novelraw Chapter 829: Galactic Core
Chapter 829: Galactic Core
Xiao Yu quietly observed this small universe, watching it for several hundred years until it completely stabilized.
Yes, this small universe had now stabilized. The speed of light inside it no longer changed, but had settled at the same value as in the main universe. The gravitational constant was fixed, the four fundamental forces were fixed, and all kinds of constants were fixed, all identical to those of the main universe.
Xiao Yu simply kept watching, seeing the most basic particles begin to appear in this small universe. Then these baryons and leptons gradually aggregated into the most basic atomic nuclei. The nuclei captured electrons and finally formed stable hydrogen dust.
No stars had yet formed in this small universe, so there were no nuclear fusion reactions taking place. Without nuclear fusion, strictly speaking, there should not be any elements other than hydrogen here. But in reality this was not the case. When this small universe had just formed, energy reactions were extremely intense, and at certain times under special rule conditions, it was possible for small amounts of other elements to form.
The total mass of this small universe was very large. Before the explosion, it had contained nearly ten thousand stars. Now that the rules had stabilized, that mass had reappeared. The difference was that now it existed in the form of dust clouds. Thus Xiao Yu watched as dust clouds slowly condensed under their own gravity. He knew that after many tens of thousands of years, these nebulae would also condense into stars, planets, and all kinds of celestial bodies. At the end of their lives, stars would form black holes, neutron stars, and so on. It would be a scaled-down version of the three-dimensional main universe. Apart from differences in size and mass, there would be no essential difference between this small universe and the three-dimensional main universe.
“In this small universe, after the abundances of various elements become rich, complex polymers may form, and life and even intelligent beings may appear. At that time, who knows what kind of impact those intelligent beings will have on this small universe, and how they will understand the universe they live in.” Xiao Yu thought silently.
Those things were not particularly important. Xiao Yu was still pondering another question, did the three-dimensional main universe he lived in undergo a similar process? Perhaps the three-dimensional main universe that he believed to be boundless and infinitely mysterious had also separated from some larger universe.
He had no way to be certain. If it could be confirmed, this would be another version of the multiverse theory.
Xiao Yu had already rejected the idea of an absolutely unrestricted multiverse, but this kind of constrained multiple-universe theory he could not deny. The reason was obvious. If the higher-level main universe in that hypothesis had separated out the three-dimensional main universe he currently inhabited, then it could likewise have separated out other three-dimensional universes. Different three-dimensional universes might then have different physical rules and developmental histories.
“I will not be able to prove this hypothesis in the short term.” Xiao Yu mused. “What I should think about now is the so-called philosophical weapons, or rule weapons. There is one very obvious fact. Because I sent a probe into this small universe, and because the probe continued to operate according to the rules of the three-dimensional main universe, it brought those rules into this small universe and ultimately influenced the formation of this small universe’s rules. If I can, by some method, influence the formation of the small universe’s rules and let it evolve naturally according to my will, then could it become my firmest rear base and fortress, a source for defending against enemies or for developing technology?”To use the simplest example, the construction materials Xiao Yu needed now required extremely complex purification and refining processes to extract. If he could alter the rules, then he could allow such materials to form naturally by cosmic evolution. That would undoubtedly save him a great deal of effort. At the same time, he could modify the rules of the small universe so that only he himself would be adapted to its environment. If an external enemy invaded, once the enemy’s warships entered this small universe, they would be destroyed or have their combat power drastically reduced because they could not adapt to its rules. In that case, Xiao Yu would undoubtedly gain a tremendous advantage.
“In the three-dimensional main universe, not to mention powerful beings like the Guardians of the Way and the Rebel Alliance, there are surely many other Level 7 or Level 8 Civilizations. Among them, there must be civilizations that have also discovered this situation. It is almost certain that some civilizations have chosen to develop small universes and establish their own rules as their path of advancement. If I encounter such civilizations, I must exchange ideas with them.” Xiao Yu thought to himself.
