amaotonovel Chapter 3712 Doomsday (5)
Chapter 3712 Doomsday (5)
Chapter 3712 Doomsday (Part 5)
Thor and Loki were both speechless, but it was indeed the case. They said they would "temporarily slow down the exploration of the universe," not that they would stop conducting scientific research on Earth, but something just felt off.
A typical civilization's journey into the interstellar colonization era would proceed as follows: First, build chemical-fueled rockets to explore surrounding planets; find a foothold on one of these planets and establish an experimental site; then build even better rockets to explore more distant planets. This process of gradual exploration continues until the condition of one's own star system is fully understood.
Then, experiments with chemical fuel-powered spacecraft, commonly known as "spaceships," began. As long as the spacecraft's range and safety allowed it to reach the nearest landing point and transport large equipment and fuel, it was considered a success.
Next, establish a space experimental base at a landing point closest to the home planet but at a sufficiently safe distance, and continuously optimize the spacecraft's safety, speed, and range. Then, find more efficient fuel within the star system to further improve the spacecraft's speed and range until it can travel between various planets within the star system in a short time.
Now, here's the crucial point. Chemically fueled spaceships are definitely not suitable for leaving their current star system. There are two paths: either develop multi-functional shield technology—maintaining stability within the shield to protect passengers—and then simply focus on maximizing speed, like a "cosmic dump truck"—as long as the shield is strong enough and the speed is high enough, I can go wherever I want. While the universe is vast, and even the fastest speeds seem insignificant, traveling at near-light speed is sufficient for exploring several surrounding star systems.
Another type is the faster-than-light engine. This is essentially a more advanced version of the "mud truck" engine. When my speed is fast enough to exceed the speed of light, it causes distortions in space and time. In simpler terms, because faster-than-light travel directly transcends the constraints of time, the travel time required to reach another point essentially disappears, which is equivalent to direct teleportation, also known as "warp."
The reason for dividing this into two paths is due to the different characteristics of the races. Asgardians, for example, don't need any shield technology at all—they simply sit inside their spaceships, and regardless of whether the ship is traveling at near-light speed, it can't harm them. Therefore, they don't need any space stabilization technology; shields are at most for defending against attacks from other warships.
But humans can't do that. Let alone near-light speed, if the acceleration exceeds a certain value, they'll immediately lose consciousness; and if they break the speed of light, they'll be reduced to molecules. Therefore, it's very difficult to take the "mud truck" route of gradually increasing speed.
However, humanity's starting point was also very high. Leaving aside the madman's unreasonable teleportation portal, even the warp drive on a starship was research material that almost every civilization without a hyper-light engine dreamed of.
There's a familiar paradox at play here: without a faster-than-light engine, it's difficult to leave one's own small world. While there are many civilizations in the universe, the universe is vast; the distance between two civilizations is immense, and electromagnetic signals can't travel that far. Normally, civilizations that can't survive outside their star system wouldn't be able to communicate with other civilizations.
Without communication, there's no way to exchange technology. Even if they could manage to communicate, the people they could reach would be "rookies" without faster-than-light engines. Those with engines would be flying all over the universe; who would bother with a low-level star system civilization like yours? And even if they could receive your signal, why would they share their technology with you?
Therefore, faster-than-light engines can essentially only be developed independently. However, researching from scratch requires a vast amount of space and resources. Some lucky star systems have a few resource-rich planets to support their outward exploration, and might be able to develop one; but some unlucky systems lack even a single resource-rich planet within their star system, meaning they'll never even come close to developing a faster-than-light engine. And these relatively desolate star systems are the norm in the universe.
Currently, the vast majority of civilizations possessing faster-than-light engines did not develop them themselves. Some were lucky enough to stumble upon the remains of other advanced civilizations; others were forced into development by the three great empires—they were given engines directly to gain actual control over the module regions, and the civilizations simply installed them.
Humans are different. Among the three paths of self-research, accidental discovery, and waiting for others to give them to us, humans have forged a fourth path—theft.
However, it must be said that this is the most suitable path for humanity. Because there are too many strong individuals among humans, if we can just rely on one of them to seize control, and then conduct research using both technology and magic, coupled with sufficient energy resources, we can forcefully create a faster-than-light engine.
Strange has now realized his mistake: Looking closely at the two key projects China is involved in, one is building starships—obviously for the technology of faster-than-light engines; the other is mining Jupiter—clearly to acquire the resources needed to build such engines. With the technology and resources in place, construction is inevitable.
