The Wallfacer: Everyone wants to break through my wall.

The Byronians were not very alert to this unknown object because it was slowing down. Based on observations and calculations of the luminous object's velocity variable, it could be concluded that after entering the star system, the luminous object's velocity would decrease to zero, and due to the angle of entry, it would be separated from Byron's parent star by two main-sequence stars.

What's there to be afraid of about something that has no speed? Besides, there are two red dwarf stars in between.

They felt little sense of crisis, but their curiosity was overwhelming. The nations of Byron's civilization temporarily set aside their conflicts of interest in order to find out what was going on.

The Byrons had limited industrial capabilities, and it's not that they couldn't reach the third cosmic velocity within their own star system, but to send people into space, they would need to reach the third cosmic velocity and then come into contact with luminous objects in the outermost asteroid belt of their star system to observe them up close. This was undoubtedly very difficult.

"This task can only be performed by one person, and the person must be very light."

"They can't be too light. If they're too light, their bodies will be too weak, and they'll easily run into problems in space."

After a rigorous selection process, a Byronian woman suffering from a condition similar to human dwarfism was chosen as the astronaut to come into contact with the luminous object.

Rockets lift off from the territories of various countries, and bright pearls rise high into the vast planet. These rockets, carrying solid hydrogen and solid oxygen fuel, detach their excess parts in orbit and dock with the main rocket in orbit.

By disassembling and transporting the rocket, the Byrons successfully launched a complete space rocket into space. This demonstrated the power of unity within the Byrons, and every Byron watching the live broadcast was thrilled. The selected astronaut sat in the space shuttle connected to the rocket, waiting for the docking to complete before embarking on her mission.

As for the data packet that appeared on the network 26 years ago, edited by an unknown person, no one has considered it.

Putting aside the fact that no one remembers what happened 26 years ago, the fact that the source of this information cannot be verified makes it unlikely that many people would believe it.

You say this is a message sent by an extraterrestrial civilization, how can you prove it?

How do you know this isn't some spam marketing account making up nonsense?

Or perhaps it was a prank by someone exceptionally talented in computer programming?

Not to mention, the content here is completely illogical; how can this be considered a warning?

Are you sure this isn't just a little kid's imagination?

……

Humanity left behind a sophon on the outer edge of Byron's parent star system, orbiting about one light-day from the main sequence star.

The astronomical phenomena that the Byronian civilization could observe, the Sophon naturally also observed.

In fact, for the past twenty-six years, atomic humans have been monitoring this place.

As the luminous object was captured by the Byronians, its light gradually dimmed, and dichotomy began to occur.

Starting from the Kuiper Belt, as the astronauts were gradually transformed into two-dimensional beings, a sense of panic finally gripped the hearts of every Byronian. Knowing that they were doomed, the entire Byronian civilization descended into chaos.

The government was instantly disintegrated from the inside out, as were the violent institutions that maintained order.

Some prayed to gods and Buddhas, some indulged in hedonism, and others simply chose suicide.

In Byron's civilization, some people of high enough status and power rode rockets into space, flying in the opposite direction to the two-dimensional foil.

But what's amazing is that these escape rockets did not escape the attraction of the two-dimensional foil. The area of ​​the two-dimensional foil was getting bigger and bigger, but the escape rockets not only did not move forward, but were also constantly retreating, just like their home planet, actively approaching that unfolding two-dimensional space.

The only difference is that the home planet is approaching faster, while they are approaching more slowly.

The escape velocity of the two-dimensional foil is the speed of light. The Byronian civilization couldn't even reach sub-light speed, let alone escape.

"Yawn... Another boring two-dimensional foil attack. Can't you come up with something else?"

The moment the atomic humans saw the luminous object, they knew what it was. They had seen too many similar things, so they felt no surprise, only boredom.

They cannot conduct more sophisticated surveillance because the more they do, the easier it is to be detected.

Although the Byronian civilization doesn't have that capability, if some advanced civilization were to scan this two-dimensional civilization and star system, they might be able to trace the atomic beings and find the ones who were monitoring them.

