Chapter 416: Entering the Silver Heart

(The first half of this chapter has a bit of a science popularization flavor to it, so those who mind may wish to skip it!)

The Milky Way Galaxy consists of three parts: its main material forms a thin disc known as the Silver Disc, which is commonly thought to be 100,000 light-years across.

The central region is called the Nuclear Ball, which is not spherical but rather a rod-like structure similar to a football, approximately 27,000 light-years long and 10,000 light-years thick, made up of high-density stars and interstellar matter.

The outer periphery, consisting of hot gas enveloping the Milky Way Galaxy, is called the Galactic Halo, which has a lower density than the highest vacuum environment created by humanity. The Galactic Halo is vast and contains over 150 globular clusters orbiting the galaxy.

From a distance, it looks as if the Milky Way Galaxy is travelling through the universe with over 150 little satellites, each composed of a few thousand to several hundred thousand stars.

If you compared the Silver Disc to ten thousand maps of China, which equals about 200 Earth's surface area, then the size of the Sun would be like a grain of millet, while the black hole at the center of the Milky Way would be comparable to a peanut grain.

Within an area as vast as ten thousand maps of China, there are 200 to 400 billion millet-sized stars orbiting the peanut-sized black hole at the center.

And if you laid these grains of millet out flat, they would only cover an area of about 5 to 10 football fields, while the rest is mostly empty space, a level of emptiness that is hard to imagine.

On the outer edge of the Silver Disc of the Milky Way Galaxy, the gap between two stellar grains of millet is about 50,000 meters; near the Sun, this gap decreases to 15,000 meters; and on the periphery of the Nuclear Ball, the gap between two grains of millet further reduces to 2,000 meters.

Within the innermost 3 light-year region of the galaxy's center, there are more than 10 million stars. This is equivalent to the domain spanning from the Solar System to the Trisolaran Star System being filled with tens of millions of suns, illustrating the incredible density of stars there.

However, if we were to downscale, the gap between two stellar grains of millet would be 30 meters, which is actually quite spacious. The probability of two stars colliding is extremely low, almost zero.

Most of the stars in the Nuclear Ball are aged between 10 billion and 12 billion years old; thus, the majority are old red stars, but there are also a few young stars less than 1 billion years old in the central region.

*

In the 300,000th year of the Era of the Divine Vessel, the Divine Vessel Civilization quietly slid into one end of the Milky Way's rod-like Nuclear Ball.

Delving deeper into the Nuclear Ball, one is greeted by a spectacular vista filled with stars, gas, and dust. The mass of the Milky Way's Nuclear Ball accounts for 20% to 30% of the entire galaxy.

Here, interstellar gas and dust accumulate under the influence of gravity, and new stars may be born at any time. Various astronomical phenomena occur frequently, such as nova and supernova eruptions.

Normally, stars having planets is very common, but in the Nuclear Ball, the frequency of stars with planetary systems is much lower.

During the enduring billions of years, stars that originally had planetary systems, evolved into red supergiants in their old age and devoured the planets closest to them. For instance, when the Sun turns into a red giant, its volume will expand to 80 million times its current size.

Additionally, due to gravitational interactions between stars, many planets crash into stars during their irregular movements, and some are even flung out of the stellar system to become rogue planets.

As a result, it is quite difficult for civilizations to replenish their resources in this region. Of course, this does not apply to Higher Civilizations of Level 2.0 and above, as they can directly extract matter from stars.

Due to the dense concentration of stars in the Nuclear Ball, the brightness is incredibly intense. There is only eternal daylight here because the brightness of the starry sky exceeds the daylight brightness on Earth, illuminating every corner of space with a multitude of stars.

It is also difficult for civilizations to hide here, with only Higher Civilizations of Level 2.0 and above able to conceal themselves within the folds and creases of space.

This has nearly become a forbidden region for the birth of civilizations as it is filled with extreme high-energy radiation, including X-rays and gamma rays, with intensities capable of destroying any known forms of life and their potential habitats.

Furthermore, the Nuclear Ball is crowded with an array of extreme celestial bodies such as massive black holes, neutron stars, and dense star clusters, which keeps the entire region in a state of constant turmoil and change.

In such an environment, matter is heated to extremes, creating conditions of intense heat that life forms simply cannot endure. Planets and moons, if they can barely form in this chaotic setting, would quickly be stripped of their features due to strong tidal forces and radiation, rendering them barren.

