Chapter 486: Fleeing with Trisolaris, Faster-Than-Light, Dark Domain!
"Since lightspeed reduction strikes have already become quite common in the Trisolaran Universe, and the Trisolaran fleet itself is rather limited in capability, they cannot achieve large-scale space warping. They can only travel at one-tenth the speed of light."
"In order to prevent Earth's civilization from undergoing a technological explosion before the Trisolaran fleet arrives, the Trisolarans spent massive resources creating a powerful weapon—the sophon."
As his words fell, Li Ang began to explain this extremely peculiar technological creation in detail.
Sophons were created by the Trisolarans by unfolding protons into two dimensions from eleven-dimensional space, etching them into supercomputers, and then folding them back into higher dimensions, forming microscopic particle devices with artificial intelligence.
Through quantum entanglement, sophons could achieve instantaneous super-distance communication, transmitting information to Trisolaris at any time.
If the Universal Megacorp could also acquire this technology, it would gain an excellent surveillance and communications device.
Of course, sophons were far from the only piece of technology Li Ang wanted. The Singer Civilization's dimensional-strike two-dimensional foil, and the pocket-universe technologies of other god-tier civilizations—he wanted them all.
But to obtain such technological points from these civilizations inevitably meant clashing with them; a brutal war would be unavoidable.
Whether it was the Trisolaran sophon or the Singers' two-dimensional foil, Li Ang knew there was no chance of obtaining such technologies through negotiation.
Unless you beat them into submission, they would never give in.
Still, Li Ang did not want to engage in an all-out, devastating war with the Trisolarans, because neither side was yet at the brink of life-or-death annihilation.
What the Trisolarans needed was simply a stable home. And if there was one thing the Megacorp never lacked, it was new homes. What those higher civilizations wanted, however, was raw universal matter itself!
Between the Megacorp and the Trisolarans, there was no fundamental conflict of interest. The real mortal enemies were those old monsters seizing matter to forge their pocket universes.
If he wanted to make the Trisolarans bow without resorting to extinction-class war methods, the best way was to give them a choice.
And as for what that choice would be, Li Ang already had a concrete plan in mind.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I intend to send people to the Trisolaran system, install planetary engines on Trisolaris, and tow that planet to our solar system."
Li Ang's proposal was not mere fantasy.
Half a century ago, the Megacorp had already mastered the technology to make planets go wandering. In the Halo Universe, even star-sized Ark megastructures had been relocated into the Prime Universe.
All the more so for a tiny little planet like Trisolaris.
After all, even Li Ang's own mobile platform was essentially a moving planet. No one knew better than the Megacorp how to make a planet roam freely across the cosmos.
Yet the plan came with several obstacles—namely, time and execution difficulty.
The three stars of the Trisolaran system exerted massive gravitational forces, with unpredictable orbital patterns. For the Megacorp to extract Trisolaris from that environment would be like a scruffy kid trying to carry off a girl in front of her father and two older brothers.
But the most urgent issue wasn't difficulty—it was time.
The speed of light in the Trisolaran Universe was forcibly restricted, meaning that no warp-drive functions could operate. Completing such an engineering feat in a short time was absolutely impossible.
When Alt Cunningham raised these two challenges, Li Ang nodded in agreement. Of course he had thought of them, but even so, the Trisolarans had no choice but to accept the plan.
Though the Megacorp could not achieve faster-than-light travel in the Trisolaran Universe, it could still manage near-light-speed voyages.
One round trip from the solar system to Trisolaris, plus the engineering time in between—at most twenty or thirty years, a single generation's span.
Li Ang did not believe the Trisolarans lacked that much patience.
But for them to accept the plan, a show of strength was needed—a real battle with the Trisolarans, to establish authority.
There was no way around it: dignity and survival always had to be earned with power. To make the Trisolarans yield, the Megacorp had to demonstrate its might.
"In fact, the Trisolarans once gave humans a chance. They used a virtual 'Trisolaran Game,' letting Earth's people search for solutions to the three-body problem."
