Cataclysm: Undead Dragons and Zero Empire

Chapter 104 The Road the Master Traveled

When the message was relayed back to the command center, Howard was in remote communication with Terrence.

After reading the report sent by Isaac, the battle-hardened general remained silent and turned to look at Terence on the communication screen.

The leader of the Death Faction remained in the Moon Temple. Upon hearing the news, he showed little surprise. Perhaps for believers, the power of the Lord was beyond the comprehension of mortal technology, and this outcome was entirely within his expectations.

"What do you think?" Howard asked. "The scientific community is now divided into two factions. One faction believes that we should first thoroughly understand the basic theories given by extraterrestrial civilizations, build a usable faster-than-light engine, master the navigation technology of natural hyperspace channels, and take it one step at a time."

"Another school of thought believes that we should focus our resources on studying the trails left by the Lord. As long as we can unravel its mysteries, humanity can leapfrog the long technological gap in one step."

Terence's fiery eyes flickered as he slowly spoke: "The Lord left this trail perhaps to guide humanity, but He never said that humanity could ascend to heaven in one step."

His voice carried a wisdom that comes with the passage of time: "A child who hasn't even learned to walk can't directly learn how to fly an airplane in the sky. We look up at the stars and yearn for the path the Lord has walked, but first we must learn to walk on our own."

Howard nodded. Terrence's words coincided with his own thoughts. He had seen too many battles lost because of being too eager for quick success, and too many endeavors ruined because of being too ambitious.

Human civilization has come this far not because of illusions, but because of the perseverance to take one step at a time in the harsh winter and the tenacity to grit one's teeth and move forward in desperate situations.

"So, you mean, we should take both paths at the same time?" Howard asked.

"That's right," Terence nodded. "We need to build humanity's own faster-than-light engine as quickly as possible, so we can truly leave this star system and see the outside world."

"At the same time, we must continue to study the trail left by the Lord. It is a treasure left to us by the Lord and a path that we must inevitably take in the future. Even if we cannot understand it now, even if we can only touch a little bit of it, we must persist in studying it. One day, mankind will understand the mystery in this light."

Howard gazed out the window at the starry sky, where the brilliant contrail still shone brightly in the deep space, so mysterious, so eternal.

He issued the top order, officially splitting the faster-than-light travel research project into two branches.

One branch, based on the theories and samples provided by Karen, developed the first practical faster-than-light engine for human civilization, enabling the utilization of natural hyperspace routes.

The other branch brings together the nation's top theoretical physicists and psionic scholars to continue studying the trail left by the Lord, while predicting that the results of the first branch's practice can be used to enrich this path that belongs to the future.

The moment the command was issued, humanity's journey into the stars officially began.

Based on the fundamental theories provided by Karen, the development of the first-generation faster-than-light engine progressed quite smoothly. With concentrated human and material resources and the tireless efforts of countless theoretical scholars and engineers, the first prototype was successfully produced, and the engine's stability was continuously improved through optimization and refinement.

At the same time, the mapping of the natural hyperspace channel has been completed. The characteristics and periodic patterns of the spatial flow within it have been thoroughly understood. It's like a navigator has been given a brand-new nautical chart, and all that's left is to build their own ship so they can set sail.

However, in contrast, the study of the trail left by the Lord has reached a bottleneck. Even when Terence, the apostle blessed by the Lord, went there in person, he could only use his psychic energy to cause a tiny spatial fluctuation.

"It is my incompetence that prevents me from comprehending the power of the Lord."

After several attempts, Terence gave up and instead had Isaac continue the research using physical methods.

Behind each failure, the scientific community is increasingly divided, with more and more scientists believing that humanity should temporarily abandon research on this route, and should not invest resources in this bottomless pit until it has fully mastered faster-than-light travel technology and established a complete interstellar industrial system.

"We are like a group of ancient people who are still using bronze tools who have found a crashed interstellar spaceship. At most, we can touch its outer shell, but we can't understand its principles by disassembling it."

This is the attitude of the scientific community towards the miracles left by God, which has been recognized by most theoretical scholars. After all, human civilization emerged from the apocalypse with a weak foundation, and continuing to invest in research on which there is no hope is itself a great risk.

