Deep Space Wandering Fleet
Chapter 543 - 540: The Black Era

Chapter 543: Chapter 540: The Black Era

In this small safe, information pertaining to Curvature Technology was contained, which in the past had not been disclosed to several Human Bases behind us, nor stored within the large safes of the trading markets.

The matter was too important; even Humans of the same origin could not be completely trusted.

Should this information be exposed, a multitude of interstellar civilizations would come flocking, and the plans of the New Human Civilization and the Tos Civilization might very well collapse. But now, as everyone had already decided on the entire plan, there was no problem entrusting it to the rear bases.

If not successful, then one must be prepared to sacrifice everything!

Cocos-shaped Wart said, "A triviality, in consideration of our friendship, we won’t charge extra. Please sign an additional contract right here..."

So, all the work was completed, and both parties formally bid farewell.

Cocos-shaped Wart bent its body, performing a standard expression of interstellar etiquette, "Regardless of whether you have gained anything here, we sincerely hope that your civilization will choose its path wisely and forever progress."

"We will meet again if we get the chance!"

People also performed a standard etiquette: "We hope that your civilization will forever progress as well."

Forever progressing sounds so marvelous, and yet so difficult a task...

Over Cocos-shaped Wart’s long life span, it had witnessed the rise and fall of countless civilizations, to the point where it no longer felt any emotional fluctuations regarding such matters.

The same was true for the New Human Civilization; they did not harbor great expectations nor did they offer special help.

Of course, offering a bit of casual assistance was no big deal; the Amoeba Faction of civilizations did not like war. Hopes were hopes, business was business, and promises had to be kept.

After a while, the agreement with the Tos Civilization was also fulfilled. All the giant insects from the Huantai Civilization returned to their own Planet Fortress.

The Planet Fortress slowly started, a curvature bubble appearing around it.

To describe it as a "curvature bubble" was actually not quite accurate, but it was clear to see that the surrounding light was distorted.

A spaceship in space, if it could somehow flatten a portion of space behind it, reduce its curvature, then the spaceship would be pulled forward by the greater curvature of the space in front. This is Curvature Drive.

The so-called "flattening of space" actually involved the addition of a very strange force field into space. This unique force field could envelop the whole space around it, moving it all together, so as to break the speed of light.

In fact, Curvature Technology had many similarities with Anti-gravity Technology; anti-gravity navigation was another line of technology.

Because the essence of gravity is the distortion of space. So-called "flattening" of the space behind is to induce a negative curvature in the space-time, contraction of the Riemann tensor, making the spacetime’s Gaussian curvature less than zero. The "repulsive force" caused by the negative curvature would give the spaceship a constant forward acceleration.

Of course, relying on kinetic energy navigation alone couldn’t break the speed of light, so in long-distance travel, Curvature Technology was definitely superior.

And Anti-gravity Technology had many similarities with Artificial Gravity, which could allow humans to achieve real Artificial Gravity, not just simulated gravity through centrifugal force.

But to implement this within a spaceship, the stability requirements for the machinery were extremely high. In case of any mishap, it could easily lead to accidents with casualties, thus before a Level 5 Civilization, gravity generators were generally not installed inside the spaceships.

Scientists continued to discuss keywords such as "Curvature" and "Anti-gravity," all the while gazing into the sky.

Curvature Navigation was fast, and there were no Constant Stars nearby, light intensity was not high, so it quickly disappeared from people’s sight.

Zhang Yuan gazed deeply into the depths of space for a very long time; within this vast universe, there were only two rotating neutron stars and two third-level civilizations, striving for an unknown future for a lifetime.

This generation of people would expend their entire lives for this cause.

A project of a Third-level Civilization might span centuries, but the projects of various Fourth-level Civilizations would be counted in millennia, and those of a Level 5 Civilization might span tens of thousands of years...

Over the lengthy passage of time, who knows how many civilizations with grand ambitions have been eliminated.

How to combat decay was a difficult and complex matter.

He glanced at the many companions around him and at Lin Qingqing standing beside him.

Then, let’s give it our all!

...

One hundred years...

Two hundred years...

Three hundred years...

Four hundred years, Zhang Yuan’s generation had mostly departed from this world. They had fulfilled their promise, dedicating their life’s work to this great project.

Under extremely harsh experimental conditions, Zhang Yuan still produced some respectable scientific research achievements. In her old age, Lin Qingqing became a literary writer, depicting the emotions between Transcendents and even more exalted philosophical ideas.

Many stories occurred during this time. Humans, like ephemeral mayflies, withered and perished—nothing was eternal.

Eight hundred years passed quickly...

...

Some died, but many more were still alive.

Wang Haifeng was born in this bitter and dark era.

The construction of 24,000 Planet Engines took a full eight hundred years. Each small Quark Energy energy chamber could power four Planet Engines, totaling six thousand.

Various minerals excavated from the ground, after separation and crushing, were rapidly plasmafied at extremely high temperatures, then ejected at maximum speed under the influence of magnetic fields. This was the basic principle of the Planet Engine, both simple and unpretentious.

The roaring ion flames burned across the vast plains, illuminating the sky as if it were daytime.

The current surface temperature was minus one hundred and fifty degrees Celsius—an increase of a full hundred degrees from before. A faint haze filled the space, born from the toxic gases produced through chemical reactions after the plasmas cooled, along with substances such as silicone, metal, and other assorted elemental compounds.

If one stayed outside for long, they would find the surface of their Power Armor completely covered in these sticky mixtures. A host of cleaning robots were on the Planet Engine’s surface, clearing away these substances.

Wang Haifeng had never experienced what was called daylight, having only seen blue skies and white clouds in the Virtual Space. In this area, there were only two rapidly spinning neutron stars, each the size of a bullet, so small that even when activating the telescope mode in the Power Armor, they were easy to overlook.

Yet everyone knew deeply of the immense power contained within a neutron star.

Two hundred years ago, this Planet Fortress had approached a neutron star, attempting to use the gravity-assist maneuver from the binary system to accelerate the entire planet...

The gray-haired social guidance teacher described to Wang Haifeng and the others the scene from back then—the earth trembled as if heaven and earth were shattering. That tiny palm-sized neutron star, when compared to the planet, was pitifully small, almost negligible, but its mass was a billion times that of the planet!

Observing the neutron star from close quarters revealed its terror.

Light distorted at that moment. Spacetime distortion couldn’t be separated from the gravity of matter, and gravity could alter normal space in infinitely bending ways through any form of energy. At that place, a vast quantity of neutrinos was also observed. For a neutron star, the fastest cooling method wasn’t infrared radiation but rather lightweight subatomic particles known as neutrinos.

Some scientists were attempting to measure some properties of neutrinos.

Many were worried that the entire planet would completely disintegrate and then be drawn toward the neutron star, becoming part of it in this dark universe, where not even a sound could be made.

However, in the end, after hundreds of years of development, the planet successfully changed its orbit, entering the elliptical path numbered "77018345," nearly "sticking" right next to another Big Ice Ball, chasing each other.

It had been two hundred years since that event. How long it seemed.