Chapter 990 Breakpoint
Chapter 990 Breakpoint
On the bridge of the Orion guided missile cruiser, a man with a dignified face was standing in front of the French window of the cockpit.
His resolute facial features were clearly defined, and his black hair was neatly combed without a trace of disorder.
His name was Zhao Tianhe, with a military rank of colonel and an age of about forty. He was the captain of this starship and the highest commander of the 3,000 crew members on board.
He stared at the boundless starry sky outside the window for a long time before speaking.
”Still not moving?”
The navigator’s face showed a trace of difficulty.
”We have entered the hyperspace channel, but… I don’t know why, we seem to have stopped.”
He said it very tactfully, because he was actually unsure of what was going on.
Usually when they entered the hyperspace channel, the starry sky in front of the French window would instantly turn into a deep blue-purple color, and after a violent shake, a bright light like daylight would emerge from the black area in the center of the front.
But now none of these things happened.
What was strange was that the warp engine had clearly started, and all the data showed that they were standing in the hyperspace channel, but they were “stuck” at the entrance of the channel.
Zhao Tianhe did not speak, and a woman next to him who was about thirty years old showed a look of astonishment on her face.
”How is it possible? It has entered the hyperspace channel but has not moved… Can the hyperspace jump be stopped? This kind of thing… is simply unheard of!”
Her name is Wu Mengke, and she is the executive officer of the Orion missile cruiser’s first department – the so-called ship command department.
This position is generally the captain’s deputy, responsible for assisting the captain in managing the daily affairs of the ship, arranging the work of the service department, etc.
The organization of the People’s United Aerospace Force is very similar to the navy of the old era, but there are some differences in specific functions.
Zhao Tianhe fell into deep thought, and his expression gradually became solemn.
Just as his deputy said, there has never been a similar situation since the establishment of the People’s United Aerospace Force.
No –
strictly speaking, it should be since human civilization entered the interstellar era and developed the warp engine!
The navigator slowly opened his mouth and continued.
”…The strangest thing is here. We have checked it and the engine is running well. No abnormalities were found. Just as you said, we seem to be stuck at the entrance of the hyperspace channel.”
”Are you sure it is the entrance?” Zhao Tianhe suddenly said.
The navigator was stunned for a moment, and just as he was about to nod, he shook his head with difficulty.
”This…can’t be confirmed.”
Hyperspace is not the classical universe, but a tunnel between massive celestial bodies.
In this tunnel, only point-to-point movement can be carried out, and the coordinates in the classical universe and the distance to massive celestial bodies cannot be measured.
There was silence in the bridge.
The crew members present looked at each other, and no one said anything.
After a while, Zhao Tianhe looked at Executive Officer Wu who was also thinking, and asked in a deep voice.
”What do you think it might be?”
”I don’t know. If it is purely based on imagination, there are too many possibilities,” Wu Mengke, who had calmed down, shook his head and said with a complicated expression, “Maybe the scientists of the Fifth Department can give us a reasonable explanation.”
Zhao Tianhe nodded, cast his eyes outside the French window, and said with a serious expression.
”I hope so.”
He had an ominous premonition.
And as time went by, the ominous premonition became stronger and stronger…
At this time, hurried footsteps came from the door of the bridge, and an officer strode through the open alloy door and walked in hurriedly, reporting.
”Report! There was a collision on the lower deck! An unidentified flying object hit us!”
A voice of surprise spread in the bridge.
Zhao Tianhe did not hesitate, walked quickly to a terminal and looked at the holographic screen.
The staff sitting in front of the terminal swallowed his saliva and said in a panic.
”No damage to the hull structure was found… Did you make a mistake?”
The officer said immediately.
”Impossible! My people are on the scene! We have closed the damaged area according to the emergency plan in the safety manual!”
Staff: “But…”
Without listening to the argument between the two, Zhao Tianhe stared at the screen intently, and a stunned expression appeared on his serious face at the same time. The
deflector shield is working well.
The hull integrity test is also normal…
But he believes that his crew will not lie, especially that they have no need to lie.
Walking to his side and standing still, Ms. Wu Mengke’s face was also full of complicated expressions.
”Strange things happen one after another… Do you think it might be a trick of the Gemini?”
