Rebirth of the Super Battleship

Chapter 788: Flame of Hope

Just like the gravitational constant and the curvature constant, the speed of light c is also a constant. The many constants in the universe are like threads woven together into the great net of the cosmos. In this net, every single thread is crucial. It is like a sweater, as long as you find one loose end and keep pulling, you can completely unravel it.

There are also mathematical and logical relationships between constants. Under normal circumstances, one constant can be used to deduce another. For example, given the gravitational constant, one can derive the speed of light. Therefore, the change of a single constant is something that cannot happen. If one constant is altered, it will trigger a chain reaction that causes all other constants to change, ultimately resulting in the destruction of the entire universe.

Or, to put it another way, it would ultimately result in the rebirth of the universe. One thing is certain, if the constants are changed, then the universe will definitely evolve into a form completely different from what it is now, and all existing physical laws will cease to apply.

This problem quickly occurred to the Divine Ark Civilization’s scientists, so another scientist asked, “Have any of the other constants changed?”

The scientist who had come in to report replied, “No. None of the other constants have changed. Only the numerical value of the speed of light in vacuum was altered. Before I came, I had already comprehensively analyzed several trillion other data points.”

His reply once again caused a huge uproar. This was an utterly inconceivable matter. Its absurdity was like this, you originally had two apples, and then someone gave you two more apples, yet in the end you only had three.

This would cause a lack of self-consistency in mathematics. And mathematics is the most rigorous of the natural sciences, not allowing the slightest error.

Just think, with the gravitational constant fixed, the speed of light calculated from the gravitational constant actually does not match the value obtained from direct observation? How absurd is that?

Seeing all the scientists below noisily arguing and the command hall in chaos, Ares frowned slightly. He was a politician, not a scientist. He did not care how great the scientific significance of the speed of light changing might be. He only cared whether this matter would bring benefits or harm to his civilization.

Ares looked toward Ruto, the genius who had taken the seat of Chief Scientist of the Divine Ark Civilization after Xu Junpo’s death. “Ruto, what is going on?”Ruto was bowing his head in thought. Hearing Ares’s voice, he shook his head in puzzlement. “I do not know. This concept has never existed in my mind. In different media, the speed of light is indeed different. For example, the speed of light in hydrogen is not the same as in water. But within any given medium, the speed of light is fixed. Light’s speed in hydrogen is constant, and its speed in vacuum is also constant. Frankly, I do not know what this is.”

“Your speculation?” Ares asked again.

Ruto frowned once more and said, “Constants are the fundamental building blocks of our universe. The alteration of any one constant would bring disastrous consequences. But now, it seems that the change in the speed of light has not brought any impact to us. From this, we may speculate that some great existence slightly altered the speed of light and, while changing the speed of light, used its own power to maintain all other constants unchanged. This is a power that touches upon the most fundamental mysteries of the universe, a kind of power that we currently have no way of reaching.”

“And moreover…” Ruto continued after thinking for a moment, “the speed of light was altered only for an instant before returning to normal. The fact that our universe did not collapse may have something to do with that as well. After all, it only lasted for several hundred-thousandths of a second. That duration was too short.”

“In other words, the impact is unknown, the way the event happened is unknown, and what it really was is also unknown. We know nothing at all, correct?” Ares asked.

“Frankly, that is the case.” Ruto replied. “We are only a Level 6 Civilization after all. There are far too many unknowns in the universe. Perhaps some super civilization did this casually out of boredom. Who can say?”

“Very good. Then end all scientific discussion of this problem for now. If the Central Research Academy of Science is interested, you can submit a related research proposal after the war is over. The Social Committee will allocate resources for you to study it.” Ares said calmly. “What I need to know is why the Neutron War Star experienced a change in volume at that instant just now, and what degree of damage that change in volume caused to the Neutron War Star, and whether it affects our war situation.”

