There was no need to guess at all.
Except for Chairman Li Guangya, Lu Zhou couldn’t think of anyone else that would come here at this time. The only thing he didn’t expect was that not only Chairman Li Guangya was here, but also Sun Liwei, the commander of the Pan-Asian First Fleet.
Lu Zhou didn’t have an impression of Commander Sun, but he vaguely remembered that they had a face-to-face meeting at the celebration at the beginning of the year. His first impression at the time was that this old man was probably a serious man who never smiled during work or in his lifetime.
Seeing that the two guests who came here seemed to be discussing business matters, Vera greeted them politely. She then went upstairs sensibly.
For some reason, when Vera greeted Li Guangya, Lu Zhou felt that the expression on Li Guangya’s face was a bit…
Subtly Awkward?
But after thinking about it, Lu Zhou threw this trivial matter aside. Li Guangya, who had crossed the hallway, quickly wiped the unnatural expression off his face. He coughed lightly and greeted Lu Zhou with a smile on his face.
“Long time no see, Academician Lu, how are you doing recently? Life is still good?”
“I’ve always been good…”
Lu Zhou was weirded out by the small talk. After he invited the two to sit down on the sofa, he said straightforwardly, “… We have known each other for more than a year. Since we are all friends, there’s no need for small talk. Just tell me what you need.”
“What is that supposed to mean, I can’t see my old friend?” Seeing Lu Zhou looking at himself, Li Guangya was embarrassed to continue speaking. He continued with a slightly embarrassed smile, “Ahem, I know I can’t hide from you… Commander Sun, do you want to go first?”
“I’ll go first.”
Sun Liwei took a deep breath. He looked at Lu Zhou earnestly and continued in a sincere tone, “Here’s the thing, the amazing results of Qinling’s hyperspace experiments are now known to the world. The military analysis agencies of major regional alliances around the world have given a high evaluation of the technology we have. This is not only an affirmation of our strength but also a test. In order to maintain the stability of the regional situation on Earth, we hope to maintain the current strategic deterrence…”
Lu Zhou: “So?”
“The Z particle oscillator, can you offer a price?” Sun Liwei, who was a soldier, had no business experience, so he said straightforwardly, “We hope to buy it.”
If it were someone else sitting here, they would raise the price just from Sun Liwei’s desperate face.
However, it just so happened that the person sitting across from him was not a businessman. It could even be said that Lu Zhou was completely disinterested in business matters, and he didn’t care about money.
However, after hearing this request, Lu Zhou’s face showed a weird expression.
“Buy it? Are you sure you don’t need to install the weapon systems and external armor back?”
“No need, just keep it like this!” Sun Liwei, who was afraid that Lu Zhou might misunderstand him, suddenly continued, “Of course, we will give you a suitable price! And for any new research on the warp drive, we are willing to pay for your research in full!”
Lu Zhou couldn’t help but feel a little humorous, so he spoke with a joking tone.
“Do you think I am someone who needs money?”
Sun Liwei was a little dumbfounded. He turned his eyes to Li Guangya for help.
Noting the expression on Commander Sun’s face, Li Guangya sighed in his heart. He then looked at Lu Zhou and spoke with an embarrassing smile.
“We know that you are not short of money, of course, but… this is really important to us, and I hope we can reach an agreement. Or besides money, what other proposals can satisfy you? You can ask for anything, and we will do our best to help you!”
“It’s not that I don’t want to sell it to you.” Lu Zhou picked up the unfinished cup of coffee on the coffee table and took a sip. He looked at the two people with sincerity and eagerness written on their faces. After a sigh, he continued, “But this thing was originally a DEMO version. Neither the hyperspace channel calculations nor the application has met my initial expectations.”
“You mean… There is a lot of room for improvement in this technology?”
“That’s right.” Lu Zhou nodded approvingly as he looked at Commander Sun. He continued, “Between two curved surfaces that do not want to intersect in space, there is only a straight line from one point to the other, but there can be countless irregular connections. In the previous experiment, the route I chose was not the one with the shortest path, but the one that was relatively easy to find.”
After hearing this statement, Li Guangya’s eyes lit up, and he asked excitedly, “In other words… the warp drive can be faster?”
Lu Zhou nodded and said, “Of course, it would be better to say that 0.8 astronomical units in five minutes is actually slow.”
