Chapter 110: Super Projects

Electromagnetic guns, electromagnetic cannons,

These were essentially products along this research line.

By using the electromagnetic effect, they continuously accelerated matter within the electromagnetic rails to speeds far exceeding conventional shells for firing,

Causing damage through kinetic impact.

Of course, the researchers at the Weapons Research Institute, or “WRI,” wanted not the conventional electromagnetic guns and cannons of the past.

They wanted ultra-high-kinetic weapons that could use electromagnetic coils to accelerate matter to 1%, 10% the speed of light, or even faster.

Only at such speeds could it barely have practical meaning for interstellar warfare.

According to predictions, or just normal logic,

If an interstellar war broke out between Human Civilization and another civilization within the Solar System or elsewhere in the universe,

The distance between the two sides when fighting would be counted in Astronomical Units (AU) at the very least.

Yet, even over just one AU, using the delivery speed of Human Civilization’s current traditional weapons,

It would take hundreds of days from launch to reach the target location. Hitting an enemy under these conditions seemed next to impossible.

That’s why, currently, two lines of weaponry, laser weapons and electromagnetic kinetic weapons, held potential usefulness.

Naturally,

The most ideal would be Faster-Than-Light (FTL) weapons. Even the speed of light seemed as slow as a turtle crawl given the cosmic scale of distance.

But FTL weapons were far beyond the reach of Human Civilization, still only a Type I Civilization.

Even for the Weapons Research Institute of the Negentropy Research Institute, it wasn’t worth considering.

As for laser weapons and electromagnetic kinetic weapons,

Laser weapons operated at lightspeed, no question about it.

The biggest problem for the WRI researchers on that path was:

Even the high-power laser weapon already built on the Lunar Surface to combat the Doomsday Crisis,

Its released laser power and intensity were still insufficient.

It could easily vaporize asteroids and other material in Earth’s near orbit, sure.

But the distance between Earth and Moon meant next to nothing within the Solar System, let alone the vastness of space.

Over far greater distances, even though interference was less in space than inside an atmosphere, energy loss was inevitable, that’s for sure.

The researchers’ ultimate hope for laser weapons was that they could be effective against anticipated hostile civilization targets or incoming attacks,

At distances of at least one AU or even much farther.

Theoretically,

Electromagnetic kinetic weapons could reach near-light speeds for the launched projectile.

It required long enough acceleration rails, sufficient constraint from the electromagnetic coils, and enough energy supplied to the electromagnetic gun.

In electromagnetic kinetic weapon research,

Human Civilization actually had some technological foundations to build upon.

Experience from the coils of the Helium-3 Fusion Reactor, and the core structure of the DT03 Electric Propulsion Engine.

Not identical, but as a Type I Civilization, Humanity did have the basics needed to build more powerful electromagnetic kinetic weapons.

Furthermore, the Helium-3 Fusion Reactor itself could provide the energy support needed.

The researchers’ immediate goal for the electromagnetic kinetic weapon was to destroy or alter the course of targets like Asteroid 2801.

However, electromagnetic kinetic weapons had an inherent weakness.

To reach the firing speeds the Negentropy Research Institute envisioned,

The acceleration time needed in the rails before each shot was difficult to make very short.

…

That year, focusing on these two research directions,

Related research teams at the Negentropy Research Institute’s Weapons Research Institute proposed two projects.

First, they planned to design and build a much larger high-power laser weapon on the Lunar Surface. This aimed to boost the power of current laser weapons high enough.

Secondly, they proposed finding a crater on the moon and using its base to construct a long electromagnetic acceleration pipeline inside.

This would let them design and build the WRI’s first large-scale Electromagnetic Railgun.

Qin Yu sometimes joined the efforts on these two projects,

But his involvement wasn’t deep.

The WRI’s current priority lay in integrating technologies already achieved elsewhere within the Negentropy Research Institute

Applying these technologies to both the laser weapon and Electromagnetic Railgun designs.

Pushing research further required collaboration between the WRI and other teams, like the Energy and Power Research Institute and Materials Research Institute.

At this stage, Qin Yu wasn’t needed much.

Researchers from other parts of the Negentropy Research Institute could handle the tasks fine.

Qin Yu naturally had no objections to these projects.

This year,

The newly founded Weapons Research Institute quickly became very busy.

…

Human United Era Year Five.

Driven by Human Civilization’s widespread Apocalypse Anxiety,

Some research teams within the Negentropy Research Institute proposed a plan called the ‘Space City’ project.

This was still essentially a precautionary plan.

It didn’t involve much new science; it was purely a mega-project.

The plan’s main goal was:

Building upon Humanity’s current Lunar development and construction efforts,

To build a ‘mobile Space City’ orbiting the Moon.

This Space City would carry several cutting-edge Electric Propulsion Engines.

Internally, it would house Helium-3 Fusion Reactors, or other future advanced energy devices, to continuously power the city.

Plans included a sizable Intelligental Industrial Cluster, a Vertical Farm, and a Computing Power Tower, enabling the Space City to be self-sufficient.

After construction,

The Negentropy Research Institute’s Doomsday Gene Bank would be moved onboard. Also, some people would live on the Space City permanently.

The core purpose of this mobile Space City plan was simple:

If Human Civilization suddenly faced a devastating blow,

This Space City, located in space, had a far better chance of surviving and preserving Humanity’s spark.

Called a Space City, but following the plan, it really resembled a massive Electric Propulsion Spaceship.

It could carry those living inside and flee directly out of the Solar System immediately after a catastrophic event.

At this stage, it would remain in lunar orbit.

