103: Technological blockade

Five Earth years later.

In "Dawn," the capital of Kali Star, the sky remained a heavy, dark purple. At the center of this city, which symbolized the pinnacle of the Kari Civilization's wisdom, the majestic Grand Corridor of Truth was bathed in the somewhat decadent afterglow of the star.

This building was once the most sacred hall in the hearts of the Kari People, a sanctuary of reason and logic.

However, today, what shrouded the Grand Corridor was not the soaring fighting spirit to explore the unknown of the past, but a layer of oppression and confusion that was almost solidifying into substance.

The quinquennial kari Global Scientific Development Conference was being held here.

In the past, this should have been a celebratory feast, a stage for scientists to show the entire civilization how they conquered nature and deconstructed the universe. But this time, inside the giant domed venue that could accommodate tens of thousands of people, the air was suffocatingly heavy.

Sitting in the very center of the podium was Walker Tala, the Dean of the highest Scientific Research Institute of the Kari Civilization.

His gray-green skin looked even duller than it had five years ago, and the folds on his forehead, representing age and wisdom, now looked more like deep ravines filled with exhaustion and confusion.

His large, vertical pupils scanned the audience below, where the ten thousand brightest brains of the entire Kari Civilization sat.

But all he saw were evasive eyes, bowed heads, and silent sighs.

"Fellows," Walker's voice echoed under the huge dome through the loudspeakers, sounding dry and hoarse, "Five years ago, when we sent that greeting toward the starry sky, we thought that would be the starting point for the Kari Civilization to take off."

"We thought that as long as we maintained our longing for truth, the mysteries of the universe would be presented before us like a peeled fruit."

"But now, five years have passed."

Walker's hand trembled as he pressed the button for the holographic projection, and strings of shocking red data appeared above everyone's heads.

"Our basic physics has made no progress, materials science has stagnated, and even the energy revolution has completely failed."

...

In order to prevent this conference from becoming a pure funeral, according to the procedure, the heads of various branches still needed to report their work, or rather, report their failures.

The first to take the stage was the Dean of the High Energy Physics Branch, an old professor who enjoyed a high reputation in the scientific community of the Kari People. He walked staggeringly, as if carrying a heavy burden.

"Regarding the experimental report of the Large Hadron Circular Collider..." the old professor's voice carried a hint of sobbing, "We have made the 4,700th attempt to verify the gravitational wave coupling model."

A group of chaotic data charts appeared on the screen.

"This... this simply doesn't make sense!" The old professor's emotions suddenly lost control. He waved his two upper arms, pointing at the data and roaring, "In Tuesday's experiment, the particle collision results we observed showed that the law of conservation of mass seemed to have failed! But in Wednesday's repeat experiment, everything became normal again! And on Thursday, all the data showed that the gravitational constant fluctuated by one ten-thousandth!"

"The microscopic world has gone mad!" He held his head in despair, "Quantum is no longer a probability, but complete chaos! It's as if there is a naughty devil hiding in the atomic nucleus, rolling dice every day to decide what the physical laws are for today!"

A wave of resonant commotion stirred in the audience.

It was not just physics; representatives from the chemical community were also facing the same collapse.

"Our new catalyst synthesis experiment has also encountered inexplicable phenomena," a chemist stood up to add, "The molecular structure, which was theoretically extremely stable, would break inexplicably during the synthesis process. Under the microscope, we even observed impossible distortions in the lattice structure, as if... as if the matter at the microscopic level was resisting being combined together by us."

Of course, they did not know that this was not a "devil" at work, but the hundreds of millions of nanite individuals of Grey Wind, who were precisely interfering with their experiments at the microscopic level.

Whenever the particle collider of the Kari People started, the nanobots of Grey Wind would mix into it, using their own mass or energy fields to deflect those particles.

Whenever chemists tried to synthesize new materials, the nanobots would sneak into the reaction kettle and cut key chemical bonds like dismantling building blocks.

Next was the report from the Materials and Aerospace Branch. The atmosphere here was even heavier because it was directly related to the space dream of the Kari Civilization.