Ruto replied, “The speed of light is the velocity limit. Aside from relying on curvature flight, this near-cheating method of bypassing the light-speed restriction, no other conventional motion speed can exceed light speed. Electromagnetic waves, gravitational fields, and so on are all like this. I speculate that at the instant the speed of light dropped, the propagation speed of gravity also dropped at the same time. The Neutron War Star is primarily held together under the dominance of gravity to maintain its form of existence. It was precisely because the propagation speed of gravity changed that it experienced a change in volume. As for the impact…”

Ruto pondered for a moment, then continued, “According to the neutron star model, this degree of change has little effect on a neutron star. It is like us standing on a planet and experiencing a magnitude 2 earthquake. Aside from psychological fear, we will not be affected. Of course, we might be able to leverage this effect to achieve certain strategic goals. As for that, it is up to you to plan.”

“I understand.” Ares nodded and shifted his gaze back to the display screen.

Time quietly slipped by. In the blink of an eye, several hundred years passed again. During this period, the range of the distorted space had been continuously shrinking. The matter of the speed of light changing was like a small interlude that did not bring any major influence to the battle between the two civilizations. After leaving the distorted space, the Neutron War Star seemed to realize that the alteration of the speed of light had been merely an accidental event, so after a slight adjustment, it resumed its ferocious assault on the distorted space.

Things were not going well for the Divine Ark Civilization. In fact, the very fact that they had managed to hold out until now was already thanks to Ares’s outstanding command ability. With the same resources, even if Xiao Yu himself were in command of the war against the Sweepers, he might not necessarily do better than Ares.

The Neutron War Star once again plunged violently into the distorted space. One year, two years, a full one hundred years passed, and the Neutron War Star had still not been teleported out by the Divine Ark Civilization. The transformations of the distorted space had become so rapid that the eye could not keep up. Various light and shadows changed extremely fast, yet still failed to inflict any obvious damage on the Neutron War Star.

The Neutron War Star kept advancing slowly. Each time it advanced, a patch of space would shatter like glass, then be swept away and vanish by raging spatial turbulence. By this time, no conventional warship could approach the Neutron War Star. Any conventional warship that tried to get close would be torn apart by the violent distortions of space. Even Star-Class warships could not withstand the raging energies here.

Even the Neutron War Star was continuously taking damage. Enormous amounts of fragments were stripped from it. The quantity of gas these stripped fragments turned into was so great that even the raging space energy could not disperse it in a short time. The radiation of the Neutron War Star grew ever more intense. It even began to slowly rotate and was continuously accelerating.

It advanced a little farther. Just that tiny bit of distance triggered earth-shaking changes. It was like the curtain of a stage suddenly being drawn up, revealing all the scenery behind it at a glance.

The shattered space and constantly shifting broken light and shadow all suddenly vanished in that moment. The universe became clear once more. Ahead, a towing spaceship hung in the void. Thousands of enormous Space Gates were suspended there in the cosmos, and countless ships were continually entering and exiting them.

The distorted space had been completely broken through by the Neutron War Star. From this moment on, the Divine Ark Civilization and the relic of this travel-direction Level 7 Civilization were fully exposed, without any protection, before the Neutron War Star and the Sweepers Civilization.

In the command room, Ares’s face was pale. He knew that despite struggling for so long, he had ultimately failed. To hold out this long under the Neutron War Star’s attack was already something to be proud of, even with the help of the Level 7 Civilization’s distorted space. But this was an age in which heroes were judged by victory or defeat. No matter how outstanding Ares was or how much effort he put in, his final outcome was failure. That alone was enough to wipe out his merits.

“Am I to witness once again the collapse of a great power, like when the Level 5 Civilization Alliance crumbled under the Divine Ark Civilization’s assault? Is the Divine Ark Civilization to end up like the Level 5 Civilization Alliance, ultimately destroyed by my own hands?”

“Xiao Yu, I am sorry. You entrusted the Divine Ark Civilization to me, and I have failed to make it flourish.” Ares murmured.

Just then, in the far distance of this region of space, a strange flash of light appeared. That speck of light was like a flame of hope, rapidly expanding from the instant it appeared. At the same time, the Neutron War Star also ceased its movements. From the Neutron War Star’s behavior, Ares sensed a hint of solemnity.

Time returned to more than six hundred years earlier, in the Small Magellanic Cloud.

“At last, I have reached the Small Magellanic Cloud. I can begin the relevant experiments and charge toward a Level 7 Civilization…” Xiao Yu sighed.

[T/N: wtf? The author needs to stop teasing us.]