Chapter 938: Forever

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Eating while speaking.

Chu An chewed the tasteless energy bar slowly, looking at the nervous Xuan Hai Cheng:

Theoretically speaking, an Einstein condensate requires extremely low temperature, causing the particles within matter to slow their motion to zero.

Only then can this state be stabilized, briefly condensed, making all states unified.

At room temperature, or under high-temperature conditions, the particles inside matter move at high speed; the higher the temperature, the faster the motion, and the faster the motion, the more active the physical properties of particles with different attributes become, producing a 'divergence' between them.

Just as steel melts into molten iron at high temperature, excessively high temperature causes the molecular state inside matter to change, making it unable to maintain its original unified cohesion (integrality).

Put more simply, conversely, it means ice cubes need to stay in the refrigerator to ensure they remain ice cubes and do not melt into water.

Therefore, theoretically, it is impossible to produce an Einstein condensate under high-temperature conditions. Like ice cubes on a furnace, they cannot avoid melting.

He explained in detail, essentially explaining it to Xuan Hai Cheng and the others.

Seeing their half-understanding gaze, Chu An didn't mind and turned to look at the most puzzled middle-aged researcher:

"Your question is correct, but actually we can think about the problem from a different angle."

"First, the essence of an Einstein condensate is to stop the motion of molecules inside matter, maintaining a static state, not a low-temperature state."

"Don't get the priorities reversed on this point."

"You can only say that under low-temperature conditions, molecules can stop moving. But that doesn't mean the only situation where molecules stop moving is low temperature!"

"Just like climbing a mountain, in conventional thinking, if a person wants to go up a mountain, the most common method is to climb with their legs, but..."

"Can't you get up a mountain without legs?"

"Can't you use your hands? Can't you take a helicopter? Can't you use a cable car?"

"You could even turn the mountain upside down and stand in place to reach the summit!"

As his words fell, the middle-aged researcher who had previously questioned him shuddered all over, like being bathed in holy light, instantly understanding what Chu An wanted to say.

His gaze dazed, he suddenly realized his thinking was overly limited by past experience.

Yeah, is it only possible for molecules to not move at low temperature?

Among physical properties somewhat similar to condensates, superconductors were also widely believed to be impossible to achieve superconductivity at room temperature before they first appeared.

But in fact, as research deepened, people discovered that under ultra-high pressure, room temperature can also achieve superconductivity.

However, Chu An's words were truly shocking to his worldview, somewhat breaking his previous life experience.

Trembling slightly, he couldn't help but gaze at Chu An almost longingly:

"Then... what have you discovered? How did you do it!!"

For a researcher, nothing is more desired than knowing the answer to a problem.

One stood, one sat; under everyone's gaze, Chu An fell silent for a moment, slightly frowning:

"Is what I said not clear enough?"

"I've mentioned before that many things we cannot do at our current stage, but that doesn't mean the system can't."

His tone carried a hint of simulated dissatisfaction and puzzlement.

Gao Tian, standing aside and daring not to miss a single word, had a strange expression on his face; for some reason, he seemed to catch the meaning in Chu An's tone.

You guys... how can you be so stupid...

emmm...

No one dared to refute.

Everyone blinked their eyes, and the middle-aged researcher most eager to know the answer was even more at a loss, stuttering like a student who made a mistake:

"Sys... system!?"

"How does the system do..."

Chu An shook his head slightly, showing no strong emotion, and simply explained again:

"It's very simple."

"An Einstein condensate requires the molecules inside matter to stop moving; maintaining the state requires them to keep not moving."

"With our means, we cannot achieve this; at most we can briefly maintain it with ultra-low temperature."

"But if we think from another angle, the cessation of high-speed molecular motion under high temperature and the stillness under low temperature are essentially the same."

"They are the same, just like a person who can maintain a speed of 100 meters per second and another who maintains 1 meter per second; as long as they keep their speed constant, they can both be uniformly described as a 'condensate'."

"All a condensate requires is that at some moment, all states remain unified; this means that at high temperature, there is always such a moment when it is a condensate."

