Great Power Technology

There was silence in the spare parts warehouse, and Lin Wen, suspended in the air, could not make any sound, but Ye Zhou immediately understood the reason for the scene in front of him.

In this small area, the adjacent dimensional channels are infinitely expanded, an extremely violent entropy increase jump is taking place, almost all the energy in the space is drained, and even the gravity between particles no longer exists.

It was obvious that Lin Wen could no longer survive.

The moment he was enveloped by this space, the ATP energy in his body had been drained. Even if this entropy jump disappeared immediately, he would die of suffocation because the metabolic energy could not support muscle contraction.

But even if he died like that, his body would at least remain intact, and now.

Lin Wen's body was still decomposing, and the already emaciated body was undergoing horrifying transformations.

The first thing to decompose was his clothes, followed by his skin. The bright red muscles were exposed to the air, and in just a few seconds they turned into a bunch of red clouds suspended in the air like gas.

Immediately afterwards, the cloud continued to expand, the red color in it became darker and darker, and the white bones began to decompose. The indescribable cloud just floated quietly in the air, like a strange ghost.

Ye Zhou's heart was filled with fear. This series of changes happened in just ten seconds, and he couldn't do anything at all.

——

No, what can be done now is not to think of ways to save him. From the moment he steps into the jumping area, there is no hope for him.

What should be done now is to immediately report the situation to the superiors, seal off the entire area, and let professionals handle this jump channel.

Thinking of this, Ye Zhou gave "Lin Wen" one last painful look, and then slammed the door of the spare parts warehouse.

The person who was standing in front of him alive just an hour ago was gone.

If you had not found a battery for yourself, or even if you had spoken a few more words to him, this result could have been completely avoided, because the duration of the entropy increase jump at the same position is often only a few minutes, as long as you cross these few minutes, such a result would not have occurred.

Ye Zhou took a deep breath, suppressed his emotions and quickly ran to the room, reporting his findings to his superiors through the communicator. In just five minutes, the entire accommodation area was cleared, and several staff members carried a The huge combustion device walked into the spare parts warehouse. The entire spare parts warehouse was burned by flames, and the all-devouring entropy increase jump channel also disappeared.

This is currently the most effective way for humans to deal with entropy increase jumps. By injecting a huge amount of energy into the jump area, it breaks the path of the energy channel, thereby temporarily closing the adjacent dimensional channels enriched by the Schillard effect. .

The design principle of Fenghuo No. 1 is exactly the same as this operation.

Ye Zhou stared blankly at the flames that briefly overflowed and then disappeared from the window of the spare parts warehouse. For a moment, a strong sense of sadness and powerlessness came over him.

He silently turned his head towards the direction of the research institute, but before he had taken a few steps, he felt someone tapping his shoulder from behind.

He turned around in confusion, and what came into his eyes was the face of a young woman who was also full of sadness.

"Are you okay? I heard that Brother Wen was with you before?"

Ye Zhou nodded, recognizing the identity of the girl in front of him.

Su Shu, like himself, is a materials researcher responsible for the design of the first wall of Fenghuo One.

"I'm fine. It's just a short period of time, and I can't accept it."

"Yeah, normal."

Su Su's eyes were filled with sadness. She took two steps to walk side by side with Ye Zhou, and then continued:

"In fact, my master warned me about this kind of thing on the first day I entered here. The probability of an entropy jump near the energy tuning device is greater than anywhere else in the world. It is caused by the Szilard effect. Enrichment of adjacent-dimensional channels is no joke.”

"He kept reminding me to be careful and taught me how to identify the jump areas that had appeared, but in the end he did not escape himself."

"So, just get used to it. We are living in a minefield, and no one knows who will step on a mine next."

"Actually, Brother Wen was lucky. At least the entropy increase rate in the jump area he encountered was very high, so he walked without pain. My master. He struggled for two full months, and finally passed away due to metabolic disorder."

Hearing her words, Ye Zhou sighed and replied:

"I know this too, but seeing things happen, I still can't accept it so easily. Let's not talk about it. Don't you think the recent jumps are happening a little too frequently?"

According to what Lin Wen said before, coupled with the information imported from the information flow, Ye Zhou noticed that within two months, similar but different intensity jumps in entropy increase had occurred within the scope of the Fenghuo No. 1 device. More than three times, this frequency has far exceeded the general rule.

"It's normal."

Su Shu on the side replied:

"What we are facing is not some disorderly natural disaster. The ones guarding the passage are intelligent life forms created by an extremely advanced civilization. They will naturally screen the range of energy extraction. Now, the energy gathered near the Fenghuo No. 1 project Endowment is the highest, and frequent jumps are normal.”