"Speaking of which, what's the principle behind a two-dimensional foil?" an atomic being suddenly asked.

Another member of the Trisolaran team answered, "A space bubble that is more ground state than three-dimensional space."

An excited state must point to the ground state; this is an immutable and self-evident truth.

When the toroidal ring was first encountered, the four-dimensional structure collapsed into three dimensions because three-dimensional space is more stable and has a lower energy level than four-dimensional space; to be more precise, it is in the 'ground state'.

Similarly, two-dimensional space is more ground state than three-dimensional space, possessing a much more stable and lower energy spatial structure, so three-dimensional space collapses into two-dimensional space.

The Atomic Human muttered to himself, "According to the description of the rings that humans encountered in the four-dimensional fragments, dimensions are gradually reduced by advanced civilizations, using something like this kind of spatial bubble. So I thought..."

"What are you thinking about?" the Trisolaran asked in surprise.

"Do you think there's anything about time bubbles?" the atomic man asked.

The Trisolarans replied, "Time is an increase in entropy. Although the time dimension is considered to be a dimension, it is only one dimension. If it is reduced further, it will be zero-dimensional time. Not to mention whether any civilization would dare to do that, the feasibility of it is questionable. In zero-dimensional time, there would be no matter that can move, which means that the increase in entropy of the entire universe would be stopped. Do you think that is possible?"

"That's right. If a civilization of that level really exists, even just a breath would easily wipe out those powerful space hunters we know. Breaking the Dark Forest would be child's play."

"If one day, only one unified civilization remains in the universe, then the Dark Forest should be dispelled, right?" the Atomic Human hoped.

Nobody likes a dark forest, and nobody likes being an insect. If you could be a human, who wouldn't want to be one?

If only one super-civilization remains in the universe in the future, then the so-called chain of suspicion and the dark forest theory become meaningless.

In the long run, this seems to be an inevitable outcome, since competition cannot last forever; even wars on a cosmic scale will eventually come to an end.

Chapter 331 The Stars Are Getting Smaller

The Trisolaran replied, "Perhaps. After all, with quantum entanglement, a faster-than-light information transmission technology, the conflicting civilizations in the universe will inevitably tend towards unity. I think that civilization on the light-speed curvature planet might have thought the same thing, which is why it kept pushing the entire civilization closer to the speed of light, wanting to go to the end of the universe."

"Rather than facing the constantly conflicting Black Forest Hunters, it is a very rational approach to face a unified universe and a super civilization that has completely escaped the Dark Forest, and to join it. If you can't beat them, join them."

The Trisolaran's conjecture surprised the Trisolaran for a moment, then he asked in surprise.

"So, does this mean this is a way out for us?"

The Atomic Trisolarans said, "From what I understand, not many people will approve of this method. Moreover, the drawbacks of this method for the light-speed warp planet civilization are also obvious. Its own time flow is too slow, so the civilization is unable to cope with all changes from the river of time. Once it is attacked, the annihilation rate is almost one hundred percent."

……

After traveling approximately 433 light-years, Lin Feng and his group encountered obstacles in their journey to leave the Milky Way.

A vast sophon blind zone exists where the entangled state of a quantum computer disappears as soon as it enters.

The atomic humans explored along the edge in four directions: up, down, left, and right.

The sophons used for exploration traveled at near the speed of light for almost five years, but still failed to detect the edge of this sophon blind zone.

Council of Ten.

Liang Gong said, "According to Zhi Zi's feedback, this area is a blind spot. The blind spot is very large. We have already probed five light-years and have not yet detected the edge of the blind spot."

"Could this be an interstellar battlefield?" the Space Force representative asked worriedly.

A representative of the Martian government said, "It doesn't look like it; both radio waves and gravitational waves are very calm."

The Space Force representative continued, "Have you forgotten that advanced civilization that disappeared after being enveloped by the Black Domain last time? In addition to the coordinates of the star we broadcast, more than eighty other stars that we did not broadcast also disappeared. The whole process was without any sense of explosion, not even a piece of debris. The struggle between advanced civilizations is completely different from what we used to imagine. Lasers and cannons are like the spears and stone axes of the cavemen in their eyes."

