June, 2545.
“Qin, my theory is incomplete. You cannot proceed with the experiment without my permission,” Lu An said, piloting his shuttle as it made an emergency takeoff from Earth, heading straight for the Moon.
After a two-second signal delay, Qin Ming, who was on the Moon, replied, “Teacher, the physics community has been in a theoretical stagnation for over two centuries. The contradiction between quantum theory and relativity has become a bottleneck for scientific development. You have always been unwilling to conduct the zero-point energy experiment, so let me complete it for you.”
Lu An angrily retorted, “If it triggers vacuum decay, it will be a universe-level disaster! Stop it now!”
Qin Ming calmly said, “The experiment has already begun. It’s too late.”
Lu An was stunned. He quickly recovered. Despite his immense reluctance, he had no choice but to make a difficult decision. Without further hesitation, he immediately sent the coordinates of the space laboratory to the Moon garrison, ordering them to destroy it at once. Now, they could only rely on the Moon garrison’s decisive action, hoping it would be in time, as Earth certainly couldn't make it.
Just then, Qin Ming’s excited voice came through the communication: “Energy is being transferred from the vacuum, Teacher. We have reached the forefront of human energy exploration. The experiment is about to succeed….”
A sharp alarm suddenly blared, the signal instantly cut off, and Qin Ming’s voice abruptly ceased.
“Alas…”
It was too late after all. Lu An sighed bitterly and completely gave up struggling.
A tiny dot rapidly formed at the center of the energy field. It was the starting point of a vacuum bubble expanding outwards. The space laboratory disintegrated like a sandcastle in an instant, and the surrounding atomic structures instantly dissolved.
Qin Ming disintegrated and vanished the moment he witnessed the vacuum decay, so quickly that there was no pain.
The vacuum bubble, expanding at the speed of light, rendered time meaningless, making it impossible to detect or escape in advance.
In just 1.2 seconds, it spread to Lu An. His body, including the shuttle and Earth behind him, all instantly disintegrated into a cloud of discrete fermions.
The drastic changes in spacetime geometry caused a chain reaction of decay in the surrounding space, instantly completing a physical state transformation wherever it reached.
All existing scientific theories became invalid, and fundamental physical parameters like Planck’s constant and the speed of light were reconfigured….
All celestial bodies covered by the light-speed expanding vacuum bubble, including Earth and the Moon, disintegrated or transformed into unknown forms due to the changes in physical constants. All life forms that depended on existing physical laws instantly disintegrated as their biomolecular structures lost stability.
Human civilization perished at the speed of light in a physical sense, and even traces of its existence were completely erased.
Lu An’s body had disintegrated, but his consciousness miraculously survived in some unknown form, governed by another set of physical rules that put him in a superluminal state, only faster than the speed of light, not slower, and not even equal to the speed of light.
In this strange state, Lu An saw the folds of spacetime and the tremors of the quantum field forming a perfect resonance. He saw the essence of false vacuum decay and the drastic changes in physical constants, which were like a symphony, each note a re-orchestration of fundamental forces.
The fragments of equations that had once puzzled him suddenly arranged themselves into a golden spiral.
Lu An had a sudden enlightenment, and he also found peace. To understand the Tao in the morning is to be able to die in the evening without regret.
…
Midsummer, 2013.
The young man stood alone by the window, silently gazing at the scenery outside. His eyes were deep, his posture tall and straight like a pine tree, his short hair neat and sharp, and his chiseled jawline formed a handsome face full of tension.
“This look from over five hundred years ago, it’s truly both familiar and strange…”
This young man was none other than Lu An. That universe-level disaster had unexpectedly caused him to be reborn back to his youth in 2013.
However, he still wasn't sure whether the timeline of his original world had reversed back to 2013, or if he had transmigrated to a parallel world in another multiverse.
Because it could neither be proven nor disproven.
But everything he saw, heard, felt, and knew was exactly the same as 2013 in his memory.
What was different was that Lu An’s current brain possessed over 500 years of memories, knowledge, and experience.
In his previous life, Lu An used his talent to greatly advance the leapfrog development of human scientific and technological civilization, significantly extending human lifespan by many times. He lived until the 26th century, until the vacuum decay triggered by that experiment in 2545.
“Since everything is exactly as I remember, let’s consider this a life reboot, starting everything from scratch…” Lu An gazed at the scenery outside. Everything was still the same, and his relatives, friends, and loved ones were all there, which at least wasn't a bad thing.
After being reborn, the first thing Lu An wanted to do was find that rascal Qin Ming and personally shoot him ten times.
But what made Lu An feel helpless was that he couldn’t punish Qin Ming now.
Because Qin Ming was born in 2517, and it was currently 2013, that kid’s eighteenth-generation ancestor wasn’t even a speck of an embryo yet.
Moreover, Lu An realized that his rebirth would inevitably cause a butterfly effect, and whether Qin Ming would appear five hundred years later was also an unknown.
