mynovelonline Chapter 109: Dumplings Reappear
Chapter 109: Dumplings Reappear
The clamor of a prosperous era will eventually subside, and days will slip by like beads on a string. The Earth Empire's star calendar enters the sixteenth day of the 290th year of the Interstellar Era.
At the Earth Empire Fleet Headquarters, Thomas, Joss, Coffey, Taser, George, Zhou Yuan, Wei Shan, Lefia, and other high-ranking imperial officials and fleet commanders gathered to study the observation results and detailed reports on the Virgo Cluster sent back by the 7th and 11th Fleets.
The Local Group is located on the edge of the Virgo Cluster, which contains more than 2500 galaxies similar to the Milky Way. The central region of the Virgo Cluster alone contains more than 1200 galaxies, and this central region has a significant gravitational influence on the member galaxies of the Local Group, including the Milky Way.
The Virgo Fleet primarily has two bases, each located within a giant elliptical galaxy at the center of the Virgo Cluster. These two giant elliptical galaxies are adjacent, one with a diameter equivalent to seven Milky Way galaxies, and the other with a diameter equivalent to five Milky Way galaxies. The giant elliptical galaxy with a diameter equivalent to seven Milky Way galaxies is located precisely at the center of the Virgo Cluster. For ease of description, the Empire refers to the giant elliptical galaxy of seven Milky Way galaxies as the Virgo-Seven Elliptical Galaxy, and the giant elliptical galaxy of five Milky Way galaxies as the Virgo-Five Elliptical Galaxy.
The Virgo fleet, passing through an elliptical galaxy in the Virgo Cluster, has just finished a devastating attack on another spiral galaxy.
This elliptical galaxy is quite extraordinary. Although its diameter is comparable to that of the Milky Way, it boasts nearly two thousand globular clusters. In comparison, the Andromeda Galaxy has only about five hundred globular clusters, and the Milky Way has only about two hundred. At the central region of this elliptical galaxy lies nearly 1.3 billion stars, including the largest globular cluster with nearly three hundred million stars. Even the largest globular cluster in the Andromeda Galaxy, the Maguar Globular Cluster, only has seven million stars. Furthermore, at the core of this elliptical galaxy lies a supermassive black hole with a mass 6 billion times that of the Sun and an event horizon of 72 billion kilometers.
The Virgo Fleet, having acquired a vast number of stars from the largest globular cluster near this supermassive black hole, used a giant stellar barrier system to project these stars onto the black hole. Due to the continuous projection of numerous stars onto the black hole, the jets of matter from its accretion disk reached a distance of four thousand light-years. The varying rate at which the supermassive black hole ejected matter caused pressure waves to gradually infiltrate the surrounding elliptical galaxy, forming a massive gas ring.
The giant star barrier system intermittently projects a large number of stars, causing the gamma-ray bursts emitted by the black hole accretion disk to fluctuate like tides. The supermassive black hole is like sending wave after wave of shockwaves attacking this spiral galaxy.
Wave after wave of shockwaves carrying gamma-ray bursts were a fatal blow to this spiral galaxy.
This spiral galaxy was initially split into two parts, a large galaxy and a small galaxy, forming an "eye galaxy" shaped like the upper and lower eyelids of an eye. After the giant stellar barrier system stopped projecting stars, the large and small galaxies attracted each other again, only to separate again when the barrier system resumed projecting stars. This cycle of attraction and separation repeated itself, with wave after wave of gamma-ray burst shockwaves continuously impacting the galaxies, causing constant gravitational oscillations between them. The gravitational tides generated by these violent oscillations rapidly tore apart the stars, gas, and dust within the two galaxies.
When the high command of the Earth Empire saw this scene, they were utterly stunned.
According to reports from both fleets, this spiral galaxy previously housed numerous advanced civilizations capable of warp drive. The Virgo fleet, through this brutal and violent attack, destroyed a galaxy and these intelligent civilizations.
"In just over two months, I'm afraid all the advanced civilizations in the Local Group will be able to detect the destruction of the 'Eye Galaxy' in the Virgo Cluster, which will likely cause widespread panic and unrest."
"This Virgo fleet is truly wicked; we must eradicate them completely."
"We should be grateful that the Earth Empire can travel across galaxies, otherwise it would probably have suffered the same fate as the various civilizations in the 'Eye Galaxy'."
"The Virgo Fleet can also travel across galaxies. If we want to completely eliminate them, we must lock them in those two giant elliptical star systems so that they cannot travel across galaxies."
"The two elliptical star systems occupied by the Virgo Fleet's two bases are too large. Even if we successfully develop the 'Heaven-Slaying Arrow,' how easy would it be to destroy a giant star system the size of seven and five Milky Way galaxies?"
"Therefore, we need to rely on a supermassive black hole, and we also need to disrupt the intergalactic navigation capabilities of the Virgo fleets at both bases."
"What would happen if we used that black hole, which has 60 billion times the mass of the Sun, to attack the two elliptical galaxies of the Virgo fleet?"
"Scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences have calculated that if we use the 'Heaven-Slaying Arrow' with this supermassive black hole, we can only tear and damage these two elliptical galaxies to a certain extent, but we will not directly destroy them. These two elliptical galaxies are too big. If they were two or three times the size of the Milky Way, the 'Heaven-Slaying Arrow' would be able to destroy them."
