Did the world end today?

Chapter 387 Opening the Mountain

While Lin Xu and Jiang Xingye were discussing recent technological advancements and the upcoming "Big Bang," Bai Mo and Zhang Liming had already met up at the airport.

Their next destination was Lop Nur, and the project they were to undertake was obviously the so-called "limiter array".

Is your team ready?

As he walked towards the plane, Zhang Liming asked:
"This project is crucial. In terms of both scale and difficulty, it is no smaller or less challenging than the previous CKC fusion project."

"Moreover, our time is very limited."

"The white paper must be released simultaneously and then immediately disseminated."

"Can we handle going against the current?"

"rest assured."

Bai Mo, walking beside him, simply nodded slightly and didn't say much.

This performance gave Zhang Liming a strange sense of relief—he was more used to this kind of communication anyway.

If it's okay, it's okay; if it's not okay, it's not okay. There can be no ambiguity, and you can't say "it depends on the situation."

Dealing with people like this reduces internal friction and makes things much easier.

Thinking of this, a satisfied smile appeared on his face.

After settling into his seat, he asked curiously:
"Has this always been your style?"

"I mean, has this been your style since you started working?"

Bai Mo turned to Zhang Liming with a hint of doubt and asked in return:
"What do you mean?"

"Forehead"

Zhang Liming paused briefly, then explained:
"I just want to confirm whether your personality, or rather your style, has been influenced by higher dimensions."

"Actually, this question has always been questioned -- you see, everyone says that higher dimensions amplify a person's personality flaws and also strengthen certain personality traits."

“These characteristics are indeed very obvious in you.”

"But it seems that this effect doesn't work on everyone, right?"

"There haven't been any examples of it 'not working' so far."

After thinking for a moment, Bai Mo replied:

"Among the cases of high-dimensional experiencers we have so far, each person has shown varying degrees of personality enhancement."

"Of course, some are positive and some are negative."

"Whether it's positive or negative depends mainly on the inclinations of one's personality, so what exactly do you mean?"

Zhang Liming waved his hand and said:

"Nothing special, just chatting casually."

His words were clearly a perfunctory response, and Bai Mo was not about to let the matter drop.

She stared directly into Zhang Liming's eyes, who remained silent for a few seconds before finally giving in.

".All right."

"I wanted to test a possibility."

"Do you think it's possible that the so-called 'enhancement of personality traits' is not the effect of higher dimensions, but rather the effect of boundaries?"

What is the function of boundaries?
Bai Mo looked at Zhang Liming with confusion, but quickly realized what he meant.

边界
Indeed, without Qin Shizhong as the "initiator," the "mechanism" of the high-dimensional channel would most likely not have been questioned.

But here's the problem.

When Qin Shizhong encountered the "defects" of the boundary, he looked in the mirror.

Could the changes in other people's personality traits also have been caused by looking in the mirror without their awareness when crossing the boundary?

"I understand what you mean."

Bai Mo let out a soft breath, then asked:
"But what is the significance of this question? Do you think it is related to the problem of high-dimensional adaptability?"

"I am not sure."

Zhang Liming answered honestly:
"I can only say that I can vaguely sense the connection between the two."

"But I don't know the specific connection."

“I’m thinking that maybe I should try going into the higher-dimensional passage myself.”

"Only in this way can I find the answer."

"you??"

As soon as Zhang Liming finished speaking, Bai Mo felt a sense of foreboding.

She had already read Lin Xu's report on "another Zhang Liming," and the Zhang Liming of that world had indeed left a deep impression on her.

Madness, fanaticism, and ruthlessness.
very scary.

According to previous speculation, the reason he became so terrifying was most likely due to the influence of the high-dimensional channel.

But now, in his own Destiny Stone World, Zhang Liming actually proposed to actively enter a higher-dimensional channel?

This is no longer an adventure.

This is actually a rather irresponsible idea.

Before Zhang Liming could answer, she immediately spoke up:

“I will report your idea to the coordination team—and Lin Xu as well.”

"There's no need to be so sensitive, is there?"

Zhang Liming said, with a mix of laughter and tears:

"I'm just suggesting an idea; don't you think it's a perfectly logical idea?"

"In the end, everyone will enter a higher dimension."

"Moreover, in our overall plan, those of you who have entered higher-dimensional channels often occupy important positions."

“Many times, I even feel that without a ‘high-dimensional experience,’ it would be difficult for me to truly understand higher dimensions and to understand you.”

"If you hear the Tao in the morning, you will die in the evening."

"As a scholar, this kind of experience is incredibly appealing to me."

"Attracting attention is one thing, putting it into practice is another."

Bai Mo shook his head and said:

"As a top high-energy physicist, the value of your stable output is far greater than the value of your risky entry into higher-dimensional channels."

".I know."

Zhang Liming sighed.

The plane began to climb, and the loud noise inside the cabin caused the two men to fall silent simultaneously.

Zhang Liming did not speak again until the plane reached level flight.

This time, however, he did not dwell on the question of "whether or not to enter the higher-dimensional channel".

"So, you've always been this rational?"

Bai Mo turned to look at Zhang Liming, then replied:
"You've already asked this question once."

"Engineer Zhang, what exactly do you want to ask?"

"nothing."

Zhang Liming quickly waved his hand.

His gaze lingered on Bai Mo's face for a few seconds, and a smile involuntarily appeared on his lips.

For some reason, he always had a special feeling when he sat next to Bai Mo.
-
Of course, this feeling cannot be called "love at first sight".

Forget about love at first sight, it doesn't even qualify as "emotional flutter".

He just felt that perhaps this person was on the same wavelength as him in some ways. Perhaps this collaboration would be a good start?
Zhang Liming didn't say much, leaned back in his chair, and fell asleep.

