Chapter 246 Magic Ring Civilization

Edge of four-dimensional space.

A scientific expedition spaceship was slowly approaching a peculiar warping point, which had a diameter of nearly 30 meters, large enough for the spaceship to enter.

This was humanity's very first true exploration of four-dimensional space, with Chu Yan leading the mission, as Lin Sen and Ding Yi, among others, did not go.

Even though Lin Sen knew the danger here was minimal, all crew members still persuaded him not to enter due to potential unknown risks.

The inaugural mission to explore the four-dimensional space was therefore entrusted to Chu Yan, Morovich, Guan Yifan... and others.

Rey Diaz was not in Lin Sen's fleet; he was in another, on a different mission.

As the spaceship entered, everyone on board discovered that they had vanished from head to toe and what appeared were rapidly changing cross-sections of their bodies.

Although scientists had repeatedly informed them about what to expect and explained the principles behind the phenomena before entry, everyone was still stunned by the sight before them.

Those with firsthand experience all unanimously agreed that the feeling of being in four-dimensional space was indescribable in human language; they even asserted that this four-dimensional sensation was the only thing humanity had encountered thus far that was absolutely impossible to describe with words.

The visual presentation of four-dimensional space was immensely shocking; first-time witnesses were confronted with an amount of information billions of times that of the three-dimensional world. If not for the brain's protective mechanisms, which filtered out the vast majority of these data, the brain would have been unable to cope.

Hawking described in "The Universe in a Nutshell" that the history of the universe in imaginary time is a closed four-dimensional spherical surface, without singularities, without an origin.

Now, "seeing the infinite from the core" was no longer just a metaphor; the structural complexity of an acorn in four-dimensional space could be as vast as that of a universe.

Warp points usually drift or vanish after a few minutes, but the exploration spaceship did not choose to return; instead, it went deeper, intending to find a new warp point to return to the three-dimensional world.

As the spaceship delved deeper, the people on board gradually adapted to four-dimensional space, an adaptation that might not have been too difficult.

A medieval Ancient, even, could precisely remove another's brain, showing that with some training and scientific guidance, ordinary people could quickly adapt and master the skills needed to operate in four-dimensional space.

It might have been relatively easy for humans to adapt, but it was not so for scientific instruments.

For instance, the exploration spaceship carried many detection devices and telescope systems, which quickly became overwhelmed by the massive inflow of information, promptly leading their computer systems to crash.

Although the parameters of these instruments had been adjusted before entering, they were still struggling to adapt to the four-dimensional space.

This observation effect was, in fact, inferior to simply using an optical telescope for direct viewing.

While the scientists were busy adjusting the parameters of all instruments to adapt to four-dimensional space, Guan Yifan, using an optical telescope, spotted a toroidal object in the distance.

Since they were unable to determine its distance from the spaceship or measure its volume, they estimated that its three-dimensional diameter was between eighty and one hundred kilometers, with a ring diameter of about twenty kilometers, resembling a space Magic Ring.

The ring displayed a complex, circuit-like structure, and from its external appearance, it was almost certain that the object was manufactured by an intelligent entity.

This was the first time humanity had directly observed a third-party universal civilization outside of the two known worlds.

Why the four-dimensional object took a toroidal shape was actually quite easy to understand. Whether in three dimensions or four, constructing a spaceship would definitely require it to be enclosed.

For example, most human warships are cigar-shaped, which is the most mechanics-optimized and material-efficient design; to a two-dimensional life form, its sectional view would be a circle.

The spaceships of the four-dimensional world ought to be some kind of hyper-spheroids, and their cross-sections, or projections in three-dimensional space, appear as toroidal shapes.

As time went on, the instruments on board the spaceship could barely be used, and with the assistance of these advanced instruments and telescopic systems, more unidentified objects were discovered deep in four-dimensional space during the subsequent observations.

They varied in size and shape but all bore distinct signs of intelligent design. There were pyramidical, cruciform, and polyhedral frame structures, as well as various irregular combinations, with toroidal structures being the most common; these were obviously not natural celestial bodies. These structures are likely the projections of different parts of four-dimensional spaceships into three-dimensional space.

However, these creations showed no signs of activity; the place resembled more of a graveyard of a four-dimensional civilization.

As the exploration of the ship progressed deeper, people confirmed one thing: these creations were indeed dead and posed no danger.

The only danger in four-dimensional space at the moment was perhaps the impact of micro-meteorites, which were relatively numerous in this space.

Scientists speculated that this might be related to the new matter observed under the light previously, which was also likely to enter four-dimensional space.

Micro-meteorites didn't pose much threat to the spaceship, but this was four-dimensional space after all, where meteorites could pass through the ship's hull and directly attack the internal mechanisms.

Of course, such danger wouldn't stop humanity's advance; in the original timeline, Chu Yan decided to retreat because they had no opportunity for failure, survival was the precondition. Should the Solar System suffer a Heisen Strike, they would be the last of humanity.

Now, the greatest secret of the universe lay before them, possible answers to all questions in cosmology could be hidden here, so how could they leave? Even if they failed this time, countless others would come.

The spaceship headed towards the closest Magic Ring, and despite distance and direction being entirely different in four-dimensional space from what we know, mathematics remained constant.

After complicated calculations, the team of scientists plotted a path to the nearest target, with the spaceship drifting left and right through four-dimensional space.

The ship traveled for several hours when suddenly the "Magic Ring," which had appeared coin-sized moments ago, now loomed before them as if ground to sky. The ship decelerated at full power, coming to a halt not far from the "Magic Ring's" center.

For the first time, humanity closely observed a four-dimensional object, experiencing a grandeur known as high-dimensional texture, similar to that of High-Dimensional Space.

Following the predetermined method, the spaceship sent out a greeting using medium-frequency radio waves. It was a simple dot matrix diagram consisting of six rows of dots in a prime number sequence: 1, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, a brief greeting. Mathematics was the unchanging constant between four and three dimensions.

They didn't expect a response, but the reply came instantly, so fast that it was hard for everyone to believe their eyes.

A simple dot matrix diagram appeared on the floating information window inside the spacecraft's cabin: 17, 19, 23, 29, 31, 37. The meaning from the other side was clear; they had answered their greeting.

Following the original, humanity sent the Rosetta System to the Magic Ring, a database created to help the Trisolaran world learn Earth's languages. It contained about two million words of Earth's natural and human historical written data, along with a wealth of dynamic imagery to aid in the translation and learning of Earth languages.

Here it served as an auto-translation system for Earth languages and included all information on Earth civilization.

Regarding whether sending all human information to a four-dimensional civilization was dangerous, there was naturally some risk, but humanity was already exposed to them; if it was dangerous, then the danger had already occurred.

Hiding was futile; it was better to communicate openly and sincerely.

For the first time, humanity communicated with a civilization other than the Trisolaris.

As in the original, through communication with the Magic Ring, humanity learned that this was indeed a graveyard of the four-dimensional universe, conversing with the remnants of intelligence left by four-dimensional spaceships after death.

The creations of numerous four-dimensional civilizations all came from distant places, eventually gathering in this final "puddle."

And there was one most crucial hint: "The fish that dried up the sea moved onto land before the sea dried, fleeing from one Dark Forest to another."