Reflecting on the arduous journey of the past few years, Li Qingsong’s heart surged with emotion.
’So what if you Intelligent Mechanical Calamity have been hunting me down all this time?’
’A normal civilization would find it hard enough just to survive, let alone advance their technology. But so what? Even while constantly on the run, haven’t I still pushed our technology to this stage?’
’Now, the Standard Model has been greatly refined, incorporating the Strong Core Force into the same framework more completely than ever before.’
’Though I haven’t truly unified them yet, all that’s missing now are a few high-energy experiments.’
’As long as I can reach a sufficient energy level and pile the energy of the gluon-plasma even higher, predictive models show that the Strong Core Force will very likely merge with the Electroweak Force, truly revealing its secrets to me!’
’At that point, I will truly be a Strong Core Civilization. Even if I’m still no match for you right after the breakthrough, at least my fleet’s speed can be greatly increased, buying myself more time to develop.’
’Give me enough time, and what does an Intelligent Mechanical Calamity that has all but lost its own potential for growth even matter!’
’Right now, the only thing I need to do—my primary mission—is to find a suitable testing ground and the right experimental methods to truly forge all my past scientific research into one, achieve a breakthrough in fundamental physics, then a breakthrough in applied physics, and finally a breakthrough in technological creation!’
Li Qingsong began to think again.
The key to unifying the Strong Core Force was to verify if the current unified theory was correct and to supply certain crucial parameters.
Yes, at this moment, Li Qingsong had already constructed the theoretical framework for the Grand Unification Formula.
Of course, it was only a framework. First, Li Qingsong didn’t know if this framework was correct. Second, it was missing some extremely critical parameters and theoretical details.
Only by supplying these missing pieces could he claim to have truly unified the Strong Core Force.
The key to verifying the framework’s correctness lay in a single phenomenon: proton decay.
Protons are generally considered stable and non-decaying. However, Li Qingsong’s current theoretical system indicated that protons do, in fact, decay. It was just that their lifespan was extremely long, making the probability of decay incredibly low.
The significance of proton decay was that it would be direct evidence for the correctness of his theoretical framework.
Within Li Qingsong’s theoretical system, in the early moments of the Cosmos, shortly after the Big Bang, the four fundamental forces—Gravity, the Strong Core Force, the electromagnetic force, and the weak nuclear force—were all unified.
But as the Big Bang occurred and the Cosmos rapidly expanded, the energy level plummeted. Gravity was the first to separate from the other three fundamental forces, followed by the Strong Core Force, and then the weak nuclear and electromagnetic forces also split from each other, resulting in the current state of four distinct fundamental interactions.
If this was indeed the case, it meant that proton decay must exist.
But as of now, Li Qingsong had yet to observe any signs of proton decay.
’First, the Strong Core Force can definitely be unified with the Electroweak Force.
This isn’t based on scientific research, but on the very existence of advanced civilizations. Since Strong Core Civilizations exist, it’s illogical that the Strong Core Force cannot be unified.
Since the Strong Core Force must be unifiable with the Electroweak Force, the crucial point is the *mode* of unification.
If I can observe proton decay, I can confirm my current theoretical framework is correct. If I can’t, it proves my theoretical system is wrong, and I’ll have to search for a new one.
Second is to find evidence for the existence of magnetic monopoles and evidence for baryon number violation.
If I can observe these three phenomena, not only can I confirm my theoretical framework is correct, but I can also determine the energy level required to unify the Strong Core Force and the Electroweak Force, supplying that key parameter.
Once I know the energy level, I can try to create it through engineering, unifying the Strong Core Force with the Electroweak Force. After that, I can closely observe the process of their separation, watch the physical changes that occur, study what new Particles appear, and analyze the properties and transformations of these new Particles. Fill in those details and data, and I’ll have mastered the Grand Unified Theory!’
At this moment, Li Qingsong had a clear view of the entire research path ahead.
Within this path, creating a suitable energy level high enough to unify the Strong Core Force and the Electroweak Force was sure to be a major hurdle.
Although he didn’t yet know exactly how high this energy level was, Li Qingsong was certain it would be incredibly high.
After all, in his theoretical system, the Strong Core Force had separated from the other forces a mere one-trillionth of a trillionth of a trillionth of a second after the Big Bang.
How immense must the energy of the Cosmos have been at that moment?
One could only imagine the difficulty of recreating such an energy level with artificial equipment.
Of course, this didn’t mean Li Qingsong had to wield the total energy of the Big Bang itself. That was obviously impossible.
Not just him; even a civilization ten thousand times more advanced than his probably couldn’t do it.
In fact, he only needed to replicate this energy level on an extremely small scale. While the energy level would be high, the total energy involved might not even equal that of a single high-explosive bomb.
As he studied the entire research path in detail, Li Qingsong’s heart began to grow heavy once more.
Just from running simple simulated calculations, Li Qingsong discovered that the materials required for these crucial experiments far exceeded his previous estimates.
The supplies carried by the fleet alone were completely insufficient.
This meant that to conduct the critical experiments that would determine whether he could break through to become a Strong Core Civilization, he would have to stop in a star system. He could only proceed by relying on the abundant resources within one.
And the time...
Li Qingsong made a rough estimate and found that even if everything went smoothly, he would need at least 300 years.
If there were even minor unexpected issues or difficult points that held him up, forcing him to conduct additional research and experiments, that timeframe would immediately balloon to over 400 years.
And...
Last time, it had only been 230 years after he left that star system before the Intelligent Mechanical Calamity Fleet arrived.
Calculating based on this pattern, in the next star system, even if he only collected resources and repaired the fleet without doing anything else, the Intelligent Mechanical Calamity Fleet would likely arrive a maximum of 200 years after he left.
Counting from the moment he entered the star system, he would have at most about 230 years.
There wasn’t enough time!
But the breakthrough to a Strong Core Civilization had to be done in a star system!
The temporal contradiction was like a dead knot, binding Li Qingsong tightly with no hope of escape in sight.
’In that case...’
A ruthless glint flashed in Li Qingsong’s eyes.
’Screw it! If I have to take a risk, I’ll take it. If the worst happens, I’ll just abandon this fleet and the billions of Clones, activate the backup, and start over!’