I Have an Idea

On the boundless, desolate sand plain, several colossal structures stood tall.

Lin Feng, led by Liang Gong, found himself inside one of them. It was an enormous Aztec-style pyramid with a flattened platform at its apex.

"Those are the dry storage facilities for the dehydrated. This pyramid here is where Mozi's machine for predicting solar movement is housed..."

The two ascended the long stone steps of the pyramid, Liang Gong's voice echoing far.

They had already seen the Foucault pendulum, the Human Computer, and other marvels. Now, they were heading to this final exhibit: an artificial model that simulated the sun's orbit through mechanical means.

After a strenuous climb to the summit, they arrived at a place resembling an observatory. In one corner of the platform sat an astronomical telescope several meters tall, accompanied by other smaller telescopes.

Besides the telescopes, there was also an armillary sphere, similar to those used in ancient China.

However, these were not what captured Lin Feng's attention the most. What truly drew his gaze was the large, two-meter-diameter bronze sphere situated at the center of the platform.

The bronze sphere rested atop a complex machine, supported by numerous gears of varying sizes.

Since no one was operating it, the gears were all stationary.

Below the machine, there was a pit. People could stand in the pit and turn a crank to power the machine above.

This was the artificial model, based on the designer's concept of a double-shelled universe.

Once, the designer had hoped to predict the sun's movement using this very model...

"The machine's designer hypothesized that the universe was a giant hollow sphere suspended in a sea of fire, with many small holes and one large hole on its surface. The light from the sea of fire would pass through these openings, becoming the stars and the sun that people on the ground see..." Liang Gong explained as they walked.

Walking around the sphere, Lin Feng asked with a hint of confusion, "What was the machine's designer thinking? With this physical model, wouldn't that mean the distances of the sun and stars must remain fixed? Didn't he consider such an obvious flaw?"

Liang Gong nodded. "That's correct. So, the designer employed a double-layered design. The sphere is divided into an inner and outer shell. The sky is on the inner shell, and the outer shell has a large hole. Light enters the space between the shells through this large hole, and through reflection and scattering, the space between the shells is filled with bright light."

"This bright light then passes through the small holes on the inner shell, becoming the stars we see. The sun is the light spot formed when the sea of fire behind the large hole on the outer shell illuminates the inner shell."

Lin Feng shook his head. "The sun sometimes appears larger and sometimes smaller, and it also becomes a wandering star. This model can't explain that."

"No, it can. The outer shell expands and contracts. The designer believed the sea of fire would provide the power for the shell's constant motion. And because the distribution of power from the sea of fire is uneven, it causes the shell to expand and contract intermittently, which is what creates the phenomenon of the sun appearing larger or smaller on the ground. Wandering stars can be explained by the dark clouds outside the sea of fire..."

Liang Gong's expression was somewhat complex as she gently stroked the cold metal shell with her slender palm.

Lin Feng felt a degree of empathy. After all, he had experienced a Chaotic Era himself and witnessed firsthand the hellish scenes of that time.

If this were just a game, he wouldn't feel much. However, this was a tangible reality, something the Trisolarans were facing.

Lin Feng pondered for a moment and said, "Actually, the problem of three suns isn't too difficult to solve."

He thought of the main quest that the game had abandoned: solving the problem of the suns.

"What do you plan to do? Do you want to be a prophet and predict the sun's movement?"

The girl in Hanfu turned her head to look at Lin Feng. She had seen too many people try to solve the problem of the suns; they either went mad, became despondent, or resigned themselves to reality.

Lin Feng shook his head. What a joke. The three-body problem alone makes my head hurt, let alone predicting it. Lin Feng's proposed solution was much more direct and brutal. He began to explain.

"I've always favored transforming nature. Man will conquer heaven. If the sun is causing me trouble, then I'll try to transform the sun itself."

"There are many possible outcomes for the three-body problem. Perhaps two of the suns will collide, or one sun might be ejected, leaving two suns in a stable system."

The movement of the three suns had predictable outcomes. Lin Feng remembered that in his previous life, someone had used a computer to simulate the three-body motion. While it couldn't achieve 100% accuracy, it could simulate about 90%.

Lin Feng had seen some of the results, such as stellar collisions or two stars forming a stable binary system, with one star being flung out like a millennium-old phlegm.

In Lin Feng's view, they could actually interfere with these outcomes and guide the results of the three-body motion towards a situation they desired.

"Why don't we try to artificially intervene in the three-body motion and guide the three-star system into becoming a stable binary system?" Lin Feng asked.

"You want to push the sun? Are you dreaming? Do you have any idea how many resources that would require?" Liang Gong retorted, speechless.

"Don't be so hasty, let me finish," Lin Feng said, holding up a hand to stop Liang Gong.

"Of course, I know that pushing a star is a fundamentally unrealistic idea, but I never said we had to 'push' it."

Moving the sun by other means? Liang Gong fell into thought.

"Then what are you planning..."

Lin Feng smiled slightly. "Utilize antimatter. By reducing the star's mass, we can then guide the three-star system to naturally eject one of the suns."

"..." Liang Gong was stunned after hearing Lin Feng's idea, then sighed and put her hand to her forehead. "I was wrong. I shouldn't have expected you to come up with any reasonable ideas."

"You're not considering the star's mass and immediately bringing up antimatter. Setting aside whether such a vast quantity of antimatter can even be produced, do you know how many times the mass of a star is greater than Earth's? Even if you turned the entire Earth into antimatter and threw it into the sun, the reduction in the sun's mass would be negligible."

Lin Feng asked back with a strange expression, "Why would you think I'd consider that? I never said we should produce antimatter using the planet's own matter. Anyone with half a brain would know you can't produce enough antimatter to throw into the sun."

"Then you... wait! Could it be..."

Liang Gong's face showed a look of shock. She was startled by Lin Feng's idea.

If not the planets, then only the stars remained!

Lin Feng explained, "The sun's nuclear fusion naturally releases antiprotons and positrons. We just need to set up a sufficiently large electric field in the sun's orbit. Then, we can use the positrons and antiprotons released by the sun to accelerate and consume the mass of one of the suns."

According to Lin Feng's plan, they would build many solar satellites. These satellites would have small cores but long metallic wires. When electricity was supplied to these wires, they would form a large net composed of electric fields.

Positrons and antiprotons are both charged particles and can be deflected by electric fields. The solar satellites could then deflect the positrons and antiprotons naturally released by the sun's nuclear fusion back onto the sun.