Artificial shredded meat, one three-hundredth the speed of light

After a 32-year hibernation for Yan Xia, the first absolute zero weapon was manufactured. This was much faster than before, primarily because the Hope itself already carried a small-scale industrial system. It only took ten years to expand on the asteroid. The subsequent 22 years were dedicated to the development of the weapon.

Ella's underlying theory was robust enough, built upon a complete system. The absolute zero weapon was not an extremely difficult technology to realize; the most critical aspect was actually the quantity. As a "planetary-level weapon," its size was also terrifying.

The first absolute zero weapon reached a length of 11,610 meters and a diameter of 945 meters, with a staggering weight of 40.7 billion tons. It contained 35.4 billion tons of iron and 5.3 billion tons of aluminum. This equaled one-third of the Earth's crust's iron reserves (pure iron, not iron ore) and 1.13 times the aluminum reserves, and only a single weapon was created. One can imagine its terrifying power. All these resources were obtained by exploring the surrounding asteroids.

Resources scarce on Earth were readily available in the cosmos. For instance, a metal resource like iron might be found in an iron asteroid with reserves several times, even tens of times, greater than the Earth's entire iron resources. However, this was just the beginning. The manufacturing time for ten weapons was extended straight to 162 years.

"Yan Xia, wake up."

Yan Xia opened his eyes.

It was now the year 3021 AD.

Ella's appearance remained unchanged. She tilted her head and smiled cheerfully at Yan Xia, giving him the feeling of being reborn into an anime world. He emerged from the hibernation pod and looked around. Nothing had changed from before, which brought him some relief because the technology brought by Ella always made him feel as if he couldn't keep up.

"Waking me up means the item has been completed, right?" he asked.

Ella nodded. At the same time, a robot pushed a food cart into the room. It lifted the cloth covering the cart, revealing a bowl of rice and stir-fried pork with green peppers.

"This is…" Yan Xia began.

Ella explained, "Previously, due to a conflict with an alien civilization, our farm was destroyed. After rebuilding, I constructed a more advanced farm and, over nearly 200 years, perfected the food manufacturing process."

"I used master-level skills to recreate this dish based on the information I gathered."

"Come, Yan Xia, give it a try. We can talk about the weapon later."

Yan Xia picked up the chopsticks and bowl, then placed a piece of the stir-fried pork with green peppers in his mouth. As he chewed and took a bite of rice, a tear rolled down his cheek. It was the familiar taste.

"How did this meat come about?" Yan Xia asked.

Ella replied, "It's artificial meat, made using plant protein."

"You can't tell the difference, right? I've upgraded the technique based on the data of artificial meat, simulating the texture of meat at a molecular level." 

"As a human, you can't distinguish it, so it seems my research has succeeded."

Yan Xia ate heartily. It was the best meal he had had in nearly a thousand years.

"Can I have more?" he asked. One bowl was definitely not enough.

After having two more large bowls of rice, Yan Xia was full and satisfied. He went to the bathroom to wash his face with a towel, and when he saw himself in the mirror, he paused.

Only then did he realize how much time had passed. He felt increasingly powerless, his physical functions declining with time. As a human who could live at most 130 years, and realistically only 80 to 90 years, he had already reached middle age.

"Ella, is there a way for me to break through the current lifespan limit?" he asked.

Ella nodded. "Of course, Yan Xia, you have two options available."

"First, consciousness upload."

"After years of development, Ella has mastered the technology of consciousness uploading. This way, Yan Xia, you can be just like Ella."

"The advantage is that you'll no longer have to worry about your lifespan. The downside is that we currently lack test subjects, so there's no guarantee that the uploaded consciousness will still be you, rather than a copy of your consciousness."

"It's like an original file and a copy file 01; although the code and content are the same, they are still two separate files."

"Second, genetic modification."

"Human genes limit the possibility of a longer lifespan. Only by modifying your genes at the genetic level to turn you into a non-human can your lifespan be extended."

