Very soon Zhao Chen came to this project plan's own laboratory.
As he walked in, every researcher and scientist in the room looked at him in excitement.
For most of the scholars and researchers here worked in fields to do with cosmic space, spatial theory, the outer universe and the like.
And before this, apart from space research being fairly common, and that limited to spatial folding, star-gate use, subspace research and so on,
research into cosmic space in other directions could be called very much out in the cold.
There had in the main been little funding for real experiments.
And now they had actually made real progress,
right before their eyes: the existence of other universes had been found.
"Go on with your work, all of you." Zhao Chen looked at the eager gazes of these people, and left only that one quiet sentence.
Then he went on inside.
The genius girl Camille came hurrying over, her face too wearing a smile she could not hold back.
Taking three steps for two, she led him to an experiment chamber that had been sealed off.
"Inside has been checked already; there's nothing dangerous at all. We can go straight in." As she spoke, the genius girl Camille pushed the hatch open and walked in.
It was a laboratory of about a hundred square meters, and the lights came on.
Apart from an instrument set in the middle, there was no other equipment of any kind in the room.
This instrument was somewhat like a pot.
But at this moment the pot's surface showed a scorched black, and in some places had gone lumpy and uneven.
Zhao Chen sniffed.
There was a smell of thick smoke in the air not yet gone.
There had been a fire in this room, or something like one.
The genius girl Camille noticed Zhao Chen's look too, and at once explained, "Earlier this instrument overloaded and overheated, and then gave off black smoke. But it didn't catch fire; the smell may be because the ventilation hasn't cleared it out completely yet. It's been tested, though; there's nothing harmful in the air here. Let Your Majesty rest easy!"
Zhao Chen paid it little mind, and began to study the device before him closely.
Nine-tenths of this device Zhao Chen had designed himself.
Its technology came partly from Zhao Chen's own head, and partly from what he had learned in the Star Alliance universe.
For mind, in his time in the Star Alliance universe,
Zhao Chen had been by no means simply an interstellar fighter pilot.
He had used almost all his spare time learning the Star Alliance universe's technology, and later, through his connection with Zhao Chengcheng, had come to know some of the Star Alliance universe's top technologies directly.
Among them was cosmic space technology!
Because of the harassment of the aliens (that is, the Pitch-Black Legion's creatures) year in, year out,
the Star Alliance universe had begun early on its scholarly research into cosmic space, above all into alien space, to deal with these creatures from alien space,
far beyond Zhao Chen's universe.
With these technologies, joined with Zhao Chen's intellect,
he had designed this Machine No. 1 in a short time.
Zhao Chen raised his hand and called up the data on this machine outright, and some data from its use.
"The circuits are wrong; several circuits need changing. The materials in these few places need changing too; in the structural framework, the best isn't necessarily the most suitable. And the energy supply here needs weakening somewhat, to add stability. And……" Zhao Chen analyzed it bit by bit, and the genius girl Camille beside him began writing it all down in detail, looking at His Majesty the Emperor in adoration as she did.
She had heard before that these Owl Dragon-line warships had all been developed by His Majesty the Emperor in person.
She had had some doubts of it before.
But now she had not the least doubt.
These problems, had she been left to study and grope her way to them, she might perhaps have found too, but it would have taken at least several weeks, or even several months.
Yet His Majesty the Emperor had only looked at the thing itself a few times, and glanced at the run data, and pointed them all out with precision.
What technical ability and experience that took!
When he had given these instructions,
Zhao Chen drew a deep breath, then called up the last and most important set of data:
the data from those ten seconds this instrument had yielded in its one run, which was also its last.
Plink.
A sound rang out,
rather like a drop of water falling onto water.
Then above the instrument appeared a 3D map, something like a 'star chart,'
spreading outward from the middle.
In it were small points, dimly seen, scattered thick as stars,
some very large, some so small they could hardly be found at all.
