Chapter 1 VV

Lin Xian and VV locked eyes, neither speaking.

VV was a trash-can robot of this era. Of course, it wouldn't be forced to avoid the topic; no one could control its mouth. It could speak freely.

But even in this situation...

VV still wasn't willing, and Zhao Yingjun wouldn't allow it to explain things. That meant—

[The information they were concealing together was very important spacetime information. If it were revealed prematurely, it would inevitably trigger changes in the world line... or it would have a negative effect on their future plans.]

Therefore, they intended to conceal it from him along with "Yu Xi's Letter."

"I understand."

Lin Xian nodded:

"It's the same as the letter Yu Xi wrote to me, right? Or rather, these two things are actually the same thing, both written in 'Yu Xi's Letter.'"

"However, you also hinted to me before that Yingjun didn't intend to keep that letter Yu Xi wrote to me a secret forever. So when exactly are you going to let me see it?"

VV turned its head, looking at the moonlight flashing past the fighter jet's front, its eyes blinked twice:

"When it's time for you to see it, I will naturally let you see it."

...

Back at Rhine University, the Round Table Conference was restarted.

VV, as a battle-power powerhouse, naturally had a seat.

It was just too heavy. No one could lift it onto a chair; moreover, a wooden chair couldn't support its hafnium-alloy tonnage.

So.

Helpless.

VV could only stand on the ground during the meeting, the stubborn trash can barely taller than the conference table, proving its existence.

"Where's Gao Yang?"

Lin Xian looked left and right, not seeing the familiar fatty:

"This is the first formal meeting since waking up from hibernation, aren't we calling him? Speaking of which, I suddenly realized that Gao Yang hasn't participated in any of the confidential meetings."

Although Gao Yang's IQ was limited, he was still a partner who accompanied him across 500 years of spacetime. He couldn't be isolated.

"He doesn't come himself."

Liu Feng spread his hands:

"Gao Yang said the things we discuss are too profound. He could keep up with the thinking before, but now he can't even understand it. So he simply doesn't come and focuses on taking over the position of head of the security department at Rhine University."

"Actually, Gao Yang is a pretty good guy."

VV raised its hafnium-alloy tongs and spoke:

"I see more than you guys. Gao Yang has always tried his best to help you, but he helplessly discovered that he could only cause trouble and really couldn't help."

"But one thing to say, Gao Yang's loyalty to Lin Xian is unquestionable. He really thinks about Lin Xian all the time. He initially planned to resign from his favorite job and go to space with Lin Xian, and later abandoned everything to hibernate with Lin Xian into the future."

"He's different from you guys. He doesn't have any ability, so he doesn't have any responsibility or mission; but he's still willing to work hard for the future of humanity... Okay, although saving Chu Anqing is his primary motivation, the results are the same."

Lin Xian waved his hand:

"Let him do whatever he wants."

He and Gao Yang grew up in the same family compound and knew each other very well.

Just as Qin Xi said not long ago.

People who come from the old era through hibernation always have a kind of emptiness and loneliness in their eyes.

This brand-new and prosperous world is almost empty for these hibernators, like a ghost who shouldn't be here.

What exactly can Gao Yang do?

Lin Xian didn't know.

No one knew.

Gao Yang didn't have Liu Feng's whimsical ideas, Gao Wen's intellect that stood at the pinnacle of humanity, wasn't as knowledgeable as Du Yao and Jask, and wasn't as omnipotent as VV.

He was a completely ordinary person.

An ordinary person who should have been a salesman at a 4S store, married, had children, and lived and died in the 21st century.

Now, this burden of saving the world and the future was completely forced on the little fatty because of him.

So, let him be.

"Every born fatty has his uses. Every magnificent story in history cannot be separated from a fatty."

Lin Xian concluded:

"Maybe Gao Yang will have such a highlight moment too."

"Okay, let's not talk about him. Let's continue the meeting that was interrupted earlier and report on the situation of this era."

...

Liu Feng and Gao Wen's lengthy report lasted until dawn.

Overall, there was nothing that surprised or delighted Lin Xian.

