Chapter 385: Warp Drive
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The three-dimensional space was not smooth and was slightly distorted. On occasion, there were ripples that came from the space, far in the corners of the universe that affected the entire earth from time to time. There was no room for any resistance so space twisted to some extent, becoming distorted.
However, it was akin to small ripples in the water that would not even draw attention from fishes swimming in it. Humans on earth would not have been aware of the changes that had taken place.
The existence of distortion in space had completely subverted the concept that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. In his perspective, a straight line in three dimensions was a curved arc in his four-dimensional perspective.
Luo Yuan even discovered a space not too far away that was extremely distorted. The distance, initially 700 to 800 kilometers long would be less than 100 kilometers if he traveled in the fourth dimension in a straight line.
Unfortunately, he could only observe as he could not act on his knowledge. His four-dimensional vision was just like an organ that allowed him to see in the fourth dimension. He did not gain the ability to shuttle himself across the fourth dimension. He lacked a four-dimensional body.
Luo Yuan sighed a little as he had witnessed what the real world held within it. Looking at the situation, it seems he had no choice but to continue his life as a being of the lower dimension. It was as if he had to take one step after another and though unwilling, he knew he had to do so despite knowing the things he now knew. He could not help himself from feeling a little lost.
The distorted space that contained boundless dark energy was like flowers in a mirror, like a moon that was reflected in the lake because although they seemed within reach, they were separated by an insurmountable natural moat, of sorts.
His sense of the fourth dimension simply could not break through the gap that exists between the third and fourth dimension. Well, that being said, nothing seemed to be impossible.
It was as if good fortune had come to Luo Yuan, his mind suddenly becoming clear as he got a good idea. He remembered an important piece of information, a speculation on the progress science has made regarding extraterrestrial civilizations during his training in New Capital City. Among them was information regarding interstellar travel.
From the very basic plasma propulsion to chemical fuel-injection, the usage of light as a source to trigger nuclear fusion as well as warping through space using a warp drive to jump through the curvature of space, which was still considered to be in the realm of science fiction.
Luo Yuan thought that the means of transporting by using the curvature of space was perhaps, not something impossible.
An object that flew utilizing the curvature of space would be wrapped in a bubble of sorts as space contracts in front of it while the space behind it expanded at a certain distance. The object has no acceleration based on the frame of reference nor is it limited by the limits set on it by the theory of relativity. As long as space could be distorted behind it, with sufficient energy a warp drive like this could easily break the speed of light.
He had a gleam in his eyes as his heart grew ablaze with hope.
Perhaps, jumping through space could only be possible in the fourth dimension. However, using the curvature of space to fly was not impossible for Luo Yuan as he was able to observe the fourth dimension.
The operations of this warp drive was not as complicated as other methods. Space was clearly visible to him with his four-dimensional vision. The only thing he needed to do was to shrink the space in front of him, causing the space behind him to expand, propelling him forward.
In this case, the energy powering this drive would be his Will.
He had no need to fly at the speed of light. Instead, he only needed to surpass the original speed at which he flew at. The only uncertain issue now was that he was not sure if Will could interfere with space-time curvature. It could trigger tangible and intangible forces like electromagnetic waves of various frequencies and even gravity but it remains unknown if it could interfere with space-time curvature. This has never happened before. His mind was blank.
His Will was the ability of his mind to interfere with reality, directly. In philosophy, this would be the ideal ability to have. If there was only one word to describe Will, it would be the ability to grant all wishes. Certainly, this ability was still considered to be something very weak and limited compared to other abilities that existed nowadays.
It was just like the fact that he could not create something from scratch and perform wonders, turning stone to gold with only a touch; he still could not make all his wishes come true. Until this very day, his Will only served to augment his already amazing Strength. He had absolutely no idea if it would interfere with space-time curvature.
Everything needs to be tested.
The very next moment, he concentrated his mind as his body slowly floated up into the sky. His eyes shone with a soft light and a dim light shrouded his body. He looked at the motions of space around him which fluctuated ever so slightly in the presence of his Will that actively interfered with the space in front and behind him.
He looked around, realizing that he had not moved at all. He was not disappointed and neither was he impatient as he had seen space fluctuate around him. It could have been considered to be successful.