Later, as human civilization expanded further into the solar system, it might also move to Martian orbit, or even beyond.

If any more advanced propulsion system or engine emerged in the future,

this space city would be upgraded immediately.

After the space city plan was announced,

there was little opposition within the HCC.

“Sounds good. Better safe than sorry. We reacted in time during the Asteroid 2801 impact. But next time, we might not be so lucky.”

“If we fail, at least this gives human civilization a backup to rebuild from.”

“I agree… but think — if an enemy hits Earth before we notice, destroying all surface and underground cities, would they let a space city escape?”

“It raises our survival odds, though. Better than doing nothing.”

“True.”

Unsurprisingly, given how heavily people suffered from apocalypse anxiety,

the megaproject passed without delay.

Of course, many didn’t object fundamentally because

this super project wouldn’t disrupt daily life for people throughout the HCC.

Their surplus productivity was more than enough for this undertaking.

Besides, human civilization was already building lunar surface cities and developing extraterrestrial bases.

Now, it was just one more city — in lunar orbit.

Also, to some extent,

this space city under construction in lunar orbit could serve as a lunar space station or orbital platform,

making it easier for the Ferry Spaceship to load and unload cargo between Earth and Moon.

…

That same year,

driven by the same purpose,

research teams at the Negentropy Research Institute proposed another plan:

On the lunar surface, or at locations far beyond Earth,

building larger and more numerous space observation instruments — including but not limited to large radio telescopes, optical telescopes, and various space monitoring devices —

to achieve

wider-ranging, farther-reaching, and more detailed observations beyond the solar system.

This was a lesson learned from past mistakes.

Previously, the lunar crater observation network detected Asteroid 2801 only 19 months in advance.

Time was still too tight. If threats like Asteroid 2801 could be found earlier,

human civilization could have responded more calmly.

However,

constructing larger and more space observatories wasn’t just about this need.

As human civilization grew stronger, the very process required more detailed observations and extraterrestrial data.

And now,

current productivity could easily support astronomical and cosmic research.

Naturally, it made sense to proceed.

This plan was approved without a hitch.

…

Human United Era, Year 6.

With multiple projects and megastructures underway,

human civilization was quite busy this year.

On Earth,

the scale of Smart Industrial Zones in surface cities grew using resources mined from the Moon.

Though 225 mega-cities were long completed,

they didn’t stand still. They continued developing with the times.

Meanwhile, within each city, Smart Industrial Clusters ran efficiently, producing goods not only for Earth’s cities

but also supporting lunar construction and development.

On the lunar surface,

construction of Lunar Surface Cities — mainly their Smart Industrial Clusters — continued.

Mining of lunar resources expanded across the Moon’s front and far side.

Around existing Lunar Surface Cities, intelligent machinery built for the lunar environment worked almost everywhere.

If visiting workers didn’t need spacesuits outside cities, they might’ve forgotten whether they stood on the Moon or an Earth construction site.

This year, the Moon’s population fluctuated but the growth trend stayed rapid — surpassing two million residents.

Other projects near the Moon also progressed.

For the Negentropy Research Institute, designing large electromagnetic railguns was simplest — many core technologies were mature.

This year, the Weapons Research Institute finalized designs and sent requirements for production to the Strong Artificial Intelligence managing smart industrial operations.

Construction had begun on one large electromagnetic railgun in a crater near Guanghan City.

It would serve weapon research experiments by the Weapons Research Institute.

Simultaneously, it would act as a defense system for surrounding Lunar Surface Cities,

destroying small meteors occasionally hitting the Moon to prevent crises.

This task was formerly handled by an aging High-Power Laser Weapon.

But after operating at maximum power against Asteroid 2801 and earlier near-Earth meteors,

that laser weapon had effectively retired. Reviving it would mean rebuilding entirely or replacing major components.

For the Negentropy Research Institute, neither choice made sense now.

Research on large laser weapons at the Weapons Research Institute — inspired by that earlier “pearl” of engineering — progressed slower than railgun research.

Still, designs for a new experimental laser weapon neared completion. By early the following year,

they would be given to the Strong Artificial Intelligence for production.

As for building “more and larger” detection instruments —

“More” observation devices were already under construction. Thanks to sufficient productivity and efficiency,

new observatories unlike the crater-based radio telescopes had even finished assembly.

“Larger, more advanced” space observation instruments remained in research and design.

This work fell to researchers at the Geological Research Institute, Materials Research Institute, and Physics Department within the Negentropy Research Institute.

Finally, the space city project.

Because researchers at the Negentropy Research Institute had excessively high demands for this mobile station,

its overall design remained under development. Construction hadn’t begun.

All this — whether ongoing or completed —

meant

every research team at the Negentropy Research Institute immersed themselves in their work.

Across human society, journals overflowed with new papers on astronomy and related fields.

This year,

human civilization continued operating efficiently and vibrantly.

This year,

total human population

(even with adjusted birth policies after the HCC’s founding)

still surpassed four billion.

Among this, researchers still formed the majority.

Accordingly,

the total number of researchers across all Negentropy Research Institute departments exceeded one point five million.

Human civilization seemed on the brink of another technological explosion —

Or perhaps,

it was already amidst a great scientific boom that had lasted years.

…

Time flowed like a torrent, carrying history onward.

Human United Era, Year Seven arrived.

This year, the first large electromagnetic railgun was completed.

A new laser weapon was under construction.

Lunar Surface Cities being built increased from ten to over twenty.

Human civilization — as if holding its breath after the Doomsday Crisis —

raced ahead in extraterrestrial development at a terrifying speed.