The Balance Sheet

65 million years ago, Venus.

Three years after the Saturn Superlight Wave Power Station caused the Sedna satellite to explode, a massive ice cluster nearly a million kilometers in diameter, centered on Saturn, began orbiting the Sun, slowly approaching the line connecting Regulus and the Sun.

Jupiter's orbital speed was faster than Saturn's, and it was catching up from behind. A spectacular celestial event, occurring once in a thousand years, was about to happen: Jupiter, Saturn, and the Sun, along with Regulus, which most strongly blocked Superluminal waves and thus had the greatest impact on solar activity, would align.

Could the co-planar stars and giant planets blocking Superluminal waves truly affect activities like sunspots and solar flares? After years of observation, Venusian scientists had conducted numerous verifications and were certain it was true.

Did Superluminal waves, with their extremely high speed, long wavelength, and ability to carry immense energy, truly exist? The Superlight Wave Power Stations on Venus's Tower Island and Sedna satellite were the best proof, and of course, they were real.

The gravitational force a planet experienced depended on the intensity of the energy it displaced. If the environmental energy intensity around a planet remained constant, its orbital and rotational movements would also remain stable.

If a planet in the stable structure of the Solar System, such as Saturn, suddenly increased in size, becoming enveloped by a massive ice cluster, causing a drastic change in its blockage of Superluminal waves, would the orbital and rotational speeds of other planets also change?

Venusian scientists did not know the answer.

Nikola Tesla's theory of gravity suggested that change was inevitable. Saturn's massive ice cluster acted like a lens, focusing the diffracted Superluminal waves onto Jupiter.

Jupiter absorbed more Superluminal wave energy, disrupting the energy balance and triggering more intense internal nuclear reactions. The energy it emitted increased, causing its acceleration towards the Sun to grow, thus speeding up its orbital velocity, tightening its orbit, and gradually drawing it closer to the Sun.

Even if Nikola Tesla's theory of gravity was correct, would this four-star alignment event have a direct and significant impact on Venus?

As Saturn and Jupiter gradually aligned with Regulus, the effects that the Venusian scientists, including Tesla himself, least wanted to see began to occur slowly.

Observations revealed that almost every day, a newly formed sunspot on the Sun's surface was directly facing Venus, while Mercury, Earth, and Mars did not exhibit this phenomenon.

Dean Abbott pointed to the sunspot observation data from the past month and asked Tesla:

"Nikola, observations show that only the alignment of giant planets can induce larger new sunspots. Venus's own blockage couldn't possibly have such a significant impact. Why are the new sunspots always facing Venus?"

Nikola Tesla connected to his external brain via a Lightning Ball. After a moment, he found the answer and said to Abbott with a dejected expression:

"It's a simple geometric problem that we overlooked. The ratio of Saturn's distance to the Sun to Venus's distance to the Sun is exactly equal to the ratio of the wavelength of Superluminal waves to Venus's diameter. Saturn's massive ice cluster acts like a large lens, and Venus happens to be at the focal point."

Abbott instantly understood the principle and exclaimed, "Superluminal waves diffract from the Saturnian lens and are completely blocked at the focal point on Venus, creating an energy void in the Sun's relative position. This explains why the giant sunspots are always facing Venus."

Dean Abbott was a rigorous scientist. For decades, to verify Nikola Tesla's Superluminal Wave Theory, he had meticulously studied the relationships between the major planets and solar activity, as well as seemingly strange correlated events. He recalled a bizarre phenomenon he had observed earlier and asked:

"Giant sunspots produce intense solar flares. If the outward solar wind directly hits Venus or Earth, it can slow down their rotational speeds."

Nikola Tesla looked at his learned and wise old friend and said helplessly:

"The continuous alignment of new sunspots with Venus will significantly reduce the energy intensity displaced by Venus, causing its rotational speed to slow down abruptly."

The Venus where Nikola Tesla lived had a rotational period of about 24 hours, almost identical to Earth and Mars.

Venus had a population of approximately 6 billion, 40% of whom had religious beliefs, while 99% believed in science, or at least in the common sense derived from their experiences.

Common sense was shattered; the interval between sunrise and sunset grew longer and longer.

