booktalesy Chapter 275 Star Engine
Chapter 275 Star Engine
On the night the Web of Consciousness was successfully expanded, a notification popped up on the system panel.
Zuo Cheng was in his office at the research institute. Outside the window was Hangzhou in the early morning. Yu Ying had just gone back to rest, and the experimental log was still spread out on the table, with that line written on the last page. He had originally only planned to do a routine check, open the panel, glance at the numbers, and then close it. But the words on the panel were not routine.
The conditions for the tenth branch to sprout have all been met. The sprouting progress has jumped from 3% to 16%.
The following three conditions are listed, each marked with a green checkmark: First, nuclear fusion self-sustaining combustion is achieved for the first time, lasting 507 seconds in the star's core. The number of nodes in the consciousness network reaches four or more, forming a woven consciousness network. The prototype design of the Pioneer spacecraft passes review; the Pioneer spacecraft...
The three conditions are spread across three chapters. No single chapter is written solely to fulfill the conditions, but each chapter helps to move a piece of the puzzle into its correct position. Zuo Cheng stared at the three checkmarks, pausing for a long time. Not out of surprise, but because these three conditions, when put together, perfectly matched the three key technologies required for Option C: planetary energy, a consciousness network, and interstellar travel. The founders hadn't specified that these three things needed to be done to unlock the tenth branch. They had simply written them into the job description for Option C. And then waited. Once you've completed the work, the lock will open automatically.
Zuo Cheng pressed the activation button.
The technology tree unfolded deep within his consciousness. It didn't light up layer by layer from the roots as before. The entire tree brightened simultaneously, until the entire space of his consciousness turned almost daylight. Then he heard a very soft sound, like soil being pushed aside, like a seed buried for a long time finally breaking through the last layer of soil.
The tenth branch broke through the soil from the very center of the tree crown.
Unlike the previous nine branches that grew from the side of the main trunk, it pierced straight up to the sky from the very top of the crown. Like a tree that had finally reached a stage where it no longer needed to extend outwards, it began to rise. Above, there was no sky, only the deeper universe. The form of the branches was not the texture of bark, but metal. Deep blue metal, with flowing light patterns on its surface, like a galaxy compressed into a passageway.
The seven leaves lit up one by one on the branch.
The first one is warp sensing. It can detect and identify minute changes in the curvature of spacetime. This is the pre-sensory capability of the warp drive. A demonstration appeared in Zuo Cheng's mind: a dark blue recessed area appeared in front of a spaceship, a gravity well. The spaceship didn't need to go around it; it only needed to know that it was there.
The second type uses gravity navigation. It doesn't rely on rocket thrust, but utilizes the gravitational field of celestial bodies for precise orbital transfers. The journey between any two planets in the solar system is no longer a straight line, but a series of continuous gravitational jumps. Each jump saves a significant amount of propellant.
The third rocket is a plasma propulsion system. It's an ultra-efficient plasma engine based on stellar nuclear fusion technology. Its specific impulse is fifty times that of a chemical rocket. Zuo Cheng saw a series of numbers scrolling across the panel: thrust, specific impulse, fuel efficiency—each one breaking all records in human spaceflight history.
The fourth is a radiation shield. It utilizes magnetic fields and fusion plasma to construct an active radiation protection system. The 30-centimeter water layer is no longer needed. An active electromagnetic field shell envelops the entire spacecraft, deflecting cosmic rays before they reach the outer edge, reducing the radiation dose received by the crew to natural background levels.
The fifth technology is inertial compensation. It partially counteracts dramatic changes in gravity during acceleration and deceleration. This technology, never before implemented in a spacecraft, allows the crew to remain conscious during high-G maneuvers, not through anti-G suits, but by the spacecraft itself counteracting inertia.
The sixth chip is for deep space life support. It represents the optimal design for a closed-loop ecosystem. A single chip stores six different-sized spacecraft ecosystem module design templates, each capable of enabling six crew members to survive indefinitely in deep space.
When the seventh one lit up, Zuo Cheng unconsciously gripped the edge of the table.
Star navigation map.
A precise star map of the Milky Way from the Founding Civilization. The exact locations of all the node planets covered by the woven network are marked on it. There are a total of 177 planets. Each one is a point of light, starting from the solar system, extending outward along the Orion Arm, passing through the Perseus Arm, crossing the Sagittarius Arm, and finally disappearing into the bright band of light towards the center of the Milky Way.
One hundred and seventy-seven planets. Each one was planted with a seed by the Creator. Some may have long since perished. Some may still be waiting. Some may have already developed civilizations like humanity, watching their own technological trees grow from bud to full bloom. And the solar system is the brightest of these points of light. The label is only one line long.
origin.
After all seven leaves lit up, the system panel displayed the points settlement. Two hundred and fifty points were added, bringing the current score to 1267. The technology enhancement level increased from 1.6 to 1.8. Interstellar travel-level technology fusion permissions were unlocked; quantum computing, nuclear fusion, and consciousness networks can now be deeply integrated across four branches. The main quest progressed: the first stage of the search for the origin is now 120% complete; the second stage has been updated from a prerequisite to core technology acquisition; and the third stage has progressed from 90% to 95%.
The Webmaster Mission Chain is being updated in sync. The acquisition of interstellar travel technology has given humanity its first autonomous ability to reach nodes in the outer solar system. The exploration plans for the remaining four dormant nodes—Titan, Triton, and the Kuiper Belt—can be upgraded from unmanned to manned exploration.
Zuo Cheng called Yu Ying at 4:30 a.m. He rarely called her at this time. But this time, he needed someone to see the map. When Yu Ying arrived at the office, the sky was still covered with a thin layer of deep blue. She projected the star navigation map onto the large screen in the conference room. One hundred and seventy-seven points of light were quietly arranged on the four spiral arms of the Milky Way, like a map that had been waiting for four billion years.
Yu Ying stared at those points of light for a long time. Then she extended her index finger and slowly drew a line along the Orion Arm, starting from the brightest point in the solar system. Her fingertip moved gently between the points of light. She wasn't analyzing; she was counting.
"One hundred and seventy-seven," she said. "Each one could be the potential of a civilization. Over four billion years, they sent seeds to one hundred and seventy-seven planets. But only one received a reply."
"Which ones are currently worth trying to establish a consciousness connection with?" Zuo Cheng asked.
Yu Ying filtered the nodes on the star map. The nodes that the woven consciousness network can directly reach depend on their physical activation status. Currently, 5/9 are activated, meaning these five nodes can be directly perceived through the consciousness network. The remaining nodes require physical activation before the network can extend.
"The origin." Yu Ying looked at the markings on the solar system, her voice soft. "So we weren't the edge. We're the starting point. The first of all 177 seeds to set off from here."
Zuo Cheng enlarged the last line of small text on the system panel. A new marker had appeared next to the progress bar of the Web Weaver: The tenth branch's leaves were in full form. The prerequisites for the next branch had not yet been unlocked. However, the background color of the panel had changed from dark gray to light gold. It wasn't hinting at what would happen; it was confirming what had already occurred.
At the top of the technology tree, the tenth branch was slowly rotating. Its deep blue metallic surface reflected 177 points of light from the distant Milky Way star map within the consciousness space. Zuo Cheng turned off the panel and stood with Yu Ying in front of the large screen, watching the points of light quietly illuminate.
Dawn was approaching. The satellites in the sky were no longer visible, replaced by a pale pinkish-orange hue. Beneath the new sky, ten branches stood simultaneously on the same canopy.