Reborn Before the Apocalypse: My Backing is the Nation

Chapter 199 Path Dependency
"Comrade Jiang Yang, this is your 237th time waking up from hibernation. How do you feel?"

The familiar voice reached his ears, causing Jiang Yang to momentarily lose his senses.

The next moment, he regained consciousness and recalled all his previous experiences.

Unlike the eagerness he felt when he experienced death and woke up again in the past, this time, Jiang Yang was calm.

He slowly sat up in bed and calmly looked at Shen Wei in front of him: "Notify the higher-ups that the end of the world is coming. Call a meeting."

The vast hibernation hall fell silent instantly. The next moment, Shen Wei reflexively pulled over the sketching table. But as soon as his hand touched it, Jiang Yang said again, "No need. Just notify the higher-ups to hold a meeting."

"Yes Yes!"

Shen Wei left in a hurry. In the hibernation hall, the hibernators who had awakened with him all looked solemn.

Looking again at the familiar faces in the video conference room, Jiang Yang solemnly said, "This is not the first time I've experienced this cycle."

In previous cycles, our civilization tried time and again to save the world, only to fail time and again. But the last cycle was different.

Although I perished in the apocalypse in the previous cycle, we had already found a solution to end the apocalypse.

We have identified the culprit behind the apocalypse: a black hole.
We also determined the mass, orbit, and velocity of this black hole, clarified its delivery pattern, and learned how to destroy its gravitational shielding envelope.

According to calculations from the previous life, as long as we destroy its envelope ten million kilometers away, we can use the gravity of other celestial bodies to deflect its orbit, ultimately preventing it from engulfing the Earth and ending the apocalypse!

The following is a detailed account of my previous several cycles.

......"

Jiang Yang recounted his experience in detail, and concluded by saying, "That's how it all happened."

The solution to saving the world is actually quite simple: all you need is a hydrogen bomb!

Unlike the previous sessions, which were filled with a heavy and oppressive atmosphere in the video conference room, this time, while still heavy-hearted, there was a sense of exhilaration within.

Just like for a person, the best news is not being sick.

The second best news is that although he is sick, he can be cured!
As long as it can be cured!

Sun Changhe, the chief advisor of the Doomsday Project who was chairing the meeting, then looked at the scientific advisory group: "Please verify the relevant data immediately."

"Yes."

The attendees occasionally whispered among themselves about the information, while Jiang Yang remained calm and waited quietly.

He knew that the information he brought back from his previous life, and the conclusions drawn from that information, could not be wrong.

These conclusions were originally calculated by you in your previous life. How could you possibly calculate different results in this life?
However, to Jiang Yang's surprise, the scientific advisor who had completed the verification calculation did not look relaxed; on the contrary, he looked somewhat solemn.

"First of all, the information and data brought back by Comrade Jiang Yang have been verified by us and are correct."

Based on the data on the mass, orbit, and velocity of the black hole learned in the previous life, it is indeed true that after its envelope is destroyed by a hydrogen bomb at a distance of 10 million kilometers, it will pass by Earth at a distance of 1.4 million kilometers. The impact it would have on Earth would be completely acceptable to us today.

At the same time, based on the data quality of the previous life, we can indeed pinpoint the location of the black hole about 60 days from now to a cube with a side length of only 2000 kilometers, about 1000 million kilometers from Earth.

This level of precision is a full 1500 times higher than the life before that.

Jiang Yang felt a little puzzled.

Since the calculation results are all correct, why are you still looking so downcast, like a patient who has been diagnosed with a terminal illness?
"but……"

Jiang Yang's heart jumped instantly.

Damn it, there's even a but!

"Comrade Jiang Yang, may I ask, among the more than 130 scientists at the lunar base in the previous life, was there a lack of interdisciplinary experts in optical experimental physics and the design and manufacture of precision optical equipment?"

Jiang Yang paused for a moment before he understood the term.

He thought about it carefully for a moment, then shook his head decisively: "No."

The primary task of the lunar base in the previous life was to analyze observation data from 16 infrared telescopes; it didn't need the experts you mentioned.

"So... their estimates were somewhat wrong."

The expert looked at Jiang Yang: "A cube with a side length of 2000 kilometers has indeed had its range restricted to an extremely small extent."

Even at such a small size, finding an object with a diameter of 5 centimeters within such a range that doesn't emit any radiation but instead absorbs external light is not easy.

Jiang Yang couldn't quite understand what this meant.

How can it be difficult within such a small area?
"The key is that we only have one search method for this type of target: the occultation method, which uses the ability of a black hole to swallow light—which is equivalent to blocking light—to search for it."

But the more crucial point is that, in order to use the occultation method, the light source must be strong enough and close enough.

This raises a contradiction: without knowing in advance where it is located within this 2000-kilometer-long cube, how can we get the light source close enough to it?” Jiang Yang frowned slightly: “But in my previous life…”

He recalled the scene from his previous life when his side used a hydrogen bomb constellation to bombard that black hole. Didn't we successfully lock onto the black hole back then?
But he realized what was happening the next moment.

