Those who face the wall, but are in the Nascent Soul stage.

Chapter 304 The Second Fleet of the Three-Body Problem (4k)

The scientific governor stood before the head of state, its thought membrane flashing rapidly, indicating that its mind was not at peace.

"Your Excellency, the curvature-driven technology has been successfully validated. Through the dynamic reconstruction of spacetime curvature, we have achieved the spacecraft's displacement within the distorted space bubble—the theoretical speed is the speed of light in a standard vacuum."

The leader stared at the miniature experimental spaceship encased in a curvature bubble in the model: "The cost."

Scientific Administrator: "When the warp drive starts, it flattens the spatial structure to a one-dimensional state, and this one-dimensional space will leave a permanent mark on the flight path."

The Science Administrator gave the Trisolaran leader a brief explanation of the working principle of the warp drive. The principle is very complex. The warp drive compresses the spacetime in front of the spaceship while expanding the spacetime behind the spaceship, forming a "warp bubble" around the spaceship.

The spaceship exists within a flat spacetime region inside the curvature bubble. It does not move relative to spacetime itself, but is "swept along" by the deformation of the curvature bubble. This is like pushing a box on a wrinkled carpet; the box doesn't need to move on its own, but simply changes the direction of the carpet's wrinkles to make it slide.

The warp drive circumvents the limitation in special relativity that objects cannot travel faster than the speed of light. What actually moves is the spacetime structure itself, not the spaceship itself. It also conforms to the description of spacetime curvature in general relativity and is the only known way for the Trisolaran civilization to achieve light-speed travel.

The Second Fleet Marshal interjected, "But this is the only option that can reach the solar system before the end of the mission in a short time. The First Fleet's antimatter engines have proven that this kind of low-speed space travel is not feasible. Once the First Fleet arrives, humanity, having broken the sophon blockade, will most likely achieve a technological explosion and become an existence on par with the Trisolaran civilization."

The Science Administrator added: "Warp drive enables a spaceship to reach extremely high speeds in a short period of time. The current warships of the Second Fleet, equipped with warp drives, can accelerate from rest to the speed of light within one Trisolaran time. The journey from the Trisolaran system to the solar system takes only four Earth years. The crew will hardly feel any inertial impact, but will experience a significant time dilation effect."

The Führer: "What is the fleet waiting for?"

The Scientific Administrator said, “Your Majesty, as I just said, when the spaceship travels at high speed driven by the warp bubble, it will leave permanent warp tracks in its path. These tracks are essentially regions where the speed of light in local space is reduced. The tracks will clearly mark the spaceship’s trajectory and origin, which will bring a devastating blow to the Trisolaran system.”

The leader said, "That sounds dangerous. Is there no way to recover from this warp track?"

The Scientific Administrator stated: "Once a warp drive is formed, it cannot be restored to its original state, and it may gradually spread over time, forming a larger area of ​​low light speed, further increasing the risk of exposing the location of civilizations. It's like the contrails left by human aircraft flying through the sky, which gradually spread out."

The head of state fell into thought.

The Second Fleet Commander said, “Based on this concern, although the Second Fleet has acquired warp drive technology through the Sophon and has already manufactured warp drives, it dares not enter light-speed travel mode because it is too close to the Trisolaran system. Although the First Fleet is already far away from the Trisolaran system, it lacks sufficient resource reserves. Even if the warp drive technology is transmitted back to the First Fleet, the First Fleet will not be able to build a warp drive.”

Second Fleet Commander: "Moreover, I recently had a conversation with the First Fleet Commander, and I felt... it wasn't very good."

The leader: "Don't you feel good?"

The Second Fleet Commander said, “I have a feeling that the First Fleet has entered a state of darkness. They seem to have learned to hide it from the Second Fleet. Although they are still heading towards the solar system, they are already a potential threat to the Trisolaran civilization.”

The leader said: "The First Fleet lacks the ability to travel at the speed of light, is resource-poor, suffers severe losses when traversing interstellar dust belts, and lacks a complete ecological cycle system, making it highly dependent on the mother civilization. If any fleet is to enter the Black Forest state and become an enemy of the Trisolaran civilization, it should be you, the Second Fleet, not the First Fleet."

The commander of the Second Fleet frankly admitted: "The Second Fleet is destined to go into deep space. From the moment it acquired warp drive technology, the Second Fleet and the Trisolaran civilization have been two independent civilizations."

Upon hearing this, the leader's mind went blank for a long time, then dimmed, indicating his grief.

The Science Administrator glanced at the sophon image of the Second Fleet Commander, then at the President beside him, and began to comfort him: "President, there is no need to be sad. Civilization is always like this. The Second Fleet is still an extension of the Trisolaran civilization. At least, from this moment on, the Trisolaran civilization no longer needs to worry about being completely destroyed."

The commander of the Second Fleet also stated his position: "At least until the solar system is completely occupied, the Second Fleet is still willing to follow your command, Your Excellency."

