Light Speed ​​War

Chapter 15: Wormhole Experiments

April 12, 2049 AD (Earth Era).

Near Earth orbit, Earth Federation Fleet Command Center. Many scientists, high-ranking officers, and others gathered in the hall to watch a live broadcast of the black hole (wormhole?) hypersonic travel experiment.

Outside of near-Earth orbit, a large particle collider was activated. Particles underwent initial and subsequent acceleration before colliding. In an instant, spacetime seemed to ripple. Gravitational detection revealed a spatial anomaly, approximately 2 kilometers in diameter, but invisible to optical telescopes, appearing as a black dot on the holographic screen. A small, pre-arriving AI-powered spaceship slowly approached the anomaly, continuously emitting and receiving electromagnetic signals. Twelve minutes later, the spaceship vanished as if falling into an abyss. The electromagnetic signals received by the receiver suddenly became chaotic and irregular, displaying a high-frequency oscillating signal in the spectrum. The artificial wormhole persisted for ten minutes; after it disappeared, the electromagnetic signals also vanished.

Forty minutes later, electromagnetic signals from the small spaceship were received, indicating that the small spaceship had traveled the distance at the speed of light for 40 minutes within 50 minutes! Earthlings were thrilled. Faster-than-light interstellar travel was no longer a dream. The next step was to build larger artificial wormholes, extend their lifespan, and then analyze and study the faster-than-light communication capabilities of wormholes.

Approximately 22 hours later, the small spacecraft reappeared in near-Earth orbit, confirming the faster-than-light data from the wormhole.

However, amidst the revelry, humanity hasn't forgotten that the prerequisite for interstellar travel is breaking through the 'speed of light barrier'. After deliberation by scientists at the Academy of Sciences, humanity resolutely abandoned the experiment of creating an artificial wormhole at the edge of the solar system to escape the barrier, because currently, artificial wormholes lack the energy to penetrate it. Only by destroying the sun can humanity escape this barrier. Therefore, a deterrence plan has already been launched, awaiting the right opportunity to confront Gaia on the moon.

Aside from the Moon, the solar system is teeming with human warships, spaceships, and human presence. The collider that destroyed the Sun is being rebuilt, resources on Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, and some of their moons are being mined, large space cities are being built around Earth, and large warships and transport ships are being constructed.

On Earth, some people have chosen to go into deep "hibernation," waiting for humanity to break through the barriers and revive them.

Some older individuals chose to replicate their bodies, transplanting their original consciousness into the brains of younger, replicated life forms. These replicated life forms all possess a distinctive mark that is easily recognizable to the general public, much like a birthmark. After a month-long transition period, these replicated life forms reintegrate into the familiar world, where they learn and work. However, they are forbidden from contacting previously acquainted individuals, and are prohibited from falling in love, having children, or starting families. Consequently, a large portion of them are dedicated to production and construction, warship manufacturing, or becoming soldiers or police officers.

The Earth Federation never slackens its efforts in the ideological and scientific education of children. Every child seems to have a dream: to break through the barriers and head towards the stars. Thanks to the powerful support of technologies such as life, genes, and consciousness, human children have extraordinary learning abilities; an eight- or nine-year-old child can already possess the level of a master's degree.

The Earth Federation Academy of Sciences never stops developing and improving its technology tree. In particle physics, it discovered the graviton and unified the four great forces. Materials and energy technologies are also developing rapidly, such as photonic thin films, quark circuits, magnetic pole spin adiabatic nets, neutrino invisibility membranes, and gravity bombs.

Engineering technology is also advancing rapidly. A light transmission channel has been established between Earth and near-Earth orbit to transport manpower and materials. A light transmission belt relay network has been established between Earth and Saturn, Jupiter, Mars and their moons. Mined resources are continuously transmitted to near-Earth orbit via the light transmission belt. These resources are used to manufacture warships, mobile space cities and so on.

In terms of computing and storage, thanks to Aya's efforts, the performance of photonic and quantum computers has been greatly improved. Wherever humanity goes, super artificial intelligence will manifest itself.

In terms of propulsion, breakthroughs have been made in ion engines. With the continuous acceleration of planetary gravity, the warship eventually achieved 95% of the speed of light. Without the acceleration of planetary gravity, the warship could still achieve 60% of the speed of light.

In the fields of artificial black holes and long-distance communication, significant advancements in antimatter extraction technology have enabled a collider to create a black hole with enormous energy. This black hole, approximately 120 kilometers in diameter, was created by a collision between a beam of particles and released antimatter bound by the electromagnetic field of a Penning ion trap before it could form an artificial wormhole. The resulting energy lasted for about half an hour. Inside the black hole, cluttered electromagnetic signals were demodulated by a quark oscillation circuit, resulting in normal electromagnetic signals.

These achievements were made by humankind in less than 16 years, which is probably due to humankind's theoretical and experimental research on artificial black holes (wormholes).

On June 23, 2067 AD, just like 25 years ago, Gaia, the Moon, displayed "ONLYFIVEYEARSLEFT" on the Sun and Moon!