Technology had indeed developed, but there was no revolutionary development.

In cutting-edge fields, humanity had suffered many losses, wasting huge amounts of resources and time due to wrong directions.

Controlled nuclear fusion and spaceships capable of leaving the solar system had been achieved.

However, planets suitable for human habitation outside the solar system were too far away. Including the long time for spacecraft acceleration and deceleration, it would take at least thousands of years.

The universe was too vast, and humans were too small.

Thousands of years of journey, even with hibernation pods, who could guarantee that the spaceship itself, including the various internal circulation equipment and electronic equipment, wouldn't have problems?

Interstellar travel was a complex discipline, and boundless investment often didn't yield an inch of progress.

What's more.

For ordinary people in various countries, they preferred life on Earth and were very satisfied with everything now. Interstellar travel itself was a fake and empty proposition without demand.

Regarding the cosmological constant, Liu Feng and Gao Wen had also found a way to calculate the final result: 42.

But.

That was it. There was no way to continue delving deeper.

Because they had no idea why it was 42, what 42 meant, or what the significance of 42 was... The research on the cosmological constant 42 had completely entered a dead end.

Newton and Galileo were still hidden very deeply, and they might even be in hibernation. No clues had been found.

The only somewhat encouraging thing was—

[Jask had made a major research breakthrough in the field of spacetime particles!]

"You're going to the United States anyway, why not let Jask explain it to you directly?"

Gao Wen explained:

"The last time I met Jask was 60 years ago. I woke up for 2 years to serve as the rotating principal and had one contact with him."

"I don't know if his research has made new breakthroughs in the past 60 years. As far as I know, he also just woke up from hibernation not long ago... We are always like this, hibernating intermittently. After all, technology may change everything, but it can't extend our mere hundred years of life."

"Limited lifespan is the biggest enemy hindering the development of human civilization."

Gao Wen said in a deep voice:

"I heard from Teacher Liu Feng that in the era you were born in, ordinary top scholars only needed nearly 30 years old to learn all the knowledge in the current cutting-edge fields and then start engaging in innovative breakthrough research."

"In the 23rd century when I was in college, to learn the knowledge in the current field, you had to study until at least 40 years old to be qualified to enter the Academy of Sciences to study new fields."

"By 2504... even now, when elementary school textbooks have already started arranging physics, chemistry, and biology, junior high schools study calculus, and high schools start choosing a single major for in-depth study..."

"Do you know, Lin Xian? How old do scholars now need to be to learn the existing technology?"

Lin Xian spun his pen and thought:

"Wouldn't it be over 50 years old?"

Gao Wen looked worried and nodded:

"The average academic graduation age is 55 years old."

55 years old.

Lin Xian really felt the upper limit of human beings when he heard this number close to retirement age.

Perhaps.

The biggest drawback of human civilization development was—

[The memory and knowledge of the previous generation cannot be inherited. No matter how great a genius is, they must start from 1+1.]

In the era when Lin Xian's parents lived, graduates from vocational schools could find good jobs, and college students were the best of the best.

Because technology was not so developed at that time, radio was considered high technology. To contribute to society, you didn't need to learn too much.

When Lin Xian graduated from university, master's students were everywhere. No matter how many years you studied hard, your resume would be rejected.

It was conceivable.

How many subdivided disciplines and cutting-edge knowledge had human society accumulated in 500 years of development? And after a baby was born, he couldn't skip the previous simple parts and directly learn the most cutting-edge knowledge. He definitely couldn't understand it.

There were only two ways to solve this problem:

1. Memory can be continued or inherited.
2. Lifespan is greatly extended.

If memory could be inherited and continued, although it would not be conducive to social development and would cause class solidification; it would definitely be a great event for the overall development of human civilization.

For example, a great genius like Gao Wen could directly pass on his full brain of academic knowledge to his son.

Then Gao Wen's son wouldn't need to study from elementary school, junior high school, and high school all the way. After he was weaned, he could take over Gao Wen's research topic and continue to devote his great youth with another group of "heirs" wearing diapers.

Either.

He could find a way to greatly extend human lifespan.

