Chapter 143: Technological Disparity
After learning that the video playback went smoothly, Lu Yuan knew that the plan had actually succeeded.
He lit the fire himself.
And Oasis City, unfortunately, had no fire extinguishers, only tons of flammable materials.
Good things come in pairs; today was also the day Jubian led his team to depart. After the diligent work of the Engineers, Omar's private yacht was converted into Cangyuan's first dedicated scientific research vessel, named 'Tianwen'.
The pleasure facilities on board were removed, a small 3D printer was added, the beds in the cabins were replaced with stasis pods, and the hangar at the stern was enlarged. It is currently empty, with future plans to carry unmanned probes and space beacons.
Compared to Cangyuan's other flying vehicles, the Tianwen is very quiet in normal mode, providing the best living and working conditions for the Scholars on board.
When warp mode is activated, it will instantly accelerate to 60% of the speed of light.
In this state, it is difficult to intercept with weapons.
At this stage, if the warp drive has any obvious weaknesses, it is that it can only function normally in environments with relatively weak gravitational fields.
In other words, a warp ship cannot directly enter a planetary atmosphere in warp mode, or conversely, rapidly exit from within a planetary atmosphere.
Besides Jubian himself, his chosen team members were Nan Guo de Xue, Bei Hai Xian Yu, and Moonlight Ma Lou, forming the 'Steady Team'.
The data storage device gifted by Cheng Yun was inspected, and it was found that perhaps due to improper storage, internal quantum decay accelerated, leading to the erasure of a large amount of documents and image information.
This high-end product from the golden age, in terms of physical stability, was actually inferior to a backward 20th-century USB drive, and far inferior to an optical disc.
Fortunately, some navigation information was still intact, and the coordinates of Wormhole 2 were also present, which was enough for Cangyuan.
Wormhole 2 is as far away as Wormhole 1, which is occupied by Apollo, but on the other side of the galaxy.
The Tianwen's one-way visit time is about 10 hours.
The scientific research team only needs to ascend, set the course, engage warp, let the character enter a stasis pod to sleep, and then, upon logging back in, they can begin their exciting mission.
As the scientific research ship ascended, Master Mingzhen also drove from the industrial ship to the main camp.
"Executive Officer, progress has been made in the research of zero element mass effect!"
He found Lu Yuan and, without any pleasantries or idle talk, went straight to the point.
"Oh? Tell me about it."
Lu Yuan invited the Master to sit down and poured him some water.
This is a big deal.
"You should know that before and after the Zero Element Furnace on the industrial ship is activated, the kinetic energy of the entire ship actually doesn't change, right?"
"I've heard about it," Lu Yuan said. "When a fast-moving ship shuts down its Zero Element Furnace, the zero element field gradually disappears, causing the ship's mass to return to normal and its speed to rapidly decrease."
The Master: "That's right. At first glance, the Zero Element Furnace doesn't seem to violate the law of conservation of energy, but in reality,"
"I discovered the truth was not so on my first day here!"
Lu Yuan: "Why?"
The Master: "It's simple! Let's do a thought experiment. Suppose there are two identical spacecraft in the air, side by side, both with 100 units of gravitational potential energy relative to the ground as a reference plane."
Lu Yuan nodded, indicating that he could imagine the scene.
The Master: "Now, let both ships free fall. Ship A first activates its Zero Element Furnace, reducing its mass to 1% of normal. Ship B does not activate it. We ignore atmospheric resistance during the fall."
"Then, obviously, according to the experimental results of the great predecessor Galileo at the Leaning Tower of Pisa, their falling times are equal, and their final landing speeds are also equal; but as long as the Zero Element Furnace doesn't break, Ship B's landing kinetic energy will be 100 times that of Ship A! Even if Ship A shuts down its Zero Element Furnace after landing, since the falling process has ended, the result will not change."
"Described in another way, Ship B's 100 units of gravitational potential energy are completely converted into 100 units of kinetic energy, while Ship A's 100 units of gravitational potential energy are only converted into 1 unit of kinetic energy, and the remaining 99 units are swallowed by the zero element field."
The Master clapped his hands together.
"Energy is not conserved. Proof complete."
Indeed! That does seem to be the case.
Prompted by the Master, Lu Yuan realized this blind spot.
"However, where did the swallowed energy go?"
He asked curiously.
It couldn't be the sub-space, could it?
The Master spread his hands: "You've got me there. It might have gone to higher, curled-up dimensions, or perhaps returned to the quantum sea, or even gone to a parallel universe."
Goodness, it really could be sub-space!
If too much zero element is used, could it even lead to demonic ascension?
Lu Yuan cleared his mind, trying to keep his thoughts from becoming too heretical.
"In short, if I understand correctly, since zero element mass effect can devour kinetic energy, is there hope of developing a kinetic shield based on this?"
He had just discussed Star Alliance warships with Lao Yu yesterday, and it was confirmed that kinetic shields were almost a legend there, with the technology lost, only recoverable through archaeological excavation, and major factions couldn't build them themselves.
It was precisely for this reason that kinetic shields were rare, equipped only on a few capital ships, while other ships could only rely on thick armor to withstand kinetic damage, which was quite manly.
The Master nodded vigorously twice.
"Absolutely possible! I came here to report this to you, and of course, also to visit our bustling main camp, haha—"
"Hmm—this is good stuff," Lu Yuan thought, lowering his head. "Does it just mean that if the zero element field fully envelops the spacecraft's hull, it will reduce the mass of incoming shells?"
The Master denied this assertion.
"Unfortunately, it's not that simple. While it would reduce the mass of incoming shells, if the shell is also completely enveloped by the field, it will suddenly accelerate, and the impact kinetic energy will remain the same as before."
"And as you know, compared to a spacecraft, a shell is much smaller in volume, so it will almost certainly be completely enveloped by the field."
"Then what should be done?" Lu Yuan gave up thinking and decided to directly copy the good student's answer.
"A double-layer field!" the Master said. "Two layers of zero element fields with opposite effects, where the inner layer increases the shell's mass, and the outer layer decreases it!"
"This way, when a kinetic shell passes through the interface of the two layers of fields, its tip's mass increases, 'wanting' to decelerate, but the mass of the main body behind it greatly decreases, 'wanting' to accelerate. The head and tail are at odds, unwilling to yield, and the final result is self-compression. Some kinetic energy is consumed in the deformation and intense heating of the shell body, and more energy is swallowed by the zero element field during the compression process!"
"According to my calculations, for smaller caliber cannons with less power, the projectile might even be completely brought to a standstill; even for large-caliber main cannons, the final impact kinetic energy will be significantly reduced, and because the shell body deforms from a cone to a disc shape beforehand, its armor-piercing capability will also decrease, making it very likely to be stopped by sufficiently thick armor."
Excellent!
Lu Yuan found it hard not to be excited.
It's truly a light at the end of the tunnel; this will give the Cangyuan fleet an overwhelming defensive advantage against the Apollo or Star Alliance fleets, making it entirely possible to fight multiple enemies!
"When can the kinetic shield be developed?"
The Master's face showed embarrassment.
"Executive Officer, this matter is quite difficult. The key is that all the Zero Element Furnaces we have can only reduce mass. As for how to increase mass, I currently have no clue."
Hearing this, Lu Yuan smiled slightly.
"So, if I give you a Zero Element Furnace that can increase mass, you can develop the shield?"
"It should be no problem. I have over 95% confidence."
"Simple, I know where there's such a Zero Element Furnace."