"We have to regretfully announce," the Director of the Aerospace Administration walked onto the stage with a livid face, "The research and development plan for the new generation of heavy-lift launch vehicles, codenamed 'Star Chaser,' is indefinitely shelved."

There was an uproar in the venue. Although everyone had expected it, hearing the definite news was still heartbreaking.

"The problem lies in the material." The director pulled up a photo of broken metal; it was the wreckage of a rocket engine nozzle.

"In order to withstand the high temperature and high pressure brought by higher thrust, we developed a super heat-resistant alloy named 'V-Alloy.' In the theoretical model of the laboratory, its performance was flawless, but in actual manufacturing..."

"It's as brittle as glass." The director gritted his teeth and said, "Every time! Every test run! When the temperature reaches the critical point, undetectable micro-cracks will appear inside the alloy, causing the engine to explode instantly! In these five years, we have blown up twelve test stands and sacrificed three top engineers!"

"We checked all the process flows, inspected the ratio of every material, and even replaced all the raw material sources... The result is the same."

"Do you know? It's like the universe is telling us that this kind of material is not allowed to exist."

Below the stage, a young engineer covered his face and sobbed softly.

He was a core member of that project. He had dedicated five years of his youth to that kind of alloy, but only got a pile of scrap metal, which was not even as good as scrap metal, because scrap metal was harder than that alloy.

What they did not know was that whenever their alloy smelting furnace started working, the nanobots of Grey Wind would swim in the molten metal liquid, artificially creating impurities and lattice defects at the microscopic level.

That V-Alloy was indeed an excellent material, if Lei Wen allowed it to be born.

But now, it could only be a theory that could never be realized.

If the stagnation of basic science made people confused and the failure of materials science made people frustrated, then the encounters in the energy field made people feel deep fear.

The Dean of the Energy Branch did not take the stage because he had died in an experimental accident three months ago. The person who took the stage in his place was his deputy, a middle-aged man who looked terrified.

"Regarding the ignition experiment of controllable nuclear fusion," the deputy's voice was very disappointed, "We have decided to terminate it permanently."

A video was played on the screen. It was an experimental base deep in the desert, where a huge stellarator device was running.

Suddenly, without any warning, the magnetic field constraining the plasma fluctuated extremely strangely. That mass of high-temperature plasma of tens of millions of degrees instantly lost control, rushed out of the magnetic cage like an angry fire dragon, melted through the outer wall of the reactor, and triggered a violent explosion.

"That was the last attempt." The deputy whispered, "In that accident, our central control computer recorded a set of abnormal data—the current of the magnetic field constraint coil reversed without any warning within one-thousandth of a second."

"We couldn't find the reason. The circuit didn't short-circuit, the program had no bugs, and even the backup physical circuit breaker failed."

In these five years, whenever they tried to touch energy at a higher level, whether it was fusion or high-energy particle beams, it would always be accompanied by various strange accidents.

Data deviations, equipment failures, inexplicable short circuits, and even micro-earthquakes that happened exactly at the critical moment.

A deep sense of powerlessness shrouded everyone's hearts.

They felt like a group of children trying to light a match in a storm; no matter how hard they tried, the weak flame would always be blown out by the ruthless wind.

...

"Is this the end?"

In the closing speech of the conference, Dean Walker Tala looked at the faces full of frustration below the stage and asked a soul-searching question.

"Has our civilization already touched the so-called 'great filter'? Is there an upper limit to wisdom? Are the physical laws chaotic and disordered in some areas unknown to us?"

"We once thought that science was the only ladder to truth, but now this ladder is broken."

The venue was dead silent, and pessimistic emotions spread like a plague.

However, just as the hall of science fell into darkness, another window of the Kari Civilization was accidentally opened.

In these five years, with the frustration brought by the stagnation and failure of science, a subtle and violent compensatory rebound occurred in the social psychology of the Kari People.

Since they could not find answers in the world of reason, and since the laws of matter were so elusive, then... let them sink into the ocean of sensibility.

An unprecedented art craze swept across the entire Kali Star.

Since they could not build spaceships, they painted spaceships; since they could not understand quantum, they composed movements of quantum; since they could not go to the starry sky, they brought the starry sky before them with poetry.