However, there's another problem: if the United States had this capability, it would have already started building spaceships, and then, with its unique faster-than-light engine, it would search the entire universe for resources to build even more spaceships. As long as it maintains a technological lead, all the countries on Earth would have to obey it, and it would rule the planet through sheer force and coercion.
However, a certain major Eastern power wouldn't do that. Of course, it's not because they're kind or conservative; quite the opposite. Building spaceships to plunder resources and then building more spaceships is too conservative a model, leaving many security risks. For one thing, what if another country produces a super-powerful mutant who steals your spaceship? Even ignoring the new generation of mutants, someone like Magneto wouldn't just sit idly by; dealing with the harassment alone would be a nightmare.
After acquiring this technology, their only concern became how to use it to unite the Earth and gain a voice. They chose a more radical approach: dragging the entire planet into the water.
I won't install the hyper-light engine on the spaceship; I'll install it directly on Earth. Although it's on Earth, it's still on my territory, and whether or not to use it, and how to use it, is ultimately up to me. Unless you can destroy an entire country and effectively control the entire land, I have absolute say.
This presents a paradox: if the entire country is transformed into a super-light engine, how exactly can this country be defeated?
If you attack him, he'll just drag the Earth along on a bumper car ride, and then we'll all be doomed. Even though there's a shield, there are many dangers in the universe. If he insists on courting death, he's sure to succeed.
Putting everything else aside, even if he destroyed the hyperlight engine, resulting in a scorched-earth scenario, no country could withstand that. If the western node exploded, India certainly wouldn't allow it; if the southern node exploded, Southeast Asia wouldn't allow it; if the northern node exploded, Russia wouldn't allow it either.
Therefore, once this system is established, it will create an absolute geopolitical advantage and forge natural alliances with its neighboring countries. Forget about planting landmines on their doorsteps for now; just consider how strong these alliances are.
Moreover, once this system is established somewhere, the local geopolitical alliances will gain greater influence globally, because they are the ones pushing other places to follow suit. So, what's wrong with us taking more resources to maintain system security? You want a car to run, but you don't want to feed the engine fuel—there's no such thing as a free lunch.
Moreover, while this can be considered a form of deterrence, it doesn't involve manufacturing any weapons or having a spaceship fly overhead, so it lacks the same level of pressure. Furthermore, since it's being researched and built on one's own territory, there are no legal issues, and other countries and powerful groups are unlikely to react as strongly.
If some people want to cause trouble, not only mutants, but even the Avengers in the US would have to come and help. This is our Earth's faster-than-light engine, capable of taking all of humanity on a journey through the universe. What are you planning to do?
Ultimately, the faster-than-light engines installed on Earth, combined with a magical defense network, can bring immense benefits to Earth and human civilization, making the advantages outweigh the disadvantages for every power group.
Even the United States, which is most hostile to China, chose to cooperate on this issue. Politicians may be wicked, but they're not stupid. When the Earth was immobilized, they needed to seize resources within the solar system; but now that the Earth can move, can't they seize resources from the entire universe? They know this all too well! The answer is freedom of navigation!
The politicians are calculating: they lack both the resources and the will to build and maintain this thing, so since someone else has built it, they can figure out how to use it. They'll definitely drive the car after buying it; although they can't start the engine, they can grab the steering wheel!
Aside from China, which manufactured this engine, isn't it just the United States? Whether in terms of national power or contributions to space exploration, they are in a league of their own. If the discussion later turns to where to drive the car, they'll have plenty to say: "I've shed blood and tears for the Earth, why shouldn't I be allowed to drive?"
They don't need to beat China, which is building engines; they only need to beat all the other countries that haven't built engines yet.
As for China's view on this, Schiller believes they might not object to the US driving. The US is really lucky; they certainly have a lot of experience as pirates.
The great Eastern power still has some sense of shame. Although everyone knows why this thing is being built, we still need to maintain a certain level of restraint. Anyway, we're launching it to make a friendly greeting to other civilizations in the universe. There are bandits among our people, but that's just their national character, and we can't stop them.
What? You're saying we're moving too? Then all my roommates are bandits! If I don't gather some resources to arm myself, won't I get robbed too? Isn't that self-defense?
Loki wasn't stupid either. After Strange's explanation and hints, he understood that this trip to Earth wasn't a spur-of-the-moment decision; it was clearly premeditated. This was indeed a troublesome matter.
For Asgard, Earth is now a hot potato. Although Earth claims to be seeking Asgard's protection, it seems to have nothing but its bizarre creatures—a whole host of superpowered individuals and mutants, any one of whom could potentially shatter dimensions if unleashed. If Asgard protects Earth, then who will protect Asgard?!