Chapter 414: Ten Light-Years Away (3)
“The greater the mass of a star, the faster it burns, and the shorter its lifespan.”
Inside the Type-R Spacecraft, Chen Yu gave a brief explanation to his audience while he waited for the blue supergiant to explode. “When the hydrogen fusion reaction of a star stops, the core of the star begins to collapse. Meanwhile, the core’s collapse will result in an increase in internal pressure, core temperature, and expansion speed of the outer shell. At some point, the star might expand to several times or more than ten times its original size.
“If a star is sufficiently large, its core temperature after the collapse might even exceed 100 million degrees, which would subsequently ignite the helium element and start the process of helium fusion.
“However, unlike hydrogen fusion, helium fusion can only convert a small amount of mass into energy. The duration of the process is short as well. Hence, it wouldn’t take long before the star’s core will resume its collapse. At that time, the star’s outer shell will naturally expand even further.
“After that, the core’s temperature will double once more and give birth to many new elements such as carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen.”
Facing the camera, Chen Yu spread his arms and said, “This is why the blue supergiant has such a massive size. Its core has already undergone multiple collapses, and its outer shell has experienced multiple expansions. Currently, its internal temperature has exceeded five billion degrees. At this temperature, even the iron element will get burned out of existence.
“In less than ten minutes, the blue supergiant will exhaust its final trace of fuel. When that happens, it will no longer be able to support its heavy outer shell, and the outer shell would subsequently collapse. The entire collapse will not last more than two seconds.
“Can you imagine how lethal the resulting explosion would be if such a massive supergiant completely collapses in the span of just two seconds?
“This kind of explosion is called a supernova explosion.” Stretching out three fingers, Chen Yu said, “According to the size of this blue supergiant, the total energy it would release within one minute after exploding would be equivalent to the total amount of radiation the entire Milky Way has been bathed in for the past 300 years.”
[Crap!]
[Crap…]
[We’re playing around with death.]
[Blue Supergiant: Now you know who’s boss.]
[Wouldn’t we be burnt to a crisp, then?]
[I now highly suspect that the UP is repeating Russia’s “rescue” ploy. Let’s stop messing around. I think HAL is fine too…]
[+1]
“Due to the solar system being so close to this blue supergiant, once the supernova explosion occurs, all life found on Earth’s surface will cease to exist.
“However, everyone can rest assured. No matter how powerful this supernova explosion is, it will not cause any harm to Earth within the next ten years. By then, we would have long since obtained a countermeasure.”
After saying so, Chen Yu raised his wrist and looked at the time. “There are five minutes left until the explosion. I’m going to start taking action now. I advise that all viewers on Earth do not look up at the sky. Otherwise, there is a high chance you might suffer eye injuries.”
Taking a deep breath, Chen Yu activated the E·I Force Field and hovered within the cabin. He then mentally commanded the spacecraft to unfold the cabin wall facing the blue supergiant, thoroughly exposing the spacecraft’s interior to the dying star!
Subsequently, Chen Yu looked at Little Peach’s figure displayed on his watch and said, “Get ready and listen to my commands.”
“Understood!”
“Don’t forget to protect yourself. If you get hit by the gamma rays, it’s game over for you right away.”
“I understand.” Patting her chest, Little Peach said, “You can believe in me.”
“If not for the dog being unable to wear the protective suit and Hermione being incapable of leaving the castle, I really don’t wish to believe in you.”
“Nn…” Lowering her head shyly, Little Peach said, “It’s quite embarrassing if you say it in front of so many viewers…”
…
At the same time…
America, New York, United Nations Headquarters:
The middle-aged team leader was busily swiping away at the tablet in front of him as he communicated and exchanged information with his colleagues in the distant China.
“Leader, what’s the situation on that side?”
“Everything’s mostly fine. Though, there are still twelve flights that won’t make it in time, so we have no choice but to clear up the highways for an emergency landing.”
“There are four minutes and forty-two seconds left,” Big Sis Wu said anxiously.
“I know,” the middle-aged team leader said, turning off his tablet. He then slammed the tablet on the table and continued, “In any case, we can’t interfere with this situation, so we might as well not look at it. It’ll be easier on our minds.”
“The screen broke…”
“It’s fine. It’ll be useless in another four minutes.”
After looking at Chen Yu’s stern expression on the main screen, Big Sis Wu then glanced at the chaos happening within the conference hall. Sighing, she muttered, “If all electronics will be destroyed, how are we supposed to return…”
Ring! Ring! Ring!
Suddenly, a crisp ringing sound appeared. Stunned, Big Sis Wu hurriedly picked up the tablet on the table. Looking at the tablet’s broken screen, she found that it was a video call.
“Leader, it’s a call from the staff team.”
Narrowing his eyes, the middle-aged team leader reached out and accepted the call.
A moment later, HAL’s figure appeared on the dark screen.
“I guessed it would be you,” the middle-aged team leader said indifferently. “According to regulations, the staff team cannot contact me directly.”
“Greetings, team leader of China’s special situation team. We meet again.”
“We’ve met several times today. Do you have business with me?”
“You are relatively close to Chen Yu, so I wish to ask for your help on a matter,” HAL said calmly.
“First of all, I’ll clarify that I am merely an insignificant minor character. I cannot influence any of Chen Yu’s judgments.”
“I know. I only wish for you to relay some words to Chen Yu.”
“Hold on a moment.”
After saying so, the middle-aged team leader pulled out a set of isolated earphones from his pocket and connected it to his tablet. “Go on.”
On the screen, HAL’s lips could be seen opening and closing repeatedly. The middle-aged team leader’s expression also grew increasingly wonderful with each subsequent cycle…
…
Two minutes.
One minute.