The reason why he did not immediately move was that the warping of space was too negligible and he needed some time to accelerate. He waited patiently like a statue as his body floated in mid air while he continued to warp the space around his body.
Time passed second by second and he finally felt himself moving. At the same time, the space in front and behind him gradually fluctuated, propelling him forward. In the beginning, the movements were slower than a snail but as his Will continued to push on, it had a snowball effect. Space began to expand and contract even more and his speed gradually increased.
His speed reached 50 meters per second after five minutes.
His speed reached 60 meters per second after ten minutes.
After fifteen minutes, his speed reached 80 meters per second. It was, in no way a constant acceleration but he could control the amount of acceleration. At this moment his speed already exceeded the speed at which he previously flew at, and it was still rising rapidly!
It was even more intriguing to observe that the air around him did not seem to have much movement though he was moving at such a speed and it remained so even as he was stationary. It seemed that the space around him was completely independent of the three-dimensional world.
The truth was there and it was fact. Luo Yuan had found out that the spacetime curvature bubble around him was operating independently of the three dimensions.
It was even more intriguing to see that the air movement around his area did not seem to flow much at this speed and this has made no difference when he was staying put. It seemed that the space around him has been completely independent of the three-dimensional world.
The truth was there and it was also the real fact. Luo Yuan has found out that the curvature bubble in his area has been semi separated from this three-dimensional world which caused a space-time phenomenon he had not noticed. His body had grown from his height of 180 centimeters to four or five meters, making him look like a giant.
In reality, the curvature of space would continue to enlarge along with his Will that had increased over time. Luo Yuan would also continue to appear bigger and before long he would be completely detached from this world.
Of course, this was not a literal detachment. He still existed in the universe, he would just no longer be able to observe and be observed by three-dimensional beings.
...
Luo Yuan no longer moved forward and got ready to return when his speed reached 200 meters per second.
He discovered that his Will was running out and felt fatigued at the same time.
This was the price he had to pay to evolve to a fourth-dimensional being. Whether his ability to predict the future or to observe the fourth dimension was needed to process and analyze the information, it was considered to be a massive endeavor for humans. Only astronomical figures could be used to describe the information.
If the information available to him was to be processed by a computer, all the computers before the apocalypse in addition to all the smart devices, multiplied by thousands or even tens of thousands would not be enough. If all the energy consumed to compute the data was used in a nuclear bomb, it would be powerful enough to destroy the moon.
Using such a comparison, such efficient use of energy in his four-dimensional brain was incredible though the energy consumed was still considered high for an individual like Luo Yuan.
Although he was faintly aware of the four dimension when he had his prediction ability in the past, his 23 points in Physique could sustain him fully. Even the hurried fights and his usual journey, coupled with his use of his abilities did not drain him to such a level.
However, he noticed something when his four-dimensional brain increased to two percent.
It was still fine when he wore his headband. Most of the information coming from the fourth dimension was shielded by it. He could still maintain his strength even when his four-dimensional vision activated with the band on. However, once the band was removed, the amount of physical strength he consumed greatly increased. He already felt tired within a span of three hours, his body feeling exhausted and empty.
Luo Yuan did not dare to stay outside for too long in such conditions. He got hold of the space fluctuations immediately and quickly turned around, heading back to the return path.
His speed became faster during this period. As he moved forward at high speed, the scenery passing by became an illusion of sorts, a myriad of lines that formed a colorful abstract painting which looked strange and unusual.
He no longer had the ability to judge the speed at which he moved at.
At the very least, it had already surpassed the speed of sound. To top it off, since he was flying in this manner, there were no sounds made by his movements. He did not even create a sonic boom when he moved faster than the speed of sound and only created slight fluctuations in the air around him.
Luo Yuan had no idea how fast this flight could take him as he had not reached the limit yet. However, his acceleration seemed to have slowed down, unlike the previous double in speed every 50 to 60 seconds.
He spent 20 minutes on the way out but it did not even take a minute for him to come back.
He quickly got rid of the curvature of space around him as he approached the familiar cave. Along with the space around him that gradually became stable, Luo Yuan, who was originally flying faster than the speed of sound, stopped within a few seconds. Even with his acute senses, Luo Yuan did not feel any change in his inertia during the deceleration. It was as if he just stood there, not moving a muscle in his body.