A representative of the Space City Federation said, "Perhaps we shouldn't be so pessimistic. It could also be a larger piece of high-dimensional debris, or a spreading dark area, which is quite possible."

“But this area is far too large,” a representative from the Three-Body Problem side objected.

A representative from the Space City Federation explained, "If multiple light-speed warp drive spacecraft leave tracks, these tracks will spread out in different places and eventually merge into one."

The Space Force representative said, "In any case, we should consider the worst-case scenario. I hope to explore along the blind spots and then bypass this unknown blind spot from the edge."

"In addition, all broadcasting activities have been suspended, and the alert level has been raised to the highest level."

One after another, the atomic beings withdrew from the near-light-speed zone. They chose several star systems between ten and twenty light-years away from the sophon blind zone as temporary bases and built observation stations to remotely observe the blind zone.

While the sophon blind zone affects quantum entanglement, it does not affect the propagation of gravitational waves and radio waves. Through remote observation, we can learn to some extent what is happening in the sophon blind zone.

The Atom Man needs to first use the Sophon to figure out how big this blind spot is, and then find the shortest path to bypass it. This will save exploration costs and is also safe.

The atomic humans, who rarely remain in one place, continue to engage in heated discussions about the sophon blind spot. Influenced by the Dark Forest Theory, people generally believe that this is a battlefield of a high-level civilization, which may have already ended or may still be ongoing.

Of course, some people believe that this is just a situation caused by the spread of the tracks left by many spaceships, and has little to do with wars between high-level civilizations, which are more destructive.

Lin Feng would occasionally take a look at the situation in this blind spot of the sophons to put his mind at ease. There was too little information, and he himself had no way of judging whether this blind spot was a battlefield of an advanced civilization.

This wait lasted twelve years. Finally, the exploring sophons reached the edge of the sophon blind zone, thus confirming that it was a sophon blind zone stretching twelve light-years.

The Atomic Humans set sail immediately, beginning their long journey anew.

Three years after they set off, new changes occurred within the Sophon Blind Spot.

Upon seeing the observation data, the observers reported to the council of ten with a sense of panic.

"An abnormal spectral variable has been detected!"

The expressions of the representatives in the Council of Ten changed repeatedly, and Davis, representing the Taylor faction, pressed for answers.

"what happened?"

"It's the stars! The stars are changing! They're getting smaller!" the observer exclaimed in alarm.

Are all the celestial bodies in the blind spot collapsing? What does this mean? This question came to mind for the delegates.

"Smaller? What about the mass? Has the gravitational wave changed?" the Space Force representative asked, frowning.

“The gravitational waves are changing too! They’re getting lighter! You’ve misunderstood me, they’re actually getting smaller! Not compressed!” the observer exclaimed excitedly.

This time, the delegates finally understood why the observers were so panicked.

"This...this is impossible!"

Even Davis couldn't understand it this time.

The conservation of energy is a fundamental principle of physics. Energy can neither disappear nor appear out of thin air; it can only move from one place to another.

The mass of celestial bodies is now disappearing, which is equivalent to the disappearance of energy.

After much deliberation, the ten representatives reached a consensus.

Something unseen is 'eating' in Zhizi's blind spot!

Moreover, the food consumed will not exhibit gravitational waves!

……

"So why are you throwing this question at me?"

Lin Feng stared speechlessly at the multiple-choice question posed to him by the Council of Ten.

The energy is indeed disappearing. If we can find out the reason for the disappearance, we might have a chance to improve the non-existent strategy, since it seems to have really 'disappeared'.

However, some people have concerns because it seems too dangerous.

The representative of the Space City Federation said, "Because of your far-sighted and unique vision, you always know when to step on the gas for human civilization. It is most appropriate for you to make the decision on this kind of choice."

"Then if in the future it turns out I made the wrong choice, can I just commit suicide by being shot three times in the back?" Lin Feng asked rhetorically.