"Many participated, mostly Earth's elites and high-IQ individuals. Yet after countless attempts, they failed to find an effective solution."
"The Trisolarans launched their invasion of Earth in despair. From Earth's perspective, we can denounce their cruelty and treachery. But from the perspective of civilization's survival, their actions are not incomprehensible."
Li Ang told his executives these things not out of empathy for the Trisolarans, but to ensure they understood the true situation of the Trisolaran Universe.
Most of humanity in this universe was nothing but troublemakers. People like Zhang Beihai were exceedingly rare, and even if they all perished, it would hardly be a loss.
As for the Trisolarans, the Megacorp would definitely fight them.
But they could not be beaten to death. The battle had to stop at the right moment, with negotiations when needed.
There was no need for both sides to escalate to mutual destruction.
If the Trisolarans were willing to cooperate, Li Ang was even ready to draw them into the Megacorp's interstellar trade network.
In short, there would inevitably be a war between the Megacorp and the Trisolaran Civilization. Li Ang could only wait patiently until after the fighting, when he would find a way to forge an alliance and extract all of their technology points.
While Li Ang pondered what concrete steps to take, Dr. Halsey suddenly sent them an urgent message with new experimental results.
Moments later, Dr. Halsey's holographic projection appeared in the vast council chamber. Wearing a grave expression, she faced the executives and said:
"Everyone, I must tell you both some good news and some bad news. This universe is far too dangerous. To lift morale just a little, I'll start with the good news."
As she finished, Dr. Halsey displayed several reports from the Prime Universe. The Emperor had confirmed that all was normal there, and their Xeelee Nightfighters were fully operational, ensuring reliable communication with the Prime Universe.
Yet this so-called good news did little to raise spirits. After all, in a high-difficulty universe like Three-Body, some were already mentally prepared for mission failure.
Even senior department heads like Alt Cunningham and Song Zhaomei harbored lingering doubts, no longer possessing the fearless confidence they once had.
Only veterans like V and Morgan Blackhand from the Exploration Division remained as steadfast as ever, holding to their creed: succeed or die trying, ready to give everything they had.
"Just give us the bad news. The Megacorp's Exploration Division doesn't need good news to cover up fear and hardship—we'll face it head-on."
Jack Wells spoke in his usual deep, gravelly voice. He was still as brave and fearless as ever.
Dr. Halsey nodded. "The bad news is that our faster-than-light engines have completely failed, and even our communications gear is limited to antiques from eighty years ago."
"As for the jump function—forget it. From now on, we can only rely on sublight engines that barely approach light speed. Don't even think about using the FTL engines again."
"For the time being, it's best not to touch any equipment tied to faster-than-light technology. That would only bring us trouble."
Halsey's words made the executives of the Exploration Division frown instinctively. Clearly, they were unwilling to give up the use of FTL drives.
"Don't tell me there's no other way to use faster-than-light drives. I refuse to believe that every god-tier civilization in the Trisolaran universe crawls around like turtles."
The Preacher was the first to object. Many of his strategies relied on the agility and high maneuverability of FTL engines. Without them, the striking power of his knightly forces would be greatly diminished.
"Of course there are other options. But the methods we can use for FTL travel are extremely limited. In the past, we relied on engines that tore open high-dimensional corridors, the 'express lanes' of hyperspace, to achieve FTL travel."
"But most high-dimensional space in the Trisolaran universe has long since collapsed and been annihilated. That makes all our hyperspace technologies useless. And if we want to achieve FTL travel in three-dimensional space, there's only one option left."
"That option is warp-drive technology!"
At the mention of this rather antiquated FTL system, V and Jack Wells frowned slightly. It had been a long time since either of them had heard the term.
The reason was simple: the speed increase it offered was very limited—at most around 200,000 times the speed of light. Even if other god-tier civilizations had superior warp drives ten times more efficient, that was still only 2 million times light speed.
But even the most outdated FTL method used by the Megacorp in their home universe had a baseline efficiency of ten million times light speed.
