Chapter 203: The Quantum Network
Chapter 203: The Quantum Network
This made one thing clear.
Magnus truly regarded himself as a supreme god rather than a false deity relying upon advanced technology.
No.
More accurately, he knew his power came from technology.
He simply believed that anyone who commanded such advanced technology, along with the civilization behind it, naturally deserved to call themselves gods.
Caelum could understand that mindset.
He had used similar comparisons to describe himself more than once.
Magnus, however, sincerely believed in his own divinity.
Caelum could infer that Magnus came from a civilization that had possessed such advanced technology for a very long time.
Only then could such deeply rooted arrogance become part of its worldview.
Still, a civilization capable of forging equipment from material bound by the strong nuclear force was undeniably powerful.
Weapons made from such material could destroy a planet with ease.
They did possess the strength to call themselves gods.
A deep hum spread through the air.
Within the force field filled with particles carrying immense energy, Magnus drew power madly from the surrounding vacuum.
Brilliant light surged around his body.
At first glance, the spectacle was certainly intimidating.
The quantum computer projected its analysis into Caelum’s vision.
Magnus was drawing vacuum energy to fuel himself.
That was remarkable.
Vacuum energy was a vast source of power hidden within empty space.
Even at absolute zero, it still existed and remained active.
Unlike antimatter energy, vacuum energy was present everywhere.
The entire universe was an immense ocean of power.
As long as one possessed the technology required to extract it, energy could be drawn directly from the vacuum of space.
It was even more convenient than antimatter.
Caelum’s eyes brightened.
"An unexpected reward."
In the next instant, a dazzling beam swallowed him.
A torrent of particles carrying immense energy struck the ground and scattered brilliant light in every direction.
Magnus’s reasoning was obvious.
Since physical attacks had failed, he would use a high energy particle beam instead.
He refused to believe Caelum could survive that as well.
His thoughts were almost childishly simple.
The arrogance of calling himself a god had stripped away his caution.
A mature civilization possessed an intense instinct for vigilance.
That was one of the foundations of survival.
When confronted with something incomprehensible in the universe, if one could neither analyze nor understand its nature, the safest choice was to flee as far as possible.
Arrogance was a sign that a civilization had begun walking toward destruction.
Caelum stepped leisurely out of the beam.
He stood directly before Magnus, yet the powerful field surrounding Magnus could not detect his existence at all.
It was as though Caelum were nothing more than an illusion.
That was close to the truth.
What Magnus saw was merely a shadow projected from a higher dimension into the three dimensional world.
Caelum’s true body was not present there.
It existed in a higher dimension.
Magnus’s pupils contracted.
A violent sense of danger rose within him.
He finally realized that something was terribly wrong.
Fear restored the humility and caution he had cast aside.
Unfortunately, it was already too late.
Had he truly been cautious, he would have fled Farstar aboard a spacecraft the moment Caelum arrived without detection.
Magnus stopped attacking.
Tension entered his voice.
"Wait. I believe there has been some misunderstanding between us."
"There is no misunderstanding."
Caelum reached out and closed his hand around empty air.
Magnus exploded into fundamental particles.
Nothing remained.
Caelum moved Magnus’s equipment into subspace and issued an order to the quantum computer.
"Analyze the technology within this equipment and synchronize the data with the quantum network."
"Understood. Analysis beginning."
Every Hyperdimensional System contained a quantum computer.
Together, those computers formed the quantum network.
Once the equipment data entered the network, every Hyperdimensional could use a matter reconstruction device to print identical equipment.
The matter reconstruction device worked by altering atomic structures and rearranging atoms.
With that principle, printing equipment was simple.
Caelum had no intention of replacing antimatter energy with vacuum energy for now.
The annihilation reactor drew antimatter directly from the antimatter universe and converted it into energy with greater efficiency.
There was another concern.
Energy in this universe remained conserved.
Extracting vacuum energy would only accelerate the growth of entropy.
That was not beneficial to the universe itself.
Caelum did not particularly care about that.
What concerned him was the trouble such actions might attract.
The universe contained all kinds of strange civilizations.
Some might devote themselves to preserving cosmic balance.
As entropy increased, the amount of usable energy in the universe would steadily decline.
To slow that process, certain civilizations that opposed entropy might specifically destroy civilizations that accelerated it.
Such a possibility could not be dismissed.
Using vacuum energy equipment occasionally would not matter.
Long term extraction on a massive scale should still be avoided whenever possible.
Caelum was not arrogant enough to believe he stood above every civilization in existence.
The possible presence of higher dimensional observers alone forced him to act carefully.
He issued another order.
"No one may use vacuum energy without my permission."
"Understood. Access restrictions have been applied to the data."
Inside the Farstar Senate, representatives dressed in formal clothing were holding a meeting.
The central subject was Aquora.
An image of Aquora taken from space appeared on the main display.
Every representative wore a grave expression.
"Gentlemen, the situation has changed."
"We once launched an observation satellite toward the fourth planet. Three years ago, that satellite was shot down by a missile launched from the planet."
"According to the information gathered before its destruction, the civilization on the fourth planet has been developing at an abnormal rate."
"This phenomenon is highly unusual, but it would not be our greatest concern by itself."
"The real problem is that we recently observed extremely regular distortions in space around the fourth planet."
"After analysis, we believe these distortions may have been caused by a curvature drive."
Silence filled the chamber.
A long time passed before someone finally spoke.
"Does this mean the civilization on the fourth planet has developed a curvature drive?"
Both curvature drives and warp drives could achieve travel faster than light.
The difference was that a warp drive created a warp bubble around the vessel.
As long as the spacecraft remained inside that bubble, the effects of time dilation could be eliminated.
A vessel equipped with a curvature drive but no warp bubble faced a very different outcome.
The crew might experience only one or two years during a journey.
Outside the vessel, decades or even centuries could pass.
The difference between the two technologies was immense.
That was why the representatives of Farstar did not even dare consider the possibility that Aquora had developed a warp drive.