Luo Yuan landed and put his headband back on after taking it out from his pocket. The fourth dimension was promptly insulated and he could feel the power of the earth that had been flowing into his body constantly, recovering his strength gradually. He exhaled and a trace of excitement was evident on his face but as he walked into the cave, he found that the mutated human had disappeared. The cave was a small and shallow one where he could see all of it at once.
He even used his prediction ability to check out the neighborhood in the vicinity of a few miles but found nothing. Slapping his forehead, he realized that he had been too engrossed in his exploration of the fourth dimension earlier and had completely neglected the mutated human. Luo Yuan knew at once that it was the reason why the mutated human had gone missing. Based on her behavior the past two days, she should have chased him when he left the cave to go outside but how would she have been able to do so based on how fast he accelerated?
He did not seem to be bothered as the sky was getting darker and the cowardly mutated human would get scared once the sky grew dark and she would come back.
He returned to the cave and purposely lit a fire at the entrance so that the mutated human, even from a distance, would be able to know that he had returned. He then sat down and waited patiently.
Soon, the sun set on the horizon and the sky darkened. He looked at the time and half an hour had passed without him noticing. He stood up and as he got impatient, he paced back and force, frowning as he glanced at the forest far away from time to time.
However, after some time, he decided to sit back down and a self-deprecating smile appeared on his face. He consoled himself, "She's just a mutated human. There's nothing to worry about even if she really didn't return. It doesn't make any sense to have feelings for her just after being travel companions for two days. Without having her to slow him down, he should be able to reach the coast of Guangxi by tomorrow noon based on his current speed."
Having said that, he was still getting more worried as time passed.
"She couldn't probably have died, right?" He talked to himself, "It's better for me if I find her and do what a decent human being would do." After all, he was the person who got her to tag along on his journey here. He would still be the guilty party if she were to die because she would not have died otherwise.
"So much trouble." He took his saber and quickly jumped from the cave into the jungle. He took a whiff of the scent left behind by the mutated human and moved quickly towards that direction.
"Why did she run so far away?" Luo Yuan spoke to himself sounding depressed after half an hour had passed. It was already beyond the distance he took to fly here but there was still no sign of her based on her scent. It seemed that she just ran blindly without noticing him.
Looking at the jungle which was already buried in darkness as well as the roars and growls of beasts nearby, Luo Yuan had no choice but to continue forward.
Time flew and soon, an hour had passed. However, Luo Yuan still could not find any traces of her. She had seemingly, without stopping in between, continued running forward. He did not know what this silly, mutated human was thinking!
Soon, he squinted his eyes while he was running and he immediately came to a stop. He lowered his head and picked up a plastic bottle. To be exact, a pure bottle of water.
This was the bottle that the mutated human stole quietly this afternoon. Each time Luo Yuan looked at her, she would stay wary enough to hide this pure bottle of water behind her body. She had treasured this bottle very much but now, it seemed that the bottle which was then so precious to her, had been thrown on the ground.
Obviously, she was in danger. He rose with a dignified look on his face.
Fortunately, there was no traces of the smell of blood that he came across. She probably succeeded in her escape.
He became anxious and quickly increased his speed. The system triggered a seventh-level task while he was shuttling across the jungle like a shadow. However, he was not in the mood now. He carried on searching and kept his distance from this area.
The jungle in the night was of gloom and horror. Numerous eyes, in blue and pale yellow colors, were lit in the dark, like lanterns. One would be terrifying just from looking at them. He did not know how could this coward of a mutated human even dare to come here, to the extent of coming out this far. Does she not know how to hide?
She was really a person with a one-track mind.
Luo Yuan was looked as if he had a burden on his shoulders and got more worried than he was before.
As he passed by a place with messy grass, he let out a curious, "Eh?" Some of the weeds had been torn while others were ripped out by the roots. The mutated human seemed to have struggled here and the one thing that made his face change, was the fresh blood that flowed not far away.
Although the amount of blood was not much, it obviously belonged to a humanoid after he took a whiff.
Out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly noticed that there was something hanging from the tree. He turned around to look and discovered that it was a rattan rope that hung from a slender tree branch.