While dedicating all his effort to analyzing the latest vibration data, Li Qingsong also mobilized the necessary industrial might and immediately began constructing more Detectors.
Now that he had truly detected the phenomenon of proton decay, Li Qingsong knew that all fundamental obstacles on his path to mastering the Grand Unification Formula had been eliminated.
All he needed to do now was follow the established procedure. He just had to build more high-pressure proton decay Detectors, probe the patterns of proton decay bit by bit, figure out the process, understand the data, and then gradually incorporate it into the existing theoretical framework until the entire theory was complete.
The road ahead would certainly be difficult and extremely tedious, with a colossal amount of engineering and computation required. But as long as he stayed the course, there was a definite result at the end—unlike before, when he had no idea which direction to take or if there would even be a result at all.
At that moment, the Clone inhabited by Li Qingsong's consciousness once again turned its gaze to the vast, boundless, star-strewn expanse of space.
Detecting proton decay was certainly a monumental breakthrough in research, but it also meant something else.
The fate of the Cosmos.
One could say that once proton decay was confirmed, Li Qingsong could also be certain of the future fate of the Cosmos—its ultimate end.
Heat death.
The existence of magnetic monopoles had confirmed the reality of cosmic inflation, directly proving that the Cosmos was in a state of constant expansion.
Proton decay, in turn, directly confirmed that nothing in the Cosmos could exist forever.
If even protons could decay, what could possibly last forever?
In the distant future, the hydrogen in the Cosmos will grow increasingly scarce. This is because stars primarily use hydrogen for fuel.
It will be gradually converted into other elements, and eventually, all the stars in the Cosmos will die out.
Due to the influence of Gravitational Waves and gravitational disturbances, planets, stellar remnants, and the like will also break from their current orbits, becoming rogue bodies drifting through the Cosmos. Even galaxies will cease to exist.
In 10^37 years, approximately half of all protons in the Cosmos will have decayed. By then, even stellar remnants, planets, and asteroids will disintegrate.
This is because the protons that comprise them will have "escaped."
If protons didn't decay, they could exist almost eternally, held together by their own Gravity.
But alas, Li Qingsong had now confirmed that protons do decay. And so their fate—and the fate of the Cosmos—was sealed.
In the distant future, all macroscopic celestial bodies in the Cosmos will completely disintegrate. Even Black Holes will slowly evaporate due to the existence of Hawking Radiation.
In the end, only Photons and leptons will remain in the Cosmos, forming a thick "soup" that will almost never change, existing for eternity.
To use the word "eternity" here seems imprecise. It is a word that describes time, and in a Cosmos that will never again change, time itself becomes meaningless. Or rather, time ceases to exist.
Gazing at the star-filled sky, at the dazzling individual stars, the endless celestial bodies, and the magnificent galaxy, Li Qingsong was filled with a sense of profound emotion.
No matter how great or magnificent, nothing can withstand the passage of time.
And this ultimate fate was all because of the tiny proton.
'That's at least 10^41 years away. It's far too distant for me to worry about.'
Li Qingsong sighed. 'For now, I should focus on the task at hand and complete the breakthrough to a Strong Core Civilization.'
'After all, there isn't much time before the Intelligent Mechanical Calamity Fleet comes back...'
While undertaking his monumental research tasks, Li Qingsong also initiated massive construction projects.
And so, one after another, colossal proton decay Detectors were completed, each filled with tens or even hundreds of billions of tons of ultra-pure hydrogen.
Time and again, Li Qingsong observed the faint vibrations caused by proton decay.
Using ever-improving detection methods and by observing these vibrations, Li Qingsong gradually came to understand the specific patterns of proton decay.
Although he was unable to directly observe the Light Neutrino, Li Qingsong still managed to accurately determine its properties through indirect means, incorporating them into his existing theoretical framework.
Thus, Li Qingsong's Grand Unified Theory grew more complete.
Finally, Li Qingsong had enough data and methods to calculate the precise value of the grand unification energy scale!
The grand unification energy scale is the energy level at which the Strong Core Force and the Electroweak Force merge into one.
Clearly, only by determining this value could Li Qingsong begin developing a Particle Collider. He needed to reproduce this energy level in order to experimentally observe the unification of the three fundamental forces. He also needed to observe their separation as the energy level decreased, and study the various subatomic particles created during this process to truly understand their mechanisms and principles.
Achieving such a high energy scale was obviously an extremely difficult task.
How could one easily reproduce the energy levels present a mere septillionth of a second after the Big Bang?
Of course, Li Qingsong didn't need to reproduce the total amount of energy—only the energy *level* on an extremely small scale.
Otherwise, never mind Li Qingsong; even the super-civilization he knew of that could weaponize a Supernova Explosion, or the Demon Eye Civilization that had modified an entire galaxy, would be incapable of such a feat.
After a series of calculations, Li Qingsong winced and drew a sharp breath.
The calculations showed that with his current technological and industrial strength, Li Qingsong did indeed have the ability to achieve such an energy level.
All it would take was building a Particle Collider with a total length of 1,000 kilometers, powered by 100 large-scale nuclear fusion power plants, and with a total mass of over 400 million tons.
This was nothing like a starship, which is primarily composed of external armor and internal mechanical structures.
Over 80% of that 400-million-plus tons of mass would need to be made of extremely precise and advanced instrumentation.
The difficulty of its construction was easy to imagine.
'A Particle Collider over 400 million tons... a normal Electroweak Civilization would probably need to devote all its resources for several hundred years to build such a thing.'
'Even for me, while handling other construction and research projects at the same time, it would take more than a decade to complete.'
'Technological development is a truly arduous path.'
With a sigh, Li Qingsong once again selected a suitable site and began construction.
「Over a decade passed in a flash.」
At long last, the unprecedented, gargantuan Particle Collider was complete.
Once all checks and calibrations were complete, Li Qingsong eagerly began the first particle collision experiment.