Chapter 1603 - Warp Speed!

As the two engineering ships merged, the modification work of the Qinling began.

Under the painful gaze of the group of crew members, the armor and the titanium alloy lining covering the starship’s exterior were removed one by one. The missile launchers and point defense artillery hanging on the starship were also removed one after another.

If Captain Deng Yuanshu’s ship before was a lion with teeth and claws, now it had become a chicken that had just been shaved, and the whole ship was just a large cargo ship.

Except for the massive plasma engine and the GW-class controllable fusion engine comparable to an aerospace carrier, there was nothing special about this starship.

Captain Deng Yuanshu stood in the observation room of the geosynchronous orbit spaceport and looked at the equipment disassembly list presented in front of him. He had a baffled expression on his face.

Although someone had already convinced him of doing this, it was impossible for him to have no mood swings in his heart when he saw his baby ship being dismantled.

At this moment, the alloy door on the side opened, and a man in a military uniform walked in.

“Chief Consultant Yang?”

Deng Yuanshu looked at Yang Wu, who walked into the space capsule. Deng Yuanshu showed a surprised expression on his face. He took the initiative to greet him and said, “Why are you here?”

“The commander sent me over to take a look.” Yang Wu smiled as he watched Captain Deng Yuanshu approaching him. He continued, “How is the situation here? Is the progress going smoothly?”

“I’m not a physicist, I don’t know.” Deng Yuanshu shook his head and said with a wry smile, “Even if I’m watching from the sidelines, I’m just here for the excitement, I don’t understand what they are doing.”

“Really? What about the equipment? Is it all dismantled?”

Hearing these words, Captain Deng’s face suddenly twitched, and he nodded in pain.

“It’s... it’s finished.”

Yang Wu smiled and nodded.

“That was fast.”

Looking at the person standing in front of him, Captain Deng opened his mouth but was hesitant to speak. He finally asked what was in his heart.

“The command team really feels that it is okay to lend him our most advanced guided-missile cruiser for experimentation? I mean, to do such an experiment at the expense of combat effectiveness... Is it really appropriate?”

Hearing Deng Yuanshu’s inquiry, Yang Wu did not feel any surprise.

Even before coming here, he expected the captain would ask this.

He cast his gaze on the Qinling, which was not far away and was completing the modification, and asked, “Do you think there is any aerospace force in this world that is worthy of being our opponent?”

Hearing this question, Captain Deng Yuanshu proudly raised his head.

“I can be certain, at least in this solar system, no one is our opponent!”

Yang Wu smiled and nodded. He said softly, “Yeah, since no one is our opponent, why have we been developing armaments over the years, continuously expanding the size of the First Fleet, and enhancing our own combat effectiveness for so long?”

Isn’t this obvious?

Hearing this strange question, Deng Yuanshu couldn’t think of an answer for a while.

As if seeing the thoughts in his heart, Yang Wu put his hands behind his back, walked to the porthole, and continued speaking in a calm tone, “Starting from half a century ago, even going back to the aerospace forces a century ago, we were building this army with the invading force of an extraterrestrial civilization as our imaginary enemy. Our goal from the beginning was outside the solar system.

“The destiny of all people living on this planet is tied together.

“So why do we do this experiment in geosynchronous orbit instead of taking the starship to the Lagrange Space Base or asteroids farther than Mars?

“It is no exaggeration to say that this technology will completely change the world that we are familiar with and expand our scope of existence to areas that we have never imagined.

“If he succeeds and really finds a way to surpass the speed of light, I can tell you with certainty that even if all the starships of the entire Pan-Asian First Fleet combined, they will still be less important than what he has done today.

“By that time, our banner will be on all Earth-like planets around the solar system, our footprints will be across the entire universe, and there will be nothing to restrain us.”

Looking at the silent Captain Deng Yuanshu, Yang Wu reached out and patted him on the shoulder. He then said with a smile, “If you are confused about the present, then think about the future.

“After the experiment is over, if he succeeds... I believe you will understand what I said!”

...

