Chapter 317: Space-Time Binding Well

When the human warships stopped advancing toward their assigned target and instead began exploring other directions in the mist zone.

Suddenly, from some mist zones near the thousand human warships, numerous mysterious spheres were shot out almost simultaneously, their speed astonishing, close to 30% of light speed. Judging by the appearance of these spheres, they seemed to have been accelerated by electromagnetic railguns.

The spheres were not large, merely the size of basketballs. The human warriors watched these spheres rapidly approach, filled with confusion: What could such tiny orbs possibly do?

The number of these spheres reached as many as two thousand. Clearly, it was a targeted attack, as exactly two spheres were precisely aimed at each human warship.

Although the true intentions and functionalities of these spheres were still unknown to humanity, everyone's intuition was screaming that this was definitely not a good sign, and a great danger lurked behind it.

The thousand human warships did not hesitate for an instant and immediately started their engines at full power, urgently accelerating away from this area filled with unknown dangers.

Many warships were less than one astronomical unit away from the mist zone, and with the astonishing speed of the spheres, it would only take 25 minutes to reach the warships.

However, the human warships did not have 25 minutes to escape, because by the time they observed the spheres, they had already traveled nearly a third of the distance.

Even if the human warships started accelerating to escape at full power the moment they observed the spheres, the distance they could flee by the time the spheres arrived was extremely limited, not even reaching 0.003 astronomical units, about 4.5 million kilometers.

In traditional human tactical thinking, the destructive power of explosive weapons was always limited to a certain range. Unless special weapons like glue bullets were used, it was hard to imagine that any explosive weapon could cause such an extensive range of damage.

Moreover, human warships were equipped with extremely advanced Curvature Propulsion Defense Systems. These defensive technologies involved the level of spatial dimensions, making any form of physical attack ineffective. Within the scope of known human technology, there was no force that could destroy or overcome such defenses.

Yet, facing these suddenly appearing spheres, many crew members harbored an unbelievable thought: Could the Trisolarans actually break through the Curvature Propulsion Defense frontally? This defense involved spatial dimensions, how could the Trisolarans possibly break it?

With the resolute quality that humanity now possessed, they naturally would not be intimidated by these mysterious spheres. Faced with the unknown, humans might feel uneasy, but they would never be dominated by that uneasiness. Every challenge against the unknown was a test and refinement of their courage.

Murphy's Law tells us, the more one worries about something, the more likely it is to happen.

Just as people were on edge, at a distance of 5 to 10 million kilometers from the human warships, the spheres exploded without any warning.

However, calling it an explosion did not seem quite appropriate. It did not come with a deafening roar or dazzling flames; rather, it was more like a pebble gently thrown onto a calm lake surface, causing ripples that eerily spread out quietly and profoundly in all directions.

This ripple carried with it an indescribable phenomenon, seemingly possessing the strange ability to devour light, quickly enveloping the space around the spheres in darkness. This darkness was not ordinary night, but a fathomless void, as if an expanding Dark Domain, with the sphere as its center, eroding the surrounding space at an insane speed akin to that of light.

At this moment, warships that hadn't moved far from the center of the explosion suddenly experienced an odd fluctuation of gravity. The ships dropped sharply, as if pulled by some unknown force, and then quickly returned to normal.

The abnormal sensation at that moment made everyone on board vigilant; they knew this phenomenon was anything but ordinary.

Meanwhile, the defense systems on these thousand warships went into overdrive, with piercing alarm sounds echoing through the bridge.

[Alert! Alert! Curvature Propulsion Defense has failed! ...]

In the virtual combat hall on each warship, the captains looked grave, "Start the warships at full power and leave this area immediately. Once the Curvature Propulsion Defense fails, Trisolaran attacks will surely follow immediately."

The executive officers asked anxiously, "What's going on? The Trisolarans can actually destroy our Curvature Propulsion Defense, this is incredible. Science Advisory Board, can you analyze what technology they're using?"

Chief of the Science Advisory Board, "Based on the data currently fed back through various instruments, the Trisolarans' mysterious spheres seem to possess the ability to alter the space-time binding state of this area, that is, they can modify the structural constants of space."

"In this space, the speed of light in a vacuum, the vacuum permittivity, and the vacuum permeability all change, and the closer to the ball, the more pronounced the change.

"The principle of the Curvature Propulsion Defense is to connect two pieces of space through a warp point, so any attacks entering the first space are directly transferred to the second space via the warp point, thereby protecting anything behind the first space.

"The strange energy released by the Trisolaran's sphere directly altered the space structure constants of the first space, resulting in essential differences between the two spaces. Under such conditions, it is no longer possible for the warp points to connect the two spaces.

"Indeed, this method can crack our defenses, as this kind of attack is directed at the space itself, and it is something we cannot defend against."

Military Advisory Group: "Based on our current analysis, the mysterious sphere used by the Trisolarans, upon detonation, directly altered the structure constants of space, and this change is spreading through space at an astonishing speed.

"The region formed by this change has a vastly different space structure constant at its center, and the change decreases gradually towards the outside, forming a well-like structure.

"We temporarily refer to this phenomenon as the 'Space-Time Binding Well.'

"The characteristics of this 'Space-Time Binding Well' are very unique. As the distance from the explosion center increases, the space structure constants of the outer regions gradually revert back to a state similar to that of the original space.

"The entire 'well's' range of influence covers approximately 0.01 astronomical units. We know very little about this phenomenon for the time being, aside from the fact that it can render our curvature points ineffective; its other effects remain unknown.

"Clearly, before launching this attack, the Trisolarans had conducted an in-depth analysis of our strategy and had prepared corresponding countermeasures well in advance.

"Their intent is very clear, which is to disable our fleet's defense capability and to inflict heavy casualties on our first wave of human assault warships."

Human Warship Captain: "The Trisolarans are indeed not to be underestimated; their technological strength has achieved such a tremendous leap in a short period of time, breaking through our defense system so quickly is simply unbelievable.

"Even more surprising is that they seem to have completely anticipated our tactics. This indicates that the Trisolarans have made astonishing progress not only in technology but also in wisdom and strategy, showing an unprecedented level of sophistication.

"We're not worried about the Trisolarans' technological progress, but this maturity in cunning and strategy is what's truly frightening.

"Indeed, the threat posed by the Trisolarans is higher than we previously estimated!"

At the current stage of human society, Mind Empathy Technology is widely used, which greatly enhances communication efficiency by directly transmitting thoughts and emotions.

The conversation that just took place in the virtual world of the warship was quite lengthy, and the complex thoughts and emotions could be exchanged instantaneously, with the entire communication process taking about 2 seconds.

Of course, humanity isn't capable of direct thought communication like the Trisolarans, and we only use this method of communication in combat, not in everyday life.

However, it does indicate one thing, the methods of communication are gradually becoming Trisolarized in human society.

Still, this mode of combat used by the Trisolarans is too dangerous, both for Trisolaris and humanity.

The product of the Trisolaran sphere's explosion is the Space-Time Binding Well, which to a certain extent, is also a low light-speed zone. The principle of the sphere's explosion is consistent with the principle of using a space-time bound state for high-dimensional space conversion utilized in Curvature Propulsion.

However, the low light-speed zones formed by Curvature Propulsion are relatively stable, and their rate of spread is also relatively slow. In the original works, the first human experiment with Curvature Propulsion involved moving a strand of hair; the curvature changes in the space created lasted for a long time and spread very slowly, even damaging many instruments.

In contrast, although the low light-speed zones created by the sphere's explosion exist, their range of influence is relatively small.

The area that has a significant effect on space is limited to just a few thousand kilometers around the explosion center."