If human lifespan could be extended to 500 years, then scholars could study for 100 years first and understand all the knowledge, and they would still be young people.

"But these are all fantasies."

Lin Xian stopped spinning his pen and opened his eyes:

"Actually, this theory was mentioned in science fiction a long time ago, saying that the potential and upper limit of human beings have long been locked by human lifespan."

"It's just that in that era, everything was booming, and Moore's Law was endless. This drawback was not reflected; but now, with the development of technology and the accumulation of knowledge... it is indeed a bitter journey in the endless sea of books. You really can't finish learning."

"But even so, didn't a promising and talented genius like Cheng Qian still emerge? We still have to believe in miracles. After all, it is a miracle that humans can evolve from a single cell, an amino acid, to this form."

Having said that, he stood up:

"I'm going to rest. Prepare a flight for me tomorrow. I'm going to the United States to see Jask."

...

The next day.

United States, old western Brooklyn, dilapidated farm, underground shelter.

"Die, bastard!"

Hafnium-alloy VV made a sudden thrust, clamping Jask's ankle hard with its tongs.

"Ouch, be gentle."

Jask, whose hair was completely white, was thin, and somewhat hunched over, chuckled:

"I almost forgot about this. You remember grudges so clearly."

"Nonsense!"

VV shouted:

"I'm the one who pretended to be an artificial idiot for 500 years! Not you!"

"You should respect the elderly... How can you start attacking as soon as you meet?" Jask said weakly.

Lin Xian was a little surprised.

Looking at the old and frail Jask in front of him.

This...

This was a scene he had never imagined.

The flamboyant playboy with a radiant face and a strong body in his memory was now... also aged into a wrinkled old newspaper as time passed.

"How are you?"

Lin Xian hesitated:

"How are you, so old?"

"Hehe."

Jask smiled slightly:

"This is the price of learning... So many new knowledge and new fields are born every year. If you don't spend time learning, how can you be at the forefront?"

"What's more, I didn't feel comfortable handing over the task you arranged for me to study spacetime particles and the Doomsday White Light to others. I've always been doing it myself in secret."

"Including this secret base... Ah, no, the underground shelter is the same. I bought the entire Brooklyn land, and I have the final say in the planning here. The purpose is also to better protect this underground shelter and prevent it from being discovered by others."

"So, now this place is called old Brooklyn, which belongs to me; they have built a new Brooklyn in the north, which belongs to the official administrative district."

Seeing the elderly Jask.

Lin Xian increasingly realized that perhaps Gao Wen's concerns were not unfounded.

If one day.

Human technology happened to develop to a critical point—

A scholar needed to spend more than 100 years, an entire lifetime, to learn all the knowledge in a certain subject, every subdivided branch, and then be able to continue studying...

Then humans.

Is there a future?

Lin Xian temporarily stopped thinking about such distant things and looked at Jask:

"I heard that you have made breakthroughs in spacetime particle research. What exactly is it?"

Jask nodded:

"Do you remember the question you raised to me before hibernation? You said that on the one hand, we should verify whether the Doomsday White Light really exists; on the other hand, we should find a way to uncover the truth about the Doomsday White Light."

"The biggest difficulty at the time was that the fastest speed in the universe is the speed of light, and no speed will exceed the speed of light, including the speed of observation and the speed of information transmission. The fastest is also the speed of light, so this is an impossible proposition."

"Unless... [we can make our observation speed and information transmission speed exceed the speed of light.]"

Exceed the speed of light?

Lin Xian narrowed his eyes.

He just said that the speed of light cannot be exceeded, but now he says it can be exceeded.

Isn't this contradictory?

But since Jask dared to say this, it meant that he had found a way.

"Can it be achieved?" Lin Xian asked.

"That entangled spacetime particle gave me inspiration."

Jask pointed to Lin Xian:

"Think about it, Lin Xian, you previously traveled to 1952 and then returned to 2234. The information observation and information transmission you brought back, wouldn't that be considered a behavior that exceeds the speed of light?"

