Did the world end today?

Chapter 427 Fourth Floor
After leaving the temporary meeting room, Lin Xu, led by Wu You, walked toward the "Kunlun Mountain" flagship, which was moored in the distance.

Unlike its rugged beauty when it first set sail, the Kunlun Mountain has now completely changed its appearance.

It cannot be described as "exquisite," but the metallic texture on its surface, which has undergone a one-time precision treatment, still demonstrates its remarkable "orderliness."

Lin Xu once heard a saying that anything beautiful must be powerful.

If we follow this logic, the flagship in front of us must be excessively powerful.
-
that's the truth.

According to Wu You, it only takes 10 minutes to travel 11,000 kilometers from takeoff to landing.

Based on this speed, the flagship's speed must be at least Mach 75 or higher.

If acceleration and deceleration are performed in a "normal" manner, the enormous G-force generated during both acceleration and deceleration would be enough to crush everyone in the flagship cabin into a pulp.

But it seems that the crew of the flagship had no concerns about this.

Lin Xu walked up the open gangway onto the ship and made his way to the reception room inside.

With no staff available, Wu You's deputy temporarily took on the responsibility of receiving guests.

"Hello, Mr. Lin Xu."

"My name is He Chen, you can just call me Xiao He."

"Hello."

Lin Xu nodded slightly.

The other person was wearing a protective suit similar to Wu You's—without any fancy decorations, but the suit was designed to be extremely simple and neat. From Lin Xu's perspective, it wouldn't look out of place even if it were worn as a formal "formal dress."

This might also be one way.
order?

Lin Xu had gained some new understanding of the culture of that world.

His eyes scanned the surroundings, and Qin Feng, Qi Yuan, and the other security personnel who were protecting him closely behind him were naturally also very curious.

However, compared to Lin Xu, who was somewhat "aloof," Qin Feng was completely unconcerned and carefree.

He paced back and forth in the reception room, then, as if he had discovered something new, suddenly shouted:
"Hey, you guys have this kind of thing??"

Everyone's attention was drawn to him, and the direction he was pointing was a bottle of old wine that looked to be quite vintage.

"Those are my personal belongings."

Wu You smiled and replied:
"I originally planned to bring this bottle of wine over there as a celebration drink, but I never had the chance."

"On the way back, I originally planned to use this bottle of wine to send off the other world, but President Jiang—President Jiang Xingye—she told me that sending off the dead with wine is for the dead, and they are not yet dead."

"So, I brought this bottle of wine back with me."

"However, if you would allow me, I would still like to take this bottle of wine with me."

"Although it has acquired considerable research value after traversing two worlds."

"but"

"It's ok."

Lin Xu waved his hand and said:

"Take it back and drink it with your family."

"Thank you."

Wu You responded with a smile, while Lin Xu said with a hint of teasing:
"Don't be too careful, as if we're some kind of heartless person."

"Because rules are rules."

Wu You answered casually, and at that moment, his deputy He Chen had already brought up the brewed tea.

According to them, this is a cup of sweet tea rich in all the "elements of order" that the human body needs.

The teacup was filled to the brim with tea, with only a thin line between the cup and the rim.

When Lin Xu took it, he even had a thought—had they completely abandoned the etiquette of "filling the wine glass halfway and the teacup halfway"?

But he soon discovered that things were not like that.

No matter what angle he tilted the teacup, the water inside remained basically stable.

Only when he lifts the teacup and tilts it at an angle exceeding a certain threshold will the tea flow down as if it has crossed an invisible dam.

"This is."

He looked at Wu You with a puzzled expression, and the latter immediately replied:

"A disposable cup made with a high dielectric constant coating - essentially no different from brushing a layer of asphalt or something similar directly onto the rim of the cup, only made cleaner."

"It's a small invention, but it's really amazing when you see it for the first time."

"It's really amazing."

Lin Xu nodded thoughtfully.

The technical barrier to this thing is indeed not high, but using this technology to make disposable cups still carries a bit of a "luxury" feel to it.

