Chapter 384: Promoted to Heisen "Hunter

Era of the Divine Vessel, year 1765. (A tribute to the first industrial revolution)

It has been two hundred years since the Divine Vessel Civilization arrived at Jishui Zengyi, and over the long years, the Divine Vessel Civilization too has seen earth-shattering changes.

In these two hundred years, Human Civilization has made breakthrough progress in the field of Dark Energy research. They have successfully mastered the Dark Energy produced by vacuum decay and used this technology to achieve Vacuum Expansion, thus creating the second class of lightspeed spacecraft.

The application of Vacuum Expansion Technology is not limited to spacecraft engine technology. It also exhibits astonishing power in the field of weapons. By applying specific Vacuum Expansion techniques to specific spatial regions, matter can be disintegrated at the spatial level.

Whether it's Strong Interaction Material or Neutron Star Material, both appear frail before this force, shattered into nothingness by the power of space expansion.

This is the application of sub-vacuum decay. The Higgs mechanism has also changed, and even fundamental particles can be reconstructed. Any matter, in the face of this mighty power, can not survive.

Gluon oscillation beams, high-energy Sophon beams, zero-point energy attacks... once incredibly powerful weapons now lose their potency before Vacuum Expansion.

This actually also involves a change in the underlying laws of the universe. The fine-structure constant has undergone an adjustment of billions of a percent, but such a tiny adjustment has no effect on the real world.

Because of this technology, Human Civilization has been promoted to a level 1.7 civilization.

This has also led Humanity to new reflections. Although Humanity is now far from changing the underlying laws of the universe.

But Human Civilization is only at level 1.7 now. What if it becomes a civilization above 2.0? What if such adjustments continue?

Could this universe continue to endure?

Besides Vacuum Expansion Technology, other human technologies have emerged like bamboo shoots after rain. Modern Humanity now possesses the capability to destroy a constant star, such as Light Particle Strike Technology, and more.

Now, Human Civilization can barely be considered to have advanced to the rank of "Hunter" in the Dark Forest.

*

During these two hundred years, Mo Civilization has finally succeeded in ascending to level 1.7 civilization, and they have chosen the path of Pure Energy Transformation.

This path, fraught with unimaginable hardships, has been approached by the Mo Civilization only after countless efforts and sacrifices, given their thinking speed.

For Humanity, with far lesser thinking capacity compared to Mo Civilization, this path will undoubtedly be a long test spanning tens of thousands of years and is almost impossible to complete.

Mo Civilization could have chosen an easier path, combining Pure Energy Transformation with material utilization techniques, and perhaps could have easily broken through the threshold of level 1.7 in a short time.

However, they chose the tougher, more rugged path. In fact, they understood that the prospects of this path held the greatest potential for the future. When the Divine Vessel Civilization steps into that legendary level 2.0, the true value of this path may finally be realized.

The pursuit of Mo Civilization is devotion; in their eyes, the Divine Vessel Civilization is worthy of their devotion. They realize if they ascend too quickly, the gap between them and other Divine Vessel civilizations would become an insurmountable chasm, and such imbalance would be a great threat to the stability of the Divine Vessel Civilization.

How fortunate the Divine Vessel Civilization is to have the Mo Civilization join them.

*

Mountain Civilization, although it has not broken through to level 1.7, has reached the higher order of 1.6, and its achievements are equally remarkable.

In the struggle of the Mountain Civilization, the research on Virtual Energy has reached an impressive depth.

However, despite such profound accumulation and insights, the potential of Virtual Energy seems unlikely to be the key for Mountain Civilization to break through to level 1.7.

Many confuse the concepts of Virtual Energy and Dark Energy, especially since both are related to vacuum energy.

Virtual Energy is a form of energy that exists in theoretical physics, often associated with certain special states in quantum mechanics and field theory. Dark Energy is an elusive form of energy that permeates space, accelerating the expansion of the universe.

Take Vacuum Zero-Point Energy as an example. In the microscopic world, there is the phenomenon of quantum fluctuations, that is, the random generation of a pair of positive and virtual energies in a vacuum, which then annihilate each other. A Sophon absorbing vacuum zero-point energy is absorbing the positive energy, leaving behind virtual energy, which can generate microscopic space storms.

It can be understood that the vacuum is at an energy level, and Virtual Energy is just a state of energy where the vacuum energy fluctuates slightly.

We refer to vacuum zero-point energy, not as the zeroth energy level of vacuum energy, but actually, it possesses lower-energy states.

When vacuum energy transitions from one energy level to a lower one, the released energy is dark energy, which is countless times more than virtual energy.