By now, three months had passed since he returned to this era. Lu An had gradually adapted to this time during these three months, identifying himself as a 22-year-old young man. As for his previous life's honors, achievements, personal prestige, and social status, they were no longer valid in this era and needed to be re-established.
Lu An looked up at the sky outside the window, and a memory from his previous life suddenly flashed in his mind. He recalled a major event.
If nothing unexpected happened, 15 years later, in 2028, humanity would discover a faint asteroid made of metallic structure, several times larger than the Chicxulub asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago.
Its orbit would intersect with Earth’s in 2036, at which point it would collide head-on with Earth.
Humanity faced this “Great Filter” test from the universe and ultimately survived the world-ending crisis, albeit with some scares.
This crisis in his previous life was successfully resolved under Lu An's leadership.
At that time, the East and America were at a critical juncture, about to decide supremacy and survival. The discovery of this asteroid stunned both sides.
With the nest overturned, no egg remains intact. Both sides quickly put aside their disputes and were forced to form a desperate alliance to jointly address this world-ending crisis.
The solution provided by Lu An's team was adopted, and humanity, with unprecedented unity, ultimately succeeded in deflecting the asteroid's orbit.
Originally destined for a head-on collision with Earth, after its orbit was altered, the asteroid was captured by Earth's gravity and became its second natural satellite.
Lu An vividly remembered the eight years from 2028 to 2036. Although that period was short, it was magnificent and truly moving.
The nation made two preparations. The entire country, with hundreds of millions of people united, mobilized for eight full years, pushing productivity to its extreme.
The first preparation was to deal with the worst-case scenario, which was the asteroid ultimately hitting Earth. The entire population prepared for famine, war, and food shortages, comprehensively switching to a wartime economy. Infrastructure maniacs were at full throttle, with thousands of shelters capable of withstanding magnitude 10 earthquakes being frantically built across the country.
If the asteroid were to impact the surface, the energy released would transmit from the impact point to the other side of Earth, enough to cause a magnitude 10 earthquake in the other hemisphere. The calculated impact point of the asteroid was on the African continent, making China relatively the safest place globally.
Because the majestic Himalayan mountain range blocked the towering tsunamis from the Indian Ocean, the first wave of impact only required the shelters to withstand the transmitted magnitude 10 earthquake to survive the most dangerous moment.
Afterward, the global shower of fragments and meteorites, though seemingly terrifying, was not as dangerous. The anti-aircraft missile systems deployed around the shelters could effectively intercept them. Although still very dangerous, it was at least manageable by human effort.
The second preparation was to alter the asteroid's orbit before it hit Earth. For this, the second preparation was carried out simultaneously, with several rockets continuously launching into space every day, sending related equipment and resources into orbit.
Ultimately, humanity survived this catastrophe with some scares, and the asteroid was captured by Earth's gravity to become its second natural satellite.
However, not long after the crisis was resolved, due to disputes over the asteroid's benefits, the desperate alliance directly disintegrated and turned hostile, then began to squabble again.
Many years later, under Lu An's leadership, the asteroid was transformed, and its main structure was used to build a super space city.
At this moment, Lu An was considering whether to warn the world about this crisis to allow for early preparations, which would provide 15 more years of preparation time than in his previous life.
However, he immediately dismissed the idea because the timing was wrong.
No one would believe him if he spoke out now. The reason that asteroid was only discovered in 2028 was because its structure was too faint and difficult to observe. Discovering it 15 years earlier meant the asteroid was even more distant, making discovery virtually impossible.
Lu An knew that he was currently insignificant and couldn't provide evidence. It was impossible for humanity to put aside internal conflicts and unite to devote global resources to deal with it just because of a 22-year-old young man's words.
Moreover, if Lu An spoke out early, even if people believed him and the asteroid was indeed discovered ahead of time, he would face endless investigations and interrogations, and his life would be in danger.
Lu An clearly remembered that in his previous life, after the asteroid was discovered in 2028, it was immediately classified as top-secret information. In the early stages, before an effective response plan was developed, news was strictly suppressed.
Anyone who knew the truth had their movements and speech severely restricted. If there was any motive to spread information, at best they would be confined to a dark room, and at worst, they would be ruthlessly killed to prevent global panic and social collapse.
Lu An was not yet an influential figure, but knowing such a truth, even if his life wasn't in danger, he would certainly face various restrictions, making it difficult to accomplish anything.
Being insignificant, his words carried no weight, and his development was restricted.
If he couldn't quickly rise to become a giant, and if others couldn't deal with that asteroid, then there would be no need to worry about the vacuum decay repeating itself five hundred years later. This asteroid would have already “filtered” human civilization five hundred years in advance.
Thus, it was clear that an early discovery by humanity would actually be a bad thing, because several key technologies for dealing with the asteroid crisis were developed by Lu An.
