No Progress

Take Xu Yanxia, for example. She went to the cake shop saying she was going to lose her job. Now, she's gathered her former colleagues to form a team and started a Mecha Research Institute. However, it's not a private institute, since Xu Yanxia's original work was in the military.

Therefore, her application to establish Mecha Research Institute was naturally under the military system.

Since it was a research project, the New Government allocated research funds, so after leaving the original Tactical Armor mechanical repair team, Xu Yanxia had a new goal.

Because the New Government adopted the experts' advice, some development projects were retained even though Strong Artificial Intelligence has been put into use. Although these projects sometimes seem useless, the New Government still provided them with some research funding.

Therefore, there are many people like Xu Yanxia. Some have devoted themselves to scientific research, while others continue to delve deeper into industries that have already been replaced by Strong Artificial Intelligence, hoping to come up with some new inventions or new models.

The same applies to assessments of human knowledge and abilities.

Take Li Xuan, the little girl who bought cakes back then, for example. After the cake industry was completely squeezed out by Strong Artificial Intelligence, she chose the path of art.

Yes, it's the kind of plating art, food carving art, and platter art that are very popular in the 21st century. Although this kind of art has a somewhat extravagant connotation, it seems that humanity has entered a kind of Renaissance stage, and many people are buying into it.

Especially in an era where Strong Artificial Intelligence is gradually replacing various industries, many people can't help but feel nostalgic.

This person even created their own small group on their network, spreading the idea that things made by robots have no soul, while only artificial things have a soul.

Although this behavior is somewhat inappropriate and not mainstream from the perspective of the New Government, it has provided a source of spiritual sustenance for some members of the public.

Li Xuan, who lost her cake shop, is one of them.

Relying on the gimmick of handicrafts and art, Li Xuan set up a Handicraft Grand Alliance in the countryside, and vigorously promoted the soul of handicrafts. This gimmick attracted a large number of nostalgic people, and the business was quite successful.

At least she won't have to worry about Contribution Points, but if she wants to live past the 1,500-year mark, someone like her still lacks a truly groundbreaking artistic achievement that can shake the entire human race.

This type exists in every industry.

In short, so far, the transformation of society as a whole has been relatively smooth.

Okay, let's get back to the main topic.

After arriving at the Research Spaceship No. 3, Yue Yuan floated out of his Tactical Armor and, guided by the Intelligent System, headed towards Yu Nanfeng's location.

The layout of Research Spaceship differs from that of a warship and Residential Spaceship. Its structural layout is specifically designed to better facilitate various scientific research projects.

For example, Research Spaceship that require a weightless environment will not be designed as a cylindrical rotating spacecraft like a Residential Spaceship. Instead, research spacecraft that require a hypergravity environment will be placed on Research Spaceship that can rotate at high speed.

The Research Spaceship No. 3 that Yue Yuan has arrived on is a Research Ship that looks very similar to Lake-Class Warship. It is also divided into a rest area and a work area. Like the warship, the rest area has a rotating function to provide a simulated Gravity Environment.

Inside, spacious laboratories are everywhere, and most of them are sets of Propulsion System being tested.

As soon as Yue Yuan stepped into the test area, he saw Yu Nanfeng waving his arms and talking incessantly in the control center of an engine system.

As they got closer, they gradually heard Yu Nanfeng's voice.

"Try another set of data. Try the positron generator parameters as follows, and also adjust the electron injection angle. If the reactor can't handle it, replace it entirely with Alloy No. 2. I really don't believe it."

"Clear!"

"Clear!"

"Alright, preparing for the 1070th ignition experiment."

As the conversation ended, a long tongue of flame appeared from the thruster used for the experiment. Even through the heat shield, Yue Yuan could still sense the destructive power emanating from the azure flame.

As the Experimental Thruster was ignited, a series of parameters were transmitted to the Central System through various field-deployed sensors for analysis and research by scientists and Research Personnel.

Because this round of experiments was underway, Yue Yuan was not in a hurry to go over, but stopped at the passage to wait for the ignition experiment to end.

