Did the world end today?

Chapter 287 The Tunguska Explosion
Too late to intercept?!

Not a buddy?
If the interception fails, will that fragment of time actually fall to Earth and trigger an unstoppable explosion?
A mystery that has remained unsolved for over a century—could the root of it all lie with you?
Lin Xu stared at Jiang Xingye in disbelief and asked:
Did we cause this debris?

Jiang Xingye slowly shook his head and replied:
"We cannot be sure."

"Maybe, maybe not."

"But it's there, so we should deal with it."

"Otherwise, if the uncontrollable chain reaction triggered by the debris destroys the Earth in our current time, then the Earth in 100 years will no longer exist."

"Just as you saw in the Butterfly Plan, we always try to avoid interfering with the timeline that is functioning normally."

"Because we don't know if our team will still exist if the timeline changes."

"This is why we need to strictly control CTC technology—besides its huge energy consumption, more importantly, its reliability is really worrying."

"Of course, it makes no difference to you."

"Anyway, time resets every time you enter this world. If you don't see me here, you'll see me somewhere else."

"But it's different for our world as it is now."

"We must protect the achievements we have made as much as possible."

As Jiang Xingye finished speaking, Lin Xu let out a heavy sigh.

"clear."

So what do we do now?

"Use the Akubieri engine to fly over there, and then detonate that time fragment ahead of time?"

"Do not."

Jiang Xingye frowned, and after a moment's thought, said:
"That's too late."

"We are now 460 billion light-years away from Earth, and the spacecraft's energy reserves are severely insufficient."

"To be honest, now we can only watch."

Jiang Xingye paused at this point.

Then, with a slightly teasing tone, she added:

"At first I thought that even until the end of the world, such debris would not fall to Earth."

"I didn't expect that just a few minutes after I finished talking to you, you would be proven wrong."

"The probability is too low, isn't it?"

What do you mean?
And now you're blaming me?
Lin Xu looked at Jiang Xingye with a wry smile, and then said:

"This should be a predetermined event in the timeline, we just happened to be there - it has nothing to do with me."

"Of course I know, I was just joking."

Jiang Xingye nodded and said:

“Unlike when you travel to other worlds in a perpetual superposition, what we are doing using the Akubieri technology is actually ‘time travel’ in the true sense, rather than ‘world selection’.”

"Such time travel must conform to the Novikov principle of self-consistency."

"This is consistent with the results of the microscopic CTC experiments conducted by the Oxford team in 2020."

"As long as the adjustment of the particle to its past state always satisfies the initial conditions, there will be no paradox."

"So in reality, this was a result that was already predetermined."

"Yes."

Lin Xu breathed a sigh of relief.

The time paradox caused by the "Akubierui" technique has actually been rigorously explained in mathematics long ago.

Paradoxes are neither possible nor acceptable.

Even if time travel were possible, it could only be done under the premise of "not affecting the current timeline".

but.
wrong!

Lin Xu suddenly realized that everything they had done had actually affected the world!

If the time storm destroyed Kepler-1625a in 1908, how did future humans select it based on its "Earth-like" environment?

He looked at Jiang Xingye, and Jiang Xingye instantly understood what he meant.

"Things outside the light cone have no effect on causality."

She began to explain:

“Every time we choose a ‘testing site,’ we turn back time by at least 20 years.”

"In this way, there will be no disturbances from 20 years ago in the observable universe."

"Unless, it's a disturbance from a fragment of time."

“That is a different system and does not conflict with Novikov’s principle of self-consistency.”

Beyond the light cone
Lin Xu suddenly realized.

Therefore, the isolation experiments conducted by humans in this world are indeed isolation experiments in the true sense.

The entire experimental procedure was designed with utmost precision, and indeed, no paradoxes could be found.

Nearly perfect!

He silently memorized the entire process of this experiment, then looked up at the time.

46 minutes have passed since he entered this world.

He has 14 minutes left.

So what do we need to do now?

Lin Xu asked:
"Return to Kepler 1625a and retrieve the engineering debugging data for the limiter?"

"Do not."

Jiang Xingye immediately shook his head.

Then she began to explain:

"The time storm has made Kepler 1625 a forbidden zone; it's impossible for us to retrieve the data at this point in time."

"We need to go back to 2044, back to the point in time that truly belongs to us."

"Then, we need to retrieve the project information from that point in time."

"By then, the effects of the time storm should have gradually dissipated."

A pincer movement based on time.

Goodness, the humans in this world have far more fun than I have!

What kind of pincer movement is your own?
They are the ones who are!

He travels through time, experiments on his own, and recycles everything himself.
One-stop service!

Lin Xu was once again amazed by the extraordinary wisdom of humankind.

With the entire society fully mobilized, they truly unleashed unprecedented energy.

"Let's go then."

Lin Xu took a deep breath and then asked:
"So how are we going to get back?"

"What I mean is that, by using the Akubierre effect, we can easily achieve 'going back to the past'."

"But how do we travel to the future?"

"Just do the opposite: set the exit on another spaceship that is traveling faster than light."

Jiang Xingye gave a brief answer and then quickly operated the main control panel.

Subsequently, the early warning system, which had been placed near Earth in advance, received the instruction and began transmitting image signals to the spacecraft via the quantum communication system.

The optical imaging device pinpointed the Tunguska River region in Siberia.

There, a small fragment of time is falling toward the ground at an extremely fast speed.

Monitoring data shows that the fragment has entered a highly unstable state.

It is about to disintegrate.

next second.

"boom!"

A huge explosion sounded.

The mushroom cloud shot straight up to a height of 10,000 meters, resembling a nuclear explosion.

