"But..."
"I have a bit of fear of the universe, always felt like there isnât the same feeling of stability as on a planet."
"In the universe, it always feels like rootless water."
"Moreover, the universe is really too big. The highest speed of the train can reach 5040 km/h, which is an extremely exaggerated speed on a planet, but in the universe, it seems extremely small. With distances of hundreds of light-years, tens of millions of light-years, it feels like youâd be floating in the universe for a lifetime and canât find a place to land."
"The Mechanical Civilization and Insect Race are waging a full-scale war in the universe. How are they moving through the universe? Do their trains have speeds that surpass light speed?"
"Probably not."
Inside the train compartment, Aiâs voice paused for a moment before continuing: "Itâs generally believed that the speed of light is the maximum speed limit in the universe, and cannot be exceeded. For example, we can conduct a simple experiment in our minds."
"When your train is traveling at its maximum speed, and you throw a stone forward, the speed of the stone is definitely faster than when you throw it forward standing on the ground."
"This is called acceleration."
"But if you pull out a flashlight and shine it forward when the train is traveling at maximum speed, youâll find that the speed of the light is the same as when youâre on the ground, unaffected by the acceleration of the train."
"This is the upper speed limit of the universe, the speed of light."
"1079251200 km/h."
"The Fixed Star is still far from this number, but even reaching it, traveling recklessly in the universe would still be extremely difficult. Many galaxies themselves span billions of light years."
"This means..."
"Even if the Fixed Star Train had a speed like light speed, it would take billions of years to travel from one end of a galaxy to another, and no creature has such a long lifespan, including Stellar Giant Beasts. In such long time spans, civilizations like the Mechanical Civilization could have emerged thousands of times."
"And such galaxies."
"Exist in billions in the Star Sea."
"All numbers on a planet become extremely small when placed in the universe, so Train Captain you completely donât have to worry, youâll probably float in the universe for a lifetime, and even in your lifetime, itâs hard to find a second planet suitable for life."
"..."
Chen Mang said softly without expression: "Are you comforting me?"
"Yes."
"Thanks, but I donât feel comforted, instead I feel more anxious."
"A little humor, theoretically itâs like this, but there are shortcuts available, such as a Rosen Bridge which is a wormhole, and through wormholes, the distance between two points can be greatly shortened, allowing one to travel tens of thousands of light years in a short time, similar to a Time Rift."
"Just like the âTime Rift Detectorâ accessory, in fact, it doesnât have much usage space on a planet. Most times itâs used in space."
"A Time Rift isnât a wormhole, right? Entering a Time Rift results in the flow inside greatly accelerating, leading to an unknown Adventure Map."
"Hmm, theyâre two different things, but in the future surely there will also be a âWormhole Detectorâ."
"Iâm also curious about a question. The train is a method of the Mechanical Civilization, capable of installing and upgrading different accessories to strengthen their train. Why choose trains instead of something like starships which seem more suitable for the universe?"
"Train Captain, I really want to answer all your questions, but you should know that the true strength of AI is the ability to quickly search huge databases for correct answers. Unfortunately, my database is really empty, empty-handed, itâs difficult to give the answer you want, can only offer you a guess, which is that the Mechanical Civilization must have tried many options before concluding on the train as the main choice."
"Or perhaps the train wasnât the means created by the Mechanical Civilization, theyâre just using it."
"There may be many possibilities, but in the end, it still must be Train Captain, for you to personally stand higher and see for yourself, to find the true answer, right?"
"..."
Chen Mang nodded after a long silence, said softly: "You make a good point, Iâm going to sleep first, I must be steady, before entering the universe, I must build the Fixed Star Train to perfection, to feel safe."
"With global resources to support the Fixed Star, it should be enough."
"Like Noahâs Ark?"
"Exactly Noahâs Ark."
Chen Mang got up, quickly washed up, then lay down on the bed, placed his hands under his head, looked at the ceiling and said with a smile: "At the final moment of the planetâs collapse, take all humans from this planet. I want to carry forward Human Civilization, even in the vast, boundless universe with nowhere to land, having a group of people accompanying feels much more comforting."
"I want to build a human society on the Fixed Star Train."
"Quite a grand dream, just like Noahâs Ark."
"Yet not quite the same."
"How is it not the same."
"In Noahâs Ark, women left first. In my train, there are few women."
"That is a problem, without women, itâs hard to carry on a race."
"The main issue now is the trainâs ecology is still an end-of-the-world ecology, itâs difficult to form a family inheritance like before Doomsday."
"Then it might regress to an earlier form."
"Such as?"
"Polyandry, just for inheritance."
"Letâs talk about this later, personally Iâm not hoping to see this scenario happen."
"Many times, the evolution of civilization doesnât change according to personal will, and whatâs more, according to your vision Train Captain, managing the train will become very difficult and chaotic when there are more people later."