Chapter 329: Finally Opened the "Black Square"_1

Yang Dong's case proved a principle: geniuses, no matter the era, will always be geniuses.

After awakening, it took her only three years, which was the year 29 of the Intimidation Era, to calculate a viable theoretical model of the strong interaction force.

Humanity finally cracked the most lethal attack mode of "The Waterdrop," not only possessing the potential to manufacture "The Waterdrop" themselves but also possibly mastering the method to completely destroy it in the future.

At this time, the technology disclosed by the Trisolarans was still far from reaching this step.

With the theoretical model in hand and sufficient experimentation, Rediaz was confident of creating a weapon with the strong interaction force within twenty years.

That same year, another piece of good news arrived; in September, "Blind Zone No. 3" successfully began operation.

The force field coverage of "Blind Zone No. 3" underwent a huge enhancement, encompassing the entire small Space City where the Black Cuboid People resided.

The massive investment of the Solar System State in the project allowed the technology, which started with an area the size of a soccer field, to reach a city-scale level in just over a decade.

Of course, the cost of this "Blind Zone" was also very substantial; firstly, the small Space City named "Black Side City" increased in size by more than double.

The bulk of the enlargement went into the nuclear fusion power plant that supplied energy for the force field, as well as the equipment that formed the "Blind Zone."

Secondly, on the exterior of the small Space City, there was a dense array of force field emitters, which from a distance made the whole Space City look like a giant cactus.

The total cost of "Blind Zone No. 3" was, in fact, comparable to the construction costs of three Jupiter Cities.

Even though the Solar System State was increasingly flush with funds, they only built one; they definitely needed to take a breather before constructing a second.

Jiang Yu's vision was to transform all of the Solar System State's Space Cities into Sophon's Blind Zones in the future.

When Rediaz heard this vision, his brown-skinned face nearly turned white as he thought to himself: now you're disregarding the finances, only knowing how to squander them all over the place.

Since "Blind Zone No. 3" was completed, Jiang Yu immediately restarted the research program on the Black Square.

Wu Zheng and others had already been awakened prior to the completion of the "Blind Zone" and had now returned to Black Side City, immediately starting preparations for opening the Black Square.

After all the preparations were completed, Jiang Yu also arrived at the command center of Black Side City to witness this historic moment in full.

The Black Square research team had always been very low-key; up to now, most people had not noticed the group's research or had already forgotten the existence of the Black Square.

For Jiang Yu, this was a good thing; he planned to keep the research on the Black Square secret until significant results were obtained before considering whether to disclose information about it.

Through the real-time footage sent back by the first exploration team composed of robots, Jiang Yu saw a squad of six robots arrive right above the Black Square.

Since they could not emit wireless, neutrino, gravitational wave, and various other signals into the interior of the Black Square, these robots all carried a large bundle of thin data cables on their backs.

According to the Heifang Cloth Manuscript, the robot team leader turned on the ultraviolet searchlight, and a three to four meter square frame appeared before everyone.

This frame looked like it was set within black jade, reflecting a somewhat magical pale purple glow under the ultraviolet light.

Jiang Yu thought of the scenes from many mythical movies; for a moment, this frame seemed sacred, as if it truly were the gateway to a divine realm.

At that moment, another robot poured a small bucket of ginger juice into the frame, and the frame immediately emitted a dazzling red-purple light.

The robot team leader touched the Black Square, but there was no response.

Some staff noticed that in a corner of the frame, there were four characters grouped in pairs, two of which seemed to imply "open."

They commanded the robot to try tapping it, and the exterior wall of the Black Square within the frame disappeared instantly!

Clapping and cheering immediately erupted in the command room, and Wu Zheng, with a previously tense expression, finally revealed a sincere smile.

And Jiang Yu felt a tingling on his scalp. Two centuries had passed, and this product from an alien civilization had finally been opened.

Up to now, humanity had only come into contact with two series of alien artifacts: one was things like Sophon and The Waterdrop, and the other was the "Dark Forest."

The products of the Trisolarans would not enter human laboratories for meticulous research.

However, the technological products shown by the Trisolarans so far were basically understandable, and in the last two or three decades, methods to counter these advanced products had gradually been developed.

The "Dark Forest" was different; it just quietly stood there, and humans found it quite perplexing.

If there were intelligent life forms still alive inside the "Dark Forest," then for them, humanity's ongoing research on the "Dark Forest" might seem like a clumsy performance, causing them to laugh their heads off inside.

The method to open the "Dark Forest" all came from archaeological discoveries, which didn't sound scientific at all.

By then, the robotic exploration team had been waiting by the entrance for half a minute, with no reaction whatsoever from inside the "Dark Forest."

It was at this moment that Jiang Yu snapped back to reality, "How was the entrance just opened?"

Everyone then calmed down from their excitement, realizing that the black outer wall at the entrance had seemingly disappeared!

Wu Zheng quickly said, "Check the replay!"

The first replay showed it truly disappeared!

Wu Zheng then said, "Slow down the playback speed!"

At five times slower, it still disappeared!

Jiang Yu said, "Slower."

At ten times slower, it was still gone in the blink of an eye.

"Slower!"

At twenty times slower, it still just vanished.

At thirty times slower, there was still no clue where the black outer wall had gone.

Finally, at ninety times slower, the entire moment of opening the "Dark Forest" stretched into a minute and a half. The screen seemed to freeze, revealing that segment of the black outer wall, which slid into the surrounding frame like an elevator door.

But the speed was too fast, possibly only one ninety-eth or one hundredth of a second—so fast that the human eye could not catch it, and the camera almost missed it too.

Jiang Yu then pondered another issue, "If it's so easy to open the 'Dark Forest' from the outside.

"Then, if the 'Dark Forest' was suddenly opened by an external force while flying through space, wouldn't that be very dangerous!"

A middle-aged staff member said, "The design of the 'Dark Forest' wouldn't have such a significant flaw. It's likely that only with permission from the 'Dark Forest's' intelligent system or the Black Cuboid People can the entrance be opened."

Another, younger staff member exclaimed excitedly, "Does that mean the intelligent system inside the 'Dark Forest' is still operational?"

The middle-aged staff member said, "It's more likely a passive system. The entrance of the 'Dark Forest' opens when the conditions are met."

Jiang Yu, seeing that his reminder had achieved its purpose, concluded, "Either way, the exploration mission must proceed with extreme caution, assuming that the intelligent system could still be functioning normally."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

At this time, the robot exploration team waiting by the entrance had already been there for twenty minutes. The robot team leader asked Wu Zheng, "No anomalies detected. May we enter the 'Dark Forest'?"

Wu Zheng took a deep breath, unable to hide his excitement, and said, "Enter!"