Lin Xian felt that it made some sense:

"Theoretically, it is. For the light in 1952 to reach 2234, it would take nearly 300 years, but I did it in an instant, bringing the information from 1952 to hundreds of years later."

"However, the entangled spacetime particle no longer exists, and observing the Doomsday White Light and spacetime travel should be two different things, right? Is there any connection?"

Jask smiled and shook his fingers:

"It's indeed not the same thing, but it's the same meaning to understand. The point that really gave me inspiration is... [entanglement]."

"You should have heard of the ancient concept of quantum entanglement, right? This is the initial hypothetical experiment of faster-than-light communication, even communication across the universe."

"The entangled spacetime particle you used did allow us to see the possibility of instantly synchronizing information transmission. Since the only entangled spacetime particle has disappeared... can we artificially entangle two ordinary spacetime particles?"

Jask stretched out his left and right fists.

Opening them together, then clenching them together, his eyes were like torches, looking at Lin Xian:

"I did it."

Lin Xian took a deep breath:

"You created an entangled spacetime particle!?"

What kind of creator technology is this!

"No, no, no."

Jask said rigorously:

"I entangled two ordinary spacetime particles, not created an entangled spacetime particle. There is still a big difference between these two sentences."

"The entangled spacetime particles are wrapped together and are a whole that cannot be separated; while the two ordinary particles that are entangled can be separated at will, which provides the possibility for faster-than-light communication over ultra-long distances."

"The most valuable thing is that this entanglement can be a one-to-many model! One spacetime particle can be entangled with many other spacetime particles and can simultaneously receive several pieces of information!"

Lin Xian understood.

This was similar to a walkie-talkie mechanism. After the entanglement was completed, one spacetime particle was a walkie-talkie.

But.

This walkie-talkie communication was instantaneous and far exceeded the speed of light.

Even if the two walkie-talkies were located at opposite ends of the universe, they could call without any delay.

"I understand your plan."

Lin Xian guessed Jask's idea:

"You believe that the Doomsday White Light does not originate from the Earth's interior, but... from outer space."

"So, [instead of waiting for the Doomsday White Light to descend in 2624, you plan to launch probes towards the white light to contact it in advance, so as to verify and study it.]"

Snap!

Jask was old but not old-fashioned. He snapped his fingers and struck a mischievous pose from an old movie:

"That's right, you still understand me! It's such a crazy plan! I want to observe the Doomsday White Light in advance from several light-years, dozens of light-years away!"

"Although I'm not sure if the Doomsday White Light is from an outer space attack, but as long as this experiment is carried out, it can be verified."

"Those rockets carrying spacetime particle observers are unmanned, so there's no need to consider deceleration and safety issues at all. Accelerate at full speed! Accelerate infinitely! At least it can run at 50% of the speed of light!"

"That way, we only need to wait for these rockets to launch for 10 years, and we can use the real-time communication of spacetime particle entanglement to observe the universe 5 light-years away in real time. Similarly, after 40 years, we can observe the universe 20 light-years away; after 100 years, we can observe the universe 50 light-years away!"

Jask became more and more excited, wishing he could make his old body jump up.

This was indeed a crazy plan.

It was indeed his style.

But...

The idea was good, but was it reliable to implement?

Lin Xian raised the most concerning question:

"The universe is very large. Not only do we not know whether the Doomsday White Light is coming from outer space, but we also don't know which direction it is coming from. Which direction should your rocket launch towards?"

"All!"

Jask's eyes were firm, and his answer was without hesitation:

"Since we want to investigate and verify, we must launch in all directions! Over the years, I have been detecting and capturing spacetime particles. Thanks to the development of aerospace technology, including the one in the Einstein oven... I have a total of 23 spacetime particles."

"In addition to leaving one on Earth as a receiver, the remaining 22 are all entangled with this receiver and then put into rockets as probes."

He raised his hands high.

Looking at the bright ceiling of the underground shelter, as if looking at the shining galaxy:

"[22 probes carrying spacetime particles will rush to the depths of the universe from 22 directions!]"

"[If the Doomsday White Light is really an outer space attack... we will definitely see it in advance!]"