Chapter 1524 - An Unknown Space (2/2)
“The drone has observed a boundary, which is non-physical, non-obstructive, and non-exclusion. But within and outside this boundary, the observed universe is different,” explained the drone cluster consciousness. “One drone is inside the boundary while the other is outside looking at the same direction, and so they have confirmed the existence of this phenomenon.”
“Is there a different universe?” Hao Ren frowned. “How is it possible?”
“All celestial bodies are out of position, and light does not travel in a continuous space on a macroscopic scale. The boundary is crossable, but there is a broad ‘warp-jump zone’ between the two distinct spaces. Space is discontinuous.”
Hao Ren scratched his jaw. “What do you think could have caused this?”
“By comparing the starlight observed on both sides of the boundary, we know a vast space has gone missing. The misalignment of space has caused the observable jittering phenomenon when traveling through this horizon. Even if the physical distance between the two observation points is only a few hundred meters apart, the two observation positions will see the same object as if they were looking from two positions that are a few million light years apart. When the drone that remains outside the horizon observes the other drone crossing the horizon, there is a momentary loss of contact between the two. When the contact finally reestablishes, the distance between them is already millions of light years. The spatial distortion has rendered the measurement inaccurate, and it is impossible to determine the size of lost space.”
Nangong Sanba scratched his head. “I don’t get what you say.”
Nangong Sanba had ridiculed his sister for not studying hard enough when she was little just two days ago. Now, Nangong Wuyue found a chance to mock him back. “My stupid brother, I do not understand too.”
Lily suddenly looked at Nangong Wuyue in disdain. A salted fish is still a salted fish, matter how many times it flips, she thought to herself.
Hao Ren understood that not everyone was a Peking University graduate like Lily or had a database in the head like him. So, he explained in layman term, “This is like a blank sheet of paper, on which there is a drawing. When we cut and take out the middle section of the paper and then join the remaining together, the drawing will become misaligned. We can see this misalignment in the three-dimensional space and accurately measure the size of the missing part. But what if a bug that lives in a two-dimensional space is crawling on the paper, it will only find that it has suddenly entered into a new world as it crawls forward. Space is not continuous here. This situation is what we experienced right now. The difference is that insects cannot observe three-dimensional structure, but we can control higher dimensions with technology.”
The MDT echoed. “See? Buddy does not only know about explosives. He knows non-explosive stuff too.”
Everyone was struck dumb.
Hao Ren buried his face his hand, tucked the MDT in his pocket, and continued to interact with the drone cluster consciousness. “Aside from this boundary, what else is there in the target galaxy?”
“Probe 2 has made random warp jumps after arriving at the target galaxy. It has found some unknown high-energy matter.”
As the voice of the consciousness trailed off, another hologram showed a space scene. Gaseous clouds were glowing in yellow and milky white. Starlight in the distant background was visible through the thinnest part of the nebulae. The densest regions looked as if there were solid matter but irregular shapes. They were mostly in disc-shape with radiating belts at the fringe.
“These high-energy nebulae have more or less the same size, about a thousand kilometers in diameter, distributed throughout the target galaxy. These nebulae emit strong and chaotic electromagnetic waves, which the drones have found it to be meaningless. The law of physics of the Plane of Dreams could not explain the origin of this cosmic phenomenon. We have not found any evidence of artificial elements in these high-energy nebulae.”
“What else?”
“That’s all for now. The target galaxy contains several widely scattered planetary systems. It is impossible to complete the scanning of the entire galaxy in a short time with only two probes. But we have a rough map of the galaxy and gravitational map for warp jump purpose.”
Hao Ren looked up at the glowing clouds of gas and said softly, “It seems to be a place worth visiting.”