Geothermal Civilization Absolute Zero Weapon
The peregrine falcon soared through the starry sky like a ghost. After its first acceleration to 482 km/s, it discarded the rear thruster like a rocket and switched to using compressed gas jets for steering. The target's coordinates were located 417 astronomical units away from the Hope, a distance of 62.4 billion kilometers. At the falcon's flight speed, it would take four years to reach. This is interstellar space. Every war, even a single reconnaissance mission, becomes prolonged due to the vast distances.
Within the solar system, the farthest distance from Earth to Pluto in the Kuiper Belt is only 60 astronomical units. Four years later, the falcon's camera captured a celestial body in the dark starry sky through the cosmic background. The signal took 2.4 days to transmit back to the Hope. Staring at the massive celestial body on the screen, Yan Xia was astonished.
Although the returned images couldn't reveal the exact size of this celestial body, judging from its shape and roundness, it was undoubtedly huge. Ella was calculating beside him. "It's calculated," she said. "The radius of this celestial body is 8,426 kilometers, with a surface area of approximately 892.18 million square kilometers, and a volume of about 2.5058 × 10¹² cubic kilometers."
This planet was enormous. Its surface area was 380 million square kilometers larger than that of Earth.
Clearly, this is a rogue planet that doesn't belong to any star system. It may have originally been a planet in the core region of a star system, but something must have happened to its parent star, causing the planet's orbit to deviate.
"The temperature in this void is -261.8 degrees Celsius. How could civilizations have arisen in such a space?"
On Earth, too many scientists focus on the habitable zones of star systems for the emergence of life. Not to mention Yan Xia, even top astrophysicists would be incredibly surprised to witness this scene.
It's important to note that this temperature is already below that of the hibernation cryo-chambers, affecting the atomic layer, and slowing down the motion of electrons. This isn't just a carbon-based or silicon-based issue; no life could be born at such temperatures.
Ella also conducted an urgent probe.
"The temperature in the outer space around the planet is higher than expected, at -198.33 degrees Celsius."
"It is speculated that this planet has a hot core."
Half a month later.
The Hope received another message.
"It's confirmed. The planet's surface has many active volcanoes and is rich in geothermal resources."
Ella pulled up a very blurry image.
"Yan Xia, look here, here, and here—these are all relatively large volcanic craters."
"There are traces of buildings near here, indicating that this civilization relies on geothermal energy." A geothermal civilization.
There are also many volcanoes on Earth, but the volcanic resources on Earth are far from sufficient to form a geothermal civilization. The celestial body in the photo is much larger than Earth, and its core is more active, resulting in numerous surface volcanoes, thus not fearing the cold.
Yan Xia noticed that the outer space of the planet in the transmitted images contained some additional objects compared to the images sent half a month earlier.
"Magnify these spots."
He pointed to those small dots and asked Ella to zoom in. After zooming in, the outlines of those objects became clear.
They are spaceships! Densely packed, at least a thousand ships.
"They must be preparing for a space sweep, intending to find us."
This is the only possibility. Otherwise, there would be no need to assemble so many spaceships, especially at this point in time.
Seven days later, Ella received the last message transmitted in the final minute before the peregrine falcon was shot down.
The first peregrine falcon successfully completed its mission. A lot of information can be analyzed from this data.
"The falcon was shot down by lasers, originating from these specific regions, which are all major volcanic craters on the planet."
"This also proves that this civilization is highly dependent on volcanic geothermal energy. Most of the planet's surface temperature is below -100 degrees Celsius, and its population size is definitely very small, possibly in the range of 100 million to 500 million."
"Due to its small population, it cannot benefit from the technological revolution triggered by the demographic dividend, which should be the main reason for its slow development."
"Geothermal energy also greatly limits its total energy and the branches of its technological tree. Analyzing the speed of its spacecraft, this civilization probably does not yet have controlled nuclear fusion technology. Their magnetic technology is underdeveloped, and they still generally use geothermal and nuclear energy for power supply."
"The civilization's level should be 1 or 1.1."
A geothermal civilization that has just entered level 1.
The planet's surface is very dark, so its civilization pursues light and thus invented lasers.
Yan Xia thought for a moment.
"To attack a civilization, the essential thing to do is to suppress its development speed."
"What I can think of is, first, to limit its energy, and second, to block its technological development."
"Ella, do you have any good suggestions?"
Ella can generate a lot of information for military use.
"Ella suggests that we first block the development of their energy."
"Blocking technological development is a very complex process that requires understanding the civilization's technological direction and development level, whether they progress from large to small or from small to large.
"The physical and chemical principles of the universe, both macro and micro, follow a set of theories, known as the Unified Theory."
"But we cannot assume that the other side is pursuing the Unified Theory. Their civilization may not have unified gravity, magnetism, weak force, and strong force theoretically, but rather focuses separately on one of the four fundamental forces.
"In short, without observing the enemy's technological direction, it's impossible to use scientific means for theoretical destruction."
"The simplest and most effective method is violence."
Regarding civilization levels, Yan Xia did not achieve absolute dominance over this geothermal civilization. The concepts from science fiction are useless here.
Ella generated a result.
"This civilization is a geothermal civilization. We can limit its energy development by cooling its planet's core, causing their civilization to stagnate."
Yan Xia slid through the screen, examining the plan. This plan is more powerful than any known human warfare. It is an apocalyptic war directed at a planet and a civilization.
The weapon recorded above is—the Absolute Zero Weapon.
The planet's core generates powerful energy due to fission, and absolute zero can freeze protons, neutrons, and electrons in atoms, stopping their motion. Of course, achieving absolute zero is currently impossible in the universe, as it requires energy exceeding that of the universe itself.
But it is possible to create a weapon that comes infinitely close to absolute zero. While it cannot completely freeze protons, neutrons, and electrons, it can slow down their movement by countless times. As long as fission is maintained at an extremely slow state, the planet's core can cool down.
"Let's go with this plan."
"How long will it take to produce?"
Ella positioned the Hope on a rogue asteroid, which is over 80 kilometers long and nearly 45 kilometers wide. Hundreds of robots were repairing the ship's damage.
"Estimated time is 25 years."
25 years isn't long in a war, especially an interstellar war.
"Too little!"
Since the decision to wage war has been made, comprehensive considerations are necessary. "One absolute zero weapon can only cool the planet's core for 40 years, which is far from enough. We need 10."
We need to leave ample room for our own development.
After issuing the order, Yan Xia entered the hibernation chamber again. He couldn't afford to waste too much time, as he was now 41 years old. When he wakes again, the war will have begun.