Chapter 837: SCP-C-1556

Looking at the massive starships on the screen, the audience could not help but feel shocked.

No other reason; although those starships looked a bit bloated and suspicious of being thin-skinned and stuffed,

there was no doubt that from them, one could already see shadows of the current Foundation starships.

Perhaps the various subsystems inside them had long since turned upside down.

This similar appearance, inherited to this day, quietly indicated that humanity back then already had certain ideas about space warfare.

More shock followed: how did the Foundation complete the design of the starships and build such a massive fleet in such a short time?

Reality benders want to bend reality, but they also have to be based on their cognition; it is difficult to create existence beyond their cognition.

"This is probably the real technological explosion... No, it's simply like turning on a game modifier, directly adjusting the parameters in the game, and directly pulling a fleet out from the backend!"

"In current strategy games with a cosmic background, the technological level hasn't climbed to the Foundation's level either... A civilization that has just started space colonization for a few years suddenly starts exploring star systems hundreds of light-years away; it's unimaginable."

"When I play 'Stellaris,' the thing I fear most is such an indigenous civilization. When I built an observation post before, they didn't even have a decent starship, but after clicking a little bit elsewhere, I saw an empire that looked like a god suddenly emerge from the back..."

……

The exploration fleet swept past another star.

Compared to the distance from Earth to the Sun, its diameter was longer.

If it were a few decades ago, wanting to cross such a scale,

one would have to use humanity's most advanced technology to build giant carrier rockets, store enough food and water for half a year, and prepare enough spare parts.

But even so, this was still a one-way ticket with no return; when the fuel ran out, the astronauts could only watch as the spaceship was captured by the star's gravity and fell into the scorching plasma.

And when humanity really built faster-than-light spaceships, everything changed.

But what followed was a pile of problems that gave physicists quite a headache.

Why is faster-than-light travel possible?

Why can thaumaturgy ignore spatial distance and achieve real-time communication? How much accuracy is left in "within the light cone, all is destiny"?

Within the universe, or outside the universe, does there exist an absolute coordinate axis that marks the scale of all things...

As for whether these questions have answers and what the answers might be, let the scholars remaining in the solar system think about it.

Jiang Jiazheng finished editing the document and uploaded it to the Foundation server terminal. After the screen displayed "Saved,"

he disconnected from the thaumaturgic network to avoid inadvertently occupying precious resources.

Just then, a rough male voice sounded beside him:

"Just finished editing the file?"

Jiang Jiazheng had already turned off the computer. He stood up from his seat, walked to the light controller, adjusted one wall to porthole mode, and said without looking back:

"Yeah."

"Still the 'Blue Bird'?"

"Old Ivan, don't try to drag me out for a drink; it's impossible."

Jiang Jiazheng turned around and looked at the wall that was gradually changing color.

The only thing that spoiled the scenery was that between him and the cosmic scene, there was a huge figure as strong as a bear.

"That's a real pity."

Shaking his head, Ivan, under Jiang Jiazheng's twitching gaze, took out two bottles of vodka from under his white lab coat and lined them up on the table.

He pulled up a chair, opened the bottle caps with his bare hands, and joined the ranks of those admiring the galactic scenery.

Even if the fleet could travel at faster-than-light speeds, it could not arrive in an instant.

When the time spent on the road is long, no matter how overflowing the passion and heroism were at the start of the journey, they are worn away by day-after-day maintenance and upkeep work.

People kept failing to stand this life; to this day, the vast majority of people in non-essential positions have entered a dormant state.

Those who can hold on, besides the Foundation employees who have long been accustomed to this life, are mostly those who are obsessed with the universe, obsessed with research, and whose enthusiasm has never diminished.

As for Ivan, he just needs alcohol.

Every crew member of the fleet has received the Foundation's top-tier genetic enhancement, physical enhancement, and gene therapy to eliminate hidden illnesses, extend life, and enhance physical capabilities.

This person has reached the state of not drinking water unless necessary.

If given enough strong liquor, his most likely cause of death would not be alcohol poisoning, but being stuffed to death, or having his entire cell membrane dissolved by alcohol.

"What a magnificent view; it would be even better if paired with vodka. Jiang, are you really not having a bottle?"

Jiang Jiazheng shook his head, very helpless:

"Compared to alcohol, I prefer black tea. Would you like some?"

"No," Ivan said concisely.

Subsequently, the room fell into a brief silence.

The starlight outside the spaceship was deformed due to the Doppler effect.

They were no longer point-like light sources, but had become streaks of light stretching along the direction of travel, like countless light streamlines piercing through the night sky, intertwining and filling each other, like a tunnel cast by starlight.

"To this day, I still feel like I'm dreaming..." Ivan put down the empty bottle, his face slightly flushed.

"The Foundation, 'anomalies,' SCPs, and her—a big and beautiful starship."

Every time he said a segment, he would extend a finger.

Then, he said: "You know, my biggest dream when I was a child was to go to the sky, just like Gagarin."

"But as I grew up, I gradually understood that it was basically impossible; there were only a few countries that could send people out of the atmosphere, and the selection criteria for astronauts were more like looking for a superman."

"It's just... I still stood here, became a pioneer for all of humanity, and headed toward the constellations that humanity had only dared to look up at for millions of years."

"I can tell you're very happy," Jiang Jiazheng laughed.

"Of course I'm happy, even if I never return, I have no regrets..." Ivan took a deep breath, and the air was instantly filled with a rich smell of alcohol.

He looked at Jiang Jiazheng, his expression serious:

"I still really want to know, if there were no alien visitors, would the Foundation really be willing to disclose these theories and technologies?"

"It probably would have been a bit later; the 'Administrator' and the O5s had already prepared the specific process for 'Veil Breaking' at that time... But, who knew there would be a small interlude?"

Jiang Jiazheng smiled and continued to admire the fleeting light and shadows.

And in his mind, memories began to backtrack, returning to the time when he first joined the Foundation.

That day, an unknown entity with an eye-like shape suddenly appeared outside Earth...

As Jiang Jiazheng fell into memories, lines of text appeared on the light screen.

【SCP: Heading Toward the Starry Sky】

【Item Number: SCP-C-1556】

【Danger Level: N/A】

【Special Containment Procedures:】

【"SCP-C-1556" cannot be contained.】

【Since the item has shown almost no clear threat, further containment attempts for this item have ceased.】

【"SCP-C-1556" may have one or more advanced civilizations behind the veil.】

【Item Description:】

【"SCP-C-1556" is an object that looks like a "lens," existing between material and non-material, entity and non-entity.】

【It is speculated that this item is a three-dimensional projection of the item's body in four or higher dimensions at the item's location.】

【The volume of "SCP-C-1556" will change slowly, with its diameter roughly changing in the range of 22~29m.】

【"SCP-C-1556" appeared in Earth's orbit in an unknown form on 2019/01/01 00:00:00.】

【Accompanying the appearance of this item, a message of unknown meaning was sent to astronomical research institutes around the world.】 ===== CHAPTER 839 =====