Did the world end today?

Chapter 322 The Lonely Star

"There are definitely no aliens in this world. If there were aliens, they would have discovered us long ago."

"But we haven't seen any aliens yet, which means that we're the only ones in this universe."

Are we the only ones?

Ruoruo scratched her head unconsciously.

The wig on her head was a little crooked, so Ren Xiaoxiao reached out and straightened it for her. Noticing her disappointed expression, she added:

"It's not necessarily true that it doesn't exist."

"But what kind of aliens are we talking about depends on how we define them."

"If any living being that can move is considered an alien, then there must be many."

"But if only beings with intelligence like us are considered aliens, then that's not necessarily the case."

"This universe has a super, super large filter."

Do you know what a filter is?

Ruoruo shook her head.

"Do you know about the Fermi Paradox?"

Ruoruo still shook her head.

"do not know."

She fiddled with the binoculars Ren Xiaoxiao had brought, looking at the distant spaceship.

Ren Xiaoxiao originally wanted to teach her how to adjust and how to make it round, but she suddenly realized something when she reached out her hand.

She only has one eye.
"This is for adjusting the focus. You can zoom in and out by rotating this!"

"If the image is blurry, try turning this smaller scroll wheel. What do you see?"

"The astronauts have gone inside!"

Ruoruo answered with a hint of excitement:
Why aren't they wearing spacesuits?

"Because they are not astronauts at all."

Ren Xiaoxiao tried to open her eyes wide, but without a telescope, she couldn't see any details from Star Travel No. 2 and could only look down at the live stream on her tablet.

She saw several uniformed staff members conducting final checks on the spaceship, and a huge polyhedral crystal was being sent into the cabin.

That must be the CKC crystal mentioned in the news, right?

Although it looks large, the truly effective part is only a small portion in the middle.
I heard it's less than a millimeter long?

Hmm... Can a crystal less than a millimeter in size really have a lot of energy?

Ren Xiaoxiao didn't know how she did it either.

"They're out again!"

Ruoruo shoved the binoculars back into Ren Xiaoxiao's hands.

"Look!"

Ren Xiaoxiao quickly took the binoculars.

What you see through a telescope is different from what you see on a live video stream.

Otherwise, why would anyone go through all that trouble to come here to see this?

You can watch live streams from home!
She carefully moved the telescope until all the staff had retreated back to the launch pad and climbed down from it before finally putting it down.

"It's about to launch."

"Right away?"

Ruoruo asked curiously:
"How much longer?"

"I don't know—maybe an hour, or an hour and a half?"

"Oh"

Ruoruo nodded and took out a bottle of mineral water from a small handbag she carried.

Do you want some water?

Ren Xiaoxiao unceremoniously unscrewed the water bottle and poured a few mouthfuls of water into her mouth. The water spilled onto her chest and soaked her clothes, so she quickly took out a tissue from her bag to dry herself.

When she returned the water to Ruoruo, she saw that Ren Xiaoxiao's small bag contained many colorful items.

"what is that?"

"Thousand paper cranes".

Ruoruo answered in a low voice:
"These are origami cranes meant to be given to someone else."

"Was it given to someone else?"

Ren Xiaoxiao pointed to her bag and asked:
"Can I take a look?"

"can."

Ruoruo took the bag off her shoulder and handed it to Ren Xiaoxiao. Ren Xiaoxiao took out a paper crane from it and realized that the paper cranes were indeed made of folded paper.

The origami cranes I often see at home are made of crystal.

The paper cranes, folded from sticky notes, had names written on them. Ren Xiaoxiao looked at them one by one, and some of the paper cranes had other writing on them.

"...Okay...live on."

"The stars in the sky are me."

"Give this to Ruo."

She couldn't understand what the incomplete handwriting meant, so Ruoruo, who was sitting next to her, leaned closer and said:
"Ruoruo must live a good life."

"When you see the stars twinkling in the sky, it's because I'm winking at you."

"The gift for Ruoruo is located on a very far mountain. You can only pick it up after you recover from your illness."

Her voice was soft and gentle; Ren Xiaoxiao could tell it was a blessing written to her by someone else.

But it seems that those who wished her well are no longer here?
Is he her fellow patient?
Ren Xiaoxiao didn't dare to ask, but Ruoruo started talking about it herself.

"These uncles, aunts, brothers and sisters are all gone now."

"Among those who participated in the treatment with me, I am the only one who has recovered."

"They are either too sick, or the treatment is ineffective for them."

"But it's okay, no one will die from this disease anymore!"

"And they say that after people die, they become stars and live on in this world forever."

"Do you think they'll become stars, or aliens?"

"I do not know."

Ren Xiaoxiao shrugged.

"Your question is too difficult; I'm just a child myself."

"Why don't you go ask my dad? He might know."

".Forget it."

Ruoruo shook her head.

"It's okay, we'll find out later anyway."

"You'll know when you grow up."

