The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 1038 Epilogue – The Dream of Heaven – The Grand Finale
Inside the particle lab of the physics building at Monroe University, the air was thick with the smell of metal and insulating varnish. A massive particle accelerator, like a steel dragon, coiled in the center of the lab, its cooling pipes condensed with fine water droplets.

Luo Dingguo stood beside the accelerator, his gaze sweeping over the colossal machine that cost hundreds of millions of yuan to build. Its main body was a ring-shaped vacuum tube over ten meters in diameter, surrounded by superconducting coils connected to dozens of monitoring devices. In the center of the tube, a uniquely shaped device—Qian Heng's "quantum resonator"—was flashing a ghostly blue indicator light.

"Yes, yes, that's it!" Professor Tripp pointed excitedly at the quantum resonator, his blue eyes behind his gold-rimmed glasses gleaming with fervent light. "I knew there was quantum isolation between the two parallel worlds, and we had to use this kind of resonator to create a tunneling effect!"

He turned to Qian Heng, his voice booming and echoing in the laboratory: "This way, we can open a tunnel, and people can travel through it!"

Qian Heng—the physics graduate student at Tianjing University with black-rimmed glasses and messy hair—shaked his head: "No, it's not that simple." He pushed up his glasses, his voice calm to the point of being indifferent, "We've done experiments, and the maximum we can make is only this small a hole."

He gestured with his hand, indicating it was about the size of a washbasin.

"You can see the scenery of another parallel world through this hole, but you can't send any matter with rest mass through it."

Professor Tripp paused for a moment, then burst into laughter, patting Qian Heng hard on the shoulder: "If photons can pass through, matter can definitely pass through too! We just haven't found the right method yet!"

Qian Heng glanced at him expressionlessly: "It's not a matter of method, but of location." He paused, then turned his gaze to Luo Dingguo, "King Wu of Luo must have been exactly at a specific time-space coordinate back then, which is why he traveled through time. To recreate the time travel, we must find that precise point. However, where that precise point is depends on the research of historians."

Professor Tripp's eyes lit up, and he nodded repeatedly: "Yes, yes, yes! As long as we find that location, we can replicate Luo Yaoguo's time travel!" He waved his thick arms excitedly, "In that parallel world, there must also be a Professor Tripp—he would be America's greatest physicist!"

Luo Dingguo couldn't help but think to himself: Tripp in that world had no interest in physics. His interests were "trading" and making America great again.

Just then, a commotion suddenly broke out outside the laboratory.

"His Excellency the President has arrived!"

Professor Tripp immediately turned around, stood at attention, raised his right arm high, and shouted towards the laboratory door: "Hey! Oppa!"

The laboratory door opened, and a tall, slender man with light dark skin strode in. He wore a well-tailored dark blue suit, no tie, and a signature gentle smile on his face.

Opama, Head of State of the United African Republic.

Behind him followed a tall, blonde woman—Ivana Tripp, Professor Tripp's daughter and an associate professor in the Physics Department at Monroe University. She wore a white lab coat, her blonde hair pulled back in a neat bun, and her bright blue eyes were just like her father's, but her demeanor was even more aloof.

“Donald, my friend!” President Opama opened his arms and hugged Professor Tripp. “I heard from Ivana that you had returned from the United States and brought with you a device that can conduct time travel experiments, so I came here as soon as possible.”

His gaze turned to Hong Tianjue, and he smiled as he extended his hand: "Marquis, welcome."

Hong Tianjue bowed slightly: "Your Excellency, if all goes well, you will soon see a Monrovia in a world without King Luo Wu."

President Opama nodded, a hint of longing flashing in his eyes: "That must be the center of an independent and free African continent, completely free from colonial rule." He turned to Tripp, his voice firm, "We can begin."

Qian Heng silently walked to the control panel and began to debug the quantum resonator. The device resembled an enlarged gyroscope, with a ring structure made of superconductors at the center, surrounded by twelve miniature particle accelerators.

"Start the cooling system," Qian Heng said without looking up.

Ivana walked to the main control computer and quickly entered a series of commands. A low hum filled the laboratory, the accelerator's superconducting coils began to cool down, and frost quickly formed on the surface of the liquid nitrogen pipes.

"Particle injection is ready."

"The magnetic field is stable."

"Quantum resonator online."

Qian Heng's fingers flew across the keyboard, and complex data streams danced on the holographic projection screen. He checked the parameters one last time, then looked up at the observation room behind the bulletproof glass: "Everyone retreat to the safe zone."

Luo Dingguo followed the others to the observation room, watching the activity inside the laboratory through the thick bulletproof glass. Professor Tripp rubbed his hands excitedly, Hong Tianjue's gold-rimmed glasses were full of anticipation, and President Opama crossed his arms over his chest, his gaze focused.

"start up."

Qian Heng pressed the red button on the control panel.

In an instant, the particle accelerator roared deafeningly, and inside the ring-shaped tube, proton beams collided at near the speed of light. The ring structure at the center of the quantum resonator began to spin rapidly, faster and faster, until it became a blurry blue light.

The laboratory lights suddenly dimmed, and all the energy was concentrated on the accelerator. The air was thick with the smell of ozone, and Luo Dingguo could feel the stinging sensation of static electricity on his skin.