"However, Ella currently does not possess this technology. The field of biology still lacks sufficient physical research for Ella, existing only in theory."

"Biology is different from physics and chemistry; it has too many influencing factors, so what exists in theory may have a huge deviation in reality."

"Ella suggests that after occupying the geothermal civilization, we colonize it and use it as biological research material."

This only reinforced Yan Xia's determination to go all out against the opposing civilization.

…

Leaving the bedroom, Ella's holographic projection was ahead, and Yan Xia followed her all the way to the cockpit. The massive screen displayed the scene of the starry sky outside.

The gray-white projectile had large letters painted on it, reading "Frost 1." Huge cylindrical shells stood upright, these shells were designed to resemble missiles on Earth, with decorative tail fins even at the rear.

The size of the number '1' alone was enough to cover hundreds of football fields. In front of this gigantic missile, even the Hope itself seemed small.

It's important to know that the Earth's highest peak, Mount Everest, is only 8,848 meters high. Yan Xia, shocked, averted his gaze and then noticed the current coordinates of the spaceship. He was slightly puzzled.

"It seems we are no longer in our original position."

Ella responded, "That's correct. Over the years, we've been attacked five times by the enemy civilization. They are still searching for us in the same starry sky."

It seems Ella had some close calls over the years as well. Yan Xia observed that the Hope still didn't seem to be equipped with weapons, so he said,

"The purpose of the absolute zero weapon is to freeze the target's energy. We already have the absolute zero weapon; can we apply a small-scale absolute zero weapon on the Hope?"

The main purpose is to slow down the development time of the enemy civilization. This way, their development time can surpass that of the enemy, allowing them to overpower the opponent in the future. Therefore, future development is of utmost importance.

With ship-mounted weapons, they could take the spaceship right to the enemy's doorstep.

"It can be done!" Ella replied concisely and had already prepared a plan.

The blueprint was displayed on the screen, showing the original Hope outfitted with eight launch devices.

"These launch devices can carry 36 missiles each, and after detonation, each missile can reduce the surrounding temperature by -270 to -272 degrees Celsius within a 260-kilometer radius," Ella explained. "The estimated completion time is 80 years."

Yan Xia nodded; this was shorter than he had expected. He had become numb to this kind of research timeline measured in decades. After he sat down, Ella reminded him.

"Yan Xia, the spacebar on the keyboard in front of you is the launch button. All the absolute zero weapons are already aimed at the target planet's coordinates."

"This part of the starry sky, due to its distance from any stars, only needs to consider the gravitational influence of the Milky Way's central black hole, making the trajectory almost straight."

"The missiles use the latest electromagnetic propulsion, reaching speeds of 1,000 km/s, which is one three-hundredth of the speed of light."

"The target is 471 astronomical units away, with an estimated time to impact of 2 years and 3 months."

"This moment should be initiated by you."

Yan Xia stared at the spacebar.

He had pressed it countless times while playing games, each time just an ordinary jump, but now, it concerned an entire civilization. He placed his finger on it.

He took a deep breath.

"Inhale~ exhale~~~"

He exhaled long and deep.

Then he pressed it.

There was no need for complex psychological preparation. After all, the enemy was already scouring the starry sky for them. Once enemies, there was no room for mercy.

The moment Yan Xia pressed the button, an absolute zero missile was ignited, with only a one-second delay. After ignition, unbound by gravity, the missile flew off almost instantaneously. About ten minutes later, the missile had completely disappeared from the visible range, and only the model sandbox built by Ella could track its current coordinates.

It took ten hours for the missile to accelerate to a speed of 1,000 km/s, and even a bit faster, reaching 1,047 km/s. This slight increase alone would take the original Earth civilization decades to catch up.

As for the other missiles, one would be launched every 39 years until all were deployed.

As he watched the missile disappear, Yan Xia's expression was grave, without a hint of ease.

At this moment, Ella also sent a message.

"The trajectory of our launched missile has been detected by the enemy. They are approaching our direction."

"Request immediate movement to evade the enemy ships…"