Frequent cosmic rays and gravitational waves disrupt and damage any complex molecular structures that could potentially form, thus stifling the most basic conditions for the origin of life.

*

In the Nuclear Ball region, the residents are usually Higher Civilizations, and while the environment is harsh, it's also the richest area resources-wise, especially in terms of constant stars.

However, the civilizations that arrive here are typically beyond caring for such resources. A true Higher Civilization has transcended the dependence on vast amounts of energy, and the resources and energy they consume might even be less.

These civilizations are unlikely to wage wars over resource disputes, territorial expansion, cultural differences, economic interests, or conflicts of consciousness. That leaves only existential threats as a potential cause for conflict.

Yet, Higher Civilizations usually can't pose an absolute existential threat to other civilizations, which suggests that Dark Forest Theory no longer applies here. However, the darkness lurking here might just be the deepest and most unpredictable abyss.

When the Divine Vessel Civilization's technology level reached 2.7, their understanding of High-Dimensional Space also entered a new realm, leading to fresh speculations about the "seeds."

To verify this idea, the Divine Vessel Civilization resolutely entered the Milky Way Galaxy's Nuclear Ball, heading directly for the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy, Sagittarius A, about four million times the mass of The Sun.

In terms of black hole research, humanity could only stop at theoretical levels. What is inside the singularity of a black hole? No one can know, not even a Type 3 Civilization.

Now, the Divine Vessel Civilization, as well as all other civilizations that have reached the 2.7 technology level, might have developed a special consciousness within the recesses of their minds.

The ultimate answer to the universe may be hidden inside black holes. Possessing this answer would mean holding the key to the entire universe, including all civilizations.

Therefore, in the Nuclear Ball region of the Milky Way Galaxy, numerous Dominator Level Civilizations have converged. On one hand, they yearn to obtain the ultimate answer to the universe; on the other, this desire also becomes a latent threat against all other civilizations.

No one wishes to be controlled by another civilization; they would also prevent other civilizations from coming to the center of the Milky Way Galaxy.

PS: The last paragraph here might be confusing. Let me provide a hint.

In the original work, what jumped into the black hole was high-way, which can also be called high-dimensional, seeing as Liu Cixin often does this. It could also be a bit of an over-interpretation by the author.

Black holes are the gateways to High-Dimensional Space, and as this book posits, consciousness also exists in High-Dimensional Space, complete with high-dimensional consciousness entities.

Is the universe conscious as well?

All galaxies are interconnected through their central black holes in High-Dimensional Space. Could this form a neural network for the universe? This structure of the universe indeed bears resemblance to the human brain's neural structure.

If one truly can enter High-Dimensional Space, is it possible to resonate with the consciousness of the universe? Is it possible to understand the ultimate answer of the universe?

Of course, this goes beyond Trisolaris by a lot, and it's just a personal thought – no need to take offense!

*

Let's talk about the planets in the Nuclear Ball. Based on the previously mentioned proportion, where a constant star is likened to a grain of millet, planets are usually within 2 meters of their star, while the average distance between stars in the Nuclear Ball is around 400 meters. (The previous figure of 30 meters was for the most densely packed areas near the Galactic center.)

Therefore, it is quite difficult for planets to be captured by other constant stars. In the actual Trisolaran Star System, two of the stars are 11 astronomical units apart, nearly touching each other, while the third one is 13,000 astronomical units away.

In terms of the aforementioned proportion, that means two grains of millet (the stars) are 0.4 meters apart, while they are 520 meters away from the third grain of millet. The Trisolaris Homeland would be like a speck of dust.

It's almost impossible for this speck of dust, the Homeland, to orbit one constant star for a while and then another. Of course, Trisolaris should be a story from another universe, its conditions not resembling our own.

Additionally, just for discussion, some readers have asked why many science fiction works feature black hole radiation engines that also have a scientific basis, yet this book does not include them.

The principle, of course, isn't wrong, but within the context of this book, black hole radiation engines are considered a lower-level technology. Humanity mastered the use of Vacuum Zero-Point Energy quite early, and even later, there was Sub-vacuum Decay Technology and Mass Decay Technology.

Compared to those, Black Hole Radiation Technology isn't much to speak of, as it fundamentally utilizes Zero-point energy. I personally feel the status of Black Hole Radiation Technology is a bit awkward. It's seen as powerful when it can't be harnessed; yet when it can be, there's already something better.