The changes in Venus's landscape caused by the Tower Island power station – rising plateaus, receding oceans, air pollution, and food shortages – had already instilled a collective panic in Venusians.

However, most people didn't consider it a major problem, at least not an urgent reason to flee Venus. But the slowing of time each day truly began to instill fear.

The Venus Alliance government, in order to maintain social stability, downplayed the crises Venus had faced as much as possible. However, this time was different; the slowing of Venus's rotation was something everyone could personally feel.

The diurnal temperature difference began to increase, with days becoming hotter and nights colder. Panic spread among people, and more and more individuals had to admit that it was time to consider fleeing Venus.

Little Cynthia's mother, Vinu, had not violated Venusian law and was therefore not exiled; she had voluntarily accompanied the exiled clone, Little Cynthia, to Earth. Last month, she returned to Venus's small fishing village to visit her husband, Brahma.

With Venus's rotation slowing and the diurnal temperature difference widening, icy winds howled in the early morning hours, and the outdoor temperature dropped to over -40 degrees Celsius, an abnormal cold. Vinu urged her husband to leave Venus with her and go to Earth to be with Little Cynthia.

The couple packed their belongings and made their way to the spaceship launch site. The spacious, empty hall was crowded with people, and shouts could be heard intermittently: "To Mars! To Earth! Anywhere, as long as we can escape Venus quickly."

Vinu was informed that the passenger ship she was booked on, which traveled between Venus and Earth, had been requisitioned by the Alliance government. All existing civilian flight schedules from Venus to Earth and Mars had been canceled.

Vinu was close to tears. She worried not only about her and her husband's situation but also about Little Cynthia on Earth, who would be heartbroken if she couldn't see her mother. Brahma comforted his wife while shielding her as they squeezed out of the hall.

It was late, and the cold, long night was approaching. The couple decided to find a small inn in the city to stay for the night before returning to their fishing village the next day.

The residents' electricity usage in the city was rationed, and the streetlights were out. Outside the window of the small inn, it was pitch black. In the dimly lit room, the couple huddled closely together.

Vinu hugged her husband tightly, "My dear, it's so dark, I'm scared. Hold me tight, I'm cold."

Brahma gently stroked Vinu's hair and murmured, "My dear, don't be afraid! I'm here. My dear, I'll always be with you."

Faced with such a significant change, Vinu felt an unprecedented sense of sorrow and helplessness welling up inside her. She opened her old, low-power computer and accessed a well-known social platform.

The social platform was in an uproar, with people asking for help, cursing, and discussing ways to escape Venus. Brahma leaned over and pointed to a comment:

"Vinu, look at this. They say these so-called scientists have ruined us. Curiosity is inherently driven by greed, and it will ultimately harm all of us Venusians."

Vinu and her husband continued the conversation, exchanging words and expressing the pent-up resentment in their hearts. Vinu thought of Little Cynthia, far away on Earth, and her blood rushed to her head. She, a former accountant, quickly typed out her post:

Venusian Balance Sheet

We Venusians have created a glorious civilization and are now about to pay a terrible price for it.

We firmly believed in science, discovered its laws, and thereby greatly satisfied our desires and curiosity.

But in the face of nature's immense power, we humans are so insignificant and overconfident.

Venus was once our beautiful home. The electricity demands of Artificial Intelligence Large Models, like a gaping maw, are dragging Venus into an eternal abyss.

Scientists I know have told me that Jupiter is approaching the Sun, and Mars and Earth are no longer safe havens.

Are we humans ignorant, or do we love knowledge too much? The price is the destruction of Venus, and even the entire Solar System!

Isn't it said that for every debit, there's a credit, and assets and liabilities always balance?

On the path of exploring and transforming nature, we have won monument after monument.

But what have we gained from this endless so-called progress? And what have we lost?

Will we only receive a balanced but completely zeroed-out balance sheet when humanity is destroyed and the Solar System collapses?

When the judgment of fate arrives, who can we still count on? Will we still believe in miracles?

&

Poem Compiled from Chapter Sentences:

Intermittent sounds follow the intermittent wind. Tang, Zhao Gu

Four stars shine brightly in the Purple Palace. Song, Su Shi

Waves ripple across the vast universe. Song, Wang Anshi

Then, a boy rows leisurely on the vast waves. Tang, Liu Yuxi