Far from the moon, humanity has created 18 massive space cities, rotating in geosynchronous orbit. Each city is designed as a sphere, approximately 100 kilometers in diameter, with its center being the point of gravity. At the north and south poles are powerful propulsion and deceleration systems. The surface is covered with various orbital gun emplacements, signal receiving and transmitting stations, giant gravitational wave antennas, scientific research equipment, optical transmission rings, and more. Each space city maximizes its height, capable of accommodating up to 5 million people. The Earth Federation fleet already possesses over 4000 cruiser carrier groups, the largest of which is over 30 kilometers long and 8 kilometers wide. All these groups can carry approximately 10 billion people. Given that the current human population is about 90 billion, the fleet and space cities can practically accommodate all of humanity.

The Earth Federation fleet began gradually relocating some humans to space cities in 2057. Now, Gaia's message has accelerated the pace of the complete evacuation of Earth's humans to space cities and warships.

A scene of bustling activity unfolded. Humans from various regions of Earth were being transported to space cities and warships via various means: some by light teleportation, some by spaceships, and some by transport ships. Resources needed for humanity's future were being mined and transported to these spaces as much as possible. Various plant seeds, plant and animal genetic maps, and the DNA and consciousness of all humanity were stored in specific locations within the space cities. Of course, some were unwilling to leave Earth. The Earth Federation Fleet Command ordered that those who refused to evacuate would have their original consciousness completely erased, neither retained nor replicated. Thus, some of these individuals left Earth, while many more remained, awaiting the apocalypse.

In any case, the human evacuation was completed three years after Gaia's message.

On January 1, 2071 AD, 18 enormous space cities, escorted by a fleet of over 4000 cruiser motherships, embarked on a grand journey away from the sun. Although warships could reach 95% of the speed of light through planetary gravitational acceleration, or even 60% without it, the sheer size of the space cities prevented them from accelerating to such high speeds. Considering comfort and safety, all warships and space cities proceeded at approximately 10% of the speed of light. Based on this calculation, they were expected to reach the vicinity of the "light speed barrier" in about 110 days.

Space City 1, the Federal Academy of Sciences of Earth, before departing Earth orbit.

"Dean Zhou, how is the installation and commissioning of the solar collider going?" Commander-in-Chief Eisen asked on the screen.

“Commander-in-Chief, everything has been deployed and debugged. The rest will be handled by artificial intelligence. Please remember, only the two of us have the authority to remotely start the collider. However, if we all reach the vicinity of the barrier, even if the electromagnetic waves are launched immediately, it will take about 11 days to reach the sun. I think this will give Gaia time to sabotage the plan, so I volunteer to stay and control the collider.” Zhou Yuan’s tone was very firm.

"Do you know why humanity on Earth has achieved such tremendous progress in about 50 years? Look at those massive space cities, those warships brimming with advanced technology." Eisen didn't argue, but asked Zhou Yuan in a rhetorical tone, "It's you, it's technology. Without you, we don't know where on Earth we'd still be struggling." Eisen almost roared, "So, this is something I should do, not you." Eisen then calmed down.

"Commander-in-Chief, whoever it is, everyone is indispensable. We don't need to argue anymore, let 'Light Coins' decide. The winner stays, how about that?"

"Ok."

"Nana, please toss the 'Light Coin'. Commander-in-Chief, when the 'Light Coin' lands on the table, will the Earth side or the warship side be facing up?"

"I guess the Earth is facing up."

"Then I can only guess that the warship is facing up."

Nana held a coin-like object emitting a golden halo and tossed it onto the table from a distance. The 'light coin' spun rapidly in the air in an almost parabolic arc. Due to its extremely fast rotation, it almost became a golden ball of light, spinning silently on the table like a top. After 15 minutes, the rotation speed gradually decreased, and it regained its golden halo (Nana, you've got some real strength!). Four minutes later, the 'light coin' wobbled like it was drunk and finally collapsed.

Eisen stared at the 'light coin' without saying a word. After a long while, he finally said quietly, "Okay, I wish you good luck. I'm glad we've been partners for so many years."

"Thank you. Yes, I'm almost 85 years old, it's time for the younger generation to take over. Commander-in-Chief, I strongly recommend Academician Civilization to succeed me, I think he is very capable of the position of Dean. I hope the Earth Federation Fleet will give him and the Academy of Sciences their full support."

"That's for sure. It seems I have to step down. The vast world outside belongs to the young; our era should come to an end."

"I just sent you a photon file. Please read it after we separate."

"Okay, see you in the next life."

"Goodbye."

Thus, a vast fleet of over 18 million warships of various types and 180 enormous space cities turned their backs on the sun and headed towards Mars, embarking on a long journey. More than 100 advanced unmanned warships escorted a single spaceship, rapidly separating from the main force and heading towards the sun, embarking on a one-way trip.

"One day, the old calendar will end and the new calendar will begin. I have come, sun of supreme glory."