Reborn Before the Apocalypse: My Backing is the Nation

Chapter 194 A glimmer of hope

As if being forcibly propelled forward, Jiang Yang subconsciously began to think rapidly.

At this moment, his countless days of continuous study once again came into play, enabling him to conduct a more rigorous examination of this issue within a scientific framework.

"The first possibility is... that it really did appear suddenly."

The Reaper civilization may have mastered some kind of technology to remotely create black holes. They may have created a black hole from scratch around Earth from a distance of unknown light-years.

This explains why things were calm one second, and then a black hole suddenly appeared and tore the Earth apart the next.

The second possibility... inter-space teleportation.

Jiang Yang spoke slowly, his mind becoming clearer as he thought at high speed: "They had already taken control of this black hole. All they were doing now was to use some kind of delivery method, such as spatial folding or spatial channels, to directly transport the black hole to a designated location."

While techniques like spatial folding and spatial teleportation exist only in human imagination, and we currently lack any concrete technological principles or even a conceptual theoretical framework, the existing physics system has not denied the possibility of their application.

It differs from the faster-than-light motion of matter with mass in a vacuum environment, a notion that has been completely rejected by humans.

Extraterrestrial civilizations that have mastered advanced technology may be able to bypass this limitation through various means and achieve de facto faster-than-light travel. However, in any case, it is highly likely that even advanced extraterrestrial civilizations cannot make massive objects move faster than light in a vacuum environment.

"The third possibility is gravitational shielding."

This black hole could still have been ejected to Earth's vicinity through conventional means. The reason it wasn't detected earlier and didn't interact gravitationally with other celestial bodies is simply because its gravity was shielded.

It is possible that there is a 'membrane' around it, which completely confines its gravity to a small area.

Upon reaching the vicinity of Earth, the envelope breaks down, and gravity is released instantly.

If that's the case..."

Jiang Yang frowned slightly: "The speed at which this black hole is moving is actually not very fast."

To deploy them around Earth in a relatively short time... the Reaper civilization is nearby?!

This black hole travels at a speed of only about 3 kilometers per second relative to Earth. Even if this black hole was launched right after the last apocalypse, in more than 40 years, it would have traveled less than 40 billion kilometers in total, not even crossing the orbit of Pluto.

Are they in the solar system?
"And why did they wait until the black hole was near Earth before removing its envelope? Even if a black hole is right in front of us, we have no way to resist it. Isn't it redundant for them to do this?"

There was a third point, which Jiang Yang did not mention.

The term "shielding gravity" sounds simple, but anyone with basic scientific literacy knows how difficult it is to actually do it.

Gravity's penetrating power is many times greater than that of neutrinos. Shielding neutrinos is already unimaginable, let alone shielding gravity.

However, during the first apocalypse, they proved that the Reaper civilization possessed anti-gravity technology. Given this technology, shielding from gravity doesn't seem impossible.

After explaining these three possibilities, Jiang Yang looked at Sun Changhe.

Sun Changhe pondered silently for a moment, then looked at the astrophysicist.

He also pondered for a moment before saying, "Comrade Jiang Yang's statement is very comprehensive."

Within our existing scientific framework, these three methods are indeed the only possibilities.

As for which possibility is more likely, I cannot make a more accurate judgment.

All I can say is that, purely from the perspective of the difficulty of implementation, the first possibility, namely the possibility of generating a black hole on-site, is the most difficult.

To create a black hole with three times the mass of Earth in the void, with all that mass coming from external sources, the Reaper civilization would need to invest at least 1.61 * 10^42 joules of energy, according to the mass-energy equivalence formula.

This energy is enormous.

The Sun's gravitational binding energy is only 2.28 x 10^41 joules. The energy required to create this black hole would be enough to completely shatter the Sun, reducing it from a star to the smallest molecules and atoms seven times over.

This doesn't even take into account the energy loss during the energy conversion process. After all, no energy conversion can be 100% perfect; that's an ironclad rule. It also doesn't consider the energy delivery issue; it only considers the scale of energy.

The second possibility is the least difficult.

This involves space-like channel technology that spans countless light-years, something we simply cannot imagine.

However, compared to the first possibility, it at least reduces the direct use of such a huge amount of energy, so it is less difficult.

