VI
Fear can kill us, but it can also make us stronger.
— Ancient Terran Sphere Proverb
It's commonly believed that passengers feel nothing out of the ordinary when their spaceship traverses a Stargate. Nevertheless, as the ship actually moved into the vortex, Elly experienced a moment of fear. Humanity hadn't yet completely grasped the fundamental principles of the Lagrange Network. Some scientists believed that the existence of the Lagrange Network was a natural phenomenon. Those who sided with this idea offered a straightforward analogy: The universe was like a giant block of Swiss cheese, so naturally, there had to be interconnected networks throughout the cheese. The Lagrange Network was an echo of four-dimensional tunnels in a three-dimensional world. As humans passed through the Stargate, they were essentially navigating the four-dimensional world. Other scientists, however, doubted that the network was naturally occurring. They proposed that the Lagrange Network might have been placed by an advanced civilization beyond human comprehension. The ultimate purpose remained a mystery lost in the sands of time.
Thinking about this, Elly's awe of the enigmatic cosmos deepened.
As their ship approached the vortex, light from the swirling portal lit up the entire cabin. Elly looked at her grandpa, who was half-reclined beside her, and was surprised to see that Oliver appeared to have regained consciousness. His eyes were opened wide, gazing at the vortex that almost completely dominated the front porthole. A golden hue flickered over his silver hair with a fiery passion rekindled in his weathered eyes.
No one else noticed the slight movement of the old man's lips as he murmured, "Mr. Kaos."
That year, Oliver turned 20 and had become a seasoned miner of Trojite Crystals. He made fewer and fewer trips to see Mr. Kaos as time went on.
Gradually, Oliver became aware of many oddities about Mr. Kaos. For instance, Mr. Kaos seemed to harbor a subtle hostility toward the Carr Mining Group, and he seemed wary of making public appearances. Although Oliver had initially believed everything Mr. Kaos told him, he gradually started to doubt some of his statements.
For example, even though the Carr Mining Group had been beating the drum to gather resources and get the Stargate up and running, Mr. Kaos appeared to be skeptical about it. However, his current projects, such as searching for Lagrange Points, were clearly in line with building a Stargate. So why didn't he join the Carr Mining Group? Oliver felt that there must be some sort of scientist just like Mr. Kaos in the Stargate construction department. Perhaps the real stumbling block in getting the Stargate running had been the inability to pinpoint these Lagrange Points.
Soon, Oliver came upon a terrifying thought: Could it be that Mr. Kaos was lying all along?
Oliver felt as though a massive rock was crushing his chest at the very thought. It would be one thing if Mr. Kaos was simply a madman with a twisted mind but quite another if he harbored secret agendas. Had Oliver been in the dark all this time, unknowingly helping his misdeeds?
Of course, he had ceased to believe in those tales about Explorers; those childish dreams had dissipated like mist as he grew older. From his readings, Oliver discovered that Mr. Kaos had no authority to grant any Explorer certificates; it was just a trick to fool a child.
On a few occasions, Oliver had been on the verge of confronting Mr. Kaos about the truth, but every time, upon seeing the elderly, white-haired man toiling at that massive machine, he couldn't bring himself to ask.
One day, Oliver returned to the "secret base." As soon as he entered the room, he felt the mood had shifted. Mr. Kaos was no longer fiddling with the big machine; instead, he was pacing around the room. Seeing Oliver, the old man came forward with a joyous smile, "Oliver, I've made it!"
"Huh?" Oliver didn't catch on right away. "Mr. Kaos, made what?"
"Come take a look." Mr. Kaos said, turning towards the big machine in the center of the room, Oliver following closely behind. Oliver immediately noticed something unusual. The big machine, towering over two meters and circular in shape, was connected to the floor at its base with several tubes. There was a circular viewing port on the front, which was currently pitch-black. To its right was a set of bizarre-looking physical buttons arranged clumsily. On its other side was a series of somewhat incongruous welded ladders. Unlike before, the viewing port was now closed, and a row of indicator lights next to it had come to life.
"I did it! It's finally working!" Mr. Kaos exclaimed as he walked over to the machine.
"Mr. Kaos, what is this thing?"
Mr. Kaos stretched out his hand, gently touching the surface of the machine. It was as though his eyes could pierce through its dense metallic shell and see inside. He declared solemnly, "This is an Elemental Furnace."
"What?" Oliver was shocked, hardly believing his ears. "An Elemental Furnace?"
"Yes," The old man said with a nod.