Scientific Registry: "Let's not discuss these somber topics. Warp drive technology is now mature. Should we synchronize this technology with the First Fleet?"

Second Fleet Commander: "I object. I do not want the First Fleet to become a potential enemy of the Second Fleet in the future, and the First Fleet does not have the ability to analyze and apply warp drive technology."

The science official looked at the head of state.

The leader's thought membrane rippled again, like a drop of water falling into a dried-up sandstorm, stirring up faint ripples; it came back to life in its sorrowful mood.

"I agree. The First Fleet should acquire warp drive technology. Both fleets are children of the Trisolaran civilization, and I hope that both fleets can have a bright future."

The Second Fleet Commander vehemently objected: "Sir, this is a purely emotional decision. This should not be the answer given by the Trisolaran leader, especially since they seem to have learned to conceal things! This is a sign of a chain of suspicion, and I oppose this technology sharing!"

The leader said, "I am the leader of the Trisolarans, and I take full responsibility for all the decisions I have made."

Seeing the two people who were like oil and water, the scientific governor's mind membrane sighed repeatedly and hurriedly tried to comfort them.

"You two don't need to argue, especially the commander of the Second Fleet. You don't need to worry too much. Although the First Fleet will acquire warp drive technology, given its resource reserves and technical capabilities, it has almost no ability to manufacture warp drives."

After leaving the Trisolaran system, the Second Fleet will enter light-speed travel mode, which will still allow it to arrive in the solar system earlier than the First Fleet. At that time, the Second Fleet will still be able to control everything.

Seeing this, the commander of the Second Fleet calmed down.

Commander of the Second Fleet: "Once the Second Fleet has traveled a sufficient distance from the Trisolaran system, the fleet will immediately enter light-speed travel mode and head towards the solar system."

The science advisor cautioned: "Remember to slow down before entering the solar system. Not only should the Trisolaran system not be exposed, but the solar system, as our second home, should also not be exposed."

Second Fleet Commander: "I am aware of that."

The leader seemed unwilling to discuss the topic further. After a moment of silence, he suddenly asked, "What is the progress of the deployment of the Strong Interaction Force (HIF) probe array?"

“Just ask the First Fleet,” the Science Administrator said.

About a minute later, the sophon established a stable quantum communication channel, and the image of the First Fleet Commander appeared in another sophon.

The First Fleet Commander glanced at the Trisolaran leader, the Scientific Administrator, and the Second Fleet Commander, whose image was also displayed within the sophon, and wisely remained silent.

"How is the deployment of the strong interaction force detector array progressing?" the leader repeated the question.

First Fleet Commander: "All ten strong interaction probes have entered the solar system and are currently searching for attack angles. According to the intelligence of the Six-Dimensional Sophon, humanity will hold an interstellar parade above Jupiter's orbit. This is a great opportunity."

The Second Fleet Commander posed the question: "Since the Sophons withdrew from the Solar System, we have lost intelligence control over the Solar System Fleet. What was the outcome of their war with the Dinosaurs? Do you know?"

The First Fleet Commander: "The specific battle details are unclear, but the Solar System Fleet achieved final victory, swallowing the giant ring and entering the asteroid belt, becoming the fifth largest planet in the solar system. The war between humans and dragons ended in human victory." The Second Fleet Commander asked: "There must have been interference from a super-individual behind this. A super-individual's boarding maneuver on the giant ring is something the dinosaurs couldn't withstand. I know the Strong Interaction Detector can destroy humanity's fragile fleet, but could it kill that super-individual?"

First Fleet Commander: "I don't know, but the strong interaction force probe will try once. If it fails, then lock down and destroy all the star-class warships to avoid engaging the super-individuals, wait for the main force of the First Fleet to arrive, and then seek a way to kill the enemy."

The Second Fleet commander held the First Fleet in contempt: "Based on the super-individual's power growth curve, in another two hundred Earth years, the lagging First Fleet will be even less likely to kill the opponent. The First Fleet's existence has become meaningless. The Second Fleet will soon enter the light-speed travel stage. We will kill the super-individual before he enters the next stage and achieve complete occupation of the solar system."

Upon hearing this, the commander of the First Fleet seemed to want to explain something, but a voice from the outside world made him stop explaining, and his mental membrane fell silent.

Quantum communication with the First Fleet was quickly shut down.

Only three Trisolarans remained on the scene.

The leader said, "Even though humanity has lifted the technological blockade on sophons, there are already signs of threats to us in just five years. The strong interaction probe alone is not enough to be safe. There are too many variables in 200 Earth years. We need to deploy our fleet forces into the solar system as soon as possible. The First Fleet is clearly not up to the task."

The leader looked at the commander of the Second Fleet: "If we travel at light speed away from the Trisolaran system and slow down near the solar system, how long would it take the Second Fleet to reach the solar system?"

Second Fleet Commander: "It will take 20000 Trisolaran times, or about 20 Earth years."

The leader said, "Then speed things up. Whether the Second Fleet becomes independent or wants to become the Trisolaran civilization, I will not stop it. But before that, the Second Fleet must fulfill its final responsibility to the Trisolaran civilization."