The wait wasn't long, only about ten minutes.

Only after hearing the order to shut down the Experimental Thruster did Yue Yuan leisurely drift towards the control center where the Expert Group was located.

However, as soon as he stepped into the Command Center, he heard Yu Nanfeng, the project's lead scientist, swear. "Damn it!!! This thrust is still not enough."

Yue Yuan had heard the phrase "It still won't work" many times, and now he no longer felt the same disappointment as before. Instead, it seemed to have become a kind of calm habit.

"Commander Yue!"

"Commander!"

As soon as Yue Yuan entered, Yu Nanfeng and a group of Research Personnel and experimental physicists all looked at him and called out to him as a greeting.

In fact, Yu Nanfeng and the group of experimental physicists and Research Personnel already knew he was coming. After all, Yue Yuan had notified them in advance through Strong Artificial Intelligence as soon as they set off.

Of course, Yue Yuan knew that Yu Nanfeng and the others weren't pretending to be busy Experimental Thruster after he found out about their arrival; it was just their normal work.

"Still no progress?" Even knowing the outcome, Yue Yuan couldn't help but ask this question.

Since humanity achieved True Nanotechnology, research into more advanced propulsion systems has never ceased, and the research work has been ongoing for more than a decade. It can be said that the development of propulsion technology started earlier than other derivative technologies of True Nanotechnology, but while other derivative technologies have basically achieved results, propulsion technology has stagnated.

The reason why humanity has not built larger or more warships over the years is actually due to the shortcoming of propulsion technology.

It's true that humanity's attention is currently focused on propulsion technology, so the scientific teams working on propulsion technology are under considerable pressure.

"Yes, Chief of Staff, we've made countless improvements and conducted fifty experiments, but the thruster's power just won't increase. This situation reminds me of when we encountered the True Nano Technology barrier back then." Yu Nanfeng sighed and shook his head, saying, "Miracles Through Brute Force, but increasing the fuel injection has no effect. According to the experimental results, the propulsion device is unrelated to the amount of fuel. To improve the thruster's performance, we can only increase the energy level, but according to our current approach and thinking, it seems we can't increase the energy level."

This was the first time Yue Yuan had heard Yu Nanfeng say something like this in countless years, so he frowned and asked, "Unable to upgrade the energy level? Could it be due to the fuel?"

Although Yue Yuan was not a scientist, he still understood some technology.

"Yes, it can't be improved. According to what the 'Silver Mist Consciousness' said back then, True Nanotechnology is the mark of Level 3 Civilization. The Propulsion System of Level 3 Civilization uses a combination of charged positive and negative particle thrusters and Level 2 Civilization's Propulsion System. However, the thrusters we produced following this route simply do not meet the requirements." Yu Nanfeng's face was somewhat bitter.

Yue Yuan seemed to have a different focus. He turned to look at Yu Nanfeng, raising an eyebrow. "So, you mean the electron-positron thruster was successful?"

"Yes!"

To Yue Yuan's surprise, Yu Nanfeng pointed directly to the workbench in the Command Center and said, "The Propulsion System we just tested is it. In fact, we achieved stable ignition more than ten days ago, but its energy level has not met the standard, so I suppressed it and did not report it for the time being."

"What's going on?" Yue Yuan asked, somewhat confused.

Yu Nanfeng pondered for a moment, "We have achieved the propulsion technology that Level 3 Civilization should have, according to the 'Silver Mist Consciousness,' but we are unable to propel the warship to 50% of the speed of light."

Yue Yuan looked suspiciously at the parameters displayed in the Command Center. He could understand these technical data. Using the implanted chip to calculate these parameters, he found that, as Yu Nanfeng had said, even if the thruster was made larger, it would not be able to propel the warship to 50% of the speed of light.

Seeing this, Yue Yuan couldn't help but say, "Could the so-called Level 3 Civilization propulsion technology be a hoax from the Silver Mist Consciousness '?!"