Small Universe Key
"Oh, Human Civilization, I almost forgot, here you go." Just as everyone was feeling wistful, a familiar voice suddenly appeared.
"You didn't leave?"
Everyone looked around but couldn't see the Rhomboid Crystal. Instead, they saw a similar rhombus-shaped Crystal Chunk, only the size of a fist. It was completely different from the Rhomboid Crystal that had been like a building, but its appearance was still quite similar, both being Rhomboid Crystal.
"No, I'm already gone. This is a key." The voice of the Rhomboid Crystal resounded like a 3D surround sound effect, explaining to the human, "A key to unlock Small Universe. Before our civilization left the Milky Way Galaxy, in addition to devising the Drift Bottle Project, we also left behind a Small Universe within the Milky Way Galaxy, containing some of our civilization's creations."
"Well, by today's standards, those creations are ancient relics. I don't even know if they're still usable. These things were meant for New Generation Civilization, and you are New Generation Civilization. Although you're at a lower level and haven't even grasped the Grand Unified Theory, you miraculously awakened me. I should give you a chance too."
"However, I must remind you that the 'Drift Bottle Project' involves more than just me in a Drift Bottle, and naturally, there are more than one key to the Small Universe. Moreover, three billion years have passed, and I wonder what has become of the place where the Small Universe was originally placed. The relevant information has been sent to you. This time, it's really time to say goodbye, Human Civilization!"
As soon as the words "Human Civilization" were uttered, the voice of the Rhomboid Crystal completely disappeared.
They're really gone!
Everyone snapped out of their daze and looked at the small Rhomboid Crystal Rhomboid Crystal called the Small Universe Key.
The Rhomboid Crystal is also rhomboid in shape. If you don't look closely and if it weren't for the Rhomboid Crystal just now, you might mistake it for a miniature version of Rhomboid Crystal! As can be seen from the video footage, it appears in a similar way to the Rhomboid Crystal, appearing out of thin air inside the Lyra and floating in mid-air.
Don't get me wrong, this isn't some kind of Anti-Gravity Technology. After all, the Lyra is not accelerating or decelerating, so there's no gravity effect here at the Command Center.
So, the fact that it was hovering in mid-air was just that it was moving in sync with the Lyra. At the moment everyone turned around, it had shifted slightly due to the airflow on the ship. This was completely different from the previous situation where the Rhomboid Crystal was moving in sync with the Lyra in terms of acceleration and deceleration.
With the appearance of air disturbances, the small crystal now floats there quietly, like those objects placed in mid-air on the Space Station.
When everyone first heard the Rhomboid Crystal say that the Small Universe Key was this thing, they were all a little surprised, but after thinking about it, they understood, because they had all learned about the creation style of the Precursor Civilization from the Rhomboid Crystal.
Many things from the Precursor Civilization, including 'Drift Bottle,' spaceships, and equipment, were designed in a rhombus shape. So it's not surprising that this Rhomboid Crystal is a key; it's just that humans are unfamiliar with such things.
The appearance of the Rhomboid Crystal is very similar to that of ordinary crystal, at least to the naked eye. It is impossible to tell what kind of technology is contained inside this fist-sized object.
To be honest, Yue Yuan thought that if this Rhomboid Crystal were thrown into a pile of ore, people might mistake it for an ordinary crystal ore.
The Drift Bottle shaped like Rhomboid Crystal has vanished, leaving humanity with a Small Universe Key shaped like a Rhomboid Crystal! The turn of events was too sudden; humanity was completely unprepared. Was this some kind of extraordinary encounter? "This Commander Yue, Commander Yue!"
For a moment, those present were somewhat taken aback, and Yue Yuan was also a little stunned, so much so that he didn't even notice the Rhomboid Crystal- shaped key slowly floating inside the Command Center.
Feeling someone poke his arm, Yue Yuan refocused his pupils on the Rhomboid Crystal. At this moment, the Rhomboid Crystal was slowly floating like an ordinary brick, and it also showed a tendency to tumble and spin.
Its change in motion is caused by the circulating airflow in the Command Center, while the tendency to rotate and tumble is due to the conservation of angular momentum.
Watching the slowly drifting Rhomboid Crystal, Yue Yuan did not rashly reach out to grab it. Instead, he signaled to the staff to use a smart Mechanical Arm to catch it and stop it from drifting aimlessly. Then, they made a suitable container to put it in.
Of course, it's fine to grab it with your hands, because the message sent by the Rhomboid Crystal said that when this Small Universe Key is not activated, its appearance is not much different from an ordinary crystal.
As the Mechanical Arm extended to grasp the object and then placed it into the transparent container, several experimental physicists were eager to try it out. However, it was clear that this thing was not for research purposes, and they had seen Rhomboid Crystal before. They knew that even with a magnifying glass, they wouldn't be able to see anything.
The technological gap is too large; humanity is aware of this.
"Chief, what's next?" A scientist hesitated, speaking to Yue Yuan while his eyes burned as he looked at the so-called Small Universe Key Rhomboid Crystal.
Yue Yuan waved his hand, turned around and faced the crowd who had been there the whole time. "Let's take a look at the star map left by the Rhomboid Crystal."
As he spoke, he pointed to the large screen inside the Command Center.
The display inside showed a simple stellar map, presumably the location of the Pioneer Small Universe within the Rhomboid Crystal. However, after looking at it for a while, everyone discovered that the map was extremely simple, containing only a handful of stars.
This will test humanity's computer skills and the depth of its understanding of the Milky Way Galaxy's cosmos.
The staff quickly recovered from the atmosphere of the Rhomboid Crystal's departure. Seeing Yue Yuan pointing to the large screen, they immediately began using a computer to compare the star map with that held by humans.
However, the result was somewhat perplexing. Through comparison, it was discovered that the location map provided by the Rhomboid Crystal did not appear to be a current star map of the Milky Way Galaxy, but rather one from Thirty Billion Years Ago. The Milky Way Galaxy Thirty Billion Years Ago was quite different from the Milky Way Galaxy today. Not only were the stars constantly moving, but the Milky Way Galaxy was also moving relatively close to the Andromeda Galaxy. If it really was a star map from Thirty Billion Years Ago, it would probably give human astronomers a real headache.
"This is truly testing our computers and our ability to grasp dynamic information about the Milky Way Galaxy!"
Upon seeing this result, everyone was inwardly screaming.
The key point is that the Rhomboid Crystal didn't specify when the star map was taken; it was just thrown away and left.
"Is it possible that this isn't a star map from Thirty Billion Years Ago, but rather a region of the stars that our Human Database doesn't cover?" an astronomer said, but as soon as he opened his mouth, he realized he seemed to have said something pointless.
Of course it's possible. After all, the Milky Way Galaxy is so vast. How could a civilization like humanity, which doesn't even have the technology to travel at the speed of light, possibly see the entire Milky Way Galaxy?
Humanity's current star map has many blind spots; the more accurate ones are only the star region where our Solar System is located and this star region that has been wandering for thousands of years.