The modification work was quickly over.

The volume of the Z particle oscillator itself was not large, and the weight was light too.

It was different from the demo version that Lu Zhou made at home.

This official version of the Z particle oscillation device that was completed by East Asia Heavy Industries used the latest magnetic generation device and a more lightweight titanium alloy bracket. It had specialized improvements on the original design version proposed by Lu Zhou.

At the same time, in terms of changing the curvature of spacetime, it also far exceeded the experimental version...

The bridge of the Qinling.

After taking a glance at the time indicator on the holographic screen, Captain Deng Yuanshu, who had been extremely taciturn since he boarded the ship, suddenly spoke.

“What is it like to pass through the hyperspace channel?”

Lu Zhou, who was standing next to him, thought for a while before replying, “I don’t know, after all, so far, no one has ever entered it.”

Adjutant Liu, who was standing next to Captain Deng, suddenly couldn’t help asking, “If you go in... What if you can’t get out?”

Lu Zhou: “That probability is very small. Once the hyperspace channel is opened, two endpoints will inevitably be created in the space. And if there really happens to be a situation where you can’t get in or out...”

Liu Zhengyi gulped and asked nervously, “What will happen?”

“Not sure.” Lu Zhou shook his head. “Maybe you will reach a parallel world? Or into the Void outside of time? Anyway, it should not be in a normal universe.”

So far, whether parallel universes existed was still a hypothesis that couldn’t be proved or falsified. The only conclusion that could be drawn by calculation in the theoretical physics community today was that the universe was a folded n-dimensional surface, like a ball of scrap paper.

As for whether there was a similar paper ball in the n+1 dimensional space, it was still unknown.

Strictly speaking, the hyperspace channel drilled a hole in the n+1 dimensional space, and from a certain point in the universe, it crossed directly over to another point through a curved surface.

If parallel universes really existed, when crossing the hyperspace channel, they might actually leap over to another universe.

Looking at the officers with weird faces next to him, Lu Zhou smiled and said in a comforting tone, “Don’t worry, I’m here, I will stand with you until the end of the experiment.”

From Lu Zhou’s point of view, this sentence was quite comforting.

However, what he didn’t expect was that as soon as he uttered this sentence, he was strongly opposed by Captain Deng.

“No.” Deng Yuanshu said with a serious look at Lu Zhou, “You are the chief designer of the space elevator project! We will be fine if something goes wrong, but if something goes wrong to you, it will affect—”

“I’ve said it countless times, I’m the chief consultant.” Lu Zhou sighed and continued, “Also, if there is a problem, you won’t be fine. Everyone’s life is precious. I never think that my life is more important than other people’s lives. If I weren’t certain, this experiment would not begin at all.”

Seeing that Lu Zhou did not listen to his persuasion at all, Deng Yuanshu wanted to say something. However, at this moment, a staff member walked in from outside the bridge, stood in front of him, and spoke with a clean military salute.

“Sir! The reactor has been successfully ignited and is running at 10% efficiency. All preparations for the lock are ready, and the device can be started at any time!”

“Good.”

Nodding to the staff member, Deng Yuanshu then looked at Lu Zhou. After a moment of silence, he said seriously, “The preparations for the experiment have been completed... Are you sure you want to stand here with us?”

Lu Zhou nodded, smiled relaxedly, and said, “This is a moment to witness history. As the leader of this project, wouldn’t it be a pity if I don’t see the end?”

Deng Yuanshu: “If you can sit back and watch us bring the victory back from the frontline, our psychological pressure will be reduced by at least half.”

Lu Zhou gave him an encouraging look and continued, “Don’t be so nervous. In a blink of an eye, we will see the fiery red planet.”

“I hope so.”

Captain Deng sighed silently in his heart. Seeing that he couldn’t persuade the big man no matter what, he finally gave up and looked at the command interface spread out in front of him.

A serious expression appeared on his face. As if he were facing a battle, he gave the command to fight in a stern tone.

“Attention, all units on the ship, enter combat position!

“Set the target course!”