But these tech trees had not yet been lit up, and in the face of such a crisis, confidence was more precious than gold.
If it were discovered 15 years earlier, the conclusion would inevitably be that humanity's current technological level was insufficient to cope, and they could only leave it to fate.
That would only severely strike everyone's confidence. Far from uniting, it would more likely accelerate the collapse of civilized order.
Such was the case when the timing was wrong: neither the opportune moment, the advantageous location, nor the unity of people were present.
Lu An understood the stakes, so he certainly couldn't reveal it now.
The correct approach was to make himself rise quickly.
Finally, Lu An collected his thoughts. He wasn't worried about the future asteroid crisis; he had handled it in his previous life, not to mention having the advantage of foresight and over 500 years of accumulated knowledge and experience in this life.
Returning to 2013 was now a settled fact, and his most urgent task was to rapidly rise to prominence.
…
Lu An, standing by the window, withdrew his gaze and turned back into the room.
He retrieved a laptop, sat down in the living room, and opened his email account. There were over twenty unread emails.
Caltech and MIT had both actively sent him special admission invitations, hoping he would pursue a Ph.D. there.
In addition, many other emails were uniformly high-paying special recruitment offers from well-known domestic and international major companies. These companies were either globally renowned world-class giants or industry leaders at the top of their field.
There were large state-owned enterprises, such as China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, Aviation Industry Corporation of China, China National Nuclear Corporation, and so on.
There were also private technology giants, such as the communication giant Huawei, e-commerce giant Alibaba, social networking giant Tencent, and so on.
Foreign major companies included Google, Facebook, Apple Inc., and others.
All of them were top-tier companies that countless job seekers dreamed of joining.
Lu An was studying at Xigong University and graduating this year. He was sought after by so many large companies and top global universities because his academic achievements were astonishingly outstanding.
If “genius” merely refers to extraordinary talent and creativity in a specific field, then “polymath” refers to extraordinary talent and creativity in multiple fields simultaneously.
Geniuses in a single field are common, but polymaths across multiple fields are rare, seen perhaps once in a century.
During his time at university, Lu An not only demonstrated extraordinary talent and creativity in numerous engineering and science majors but also showed astonishing mastery in management and economics.
Undoubtedly, Lu An also fell into the category of a “polymath.”
And now, he possessed over five hundred years of future knowledge and experience. In particular, the peculiar experience of that universe-level disaster in his previous life had unexpectedly given him insight into countless scientific truths.
Lu An looked at the emails for a while, then directly closed the page.
Lu An had no intention of accepting the special admission invitations from the two top engineering universities, because no university had anything left to teach him.
With over five hundred years of memory, knowledge, and experience, at most he would just get a degree from a prestigious university, but Lu An wasn't interested in that either.
And he had no interest in the competitive recruitment offers from those large companies either.
Working for others was not as good as establishing his own enterprise. Lu An unhesitatingly decided to start from scratch and build a business again.
Just then, a woman emerged from the bedroom.
Her eyes, like spring water, tilted slightly at the corners, and her gaze was full of vivacity. Her nose bridge was straight, and when she smiled, faint dimples appeared. Her figure was graceful, with a slender waist that could be encircled by one hand, her waist-length hair smooth and lustrous, and her long legs straight and well-proportioned.
Meng Qiuyan came to the living room and sat down, glancing at Lu An with a smile, “You’re quite the hot commodity now, with so many major companies both domestic and international offering you high salaries, and two top engineering universities extending olive branches to you.”
Lu An and Meng Qiuyan first met at a youth academic exchange conference three years ago, and then they became each other's first loves, remaining together until now.
A moment later, Meng Qiuyan asked, “Are you planning to continue your studies, or go directly to a company after graduation?”
Lu An said concisely, “Neither.”
Meng Qiuyan was immediately surprised, “Huh? Neither? You’re not interested in two universities and so many big companies?”
Lu An shook his head and said, “That’s not it. I’ve decided to start my own technology company and build a career.”
Hearing this, Meng Qiuyan immediately looked at him, “Are you sure?”
Lu An nodded affirmatively. Seeing that he was serious, Meng Qiuyan couldn't help but smile and say, “Since you’ve decided to start your own business, of course, I’ll support you unconditionally.”
After a while, Lu An looked at her and asked, “What about you? Didn’t you also receive offers from several big companies, and an admission notice from Stanford University? Are you planning to pursue a doctorate or join a company after graduation?”
Meng Qiuyan withdrew her gaze and pondered for a moment, then looked up at Lu An and slowly said, “I originally wanted you to help me decide, but since you’ve already decided to start a business, I’ve decided to stay and help you. I’m not going anywhere else.”
She made this decision without hesitation.
Upon hearing this, Lu An looked at her for a moment, then smiled and nodded, “Good.”
Meng Qiuyan, just like in his previous life, supported him as always. Whether in spirit or in the development of his career, her unreserved support provided immense help to Lu An.
…