Chapter 677: Extra 28

"Hahaha, you're being overly modest again!"
Zhou Yi shook his head with a wry smile.
"Without your stabilizing force, our so-called elites would probably have been floundering in the lab for another ten years...
We'd have burned through the GDP of several countries just to barely produce a prototype that even mice wouldn't dare put in!"
Su Yun didn't reply, only smiled silently.
Although he adopted a humble posture, he knew some things very well.
Let alone ten years, without the strong intervention of his core theories, these mediocre academics could have worked for another century...
Humanity's Mars terraforming program would have been nothing but a dream, pure theoretical speculation.
"Alright, besides recognizing your contributions worthy of being recorded in human history, I actually have a very important question for you."
Zhou Yi's expression softened slightly, replaced by a serious one.
"What is it?"
"I've been looking through the projects you've been leading and in charge of lately..."
Zhou Yi paused, seemingly choosing his words carefully.
"They're all related to aerospace technology.
And the project proposals are incredibly ambitious, giving the impression that they want to devour the entire world!
From terraforming Mars and other habitable planets to interstellar travel technology spanning light-years, it's all-encompassing.
Especially this one..."
Zhou Yi pulled up a top-secret holographic projection, pointing to a term flashing a blinding red light.
“And this is what worries me most—the hyperspace engine!”
“That makes perfect sense, doesn’t it?” Su Yun looked at him calmly.
“After all, if we humans only travel through the universe at the speed of light like turtles…
This universe would seem far too vast, far too despairing. Human lifespan simply can’t afford it.”
“Yes, I admit you’re right.”
A bead of cold sweat appeared on Zhou Yi’s forehead.
“I used to have a strong interest in this area, so I’ve delved into related knowledge.
But Su Yun, physics has its limits!
The hyperspace engine, according to the laws of physics, is simply an impossible technology.
To forcibly tear and compress space for a jump requires an extremely large, astronomical amount of energy!
Don’t even mention our current fusion reactors; even if we packed all the planets in our entire solar system into lumps and burned them dry, it wouldn’t be enough to fill that terrifying energy hole!”
This is the most suffocating ironclad rule in the current academic world.
Scientists often utter such despairing sighs when faced with the vastness of space.
Why can't humans ever surpass the speed of light?
According to Einstein's theory of relativity, nothing in this universe can travel faster than light.
No matter how explosively advanced technology becomes, humanity is destined to be a group of prisoners confined in a cage called the "light barrier."
It felt as if some obsessive-compulsive creator had forcibly locked down the fundamental logic of this world with the coldest code at the very beginning of creation.
However, Su Yun's eyes remained completely unmoved.
“Uncle Zhou, just like even the most perfect computer program, or any large and complex system, will inevitably have extremely small flaws.
As long as it's code, there will be bugs.”
“Bugs?” Zhou Yi was stunned.
“Yes. If we actively warp spacetime around the spaceship during space travel, we can directly shorten the travel distance on a physical level.
This is indeed the traditional [Warp Drive] theory.”
Su Yun gestured a folding motion in the air with his hand.
“But what if we forcibly merge this theory with the [Hyperspace Engine] theory?
As long as we find that bug, we can achieve even more revolutionary, even energy-defying, ultra-fast space jumps.”
“That’s easy for you to say…”
Zhou Yi felt his understanding crumbling.
“Even if you, Su Yun, are the greatest genius of all time, to complete all the massive calculations involved in merging these two theories…
Don’t even mention you alone; even if you had a top-notch mathematical team of several hundred people, they still wouldn’t finish calculating it in hundreds of years!”
“Yes, of course I won’t calculate it by hand.”
Su Yun answered matter-of-factly.
"That's why we need to leverage the computing power of artificial intelligence.
Of course, even our most advanced supercomputers can't handle such a massive workload; that's the crux of the problem."
Listening to these words, which sounded like gibberish yet possessed a bizarre logic, Zhou Yi felt like his brain was about to explode.
He quickly coughed twice, timely, even escapistly, stopping this insane topic.
"Su Yun, as a core member, you should be very clear about the ultimate goal of Gaia's founding, right?"
"Yes," Su Yun replied calmly.
"To solve the increasingly out-of-control global warming crisis, to save this Earth on the verge of collapse, and to save humanity.
This is Gaia's indisputable mission."
"That's right. And I absolutely do not deny that in this world, you are the most indispensable figure in Gaia now, and even for decades to come.
Without you, we would probably be wasting decades, even centuries, in this dead end!"
Zhou Yi stared intently into Su Yun's eyes.
"But, looking at those projects you've recently spearheaded and promoted that have consumed massive amounts of funds...
You seem indifferent to the life or death of the Earth, to the problem of global warming?
You're only focused on heading towards outer space, aren't you?"