"After all, even bandits will pick wealthy places to rob, right?"

"That's the truth."

Ye Zhou nodded slightly, and then continued:

"However, we have to find a way to deal with this situation as soon as possible. This unpredictable jump has a great impact on us. If the jump occurs in the core area of ​​the Fenghuo-1 device, the entire project will be in danger."

"That's why we have to set up a 'lighthouse'. The lighthouse will be lit tonight, and then most of the space passages will be attracted to it, and the scene will be spectacular."

Ye Zhou was stunned for a moment. He searched for the memory of the lighthouse in his mind. After a moment, he recalled that it was a small fusion reactor specially set up on the periphery to ensure the smooth ignition of Fenghuo No. 1. The purpose was to fill all the nearby fusion reactors. Energy escape channel, thus creating ignition conditions for Fenghuo-1.

Those "lighthouse" devices are like baits specially designed to attract wild beasts. From the beginning of their design, they are destined to have a tragic ending of being sacrificed.

However, even so, the safety of the Fenghuo-1 ignition is still not guaranteed. As Su Shu said before, the so-called enrichment of space channels caused by the Szilard effect is no joke. The higher the energy endowment of the area, the more likely it is. , the faster the space channel can absorb energy.

If such channel enrichment reaches a critical value, the likely result will be that the entropy increase jump area is completely out of control, covering the entire National Energy Tuning Device Research Institute. By then, everyone staying in this base will be Impossible to survive.

This is a huge gamble, and the stake is the lives of everyone, including Ye Zhou.

After a few seconds of silence, Ye Zhou asked:

"Tell me, is the price we paid really too high?"

Lin Wen's accident had a huge impact on Ye Zhou, but the greater impact was the calm and almost indifferent attitude of the personnel in the base when facing this incident.

They face the death of their companions indifferently, just as they face their own upcoming fate indifferently, the outcome of which no one can determine.

Of course, Ye Zhou will not waver in his determination to move forward because of this incident, but it is undeniable that he is indeed thinking about whether there is a better way to balance the boundaries between "sacrifice" and "gain" .

Hearing Ye Zhou's question, Su Shu shook her head and replied:

"There is no price to pay between life and death."

"Actually, our current situation is pretty good. At most, we just have to bear some risks of sacrifice."

"Besides us, there are many people who are also working hard and making sacrifices."

After a pause, she continued:

"Look, the rice field in our base is growing very well, right? But you have to know that this is the best rice field in the country and even the world. In other places, because of insufficient fertility, even if it is used It is the seedling with the highest yield, and the grain output barely meets the per capita demand standard.”

"Under such circumstances, a large amount of food has been transported to key projects. We can definitely say that it is ordinary people who are hungry and feeding us people."

"You also know how much effort we put in when Fenghuo No. 1 was built. Tens of thousands of people came one after another to enter this minefield. Mountains were moved where they were, and seas were filled where the sea was. When the power of large machinery was insufficient, many The giant steel structure was even lifted up on people's shoulders, and many ordinary migrant workers died of functional decline and respiratory failure during the process."

"Also, it's not just our project. Those surveyors who are trying to find an entropy-increasing valley suitable for survival in the no-man's land of the Great Gobi, those volunteers who accepted the first batch of genetic modifications in order to resist the decline curve of function, those who go deep into the What is the cost to the workers who go to the seabed thousands of meters to extract oil?”

"Ye Zhou, we really have no right to discuss the price. Life is the biggest and most meager price we can pay. For our ultimate goal, this is nothing."

Having said this, Su Shu reached out and held Ye Zhou's hand, and then said softly:

"Tonight is the last night before we welcome the finale. How about it? Do you have any plans?"

"Yes, I want to check the first wall one last time. What about you?"

"I'll accompany you."

In the next 16 hours, Ye Zhou and Su Shu completed all inspections of the first wall of the Fenghuo No. 1 device. There was no time jump in the simulator. Ye Zhou step by step inspected all the materials used in the first wall. He memorized all the characteristics in his mind and adjusted all the prefabricated parameters related to the materials. After doing all this, he and Su Shu sat in the main control room, quietly looking at the fusion core not far away.

All the staff were already in place. A few minutes later, as the commander-in-chief pressed the start button, as the sun rose, dozens of laser beams shot into the fusion core. Almost in an instant, the fusion core exploded with enough energy to cover up the sun. of light.

——

However, this light lasted only a few seconds.

The terrifying power of the Szilard Effect was officially revealed. The fusion energy generated by Fenghuo No. 1 was immediately swallowed up as soon as it appeared.

And the remaining energy is simply not enough to support fusion to continue.

The beacon was forcibly extinguished before it was even lit.