585 Times the Speed of Light

The personnel aboard the test frigate were extremely nervous. After all, this was the first test. If anything went wrong, they would all be finished.

"Beep beep... Beginning test. Target: Earth orbit."

"Yes, coordinates entered. Energy is being fed into the warp drive engine!"

"Warp drive engine activated. Ready to warp at any time!"

"Beep beep... Warp!"

"Understood. Warping!"

The pilot looked at his right hand gripping the warp lever, gritted his teeth, and yanked it down!

At that moment, everyone observing from the research ship saw the warship suddenly distort, then vanish in an instant.

"Quick, check the data!"

"Yes, Elder Bai!"

The experts immediately got busy.

"Elder Bai, Earth has confirmed the arrival of the test ship. The test ship's exterior is completely intact!"

"What? That fast? Contact the test ship immediately and have them report the onboard timer."

"Understood!"

At the same time, in Earth orbit, the crew on the test ship's bridge were collectively dumbfounded, especially the pilot.

Damn, I only blinked unconsciously when I pulled the warp lever. When I opened my eyes again, Earth was right in front of me? Two hundred million kilometers, and it only took the time of a blink?

"Beep beep... Test ship, please respond. Test ship, please respond."

"This is the test ship. We have arrived in Earth orbit. All personnel are unharmed!"

"Good, excellent! Check the warp data collector installed on the bridge immediately. What number does it show?"

"The number on it is 1.14!"

"What? 1.14? Are you sure you didn't read it wrong?"

"Reporting in, there is absolutely no mistake. It is indeed 1.14!"

The crew did not understand what that 1.14 meant, but the experts aboard the research ship near Mars erupted into chaos.

1.14 seconds—that was the record for the entire warp. The current distance from Mars to Earth was two hundred million kilometers. What did 1.14 seconds represent?

585 times the speed of light! The Star Path was only three times the speed of light. This had increased humanity's interstellar travel speed by nearly two hundred times, and it could ignore the Star Path entirely, allowing direct warps from anywhere.

"Elder Bai, what exactly does this mean? What does 1.14 mean?"

Lin Zhen looked at the hundreds of experts, who seemed to have gone mad, and could not help asking Elder Bai.

"President Lin, 1.14 seconds! The distance from Mars to Earth is currently two hundred million kilometers. It took you several days to travel here this time, right? Yet our test ship just crossed two hundred million kilometers in merely 1.14 seconds. Do you know what kind of speed that is? 585 times the speed of light! Hahaha!"

Lin Zhen was stunned. He had just traveled from Earth to Mars himself, and it had taken more than three full days.

Yet Bai Zixuan was telling him that the test ship had taken only 1.14 seconds? At 585 times the speed of light?

At that moment, he finally understood why the hundreds of experts before him had become so crazed!

"Elder Bai, when can this warp drive engine be mass-produced and installed throughout the fleet?"

Liang Xingchen was just as anxious as Lin Zhen. What concerned him was when the fleet could be equipped with it, but the moment he asked, Bai Zixuan shot him a glare!

"What are you thinking, kid? Do you think testing new equipment once means it's done? Can that ensure its safety? Let me tell you, it needs to be tested at least ten thousand times before we can confirm whether its safety standards are met and whether it can be mass-produced. Only then can it be installed. Don't even think about it taking less than two or three years!"

"Uh, it's fine, it's fine. We have seven years now. We can afford to wait two or three years."

When Liang Xingchen heard Bai Zixuan say it would take at least two or three years, he was somewhat disappointed. But then he remembered that they currently had seven years of truce time, so waiting two or three years was acceptable.

Unfortunately, Lin Fan beside them did not see it that way. After all, the system had already warned him that war would resume in no more than a year.

Half an hour later, under Bai Zixuan's orders, the test ship warped again and returned to Mars. The time was still 1.14 seconds.

This allowed all the experts to finally confirm that the first-generation warp drive engine had a speed of 585 times the speed of light.

It was a terrifying speed. For example, the Solar System was roughly 4.22 light-years from the Proxima Star System. At the Federation's speed of 3,000 kilometers per second, the journey would take around a thousand years.

If one traveled through the Star Path, it would take roughly seventeen months.

But now, with the warp drive engine operating at 585 times the speed of light, the journey would take less than three days. What an enormous improvement that was!

Whether in civilian or military fields, the warp drive engine would bring explosive development to humanity.

The results of this test gave the Federation's upper ranks immense confidence. Lin Zhen had already decided that once he returned, he would gather all his advisers and make major revisions to future policies. Many things they had previously not dared to consider or attempt could now be brought up for discussion again.

After the initial experiment ended, Bai Zixuan immediately led his people into producing new warp drive engines. This time, they would manufacture ten at once to speed up testing.

Although Bai Zixuan had mocked Liang Xingchen like that, he was actually even more anxious. The moment he returned, he immediately began work, striving to complete the safety testing within a year.

Half a month later, ten new warp drive engines were completed. Liang Xingchen was also highly cooperative, directly assigning Bai Zixuan another battlecruiser, one carrier, three cruisers, three destroyers, and two frigates to conduct full testing across every ship type.

Although progress on the warp drive engine was extremely encouraging, the energy shield project had run into some trouble.

The complete set of technology was already available, so why was it still troublesome? Because the energy supply could not keep up. Maintaining the shield consumed a massive amount of energy, while the energy provided by current warship nuclear reactors could not even match the shield's ongoing consumption.

Simply put, the recharge rate was slower than the consumption rate. So after the shield had been active for a while, it could no longer be sustained because it could not recharge fast enough.

That was under normal conditions. In battle, energy was required not only to maintain the shield, but also to withstand attacks. With current nuclear reactors, it was even more impossible.

As for nuclear fusion reactors, sorry, even after fifty-eight years of the Federation, they still could not produce them. The key technologies remained impossible to break through.

Lin Fan, however, was not concerned with any of that. At that moment, he was in his room, hugging his future first wife.

"Have you hugged me enough? I still have things to deal with. Let go already!"

"I can let go, sure. Here."

Lin Fan pointed at his mouth as he spoke to Liang Xue.

"You—mm... mm!"

Unfortunately, before she could finish speaking, Lin Fan sealed her lips.

Liang Xue's eyes immediately widened in disbelief, and she pushed Lin Fan a few times.

But what kind of physique did Lin Fan possess? How could a body strengthened by genetic enhancement serum possibly be moved by Liang Xue? Before long, Liang Xue's hands drooped helplessly at her sides.

Only after two minutes did Lin Fan finally let her go. By then, Liang Xue's face had turned completely red, and she immediately spun around and fled the room.

"She's so adorable!"

Watching Liang Xue flee in panic, Lin Fan could not help smiling.