"Oh," Ren Xiaoxiao put all the origami cranes back into her bag and returned the bag to Ruoruo.

"Even though turning into a star is a fairy tale, it's still pretty romantic."

"If we were truly the only ones in the universe, then this universe would be far too lonely."

Is the universe lonely?

Ruoruo asked, puzzled:
Is there life in the universe?

"do not know."

Ren Xiaoxiao pushed the tablet in front of Ruoruo.

"Look at this."

At this moment, on the tablet computer, the program host is introducing the mission of Star Travel One.

"StarTravel 1 will reach its maximum speed after a 16-hour flight, and then conduct its first uncontrolled negative energy fusion experiment at a distance of 780,000 kilometers from Earth."

"At that time, the energy generated by CKC crystal fusion will be emitted outward in the form of light radiation, and we will be able to observe the brightest artificial star ever seen from Earth."

"In terms of brightness alone, this star is even brighter than the plasma produced in the Lunar Surge experiment."

"At the same time, this will also be the brightest energy source ever created by humankind, and even by the entire universe civilization."

"The light it scatters, as well as the gravitational fluctuations generated by negative energy fusion, will leave an indelible mark on the universe."

"Based on the collected gravitational wave models, we may be able to take a solid step forward in the search for extraterrestrial life."

After the host finished speaking, the camera switched back to Star Travel 2, which was in the process of preparation.

The truss has begun to be recovered, and staff have begun to evacuate the launch site.

Ruoruo frowned and shook her head, honestly saying:

"I can't understand a word of it."

"Actually, I don't understand it either."

Ren Xiaoxiao sighed.

"But overall, it sounds very lonely."

"Think about it, we created a star, but this star has no counterparts."

"Other stars shine because of internal nuclear reactions and fusion, but this star shines because of 'negative energy'."

"It was never a normal star from the beginning; from its birth to its death, it may have only lasted a moment."

"But the light it emitted, and the traces it left behind, will exist forever in this universe."

Ren Xiaoxiao did not continue speaking.

She didn't know if Ruoruo could understand.

The two were about the same age, but she always felt that Ruoruo was a little slow-witted.
It's probably because of illness.

"So why did we create a star?"

"It seems they're trying to verify some technology, something like negative energy fusion technology."

Ren Xiaoxiao picked up the tablet, typed "CKC Fusion" into the search box, and videos from the Niliu account immediately popped up.

"Look at this."

The two huddled together watching the video, but Ruoruo became more and more confused.

Those things seem very, very far away from me.

But it seems so close.

While I was receiving treatment at the Institute of Physics, I heard the doctors and scientists talk about things like gravity and entropy increase.

Those things are clearly for treating illnesses, so how come they're related to spaceships now?

She couldn't figure it out, so she simply stopped thinking about it.

Time ticked by, and the launch process for Star Traveler 2 finally entered its final countdown.

The sun hung high in the sky, casting the spaceship's enormous shadow on the ground, like a mountain that had collapsed.

For some reason, Ruoruo suddenly felt a little nervous.

She reached into her bag and tightly grasped the origami cranes.

"It's about to launch!"

Ren Xiaoxiao began to speak:
"Look!"

She had already stood on the stool, and Ruoruo hesitated for a moment before carefully stepping onto it as well.

At that moment, everyone present stood up.

The countdown could be faintly heard.

"10."

"9."

"8."

"3."

"2."

"1!"

"Fire! Launch!"

In an instant, a huge flame shot into the air.

The powerful thrust from the engines propelled the spaceship upwards at breakneck speed, as scorching winds swept past and spread in all directions.

Ren Xiaoxiao stared mesmerized at the rising spaceship, even forgetting to take pictures.

Ruoruo frantically pulled out a thousand paper cranes from her bag and threw them into the air with all her might.

She had assumed that the origami cranes would fly into the sky with the strong wind.

But in reality, those heavy origami cranes were only carried upwards by the wind for a short distance before falling back down to her side.

It's as if they, too, are reluctant to leave.

But it's okay.

Ruoruo let out a long breath.

The "souls" of these origami cranes must have flown into space with this spaceship, right?

With them by my side, that lonely star probably won't seem so lonely anymore.
Sixteen hours later, in space 780,000 kilometers from Earth, the micro fusion reactor successfully completed its first CKC crystal fusion experiment as planned.

On this day, people all over the world watched the entire process of this star's birth and death through live television broadcasts.

The experiment was a complete success, and for the first time, mankind has achieved energy production using negative energy.

This unique and unprecedented star, in its own special way, has deeply engraved the evidence that humanity once "came" into the void of the universe.

It has no kind.

At least, scholars have never discovered any gravitational fluctuations similar to it.

This means that humans are very likely to be the pioneers on this path.

Even a lone traveler.

But this lonely star may one day in the future illuminate the entire universe.
-
But before that.

In another corner of the world, an even more significant experiment, one that must never be mentioned to the outside world, is underway.
(End of this chapter)