But unlike a nuclear explosion, Lin Xu clearly saw an explosion scene exactly the same as the one he had seen in his dream.

A beam of light shot into the sky, with a strange reflection.
Without a doubt, the so-called Tunguska event was caused by fragments of time.
Humans of this era cannot comprehend such an explosion.

But one day, they will be able to understand.

Lin Xu looked away from the holographic image.

The next second, darkness returned to the porthole.

Lin Xu suddenly felt a tremendous sense of dizziness, a dizziness that was extremely similar to the one he felt when he was about to leave the world of the bracelet.

But...it seems different?
At least, he's still in this world!

Lin Xu couldn't help but close his eyes tightly. When he opened them again, he was already above the Earth.

"Why so fast?"

Lin Xu was stunned.

Is a distance of 460 billion light-years really that fast?

"No."

Jiang Xingye shook his head and said:

“From an etheric perspective, we certainly couldn’t do it this fast.”

"But we have also traversed 140 years."

"One hundred and forty years is enough time for this universe to rotate a very long distance."

Ether theory.

The universe rotates.

Lin Xu once again realized the terrifying capabilities of humanity in this era.

They even considered this!
Time itself has become their tool for traversing space!

What incredibly precise calculations and powerful systems engineering capabilities that must require!

No wonder they were able to organize hundreds of experiments in such a short time.

but
With such experimental frequency and intensity.
Haven't all the resources on Earth been exhausted long ago?

It's even possible that most of the resources in the entire observable universe have already been exhausted.
This is the true meaning.
burnt out.

There are 5 minutes left.

Lin Xu stood up, wanting to see the world of 2044.

He wanted to see how different this world would be from the one he first entered, without the influence of the error correctors.

However, Jiang Xingye reached out and pressed him down.

"and many more."

"We need to wait for the airport to be fully unlocked."

"Airport unlocked?"

Lin Xu was baffled.

"Didn't they prepare in advance?"

How did they prepare in advance?

Jiang Xingye explained with a laugh:
"To them, we never left at all."

"We just started the Alcubery's engine and warmed it up on the spot."

"The aftershocks of the warp bubble haven't dissipated yet, and it's very dangerous outside the spaceship right now."

"Wait two minutes—how much time do you have left?"

"3 minutes."

Lin Xu replied helplessly:
"I was originally thinking of going to the ground to see the world in 2044—which is probably the farthest I can go. If I miss it, I'll have to wait several more cycles to see it again."

"But it seems like...there's no chance anymore?"

"I don't know when I'll be able to come back again, and the world will be different again in the next cycle."

"it does not matter."

Jiang Xingye replied:

"In your world, you still have time."

"But here with us, you have many worlds."

You'll see eventually.

"Perhaps you'll even see one."

"What about a world that has already survived the apocalypse?"

A sly smile played on her lips, but Lin Xu knew that her words were nothing more than a way of comforting herself.

As she said, there is still time in her own world.

Conversely, humanity in this world has run out of time.

They underestimated the engineering difficulty of the limiter, and the excessively long manufacturing and testing time severely slowed down the progress of the final product.

With only eight months left, it was impossible for them to complete the dimensional ascension.

The only option is to let Lin Xu take all the technology and information back to an earlier point in time to further accelerate the construction of the limiter.

Have they given up?
No, it should be said that they have accepted their fate.

In this round of "training", they have done everything they could.

It's time to move on to the next cultivation cycle.

Lin Xu looked at Jiang Xingye, a hint of sadness in his eyes.

After noticing his gaze, Jiang Xingye couldn't help but laugh.

What are you sad about?

"Don't make that face."

"Our journey has come to an end. In fact, we can see the end even before 2045."

So, go ahead and do your best.

"But seriously, do you need my help?"

"There are guns here. Do you need me to help you?"

Lin Xu hesitated for a second, then decisively shook his head and said:

"never mind."

"There are still eight months left, what if?"

"What if you can complete the manufacture of the limiter?"

"Let me leave naturally. Please protect me as much as possible for the next eight months."

"If I appear after this point in time next time, then it proves that you have succeeded."

"clear."

Jiang Xingye nodded solemnly.

At this point, the airport has been unlocked.

Lin Xu has one minute left.

He strode towards the spaceship's hatch, and the moment it opened, he stepped out.
-
What he saw was an unprecedented scene of prosperity.

Space elevator.

Countless space elevators climb up the Earth like vines, and these vines, along with the massive platform-like structures at their tops, have almost completely altered the shape of the Earth.

This is no longer the Earth I know.

Humanity's alterations to this planet have gone far beyond simply changing its topography and landforms.

They even altered the "structure" of the entire planet.

Or rather, they created a completely new planet!

A relieved smile appeared on Lin Xu's face.

Honestly, even though it was just one glance, that one glance was enough.

If humanity in this world were still stuck at the level of only being able to create a "floating city," then...
He really feels a bit disappointed in him.

But the answers that humanity has given in this world have clearly far exceeded his expectations.

"You've done enough."

Lin Xu turned to look at Jiang Xingye, intending to continue speaking.

But at that very instant, a light suddenly shone in some void in the distant universe.

next second.

The stars in the distance went out in swathes.

Lin Xu turned around in shock.

On the other end, at some unknown time, perhaps in the instant he turned his head.

That planet to which humanity has poured 20 years of effort.
Disappeared without a trace!

All that remained before him was emptiness.

Time Storm.

A thought suddenly flashed through Lin Xu's mind.

The failed limiter created by that error corrector
That storm was destined to span countless worlds.
Has it finally come?

(End of this chapter)