Second Fleet Commander: "Good."

Before the Second Fleet Commander severed the Sophon link, the Science Administrator suddenly displayed a lot of information and called out to the Second Fleet Commander.

The Science Commander said, “The Second Fleet should make good use of the warp drive. If conventional weapons cannot kill the super-individual, you can try to use the warp drive on a large scale to flatten the spatial curvature of the target area infinitely, and reduce the speed of light in the target area to an extremely low level, such as below the third cosmic velocity of the solar system, 16.7 km/s, to form a low-speed black hole. This can effectively trap the super-individual.”

The Science Governor said, "Of course, similarly, a warp drive could be used to lock the solar system or the Trisolaran system into a low-light-speed black hole. If the speed of light in the galaxy is lower than the escape velocity of that region, then no matter or information can escape, which is equivalent to encasing the entire galaxy in an absolutely closed spacetime prison."

The Science Administrator: "This can effectively blockade a star system; it's an advanced defense mechanism, even capable of withstanding a Dark Forest attack, and serves as a safety declaration broadcast throughout the universe. Of course, this requires a large number of warp drive ships, and the Second Fleet's current number of warp drives is far from sufficient. In any case, I've already told you the method. If you encounter a desperate situation in the future, you can try doing this..."

The commander of the Second Fleet hesitated: "But if this happens, civilizations within the galaxy will forever lose their ability to travel between stars and will be trapped and die within their home galaxy."

Science Governor: "That's true, but it's much better than immediate destruction."

The Science Governor said, “I’m telling you this so you can prepare for the worst. In any case, the Second Fleet is already a child raised in the universe, so go ahead and do it without worrying about the Trisolaran system.”

The Science Governor said, "The head of state and I will bless you, children away from home."

...

8000 astronomical units away.

On the outer edge of the Trisolaran home star system, 0.12 light-years away from Trisolaris, 415 silver behemoths are arranged in a perfect triangular array, with the curvature engine ring devices on the surface of the ships emitting a faint blue light.

This is the Trisolaran Second Fleet, hidden in deep space and never detected by human telescopes. The reason why humans have not found any trace of the Second Fleet is that it did not fly in a straight line towards the solar system along with the First Fleet, but deviated from its course. In order to avoid revealing its location in the interstellar dust cloud, it even took a long detour.

At this moment, the Second Fleet is even farther from the solar system than the Trisolaran system itself.

Although the Second Fleet only has 415 ships, less than half of the First Fleet's 1000 ships, it is far inferior to the 4900 star-class warships of the human solar system fleet.

In terms of combat power, the Second Fleet could easily destroy the combined forces of the First Fleet and the Solar System Fleet.

This is a total of 415 light-speed spaceships.

Even at its peak, the Devouring Empire could be destroyed by a single light-speed spaceship using warp drive. A light-speed spaceship wouldn't even need to do anything; simply flying in front of the Devouring Ring and leaving a warp trail would be enough to destroy the entire ring, forcing it to disintegrate.

Yes, destroying the Great Ring only requires a light-speed spaceship.

It doesn't even need to make any offensive moves; it can destroy its opponent simply by passing by.

Destroying you is none of your business.

Whether it's cultivators or the solar system fleet, they are all utterly helpless against this power.

The Second Fleet Marshal firmly believed this.

At this moment, the marshal was conducting a final coordinate calibration inside the command ship, pulling up an image of the solar system:

[Attention all fleet members: We will continue our journey under conventional power for one year. Upon reaching the safe launch zone, we will then activate the warp drives to enter the light-speed travel phase. As we approach the solar system, the fleet must also decelerate in advance to exit the warp drive.]

The vice commander questioned, "Why not start it now? It would save a lot of travel time and allow us to reach the solar system within four Earth years and destroy the solar system fleet."

The Second Fleet Admiral shook his head: "0.12 light-years is still too close. If we activate curvature near our home planet, the trajectory will expose the location of our home system like a lighthouse. Similarly, activating it near our solar system will expose our solar system. Decelerating in advance is a necessary decision, sacrificing time for a safer world."

After the countdown reached zero, the vast fleet of 415 light-speed spaceships simultaneously emitted conventional propulsion exhaust plumes from their tails.

Under the silent gaze of the leader, the scientific governor, and all the citizens of Trisolaris, the fleet accelerated to 10% of the speed of light, as if igniting the void, and then maintained its cruising posture.

After a long year, the fleet arrived at the warp drive activation point.

At that time, the fleet commander will personally order the activation of the entire fleet's warp drives, thus commencing actual navigation.

The Second Fleet Marshal was already looking forward to the moment the light-speed engine would start. It would surely be the most wonderful moment, when the entire fleet would vanish in an instant, leaving only distorted afterimages of light. The flow of time inside the ship would drop drastically, and the stars outside the window would be stretched into dazzling bands of light.

Solar System, here we come!

(End of this chapter)