That was indeed the case in the previous life. However, in the previous life, our side had locked the black hole in a sphere with a radius of 300 kilometers in advance, and then filled the entire interior of this sphere with hydrogen bombs, using a total of 100,000 of them!
No matter where the black hole is located within this sphere, a hydrogen bomb will be close enough to get it!

"So, you mean..."

The expert nodded slowly: "That's right. In this life, if we want to find out where the black hole is located within this cube, we still need to use a hydrogen bomb to cover it."

Since this space has already been filled with hydrogen bombs, why bother detecting its exact location? We can simply destroy its envelope and achieve our ultimate goal directly.

Jiang Yang finally understood.

From an engineering perspective, detecting the exact location of such a black hole and destroying its envelope are the same thing.

"If we want to destroy its membrane directly..."

The expert shifted his gaze to the members of the council and the decision-making group, his voice growing increasingly solemn: "Based on the previous life, a hydrogen bomb with a yield of 1000 megatons of TNT has a radius of 6.5 kilometers. To fill this space with a side length of 2000 kilometers, the number of hydrogen bombs required would be 360 million."

This does not take into account the gaps that will inevitably be left when a sphere fills a cube—the lethal radiation of a single hydrogen bomb decreases after it travels 6.5 kilometers.

However, the same gap would be simultaneously exposed to radiation from multiple surrounding hydrogen bombs, resulting in a cumulative effect. Therefore, we can assume that the total yield would not decrease, and thus the gap issue does not need to be considered.

Jiang Yang's pupils suddenly widened.

360 million!

In the previous life, the world government pooled the resources of the entire world and only managed to produce 10 hydrogen bombs.

In this generation, the number of hydrogen bombs required has increased by a full 36 times!
Leaving aside whether these hydrogen bombs can be manufactured, even if they could, how much would the required space launch capability need to be increased? And how high would the precision of their orbital control need to be?
Or, setting aside whether it's feasible at the industrial level, can we provide the computing power needed to calculate the trajectories of 360 million hydrogen bombs?
And most importantly: this time, we need to deliver the hydrogen bomb 1000 million kilometers away, instead of just 1.2 kilometers like in the last time!
That area is now part of the Sun's orbit, no longer Earth's orbit.

Just thinking about the sheer amount of work and complexity involved made Jiang Yang's scalp tingle.

In his previous life, he originally thought it was just a matter of a hydrogen bomb.

Adding a few more detectors would have solved the problem. Who would have thought things would become this complicated?

Sun Changhe's brows furrowed deeply as well.

He looked at the expert: "Is there any way to reduce the amount of hydrogen bombs used?"

The expert whispered, "Unless the density of the hydrogen bomb is reduced."

We don't know the minimum density of a hydrogen bomb needed to destroy a black hole's envelope; all we know is that in the previous life, a kill radius of 6.5 kilometers was successfully achieved.

His meaning was clear.

Perhaps, based on the calculation that a hydrogen bomb has a kill radius of 20 kilometers, it could also destroy a black hole.

In this way, the number of hydrogen bombs required would be reduced to 12.5, which is close to the previous generation, greatly increasing the probability that our side can complete it in this generation.

But the question is, who dares to take the risk?

Jiang Yang looked at the expert: "With the combined resources of the world, is there the capability to manufacture 3.6 million hydrogen bombs with a yield of 10 megatons each in a short period of time and deliver them there?"

The expert shook his head without hesitation: "No."

Jiang Yang let out a soft breath.

"If not, then it seems we can only reduce the density in this lifetime and experiment generation after generation. If it doesn't work in this lifetime, we'll try to increase the hydrogen bomb density a little more in the next lifetime. As long as we keep cycling, there will eventually be a day when we just meet the requirements..."

He looked at his companions and saw that the members of the hibernation team were all silent, as if they had already accepted the situation.

Even Sun Changhe had the same expression.

But the next moment, Sun Changhe resolutely raised his head and looked straight at the members of the decision-making team.

"I oppose this plan."

His voice grew increasingly solemn: "Comrade Jiang Yang certainly played a crucial role in enabling our human civilization to continue to this day, but I also believe that our spirit of self-reliance, unity, and never giving up is equally important!"
Distinguished members of the decision-making and deliberation committees, and distinguished attendees, I would like to ask you a question:
Have you placed all your hopes for the continuation of civilization on Comrade Jiang Yang, on luck and shortcuts, abandoning the courage to rely on your own hands and our own strength to change our fate?!

Have we... already developed a path dependency on Comrade Jiang Yang?
What if one day in the future, some unknown entity in the dark strips Comrade Jiang Yang of his ability to circulate, or some other accident occurs that renders Comrade Jiang Yang unable to perform his duties?
Comrade Jiang Yang is certainly important, but before relying on Comrade Jiang Yang's ability to circulate resources, have we first done our best?
Are we going to give up before even actually trying to manufacture and deliver those 360 million hydrogen bombs?

"Advisor Sun, we do not possess that kind of industrial capability..."

Before he could finish speaking, Sun Changhe interrupted him, looking him directly in the eyes: "You really don't have it?!"

The expert suddenly froze, unable to utter a single word.

(End of this chapter)