Before he could even swallow the slightly sweet tea, Wu You, standing opposite him, had already made all the takeoff arrangements.

He gave Lin Xu a questioning look, and only after Lin Xu nodded did he give the order:

"Preparing to establish a gravity tunnel, takeoff in 1 minute."

As soon as he finished speaking, Qin Feng and Qi Yuan subconsciously walked to the empty seats in the reception room, but Lin Xu stood up.

joke!

How can I show weakness at a time like this?
If a flagship that can travel 12,000 kilometers in 10 minutes using a gravity tunnel can't even take off smoothly, then it might as well just be smashed.

Sure enough, after the final takeoff command was given, the flagship began to ascend silently, yet at a speed so fast that it was impossible for anyone to even react.

In just a moment, when Lin Xu looked down at the ground through the holographic projection in front of him again, he realized that he had risen to an altitude of 10,000 meters.

this speed
Even more terrifying than Mach 75!
Seemingly sensing his question, Wu You explained:

"It's not our ship that's moving, it's 'space' itself that's moving."

"We don't experience any acceleration; we just keep squeezing the space behind us."

"That's why such a passage is called a 'gravity tunnel'."

"clear."

Lin Xu nodded.

He didn't really understand.

Nonsense, in all the worlds he's visited, not a single one has ever developed such technology.

This is his first time experiencing this, okay?

But honestly, this first time was really uninspiring.

He had only casually chatted with Wu You about the principles of gravity tunnels when the journey was already halfway over, and the Kunlun Mountain flagship had entered the deceleration and descent phase.

"So fast?!"

Looking down at the faintly visible city of Jinling, Lin Xu asked in astonishment:
"Shall we land directly in Jinling City?"

"Then it would probably be shot down directly by the air defense forces there."

Wu You replied:
"None of our ships are equipped with any offensive or defensive weapons—because we have no enemies in space, so we don't need such things."

"This ship is very sturdy in higher dimensions, but even a single anti-aircraft gun can easily damage its hull."

"So you haven't mastered the technology of strong interaction materials yet?"

Lin Xu pressed on, but Wu You shook his head and replied:

"That kind of thing means nothing to us."

"We haven't found any technical path that requires such materials yet—of course, if there are application scenarios later, it won't be difficult to develop them."

"We brought a lot of technology, equipment and materials, or more accurately, we brought a solution."

"Once this solution is applied, many of the world's problems will be solved."

After Wu You finished speaking, Lin Xu immediately asked:
"So, what exactly did you bring?"

"Before boarding the ship, you said you would show me everything you brought."

"But what I'm seeing now is just the tip of the iceberg, isn't it?"

"Yes."

While issuing instructions to the artificial intelligence system to identify the identities of the air force and air defense forces and prepare for landing, Wu You turned to Lin Xu and replied:

"I was indeed planning to use these 10 minutes to give you a brief introduction, but..."

He looked at Qin Feng and said, "But our plans have indeed been disrupted."

"What do you mean?"

Qin Feng's eyes widened.

"Is it my fault?"

"I was just curious about one of your bottles of wine! Is that a problem?"

"Besides, ten minutes, just ten minutes, is that enough time to introduce anything?"

"I do not blame you."

Wu You sighed.

"The plan has been disrupted, that's a fact."

"Ten minutes would have been enough to complete the introduction—but that's not important."

"I hope you can understand that this is a consequence of a highly ordered culture and ideology."

"We outsiders are thinking about our own homeland, so we haven't fully integrated yet. If we were to actually interact with the natives of that world, I think you would feel even more uncomfortable."

I don't understand.

Qin Feng rolled his eyes.

"So your brilliant culture is about turning people into machines?"

"of course not."

Wu You denied it:
"Humans are never machines, but in many things, the other world is indeed more organized."

"Of course, this is not solely due to purely cultural factors."

"This is the result of the combined effect of multiple driving forces."

