The Road to the Sea of Stars

"Look at these burrs on the edges. Look at these inconsistencies in the carving depth."

"This isn't precision manufacturing at all. This is... this is pure hand-carving!"

The laboratory erupted in commotion.

"Hand-carved?" a young researcher exclaimed. "Are you saying someone used a carving knife to engrave a space-folding matrix onto a metal ring?"

"Exactly."

Qian Lao took a deep breath, his eyes burning with intensity.

"As unbelievable as it sounds, that's the truth. The carver's hand was steady, but it was still only the limit of human capability. The precision of these lines has errors reaching the micron level."

As he said this, Qian Lao suddenly stopped.

He spun around sharply, looking up at Lei Zhan standing on the observation platform behind him. A terrifying gleam erupted from his murky old eyes, and his voice trembled:

"Xiao Lei, do you realize what this means?"

Lei Zhan stubbed out his cigarette, frowning slightly. "It means Douluo Continent's craftsmanship is very backward?"

"No! It means our potential is limitless!!"

Qian Lao rushed up to Lei Zhan in a few steps, nearly roaring:

"This ring, with such crude manual precision, can already open up a space of ten cubic meters."

"What if we used extreme ultraviolet EUV lithography?"

"What if we replicated these array patterns using a 5-nanometer or even 3-nanometer process, or even just 28-nanometer technology?"

The entire room fell silent.

Every scientist stopped breathing.

Qian Lao spread his arms wide, as if embracing a maddening future:

"On a silicon wafer, we can integrate hundreds of millions of transistors into a single square millimeter!"

"If we shrink this spatial array down to the nanometer level, using lithography to stack and etch it billions of times..."

"What we create might not just be a ring holding a few chests of gold coins."

"It would be a mustard seed that could hold an entire fleet, or even a whole city!!"

Boom!

This insane vision struck Lei Zhan's mind like a bolt of lightning.

No one understood the terror of industrialized mass production better than he did.

A craftsman on Douluo Continent would spend months of effort and consume vast amounts of soul power to carve a single ring.

On Earth, an assembly line could produce hundreds of thousands of chips in a single day!

As long as they cracked the logic of the array, Earth's industrial capabilities would deliver a dimensionality-reducing strike against the other world.

With this technology, energy would no longer be a chokehold.

With this technology, the fuel capacity of interstellar spacecraft would no longer be a bottleneck. Mars colonization would shift from science fiction to a project timeline.

With this technology, a fleet could be folded and carried anywhere, appearing at any corner of the globe in an instant.

This was no mere ring.

This was a ticket for this generation of Earth's civilization to ascend to the next level!

Lei Zhan crushed his cigarette butt fiercely. His eyes instantly turned as sharp as a hawk's, and an aura of chilling, iron-blooded command erupted from his entire being.

The nature of this matter had changed.

This was no longer research. This was the highest secret concerning the fate of humanity.

"Pass my orders!"

Lei Zhan's voice rumbled low like thunder, exploding across the command hall:

"First, immediately initiate Project Tiangong. Set authorization to the highest level! Deploy the most reliable security forces. Implement full-spectrum, zero-blind-spot, highest-grade protection over Base Zero!"

"Second, clear the area!"

Lei Zhan's gaze swept over everyone present, his eyes like knives.

"From this moment on, the core laboratory enters Level One combat-readiness lockdown. All scientists involved in the project must be restricted to Huaxia!"

"All core researchers must sign a long-term residency agreement and temporarily refrain from leaving the country during the project period!"

"Initiate the highest-level personnel review process. We need every single member here to have a clean background and a profound understanding of the historic confidentiality responsibilities they bear!"

"YES SIR!!!"

The special operations team rushed in instantly. The heavy doors slammed shut with a boom.

After everything was arranged.

Lei Zhan walked alone to the communications console. With trembling hands, he lit a cigarette, took a deep drag, and steadied his surging emotions.

He pressed the red button that communicated with Douluo Continent.

In that moment, every busy staff officer and intelligence analyst in the command room stopped their work, rising in unison, their gazes burning as they looked toward their commander.

The connection went through.

"Zzz... zzz... 001, please respond if you receive."

Lei Zhan's voice no longer carried the cold, clipped tone he used when issuing missions. Instead, it bore an unprecedented solemnity, even a trace of tenderness barely perceptible.

From the other side of the otherworld, Su Yun's voice came through, tinged with fatigue but still teasing.

"Received, Captain Lei. How's that little gadget? Not bad, huh?"

Hearing that familiar banter, Lei Zhan's tense face finally relaxed a fraction, the corner of his mouth lifting into a proud arc.

He didn't laugh. Instead, he straightened his spine and spoke into the microphone, word by word:

"Comrade Su Yun."

"Just now, three titans from the Academy told me that the edifice of physics has collapsed. But atop those ruins, they saw a golden road leading to the sea of stars."

"What you sent back isn't just a ring."

Lei Zhan's voice grew deep and resonant, echoing through the entire command hall, striking straight into the heart:

"You have stolen the spark for Earth's civilization."

"Perhaps a hundred years from now, when humanity's fleet shuttles through the Milky Way, the first page of the textbook will record this day—and your name."

Lei Zhan took a deep breath, slowly raised his right hand, and saluted the void on the other end of the communicator with perfect precision.

"On behalf of the Special Command, on behalf of Huaxia, and on behalf of all human civilization..."

"Thank you, child."

Silence stretched from the other end for a long time.

Then came Su Yun's reply, light with laughter yet resolute:

"You flatter me, Captain Lei. This is just the beginning."

"Tell those old professors back home to keep themselves in good shape and prepare for a long haul."

"Because next..."

Su Yun's voice carried a dominance that treated all of Douluo Continent as something already in his grasp:

"This ring is just an appetizer. I'll dismantle and pack up every miracle and mystery in this world and ship them back for you to study."

Lei Zhan set down the communicator and looked out the window.

The golden sunlight spilled onto his shoulder insignia, gleaming brightly.

He turned around, his eyes like torches, his voice steady and powerful:

"Did you hear that? This ring is just an appetizer."

"Don't just stand there! Get to work!"

"Whether it's analyzing formations or simulating soul power, even if it means running every supercomputer in the country to the breaking point—I want this ring fully understood!"

"Don't keep our hero waiting too long in that other world!"

"Yes, sir!!!"

In that moment, the roar from the base was like a dragon awakening.