Zhao Tianhe said in an unquestionable tone.
”They are already dead.”
Wu Mengke asked back.
”What if they are not? No one has really gone up to confirm it.”
”… No need to confirm, we did penetrate their shield, this is a done deal, let’s not discuss this matter anymore.”
Zhao Tianhe said this expressionlessly, paused for a moment, and continued.
”And even if they really escape by chance, there is no possibility of blocking us in the hyperspace channel.”
The hyperspace channel can be closed by making a large gravity well to interfere with the nearby gravitational field. This is not a difficult task.
But it is impossible to close the hyperspace channel that has been opened.
At least it is impossible to do it with the technical means currently known to mankind.
Wu Mengke sighed and said.
”Then it can only be that aliens have intervened in our war.”
”Unless there is solid evidence to prove their existence, I don’t want to make such an unfounded assumption.”
After leaving this sentence, Zhao Tianhe looked at the officer standing at the door of the bridge and said.
”Are you sure what hit us?”
The officer was obviously also trying to confirm. He pressed his index finger to his ear for a long time before speaking with a strange expression.
”Is it a… uh, lifeboat-class civilian spacecraft? My subordinates are not sure… but there is no friendly mark on the spacecraft.”
”Civilian spacecraft?”
Wu Mengke’s eyebrows slightly raised, and the crow’s feet pulled open a trace of surprise.
”Why is there a civilian spacecraft here?”
”Maybe it’s a KB member of the radical organization, or maybe it’s some unlucky reporter… Is there anything on it?” Zhao Tianhe looked at the officer and continued to ask.
After confirming the situation on the scene through the communication system, the officer looked at the captain and said.
”We found a hibernation capsule on the spacecraft, and inside it was a boy who looked about 17 or 18 years old… He… claimed to be from an organization called the Alliance? Affiliated to the Burning Corps…”
”Alliance? Burning Corps?” Wu Mengke’s face changed slightly, and he muttered to himself, “Could it be that he is really an alien…”
Zhao Tianhe’s expression was also a little weird, staring at the officer and continued to ask.
”What else did he say?”
”He said a lot…”
The officer was silent for a while, his face suddenly changed slightly, and he raised his head and said.
”He fought with our people…”
…
In the prosthetic repair room of the engineering and maintenance department, Luo Yi, who had successfully subdued a boy, was leaning on the operating table, letting the mechanical arm hanging above his head fiddle with his left arm.
Standing next to the control terminal, Koala, wearing work clothes, skillfully operated the tablet, cut open the bionic leather on Luo Yi’s left arm, and pulled out a burnt black metal round tube from it.
”The capacitor is burned… we need to replace it with a new one.”
”Is it serious?” The big guy standing next to him with his arms folded asked with a frown.
His name is Xiao Yong. Like Luo Yi, he belongs to the space combat team under the jurisdiction of the Sixth Department and his military rank is also a sergeant.
”Serious… not serious, it’s just a burned capacitor, and the last thing I lack is capacitors,” Koala grinned and shook his head and said, “But these young people are ruthless enough, and they kill with one move.”
”Young people really don’t care about the severity of their actions. The person who performed the prosthetic surgery on him is really tired of living.” Xiao Yong couldn’t help but curse.
According to the Prosthetic Management Act, bionic prostheses are prohibited from installing harmful plug-ins, especially when installed on underage people who have not fully developed.
They have preserved the evidence and will bring public prosecution against the people involved when they return to Earth.
Sitting on the operating table, Luo Yi looked at his newly replaced right hand prosthesis. After a moment of silence, he suddenly spoke.
”That guy has been on the battlefield.”
Xiao Yong, who was standing next to him, raised his eyebrows.
”You mean he is a soldier?”
”Yes.”
Looking at Luo Yi who nodded, Xiao Yong was surprised to put down his arms that were folded in front of his chest.
”…Do we have such young soldiers?”
Eighteen years old should still be in high school, and you must have graduated from college to join the army.
As for the rebels in the colony…
those guys should have turned into ashes now.
Luo Yi raised his head and looked at him and said.
”Didn’t you hear him say he was from the Alliance?”
Xiao Yong frowned.
”Do you really believe what he said?”
Luo Yi’s expression was a little complicated, and he shook his head.
