Everyone's playing Red Giant? I, Black Hole, devour everything!

The Black Hole Legion returned to the Great Xia Kingdom on the evening of the following day.

An emergency meeting notice from the military headquarters was sent immediately.

The sender was Zhou Zhenguo himself.

Lin Tian was not surprised.

Such a large-scale operation as deterrence patrols will inevitably require a debriefing meeting afterward.

Without delay, he immediately headed to the capital.

Almost everyone had arrived at the military headquarters' highest conference room.

As soon as Old Chen walked in, everyone stood up.

"Sit down." Old Chen waved his hand and walked straight to the main seat to sit down.

"The reason I called everyone here today is not to praise the Black Hole Legion. We can talk about that at the year-end awards ceremony. What we need to discuss today is something else."

The atmosphere in the meeting room tensed slightly.

Old Chen raised his hand and brought up a set of data on the holographic star map.

The latest statistics on the comprehensive national strength score of the Great Xia Kingdom.

"As of this evening, the Great Xia Kingdom's comprehensive national strength score is 15.7 billion, ranking first in the world."

"The current national strength of the Great Xia Kingdom has far exceeded expectations."

"The success of the deterrence cruise also proves the advantages of the black hole route."

"But if we stop here and think that deterrence will solve the problem once and for all, we would be making a big mistake."

"Deterrence can only instill fear in the other party, but it cannot fundamentally eliminate their motivation to confront. On the contrary, it may give rise to more frenzied forms of confrontation."

"The Anti-Black Hole Alliance's Supernova Chain project is a product of this kind."

"They knew that artificial supernovae couldn't deal with black holes, but they still did it. Why? Because in desperation, people are capable of anything."

The conference room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Elder Chen continued, "So, I've been thinking about a question: Could the Great Xia Kingdom adopt a different strategy in the upcoming cosmic competition?"

"What playing style?" Zhou Zhenguo asked.

"From 'military deterrence' to 'technology leadership'."

"By gradually revealing the fundamental theory of black hole trajectories, we can give other countries hope of catching up, thereby fundamentally eliminating their motivation to confront us."

"Let them know that they can get a share of the profits on the Black Hole route without fighting or taking risks, just by obediently following the Great Xia Kingdom."

"In this way, they will no longer be enemies of the Great Xia Kingdom, but followers of the Great Xia Kingdom."

The conference room fell silent.

This proposal is too bold.

The black hole route is currently the greatest strategic advantage of the Great Xia Kingdom. Making it public, even if it is only gradually made public or only the basic theory, means giving up some of the exclusive benefits.

"Old Chen," Zhou Zhenguo was the first to speak, "I agree with your idea in principle, but we must control the pace of releasing the black hole route; we can't just throw it all out at once."

"That's natural." Old Chen nodded. "Gradual disclosure must not affect Great Xia Kingdom's absolute leading position in the black hole route; nor can it involve any core secrets related to wormholes or dimensional folding. Of course, the specific plan still needs to be determined—Lin Tian, ​​what do you think?"

All eyes turned to them.

Lin Tian's voice slowly rang out, "I basically agree with the idea of ​​technology leading the way, but I think the key technologies can wait until after the wormhole experiment before being made public."

"We can open up some loopholes at the basic theoretical level so that other countries know the general direction of black hole paths, but we cannot use this to embark on the path to black holes."

"Once we confirm that wormholes are feasible, we will consider whether to further open up technology exports based on the international situation at that time."

Zhou Zhenguo nodded first: "I agree with Colonel Lin's opinion! The wormhole experiment is the most core strategic goal of Great Xia Kingdom at present. Before the experiment is successful, any public actions that may affect our technological advantage must be handled with utmost caution."

Zhao Yuanshan also expressed his opinion: "I agree."

The other generals also nodded in agreement.

Old Chen didn't rush to give his opinion: "Lin Tian, ​​have you estimated the timeline for the wormhole experiment?"

Lin Tian's answer was straightforward: "As long as we create a second quasar, we can immediately begin the wormhole experiment."

"Are you confident?" Old Chen asked.

"Yes, the highest-quality member of the Black Hole Legion—Su Li—has already surpassed 700,000 times the mass of the sun in her Kerr Black Hole. At the current rate of absorption, it's only a matter of time before she surpasses one million times the mass of the sun."

"Once she breaks through, she can initiate the evolution from a Kerr black hole to a quasar. I have complete experience in this process and can guide her. The probability of success is at least 90%."

Upon hearing this number, Old Chen finally smiled.

"Okay, then we'll do as you say."

……

Meanwhile, in the White House underground command center.

The news of the deterrent patrols has reached the president.

His first reaction wasn't shock, but exhaustion.

He had known about the existence of the Anti-Black Hole Alliance for a long time.

But these so-called alliances are nothing but paper tigers.

What truly concerned him was not the collapse of the Anti-Black Hole Alliance, but the galactic center triangle coordinates.

"Mr. President," the adjutant's voice came from the side, "Dr. Brian is waiting outside. He says he has an urgent report to present in person."

"Let him in."

The door was pushed open.

Robert Bryan walked in carrying a thick, encrypted data pad.

"Mr. President," Brian placed the data panel on the table, then took a deep breath, "I need you to look at this report yourself."

The president didn't ask any further questions, picked up the data panel and began to look through it.

The report is titled "A Preliminary Analysis of Peripheral Data on the Zhar Relics and a Deduction of the Nature of the Cosmic Hegemony".

In his report, Brian devoted considerable space to analyzing the scattered records of the "selector hypothesis".

Although two billion years have passed since the Selector Hypothesis, its core logic can still be verified by modern science.

The Zhar people left behind a large number of mathematical models and data samples on the eve of their extinction.

They are highly consistent with the operating mechanism of Universe Online.

"The Zhar records mention that before each round of elimination, the will of the universe would put the selected civilizations into fierce internal competition in a closed environment."

Its purpose is to accelerate the evolution of civilization.

"Let those civilizations with potential reach the 'qualification line' in the shortest possible time, while eliminating the laggards."

"In other words, the cosmic battle we are currently experiencing is essentially a preliminary selection process."

The president's face darkened.

The battle for cosmic supremacy: a preliminary selection process.

If Brian's speculation is correct, then the so-called cosmic war is nothing more than a bunch of worms locked in a cage tearing each other apart.

It doesn't care who wins or loses.

What it cares about is who can become stronger through the tearing apart.

"Dr. Brian, if your speculation is correct, then the threat facing the United States and the entire planet is far more than just losing a permanent seat on the UN Security Council."

"Yes, Mr. President." Brian's voice was equally hoarse. "If the logic of the screening rehearsal holds true, then one day in the future, all unqualified civilizations will be eliminated all at once."

"Just like the great eliminations that the Zhar people experienced."

"Moreover, according to the Zhar people's timeline, this day is probably not too far away."

The president did not ask any more questions.

He slowly stood up and walked to the window.

Outside the window, the Washington night sky was hazy, and a light rain was falling on the White House lawn.

He stood there for a full ten minutes.

Ten minutes later, he turned around, picked up the encrypted communicator on the table, and dialed a number.

The number was labeled with only two words – Old Chen.