Chapter 41: Welcome to the Vacuum Catastrophe Era!!!

Chapter 41: Chapter 41: Welcome to the Vacuum Catastrophe Era!!!

When Hallucinogenic Mushroom asked what the "Vacuum Catastrophe" was, Chen Shang didn’t know how to answer for a moment.

He wondered how he should explain it.

It was an unending power source, the ultimate miracle of logical creation, and a deformed existence that shattered the normal rules of the Endless Star Sea. It was even the rule itself.

Finally, he spoke slowly, "The Vacuum Catastrophe is one of the most dazzling masterpieces created by the Great Wizards during the fourth era of Wizards, the founding period of the Wizard Dynasty!"

Hallucinogenic Mushroom shook its head. "I don’t understand, but with the wisdom of so many Great Wizards, it must be amazing."

"It’s not just amazing... It broke one of the normal rules: the law of conservation of mass and energy." Chen Shang’s tone was solemn as the description from his history book echoed in his mind.

"...It is truly magnificent. Look at it, such a beautiful little darling. This is not only a watershed moment in the history of Wizard Civilization, but it also marks a complete revolution in the old forces and relations of production!

"Wizards, welcome to the Vacuum Catastrophe era!

"As the Wizard who led the construction of the Vacuum Catastrophe project, it is my duty to introduce this great invention to all who come after—an unextinguishable Energy Spring!

"As everyone knows, during the last terrifying war of civilizations, we learned a great deal from our enemies. Most importantly, our horizons were broadened beyond measure. We began to gaze into the distance, and we started to express the composition of this world in a naive yet earnest manner.

"However, the wisdom and power of an individual are ultimately limited. Thus, the Wizard Dynasty was established—not for the exercise of power, but for the purpose of liberating the productive forces of the entire world.

"Even among countless great inventions, the Vacuum Catastrophe still deserves to be called one of the crown jewels of the dynasty.

"As a Wizard born on the Mechanical Throne, I was surrounded by various forms of mechanism from a young age. Therefore, I am accustomed to measuring different civilizations from an energetic perspective.

"Energy. It is omnipresent, the evolutionary origin of all things, the eternal profound mystery behind the entropy increase of the Endless Star Sea, and the ultimate secret driving all positive aspects of existence.

"Our ancient ancestors merely transitioned from eating raw food to cooked food, increasing their energy utilization rate by a few percentage points, yet this alone allowed them to cross the threshold into becoming intelligent beings!

"Of course, as a Mechanical Wizard, I must make a small complaint. The energy utilization rate of eating is simply too low. We have far too many other methods to establish a core energy source. This proves that flesh is weak, and machinery is ascension!

"(Reviewer’s Note: The Great Mechanical Wizard Gongye Zi has smuggled in his personal biases here. Out of respect, this has not been deleted, but Wizards are advised to use their own judgment.)

"In the beginning, we only knew the most superficial applications of energy, and we childishly waged endless wars fighting over it.

"Later, we learned that energy is the transformation from high-density states to low-density states. We were merely thieves taking advantage of the natural flow, which led to the proposal of the imperfect law of conservation of energy.

"Next, we annihilated certain things, unleashing far more violent energy. From that moment on, the boundary between mass and energy was no longer distinct, and energy conservation was perfected into mass-energy conservation.

"After that, antimatter was discovered. The combination of matter and antimatter erupted with unimaginable energy. Like grand thieves, we ceaselessly stole energy from the Exotic Material Plane.

"The Vacuum Catastrophe, however, is an existence entirely different from all of the above.

"That was an era before space Teleportation Gates were established. During an expedition to the 0972 Giant Dragon Plane, Great Wizard France suddenly noticed that the speed of the traversing Starship had inexplicably dropped by 0.00372 percent. In the eyes of a Wizard who had mastered true time, what an egregious error this was!

"Driven by a Wizard’s rigor, he did not ignore this anomaly. After continuous testing, he discovered that even in a vacuum entirely emptied of everything, a type of energy still existed.

"Thus, vacuum energy was discovered.

"It was proven that in an empty vacuum, various pairs of ’positive,’ ’anti,’ and ’exotic’ particles would continuously appear out of nowhere. This creation from nothingness was energy that the Endless Star Sea ’borrowed’ from the vacuum, only for the particles to subsequently annihilate and return the energy.

"Hard as it was to believe, France arrived at his conclusion: matter is merely an expression of energy. The material world of the Endless Star Sea is just a tiny fraction of the residue left behind by endless energy collisions.

"Hence, a wondrous idea was born—what if we stole one of those particles and never returned it!

"The Vacuum Catastrophe is based precisely on this principle.

"We took those stolen particle pairs and collided them. The energy sparks generated by their annihilation would ignite the entire Star Sea!

"Its eternal energy output, cheap transmission power systems, and cost-free production thoroughly liberated the productive forces of the Dynasty Era. The radiant flowers of countless lives fully bloomed. Those insane concepts were continuously realized, and Wizard Civilization strode boldly forward.

"[...]

"The resources accumulated by a Plane over billions of years are only enough to provide a civilization with a single opportunity for development. We were fortunate enough to seize it, stepping out from boring civil wars into the vast Star Sea, thereby acquiring nearly inexhaustible resources and energy.

"And the Vacuum Catastrophe is the power we touched that approaches one of the fundamental rules. It is also the third conceptual weapon of Wizard Civilization.

"So, by defying the ultimate existence of entropy increase, what was the price?"

Snapping back to reality, Chen Shang let out a long breath. He walked to a nearby Floating Island and stepped into a Teleportation Gate.

When the white light dissipated, he was standing in a massive plaza. After searching for quite a while, he finally spotted the laboratory doors for the Spiritual Power Development Project Team.

The double doors opened from the middle. Carved onto the surface was a giant eye with a spiral-shaped pupil. No matter what angle one stood at, it felt as though the eye was staring right at them.

Chen Shang scanned his Identity Card for authentication and pushed the doors open. Passing through a long corridor, he entered a circular hall. Various instruments were placed all around the room, and many white-robed and gray-robed figures were bustling back and forth. No one paid him any mind.

"Hello. I’m Chen Shang from Starfall Laboratory. I’m here to report to the Spiritual Power Development Project Team."

A woman in a white robe looked up and pointed to the side. "Over there. The third door."

Wizards were all workaholics, so Chen Shang didn’t mind her brusqueness. He followed her directions and walked over.

Pushing the door open, he found himself in a small room. He waited for a moment before a white-robed Wizard emerged. Looking to be in his forties with bright, piercing eyes, the man took Chen Shang’s Identity Card.

"Chen Shang from Starfall Laboratory?"

"Yes."

"Sit." The man pointed to the chair across the desk, and Chen Shang sat down.

The Wizard pulled a Crystal Plate out of a drawer and placed it on the desk, followed by a pile of testing instruments.

"Let’s begin the tests!"

Chen Shang was already used to this. Following the other party’s instructions, he tested his Spiritual Power strength, his Spiritual Power fluctuation frequency, his Spiritual Power recovery speed, and his Spiritual Power’s resistance to external interference...