In the square outside the Grand Corridor of Truth, hundreds of thousands of Kari People were gathering at this moment.

They were not there to protest the failure of science, but to participate in a grand art festival.

Huge curtains projected onto the city's buildings, interweaving into gorgeous and psychedelic abstract paintings. Countless musicians played "math rock" on the streets that was full of mathematical rhythm but poignant and magnificent, while poets chanted epics about emptiness, existence, and loneliness.

This phenomenon was called art explosion by sociologists.

An escapist, morbid, yet extremely brilliant cultural explosion.

The creativity of the Kari People had not disappeared; it was just forced out of the scientific channel by that invisible wall, and it all poured into the wasteland of art, blooming with enchanting flowers everywhere.

"This is our current situation."

At the secret closed-door meeting after the conference, the leader of the kari Community said to Dean Walker and several core senior officials.

"Science is dead, but art is alive."

"Your Excellency, Leader," Walker closed his eyes in pain, "This is the chronic suicide of a civilization. Without the progress of technology, we can only be trapped to death on this planet."

"As our population continues to grow, social contradictions continue to accumulate, and resources continue to be consumed, one day we will head towards a large-scale 'collective suicide.' Paintings cannot save us, and poetry cannot stop guns and cannons."

"I know, Walker, I know." The leader sighed. He looked through the window at the carnival crowd outside, his eyes full of worry, "But this may be the only way to maintain social stability at present."

"The public needs an outlet. Since we cannot give them the journey to the stars and the sea, at least give them some spiritual anesthesia."

"Regarding this phenomenon, do you have any conclusions?" the leader asked, "Why have we hit a wall in all frontier fields these past five years?"

In the conference room, several of the top brains began to exchange opinions.

"Perhaps it is the physiological limit theory." A theoretical physicist said pessimistically, "Just as ants can never understand calculus, perhaps our brain capacity and physiological structure determine that we can only understand to the level of macroscopic mechanics. Quantum mechanics and relativity are insurmountable cognitive forbidden zones for us."

"It could also be the cosmic chaos theory." Another consultant who was a philosopher said, "Perhaps the universe itself is random at the microscopic level. Our previous success was just good luck, and now our luck has run out."

"There is another possibility..."

They put forward countless hypotheses.

From their own genetic defects to the essential laws of the universe, from the influence of the environment to theological curses.

Only no one mentioned "aliens."

In their naive and simple worldview, if aliens existed, if they could cross the sea of stars to come here, it must be for peace and communication.

Because a civilization capable of crossing the sea of stars must have a much higher technical level than the Kari Civilization. If they were malicious, then the Kari Civilization would have been destroyed or enslaved long ago.

Since there were no warships, no light beams, and no invaders, this must be our own problem.

They did not think that there is a kind of war in this universe that is bloodless.

There is a kind of aggression that silently eliminates your pen, making you unable to write the chapters of the future.

"We cannot give up." Walker finally stood up. Although his eyes were full of exhaustion, there was still a last trace of stubbornness, "Even if it really is the limit of intelligence, I will use my head to hit that wall."

"Approved." The leader nodded, "But at the same time, the government will increase investment in the cultural and art industry. If we are destined to be trapped in the Cradle, at least let us have a beautiful dream."

...

5.4 light-years away.

Earth, the underground command room of Tianqiong City at night.

Lei Wen listened to the entire tragic conference through the broadcast and translation of Grey Wind, and also saw the art carnival on Kali Star that was like a dying flash.

"What a grand funeral." Grey Wind commented, her tone carrying a hint of pity, "To be honest, their music is quite good. The instrument played with four hands is quite creative."

"This is the effect we want." Lei Wen's expression was as cold as ice.

He looked at the Kari People on the screen who were addicted to art and gradually gave up scientific exploration.

A civilization that gradually stopped looking up at the starry sky and began to indulge in the inner world.

"Keep the blockade, Grey Wind." Lei Wen issued the instruction, "Do not let them have any chance of a comeback."

"Especially that old man named Walker, 'take care' of his laboratory, and don't let him really break through any gaps."

"Understood, boss." Grey Wind replied, "I will make him doubt life."