Taking the Qinling as the benchmark and using the inference of the Z-particle gravitational wave equation he obtained, 1 AU per minute was barely an acceptable result for him.
0.8 AU actually took five minutes to complete, which was not including the first two minutes of preparation time, so it could only be regarded as a mediocre result.
Li Guangya and Sun Liwei, who were sitting on the opposite sofa, took a breath at the same time.
One hundred million kilometers in five minutes is slow?!
So what the f*ck does fast look like?!
Seeing that the two hadn’t spoken, Lu Zhou continued to speak after thinking for a while.
“Well, the demo version of the engine needs to be adjusted. Since you like it so much, I will help you improve it for free. As for the cost, don’t worry about it. Just lend me the Qinling for a while.”
“How can that be?! You have done so many things for us, how could we let you pay for it out of your own pocket? We also hope that Academician Lu understands that as soldiers, we also have our dignity and persistence. Please ask us for all the expenses incurred by the experiment!”
Looking at Commander Sun, who looked insistent, Lu Zhou was a little bit dumbfounded.
To be honest, in his expectation, the follow-up improvement work should not cost much.
At least compared to his savings, which couldn’t be spent over several lifetimes.
However, since this old man was so persistent, he didn’t say anything.
“Okay then,” said Lu Zhou, nodding his head. “Since you are willing to provide funding for the experiment, I won’t insist. In addition, I need the Qinling to cooperate with my work. Although they have cooperated before, I still hope that you can issue a written document or something.”
“No problem! From now on, your research is the highest priority task in our First Fleet. I will let Deng Yuanshu fully cooperate with your work!” Sun Liwei agreed without hesitation. With a serious expression on his face, he said to Lu Zhou, “On behalf of all combat and non-combat personnel of the Pan-Asian First Fleet, I would like to extend my highest respect and gratitude to you!”
“There’s no need for this. The technology is developed for people to use. Besides, we are helping each other.”
Faced with the old man’s solemn expression, Lu Zhou was a little embarrassed.
But in any case, they had reached a conclusion.
He cast his gaze at Chairman Li Guangya who was sitting next to him and looked at the expression on his face. Lu Zhou suddenly remembered that he had mentioned before that he planned to discuss something with him, so he took the initiative to ask.
“What about you? Did you come to me about the Qinling too?”
“Not quite.” Li Guangya said with a smile, “The First Fleet already has a diligent and dedicated commander, and it is not my place to share their worries.”
“So, there are other troubles waiting for me?”
“It’s not to trouble you, but there is a… small problem.” Li Guangya smiled embarrassedly. He sat upright on the sofa and said, “Here’s the case. I was consulting relevant experts about hyperspace, and they generated some ideas. I don’t know if these ideas are correct, so I want to ask your opinion.”
This guy actually understand this kind of stuff?
Lu Zhou glanced at Li Guangya unexpectedly. He suddenly looked a little stunned.
“Go ahead.”
Li Guangya: “Although I don’t know much about the deeper theories, from a literal point of view… the core principle of warp speed is to transport matter from one point to another through hyperspace channels. The greater the mass of matter, the greater the gravity, and the longer it will take to pass through the channel. So what about information? How long would it take for massless information to traverse the hyperspace channel?”
“This is a very interesting question,” Lu Zhou replied after putting down the coffee cup in his hand and thought for a moment. He said, “Theoretically, when the m coefficient of the equation is 0, the time t should be close to infinitely small. Yes, but there is not an absolute linear relationship between the two… My guess is that this time should be very, very short. It may be less than 1 second. As for the specifics, we have to go further to collect data and build a more accurate model.”
As soon as he heard that a distance of 0.8 AU wouldn’t even take 1 second, Li Guangya’s heart suddenly became warm.
He treated Academician Lu’s speculation as a fact, so he quickly asked, “Is there a way to build something similar to a submarine optical cable between the Earth-Moon system and Mars to realize the rapid exchange of information?”
When saying this, Li Guangya was watching the expression on Lu Zhou’s face very carefully.
He thought that after hearing this whimsical idea, Lu Zhou’s face would show a look of embarrassment. However, what he didn’t expect was that Lu Zhou’s face not only showed no embarrassment, but his answer was completely beyond his expectation.
“Of course.”
Lu Zhou continued speaking in a plain tone, “In fact, it is easy.”