Then--

A blinding blue-white beam of light erupted from the center of the quantum resonator, striking the open space in the center of the laboratory. Wherever the beam passed, the air rippled like water, the light distorted, as if space itself had been torn apart. "Now!" Qian Heng shouted.

The beam of light suddenly contracted, condensing into a blue sphere about one meter in diameter. The surface of the sphere flowed like mercury, while a blurry image appeared inside—

A dirty street.

Garbage piled up like mountains, and sewage formed murky puddles on the potholed road. Several emaciated Black teenagers squatted in a corner, holding tin foil and a lighter—it looked like they were doing drugs! In the distance, several soldiers in tattered uniforms, carrying AK47s, strolled by, their guns casually pointed at passersby.

"Is this Monrovia from another world?" President Opama's voice trembled slightly.

Professor Tripp excitedly rushed to the bulletproof glass: "We did it! We've opened a passage between the two worlds!"

Luo Dingguo stared intently at the scene within the sphere of light. It was indeed Monrovia—the Monrovia he remembered, the capital of Liberia, one of the least developed countries in the world. The streets were lined with dilapidated tin shacks, their walls covered in graffiti-covered slogans. A emaciated child squatted by the roadside, his eyes listlessly gazing at the sky.

Suddenly, the images in the sphere of light moved, as if being pushed by an invisible hand, gliding forward along the street.

They saw a dilapidated grocery store with shattered windows and an empty interior. A faded poster hung on the wall next to the door, depicting a light-skinned Black man in a suit, with the words "YES WE CAN!" written below in English.

President Opama took a step back abruptly, as if struck by lightning.

The person on the poster—is himself.

Opama from another world—how did he govern his country? How did he end up like this in the United States of Africa?
There was dead silence in the laboratory.

The images within the sphere of light continued to move, revealing more heartbreaking scenes: long lines of patients outside hospitals, missing or damaged desks and chairs in schools, and rusty, abandoned ships at the harbor.
“This is Africa without the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom,” Head of State Opama murmured to himself, his voice so low it was almost inaudible.

Professor Tripp's excitement faded. He turned to look at Opama, opened his mouth, but said nothing.

Hong Tianjue pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses, his gaze behind the lenses unfathomable: "It seems that the arrival of King Luo Wu has changed more than just the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom."

Luo Dingguo silently observed all of this. He knew that the rise of the United States of Africa in this "Heavenly Kingdom" was largely due to the existence of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom—the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom did not construct a world of unipolar hegemony or bipolar competition, but rather a world of unipolar hegemony and multiple powers. Furthermore, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's status as a "unipolar hegemon" far surpassed that of the United States of America, leaving more room for the other powers to rise, thus creating a dynamic of competition and rivalry among multiple powers under a single superpower. Under this multi-power competition, the world's industrialization level far exceeded that of the unipolar world where the great powers were subjugated. This increased industrialization and multi-power competition also made it possible for semi-colonial countries like the United States of Africa to rise—the United States of America needed a truly capable African proxy, not a useless lackey; Red France, lacking colonies, was willing to export technology to the United States of Africa in exchange for raw materials; and the British Empire sought to win over the United States of Africa through investment, ultimately leading to its separation from the United States. While the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom would not interfere too much in African affairs, it hoped to have a powerful African nation as the "boss" of its African allies. This would make it easier for the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom to protect its commercial interests in Africa—if it encountered any troublesome African nations, its leader could deal with them!
Furthermore, the world under the rule of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom didn't have that many kind-hearted liberals.
Without the Taiping Rebellion, although African countries could nominally break free from colonization, a truly independent, autonomous, prosperous, and powerful Black nation like the United States of Africa would never have emerged. This is determined by the upper limit of a single superpower.

Qian Heng suddenly shouted, "The energy is unstable! The passage is about to close!"

The sphere of light began to shake violently, and the image distorted and warped. In the final moments before disappearing, everyone saw—

On the streets of Monrovia, inside the sphere of light, a Black teenager in a tattered T-shirt suddenly looked up and stared straight at them.

His eyes were empty and desperate, as if they pierced through time and space, meeting the gaze of everyone in the observation room.

Then--

"boom!"

The sphere of light exploded into countless blue specks, dissipating into the air. The laboratory lights came back on, the particle accelerator slowly stopped operating, leaving only the soft hum of the cooling system.

No one speaks.

President Opama stood rooted to the spot, his gaze still fixed on the place where the sphere of light had vanished. His signature smile was gone, replaced by a complex expression—shock, sorrow, and relief.
Finally, he took a deep breath and turned to Professor Tripp: "Donald, your research is valuable, but also very dangerous."

Professor Tripp, unusually, did not raise his voice in rebuttal, but simply nodded.

President Opama then looked at Hong Tianjue: "Marquis, I think we need to reconsider the 'Parallel World Project'."

Hong Tianjue nodded slightly: "Your Majesty is wise."

"That's enough for today." President Opama regained his composure and smiled again. "Ivana, arrange a car for me. I'm going back to the presidential palace."

He turned and walked towards the door, taking one last look at the empty space in the center of the laboratory before leaving, and said softly:

"Sometimes, knowing another possibility is not a good thing."

————The Grand Finale!

(End of this chapter)