Chapter 165: Thirty-Three Years and One Chance

“Academician Qin Yu, if we’re being objective, even with supportive data, it was a bit hard for us to imagine, before actually finishing the Civilization-Level Fundamental Experiment Facility, that we could really complete the construction of the Civilization-grade Ring-shaped Fundamental Experimental Facility in just over thirty years.”

For both civilizations, the thirty-three years spent advancing the construction of this Civilization-Level Fundamental Experiment Facility super-project were an exceptionally difficult period.

From subsequent exchanges and contact between Human Civilization and Stuo Civilization over the years,

it became clear that the productive capacity Stuo Civilization actually invested was roughly on par with that of Human Civilization, in numerical terms.

However, the proportion of Stuo Civilization’s total productive capacity dedicated to the project was even higher than that of Human Civilization.

At one point, Stuo Civilization poured over eighty percent of its total productive capacity into this super-project.

The reasons for this were also pretty obvious.

Although Stuo Civilization was slightly stronger than Human Civilization in terms of technical prowess,

productive capacity isn’t just about technical strength; it’s also about the scale of industry.

Stuo Civilization was a civilization engaged in long-term migration through space, arriving in the Solar System during its journey.

Human Civilization, however, was in its home star system, its main base.

When the construction of the Civilization-Level Fundamental Experiment Facility began, Human Civilization’s territory already stretched to Neptune’s Orbit.

Human Civilization occupied the vast expanse of space from Mercury all the way to Neptune’s Orbit. And numerous Intelligent Industrial Clusters occupied these planetary orbital zones.

It was these massive Intelligent Industrial Clusters that supported the construction of the part of the Civilization-grade Ring-shaped Fundamental Experimental Facility that was Human Civilization’s responsibility.

Stuo Civilization did possess significant Smart Industrial capacities within its Interstellar Fleet and Planetary Fortresses.

Additionally, Human Civilization had agreed to allow Stuo Civilization to utilize material resources within the Kuiper Belt.

However, it was clear that the smart industrial complex of a migrating civilization like Stuo couldn’t rival the sheer scale Human Civilization achieved in its home system.

Even though Stuo Civilization had built some new smart industrial capabilities within the Kuiber Belt, the expansion rate for this kind of facility couldn’t match what was possible during large-scale planetary construction within an established system.

The point is, Stuo Civilization had good reasons for choosing to collaborate with Human Civilization on this super-project, rather than pursuing it alone.

“A long time ago, when we cooperated with another civilization on building a much smaller-scale fundamental experimental facility, the final time it took was much longer.”

During an exchange with Human Civilization at this time, Stuo Civilization conveyed its awe at the magnificent success of this joint super-project.

“Friends from Stuo Civilization, this is the result of our shared endeavor.”

…

Later that same year, after some additional time had passed,

the completed Civilization-grade Ring-shaped Fundamental Experimental Facility underwent its final inspection.

Human Civilization and Stuo Civilization jointly confirmed that the entire Civilization-grade Ring-shaped Fundamental Experimental Facility was correct and complete.

With the powerful support of both civilizations’ Intelligent Industrial systems,

there were no significant issues beyond the design specifications found in the facility itself.

Inside the Negentropy Research Institute, the research teams and researchers who had participated in the earlier design studies breathed a collective sigh of relief.

Many researchers exhaled deeply, and quite a few had reddened eyes.

The Civilization-Level Fundamental Experiment Facility was the single biggest super-project undertaken by Human Civilization up to that point.

The entirety of Human Civilization, along with countless researchers and teams within the Negentropy Research Institute, had exerted tremendous effort.

However, after only a brief period of relief,

the researchers spontaneously grew tense once more.

Because now that the Civilization-grade Ring-shaped Fundamental Experimental Facility was built,

the next step was to use it for fundamental theoretical experimental research.

This was the true centrepiece of the joint scientific project between Human Civilization and Stuo Civilization,

Or, more accurately, the construction of the Civilization-grade Ring-shaped Fundamental Experimental Facility was only the necessary groundwork paving the way for this collaborative exploration of fundamental theories.

The real key to everything,

was whether using the Civilization-grade Ring-shaped Fundamental Experimental Facility would allow the discovery and verification of what Human and Stuo civilizations sought to prove.

If they succeeded, all the sacrifices and investments made by both civilizations would be deemed worthwhile.

If they failed, it would be the most devastating failure possible.

If the Civilization-grade Ring-shaped Fundamental Experimental Facility couldn’t achieve the purpose it was built for, then running ten or a hundred experiments with it would be useless.

All the resources, all the productive capacity both civilizations had poured into the civilization-grade ring-shaped fundamental experimental facility over the previous thirty-three years would be utterly wasted, gone forever.

It would stand as the single largest research investment loss in the entire history of both civilizations.

The experiment itself would become the most expensive fireworks display either civilization had ever conducted.

The Civilization-grade Ring-shaped Fundamental Experimental Facility would become the most spectacular, useless ornament parked right at Humanity’s doorstep.

However, fortunately, this time the researchers’ tension would not last nearly as long as the previous period of waiting.

With the construction of the Civilization-grade Ring-shaped Fundamental Experimental Facility complete and verified as sound,

using the facility for its intended experimental research obviously wouldn’t require a similarly long wait.

…

The year 110 of the Human United Era (HUE)

was likely to become a very special date in the annals of Human Civilization.

Humanity’s collaborative project with Stuo Civilization – the incredibly challenging Civilization-grade Ring-shaped Fundamental Experimental Facility – had reached its completion at this time.

And the crucial experiments planned for that year wouldn’t be delayed until the next.

During this year,

Qin Yu, publicly stated to be 174 years old, boarded a Starship bound for the region beyond Neptune’s Orbit,

arriving at the jointly established Civilization Exchange Zone.

This zone would serve as the command center for the upcoming civilization-grade ring-shaped fundamental experimental facility collision acceleration experiment.

Related research teams and Researchers from Human Civilization within the Negentropy Research Institute,

as well as their counterparts from Stuo Civilization, had also mobilized to be present here.

The actual operation of the Civilization-grade Ring-shaped Fundamental Experimental Facility would be controlled by an Intelligent Program executing the meticulously pre-defined experimental protocols.

The researchers involved could technically have awaited the results just as easily from their own civilizations’ settlements,

being physically in the civilization exchange zone offered only minor advantages.

However, the proximity to the Civilization-grade Ring-shaped Fundamental Experimental Facility felt appropriate.

Being closer meant receiving the first batch of experimental data would be marginally faster once the tests concluded.

Human United Era (HUE) Year 110, Month 11.

After Qin Yu’s arrival, as the scheduled time for the experiment drew near,

the Researchers from Human Civilization and the Researchers from Stuo Civilization within the Civilization Exchange Zone gradually became tenser.

For this initial experiment cycle, the two civilizations did not plan to push the civilization-level basic experimental facility to its absolute design limit.

However, they would run it at a demanding 80% of its maximum capacity.

When the Civilization-Level Fundamental Experiment Facility operated at this power and energy level,

if the crucial data and results sought by both Human and Stuo civilizations failed to emerge,

then maintaining the remaining 20% safety margin for this particular energy level experiment became essentially pointless.

It was largely true that,

this massive facility, built with such tremendous toil by both civilizations,

would see its purpose fulfilled, or fail utterly,

based largely on its very first major operational cycle.

One operational cycle would, to a significant extent, determine the fates of both civilizations.