Those who face the wall, but are in the Nascent Soul stage.

Chapter 50 ETO Special Military Operations (Please continue reading)

Qinling Mountains, China.

The physics department wanted to organize a test to restart high-energy particle collision experiments, but this was opposed by relevant parties.

The military representatives present strongly opposed the restart of the Qinling Hadron Collider.

In an effort to restart the Qinling Hadron Collider, the leaders of the Institute of Physics elaborated in detail in a PowerPoint presentation the importance of restarting high-energy particle collision experiments, especially now that construction has begun on the fourth particle collider.

In the ninth year of the Crisis Era (2015), humanity had only three hadron colliders: the European Hadron Collider completed in 2008, the American Hadron Collider completed in 2011, the Chinese Hadron Collider completed in 2013, and the Space Hadron Collider currently under construction from the International Space Station.

As for why countries still build the costly Large Hadron Collider even though they know about the existence of sophons, the reason is simple: the major powers are still unwilling to give up.

Until the completion of the latest 'Qinling' hadron collider, after the Chinese made one last futile effort on an ordinary day two years ago, humanity finally gave up.

The EU, the US, and China have all shut down their Large Hadron Collider experiments. With Sophon around, all of this is meaningless.

But now, there are renewed calls for restarting the Large Hadron Collider.

The reason for this is simply that the Trisolaran civilization withdrew three sophons (this is questionable), and humanity has seen a glimmer of hope again.

"In conclusion, I have explained my argument for restarting the Large Hadron Collider clearly enough. Restarting the 'Qinling' is necessary. We must test the limits of the sophon's control over particle collision experiments in advance, as this is crucial to whether subsequent cutting-edge theories can break through the sophon's blockade."

Colonel Xu reassured Dr. Chen, "Please calm down. The higher-ups didn't say that restarting the Large Hadron Collider is forbidden—we spent hundreds of billions building this thing, how could we possibly stop using it? The higher-ups mean that restarting the collider will have to wait a while, don't rush it. You're a physicist, you definitely understand better than us roughnecks that the Sophon blockade is everywhere, and with only the three existing Large Hadron Colliders, it's impossible to break through the Sophon blockade."

The physics department leader, referred to as Dr. Chen, frowned: "But some things can't wait. Opportunities don't come by waiting. We have to try to break through the sophon blockade, even if there's only a one in a thousand chance. If we just shrink back and don't make an effort, we won't have any chance at all."

Colonel Xu nodded: "That makes sense! But it's really not possible now. To tell you the truth, we recently received information, though it's not guaranteed to be true, that the traitors in the ETO might launch an organized attack on the Large Hadron Collider. Therefore, for safety reasons, we absolutely cannot conduct any experiments on the Large Hadron Collider in the next two days."

"Attack the Large Hadron Collider?" Dr. Chen frowned. "Why would ETO attack that thing?"

"It could also be robbery," Colonel Xu said cautiously.

"That's even more impossible. The Qinling Large Hadron Collider is the longest of the three existing large hadron colliders. The acceleration section alone is over a hundred kilometers long, which is almost halfway through the Qinling Mountains. Rob it? Can they move the mountain range?"

Colonel Xu said helplessly, "The information we received is not clear, and it's not even reliable. After all, it was leaked to us by an unexposed insider in a way that only we can understand. In short, we should prioritize safety. It would be too painful to lose something worth hundreds of billions."

Standing before the military officer, Dr. Chen asked, "Then tell me, when can we restart the Large Hadron Collider?"

Colonel Xu thought about it carefully for a while: "At least we have to wait until the intelligence about the attack is proven false, or until Dr. Ding Yi comes down. Only his prestige can push for the 'Qinling' to restart."

"Dante's Instrument is in space."

"So we have to wait for him to come down."

"The high-energy space particle project is led by Ding Yi. Even if the Space Force personnel come down, he won't come down. If everything has to wait for Ding Yi, then how can the experiments be carried out, and how can the theoretical research be conducted?"

Colonel Xu said helplessly, "Dr. Ding Yi is, after all, the most outstanding physicist in the country. In terms of basic theory, he has gone further than anyone else." "But science and technology cannot be driven by one person. This is not like the movies that are being shown outside. An individual cannot save the world."

Colonel Xu remained adamant: "We can restart the experiment once Dr. Ding Yi comes down, or once the attack report is proven false."

"That's just individual heroism! No matter how strong Ding Yi is, he only has two doctoral degrees in philosophy and quantum physics, and a master's degree in mathematics! He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Physics three times, but didn't go to accept the award! He's also the youngest academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences! He was once the chief scientist of the National Neutron Decay Research Project!"

“But!” Dr. Chen pointed to himself, then to a group of scholars behind him.

"Standing before you now are more than thirty PhDs! More than ten Masters in Mathematics! Seven people have been nominated for the Nobel Prize in Physics! Two of them have gone to receive the prize! Half of them are academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences! Four of them are chief scientists of national frontier physics research projects!"

Colonel Xu was speechless with emotion.

Dr. Chen was furious. He pointed at Colonel Xu's nose and yelled, "I even pointed out the path for your military to weaponize ball lightning, and you don't even give me a little bit of kindness."

Colonel Xu gave a wry smile.

Dr. Chen finally gave up his angry outburst because he realized that the soldier in front of him was just a vessel for his negative emotions. No matter how hard he cursed, it was useless. The person who could actually make the decision was sitting on top of him.

"Dr. Luo Ji is at the underground base in the Qinling Mountains, right? I'll go find him! I'll go find the Wallfacer, okay? I'll get him to authorize the restart!" Dr. Chen sneered, then said:

"Just because I asked the head of the Stellar-level Communications Research Department to send that mysterious incantation a couple of days ago, I should have that kind of face!"

Colonel Xu hurriedly wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Dr. Chen, things haven't escalated to the point of involving the Wallfacers yet. Here's what we'll do: try having a space call with Dr. Ding Yi. If you can get his authorization, I'll go back and try to get it for you, and then send more troops to continue ensuring the safety of the Qinling Hadron Collider."

Before Colonel Xu could finish speaking, a soldier suddenly walked in and whispered something to Colonel Xu.

The colonel's eyes first showed a hint of disbelief, then his expression suddenly became serious.

He then addressed Dr. Chen, saying, "Dr. Chen, the 'Qinling' hadron collider can be restarted. I will immediately have the power restrictions lifted, and the three nearby nuclear power plants will be allowed to supply power to the 'Qinling'."

"Huh?" Dr. Chen was clearly caught off guard by this turn of events: "Why did you agree again?"

Colonel Xu took a deep breath. "The ETO's attack has begun, but the target is neither us nor the Americans. Half an hour ago, they breached the defenses in the Geneva area, seized the European Large Hadron Collider, and blew up the tunnels, blocking NATO reinforcements."

"What?" Dr. Chen was dumbfounded.

Where does the ETO get its armed forces?

"Who knows? But now those unlucky guys in Europe are the targets of attacks, and it's safe here. You can restart work if you want."

Colonel Xu put on his military cap and walked out the door.

Before leaving, Colonel Xu said to Dr. Chen meaningfully, "War is about to begin. As soldiers, we will do our best to provide you with a safe research environment. But we alone cannot win. The future of humanity still depends on you."

(End of this chapter)