"Look at these burrs along the edges. Look at the uneven depth and variations in the engraved lines."
"This isn't precision manufacturing at all. This is... this is all carved by hand!"
The laboratory erupted in an uproar.
"By hand?" a young researcher exclaimed. "You mean someone used a carving knife to engrave a matrix capable of folding space onto a metal ring?"
"Exactly."
Qian Lao drew a deep breath, his eyes burning with excitement.
"Hard as it is to believe, that's the truth. The engraver had a steady hand, but only as steady as a human hand could be. These patterns were engraved with an accuracy down to the micron."
At that, Qian Lao suddenly fell silent.
He whipped around to face Lei Zhan, who was standing on the observation platform behind him. A startling gleam flashed in the old man's cloudy eyes, and his voice trembled:
"Xiao Lei, do you realize what this means?"
Lei Zhan stubbed out his cigarette and furrowed his brow. "That the craftsmanship of Douluo Continent is far behind ours?"
"No! It means our potential is limitless!!"
Qian Lao rushed up to Lei Zhan and shouted, almost roaring:
"This ring can open up ten cubic meters of space despite the appallingly crude precision of its hand-carved patterns."
"What if we used an extreme ultraviolet EUV lithography machine?"
"What if we used five-nanometer or even three-nanometer process technology—or even 28-nanometer technology—to reproduce these array patterns?"
The room fell utterly silent.
Every scientist stopped breathing.
Qian Lao spread his arms, as if embracing a crazy future:
"On a silicon wafer, we can integrate hundreds of millions of transistors into a single square millimeter!"
"If we shrink this kind of spatial array down to the nanometer scale, then use lithography machines to stack and etch it billions of times..."
"What we make might not be a ring that holds a few chests of gold coins."
"It could be a Sumeru mustard seed capable of holding an entire squadron—or even a whole city!!"
Boom!
The crazy idea struck Lei Zhan's mind like a bolt of lightning.
He understood better than anyone the terrifying power of industrial mass production.
A craftsman on Douluo Continent needed months of painstaking work and a great deal of Soul Power to carve a single ring.
Meanwhile, Earth's assembly lines could produce hundreds of thousands of chips a day!
Once they cracked the logic of the arrays, Earth's industrial might would overwhelm the other world with a higher dimension of technology!
With this technology, they would no longer be choked by energy limitations.
With this technology, the fuel capacity of interstellar spacecraft would no longer be a bottleneck, and the colonization of Mars would go from science fiction to a project on the schedule.
With this technology, fleets could be folded up and transported at will, appearing anywhere on the planet.
How could this be just a ring?
It was a ticket for this generation of Earth's civilization to enter the next level!
Lei Zhan abruptly stubbed out his cigarette. His eyes turned as sharp as a hawk's, and a fearsome, battle-hardened aura burst from him.
The nature of the situation had changed.
This was no longer research. It was top-secret information that concerned the fate of humanity.
"Take my orders!"
Lei Zhan's voice boomed through the command center:
"First, activate Project Tiangong immediately and raise its clearance to the highest level! Send in our most reliable security forces and place Base Zero under the highest level of protection, with no blind spots!"
"Second, clear the room!"
Lei Zhan swept his gaze over everyone present, his eyes like knives.
"From this moment on, the core laboratory is under a Level One security lockdown. All scientists involved in the project must remain in Huaxia!"
"All core research personnel must sign a long-term residency agreement. They are not to leave the country during the project!"
"Start the highest-level personnel vetting procedure. Every member here needs a clear background and a deep understanding of the historic responsibility they bear to keep this secret!"
"Yes, sir!!!"
The special operations team rushed in, and the doors slammed shut.
Once all the arrangements were in place,
Lei Zhan walked alone to the communications console. His hands trembling, he lit a cigarette and took a deep drag, steadying his turbulent emotions.
He pressed the red button that connected them to Douluo Continent.
At that moment, every busy staff officer and intelligence operative in the command room stopped what they were doing and rose as one, their eyes fixed on their commander.
The call connected.
"Zzt... zzt... 001, respond if you read me."
Lei Zhan's voice was no longer as cold and clipped as it had been when issuing missions. Instead, it carried a solemnity unlike anything they had heard before, even a hint of warmth he could barely hide.
From the other world came Su Yun's slightly tired but still teasing voice.
"Copy, Captain Lei. How's the little thing? Not bad, huh?"
Hearing that familiar teasing, the tension in Lei Zhan's face finally eased a little, and a proud smile tugged at his lips.
He didn't smile. Instead, he straightened his back and spoke into the microphone, every word deliberate:
"Comrade Su Yun."
"Just now, three leading figures from the Academy of Sciences told me that the edifice of physics had collapsed. But amid the ruins, they saw a golden road leading to the Starry Sea."
"What you sent back wasn't just a ring."
Lei Zhan's voice turned deep and resonant, echoing through the entire command center and striking everyone to the core:
"You brought the Core Flame back for Earth's civilization."
"Perhaps a hundred years from now, when humanity's fleet is traveling through the Milky Way, the first page of our textbooks will bear today's date—and your name."
Lei Zhan drew a deep breath and slowly raised his right hand, saluting the empty space on the other end of the communicator with perfect precision.
"On behalf of Special Command, Huaxia, and all of human civilization..."
"Thank you, son."
There was a long silence on the other end of the call.
Then Su Yun replied softly, his voice edged with a smile but utterly firm:
"You're giving me too much credit, Captain Lei. This is only the beginning."
"Tell the old professors back home to keep themselves in good shape and get ready for a long fight."
"Because from here on..."
Su Yun's voice brimmed with the confidence of someone who considered all of Douluo Continent within his grasp:
"This ring is just an appetizer. I'll take apart and pack up every wonder and secret in this world, and bring them back for you to study."
Lei Zhan lowered the communicator and looked out the window.
Golden sunlight spilled across his shoulder insignia, making it gleam.
He turned around, eyes blazing, and spoke in a steady, forceful voice:
"You heard him. This ring is just an appetizer."
"Don't just stand there! Get to work!"
"Whether you're analyzing the arrays or simulating Soul Power, even if it means burning out every supercomputer in the country, you're going to figure this ring out!"
"Don't keep our hero waiting too long in another world!"
"Yes, sir!!!"
At that moment, the roar from the base sounded like a dragon waking up.
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