Now that this small universe had completely stabilized and no longer differed from an ordinary small universe in any way, there was no longer any point in staying. During this period, Xiao Yu’s gains had already been more than sufficient.
“It is time to leave this place and resume my long voyage…” Xiao Yu maneuvered his fleet away, heading toward the core of the Andromeda Galaxy.
The Andromeda Galaxy was different from the Milky Way. It had two cores rather than one. This was a phenomenon well worth observing. In Xiao Yu’s view, only galaxy collisions could lead to such a situation. Studying this would be very helpful for refining theories of galactic evolution.
At the moment, Xiao Yu was about one hundred thousand light years from the core of the Andromeda Galaxy. At his current speed, he would only need about one hundred years to arrive. Of course, during the journey, Xiao Yu would investigate other things that interested him along the way. This was a comprehensive exploratory mission of the Andromeda Galaxy.
The elemental composition of Andromeda differed somewhat from that of the Milky Way, so there were astronomical spectacles here that could not be seen in the Milky Way. One example was a star Xiao Yu encountered on his journey.
This star had a mass three hundred seventy times that of the sun. When Xiao Yu first saw it, his shock was beyond words. It was simply enormous, to a degree that defied common sense. The greater a star’s mass, the shorter its lifespan. A star with such a mass would not live more than one million years. In the long history of cosmic evolution, one million years was but a fleeting instant. For him to happen to see it while it still existed was truly not ordinary luck.
No existing theory of stellar evolution could account for this star. When a star first forms, once nuclear fusion ignites, stellar winds blow away the surrounding interstellar dust. This mechanism prevents the formation of very massive stars, so it could be said with certainty that this absurdly massive star was not formed by the condensation of a nebula.
In fact, it was formed by stellar collisions. Under certain rare conditions, two stars could collide and merge into a larger new star. This star bore obvious marks of multiple stellar mergers. Different regions within it had radically different elemental compositions. It was clear that after stars of different compositions had collided and merged, their constituent materials had not yet completely mixed.
Such a massive star was at least the product of dozens of stars merging together. Stellar collisions were rare to begin with. For several dozen stellar collisions to occur in succession within the brief lifespan of a massive star like this, the probability was so low as to be negligible. Yet such an event, which normally would be considered virtually impossible, had appeared before Xiao Yu under the wondrous workings of natural forces.
If he had the patience, Xiao Yu would very much like to stay here for several hundred thousand years to wait for this supermassive star to explode and observe its supernova event. The explosion mechanism of a star with this mass was different from that of an ordinary supernova. After exploding, it would not leave behind a neutron star or a black hole. It would be completely shattered, ejecting all of its mass and energy into the universe. Xiao Yu named this kind of supernova a photodecay supernova. And precisely because its mechanism differed from that of ordinary supernovae, even Xiao Yu, now a Level 7 Civilization, had no way to make it explode and disintegrate ahead of time.
With this regret in his heart, Xiao Yu left and continued onward toward the core of the Andromeda Galaxy.
Along the way, Xiao Yu saw a binary star system composed of a neutron star and an ordinary star, with the neutron star devouring the mass of its companion and emitting extremely bright X-rays. He saw a white dwarf star captured by a rogue black hole, helplessly orbiting the invisible black hole. He saw protostars condensing, and he saw a 3 body system composed of three neutron stars…
A journey filled with travel and wonders. Xiao Yu traversed this unfamiliar galaxy, enjoying all kinds of different sights. After more than one hundred years, he finally arrived at the core of the Andromeda Galaxy.
Looking at the two enormous black holes that ruled the entire galaxy, circling one another in mutual orbit, Xiao Yu was filled with emotion.
These two massive black holes came from two different galaxies. In the distant future, they too would merge into a single even larger black hole, thereby taking full control of the Andromeda Galaxy. At present, they were in the stage of orbiting one another. With every turn, they were steadily drawing closer together.