"By our comparison afterward, these small points should be stars, and black holes and other high-energy matter," the genius girl Camille said in a low voice beside him.
Zhao Chen nodded.
The instrument had that function; it was something like a radar, and what it probed was the cosmos.
In this it had features like those of the T6 Universal Space Dynamics Monitor already at work.
Very soon the Owl Dragon Empire's map of the cosmos had in the main all appeared in this 'star chart.'
But that ripple was still spreading; only farther out was nothing but emptiness, and those points of starlight did not appear again.
Zhao Chen waited.
Though he knew it was only a few seconds,
in this moment those few seconds were as long as years.
At last!
At a point on the very outer edge a point of light appeared, but this point of light was gone in a flash!
It was there not even for a millisecond.
Had Zhao Chen's eyesight not been beyond the ordinary, the naked eye alone might truly not have caught it.
"Which direction is that in our universe?" Zhao Chen asked at once.
The genius girl Camille had it ready long since, and brought out the present map of the Owl Dragon Empire, which was all but a map of this universe.
"By the result of the comparison, it should be in the direction of the Angel Race's side. As for distance, it can't be determined. For by the theory of cosmic space, two cosmic spaces may be very close to each other, but may also be very far. So… it can't be measured," the genius girl Camille said.
"On this one point alone we can't be sure yet. Black holes are a kind of energy too; what if this point is actually some peculiar black hole? We must take a second measurement, to make sure this place is a universe," Zhao Chen said gravely.
In such a matter, no slip of any kind could be allowed.
"That shouldn't be very hard. So long as we upgrade Machine No. 1's technology to a new generation, we're bound to get fuller clues then." The genius girl Camille paused, and said, "But after that, the important question is how to sail between universes. For mind, we've never sailed between universes before. The technology concerned……"
"I'll take charge of that. I'll set up another project group especially for it," Zhao Chen said directly.
This, in truth, was if anything not very hard,
for Zhao Chen had studied something like it before:
the Mechanical Race's Gate of Gaia from back then.
The Gate of Gaia was in truth a kind of star gate that crossed universes, only it connected to the outer domain between one universe and another.
Since it could connect to the outer domain, it could surely connect to other universes.
Joined with the technology Zhao Chen had learned in the Star Alliance universe:
for mind, the Star Alliance universe's warships back then could all sail straight across universes and make surprise attacks on the enemy universe's strategic strongholds.
In this field, Zhao Chen had rich experience.
"I……" Hearing this, Camille at once looked excited.
"I know what you're thinking. I have no one else under me right now either. This project plan group is yours to head as well. Besides, the work of the two project plan groups goes hand in hand. The office and laboratory will be set up as near as possible; as for researchers, choose them yourself; you may choose from anywhere within the Empire. If there's truly no one, you'll just have to draw them from your present project group. I have only one requirement: every task I give you must be finished on schedule," Zhao Chen said gravely.
When Camille had heard this, she at once stood up straight, and even gave Zhao Chen a military salute in imitation of an Owl Dragon officer, though the pose was somewhat comical.
"Let Your Majesty rest easy. I guarantee to complete the task you've given me."
Zhao Chen nodded.
He looked at the ruined Machine No. 1 before him.
Now at last he had caught hold of hope.
Since other universes could be found, then the primordial universe with that resource could surely be found!
Then the new material could be had, and let the several project groups before him break through the barrier in front of them!
In the blink of an eye another month had passed.
With the overtime rush, and the unconditional backing of manpower, materials and money,
Machine No. 2, under Camille's charge, was finally finished.
This time, when it was used, Zhao Chen was on the spot.
He stood in a safe observation chamber.
"Report to Your Majesty: every experimental measure is ready. The experiment can begin at any moment!" Camille held back her excitement and looked at Zhao Chen.
Just as Zhao Chen was about to speak,
there was violent pounding at the door.
Voices arguing came from outside.
"What's going on?" Zhao Chen frowned.
"I'll go and see." Camille was somewhat angry too, and went at once to find out.
