444: Energy upgrade, force field breakthrough

Over the past decade, the exploitation of the asteroid belt, billions of deep space probes, mining machines, and automated refining factories visible everywhere in space have all grown exponentially. The asteroid belt has been almost completely exploited. The construction of the dyson sphere has also stalled due to a lack of materials.

Vast areas of solar panels covered tens of millions of square kilometers. The total mass of the entire asteroid belt is equivalent to the mass of Blue Star, while the sun accounts for 99.98 percent of the entire Solar System.

Even if all the material from the asteroids were used to create solar panels to collect energy, it would be impossible to completely enclose the sun, even if the panels were thin enough.

Over the past decade, although the construction of the dyson sphere stalled due to insufficient material, the current energy utilization rate has reached one ten-millionth of the sun's total released energy.

How immense is this energy level? The energy received in one year is equivalent to the total radiant energy Blue Star received over hundreds of millions of years in the past.

Such a vast amount of energy directly propelled high-energy physics research, and the space city also successfully tackled the problem of gravity field generation.

The 34th phase of the space city construction bid completely shed the structure of rotational simulated gravity.

With the successful breakthrough in gravity field generation technology, the construction of the space city entered a brand new stage.

In the 34th phase construction bid, top architectural and technology companies gathered to showcase their grand blueprints for future space cities.

All these proposals fully utilized gravity field generation technology to create a more stable and comfortable living environment for space residents.

The new space city design not only solved the long-standing gravity problem for space residents but also incorporated advanced concepts such as ecological cycles and intelligent management.

The city was designed as a self-sufficient ecosystem, capable of simulating Blue Star's natural environment, allowing space residents to enjoy the convenience brought by high technology while also feeling the warmth of home.

Gravity field generation technology was cleverly applied to every corner of the city. Whether in residential, commercial, or industrial areas, a stable and comfortable artificial gravity could be felt.

In just ten short years, humanity has already been able to create planets and build comfortable ecological environments, and in the vast universe, it can now rely on its own abilities to avoid the fate of extinction.

If there were enough material to build a complete dyson sphere, achieving over ninety percent utilization of solar energy, then perhaps a warp drive could be manufactured.

Once such a faster-than-light spacecraft appears, it would be possible to collect antimatter, dark matter, and even dark energy in the vast universe, thereby elevating civilization to a galactic level.

One must take things one step at a time, and eat one bite at a time. Although the space city's technological level is already capable of collecting antimatter, there is very little antimatter; there isn't much in the entire Solar System.

Currently, the fastest human spacecraft can only reach about three-thousandths of the speed of light, and even flying out of the Solar System would take over a month. [Spacecraft have acceleration times; they cannot instantly reach three-thousandths of the speed of light. This acceleration process takes a relatively long time, so please don't criticize me, purists.]

This means that to collect enough antimatter energy, a superluminal spacecraft that does not rely on antimatter energy must first be built to collect enough antimatter, which is like a hand-operated tractor needing a push to start.

In the vast and boundless universe, every step of human civilization's progress appears both tiny and magnificent. The space city, as humanity's outpost for exploring the universe and expanding its survival boundaries, carries the dreams and efforts of countless researchers and engineers.

Facing the stagnation of dyson sphere construction and the scarcity of antimatter energy, the space city's research team did not lose heart. They knew that overcoming every technical challenge was a small step forward for human civilization, and these small steps, accumulated, would eventually lead to a great leap.

After the successful application of gravity field generation technology, the living environment of the space city was greatly improved. Residents no longer needed to rely on rotational simulated gravity to adapt to space life; the stable and comfortable artificial gravity made them feel unprecedented convenience and peace of mind.

In the central plaza of the space city, trees provided shade, and several robotic gardeners were trimming the greenery in the flowerbeds, while some children were playing in the plaza's playground.

Suddenly, a flash of light appeared in the central plaza, and a girl was teleported back.

It was Xiao Xiao who returned. She had left with Tian Ming ten years ago. This time, she did not intend to leave again. Over these ten years, Tian Ming had taken Shen Yuan and Xiao Xiao to visit other alien civilizations, and Xiao Xiao's backpack contained many advanced technologies.

She was covered in a layer of nano-armor, and her original plasma-forged blade had transformed into a lightsaber similar to those in Star Wars.

Most importantly, her backpack contained a small lump of super-dense matter, weighing hundreds of trillions of tons, encapsulated in a device by a force field.

If it weren't encapsulated, the magnetic fluctuations and high-energy magnetic field it emitted would tear the entire space city apart.

As soon as Xiao Xiao appeared, she immediately attracted the attention of the Bureau of Public Security. Soon, a human officer, leading dozens of mechanical police, surrounded Xiao Xiao.

The human officer looked somewhat familiar. Even with dozens of particle guns pointed at her, Xiao Xiao showed no fear; instead, she smiled at the human officer.

"Bai Yiming, you're bold enough to even surround me?"

Bai Yiming was startled. He looked at the strangely dressed girl, and a look of joy immediately appeared on his face.

"Xiao Xiao, is that really you?" Bai Yiming said in surprise.

Bai Yiming looked at the girl in front of him in disbelief. After ten years, Xiao Xiao hadn't changed at all; she still looked twenty years old.

As for Bai Yiming, he had long since become an Uncle in his thirties, and his entire demeanor had changed from youthful recklessness to maturity and steadiness.

"Of course it's me, who else do you think it would be?" Xiao Xiao said with a smile. She waved her hand lightly, and the particle guns pointed at her immediately lost their target, as if pulled off course by an invisible force.

Xiao Xiao achieved this with her nano-armor and force field control technology. For her, the attacks of these mechanical police were as insignificant as children playing house.

Seeing this, Bai Yiming immediately signaled the mechanical police to retreat. He walked forward, scrutinizing Xiao Xiao from head to toe, and said with emotion, "It's been ten years. Why isn't Uncle Lu back?"

"My dad?" Xiao Xiao smiled slightly and continued, "My dad sent me back. He and my mom found a planet and went on their honeymoon."

"Uh, honeymoon? Should be honey-year, right?" Bai Yiming chuckled.

"Who cares, anyway, I don't want to be a third wheel. Come on, take me to see Uncle Meng. I brought good stuff back this time."

Xiao Xiao said, patting the backpack on her back.

Bai Yiming smiled and asked curiously, "What good stuff? Can you tell me about it?"

Xiao Xiao smiled mysteriously and said, "Guess?"

Bai Yiming looked at Xiao Xiao's smile, and his heart stirred. He knew that Xiao Xiao must have brought back something important or some crucial information this time.

Thinking of this, Bai Yiming couldn't help but feel a little excited. He looked at Xiao Xiao and said with a smile, "Don't keep me in suspense, tell me quickly."

"I can't show you, you're a Rebel Army member."