Thirty seconds.
Ten seconds…
Time passed by, second after second.
The blue supergiant expanded increasingly faster with each passing second.
Hovering inside the spacecraft, Chen Yu subconsciously clenched his fists while he reported, “Eight seconds left. Seven…”
[6!]
[666!]
[5…]
[44444…]
“Three.
“Two…
“One…”
Suddenly, the blue supergiant stopped expanding.
From the floating camera’s perspective, the blue supergiant and the dark space seemed to have become a still picture.
After another “long” second…
Whoosh!
Chen Yu found himself dazzled as the blue supergiant before him began contracting at a terrifying speed!
This contraction speed even exceeded the Type-R Spacecraft’s maximum normal navigation speed!
Due to the limited dynamic vision of humans, Chen Yu and his audience only managed to see afterimages of the blue supergiant’s collapsing layers.
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
As the star shrunk, its luminosity grew increasingly brighter as well.
In just two seconds, the originally massive blue star had shrunk into a “little white ball” with a close to infinite luminosity.
Boom!
Chen Yu simulated the sound of an explosion in his mind…
Then, two twisted bands of light burst out of the ball of light, instantly dyeing the dark space in a blue hue.
That was a blue shift caused by the extreme speed of light. This blue light was far more vivid than the light emitted by the original blue supergiant.
The dazzling blue light expanded continuously for three seconds, creating a resplendent hourglass!
Because of Chen Yu’s position, the cones of light generated by the supernova explosion looked more like two infinitely expanding triangles in his and his audiences’ eyes.
[Damn…]
[Outrageous.]
[This is a supernova explosion? It’s so bright that I can’t see anything.]
[The luminosity has already been reduced by countless times. Otherwise, everything on our screens would be white right now.]
[Do you see those cones of light? Those are gamma-ray bursts. They contain various light and heavy elements, and any celestial body struck by them at close range would be reduced to slag.]
[This really is the magic of nature!]
[Nature: I never knew I was so powerful…]
“Now!”
At this time, Chen Yu suddenly shouted, “Little Peach! Open the door at a right angle four million kilometers away from Pacific Ocean’s Equator!”
“Yes, sir!”
On the distant Earth, Little Peach tensed up her spirits and promptly slipped out of the camera’s angle when she heard Chen Yu’s words. She then rapidly manipulated the Interstellar Portal, entered the relevant coordinates, and opened the door!
Bang!
Beyond the door was the dark universe.
“Mr. Chen, it’s open.”
“Are you sure it is four million kilometers away from the Equator?”
Checking the portal’s console once more, Little Peach nodded and said, “Yes. What next?”
“Go through the portal and enter the coordinates I sent you,” Chen Yu said as he swiped his finger across his watch and sent a series of numbers to Little Peach.”
“Okay.”
After earnestly memorizing the coordinates, Little Peach moved through the portal and arrived at the deep space four million kilometers away from Earth. She then began entering the coordinates.
“Y: 33560156006123; X: 857412; Z: 109978457. Based on the planetary gravity detected, the location is at Jupiter’s… Huh?” Stunned, Little Peach hurriedly crossed the portal once more and picked up her phone. She then asked, “Mr. Chen, did you make a mistake? Why is the coordinates’ verified location near Jupiter?”
“It’s this position! Hurry up and open it!” Chen Yu bellowed. “Hurry up! We’re not going to make it!”
“Okay!”
Flying through the portal in a hurry, Little Peach checked the coordinates she entered once more before establishing a new spatial link.
Buzz!
Accompanied by a metallic buzzing sound, a portal suddenly appeared in the Type-R Spacecraft located ten light-years away from the solar system!
[What the?!]
[Crap!]
[Crap…]
[Impossible!]
[How is this possible?]
[Isn’t the portal’s range limited to within the solar system only?]
[The UP’s openly changing the settings!]
[Dammit! UP, you’re not planning on passing the gamma rays over to us using the portal, right?]
[What’s going on?]
“Hu…”
Seeing the portal appearing in front of him, Chen Yu breathed out a deep sigh of relief. “It’s a success! Brothers, fill the screen with ‘Awesome’ now! Quick!”
[Awesome!]
[Awesome, awesome…]
“Everyone must be wondering why I can open a portal far beyond the solar system, right?”
After taking a brief look at the approaching gamma rays, Chen Yu began manipulating the Interstellar Portal while rapidly explaining, “The reason is simple. It is because the space inside the spacecraft is still in the solar system!”
[This…]
[I got it!]
[I also got it! Something like this is actually possible?!]
[Crap!]
[Cool! Super cool!]
[I’m confused…]
“Everyone, you should remember that the principle behind the spacecraft’s FTL travel is ‘moving’ space, not ‘moving through’ space! The spacecraft moves by shrinking the space in front of it and expanding the space behind it. However, the independent space inside the spacecraft remains motionless!
“In the field of space, there is no such thing as distance. For example, Y:1, X:1, Z:1 and Y:2, X:2, Z:2 are two coordinate points. No matter how many billions of light-years they are apart from each other, in the spatial structure, they are still considered to be adjacent to each other!
“Due to this reason, according to the rules of space, even if I move a part of the solar system’s space out of the solar system, this independent space is still considered to be within the solar system!”
Smack!
Smacking the frame of the Interstellar Portal, Chen Yu smiled and said, “This is the fundamental reason why the portal can be opened here! I have repeatedly emphasized to HAL that the reason why humans can achieve the brilliance we have today is because we never lack inspiration!
“Now, watch me take care of HAL from ten light-years away!”
After Chen Yu finished saying so, the Interstellar Portal abruptly expanded!
At this time, the gamma rays generated by the supernova explosion also came crashing into the Type-R Spacecraft…
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