Beside him, Bai Mo had a furrowed brow.

This inexplicable conversation left her somewhat bewildered.

What do you mean?
Is this someone trying to make amends with me?
Four hours later, the plane landed in Lop Nur.

The restraint device left over from the last experiment is still in use, but compared to the base that Lin Xu saw before, which could almost be described as being in its "early stages," Lop Nur has now completely changed.

Amidst billowing smoke and dust, numerous construction vehicles are continuously pouring high-grade concrete onto the ground, expanding the airport's boundaries.

Not far from the airport, several massive buildings have sprung up like suddenly rising mountains, forcefully blocking the sandstorms from the depths of the desert.

After boarding the off-road vehicle heading to the base, the staff member in charge of reception pointed to the base in the distance and introduced it to Zhang Liming and his companion:
"According to the original plan, this base should have covered an area of ​​about 16 square kilometers. It was just a small test base used to undertake limiter performance testing and time fragment stability testing."

"However, our base planning has been adjusted after the limiter was changed from 'single facility' to 'array'."

“In the eastern part of the original test base, we have planned a new area for the construction of limiter arrays, covering a total area of ​​64 square kilometers, with a length and width of 8 kilometers, for the deployment of circular limiter arrays.”

"The civil engineering work has already begun planning - in this regard, we plan to refer to the experience of the CKC fusion project."

"The knowledge transfer work will require coordination from the reverse flow project team."

"clear."

As soon as the staff member finished speaking, Bai Mo nodded immediately, then asked Zhang Liming:
"If the entire array area is completed and activated, does that mean that this 64-square-kilometer area will become a 'puzzle piece'?"

"No."

Zhang Liming shook his head, then replied:
“It’s not just the 64 square kilometers; theoretically, all areas within the constraint field of the limiter will become what we call ‘puzzle pieces’.”

"Based on the impact range of a single limiter, the actual coverage area should be about five times the area occupied by the limiter."

"That big?"

A look of surprise appeared on Bai Mo's face.

"Yes."

Zhang Liming shrugged, a bitter look on his face.

"That's why I told Lin Xu that this is a project so huge it's terrifying."

"We need to build countless similar test sites before we can fully decode the boundary."

"For the sake of convenience and rapid accessibility, most of these bases must be built on Earth."

"This is an unprecedented adventure—or you could say it's the limit of humanity's ability to 'destroy and rebuild'."

"From the past to the future, no project will be more all-or-nothing than the one we are currently undertaking."

"It was indeed a desperate gamble."

The staff member sitting in the passenger seat chimed in:

"But in fact, this is not the only project that is a desperate gamble."

"Essentially, it's a 'to be or not to be' choice."

“And we’ve made that choice before.”

"Did you?"

Zhang Liming was startled for a moment.

"When?"

The staff member did not answer directly, but instead pointed into the distance.

“There, at the very edge of our sight, was once another equally important base.”

"However, there are no above-ground buildings like this Base 021; most of the buildings are hidden underground."

"The conditions there are even worse."

"But it was under those harsh conditions that we developed our first atomic bomb."

At this point, Zhang Liming suddenly realized what was going on.

He nodded slightly, and after a moment's thought, said:
"If we make a horizontal comparison, then indeed, the crisis we faced back then was no smaller than it is now."

"Yes."

The staff member sighed but didn't reply.

A brief silence fell over the passengers in the carriage, but in that silence, everyone's thoughts drifted back to decades ago.

Honestly, compared to the enormous topic of "cosmic catastrophe," the struggle that took place here back then seems somewhat "insignificant."

After all, the so-called "great power rivalry" and the so-called "threat of war" are nothing more than trivial matters that have happened countless times within humankind.
-
But what if we set aside the "root cause" of the problem and only look at the consequences of the crisis?

In fact, whether it was decades ago or decades later, the crisis is the same.

If a newly formed nation cannot acquire nuclear weapons in a sufficiently short period of time, it will be firmly controlled by nuclear blackmail.

It will stifle all prospects for development and stifle all possibilities of "autonomy".

Its ultimate fate is either to gradually decline through silent compromise and be completely divided up using various "indirect" means.

Either they burn out in the explosion, are utterly destroyed in an unequal war, or are even wiped off the planet.

Therefore, those pioneers at that time were also prepared for a life-or-death situation.

Thinking about this, Zhang Liming seemed to have a sudden realization.

"So this problem is not our problem, but the problem of other countries that do not have such a history or such struggle experience."

"We don't need to convince ourselves, but rather we need to convince them?"

"K."

Bai Mo nodded slightly.

"We can never truly unify everyone's thoughts; conflict is inevitable."

"But at least now, we have more leverage to make them bow down."

That's why I think you shouldn't take the risk.

"You should be the person who knows the Limiter Project best now."

"You must have an overall view and get this project done in the shortest amount of time."

"I see."

Zhang Liming had just opened his mouth to answer when Bai Mo waved his hand, interrupting him.

"No, you probably don't fully understand yet."

"Do you know what the biggest problem the CKC fusion project faced when it was pushing forward its engineering white paper against the tide?"

“The biggest problem other countries face when undertaking similar projects is not personnel, technology, or equipment.”

"It's a matter of confidence."

“They didn’t believe that such a project could be completed in a short time, nor did they believe that we could succeed.”

"This is a very serious problem."

"Under such a trend of thinking, all pre-determined plans will be distorted."

"--Of course, they want us to succeed; they just can't believe that the time can be so short and the efficiency can be so high."

"It's a kind of inertia."

"Every man and every nation in this world faces a mountain."

"They need to move the mountain, but they don't know where to begin."

"And we are the only ones who truly have enough power."

"So, to convince them that mountains can be moved, we need to do more."

"We must split the mountain in front of them!"

(End of this chapter)