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

Chen Wang glanced at him, a smile appearing on his lips: "That's right, someone always has to do it, and the Great Xia Kingdom is one of them."

He picked up his teacup, took a sip to clear his throat, and then suddenly changed the subject: "Lin Tian, ​​do you know why the Great Xia Kingdom has fallen out of the top five?"

Lin Tian's gaze shifted slightly.

Of course he remembered the ranking he saw when he first logged into the Cosmic Will.

The Lighthouse Country, the Bear Country, the British Empire, the Gallic Empire, the Cherry Blossom Country...

Sixth place: Great Xia Kingdom.

"Actually, the foundation of the Great Xia Kingdom in its early days was not bad." Chen Wang put down his teacup, his tone becoming a bit somber. "With a century of accumulation, we also have many top observers and top guilds. But the problem is—we were a step behind in researching new routes."

"A step too slow?" Lin Tian frowned.

"Yes, just one step. Ten years ago, Japan pioneered the research on the neutron star route. With the advantage of the new route, they overtook us in the overall strength rating, squeezing us out of the top five."

Neutron star trajectory.

A barely perceptible glint flashed in Lin Tian's eyes.

Neutron stars are a product of star collapse.

Its mass is between 1.4 and 3 times that of the Sun, but its volume is only a few tens of kilometers.

The density is incredibly high; a spoonful of neutron star matter weighs billions of tons, and the gravity is extremely strong.

In this world, the neutron star trajectory is certainly not exactly the same as the astrophysics of the previous life, but the basic principles will not be too different.

Japan was able to be the first to successfully navigate this path, which clearly shows that they put a lot of effort into the two properties of gravitational coefficient and mass.

"The land of cherry blossoms..." Lin Tian murmured.

"Yes." Chen Wang's smile revealed a hint of bitterness. "This leap has lasted for a full ten years. Over these ten years, the advantages of the new route have continued to grow, and the gap between everyone has widened further and further."

"The Great Xia Kingdom has tried to catch up, but once you're behind, you're behind again. They've already seized all the most valuable resources from the early stages. How easy is it for you to turn things around?"

Zhang Changming's face also darkened.

Zhao Yan remained silent, his fingers unconsciously tapping on his knees.

The atmosphere in the office suddenly became somewhat heavy.

Chen Wang took a deep breath as he finished speaking.

His gaze refocused on Lin Tian's face, his eyes swirling with a complex mix of emotions.

"So, when you trigger the black hole trajectory in the seventh sector, you probably can't imagine how much the internal tremors were."

"Black hole, a name that has never appeared in the will of the universe for a hundred years. You not only discovered it, but you also made it work, steadily, quickly, and in a way that caught everyone off guard."

"More importantly, the ceiling for the black hole route is much higher than that for the giant star route."

"Your mass can keep increasing, your gravity can keep rising, without needing to worry about the constraints of volume and brightness."

"This means that the black hole route could very well be a path that completely disrupts the current order."

Chen Wang spoke slowly, but every word seemed to come from the bottom of his heart.

"Now that you have discovered the black hole's path, the Great Xia Kingdom has seen a rare glimmer of hope."

He paused, his gaze fixed on Lin Tian: "Most importantly, the next round of the Cosmic Hegemony, lasting five years, is approaching. This is the last window of opportunity for the Great Xia Kingdom to turn things around. If we fail, the Great Xia Kingdom will be completely removed from the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, and the consequences will be unimaginable."

Space Domination.

These four words touched Lin Tian's ears and made his heart flutter slightly.

Of course he knew what cosmic domination was.

That is a massive competition that the will of the universe holds every ten years.

At that time, observers from all over the world will participate and compete on a national scale.

Planetary collisions, resource competition, district rankings, overall strength assessments...

All the indicators that determine a country's international standing will be reshuffled in this struggle for supremacy.

In the last cosmic battle, the Great Xia Kingdom lost to the Sakura Kingdom and fell out of the top five.

If we lose again this time, the consequences will be unimaginable.

He nodded: "I understand."

Zhang Changming listened from the side, his expression changing several times. In the end, he couldn't help but sigh softly, "Alas... In this world, falling behind even once leads to being beaten every step of the way. It's absolutely true."

Zhao Yan remained silent and did not speak.

Many thoughts flashed through Lin Tian's mind, but none of them showed on his face.

In his previous life, he spent more than a decade in an astronomical observatory, studying data from star systems billions of light-years away every day, and had long since developed a habit of remaining calm and collected.

He was well aware of the predicament facing the Great Xia Kingdom.

As a citizen of the Great Xia Dynasty, it was even more impossible for him to remain unaffected.

Having thought this through, Lin Tian stopped beating around the bush. He looked at Chen Wang and asked, "So, what do you want me to do?"

When Chen Wang saw that he had taken the initiative to make things clear, the expression on his face relaxed a little.

He didn't answer immediately, but first looked at Zhang Changming, then at Zhao Yan, and finally turned his gaze back to Lin Tian.

"Lin Tian, ​​what I'm about to say isn't from the perspective of an admissions officer," Chen Wang's tone suddenly became much more serious, "but rather as an invitation to you from the Black Hole Research Institute of Xinghua University."

Black Hole Research Institute.

Lin Tian's heart skipped a beat.

Chen Wang continued, "We plan to invite you to join the Xinghua University Research Institute. You will serve as a student and concurrently as a professor, jointly researching black hole trajectories!"

After he finished speaking, the entire office fell silent.

Even with Lin Tian's calm and collected nature, he couldn't help but take another look at Chen Wang.

Students also serve as professors?

What kind of position is this?

Chen Wang seemed to see the doubt in his heart, smiled and explained, "Being a student is so that you can enjoy all the educational resources and growth benefits of Xinghua University."

"The purpose of appointing you as a professor is to give you sufficient autonomy in the process of researching black hole pathways."

He paused, his gaze becoming exceptionally serious: "Furthermore, I can solemnly promise you here and now—all future research findings related to black hole paths will belong entirely to you. This path will be named after you!"

"At the same time, we also hope that you can represent the Great Xia Kingdom in the next Cosmic Battle!"

Lin Tian frowned slightly.

It's not because the conditions are bad.

On the contrary, the conditions are far too favorable.

The offer is so generous it seems unreal.

Being a student who also serves as a professor means that he can enjoy all the resources of Xinghua University as a student, while at the same time participating in core research as a professor and having decision-making power that others cannot imagine.

The fact that all the results belong to him personally means that all observers who follow the black hole route in the future will have to pay him patent fees.

This is no longer a guaranteed admission.

They are nurturing him as a future national treasure.

However, Lin Tian also knew that the more favorable the conditions, the greater the responsibility often meant.

Representing the Great Xia Kingdom in the cosmic struggle for supremacy is no small matter.

That means fighting to the death with the world's top observers.

If you lose, you'll bear the infamy of the entire nation.

Only if we win can this path be considered truly successful.

"Think about it," Chen Wang said calmly, without urging him. "I know this is a difficult decision."