Seeing the disdain and disappointment on the executives' faces, Dr. Halsey smiled faintly and corrected their assumptions:
"I have to warn you in advance—you couldn't use this old technology even if you wanted to, because it would only cause us more trouble."
Warp drive works by having the engine reduce the spatial curvature behind the ship. A crude way to picture it is like using an iron to flatten out the wrinkles of space. The flattened rear increases curvature in front, creating thrust.
But as a result, any ship traveling this way leaves behind an extremely clear trail. That trail would expose the Megacorp's ships to other civilizations.
Worse, the altered curvature permanently changes the affected region, lowering the local speed of light.
If used on a large scale, such FTL travel could reduce the speed of light in that area to what is called the "third cosmic velocity"—just 16.7 kilometers per second.
Compared to the normal constant of 300,000 kilometers per second, that isn't merely halved—it's an absolute collapse. The region would become a black domain, a defensive barrier of slowed light.
Civilizations within the black domain could never escape, and likewise, outsiders would almost never find them. That is the inevitable cost of warp-drive travel.
"So, in summary, I believe that unless we face an absolute emergency, we should avoid using FTL travel altogether and stick to near-light-speed engines."
Her words weighed heavily on the room. The Exploration Division executives, in particular, felt a sudden chill. The complete loss of FTL options left them at a loss for how to adapt.
After all, most of their current naval tactics depended on FTL engines as a foundation.
Without the ability to dart about at faster-than-light speeds, many of their advanced maneuvers were impossible.
Even if they forced their old space-naval tactics into play, the results would be far worse than before.
And as if that weren't enough, Halsey soon received a fresh report. She raised her voice to inform the others:
"In addition, just recently our stargate created ripples in the Trisolaran universe's low- and high-dimensional spaces. It's very likely we've stirred up some unintended disturbance."
"If we intend to activate the stargate again, we must be prepared, psychologically at least, to face god-tier civilizations."
At this, Jack Wells—who had only just come through the Warhammer-universe integration campaign—couldn't help but speak. "What kind of ripples? Wasn't the high-dimensional space of the Trisolaran universe already destroyed?"
"Are you saying there's some kind of warp-space here as well?"
Dr. Halsey shook her head. "At present, the vast majority of space in the Trisolaran universe exists as a stack of two-, three-, and four-dimensional layers. Four-dimensional beings are collapsing along with their plane and facing extinction."
"Two-dimensional civilizations are lying in wait, ready to launch dimensional reduction strikes. Three-dimensional civilizations are under the constant assault of two-dimensional foils."
"But god-tier civilizations like the Eradicators likely still maintain free domains across all dimensions. From one-dimensional to eleven-dimensional space, they can roam freely."
"In other words, these eleven-dimensional civilizations can peer into the lower dimensions like ants, using higher technologies and broader vantage points."
"And a stargate—something that vastly exceeds the scope of three-dimensional space—is no different from pushing open a creaky, ancient door in the dead of night."
"The slumbering noble master may already have been awakened by our sudden arrival."
Her words sent a chill across the room. The executives of the Megacorp felt their scalps prickle. If that were true, then every move they made, every word they spoke, might already be under the watch of the Eradicator civilization.
Seeing their expressions shift from scorn to heavy silence, Halsey allowed herself a small smile and tried to ease them.
"You needn't be so tense. Even if we have truly roused the Eradicators, it will still take them time to locate the solar system. They would need to search space, distances, and dimensions one by one. Finding us won't be quick."
"So, for now, we still have some time. But we must make good use of it, because sooner or later the Eradicator civilization will trace us out as intruders."
Li Ang was deeply satisfied with Halsey's analysis. She had spoken almost exactly what he himself had intended to remind everyone.
That was precisely why Li Ang had chosen to travel light.
From the opening of the stargate to its closure, every detail had been considered after long deliberation.
Had he left this integration campaign in the hands of others, they might well have been captured by the Eradicators the moment they entered the Trisolaran universe.
If the Megacorp were to open the stargate again, it would either be after completing the integration mission—or after leaving behind an Ether-phase engine to drain everything before they all returned to the home universe.
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