"First, the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence has enabled highly refined schedules. Then, medical and biological sciences have made great strides, increasing human physical strength, intelligence, and energy levels several times higher than those of people in this era. Next, there is a highly stressful social atmosphere that makes everyone live in a state of urgency."

"Finally, and most importantly, a high degree of order can be addictive."

"We have found that order seems to be the most basic human need, but for thousands of years we have never really found the right way to return to order."

"so."

Wu You didn't finish his sentence, but Lin Xu already understood what he meant.

Order and discipline are like an "imprint" that has seeped into their very bones.

They had adapted to that world, and now they were trying to adapt to this old one.

"it does not matter."

Lin Xu waved his hand.

"take it easy."

Should we gradually adapt to disorder, or gradually adapt to order?

Lin Xu himself didn't know, so he didn't say anything.

So is pure order really right?
Something just doesn't feel right.

Is it because we don't understand it deeply enough?
should be.

After all, Wu You and his group were completely different from the "victims of totalitarian order" that he had previously known.

At this time, the Kunlun had already passed the landing application and completed its landing at the Nanjing Space Launch Center.

Just as it had left two days earlier, it landed gracefully in the spot that was rightfully its.

When Lin Xu stepped out of the cabin, the fully armed ground crew had already surrounded the flagship.

"take it easy."

He patted Wu You on the shoulder.

"This is just normal procedure."

"I know."

Wu You showed no displeasure.

"This is part of the rules."

He smiled and said:

"We had anticipated that we might face strict checks, or even difficulties and malice, upon our return."

"But we are ready."

"This place is still home for us."

“If we, from another world, can trust this family, then what can’t we trust?”

indeed.

At least I can assure you with my own hands that this country has absolutely no ill intentions towards you.

Lin Xu led Wu You to the pre-arranged car. After getting in, without any explanation, the car drove in the predetermined direction.

"Okay, it's a 40-minute drive from here to your house."

"Now you can have a good talk with me about the things you brought back."

"of course."

Wu You adjusted his posture slightly and then replied:
"As I said, what we brought back was a solution."

"A solution that includes four levels and many key elements."

"These four levels are: the foundational level, the empowerment level, the leapfrog level, and the strategic level."

"Among them, the core objective of the basic layer is to resolve the most fundamental contradiction between survival and resource scarcity. The two most critical technologies it contains are negative energy fusion miniaturization technology and atomic precision manufacturing platform technology."

"And the core objective of the empowerment layer is core strengthening, it..."

"and many more."

Lin Xu raised his hand to interrupt Wu You.

"Let's start with the first level."

"I can understand miniaturization of negative energy fusion, but an atomic-precision manufacturing platform? What is that?"

"Molecular assembly machine".

Wu You replied:
"In many cases, it is described as a 'black box'."

"But in reality, its technological level is actually the lowest of all technologies."

"Because it doesn't involve higher dimensions at all."

"It simply takes the inherent low-dimensional technology to its extreme, and its efficiency even surpasses that of direct editing through 'boundaries'."

As for the specific technology...

Wu You slowly began his narration, while Lin Xu listened quietly.

The 40-minute drive passed in a flash, and by the time Wu You finished up, Lin Xu had fully grasped the essence of the technology.

indeed.

This thing isn't exactly advanced.
-
Of course, that's in comparison to the gravity control technology they've already mastered!
Consistent with the "void creation" function of boundary defects, this technology is also designed to achieve the most intuitive and efficient generation of ordered matter.

However, the solution it used was rather clumsy.

It's just stacking blocks.

Compared to boundary defects, it's like a fast-moving carriage pulled by a magnificent horse.

It may be useful in a specific period, but it will eventually be phased out.
-
But it's just a temporary measure anyway, it's enough for now!
Lin Xu nodded in satisfaction, and at that moment, the convoy had already stopped in front of a residential area.

"You've arrived at your home."

Lin Xu asked:
"Should we go in now, or should we give you some time to cool off?"

"Go in now."

Wu You answered without hesitation.

"My daughter is waiting for me."

(End of this chapter)