For some reason, Oliver felt a sense of relief. Perhaps Mr. Kaos really was just a madman. Oliver was aware that the Elemental Furnace was considered one of the grandest inventions in human history. The creation and use of the Elemental Furnace made it possible for humanity to synthesize almost any necessary element in space from a small amount of easily mined elements. He had seen Elemental Furnaces in pictures and videos before: they were the core of every space station. Even the smallest Elemental Furnace was several dozen meters tall, with the larger ones reaching hundreds of meters. However, everyone knew that the Elemental Furnace in the April Space Station had been destroyed during the war. Rebuilding it was out of the question. Though the giant machine before them did share some resemblances to the reaction chamber of an Elemental Furnace, it was absurd to consider it an actual Elemental Furnace.
"I know it's hard to believe," Mr. Kaos said, rubbing his hands, "but this is indeed an Elemental Furnace. It's different from the ones you're familiar with; it only produces one type of element."
"What element?" asked Oliver.
"Element 688."
Oliver was shocked. Element 688! The Element 688 reserves in the Kaos Star System had been depleted way before he was born, and none of the space stations possessed the technology to produce it. The lack of Element 688 had prevented people in the Kaos Star System from traveling with warp drive, which was one of the key factors impeding Stargate construction.
"What? Really? But..."
Oliver still found it hard to believe. Had Mr. Kaos actually managed to produce Element 688 with such a basic setup?
"Oliver, do you know what Element 688 is?"
Oliver shook his head. He knew that Element 688 was one of the essential fuels for warp drive, which it could power when combined with Trojite Crystals.
"Element 688 may be among the most profound mysteries of the cosmos. Long ago, human scientists learned that there are only 98 elements that exist naturally in the world," Mr. Kaos explained, slipping back into his teaching mode, "Starting from Element 99, every subsequent element has been artificially created by humans in experimental settings. With ongoing research and exploration, new elements were constantly being discovered, leading to the continuous growth of the periodic table. By the early 21st century, humans had discovered and created a range of superheavy elements. These elements typically had very short half-lives, which tended to shorten further as the atomic number increased. That and the ongoing effort to synthesize new elements was essentially a part of humanity's relentless pursuit of the unknown. The process of synthesizing new elements became increasingly challenging. In the century following the creation of the periodic table, humans managed to synthesize and discover only about 20 elements."
"As atomic numbers continued to climb, the creation of superheavy elements became more complex. The experimental findings implied that higher atomic numbers led to shorter half-lives, possibly going beyond what humans could observe. Some scientists even hypothesized that there was a finite limit to the sequence of superheavy elements. The explanation was simple: As atomic numbers increase, element half-lives drastically decrease. However, consider that Planck time is the smallest unit of time in the universe and is not divisible. When a half-life gets close to Planck time, it signifies the elemental existence threshold. Therefore, there's a definitive limit to the number of elements that can exist in this universe."
"Later, a new theory emerged among scientists, the nuclear shell model theory, inspired by the Pauli Exclusion Principle. This model opened up the possibility of the existence of heavy and superheavy elements. Following this, a nuclear physicist named Glenn Theodore Seaborg introduced the concept of the 'island of stability.' He theorized that when the number of subatomic particles in a shell reaches specific values, the shell attains its highest binding energy, enhancing nuclear stability. These specific values are called 'magic numbers.' Magic numbers account for the stability of the nuclear structure in heavy nucleons. When a nucleus contains these magic numbers, it forms complete shells that are closed due to spin-orbit coupling. Thus, the old theory that a higher atomic number may mean a shorter half-life may be incorrect. Certain superheavy elements could have stable nuclei. Therefore, scientists foresaw the existence of an 'island of stability' where atomic numbers gradually increase. Superheavy elements with a proton number Z or neutron number N equal to magic numbers are located within. If an element has both Z and N as magic numbers, its nucleus is referred to as 'doubly magic.' Scientists predicted that elements in this island of stability may have half-lives exceeding one day or even longer, although some could be less than a second. Some scientists also theorized that some superheavy nuclei might have longer lifespans than anticipated due to high fission barriers. However, given the technological limitations of the time, humans were incapable of synthesizing the superheavy elements that were theoretically located in the island of stability theory, leaving the theory unproven. Yet, research on the decay cycles of isotopes of Element 114 at the end of the 20th century, as well as the discovery of Element 118, provided indirect evidence supporting the existence of an island of stability..."
...
Despite barely grasping what Mr. Kaos was talking about, Oliver found himself quite moved by the professor's enthusiasm. At that moment, Oliver's previous suspicions began to waver. Was Mr. Kaos actually out of his mind? It had been a long time since Oliver had witnessed such passion in his lectures. He refrained from interrupting, intently listening as he did as a child.