”I don’t know, but his reaction speed and combat quality are not weak, even… if he hadn’t just been thawed, I might not be able to subdue him alone.”
Xiao Yong looked at him in surprise.
”Are you kidding? That kid?”
Luo Yi looked at him seriously and said.
”I’m not kidding, I’m serious.”
The guy could predict his attack and reacted instinctively, but his body didn’t keep up.
This was definitely not a skill developed on the training ground, it could only be learned in close combat.
There was only one doubt.
Just as his comrades said, this guy was too young, and in their eyes he looked like a child who had not grown up.
At this moment, an unexpected voice interrupted from the door of the repair room.
”My opinion is the same as Sergeant Luo Yi. That guy is not a civilian at all. He is a soldier, and unlike you… he came from the wasteland.”
Three pairs of surprised eyes drifted to the door, only to see their “ship chaplain” walking in drunkenly from outside with a bottle of whiskey, and even burped when he stepped over the threshold.
Xiao Yong frowned.
”Wasteland? What movie is that?”
The fifth department is the department with the lowest presence on the entire missile cruiser.
This department was established to cope with the treacherous and changeable environment of the universe, but since its establishment, it has not been heard that the five departments on any starship have been used.
The scientists who travel with the ship can neither repair the engine nor have a say in the strategic deployment. Their only use is to produce a bunch of academic garbage called papers.
He did not deny the contribution of physicists to the Prosperous Era, but just doubted whether it was necessary to “equip each starship with a scientific research team.”
Faced with Sergeant Xiao Yong’s questioning, Wu Xinghuan couldn’t help but burped again and wiped his mouth embarrassedly.
”Movies? Not that kind of thing… This kid is from our future, or he is our future.”
Koala looked at him with a strange expression.
”What crazy talk are you talking about.”
Xiao Yong also sneered and said disdainfully.
”That guy? If he is our future, then human beings are hopeless.”
”Haha, don’t say that. Who didn’t have a young time? I bet you were more of a jerk than him when you were young, and you may not have his skills.” Wu Xinghuan laughed strangely, looked around at everyone present, cleared his throat and continued, “Also, I have some unfortunate news to tell you. Our spaceship is stuck in the hyperspace channel… and that time traveler may be the reason why we are stuck.”
The room fell into an eerie silence. Three pairs of eyes looked at each other blankly, exchanging the confusion in their eyes.
The hyperspace channel…
is stuck?
Seeing the other two people looking at him, Koala quickly raised his hand and said.
”Don’t look at me… I’ve never heard of such a thing, and repairing FTL engines is not my job.”
Xiao Yong couldn’t help asking.
”Aren’t you the engineering supervisor?”
Koala coughed and explained.
”The full name of the Fourth Department is the Engineering and Maintenance Department. The hyperspace engine is the work of the maintenance department, and there are special engineers in charge… and this kind of critical equipment is directly managed by the First Department, which is the captain’s side.”
Xiao Yong was confused and patted his head.
”We have too many departments, and it’s time to cut some of them.”
Koala snapped his fingers.
”Good idea, I also think that the Fifth Department is redundant.”
”Ahem,” Wu Xinghuan hid the bottle in his hand behind his back and said awkwardly, “Is it time to talk about this now…”
”I need to sort it out…” Luo Yi pressed his index finger on his forehead, frowned and thought for a while and said, “You mean, that child is from the future? And our future… is a wasteland? In other words… our world is destroyed?”
”The world is not destroyed, but our civilization has entered the next historical stage from one historical stage,” Wu Xinghuan finally got back on track and quickly took over the topic and continued, “Did you notice the clothes he was wearing? That’s the jacket of the shelter, not some high-end imitation.”
Xiao Yong sneered.
”If he was just a cosplayer, you would be embarrassed.”
Wu Xinghuan looked at him with bright eyes, with a hint of excitement in his tone.
”But he is obviously not. We found spores of mutant slime mold on him, and they are spores we have never seen before!”
The room fell silent again.
This time, it was not just Xiao Yong, Luo Yi’s face also changed.
But Wu Xinghuan didn’t care, and continued to chatter.
”I know this is a little hard to accept, but this is what will happen in the future! In the distant future, people have achieved symbiosis with mutant slime molds. They are no longer fatal to us, and we no longer regard them as enemies, but have become a part of each other.”