Moreover, the first-generation faster-than-light engine has been successfully developed, and humanity will soon be able to leave the home star system. Only Isaac has never given up. He believes that giving up the study of the trail left by the Lord is to give up the future in which human civilization may make a leap forward.

He believes that, based on the information brought by Karen, the technology of using natural hyperspace channels is nothing more than commonplace in interstellar society, a theory that must be mastered to enter interstellar society. Even if human civilization mastered this technology, it would only be catching up with the passing grade of interstellar civilization. The trail left by the Lord contains a more advanced faster-than-light travel technology.

Isaac proposed an active experiment: to build a ring structure around the entire outer edge of the parent galaxy, with countless pipe-like acceleration nodes evenly distributed in orbit, each node far apart, using the vacuum of the space environment to form a super ring particle accelerator.

"This is the plan I designed," Isaac excitedly reported to Terrence and Howard. "Our passive observation can only see the surface phenomena of the tracks left by the master, just like when we stand on the shore and look at the river, we can only see the surging waves, but we can't find out what kind of turbulence and eddies are at the bottom of the river."

Pointing to the design drawings, he explained his vision in detail: "This accelerator is different from the particle colliders we build on the ground. It does not need to operate in a sealed pipe, nor does it need to make two beams of particles collide. Its only function is to continuously accelerate high-energy particles in orbit around the galaxy, allowing the particles to carry the highest energy level that we can currently achieve."

"Ultimately, these high-energy particles, accelerated to the extreme, will collide with the track left by the master, and we will be able to try to observe the changes from it."

This idea might be considered blatant blasphemy by divine sorcerers, but it is acceptable to magicians who seek the truth.

Howard looked at the design proposal and feasibility report submitted by Isaac. He was not a scientist and could not understand those complicated formulas and theories, but he could understand the grand scale of the project. Then he asked Terence about the question of faith.

"Do you think we should do this?" Terence asked rhetorically.

"From a soldier's perspective, I think it's worth a try," Howard said frankly, "provided that such a rash move will not anger the dragon and bring disaster to mankind."

Terence gazed silently at the towering dragon bone statue in the temple. Theoretically speaking, using high-energy particles to collide with the miracles left by the Lord would undoubtedly be a great disrespect in popular belief.

However, he knew very well that the Lord never wanted humanity to be just a believer who could only pray. From the words He exchanged with Terence, he could see that the Lord wanted humanity to grow.

"I cannot make this decision," Terence said, ending his silence. "Only the will of God can decide."

He solemnly said to Howard, "I will pray to the Lord here and ask for His will. If the Lord grants it, then mankind can go ahead and do it; otherwise, this idea will never be put into practice."

Howard nodded, knowing this was the only viable option. Terence then locked himself in the temple, while the priests solemnly prayed outside, asking for the Lord's mercy for the future of humanity.

The entire civilization awaits the Lord's response.

"Most High, Most Sovereign, Most Powerful Father, Your devout servant Terence prays to you."

"Your people, in exploring the paths you left behind, have fallen into confusion and distress. We long to understand your grace and to embark on the path you opened for us, but we have never been able to enter."

"Among your people, wise individuals have proposed an idea: to use accelerators orbiting stars to accelerate high-energy particles, touch the tracks you left behind, and explore the mysteries of space through experimentation."

"I am terrified and dare not profane your miracles. I can only implore you to bestow your will and guide your people in the right direction."

That gentle yet grand will descended once more, and Lin Zimo said to Terence, "The reason I left this trail is to give back to human civilization."

"The truth of the universe can never be understood by observing from afar; to learn how to navigate, one must first touch the water with one's own hands."

"You are free to study this route as you see fit, to explore and understand it in your own way. Success or failure is your own choice."

"I make a wish that humanity will be able to freely navigate and explore the universe in the future."

That vast will slowly dissipated, but the flames in the statue's eye sockets continued to burn quietly, as if the Lord's gaze was always watching over this civilization.

Terence lay on the ground, not getting up for a long time.

He walked out of the temple, carrying a divine decree from the Lord.

The Lord's approval not only permitted this experiment, but also gave human civilization the greatest encouragement and expectation.

Howard immediately issued the highest order, and the Deep Space Circular Particle Accelerator project was officially launched. The entire civilization was mobilized once again, heading to the cold, desolate frontier of the galaxy.

Produce