"...Following the achievement of controlled nuclear fusion, nuclear physics continued its steady development. By the middle of the 22nd century, scientists had verified the first predicted island of stability and efficiently synthesized most of its superheavy elements. With the ongoing evolution of controlled nuclear fusion technology, there were substantial breakthroughs in nuclear physics, leading to the discovery of new magic numbers. At the beginning of the 26th century, humanity had discovered over a hundred new magic numbers, leaping across three islands of stability in nuclear exploration, and had begun to reach the stable continent that had been theorized centuries ago. In the year 2598, a serendipitous discovery was made by a mathematician named Cole Freeman, who found a correlation between the Riemann Hypothesis and magic numbers. He deduced that the new magic numbers, which appeared after surpassing the third island of stability, corresponded to the figures in the Riemann Hypothesis."
"It was a monumental breakthrough. The venerable Riemann Hypothesis was put to use in the most advanced theories of physics. Backed by mathematical theories and enhanced by sophisticated technology, nuclear physicists made leaps and bounds. In the days that followed, humanity finally began exploring the stable continent. By the year 2680, humanity had reached the summit of this continent: the discovery of Element 688."
"Element 688, possessing a doubly magic nucleus, was humanity's first discovery of a superheavy element on the stable continent with a half-life surpassing 24 hours. Because of this, scientists could thoroughly research Element 688. They found that when Element 688 is placed in a more advanced vacuum energy state, its half-life can be prolonged to thousands of years. Additionally, Element 688 exhibits extraordinary spatial properties. As vacuum energy levels are increased and basic particles are accelerated to the speed of light and collide with it — especially when placed in cosmic-creation level energy — space itself begins to warp. This phenomenon is the basic working principle of the warp drive."
"Then — what about Trojite Crystals? What exactly are Trojite Crystals?" Oliver asked, unable to resist.
"There's a theory put forward by scientists that relates to the history of the universe's evolution and the behavior of superheavy elements, which show extended half-lives at higher vacuum energy levels. At a certain moment after the universe was born, possibly 0.0001 seconds after the Big Bang, the vacuum energy level was much higher than it is today. As energy started to settle in space, initiating the formation of matter, elements with much higher atomic numbers were born, including Element 688. But as the universe cooled down, the vacuum energy level fell, causing superheavy elements to decay into lighter ones until only elements before atomic number 98 were left. Based on this hypothesis, scientists calculated the vacuum energy level required for Element 688's existence. In the mathematical equation, they came across two solutions. The first one was Element 688 itself, which would fade away as time advanced, conforming to the known features of the physical world. The second solution, however, left scientists perplexed. Theoretically, this solution pointed to a compound, possibly one that originally existed alongside Element 688. The theory proposed that this compound may have survived to this day."
An idea dawned on Oliver: "Oh my, the Trojite Crystals!"
"Correct, that compound is the Trojite Crystal. With these crystals, Element 688 can be completely controlled, allowing for the precise handling of spatial distortions required for warp drive production. Without warp drives, even within a star system, a short journey using conventional engines would take months, even years. One could say that the warp drive is fundamental to humanity's actual venture into the interstellar era. Without the assistance of warp drives, humans would probably be forever bound to the inner reaches of the Solar System, never able to encounter the Lagrange Network."
"But, Mr. Kaos," Oliver said, finally expressing his concern, "why?"
"Come again?"
"I mean, all of this — Why do you remain hidden here? Since everything you do is for the Lone Island Reconnection Project, why not work with the Carr Mining Group? You've synthesized Element 688, which would enable us to restart the warp drive; you're always looking for Lagrange Points, constructing these strange machines — why all this effort? Mr. Kaos, you've always dodged this question. What's your deal? Are you really a—"
He stopped himself, swallowing the word "traitor."
Mr. Kaos lifted his hand, stopping Oliver, "Enough, Oliver!"
Oliver shut his mouth, but continued to glare at Mr. Kaos.
Mr. Kaos suddenly seemed much older in that moment, as if his soul had left his body. He hunched over and moved toward the detector, aimlessly playing with the antennas.
It was quite a while before Mr. Kaos turned around and gestured to Oliver. "Come here, kid."
Oliver shuffled over, feeling a tinge of guilt.
Mr. Kaos sank slowly into his usual chair and pointed toward a box where Oliver often sat to read as a child. "Have a seat."
As Oliver took his seat, Mr. Kaos began, "Kid, I have never misled you. I have told you nothing but the truth since the day we met. I'm aware that the Carr Mining Group has been promoting the idea that everyone's efforts are all about restoring the Stargate and returning the Kaos Star System to the Lagrange Network. Am I correct?"
Oliver nodded.
"That's not true, kid. It's all lies!"The next thing Mr. Kaos said shocked Oliver to his core.
