Chapter 383: The Ferocity of the Universe

```

Vacuum Expansion Technology has broad application prospects in both warship propulsion and weapon attack capabilities.

Currently, humanity is researching how to stably convert the energy from sub-vacuum decay into the power to drive vacuum expansion. This is theoretically feasible, and once successful, humanity could leap to become a 1.7-level civilization by leveraging this technology.

Compared with Curvature Technology, Vacuum Expansion Technology is more like a sly hermit, acting discreetly and secretly.

Curvature Technology twists the curvature of spacetime but is like stirring up muddy water in a vacuum; the variation in its "thickness" undoubtedly exposes its own tracks.

Vacuum Expansion Technology, on the other hand, does not. It is another kind of light-speed spaceship technology that, while also leaving behind faint traces that are hard to detect, is like the weakest starlight in the night sky, difficult to capture.

First, Vacuum Expansion Technology releases a torrent of Dark Energy, which is inherently associated with vacuum expansion.

However, Dark Energy is not easy to detect; most of the mass-energy in the universe is Dark Energy, seeming to cloak Vacuum Expansion Technology with a natural invisibility cloak.

Second, the core of Vacuum Expansion Technology lies in utilizing the sub-vacuum decay effect. When space expands under the catalyst of technology, it is, in fact, the transformation of vacuum energy.

If Vacuum Expansion Technology were employed within a certain space, then the vacuum of this space would be in a vacuum sub-level state.

In a space that is in a vacuum sub-level state, all means of attack utilizing vacuum zero-point energy seem to be bound by invisible chains, their power greatly reduced.

Thereby, another corner of the universe's mysteries has been unveiled, and some cosmic scholars speculate that the universe's initial vacuum energy level was at a very high energy level. Due to vacuum decay, we now have this accelerating expanding universe.

This runaway expansion of the universe, like an uncontrolled juggernaut, also signifies that the universe is accelerating towards the endpoint of heat death.

This also explains why the current universe is in an accelerating expansion state, not a uniform expansion state.

Behind this accelerating expansion could also lie the high-level civilizations' frantic plundering of vacuum energy.

They act like greedy giants, continuously devouring the universe's vacuum energy and transforming it into a torrent of Dark Energy, thus propelling the entire universe's accelerated expansion.

Of course, this speculation requires confirmation of one fact: in this grand drama of the universe's expansion, does "artificial" force play a dominant role, or is it natural factors silently orchestrating everything?

"Artificial" factors include various civilizations across the universe that, due to development and wartime needs, constantly utilize and plunder vacuum energy, which is a form of destruction to the cosmic vacuum. As it is not easily detected, it may have become a regular weapon in the cosmic arsenal.

The distribution and development areas of civilizations should also show some differences, which means that the expansion rates of different parts of the universe should also be inconsistent.

However, why do we now see the universe's expansion as uniformly distributed? In fact, it's not uniform, just that the differences are minor.

One possible reason is that what we see of the distant universe is actually its early state, thus exhibiting isotropy. They have gone through more than ten billion years; their current state remains unknown to us.

On the other hand, the vastness of the universe is beyond imagination. On this boundless stage, the scale of civilizations' development and warfare, compared to the grandeur of the universe, may seem trivial, unable to leave significant differences against such a vast backdrop.

If natural factors are more prevalent, meaning the entire cosmic space is spontaneously undergoing sub-vacuum decay, then the expansion rate of the universe naturally should tend toward uniformity.

In any case, according to this model of the universe, it can be said that the universe is already riddled with holes:

In terms of space dimension attributes of the universe:

The early universe with 12 dimensions became continuously reducted to the now familiar three dimensions of this narrow stage, and even now, these three dimensions are being further reduced.

During the process of reduction, a large amount of high-dimensional matter curled up within the microscopic higher dimensions post-reduction, becoming dark matter, greatly compressing the living space of civilizations.

In terms of the universe's space curvature attribute:

The early universe almost possessed infinite speed; the spatial curvature was like an unbound bowstring, freely extending.

```

As the spatial curvature changed, the speed of the vacuum kept decreasing until now, the once infinite speed had been confined to the narrow range of three hundred thousand kilometers per second.

And this speed was still being reduced, with a vast number of Dark Domains being created, which were merely trivial tricks in cosmic battles.

In terms of space energy attribute, the universe:

In its early stages, it had extremely high vacuum energy levels, like an endless energy treasury. As the vacuum decay continued, the energy levels of the vacuum were constantly reduced, transforming into Dark Energy that drives the universe's accelerated expansion.

This force, like an invisible hand, pushed the universe step by step toward the end of heat death.

In terms of space accommodation attribute, the universe:

With deeper exploration and application of curvature propulsion points, humanity began cutting and reshaping space.

Now, humanity had mastered a certain degree of space folding technology, making a warship that seems to have only a thousand cubic meters on the outside harbor several thousand cubic meters of folded space inside.

According to human scientists' predictions, the future development of this technology could even completely isolate a space from the universe, forming a separate mini-universe.

But for the larger universe, every use of space folding left an unhealable scar in the original cosmic space.

This is perhaps the sorrow of this universe; in its early days, it contained almost all that was beautiful, infinite speed, 11-dimensional space, even two dimensions of time, and the vacuum had extremely high energy levels – everything was at its best.

However, the more beautiful things are, the more easily they can be destroyed;

The more beautiful things are when destroyed, the more ferocious they become;

When these beautiful things are ruthlessly torn apart and destroyed, the ferocity and cruelty they exhibit are even more heart-wrenching.

This ferocity, like dark currents in the depths of the universe, surged silently, and it became the most important factor in transforming the universe into the Dark Forest.

…

Now, the Divine Vessel Civilization has reached Jishui Zengyi, and will fully verify Vacuum Expansion Technology.

If this achievement is successful, human civilization might leap to become a 1.7-level civilization.

If it was considered a miracle that human civilization broke through from 1.5 to 1.6 in just 500 years instead of the 2000 years predicted by theory,

then humanity breaking through from 1.6 to 1.7 in roughly the same amount of time would not be a miracle, but a Miracle, considering theory predicted this breakthrough would take at least 4000 years, or even more if the path taken was wrong.

Sociologists widely believe that the fusion of civilizations is perhaps the key factor driving the rapid development of human technology.

Although the Mo Civilization would not give humanity their technical materials, the contact with them also effected a subtle change in human minds. This change, akin to the liberation of thought and broadening of horizons, allowed humanity to find the possibility of rapid development again on the path of scientific exploration.

Similarly, the Mo Civilization, coming to this land of resources they infinitely yearned for, would have all their assumptions verified and developed here.

With millions of years of technological accumulation, it is expected they too would become a 1.7-level civilization in the near future.

The Mountain Civilization, although entering 1.6 slightly later than humanity, is now at the mid-level of a 1.6-level civilization. According to the Mountain Civilization's estimates, at Jishui Zengyi, they should at least reach the high level of a 1.6-level civilization.

Perhaps there is a subtle effect between civilizations too. The technological development of Trisolaris and Dinosaur Civilization was extremely slow; Dinosaur Civilization didn't even evolve into a 1.4-level civilization over tens of millions of years.

However, as part of the Divine Vessel, influenced by human civilization, Mountain Civilization, and Mo Civilization, they became high-level 1.5 civilizations in just a thousand years or so. According to their predictions, at Jishui Zengyi, they are confident and determined to evolve into a 1.6-level civilization.