"Materials... materials..."
Lü Yongchang frowned deeply, murmuring under his breath.
Then he let out a deep sigh.
Ever since humanity became a level two civilization, carbyne had been the primary material used to build starship hulls.
Research into new materials had never stopped.
Yet even now, carbyne remained the strongest substance humanity could manufacture.
As elements in the same group, silicon and carbon shared many similarities.
However, carbon-carbon bonds were shorter than silicon-silicon bonds.
That meant even if so-called silicyne existed, its strength could never exceed that of carbyne.
Of course, stronger substances did exist in the universe.
Materials held together by the strong nuclear force.
Neutron stars, for example.
Under their immense gravity, even atoms were crushed completely. Electrons outside the atomic nuclei were forced into them, combining with protons to form neutrons.
As a result, neutron stars had no atoms or molecules to speak of.
Neutron star matter, composed of neutrons, reached extraordinary heights in both density and strength.
Did you think that was the end of it?
Of course not.
There were also quark stars, which remained theoretical and had yet to be observed.
Their even greater gravity crushed neutrons themselves, releasing the quarks within.
Macroscopic matter composed directly of quarks far surpassed even neutron star matter in strength and density.
Of course, with humanity's current technology, such seemingly mythical materials were well beyond reach.
Never mind extracting neutron star matter intact and preserving its original state-human civilization could not even approach a neutron star.
Lü Yongchang shook his head helplessly, reining in his wandering thoughts.
"Professor, Academician Fang Xu is requesting a call."
Zero's synthesized voice suddenly rang out in the quiet office. "Would you like to connect?"
Lü Yongchang had a fairly good idea of why Fang Xu was calling.
After a moment's consideration, he