"So whether it's high or low temperature doesn't matter at all; what matters is how to lock this state in and maintain it continuously!"

As he spoke, Chu An turned his head to look at the blue Xuan Hai Cheng made of plasma:

"His current state is that of an ion state bombarded by high temperature, high pressure, and high energy, just like the steam from boiling water; he is now that clump of 'frozen' steam."

His words fell, giving time to think.

After hearing Chu An's explanation, the middle-aged researcher lowered his head in deep thought, his brows furrowed.

After a while, he slapped his thigh hard, his mouth trembling with extreme excitement.

"I get it!"

"I understand!"

"The essence of a condensate is the internal unification of molecules; it doesn't matter whether it's high or low temperature! Just like a car, whether it's pulled by horses or an internal combustion engine, as long as it can run! We can only drive the car at low temperature (horse-drawn), not at high temperature (internal combustion engine)! That's why we subconsciously think only low temperature can form a condensate!"

"But, it's not like that!"

His eyes blazing, he looked at the strange Xuan Hai Cheng floating in midair, which could even be called another form of life; the middle-aged researcher gazed upon him as if seeing a divine relic, even wanting to reach out and touch:

"Lord Chu An, have his internal states already remained unified, allowing him to store energy infinitely, with no loss when energy flows inside him; moreover, like a condensate, theoretically he could collide with no external matter and even pass through walls!?"

Excitedly awaiting the answer.

"Correct."

He nodded calmly, Chu An gazed at Xuan Haicheng as if looking at a satisfying artwork.

His internal four forces are near zero; with molecules at rest, he is like 'nothingness', only observable on the macroscopic scale (real world, visible to the human eye).

Floating in midair, Xuan Haicheng listened to the discussion between the two, somewhat blankly looking at his own hands.

Although he didn't really understand, he also felt that he seemed nonexistent, as if gravity had lost its effect, and when he waved his hand, the air felt no resistance.

Finding it hard to understand each physics term, under duress, he anxiously opened his mouth.

"So... does that mean I haven't turned into a ghost?"

Hearing Xuan Haicheng's question, Chu An smiled and slowly nodded.

"Yes, and a very strong 'ghost'."

An Jing Tian and Gao Tian standing beside them couldn't help but look at the blue Xuan Haicheng beside them; a flash of realization crossed their eyes, as if they realized what Chu An really intended to do.

"This pervert, he's actually constantly exploiting the system's 'loopholes' to keep creating all kinds of monsters!?"

The meeting room emptied, leaving only Jing Tian and the others.

Under Chu An's patient explanation, the researchers of Long'an Base not only understood his line of thought, but also, inspired by this wild imagination, eagerly returned to their posts; the shift in thinking was like opening another door.

All was quiet.

Sitting in his chair, Chu An casually asked Gao Tian and the others who still refused to leave:

"How so, any more questions?"

As if able to guess his thoughts, Gao Tian, the one being questioned, hesitated a moment, opened his mouth, and finally asked the last question.

"Colonel Chu, although I didn't quite catch what you just said,"

"But some parts I can understand."

"What I'm curious about is why Xuan Haicheng would be locked into this state? As you said, a condensed state can indeed exist at high temperature, but only for an extremely brief moment. What method did you use to keep him like this?"

"And also.."

"Why didn't you tell us this beforehand?"

He couldn't rest without asking.

As an Awakened One, Gao Tian's understanding of the system is not bad.

In those research institutes, it seems that if Chu An can produce some effect using the system, then he has done so.

But for Gao Tian, who has dealt with the system, he knows the system is absolutely not that easy to 'exploit'; otherwise, everyone could find loopholes and become monstrously strong.

Chu An's mysterious actions actually gave him a suspicion.

Could this pervert actually be able to control the system?

Seeing the meaning behind Gao Tian's question, Chu An smiled faintly, his expression calm and bright, and spoke openly without reservation:

"No need to guess, how could I possibly control the system."

"You think too pervertedly of me."

"Let's first answer this point about the locked state."

