Chapter 157: Fundamental Theoretical Research

When two civilizations met among the stars,

under massive, unpredictable risks, the greatest rewards weren’t just learning about mature research achievements the other side had mastered but they themselves hadn’t realized.

They also gained the powerful research and scientific capabilities of another fully-developed civilization beyond their own.

For two civilizations that rarely encountered each other,

they naturally wouldn’t abandon these huge benefits visible only after bearing enormous initial risks.

So, as basic trust deepened between Human Civilization and Stuo Civilization,

their joint scientific projects also kept expanding.

What both civilizations hoped for most from these collaborations

was for their different research approaches to help each other overcome shared challenges in studying the same problems,

making one plus one greater than two.

Even if that ideal wasn’t achieved,

working together still tangibly increased research capacity for each project.

Some research topics or projects might take one civilization a long time to solve alone.

But with both civilizations working together,

that might no longer be true.

During this year,

cooperation wasn’t limited to major joint projects.

It extended across multiple fields—

from specific, narrowly focused technologies with short expected research timelines,

to long-term initiatives like studying Reactionless Propulsion Engines for thrust technology.

Within the Negentropy Research Institute teams’ labs,

across Human Civilization and Stuo Civilization’s territories,

researchers and teams collaborated closely in relevant areas.

Their teamwork wasn’t flawlessly harmonious,

but since no conflicts of interest had emerged,

the partnerships generally met their intended goals.

Some sub-field studies under these joint projects

had already produced results within this short period.

Across Human Civilization,

citizens of the HCC felt daily life advancing rapidly.

More importantly,

this year their technical cooperation entered an area crucial to most cosmic civilizations—material science.

Beyond exchanging synthesis technologies for existing materials,

they launched a joint project to discover and develop entirely new materials unknown to both.

Different research approaches between the civilizations

created fascinating chemical synergies here.

In just the first year of material collaboration,

they developed many intriguing new materials.

However, they hadn’t yet produced revolutionary materials—

like room-temperature superconductors leapfrogging civilizations forward.

…

HUE Year 76.

Joint research and theoretical exchanges continued.

Among major cooperative projects:

Studies on thrust technology’s Reactionless Propulsion Technology,

and research on Quantum Computers and Quantum Communication—

still seemed distant prospects.

Though discoveries, progress, and new ideas occasionally emerged,

the finish lines remained far away.

Optimism shone clearer in the energy sector’s Heavy Nuclear Fusion Technology research.

Both civilizations had accumulated rich experience in Controlled Nuclear Fusion.

Earlier, by exchanging Helium-3 Fusion technologies,

they’d significantly raised maximum core temperatures tolerable in fusion reactors.

Through joint research afterward,

progress continued by combining both sides’ strengths in fusion studies.

Crucially,

although Heavy Nuclear Fusion represents the ultimate goal in fusion technology,

it fundamentally follows the same research path as Controlled Nuclear Fusion.

The steps toward achieving it were reasonably clear theoretically.

Today, the core limitation delaying its realization

lay mainly in material science constraints.

That year,

inside research units constructed millions of kilometers outside the Civilization Exchange Zone near Neptune’s Orbit,

Human and Stuo scientists raised sustainable temperatures

in their Heavy Nuclear Fusion experimental reactor cores to over 400 million degrees Celsius,

under terrifyingly extreme pressure.

Also that year,

Spark Space City—which had left Martian Orbit thirty years earlier

after spotting Stuo Civilization’s Interstellar Fleet—

continued its deep-space voyage.

When Human Civilization later developed the DT04 Electric Propulsion System home front,

they shared the technology with Spark Space City.

Afterward, most production capacity aboard devoted resources

to upgrading the city’s propulsion systems to DT04 models.

Despite growing trust and scientific cooperation with Stuo Civilization,

the HCC and Negentropy Research Institute—abiding by caution—

still hadn’t ordered Spark Space City’s return.

Active communications between the HCC and the space city remained exceedingly rare,

limited to critical technology transfers to avoid detection risks.

Now understanding Stuo Civilization’s scanning range capabilities,

Human Civilization determined its adversary couldn’t pinpoint the tiny target at current distances.

Thus, Spark Space City no longer raced at full speed into deep space.

It maintained movement roughly 1.2 light-years from Earth,

near the Oort Cloud’s outer edge.

Likely,

only when Stuo Civilization finally departed the Solar System

could Spark Space City’s people return home.

Knowing conditions back home,

those aboard no longer felt early panic.

They understood Stuo couldn’t easily exterminate Human Civilization

even if winning a conflict given current human flight speeds.

For them,

living normally—like residents in any off-world Stellar City—

suffices while awaiting recall orders someday.

Still the same year…

The development of Saturn’s orbit by Human Civilization had achieved remarkable results.

When Human Civilization’s Starships arrived at the synchronous orbit of Saturn’s moon, they could clearly see vast areas of creations from the Smart Industrial Cluster spanning the satellite’s surface.

