Chapter 599 - I Promise
When Jiang Chen left the community center, he happened to bump into Wang Qin, who was coming from the warehouse. He once again notified her of the lack of people in the software development department and inquired about progress on the warp drive researched by the Aerospace Technology Research Institute. When he heard that the development of the warp engine was slow, he debated for a moment.
“Put the warp engine research aside for now – tell them to help me replicate technology related to the space elevator.”
“The space elevator? That thing can only be built near the equator, and the insane construction requirements are absolutely not sustainable by us.” Wang Qin looked at Jiang Chen in shock when she heard his words.
Just the Garden of Eden project demanded an excessive amount of labor and money. The space elevator was too wild of an idea for the NAC right now.
“I just need the technical document. I know survival camps don’t have the condition to produce that.”
Seeing as Jiang Chen was insisting on the warp drive, Wang Qin stopped voicing her concerns since Jiang Chen was the General of NAC, and she was just the director for the logistics department without any right to question the General’s decision.
When Jiang Chen returned to the mansion, he found Lin Lin spending time in the lab and asked the thing that had been bothering him.
“Your interdimensional travel ability is blocked? That’s a serious dilemma…” Lin Lin leaned against the chair with both hands behind her head; a lollipop was hanging in her mouth with the candy constantly hitting her teeth.
“Do you have any insight?” Jiang Chen asked.
“No.” Lin Lin was straightforward. “Could you clearly describe the situation then?”
Jiang Chen described what happened in Kejia with clear detail, including the relationship between Kurofune and the colonization ship, their conspiracy of attempting to assassinate him, and the sudden eruption of a zombie infection…
“You can open the storage dimension but can’t perform interdimensional travel?” Lin Lin wrapped her fingers around the thin stick while muttering to herself, “I seem to have an idea… but is it theoretically possible?”
“What is it?”
Lin Lin took out the lollipop, let out a sigh, and walked to the whiteboard on the wall before picking up a black marker.
“I remember giving you a lesson one year ago regarding the multi-universe theory. Here are two parallel lines, and you’re an ant on one of the lines… an ant who can jump between the lines. Because for you, there’s a door that exists between the two lines.”
A circle was drawn between the two lines. Needless to say, Lin Lin’s art continued to suck, but it didn’t prevent Jiang Chen from understanding her point.
“Klein particles use you as a node, which means that each of your hands can grab onto one of the lines. Therefore, you can freely move between the two worlds. I’ll call this point a singularity point.”
Singularities had different interpretations in astronomy and physics, but they could be summed up as points in the universe where there was an independent and finite existence. Everything that happened here couldn’t be explained by conventional science or human knowledge and experience. For example “1 + 1 = 2” was true elsewhere, but at this point, it was “1 + 1 = 3.” At this point, classical physics didn’t apply and there was no physical quantity that existed.
And Jiang Chen’s presence was just a singularity point.
Even with the most advanced physics knowledge of the 22nd century, Lin Lin still couldn’t explain how he could open that “door.”
Jiang Chen also couldn’t explain this feeling. Traversing between the two worlds was as easy as drinking water and breathing. It felt like the “door” was in front of his eyes, and he only needed to extend his feet.
“Ordinary people can’t see or touch the door, even if they spent their lives doing so. But a small accident happened here.” Lin Lin drew another point on the line representing the colonization ship. “Now, there is an unfriendly neighbor in the room, and he came from the other side of the door. After a thousand years of research or evolution? Cultivation? All in all, he touched the boundary to the door and finally saw the door he passed through before but had never seen before.”
“But…” Lin Lin’s words took a turn. She threw away the marker and pointed her lollipop at Jiang Chen. “He still can’t pass through the door because the key is in your hands. I have to say that you’re probably the luckiest man in this universe.”
“Lucky?” Jiang Chen didn’t disagree with what she said, but he wasn’t happy about it.
He paused for a moment. “They can see the door, but what does it have to do with me being unable to travel for a period of time?”
“They could use special methods to interfere with the movement of Klein particles; you should’ve already discovered this in the apocalypse. The application of Klein particles to create bugs is at a mastery level, including the one in my body.” Lin Lin pumped her still-flat chest with her fingers. “The Klein particle rays can almost make all electronic equipment fail. I don’t think it’s impossible that they could develop other means of using Klein particles.”
“To put it as an analogy, your neighbor is stronger than you. Although he can’t open the door without the key, he can use brute force to pull on the door to prevent you from opening it.”
“What an annoying neighbor then… What about the storage dimension? If they can see the door, why don’t they block the storage dimension altogether?” Jiang Chen was still puzzled.
If they blocked the storage dimension, they could’ve killed him on the plane.
He had to take out the power armor or other items to break the fall, or else he would’ve been smashed to the ground.
“Your storage dimension is more like a circle between the two parallel lines, independent from the universe but not part of the multi-universe. Because it isn’t in the room, they naturally can’t interfere.”
Jiang Chen finally felt relieved at Lin Lin’s explanation.
But even then, he still lacked the confidence in the war spanning over one hundred years.
“Are they still evolving? These bugs are unsettling after all…” Jiang Chen sighed. “Let’s not talk about that. How’s the situation on this side regarding the Garden of Eden?”
“It should be completed in half a year. Hmph, since it’s my—” Lin Lin was about to praise herself before being mercilessly interrupted by Jiang Chen.
“How much money did I spend on the Garden of Eden? Just the materials alone cost 200 million USD!” Jiang Chen said bitterly.
Two hundred million USD in materials. Without considering market saturation, it would be an astronomical number if converted to NAC’s credit points.
As the designer of the project, Lin Lin naturally knew how much of the budget she burned through, so she awkwardly looked away.
“Hmmm… let’s not talk about money. This is an era-defining project; you can’t just look at economic gains.”
“You’re right. Since it’s my backyard after all, maybe I’ll have to live inside in the future.”
After retorting for the last time, he put some pudding on the table and headed for the door.
Lin Lin seemed to have read something on his face. She hesitated for a moment before she spoke as Jiang Chen’s hand landed on the doorknob.
“Don’t feel defeated. You control the secret of the ‘door’ and they’re still afraid of you, meaning you must possess something they’re afraid of.”
“For example?” Jiang Chen didn’t turn his head.
“It’s up to you to discover.” Lin Lin paused before a cheerful smile emerged on her face. Her elf-like silver hair reflected a rare hint of warmth under the sunshine. “If possible, I want to see a lot of pudding. Mango flavor.”
Jiang Chen turned around and used his smile to meet her expectations.
“I promise.”