Half an hour before the scheduled time arrived, every scientist was already in position without needing a command from Xiao Yu. The conference room was silent, no one expressed opinions, no one discussed specific research topics. All the scientists simply sat quietly, as if awaiting a judgment of fate.
And indeed, that was exactly what it was, a judgment of fate. Xiao Yu, just like them, was sitting here as well, waiting for that radio signal that could determine his destiny.
The program installed on the probe that had been separated along with a piece of space by Space Two would continuously attempt to contact Xiao Yu. This ensured that the moment it returned, it would immediately transmit a signal. Of course, taking into account the entropy increase within the micro-universe and the risk of heat death rendering the probe inoperative, Xiao Yu had also increased monitoring efforts. The number of various types of probes had been expanded to several million, densely scattered throughout the space of this universe.
“Three minutes until the scheduled time.” Xiao Yu said calmly into the silence, as if he were speaking about something completely unrelated to himself.
At last, uneasiness began to show on the faces of the scientists. Whether or not things would proceed as predicted directly concerned their lives and fates. They never forgot that if a method of escape could not be found, within at most three years, every ship in this small universe would fail due to entropy increase, and they would perish together with Xiao Yu.
And the current hypothesis was the most promising one so far. After all, it had been jointly developed and refined by Luka Three, Senya, and Xiao Yu. None of the others believed they could surpass these three in offering a better, more logically sound theory.
Some scientists had already begun to silently pray. The objects of their prayers varied wildly, even deities long discarded into the trash heap of their histories had been dug up and summoned again as targets of desperate hope.
“Countdown, ten, nine, eight, seven… one, zero.” When ten seconds remained until the scheduled time, Xiao Yu had begun counting down. Every number in the countdown struck the scientists’ hearts like a hammer, making their pulses race and their blood surge.
But unfortunately, even when the countdown reached zero, the phrase ‘I have received the scheduled signal’ never left Xiao Yu’s lips. In that instant, Xiao Yu’s heart turned cold.
Scientific prediction was extremely precise. During this period, each scientist had conducted their own calculations. After compiling the results, Xiao Yu found that all of them had reached the same conclusion, pointing precisely to this moment. Under such circumstances, error was impossible, and even if there was an error, it could not have been more than one second. But now that the expected result had not occurred, it meant that Xiao Yu was wrong, Luka Three was wrong, Senya was wrong, every single scientist was wrong.The scientists seated here were all outstanding individuals, and correspondingly, their self-control was also exceptional. This result did not cause them to lose composure or act disgracefully, but the despondent expressions on their faces revealed their inner state completely.
The probes Xiao Yu had deployed across this universe continued searching for any suspicious trace, but regrettably, he found nothing of value. This result deeply dampened Xiao Yu’s mood, but as the leader, he had no right to feel down. He forcibly suppressed his frustration and forced a smile onto his face. “Don’t lose heart, everyone. So we were wrong this time, no big deal. We’ll still have more chances.”
“Sigh…” Luka Two let out a faint sigh, just about to say something to encourage the scientists, when Xiao Yu suddenly interrupted.
“Hmm? I’ve noticed something else.” Xiao Yu’s expression turned serious as he extended a hand and made a gesture. Instantly, a three-dimensional holographic animation appeared on the conference table.
The image showed a pitch-black expanse of the universe, seemingly ordinary and unremarkable. The scientists exchanged glances, puzzled as to what Xiao Yu was trying to indicate.
“Mm…” Xiao Yu didn’t speak. Instead, he issued another command. This command shot out swiftly from the China spaceship and, through superluminal communication, instantly reached the probe stationed near this starry region.
The probe immediately responded. Its high-powered spotlight was activated, and the dazzling beam illuminated a stretch of space nearly a thousand meters in diameter, rendering it fully visible. Under the light, the scientists finally noticed something unusual about this region.
There appeared to be a large amount of dust, dust that interfered with the spread of light, reflecting it in such a way that it seemed to glow on its own.
“These dust particles appeared suddenly.” Xiao Yu said, suppressing the excitement in his heart.
Appearing suddenly, without any prior signs, this all indicated that these substances did not originally belong to this universe.
Then… where did they come from? If not from the small universe that had returned, then where else could they have come from?
The fragment of space that had been separated by Space Two had returned. Although, due to some unknown factors, the time of its return differed slightly from the predicted time, it had nonetheless returned. And as long as it had returned, that proved that Xiao Yu’s, Luka Three’s, and Senya’s hypothesis was correct in its broad direction.
This result instantly caused the scientists to erupt in cheers. In a flash, the entire spacious conference room was filled with thunderous celebration. Luka Two, Luka Three, Senya, and Xiao Yu all wore smiles on their faces.
“Quiet, quiet.” Xiao Yu raised both hands and gestured downward, and the scientists quieted down, all turning their eyes toward him.
“Although we don’t yet know what exactly caused the discrepancy that led to the deviation in our prediction, the outcome, in the end, is still a good one. Ahem, I have a few more sets of data to explain.” Xiao Yu said, gathering his thoughts. “First of all, this fragment of space did ultimately return. That proves our hypothesis is broadly correct. So now, we only need to do one more thing, decelerate the small universe we’re in. As long as we slow it down, it will definitely return to the main universe and merge with it.”
“Secondly, I conducted a detailed analysis of the composition of that dust. Unfortunately, due to the principle of entropy increase, it had already completely disintegrated into its most basic forms, leptons and photons, dispersed evenly throughout that micro-universe with a diameter of only ten meters. Without a doubt, the probe we launched was destroyed. But there’s good news, at the very moment it returned to the main universe, the structure of that paste-like substance was still extremely uniform. That means the spatial reintegration didn’t cause even the slightest disturbance. This shows that as long as we initiate the fusion while our fleet is still intact, we won’t face any threat. The entire reintegration process is smooth and safe.”
“The smaller the universe, the faster its entropy increases, this hypothesis has now been confirmed. That micro-universe with only a ten-meter diameter had been gone from our small universe for less than three days, but internally, over one trillion years had passed. In fact, in our current small universe, entropy is also rapidly increasing. It’s just that because we’re carrying a sufficient energy supply, we’ve been able to temporarily prevent our ships and instruments from being destroyed.”
At this point, the dust had already vanished. The reason, again, was the principle of entropy increase. In that micro-universe, the entropy had reached its maximum. But upon entering this small universe, their density was quite high compared to the surrounding space. As a result, matter naturally began to diffuse from areas of higher density to lower density, a fundamental law of nature.
“I believe we’ve already found the right path. The way to return to the main universe is to decelerate this small universe on the Four-Dimensional level and allow it to merge back with the main universe. At the same time, we now know that even the Trolor Civilization did not possess mastery of the fourth dimension. That means they must have used some kind of clever workaround to achieve this goal. And clearly, that workaround must be something that even a Level 4 civilization can accomplish with the assistance of space weapons. Therefore, I’m now ordering you all to find that workaround.”
“This method must already exist within our current scientific theories, perhaps even based on very simple, very fundamental scientific principles. It’s just that we’re stuck in another mental trap and can’t see it. Right now, I need all of you to cast aside any existing scientific frameworks and knowledge, to fully unleash your imagination. Any method that sounds fantastical or absurd is worth voicing and trying. I refuse to believe that something a Level 4 civilization could do is beyond our reach.”
“Maybe you’re not used to this kind of task, but this time, I’m asking you to adapt, even if you’re not used to it. Ahem… I’ll give everyone a five-day break. During these five days, I’m counting on all of you to find this method!”