”You are bullshitting.” Xiao Yong cursed, “According to what you said, isn’t this battle fought in vain?”
Looking at this reckless man who couldn’t accept it, Wu Xinghuan shrugged his shoulders and said with a smile.
”From an individual’s perspective, this may be true, but from a civilization’s perspective, it is not true. We cannot look at civilization’s problems from an individual’s perspective, nor can we look down on individuals from a civilization’s perspective. Problems of the same dimension must be studied from the perspective of the same dimension. Whether you believe it or not, this is the fact… I have to perfect my theory. You should feel honored that you are standing on the same ship with the future rising star of physics.”
”What does this have to do with the rising star of physics?” Koala scratched his furry hair and asked in confusion.
”Isn’t this obvious?” Wu Xinghuan smiled and opened his arms, revealing the bottle of wine hidden behind him. “Time is reversible, so is the movement of matter, and so is entropy. I have discovered new physics.”
”I think you are fucking crazy.”
Xiao Yong snatched the bottle from the guy’s hand and took a sip despite the latter’s protest.
He still couldn’t accept it.
This war that lasted for three years ended up with such a result. In the distant future, the spirited guys not only installed combat prostheses without scruples, but also drove quasi-spacecraft with anti-gravity devices to run around the universe like cockroaches.
If this is the ending, it would be better to just destroy it. Luo Yi
sighed and pinched his nose with his index finger and thumb.
”You said we were stuck?”
”Yes, that’s right.”
Seeing the wine in the bottle finished, Wu Xinghuan gave up trying to get it back in disappointment.
Luo Yi looked at this complacent guy, the so-called future academic giant, speechlessly.
”I believe what you said, but I think since it’s already like this… you should think about how to help us get out of trouble first.”
Hearing this, Wu Xinghuan’s face once again showed a confident smile.
”It’s actually very simple. Although I don’t know whether that guy fell into a black hole or hit a neutron star or something like that, anyway, he accidentally broke into our timeline.”
”So what?” Luo Yi didn’t think it was that simple at all, and he even started to have a headache.
However, Dr. Wu standing in front of him at this moment obviously had a completely different view.
”So we just need to figure out what happened to him before he came here, and then send him back.”
After hearing what he said, the three people in the repair room were stunned.
Is it really that simple?
This sounds like putting an overturned box back together and then closing it again.
Luo Yi had some doubts in his eyes, but looking at Dr. Wu’s piercing eyes, he couldn’t help but believe it.
At least this guy is professional.
”It seems that our Fifth Division is finally going to play a role,” Koala shrugged, “On the eve of the end of the war, we saved a child from the future and more than 3,000 crew members.”
”My achievements are far more than that. I believe that many years later you will recall this meeting today… and the approachable me.”
Wu Xinghuan made a pompous bow, as if his feet were already standing on the podium.
Xiao Yong snorted coldly, still with that disdainful expression.
”Although this sounds stupid, let’s try it first…”
Although the mother planet was affected by the war, it was far from sinking to the level of a wasteland.
Especially reconciliation with the mutant slime mold…
Doesn’t that mean that the radicals who messed up everything have won the final victory?
Don’t even think about it!
”Let’s solve the problem at hand first.”
Luo Yi didn’t want to think about such far-reaching things. He had been away from home for too long and just wanted to go back early.
Let’s reconcile.
The universe is so big. In addition to Alpha Centauri, there are countless galaxies. It’s not a bad idea to let them have a star.
Let the other party live, and let yourself
go. Besides, that planet originally belonged to “Gaia”. They lived well there. If it weren’t for the human colony ships that disturbed their sweet dreams, they would probably keep playing with themselves until the heat death of the entire universe. From
the perspective of the Human Union, the three-year war was undoubtedly glorious, but it might not be so from the other side.
Getting up from the operating table, he stretched his arms and cast his eyes on Dr. Wu standing at the door.
”Where is the boy named… Ye Shi? Where is he now?”
Wu Xinghuan said with a smile.
”In the infirmary, Xiaolin checked his body for him, and he is basically fine.”
Luo nodded.
”Let’s go see him.”
”I’ll go too.” Koala raised his arm, quickly turned off the equipment, and followed the three people.