The third possibility is the least difficult, as it only involves gravity shielding technology, and existing evidence has already proven that the Reaper civilization possesses anti-gravity technology. It does not involve spatial teleportation or the utilization of ultra-high energy.

Jiang Yang added, "If it's the third possibility, it seems to mean that the Reaper civilization is within the solar system."

If it weren't within the solar system, the teleportation process they used would have involved first transporting the black hole through space to the vicinity of Earth, and then having it reach Earth's vicinity through conventional means. This seems unnecessary. "This..."

The astrophysicist stopped talking and began to think.

Sun Changhe said, "We cannot know the specific logic behind the actions of the Reaper civilization."

Given that both apocalypses occurred suddenly, perhaps the Reaper civilization has a certain requirement for suddenness? They need to kill us quickly without warning in order to satisfy the harvesting requirements?

Or perhaps there are some unknown principles that force the Reaper civilization to use a somewhat cumbersome method to deliver the black hole?
These are all possibilities. At this stage, we don't need to dwell on this too much. Let's just use these three options as a foundation for further consideration.

His expression grew increasingly serious: "Our ultimate goal is not to destroy that black hole, but to perpetuate civilization and to prevent that black hole from reaching the vicinity of Earth."

Now that these three possibilities have been identified, are there any aspects of them that we can take advantage of?

This... is where our human civilization's glimmer of hope lies!

Jiang Yang's expression also suddenly turned serious.

He finally caught up with Sun Changhe's train of thought and realized the real purpose behind Sun Changhe's question.

As he said, humanity's adversary is not the black hole, so don't be intimidated by its power.

Humanity's true purpose is simply to continue its existence.

And to continue this process, it's not necessary to destroy the black hole; it's enough to simply prevent it from reaching Earth's vicinity!

call……

Looking at Sun Changhe, who was solemn and dignified, with an expression as resolute as steel, Jiang Yang felt a surge of respect.

To maintain such remarkable strategic vision in the face of such a desperate situation and such a powerful opponent, and to so keenly find a glimmer of hope in such a short time, and to rebuild the morale that had been almost completely shattered, is a blessing for the entire civilization.

At this moment, the video conference room was no longer deathly silent. The expressions of the experts gradually brightened, and they once again entered a state of deep thought.

"First, consider the first and second possibilities: if the black hole was generated directly around Earth, or arrived directly via teleportation, do we have any ways to counteract, interfere with, or disrupt this process?"

After a moment's thought, the astrophysicist said, "What can be confirmed is that we know absolutely nothing about either the technology of generating black holes or spatial teleportation."

Aside from imposing spatial curvature through mass, we have no other way to influence space.

But I think...

Whether it's teleportation or creating a black hole on-site, it's highly likely that certain environmental stability requirements exist. Just like when we conduct high-precision industrial production, we require a constant temperature and humidity environment, free from dust and vibration.

"So...now that we know the final location of that black hole, is it possible to disrupt environmental stability to block its creation and transmission?"

Whether it succeeds or fails, whether it has any effect or not, the moment Jiang Yang heard about this plan, he realized that it was the only means that his side could use with its current level of technology.

A word instantly appeared in Jiang Yang's mind.

hydrogen bomb.

How can we disrupt environmental stability as much as possible? Clearly, we would need to use the most powerful weapons in the human world.

Aside from the hydrogen bomb, I have no other ideas.

Sun Changhe nodded slightly: "Then, what if the black hole is delivered using conventional means of transportation?"

"This means that there must be a membrane around a black hole that can shield it from gravity..."

Please wait a moment.

The astrophysicist hurriedly logged off again and, together with many colleagues, began simulations and calculations that Jiang Yang couldn't quite understand.

A moment later, he hurriedly logged on, his expression showing a hint of excitement.

"Break the envelope, and we can prevent it from reaching the vicinity of Earth!"

Suppose we can break the envelope within Mars' orbit, well, about ten million kilometers from Earth, causing it to interact gravitationally with other celestial bodies, including the Sun and the eight planets, then according to our simulations, the black hole's orbit will eventually be deflected.

Although it cannot be simulated too precisely, even in the worst-case scenario, it would pass by at a distance of 140 million kilometers from Earth.

Considering its mass... at a distance of 140 million kilometers, although it could still have a significant impact on Earth, including deflecting its orbit and causing geological instability, its short-term effects would be entirely within our acceptable range!

(End of this chapter)