The door opened.
Zhao Chen saw outside an old scholar pinned against the wall by soldiers.
The old scholar was still shouting over and over, "You can't switch it on! You must not switch it on!"
"Dr. Xu? What are you doing?" Camille looked at Dr. Xu in surprise.
Dr. Xu too saw Zhao Chen in the room, and at once shouted loudly, "Your Majesty! Your Majesty! That machine mustn't be started. It's Pandora's box. Once it's used, it will bring disaster on our Empire. It mustn't be switched on!"
Pandora's box?
Disaster?
Zhao Chen frowned, but the old man's words caught his interest all the same.
"Let him in," Zhao Chen said.
Panther-Girl, charged with the guard, nodded to the women soldiers outside, and those few women soldiers brought the old doctor in under guard.
"Let him go," Zhao Chen said.
Panther-Girl nodded.
But she stood at Zhao Chen's side, watching this doctor, ready to meet any danger.
Dr. Xu was let go.
He wanted to come closer to Zhao Chen, but noticing the warning look of Panther-Girl beside him, he drew his foot back after all.
He only looked at Zhao Chen tensely. "Your Majesty, this instrument must not be switched on!"
"State your reasons clearly," Zhao Chen said coolly.
At once Dr. Xu brought out a data disk, and from the data disk a data model was projected as a hologram.
"I was one of this project plan before too; what I'm good at is radar. Starship radar, reaction radar, reconnaissance radar: I'm good at all of them. I found that this device is actually very like a radar. It sends out a kind of ripple, and on finding the given target, sends out this ripple again, and so confirms the other's existence."
Zhao Chen made no sound; the principle the old doctor described was in the main correct.
"And then I remembered an old book I had read long ago. It put forward a theory: that when you cannot be sure whether a civilization is good or evil, you must never reveal your own existence, or you will bring utter destruction on yourself. And at the time I wondered: this ripple we send out, can others receive it too? Then I began running simulations with every radar monitoring device we have. I found that, apart from radar equipment of T4 and below, which can't detect this ripple, T5 radar equipment shows a slight abnormal reaction."
Several lines appeared in the data model, their fluctuations very slight.
"But with T6-grade radar equipment, it's like this!"
Dr. Xu called up another data model.
In this one the fluctuation was very plain indeed.
"And that's only T6; what if it's a T7 technological civilization? Isn't this way of ours as good as putting the best speakers there are next to someone's room, turning them up as loud as they'll go, and singing the wildest song? Even with their eyes shut, they'd find us! And while our technology can't yet work out the distance this ripple travels, in my experience, once the technology is up to it, working out the distance is no problem at all. So if we switch this device on, it's the same as giving our position away to those higher civilizations! It will bring utter destruction on us!" Dr. Xu looked at Zhao Chen urgently.
When Camille had heard these words she did not rebut them at once; she too was a scholar and researcher, and knew how to think a question through.
It had to be said that Dr. Xu's supposition was reasonable, and he had those data models besides.
Camille looked hesitantly at Zhao Chen; to tell the truth, she wanted the experiment to go ahead, for it was the fruit of her own labor day and night.
Wasn't it all for this very moment?
Zhao Chen, at this point, on the contrary, did not change expression, but looked this Dr. Xu over.
He nodded in appreciation and said, "Dr. Xu, you're an able man. What you say does indeed exist. But for us as we are now, in truth, we have no choice."
This was in truth the dark forest theory, which had appeared very early.
Zhao Chen had known it long since, and there was indeed reason in it.
But Zhao Chen was a man who knew more.
He knew of Order's existence, and knew too of Order's suppression of other technological civilizations.
From that one could infer that, at least in all likelihood, there was no T7 technological civilization within the range neighboring Zhao Chen's universe.
At the very most, T6 technological civilizations.
And if it were a T6 technological civilization, Zhao Chen had the confidence to fight.
And the more important reason: the goal of finding the new material had to be achieved!