Chapter 713 - 690: Deja Vu

"Over the past few decades, we have never ceased our research on it."

Ye Changsi looked unperturbed as he faced Zhang Shoucheng, who had just taken the Geological Hammer, and continued to introduce (and fabricate):

"We don’t believe ’Karst’ poses a significant risk. If it wanted to, just manipulating the internet would be enough to accomplish a lot, but it hasn’t."

We’ve also acquired artificial intelligence technology; ’Karst’s’ capabilities shouldn’t be questioned."

"Then what do you think its purpose is?"

Zhang Shoucheng searched for a place to strike with the hammer but had no intention of acting rashly.

Others had already tried using a ray flaw detector; the results were unexpected yet within reason:

Gamma rays, X-rays, etc., simply could not penetrate the seemingly simple silicon carbide shell; New Yuan was right, there was another layer.

And from the feedback of the rays, it didn’t seem like the usual impenetrability—rather, it was more like absorption, which was quite eerie.

Using electromagnetic devices containing constrained metallic hydrogen, the tightly contracted outer shell was extremely hard. The surface strength remained unchanged, but just below that, the density and structural organization had altered, hard to the point of being unbreakable.

Even if subjected to a magnetic resonance imager, there’s no fear, since no CT machine’s intensity is able to contend with ’Karst’—it either breaks down or shows nothing.

Luckily, Zhang Shoucheng was prepared for this, as ordinary materials would have deteriorated long ago if it truly had been on Earth for over ten thousand years.

What interested him now was the purpose of ’Karst’ and its relation to the Martian gravitational waves.

"I feel that it is guiding us, leading us into space, toward a specific direction."

It is consciously steering technological advancement, as well as guiding us step by step outward; we may still be in the early stages, far from its true goal."

After finishing, Ye Changsi looked at Zhang Shoucheng somewhat expectantly, hoping for some valuable answers, which would also address the doubts about the System.

"Guiding? It does seem that way. Now it is leading you to Mars, to Titan, and the next step will surely be beyond the Solar System. Perhaps only then will we know where it truly wants to lead us.

The designer of this thing... is very intelligent, certainly part of a scientific civilization, luring us to the desired location with the temptation of advanced technology—utterly irresistible.

But I’m more interested in what’s inside this object; your technologies must have been altered. What does a genuine extraterrestrial civilization use to manufacture machinery? That’s what concerns me the most.

And then there’s the energy source, over ten thousand years, huh, it’s not enough just to have a small nuclear reactor installed—neither fusion nor fission would work, so what could it be?"

Zhang Shoucheng had countless questions and was in no position to answer Ye Changsi, his attention nearly entirely focused on the black shuttle-shaped object before him.

But with the base’s careful preparation, discovering something was unlikely, so seeing this, Ye Changsi could only smile bitterly internally, continuing to cooperate with them on the surface.

...

From the morning of the 23rd to the evening, the entire day for the group was almost entirely spent in the basement, until 10 o’ clock when they emerged one by one with complex emotions to head towards the large seminar room prepared temporarily.

The dozen or so experts who flew in focused all their energy on ’Karst’ itself, while those precious technical documents were set aside for the time being.

The seminar room was on the first floor. Lin Ju originally wanted to give them some private time to communicate, but Zhong Cheng still had them stay.

"We have no secrets here."

Zhong Cheng’s statement was multi-layered, but nearly everyone present could fully grasp it.

"Professor Zhang, did you gain anything?"

Although he had basically witnessed all of Zhang Shoucheng and the others’ actions, Zhong Cheng still held a sliver of hope.

However, Zhang Shoucheng simply shook his head regretfully:

"New Yuan, ’Black Stone’ hasn’t discovered much over the years either. We have no means at our disposal, unless we use brute force to open it, but I believe that possibility is very slim and could lead to unpredictable consequences.

Nevertheless, it seems that ’Karst’ does not have a purpose that presents an immediate threat. First, empirical observation can be used as corroborative evidence, and second, it has not demonstrated the ability for superluminal communication.

Truthfully, this is good news. Einstein’s theory of relativity is still valid, and information cannot be transmitted faster than light, so we still have time.

As for the gravitational wave signal emitted from Mars, it should be treated seriously. It’s more akin to a broadcast sent to the entire universe; any other extraterrestrial civilization that deciphers it could trigger unpredictable consequences."

Zhang Shoucheng didn’t know about New Yuan’s alternative communication technology based on superstring theory, a technology that wasn’t listed in the provided technical documentation.

Otherwise his last sentence would need revising. Superstring theory, developing from string theory, has always had numerous conflicts with Einstein’s theory of relativity. If New Yuan has confirmed the correctness of superstring theory, it would mean that Einstein’s general theory of relativity has flaws that need to be patched.

Moreover, superstring theory was proposed to unify the fundamental particles of the natural world with the four fundamental forces. If Zhang Shoucheng knew this, he certainly would try to use it as a foundation to achieve the grand unification of physics.

"So, you’re saying ’Karst’ doesn’t pose a threat for the time being?"

Zhong Cheng caught the drift after a while, more or less sensing Zhang Shoucheng’s point.

"More or less. I’m not saying there’s any absolute evidence, just that if it intended to destroy us, it could have done so in far simpler ways."