the first time!

After continuously propelling for approximately another 3 years, the main fleet's speed finally reached its predetermined speed.

50% the speed of light, 150,000 kilometers per second!

Given Tom's current technological level, considering various factors such as fuel utilization rate, thruster efficiency, energy shield power consumption, and protective strength, 50% the speed of light could basically be considered the maximum speed of Tom's fleet.

At the current speed of 50% the speed of light, Tom observed more fascinating changes.

Tom saw that the stars in front of the fleet became increasingly blue, while the stars behind became increasingly red.

When the fleet's speed was only 8% the speed of light, the intensity of the blueshift and redshift effects was only about 8.3% and 7.7%, respectively. Simply put, the stars in front of the fleet became 8.3% bluer, and the stars behind became 7.7% redder.

However, with the speed now increased to 50% the speed of light, the blueshift and redshift effects were greatly enhanced in comparison.

After observing for a while, Tom saw that the stars in front and behind the fleet had become approximately 70% bluer and redder, respectively

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