Epoch of Twilight - Page 508/595

Chapter 508: The Mystery Of The Tumors

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The collection of the interstellar creature's carcass was a major operation when taking its size into consideration, even with the standard of human technology today. In order to make it happen, various detection and mining equipment were produced by the factories continuously and although there were only five to six million people remaining, the production rate was no less than the time prior to the apocalypse and the reconstruction era. Human technology had skyrocketed since then.

As soon as the production line modification was complete, the factories should be able to produce more than 10 gigantic engineering robots that were 10 meters tall. This was the production numbers for a partial production run and if an emergency arose or a war was declared, the production numbers could increase several fold. Within half a month, more than 1,000 engineering robots with various functions joined the operation. However, as the mission was now complete, most of the robots were sent back to the factories to be dismantled as the spaceship was already too crowded to maintain all these robots.

Standing in the central control, Luo Yuan was amazed as he looked at the operation that was 100,000 kilometers away. With the development throughout the years, human technology was now at the same level as Glassian technology 60 years ago. Though there was space for improvement in some aspects of human technology, there were other aspects where they had surpassed Glassian technology.

Throughout the years, humans did not only adapt Glassian technology but advanced as well. With the advancements from both civilizations, they managed to have breakthroughs in many fields. Though that alone was not sufficient to be used as a standalone system and had yet to surpass the standard of Glassian technology as a whole, it at least proved that humans have now scratched the surface of Glassian technology and are moving forward.

However, it was still 60-year-old Glassian technology. Compared to today's technology, humans were still far behind. Since this was the first spaceship built by the Glassians, its technology should not be questioned though it was not the most advanced technology of their civilization. After all, as a voyage spaceship, the level of technology was not a priority. Instead, the focus was the safety and stability of the spaceship which was why only technological advancements which had matured were used in the spaceship and those that were still in the research stages were left out.

60 or 70 years of difference in time was considered to be one generation in the development of technology and was long enough for a technological revolution. In fact, though there was a huge gap, Luo Yuan believed that if humans were given another 30 to 40 years, they would be on par or even surpass Glassians in terms of technological advancement. Besides, with the cultivation of the Wisdom Trees from the second energy crystal, the production rate of the wisdom elixirs have reached more than 4,000 tubes per year, four times more than before.

There were now 3,000 super scientists who had an Intelligence level between 16 to 18 points and ordinary scientists which outnumbered them by 1,000 times. The figure was more or less the same each year and with that, they would be able to advance human technology to be on par with Glassian technology given enough time.

The only question remaining was the reappearance of the Glassians and it would probably take them 50 years or so but the best guess would be that it would take them only three to four years, possibly even sooner.

It was a bet and if he was alone, Luo Yuan would throw himself in without a second thought instead of running away. However, with the fate of mankind on his shoulders, failing it would mean failing mankind. The Glassians would not give up on revenge just because there was a threat - there was too much on the line! Survival was the first priority of civilizations and to survive, they would have to do anything they needed to and hiding from its enemy temporarily was nothing.

He looked at the star in the direction of where the Glassians were and did not move until the artificial intelligence system started talking.

"Warning, the metal storage level is now at 31%, you're getting close to the danger zone!"

Luo Yuan looked at it but he did not bother. Since they had been producing a massive amount of engineering robots, they have drained their metal supplies but they could always recycle the metal from the elemental separation furnace to replenish their supply.

"List out all the elements we have in store!"

"Yes, captain!"

Luo Yuan looked at the chart on the screen, the least used element was water. It was barely touched since there was a water circulation system on the spaceship. None of the water used would be wasted and most of it was used on the nuclear fusion fuel. The rest of the elements were more or less at 80% while some of the elements were similar to metal, only at about 30% remaining.

Aside from building the engineering robots, machines, and spacecraft, the resources were exhausted on the daily necessities of the five to six million people. Although most of them could be recycled, the bulk of the robots permanently occupied space. "It would seem that we would need to replenish the resources store before we leave!" Luo Yuan thought to himself.

...

A month later, the interstellar creature's stomach was cut open and its gigantic organs were moved into an emergency spacecraft by the engineering robots. The spacecraft was like an enormous laboratory now with many researchers wearing lead-based protective clothing within a mountain of flesh and blood that looked like a massacre had just happened. The 30 meter tall heart that was cut into half was surrounded by many people as a gigantic piece of machinary waved its robotic arm around it, conduction various scans.

"The tumors are not part of the heart. The presence of eight, spiral structures detected!" Meng Junhua looked at the scan results on the screen and said as his assistances noted down what he had said. He looked young with a baby-like face, only being 27 years old. He had been working on the research for almost four years and was among the first batch of researchers who joined the team since the disaster. His performance was outstanding since he once worked in the field of high-energy physics and mathematics. He had come up with many valuable theses during his probationary period.

The biggest gap between mankind and the Glassians was the theoretical field. On one hand, the information humans were able to obtain was limited and they had to continue their studies on their own. It was a known fact that the technological advancement of humankind was not on par with their theoretical development, causing an imbalance. Many technicians knew how to build products that were similar to what the Glassians had but many of them did not have the theoretical support to use these products.

It was similar to a student who used a formula to complete a question without an in-depth understanding of what the formula really was. Although there were no direct consequences of doing that, if the situation continued, there would be a significant effect on technological development.

Unfortunately, most of the experts in these theoretical fields were in New Capital City before the disaster as there was equipment that was significantly more advanced so there were only a few of them in Hope City and other areas.

Under such circumstance, Meng Junhua was recognized and became one of the top people in the field. He was even assigned to work on the wisdom elixir a year ago and he was now a senior researcher.

"The microstructures shows cells that don’t exist. They look like a fibrous cotton material. Its structure is tough, almost six times tougher than muscle, 2.5 times tougher than skin. The function is still under study!"

"There’s a special structure connected to its heart!" Meng Junhua exclaimed at what was on the screen after looking at it for awhile. His eyes brightened up. "This is an atomic filter, it filters the atoms and molecules and should be the funnel for its energy."

He thought to himself, the energy should pass through the energy crystal in the heart to the eight spiral structures and activate the energy, turning it into gamma rays…

Unfortunately, he was not able to find the energy funnel so how was the interstellar creature able to shoot gamma rays?

Energy transition… Could it be due to other substances?

How do hundreds of these tumors work together?

How did it manage to shoot out gamma rays in such short periods of time?

Countless thoughts flashed through Meng Junhua's mind - he was getting lost. Unfortunately, the data he had was too little and he needed to conduct an in-depth and more complete study. He scratched his head as there was barely anything he was not able to complete ever since he consumed the wisdom elixir. However, excitement washed over him as he wondered if there was some unknown way it activated these bursts of gamma rays or some undiscovered physical-chemical phenomenon.

He had been working all day but there were limited results. After all, it was just a preliminary study - the concrete study would have to be done on the mothership. However, he was sure that the tumors were somehow related to the gamma ray. At dinner, he discussed the matter with the other researchers who were sitting on the same table. One of them was an expert in the field of neurobiology. He gave him a couple of ideas that got him thinking.