A Thrilling Discovery
The universe is indeed vast, a fact that humans, having reached Level 4 Civilization, feel even more acutely.
Even with such advanced interstellar travel capabilities, after traveling hundreds of light-years, they still haven't discovered any Life Planet, let alone encountered any other Alien Civilization.
Sometimes, humanity began to suspect that the numerous encounters with Alien Civilization were deliberately arranged by the Awakener 'Illusion''. Now, however, humanity believed that the Awakener 'Illusion'', was probably still busy with the war against the Harvesters and had no time to keep an eye on Human Civilization. Therefore, humanity no longer encountered Alien Civilization as frequently as before, as if it had been orchestrated.
The Awakener 'Illusion'' is no longer staring at them, which is something humans guessed correctly, but they were wrong about the war between the Awakeners and the Harvesters.
Since there is no relevant information, it is normal to guess wrong. Of course, humans do not know this yet; they still think the war will last for tens of thousands of years.
Humanity remains on its Starry Road, generally heading towards the end of the Orion Arm, though its exact destination is unknown. Throughout this time, however, humanity has not given up observing the vast Galaxy; that glimmer of hope has not been relinquished.
During Warp Speed Travel, due to the faster-than-light speed, it is indeed difficult to observe the Galaxy and stars through the light in outer space. Therefore, every time they stop to resupply, astronomers eagerly deploy their Sky Survey Telescope Array and then observe the stars.
There are two purposes. First, to determine one's position within the Milky Way Galaxy. This is crucial, as a slight misstep while navigating the stars can lead to getting lost in the vast expanse of space. Therefore, each stop is for positioning and correcting the course. Second, to observe and locate the star map provided by the Precursor in the Rhomboid Crystal Drift Bottle. This is something humanity has consistently pursued for countless years without ever giving up.
This persistent astronomical observation over the years finally led to a delightful discovery one day.
Well, one day. Although individuals can now stay awake for a month or two without sleeping, the units of time we use are still based on the Earth Era concept. Firstly, human society is used to these units, and secondly, changing the units of time doesn't really affect scientific research itself; it only causes unnecessary confusion for human society.
Today is the last day for humanity to replenish resources and prepare to once again set foot on the star map. Relevant departments are already urging astronomical departments to quickly put away the Sky Survey Telescope Array. However, astronomers seem to be suffering from procrastination, delaying the task for half a day.
So, when the Sky Survey Telescope Array rotated to a certain direction in the sky, they discovered several stars that seemed to resemble those shown on the star map.
The reason we say it's somewhat similar rather than definitively similar is due to the perspective of observation. The methods humans use for positioning during interstellar travel are still the same as before: familiar celestial bodies and constellations are used to determine their location.
After venturing into space, Pulsar positioning is no longer practical because humans no longer stay in a fixed place like Earth. So, although Pulsar are very stable, their two-axis pulses, which are like a starlight flashlight, cannot always sweep across the area where humans are located.
So, after humans changed their position, some Pulsar that were originally visible through Sky Survey Telescope Array became invisible, while others Pulsar were previously invisible were also visible.
In this scenario, humans first determine the direction of the Galactic Center to ascertain their approximate location. Then, by observing the stars, they locate familiar constellations and compare their current position with observations from their previous location to pinpoint their current location.
So when astronomers discovered that the combination of stars in a certain part of the night sky was somewhat similar to the star map provided by the Precursor Rhomboid Crystal Drift Bottle, they were immediately filled with great joy and anticipation. They compared the observed night sky with the previous night sky, and then, with the help of Strong Artificial Intelligence, transformed the night sky observed from the current location of humans into a 3D star map.
Next, they pulled up the star map given by the Precursor for comparison.
The star charts provided by the Precursor were certainly not parchment or flat drawings, but advanced 3D images that could be rotated and viewed from various angles. The reason why astronomers convert their observed night sky into 3D images is to match them with the Precursor's star charts.
This comparison, however, made them burst into excitement.
"Found it! Found it! The location on the star chart, it must be here, it must be here, it's definitely here!" an astronomer shouted excitedly.
Just now, it thought that only the number and position of stars matched, but the types of stars did not. However, after its colleagues added the factor of "time" into the cosmological evolution model, the two star maps matched. Although it was not a perfect match, the slight difference was within the allowable range of observational error. Moreover, human theories of cosmological evolution and Stellar Evolution are not necessarily correct in every way, and it is normal for some deviations to occur.
The news quickly reached the highest levels of humanity.
Finding the location shown on the star map would be a significant event, as everyone knows it represents a Small Universe left behind by the Precursor within the Milky Way Galaxy. The Rhomboid Crystal Drift Bottle has already indicated that it is what the Precursor left for the New Generation Civilization in the Milky Way Galaxy.
The things left behind by a civilization capable of embarking on the Great Voyage must be valuable, and humanity cannot afford to miss them, especially after receiving what the Awakeners gave us. Humanity is even more eager to see what the Precursor left behind.
Perhaps, like the Awakeners, they left their Characteristic Technology creations in the Milky Way Galaxy. And what was the Precursor's Characteristic Technology? Quantum Macro Tunneling! If humanity were to obtain that thing, combined with the Consciousness Link System provided by the Awakeners, while it might not be enough to fight across civilization levels, they would be absolutely invincible against civilizations of the same level.
Of course, this is just human speculation. What's inside the Pioneer Small Universe will only be known after they've entered it. Besides, three billion years have passed; perhaps the things inside have already decayed under the erosion of time.
However, as long as there is hope, humanity does not want to give up.
However, when they saw the exact location of the star map, everyone was dumbfounded.
The reason is simple: the star map is located in the Perseus Arm, while the arm where humans are currently located is called the Orion Arm, which is a branch of the Centaurus Arm.
In other words, humans must navigate across spiral arms to reach their destination.
Crossing a spiral arm was something humans wouldn't have dared to dream of before. Even now, with Warp Speed Travel at 10.079 times the Warp light, it's impossible to cross a spiral arm in one go because the Void between the two arms is so vast that it's impossible to cross it in one go without resupply.
So, if humanity wants to reach the location indicated on the star map, there are two paths. One is to head towards the center of the Milky Way Galaxy, then circle around to the Perseus Arm once the Galactic Disk is near the center, and then return from the Perseus Arm. The other is to find a region where the two arms are closest to each other, and then follow the Star Path there, crossing over the stars one by one.
The Void between the spiral arms is not entirely empty; there are stars between them, only the distance between them is extremely vast.
The good news is that humans have calculated that the destination of the star chart is on the opposite side of the spiral arm where they are currently located, which is also on the edge.
If you can cross the spiral arm, you can reach it directly.