On the surface of Titan, Human Civilization had also constructed several Stellar Cities, similar to those on Jupiter’s Moon.

The inhabited zones of Human Civilization extended to Saturn’s orbit.

The Smart Industrial Cluster built near Saturn’s orbit could partially meet the operational needs of the Stellar Cities on Saturn’s moons and support the self-expansion demands of Smart Industrial Cluster.

Meanwhile, the domain of Human Civilization officially continued spreading toward Uranus.

The total material resources possessed by Human Civilization were still increasing rapidly.

…

Then, time came to the 77th year of the Human United Era (HUE).

The mass tourism program jointly agreed upon by Human Civilization and Stuo Civilization did not stop even after the first group of tourists returned from visiting each other’s civilization.

From Human Civilization’s perspective,

people’s curiosity about the inner workings of Stuo Civilization never ceased.

Even though more and more humans had visited Stuo Civilization, and numerous images and holographic materials about its interior were available on HCC’s networks,

even Virtual Worlds simulating Stuo Civilization’s environments existed in virtual reality games—built from these images and real experiences—allowing people to explore their neighbor anytime,

still, most humans who hadn’t been there hoped to see it for themselves someday.

Almost daily, one or two Starships would depart from Mars or Earth’s Geosynchronous Orbit toward Stuo Civilization’s Interstellar Fleet location,

carrying visitors authorized to tour Stuo Civilization.

The situation was largely identical on Stuo Civilization’s side.

Thus, apart from exchanges between researchers in science,

ordinary individuals from both civilizations frequently interacted and visited each other.

Against this backdrop,

Stuo Civilization sent another message to Human Civilization.

Stuo Civilization expressed its desire to send another official delegation representing their Sacred Decider to visit Earth—Human Civilization’s homeworld—

and hold direct talks with Academician Qin Yu, head of the Negentropy Research Institute.

Stuo Civilization clearly had significant matters regarding both civilizations to communicate.

Naturally, Human Civilization agreed.

…

After approval, the Stuo Civilization delegation arrived swiftly.

The Sacred Decider’s presence gave Stuo Civilization a swift and decisive manner in executing predetermined plans.

On Human Civilization’s side, so long as Qin Yu remained present, decisions on major matters could show similar decisiveness thanks to his authority—

but without him, stability was less certain.

This difference didn’t suggest one civilization’s superiority over the other; rather, it reflected distinct societal structures.

This meeting between Human Civilization and Stuo Civilization’s delegation—

who carried the will of their Sacred Decider—

was far less public than previous ceremonies.

At least until the agenda for this exchange was finalized,

Human Civilization made no prior announcements regarding the delegation’s visit.

Only heads of relevant research divisions at the Negentropy Research Institute and a very small group were informed.

“Academician Qin Yu, thank you for agreeing to receive Stuo Civilization’s delegation on this visit.”

“Esteemed Sies, Human Civilization and Stuo Civilization have built close cooperation across multiple fields and share firm mutual trust.”

“Our interactions have always been positive, making refusal of your delegation unthinkable.”

At Earth’s Lingchuan City, within the Stellar Port, Qin Yu represented Human Civilization as he met again with the Stuo Civilization delegation leader.

As before, the delegate was ‘Sies,’

though this name—identical to that great Stuo scientist—

should technically include a numerical suffix.

That suffix uniquely identified individual Stuo beings in Human Civilization’s understanding.

‘Names’ like Sies, however, were commonly inherited across generations in Stuo Civilization due to Genetic Memory.

Starting with that prominent scientist, the name ‘Sies’ was actually shared by a substantial population across their civilization.

In Human custom, the delegate extended his hand for a handshake.

A barrier like a spacesuit—much lighter than traditional models—encased him.

Qin Yu accepted the handshake,

then made a respectful Stuo Civilization gesture: placing his closed fist to his forehead.

After brief formal greetings onsite,

the delegation proceeded without elaborate ceremonies.

Formal discussions began at a suitable conference room shortly after they left the Stellar Port,

where representatives from both sides gathered to address Stuo Civilization’s officially stated purpose for the visit.

…”Academician Qin Yu, you are a brilliant researcher and visionary leader among Human Civilization.”

Talking to this renowned elder of the other civilization,

the Stuo delegate Sies maintained deep respect:

“You likely perceive how our joint key research projects have reached prolonged deadlock.”

“Crucial scientific progress has stalled on certain fronts, trapping us with unclear paths forward.”

Sies approached the core issue directly.

However, such decisions originated solely with their Sacred Decider—

making this meeting effectively a direct channel between Qin Yu and the Decider.

“Stuo Civilization hypothesizes that solutions may lie not in applied technology but in theoretical revolution. Breakthroughs in theory may unlock advances in energy, communications, and navigation.”

“As you noted, Academician, long-term interaction has built strong trust between our civilizations.”

“We likewise believe Stuo Civilization and Human Civilization share urgency on this matter.”

“We propose launching a joint fundamental research project in theoretical physics.”