"First, you need to understand one thing: what exactly does it mean for Xuan Haicheng to be immune to a single lethal attack?"

Hearing Chu An's question, Gao Tian blinked and replied hesitantly:

"In the face of a fatal blow, he wouldn't die? Directly invincible? Like Brother Zhang?"

"Pretty close, but not accurate."

The pen tip swished, Chu An casually pulled out a white sheet from under the meeting room table and quickly began writing:

"Xuan Haicheng's and Zhang Tie's talents are very similar, but there is an essential difference."

"One hit and three seconds may look like they both block attacks, but there is a subtle difference. Within three seconds, Zhang Tie can block countless attacks, so he is in an invincible state."

"But one hit doesn't require invincibility. It only needs to lock the state before the hit, treating it as if the attack wasn't received, just like dodging."

"So the question arises, what counts as one hit?"

He raised his head, Chu An didn't wait for anyone to answer, and asked and answered himself:

"One hit, if a shell explodes once on you, that counts as one hit; does a single instance of continuous damage count as one hit?"

"Just like a shell explosion: first shrapnel damage, then high-temperature blast, then shockwave. A single shell explosion can cause multiple attacks."

"Tell me, how should the system calculate these damages?"

"Obviously, Xuan Haicheng's talent couldn't possibly block only the first shrapnel hit when facing a shell explosion, because the subsequent explosives would directly blow him up."

"That would violate the effect of blocking a single lethal damage."

"So Xuan Haicheng must, and can only, in the system's judgment, lock his current bodily state, and release the lock after the attack ends."

"But another problem arises: how is continuous damage calculated? If Xuan Haicheng suffers a long-lasting bleed skill, does the system block the final lethal hit, or the entire skill?"

"Obviously, the system must choose to block the entire skill; otherwise, what would count as one? Just like a shell!"

Gao Tian suddenly froze, as if he had thought of something:

"You mean...!?"

"Exactly."

Chu An stopped the pen in his hand, smiled:

"The attack of the psionic nuclear bomb has never ended, because Xuan Haicheng was already 'vaporized' during the explosion; his existence has already become part of the fission reaction."

"Just like firewood thrown into a fire, the firewood also becomes fire..."

"So he is like trapped in continuous damage; the system will continuously lock his body, thereby maintaining the condensed state."

"If he doesn't break free, he won't die; if he breaks free from the condensed state, he will die."

"In a sense, he also meets another property of the condensed state, a macroscopic quantum state, 'neither dead nor alive'."

Holy shit!?

He burst out cursing, Gao Tian foolishly stared at the calm Chu An, feeling that the shock in his heart could not be increased.

He never imagined that skills could be played like this!

This isn't about exploiting system loopholes; it's simply pulling the system's underpants off!

Ignoring the shock of Gao Tian and the others, Chu An's calm expression was as if he had casually done a small experiment:

"Of course, before succeeding I also wasn't sure if I could do this, so I also said this was an experiment."

"As for why I didn't inform beforehand, besides the possibility of failure, another point is the power of belief."

"If Xuan Hai Cheng had known the truth beforehand, what do you think he would do when facing a nuclear explosion?"

"Macroscopic quantum state is a rather wondrous thing…"

"Power of belief?"

"Hearing Chu An throw out this completely new term, An Jing Tian instinctively spoke up:"

"What is the power of belief? If he knew it, how would he be?"

No answer.

"Chu An gently pushed the previously written information to the front of several people, lightly lifting his glasses frame:"

"The condensed state is too special; its essence has already entered the realm of metaphysics, or rather the domain of consciousness."

"After seeing these, you'll probably understand why some things cannot be known."

"Sometimes, knowing the 'truth' is actually a mistake."

"Upon hearing the sound, several people were stunned and hurriedly lowered their heads to look at the white paper."

"On the handwritten white paper, the characters were neat as if printed."

"On the pure white paper, a name instantly appeared before their eyes:"

"Third Rank Awakened One: 【Akua】"

"Innate skill: S-rank, Body of Belief."