It can be figuratively understood as a multi-tiered staircase, where virtual energy is a type of energy formed by quantum fluctuations on the same stair level.

Whereas dark energy is the energy that jumps from one stair level to the level below, significantly greater than the minor fluctuations of virtual energy.

Virtual energy, a product of quantum fluctuations, is subtle and complex, yet it contains endless possibilities. Dark energy, however, is a product of vacuum decay, powerful enough to rewrite the fate of civilizations.

Despite the vast scale of dark energy compared to virtual energy, in terms of application breadth, virtual energy shows many more possibilities.

At present, humanity's use of dark energy is limited only to the field of vacuum expansion technology, whereas the Mountain Civilization, through its profound understanding and clever use of virtual energy, has become a 1.6-level higher-order civilization.

*

The Trisolaran Civilization and Dinosaur Civilization have also successfully entered the 1.6-level stage, although their current technological development speed seems slightly inferior compared to humanity and the Mountain Civilization. Nonetheless, this achievement is an unprecedented glory for them, once an unimaginable miracle even in dreams.

The exchange between the Trisolaran and Dinosaur civilizations is becoming increasingly frequent, with the Trisolarans, under the strategic direction of their super-brain, resembling a precision machine, meticulously dissecting and studying every technological challenge.

The Dinosaur Civilization, with its unparalleled imagination, has added wings to the Trisolaran's research. Their unconventional thinking, like flames in a gale, ignites sparks of inspiration on the Trisolarans' scientific journey.

Between the Trisolarans and the Dinosaur Civilization, a remarkable synergy has formed, with each providing the results of their research and observations, collectively driving the progress of their civilizations. This mode of cooperation inevitably reminds one of the symbiotic history between the Dinosaur Civilization and the Ant Civilization.

Today, in the face of the rapid development of Human Civilization and the Mountain Civilization, neither the Trisolaran Civilization nor the Dinosaur Civilization wants to be left far behind. They understand that only by vigorously catching up can they maintain their status and dignity in the arena of universal civilizations.

...

At this moment, the Divine Vessel Civilization sets sail once again, embarking on a magnificent journey to explore the unknown.

The starfields ahead are no longer familiar; most of these stars have not yet been named, nor included in any known cataloging systems.

Now, the Divine Vessel Civilization has traveled far from the Solar System, heading into the deeper reaches of the sea of stars.

Therefore, the Divine Vessel Civilization must establish a comprehensive galactic celestial database, cataloging all stars, nebulae, star clusters, streams of interstellar dust... in the Milky Way Galaxy, meticulously numbering them, and thoroughly recording their stellar data, physical characteristics, locations, and motion information.

This work actually began long ago, and the galactic celestial database is just the first step. The second step is to combine the latest research from galactic meteorology and monitor the celestial conditions of the entire Milky Way Galaxy in real time.

On this basis, a grand galactic ecological model will gradually take shape, incorporating the complex relationships between celestial bodies within the Galaxy.

This model will not only accurately simulate the interactions of gravity between stars, the flow and exchange of interstellar material but will also predict future astronomical events such as star collisions, supernova explosions, and even the birth of stars...

These predictions are not limited to single events, but also include how these events are interconnected, collectively shaping the dynamic evolution of the overall structure of the Milky Way Galaxy.

The model will also consider the impact of interstellar dust streams on interstellar navigation and the potential for extraterrestrial civilizations, seeking to find traces of extraterrestrial life within astronomical phenomena.

It will become the scientific basis and a cornerstone of strategic planning for the Divine Vessel Civilization's deep space exploration, leading the Divine Vessel toward the unknown depths of the universe, in search of the endless mysteries hidden within the sea of stars.

PS:

Naming stars can vary widely, often depending on the creator and purpose of the numbering system, and some custom numbering might be based on the name of the observation project, the telescope, or the discoverer, and is not standardized.

Among them, we are more familiar with Messier numbers (M numbers), mainly used to mark nebulous objects that can easily be confused with comets. For example, M42 (Orion Nebula), M31 (Andromeda Galaxy), and others.

There is also the New General Catalogue (NGC numbers), a catalog that contains a large number of celestial bodies, particularly galaxies and star clusters. For instance, NGC 104 (47 Tucanae, a star cluster in the constellation of Tucana), NGC 2419 (a globular cluster far from the Milky Way Galaxy), and so on.

Furthermore, specific star clusters or regions also have their unique numbering systems, such as R136a1, where R136 is a super star cluster in the Spider Nebula of the Large Magellanic Cloud, and a1 represents a specific further subdivision of stars within the R136 region.

In addition, there are numbers based on right ascension and declination coordinates, but this naming method is rather lengthy and inconvenient for everyday use.