Cataclysm: Undead Dragons and Zero Empire

Chapter 127 "Sky Ring" Particle Accelerator

Outside the porthole of the Ark Space Station lies the unchanging, deep sea of ​​stars.

Howard watched as a brand-new ship sailed out of the dock, a result of his shipbuilding order. Recently, human civilization has been ramping up its productivity, building warships, research vessels, and engineering ships like dumplings being dropped into boiling water.

His gaze then fell upon the dazzling band of light that stretched across half of the galaxy on the outer edge of the star system. The band of light was like a mark drawn on the black curtain by the hand of God. In his mind, he only regarded this band of light that stretched across the star system as a cosmic wonder. However, Terence had recently insisted on calling it the Lord's Path, thus gilding this wonder with sanctity.

He raised his hand and straightened his uniform collar. The "Hand Holding the Flame" badge had not faded over the years, just like his unwavering ideals. "Have the berth prepared for the ships. Also, have the staff send me the survey report and the colony project list."

"Yes, General!"

A ship departed the Ark Space Station, its nuclear fusion engines leaving a faint contrail at the stern, speeding towards the outer reaches of the Heng star system. Outside the porthole, the traces of human civilization left in this star system receded rapidly.

"General, we are about to arrive at the Sky Ring Accelerator Control Station," the navigator's voice came through.

Even after seeing the design blueprints countless times and visiting the construction site several times, Howard still felt an unreal sense of awe when he saw this most magnificent space project in the history of human civilization with his own eyes again.

The so-called "Sky Ring" particle accelerator is not a facility fixed on a certain planet or asteroid, but a giant project that truly surrounds the entire star system.

Thousands of acceleration nodes, like pearls scattered on black velvet, are evenly distributed in the orbit around the galaxy. In the darkness of space, they simultaneously light up with a pale blue light, outlining an enormous ring in the universe.

From the day the project was initiated, it has captivated the entire human civilization. The acceleration nodes were built and deployed in batches in orbits on the outer edge of the galaxy, carrying the most sophisticated sensors and magnetohydrodynamic conductors that humanity has been able to build so far.

In order to accurately deploy these behemoths in their designated locations, human civilization mobilized the vast majority of its available transport ships to complete the deployment, docking, and calibration of all nodes within the planned timeframe.

The fact that such a massive project could proceed so smoothly is entirely due to Howard's prestige and administrative power within human civilization. Even during the turbulent period of the Great Purge, the project's progress was not affected.

Howard's ship slowly entered the dock. The hatch opened, and Isaac was already waiting outside. The former leader of the wizards and now the chief scientist of the human civilization physics laboratory, his gray robes were somewhat disheveled and unkempt, but his eyes shone with undisguised excitement, as if he had finally touched the edge of the door to truth.

"General Howard," Isaac bowed slightly to Howard, "Please come with me. The final debugging of all nodes is complete, the accelerator system has passed the self-test, and it can be started at any time."

Howard nodded and walked with Isaac to the control center, where a large screen displayed the entire home star system of human civilization. Dense circles of light formed the circles, which were acceleration nodes waiting to be activated.

A dense array of parameters and curves danced on the screen, displaying the real-time operating status of thousands of acceleration nodes. In the control center, researchers in white overalls were busy at work. When they saw Howard and Isaac approaching, they tried to bow, but Howard waved them off, indicating that they didn't need to get up.

Howard looked up at the screens. He couldn't understand what the complex curves represented, but he could at least see that everything was still running smoothly.

"General, everyone in the control room is in position, all systems are ready, and we await your command," Isaac said solemnly to Howard as he walked to the front of the control panel.

Howard's gaze slowly swept over everyone present. Among them were elderly scholars with white hair and young people sent from the moon. Their faces all carried the same anticipation and tension. Howard knew very well that many of them had been on the space station for a long time for this project, without returning to their home planet or seeing their families.

He nodded slightly. "I am Howard Jones, and on behalf of human civilization, I approve the first activation experiment of the Sky Ring Particle Accelerator. Now, execute the activation procedure."

"Instructions received, execute the startup procedure!" Isaac immediately turned around and gave the command to the control panel, "Energy core to begin increasing output power."

"Received! Node 1 started up normally!"

"Node 726 is functioning normally!"

"All 2,000 nodes are functioning normally!"

"All nodes have started up! Output power remains stable."

Reports came one after another, and the lights representing each node on the screen brightened, indicating that energy was beginning to flow slowly in the huge ring that encircled the entire galaxy.

"Level 2 startup procedure: pipeline vacuum confirmed, magnetic field confinement system activated!"

"First-stage acceleration procedure initiated, particle beam injection!"

As Isaac issued his commands, the baseline on the main screen instantly started to jump, indicating that the particle beam was being injected into the accelerator's ring pipe and began to accelerate under the constraint of the magnetic field, speeding forward at an astonishing speed along the ring that encircles the entire galaxy.

"Particle beam acceleration is normal, node synchronization rate is 99.9%."

"Second-stage acceleration starts, output power increased!"

The atmosphere in the control room grew increasingly tense. Howard watched as the particle beam's speed soared wildly and gradually slipped out of human control. All he could do was wait for this highly anticipated particle beam to complete its mission.

"Particle beam acceleration complete, has reached the predetermined energy level!"

"Target coordinates locked, impact point parameters confirmed!"

On the outer edge of the galaxy, the quietly flowing, dazzling band of light was being struck by a particle beam accelerated to its limit. Countless sensor data flooded the screen like a waterfall; they had built this massive project just to wait for this moment.

"Wheel track! The wheel track is reacting!"

These words caused an uproar in the control room. Howard immediately took a step forward, his eyes fixed on the main screen that had been restored.

On the screen, the brilliant band of light that had been unmoved by any interference began to ripple at the point where the particle beam struck. In the data monitored by the space sensors, the extremely subtle spacetime fluctuations indicated that they had finally glimpsed the mystery of this flight path that transcended the understanding of human civilization.

"We did it—we did it!" Isaac looked at the fluctuating spatial parameters. He clearly understood their meaning better than Howard. These precious experimental data made him tremble with excitement, and tears welled up in his eyes uncontrollably.

A deafening cheer erupted in the control room; they knew this moment was destined to be recorded in the annals of human civilization.

Howard looked at the dazzling band of light on the screen and smiled with satisfaction. He patted Isaac on the shoulder and said, "Congratulations, Doctor, you've made history."

He raised his hand and pressed down, and the noisy control room quickly quieted down. Everyone looked at the leader, waiting for him to speak.

"On behalf of human civilization, I thank everyone here and everyone who has dedicated their efforts to this project," Howard said. "You have accomplished something unprecedented, opening a door to new technologies for human civilization."

The applause rang out again, and once everyone quieted down, Howard turned to Isaac and asked, "Dr. Isaac, now tell me, what can this experiment bring us? I want to hear the most practical things, not the theories, but things that can be applied in a real way."

Produce