章 9: Chapter 9: Green Pepper and Beef, One-Third the Speed of Light
Thirty-two years after Yan Xia's cryogenic sleep, the first Absolute Zero Weapon was produced, much faster than before, as the Hope now carried a small industrial system.
It took ten years to expand on the asteroid, and another 22 years were spent developing the weapon.
Ella's theories were powerful enough, but they were not based on a complete system. The Absolute Zero Weapon was not a very difficult technology to realize; the most crucial factor was its size.
As a "planetary-level weapon," its size was terrifying.
The first Absolute Zero Weapon was 11,610 meters long and 945 meters in diameter, weighing a staggering 40.7 billion tons.
It contained 35.4 billion tons of iron and 5.3 billion tons of aluminum.
This was one-third of Earth's iron reserves (not iron ore) and 1.13 times Earth's aluminum reserves, indicating the weapon's terrifying nature.
These resources were obtained from nearby asteroids.
In the universe, resources that were scarce on Earth were abundant, such as iron, which could be found in quantities several times greater than Earth's reserves on a single asteroid.
However, this was just the beginning.
The production time for ten weapons increased linearly to 162 years.
"Yan Xia, wake up."
Yan Xia opened his eyes.
It was the year 3021.
Ella's avatar remained unchanged, and she smiled at Yan Xia, making him feel like he had entered a new world.
He left the cryogenic sleep chamber and looked around.
Everything was as it had been before, which relieved him.
Ella's technological advancements often made him feel like he was falling behind.
"You've woken me up, so the weapon must be ready."
Ella nodded.
At the same time, a robot pushed a food cart into the room.
It removed the cloth covering the cart, revealing a bowl of rice and green pepper and beef.
"What's this?"
Ella explained, "Due to conflicts with the alien civilization, our farm was destroyed. After rebuilding it, we constructed a more advanced farm, and in the past 200 years, we have improved food production technology."
"Using master-level techniques, we have recreated this dish."
"Here, Yan Xia, have a taste. We'll talk about the weapon later."
Yan Xia picked up his chopsticks and bowl and ate some green pepper and beef.
He chewed and swallowed a mouthful of rice, and a tear rolled down his cheek.
It tasted so familiar.
"Where did the meat come from?"
Ella replied, "It's artificial meat, made from plant proteins."
"You can't tell the difference, can you? We've upgraded the artificial meat techniques based on the data and simulated the texture of meat at the molecular level."
"As a human, you can't tell the difference, which means our research has succeeded."
Yan Xia devoured the food.
This was the best meal he had eaten in nearly a thousand years.
"Can I have more?"
One bowl wasn't enough.
After two more bowls of rice, Yan Xia was full.
After washing his face in the bathroom, he looked at himself in the mirror and was startled.
He had been asleep for so long.
He felt weaker and weaker, and his physical functions were declining with time.
As a human with a maximum lifespan of 130 years, and an actual lifespan of 80 to 90 years, he was now middle-aged.
"Ella, is there a way to break through the current lifespan bottleneck?"
Ella nodded.
"Of course, Yan Xia. You have two options."
"One, consciousness upload."
"After years of development, Ella has mastered the technology of consciousness upload, allowing you to become like Ella."
"The advantage is that you won't have to worry about your lifespan anymore, but the drawback is that we currently lack test subjects and cannot guarantee that your consciousness after the upload will be the same as the current you, but rather a copy."
"It's like the difference between the original file and a copy, 01. The code is the same, but they are two separate files."
"Two, genetic modification."
"Human genes prevent longer lifespans, so genetic modification to make you non-human could extend your lifespan."
"However, Ella doesn't have this technology yet. Biology is a field that requires physical research, and Ella lacks sufficient data."
"Biology is different from physics and chemistry. It has many influencing factors, so there may be significant discrepancies between theory and reality."
"Ella suggests that after occupying the geothermal civilization, we colonize them and use them as biological research subjects."
The idea of colonization returned.
This further strengthened Yan Xia's determination to fight the enemy civilization to the end.
...
Leaving the bedroom, Yan Xia followed Ella's holographic projection to the cockpit.
On the giant screen, the scene outside the spaceship was displayed.
Several giant cylindrical missiles stood upright, resembling Earth's missiles but with decorative tail fins.
The gray-white missile bodies were painted with large characters, "Ice 1."
The word alone was large enough to cover several football fields.
Compared to these giant missiles, the Hope seemed tiny.
Earth's highest peak, Mount Everest, was only 8,848 meters tall.
Yan Xia was stunned by the missiles' size and then looked at the current coordinates of the Hope, feeling a bit puzzled.
"It seems we're no longer in our original position."
Ella responded, "That's right. In these years, we've been attacked by the enemy civilization five times."
"They are still searching for us in this region of space."
Apparently, Ella had had some close calls during these years.
Yan Xia noticed that the Hope still didn't have any weapons, so he asked, "Now that we have the Absolute Zero Weapon, can we apply a smaller version to the Hope?"
The primary purpose of the Absolute Zero Weapon was to freeze the target's energy source.
By slowing down the enemy's development, they could surpass them and eventually crush them.
Therefore, their development was crucial.
With ship-mounted weapons, they could take the fight directly to the enemy's doorstep.
"It's possible!"
Ella's response was simple and straightforward, and she already had a plan.
The design was sent to the screen, showing eight launch devices on the original Hope's exterior.
"These launch devices can hold 36 missiles, and each missile, when detonated, can lower the temperature within a 260-kilometer radius to -270 to -272 degrees Celsius."
"The estimated completion time is 80 years."
Yan Xia nodded; the time was shorter than he expected, and he had become accustomed to development times measured in decades.
As he sat down, Ella reminded him, "Yan Xia, the spacebar on the keyboard in front of you is the launch button, and all the Absolute Zero Weapons are aimed at the target planet's coordinates."
"In this region of space, far from any stars, we don't have to worry about the gravitational influence of the black hole at the center of the Milky Way. The missile trajectories are almost straight."
"The missile uses the latest electromagnetic thrusters and can reach a speed of 1,000 km/s, one-third the speed of light."
"The target is 471 astronomical units away, and the estimated time to hit the target is 2 years and 3 months."
"This moment should be initiated by you."
Yan Xia stared at the spacebar.
He had pressed it countless times while playing games, and each time, it was an ordinary jump. But now, he was about to destroy a civilization.
He placed his finger on the key.
He took a deep breath.
"Inhale... exhale..."
He exhaled slowly.
He pressed the key.
There was no complex psychological preparation, as the enemy was already searching for them throughout space. Since they were enemies, there was no room for mercy.
The Absolute Zero missile was fired the moment he pressed the key, with a one-second delay.
After firing, the missile quickly accelerated due to the lack of gravitational constraints, disappearing from sight within about ten minutes.
After about ten hours, the missile reached a speed of 1,000 km/s and continued to accelerate, eventually reaching 1,047 km/s.
This speed alone would take the original Earth civilization decades to catch up.
The other missiles would be launched every 39 years until all were fired.
Staring at the disappearing missile, Yan Xia's expression was somber, with no trace of relief.
At that moment, Ella sent a message.
"The enemy has noticed our missile launch and is approaching our direction."
"Request immediate movement to evade enemy ships..."
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