Chapter 196: Technological Ascension
Chapter 196: Technological Ascension
After several years of effort, nuclear fission had finally been achieved.
The next technologies unlocked immediately.
[Energy and Controlled Nuclear Fusion Unlocked]
The word controlled meant Caelum no longer needed to struggle through the research required to regulate fusion.
As long as he had the necessary materials, he could construct a fusion reactor on the spot.
That was not all.
[Information and Artificial Intelligence Unlocked]
[Materials and Semiconductors Unlocked]
[Circuits and Integrated Circuits Unlocked]
...
A whole series of technologies from the information age became available.
The arrival of semiconductors and integrated circuits gave Caelum the ability to build supercomputers.
Only with supercomputers would the creation of artificial intelligence hold real meaning and value.
Although many advanced technologies had been unlocked, Caelum did not rush to develop them.
The technology tree had only just begun opening.
Achieving nuclear fission had merely allowed him to push open the gates of a new age.
The greatest breakthroughs still lay ahead.
One month later, all the required materials had been gathered.
Caelum activated the technology tree again.
[Energy and Controlled Nuclear Fusion Accelerated Production]
An invisible force swept outward.
Countless materials rose into the air and assembled themselves in the blink of an eye, forming a controlled nuclear fusion reactor.
The moment construction finished, fusion began inside the reactor.
[Energy and Controlled Nuclear Fusion Production Complete]
Technologies belonging to the fusion energy age began unlocking.
[Energy and Controlled Antimatter Unlocked]
[Materials and Nanomaterials Unlocked]
[Electromagnetism and Powerful Magnetic Technology Unlocked]
[Particles and Beam Technology Unlocked]
[Biology and Genetic Modification Unlocked]
...
Controlled nuclear fusion had been achieved.
The technologies unlocked by Caelum surged forward at a terrifying pace.
He had only just opened the gate to the information age through nuclear fission, yet his next step was already carrying him into a future shaped by fusion energy.
Even this was not the limit.
The unlocking of controlled antimatter energy pushed Caelum toward a far more distant future.
And that future was now within reach.
The energy released by antimatter was immense.
It was one thousand times greater than fusion energy and two hundred and sixty eight thousand times greater than fission energy.
More importantly, antimatter technology was not selective about fuel.
Any form of matter in the universe could serve as material for annihilation.
Neither nuclear fusion nor nuclear fission could compare with that advantage.
Antimatter energy was essentially the ultimate source of energy in the universe.
At least, that was true from humanity’s current perspective.
Before long, another notification appeared.
[Energy and Controlled Antimatter Production Complete]
Caelum activated the technology tree and constructed an annihilation reactor that generated power through antimatter.
The moment the reactor was completed, a deep hum filled the air.
Ignition succeeded inside the annihilation chamber.
The annihilation reaction began at once.
The enormous metal structure displayed the ultimate beauty of science and technology.
Its deep resonance announced the birth of limitless energy to the world.
This was what Caelum meant by technological Ascension.
The technologies of the antimatter age surpassed imagination.
Once the antimatter annihilation reactor was completed, the next branches unlocked immediately.
[Warp Drive Unlocked]
[Quantum Entanglement Unlocked]
[Eleven Dimensional Device Unlocked]
[Matter Reconstruction Device Unlocked]
Any one of these technologies could be called miraculous.
Each represented one of humanity’s deepest possible understandings of the truths of the universe.
If Caelum realized all of them, merely entering the interstellar age would be an understatement.
Even calling him an interstellar overlord would be a conservative estimate.
And now, he truly possessed the ability to realize every one of them.
The factors that had always limited the technology tree were materials and safety.
Nuclear fission was the perfect example.
Caelum had long possessed the ability to create a nuclear weapon by hand.
But because doing so was too dangerous, he first needed facilities capable of controlling the reaction.
The unlocking of matter reconstruction technology gave Caelum the power to turn the impossible into reality.
Combined with Newhaven’s existing technology and infrastructure, future development would no longer be constrained by materials.
Matter reconstruction consumed enormous amounts of energy.
Fortunately, the newly completed antimatter annihilation reactor could provide more than enough.
Within one month, every material needed to construct the matter reconstruction device had been gathered.
The storage grounds were filled with steel and countless other materials.
Everything was ready.
Caelum no longer hesitated.
[Matter Reconstruction Device Accelerated Production]
In an instant, the massive quantity of raw materials began assembling under the control of an invisible force.
An enormous device took shape upon the land.
It resembled a colossal steel beast lying in wait.
The matter reconstruction device formed a vast ring with a diameter of three hundred meters.
At its center stood the reconstruction core.
Standing inside the structure felt like entering a city made entirely of steel.
The sight was overwhelming.
[Matter Reconstruction Device Production Complete]
Caelum gave an order.
"Connect the annihilation reactor to the matter reconstruction device."
"Understood."
To accomplish this, Caelum’s research teams had to spend enormous effort dismantling the antimatter annihilation reactor into several sections.
They then deployed ten airships.
Only through that effort could the reactor, weighing tens of thousands of tons, be transported into the matter reconstruction facility.
It was then reassembled and connected to the device as its energy source.
As a continuous stream of power entered the matter reconstruction system, a deep hum filled the air.
The device began operating.
A short while later, Caelum removed a piece of gold from the machine.
What he had placed inside had been nothing more than an ordinary stone.
Yet in only a few moments, its structure had been completely reconstructed at the atomic level.
Gold.
In nature, gold was born from neutron stars formed after supernova explosions.
Only when neutron stars collided were heavy elements such as gold scattered across the universe.
Humanity could not easily synthesize gold.
Even if a small amount were produced, mass production was impossible.
But now, Caelum had personally reconstructed the atomic structure of a stone and transformed it into genuine gold.
"It worked!"
The research team standing nearby erupted with joy.
At that moment, they had witnessed history.
Afterward, Caelum did not rush to build the warp drive or the eleven dimensional device.
Both consumed unimaginable amounts of energy.
Even the antimatter annihilation reactor could not easily power them.
A warp drive could create a warp bubble.
A spacecraft enclosed within that bubble could travel faster than light with ease.
The problem was that creating such a bubble required a terrifying amount of energy.
Even if all of Aquora were fed into the annihilation reactor, the energy produced would still be insufficient to form a warp bubble large enough to enclose an entire spacecraft.
The eleven dimensional device allowed any object to shift freely between dimensions.
It could raise or lower an object anywhere from one dimension to eleven dimensions at will.
Without question, its energy requirements were even more extreme than those of the warp drive.
Caelum had no choice but to focus his efforts elsewhere for the time being.
He would return later to solve the energy problems of those two devices.
They were not projects that could be completed quickly.