"According to reports from both fleets, there is an 1.8 billion solar mass black hole at the center of the Chamber 5 elliptical galaxy. We can use this supermassive black hole to attack the Chamber 7 elliptical galaxy."
"That is indeed a solution, but we need to consider it carefully. First, we must engage the Virgo fleet in the Virgo 5 elliptical system, seize that supermassive black hole, and then use the 'Heaven-Slaying Arrow' to attack the Virgo 7 elliptical system. Second, we must prevent the Virgo fleet in the Virgo 7 elliptical system from supporting the Virgo 5 elliptical system. Third, we must ensure that the main force of the Virgo fleet in these two elliptical systems cannot escape by intergalactic travel; if we cannot completely eliminate the main force of the Virgo fleet, there will definitely be endless troubles. Finally, I must remind everyone that we also need to guard against the intervention of other civilizations. The various anomalies occurring in the Virgo Cluster are sure to attract attention."
"Yes, the last point is especially important, and we must be prepared."
"So now, the problem seems to boil down to the Virgo Fleet's ability to navigate across river systems."
"In the end, we still don't have a thorough understanding of hyperspace. We're only at the superficial level of using hyperspace to travel across galaxies. We must delve deeper into every corner of hyperspace to find out what it's all about."
"Yes, there is still much to be explored in hyperspace by the Imperial Academy of Sciences, including hyperspace containment technology. The Academy has dispatched many scientists to accelerate in-depth research in hyperspace technology."
"We know that under normal circumstances, hyperspace intergalactic travel cannot be sustained for very long. When traversing multiple star systems, it is necessary to replenish positive energy along the way using normal material supplies. This can be seen from the last time the Imperial fleet pursued the Virgo fleet. Due to the lack of normal material supplies to replenish positive energy, the Virgo fleet had to stop for a while in star systems along the way. Since the Imperial fleet is a stellar-class 'Halo Garden,' it has stars supplying positive energy, so the Imperial fleet's hyperspace travel power and continuous travel capability are much stronger than the Virgo fleet. We must make good use of this capability and advantage."
"Dean Zhou, that's true. However, based on the Earth Empire's current understanding, our fleet's hyperspace and the Virgo fleet's hyperspace are not the same. We can only detect the existence and trajectory of the other's hyperspace, but to annihilate the Virgo fleet, we must currently do so in normal space, not even in warp space. In normal space, we cannot completely surround and annihilate the Virgo fleet. As long as the Virgo fleet stays in the star system for a little while, they can quickly escape through hyperspace, and we will be helpless."
"Yes, wormholes, folded space, curvature space, and Klein hyperspace—these four anomalous spaces, for spaces of the same nature, are like two lanes of traffic. They cannot attack each other within the same anomalous space; they can only detect and destroy each other. It seems that our Academy of Sciences will have to intensify its research on space and time. Hopefully, the top scientists among the more than 1700 alliance members can lend us a hand in scientific research and the development of military weapons."
“Dean Kofi, you must be the hardest working among us. On behalf of everyone in the Empire, I thank you. Technology is the foundation of our Empire. In the end, the Imperial Academy of Sciences is the very basis of our Earth Empire’s existence.”
"Commander-in-Chief, thank you very much for giving the Academy of Sciences such high praise. The Academy of Sciences will certainly continue its efforts and create more glories."
"Dean Zhou, based on my experience, I think there's another layer of meaning behind what you just said."
"Yes, Thomas. Could you please send someone to summon Aya?"
"Summon Aya? Okay."
Five minutes later, a small, pale purple dot of light appeared, and the figure gradually grew larger.
"Everyone, I'm busy right now. What can I do for you? Oh, Zhou Yuan, you're here too."
"Aya, I need to talk to you about something."
"what's up?"
"In the Earth Era, specifically in Earth Era 2022, in Area 51, you and Director Mei Fan had a conversation one morning about eating dumplings. Could you please retrieve that information?"
"Okay, everyone, please wait a moment."
The recording has started playing.
"...Oh dear, Director Mei, you're eating dumplings... The most important breakthrough has been achieved in the theory of group number theory for discrete and continuous groups in three-dimensional space and in the analytical method of brute-force extraction of complex boundaries... Director Mei, you probably didn't understand. To put it simply, it's like trying to find a tiny soybean rolling around in a huge pot of dumplings. Director Mei, what do you think is the most economical and simplest method?"
Aya paused deliberately at this point, then asked, "Everyone, how did you find that little yellow bean?"
Seeing that everyone remained silent, Aya seemed bored and continued playing the recording, "Pour out the dumpling soup, and then look for it again?"
"Is that what you all think too?" Aya got excited again. "Wrong, eat all the dumplings!" Aya's answer overlapped with the recording, followed by Aya's giggles.
Zhou Yuan couldn't help but smile wryly, "Aya, that's enough, thank you."
"Zhou Yuan, how did you know about this conversation?"
"Mei Fan told me about it. You silly girl, you really messed things up for Mei Fan that morning. The robot butler almost stabbed Mei Fan in the back, didn't it? Mei Fan complained to me about it later. That's why I have a very deep impression of this dumpling theory."
"Oh, no wonder. So why did you make me repeat this conversation? You don't mean you want dumplings, do you?"
Everyone knew that Aya was joking again in her last sentence, but what was Dean Zhou's purpose in having Aya repeat this conversation with Mei Fan from long ago? Everyone except Zhou Yuan was pondering this.
Suddenly, Kofi's expression changed slightly.