Although the ship’s security is the job of the three departments, how could he miss such an interesting thing?
Besides, someone said that this is a moment to witness history!
The four came to the door of the infirmary and saw that there were already quite a few people gathered here.
Not only doctors and nurses from the Medical and Life Support Department, but also people from other departments, and even senior officers from the ship’s command department.
Luo Yi even saw an artificial intelligence expert from the “Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Department” here.
Even people from the tenth department came to join in the fun, which he really didn’t expect.
Luo Yi’s heart sank slightly, and he couldn’t help but glance at Dr. Wu next to him.
This big mouth…
There is no doubt that the news that this guy came from the future has spread, and now all the crew members know that there is a visitor from the future on their ship.
”Make way, let me in…”
Wu Xinghuan raised his arm and squeezed to the center of the “stage” like a star.
Seeing this guy from the fifth department, the people around him made way and looked at him curiously to see what he was going to do.
Walking straight to the boy sitting on the treatment bed, Wu Xinghuan half-crouched beside him with a kind smile on his face.
”Let me introduce myself. My name is Wu Xinghuan, and I’m a scientist here.”
Ye Shi looked at him and always felt that this man didn’t look like a scientist, but more like a clown.
But thinking of those people in the academy, he was relieved again and nodded expressionlessly.
”Oh.”
His mind was in a mess now.
On the one hand, after so long, he was not sure whether Jiang Xuezhou was still alive.
On the other hand, he couldn’t figure out what his current situation was.
Two possibilities.
Either he was in a copy of a life, or he really traveled through time.
Thinking seriously about the latter situation was a bit stupid, but he couldn’t help but panic.
A Guang hasn’t responded to him yet, and his friends on the forum couldn’t be contacted because they didn’t log off.
He even regretted that he should have let Fang Chang stay in the cockpit instead of himself.
If it was Brother Fang Chang, he would have solved the problem in a minute…
or Lao Bai would be fine.
At least that guy might be more mature in doing things.
Ye Shi carefully recalled his gaming career, and it seemed that most of the time he relied on “recklessness” instead of his brain.
”Maybe I can help you.” Wu Xinghuan looked at the boy in front of him sincerely, trying to gain his trust.
”Help me?” Ye Shi turned his head slightly to look at him, and suddenly raised a playful smile at the corner of his mouth, “You?”
As he was speaking, he could already smell the alcohol on his body.
This guy reminded him of Mosquito, and no one was more unreliable than that guy.
In comparison, Awei might be a little more reliable, at least he didn’t really mess up.
But this guy probably didn’t realize that he was still drunk, and continued to talk nonstop.
”According to my inference, you probably encountered some trouble when moving in hyperspace. Maybe I can help you… This is good for both you and me.”
Ye Shi looked at him with a playful expression.
”From this point of view, your inference doesn’t seem to be very reliable. There is no warp engine on my research ship. At most, we can take off and land from the surface with an anti-gravity device, but we can’t travel in hyperspace.”
Wu Xinghuan continued to speak, gesturing with his fingers.
”I know, but the technical principle of the anti-gravity device is actually similar to that of the warp engine, it’s just a different use of gravitons. And… uh, maybe it’s just an escape ship, and you have other ships nearby–”
This guy was probably drunk and couldn’t even speak clearly.
Ye Shi curled his lips and continued.
”That’s a scientific research ship organized by the academy. I don’t have any other ships, only this one. You should have heard of the academy. I remember that this organization existed before the war.”
”It’s an academic organization… Wait, do you mean they played a big role after the war?” Wu Xinghuan looked at him in surprise, as if he had discovered some big secret.
Ye Shi could guess what he was thinking. This guy probably had already thought about which big tree to climb after returning to Earth.
But this guy was obviously overthinking.
To explain why…
”We hit a neutron torpedo, or even if we didn’t… it exploded near us. I’m not sure how much the deflector shield blocked, but the ship lost control and hit you…”
At this point, Ye Shi paused for a moment, looked at the excited eyes of the so-called scientist, and said something that made the latter and everyone present feel cold in an instant.
”Guess what I was going to do? Or why did I hit you?”
”Yes, I was going to dig a grave.”
”Your grave.”
(End of this chapter)
