章 8: Chapter 8: Geothermal Civilization, Absolute Zero Weapon
The Falcon glided through the darkness of space like a ghost.
After its initial acceleration to 482 km/s, it discarded its rear thrusters and used compressed gas jets for steering.
Its target was located 417 astronomical units away, or 62.4 billion kilometers.
At the Falcon's speed, it would take four years to reach its destination.
This was interstellar travel.
Every war, even a simple reconnaissance mission, became lengthy due to the vast distances in space.
In the solar system, the farthest distance from Earth to the Kuiper Belt, where Pluto is located, is only 60 astronomical units.
Four years later.
The Falcon's cameras captured a celestial body in the pitch-black space through the cosmic background.
The signal took 2.4 days to reach the Hope.
Looking at the giant celestial body on the screen, Yan Xia was astonished.
Although the image didn't reveal the exact size of the celestial body, its shape and roundness indicated that it was not small.
Ella calculated.
"Calculated. The radius of this celestial body is 8,426 kilometers, with a surface area of approximately 8.9218 billion square kilometers and a volume of 2.5058 x 10^12 cubic kilometers. Its gravitational acceleration, as measured by the Falcon, is 11.0547 m/s^2."
This planet was enormous.
Its surface area was 3.8 billion square kilometers larger than Earth's.
It was undoubtedly a rogue planet, not belonging to any star system.
It was likely that its parent star had undergone some changes, causing the planet's orbit to be disrupted.
"The temperature in this region of space is -261.8 degrees Celsius. How can a civilization develop in such a cold environment?"
Many scientists on Earth had focused on the habitable zone around stars.
Not only Yan Xia but even top astrophysicists would be surprised by this sight.
The temperature was even lower than that of the cryogenic sleep chamber. At this temperature, atomic and molecular motion would slow down, not just a matter of carbon or silicon-based life. No form of life could exist at this temperature.
Ella conducted an investigation.
"The temperature in the planet's outer space is higher than expected, at -198.33 degrees Celsius."
"It's confirmed that the planet has numerous active volcanoes, providing abundant geothermal resources."
Half a month later.
The Hope received another message.
"Confirmed. The planet's surface has many active volcanoes, and there are signs of buildings, indicating that this civilization relies on geothermal energy for survival."
Ella zoomed in on a blurry image.
"Yan Xia, look here, here, and here. These are relatively large volcanic craters."
"There are traces of buildings on the other side, proving that this civilization relies on geothermal energy."
A geothermal civilization.
Earth also had many volcanoes, but not enough to form a geothermal civilization.
The planet in the image was much larger than Earth, with a more active core, resulting in numerous volcanoes on its surface, allowing them to survive the extreme cold.
Yan Xia noticed that the image of the planet's outer space had more objects than the one received half a month ago.
"Zoom in on those points."
He pointed to the small dots, asking Ella to zoom in.
After zooming in, the objects became clearer.
They were spaceships!
There were at least a thousand of them, densely packed.
"They must be preparing for a space sweep to find us."
This was the only explanation.
Otherwise, there would be no need to gather so many ships at this time.
Seven days later, Ella received the last message from the Falcon before it was shot down.
The first Falcon had successfully completed its mission.
Much information could be analyzed from this final transmission.
"The Falcon was shot down by lasers from these regions, all of which are major volcanic craters on the planet."
"This proves that the civilization heavily relies on geothermal energy, and most of the planet's surface temperature is below -100 degrees Celsius. Their population is likely between 1 and 5 billion."
"Due to their small population, they cannot benefit from the population redline, triggering a technological revolution. This is probably why their development is slow."
"Geothermal energy also significantly limits their total energy supply and the branches of their technology tree. Based on their ship speed, this civilization probably hasn't developed controlled nuclear fusion. Their magnetic technology is underdeveloped, and they still use geothermal energy for power."
"This civilization is likely at Level 1 or 1.1."
A civilization at the beginning of Level 1, relying on geothermal energy.
The planet's surface was extremely dark, so this civilization sought light, leading to the invention of lasers.
Yan Xia thought for a moment.
"To attack a civilization, we must either restrict its energy supply or hinder its technological development."
"I have an idea."
"Ella, do you have any good suggestions?"
Ella could provide a lot of information for military purposes.
"Ella suggests restricting their energy supply first."
"Hindering technological development is a very complex process, requiring an understanding of the direction, level, and focus of their civilization's technology. Is it a large-scale or small-scale civilization? Does it focus on the four fundamental forces of the universe separately or attempt to unify them?"
"In the universe, physics and chemistry, both macroscopic and microscopic, follow a set of theories, known as the Theory of Everything."
"But we cannot assume that they are pursuing the Theory of Everything. They may not have unified gravity, magnetism, weak nuclear force, and strong nuclear force into a single theory but instead focus on one of them."
"In any case, without observing the direction of their civilization's development, we cannot theoretically destroy them."
"The simplest and most effective method is violence."
In terms of civilization level, Yan Xia hadn't achieved absolute dominance over this geothermal civilization.
The theories from science fiction novels didn't apply here.
Ella came up with a result.
"This civilization relies on geothermal energy, and we can restrict their energy supply by cooling their planetary core, causing their civilization to stagnate."
Yan Xia swiped the screen, looking at the plan.
This plan was more powerful than any known human war.
It was a war of annihilation against a planet and a civilization.
The recorded weapon was an Absolute Zero Weapon.
The planetary core's fission produced a tremendous amount of energy, and absolute zero could freeze protons, neutrons, and electrons, stopping their motion.
Of course, the universe couldn't achieve absolute zero, as it would require more energy than the universe itself.
But a weapon could be created that approached absolute zero, slowing down the motion of protons, neutrons, and electrons by an infinite amount.
This would cause the fission in the planetary core to slow down, and the core would cool down.
"Let's proceed with this plan."
"How long will it take to produce it?"
Ella parked the Hope near a rogue asteroid over 80 kilometers long and 45 kilometers wide.
Hundreds of robots were repairing the damaged parts of the Hope.
"Estimated time is 25 years."
25 years wasn't a long time for a war, especially an interstellar war.
"Too little!"
"One Absolute Zero Weapon can cool the planetary core for 40 years, which is far from enough. We need at least ten."
Since they had decided to go to war, they needed to be thorough.
They had to leave enough room for their development.
After giving the order, Yan Xia entered the cryogenic sleep chamber again. He didn't want to waste time, as he was already 41 years old.
When he woke up, the war would begin.
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