"Ah! Bastards, bastards, so that's how it is, so that's how it is. These beasts dared to play me! When I become powerful, I'll make you wish you were dead!" Li Shun roared in fury.
"Your Majesty, the other path isn't as high-ranking as this one, so it might not even know the situation here."
"I've waited tens of thousands of years for nothing to dare come here! Wei Kaiyuan, have all the fleets charge in and destroy everything inside! No, a hundred billion ships are enough! They don't have tens of thousands of warships. Break in from all directions and surround them! Don't let a single warship or a single person escape!"
"Sir, this won't come out and cause us any harm, will it?"
"Don't worry, these beasts can only sense other beasts. The space within the Matter River is stable; even if we wreak havoc inside, it won't affect the fourth dimension."
Ten billion disc-shaped warships quickly dispersed to both the upper and lower sides of the Matter River, sealing off the danger zone from all directions. It was impossible for the Reaper to escape from such a massive and dense fleet encirclement.
"Academician, are you our Reaper?"
Chen Peng and Li Zhixiong looked at the rusty Reaper in front of them and asked, " The Reaper has lost its Reversed State Armor, revealing the last layer of alloy armor underneath. Moreover, the alloy armor is already rotten and decayed. Even if the Reaper doesn't have the Reversed State Armor, it won't decay at all even if it's stored in the universe for tens of thousands of years."
"This is indeed our Reaper," Academician Zeng affirmed.
"How could it have changed so much in just 300 years? What happened to its Reversed State Armor?"
"General Chen Peng, although the Reversed State Armor is very powerful, it cannot defy the laws of the universe. It will decay over time," said Academician Li Youwei, who was standing nearby.
" Academician Li, but that's only been 300 years."
"We have 300 years here, but the Reaper ' timeline spans 5 billion years."
"What? 5 billion years? Academician Zeng, this... this is impossible! Is something wrong?"
"Absolutely not. This situation was within our consideration, so we used multiple methods to calculate the time, and all the results were consistent. It has indeed taken 5 billion years, which is why it looks the way it does now."
"Academician, I still don't understand, what exactly is going on?"
"This danger zone is actually a Secondary Universe. I know you probably don't understand what I'm saying, but let me think... Sweet Potato knows, right?"
"Of course I know, stir-fried sweet potato leaves are my and Zhuge Xiong's favorite."
"Our three-dimensional universe is like a sweet potato. The vine that gave rise to our universe also produced a stunted little sweet potato next to it, which is now the danger zone. We pondered this for millennia and concluded that this possibility was very high, so we arranged for the Reaper to travel around the universe."
"I originally thought this Secondary Universe would be too vast for the Reaper to sustain, but thankfully, in a few hundred thousand years, the Reaper will have completely decayed into scrap metal."
"Academician, please speak slower, my brain can't keep up anymore, and Zhuge Xiong is about to crash too."
"Haha, it's nothing really. Just think of it as another universe. The connection between this universe and our three-dimensional universe is in this Matter River. So there are several dangerous areas in the Matter River. Once you enter the Secondary Universe, you will get lost. Not only that, our four-dimensional channels cannot be used in this universe. It's possible that there is some kind of Space Barrier between the two universes."
"Then why are the times different?"
"As I just said, the Secondary Universe is like an underdeveloped sweet potato. Its physical rules, time, space, and so on are the same as the macrocosm, but also completely different."
"I still don't quite understand. Our small spaceship has entered the danger zone many times without these problems occurring."
"Actually, I don't understand any more of it. The Secondary Universe is just a guess on our part. The only way to explain all this is for us to personally enter the danger zone, find out what's special about it, and most importantly, find out about the legendary defense system."
"What, enter the danger zone? No, no! The general has ordered that absolutely no manned aircraft are allowed to enter the danger zone. We've already disobeyed orders by Reaper go in for the academicians to study them."
"When a general is in the field, he may disobey the emperor's orders. The general was unaware of the specific situation of the Matter River, which is why he gave you this order. Now we have found a way to return from the danger zone; once you enter the danger zone, you will naturally be able to get out."
"That won't do either, Academician. The Reaper will only return in 5 billion years. Academician Xiao said that our lifespan is only about a million years now. In 5 billion years, there will be nothing left. Besides, you said that the various rules inside are different from the three-dimensional universe. What if there are organisms that don't fit the rules? How can we explain this to the general and the people?" Chen Peng firmly objected.
Chen Peng said, "Yes, Academician, the situation inside is still unclear, you cannot go in."
"Sigh, you two, don't you understand the current situation our fleet is in? The Zerg swarm is watching us closely, and a large-scale invasion could happen at any moment. What are we here for? Isn't it to make our fleet stronger? The truth is right before our eyes. If we give up halfway, we'll be letting down the general and the people."
"General Chen Peng, General Li Zhixiong, if the general pursues the matter afterward, we will take responsibility," Academician Liu Bo was standing nearby, also advised the two.
"Yes, we'll take responsibility, and we absolutely won't implicate you two," the academicians echoed. Having finally made a breakthrough, these academicians would absolutely not be satisfied if they didn't enter the danger zone now.
"It's not that we're afraid of taking responsibility. If possible, Chen Peng and I will go in, and you can stay outside. Is that alright? We'll do whatever you say."
"There is a sequence to learning, and everyone has their own area of expertise. These are things that only we can do. You can stay outside and keep watch against Li Shun."
"That won't do either. We must ensure your safety."
"We have to do it, even if it's not feasible!" Academician Zeng suddenly became stern. "Safety? What good will our safety do? Have you thought about our people? Without technological support, how will hundreds of billions of people survive in the future? If we don't go into the danger zone, even hundreds of thousands of years of normal scientific research might not yield major breakthroughs. Do you think the insect swarm will give us that much time? It doesn't matter if we die; new scientists will quickly take our place. But if we don't advance our technology in a short time, who will guarantee the safety of the people?"
"If the fleet is destroyed due to insufficient technology, you two will be traitors to the Chinese Nation. Even if we manage to escape in a panic, how will we explain to the people and to the leader? Technology is within our grasp now. If we don't fight for it, what's the point of us coming to the Matter River? You two, think it over carefully."
"Well... okay, I agree," Chen Peng said helplessly.
"And you, Little Zhuge?"
" Chen Peng, well, fine, I agree to die. But fellow academicians, you must follow our orders during operations in the danger zone."
"That's more like it. You all know I'm not used to playing the villain."