Chapter 468 First Trial of Curvature Drive

He Yuzhu's finger rested on the plastic cover of the red button. The heat from the indicator light emanating from the bottom of the cover made it slightly hot to the touch. He didn't press it.

"Lin Jianguo, how many rounds of ground simulation have you run?"

"Twelve rounds. All passed." Lin Jianguo's finger hovered above the confirmation button, leaving a white mark on his fingertip, but he didn't press it down.

"Where's the actual machine?"

"Never tried it."

He Yuzhu pulled his hand back from the cover, clenched it into a fist, then relaxed it. He glanced back at the clock on the wall. The countdown numbers were still ticking, but not for the Kunlun—it was his final time to hesitate.

"Dean He, how about we do a short pulse test first?" Qian Zhiyuan stood up from the back row, clutching a stack of stress calculation papers, the edges of which were crumpled. "Ten seconds at full power, the coil connectors might not be able to withstand it—"

"Full process." He Yuzhu interrupted him, pressing the cover down again. This time, he didn't pull his hand away. "Start."

Lin Jianguo took a deep breath. As he exhaled, he pressed the confirmation button. His fingertip paused on the button for a second, as if afraid it would be hot.

The curvature coils of the Kunlun were energized. On the large screen, a pale blue halo appeared in the coil area in the center of the hull structure diagram. This light was not as stable as that of the anti-gravity system; it flickered, like the heartbeat of some kind of creature.

"Power is 10 percent. Magnetic field is stable." Qian Zhiyuan's voice was strained, as if something was stuck in his throat.

Tan Wei's voice came through the quantum communication, carrying a deliberately suppressed calm. "Control center, everything is normal inside the cabin. No acceleration was felt."

Thirty percent.

"Still no feeling." This time it was Zhao Mingyuan, his tone several octaves higher than Tan Wei's, barely concealing his excitement. "Dean He, the star map seems... to have changed."

The large screen switched to the porthole view. The stars outside the window began to move slowly. Not in the way the spaceship rotated, but rather the entire starry sky seemed to stretch towards the stern. The stars in front were tinged with pale blue, while those behind were tinged with dark red.

The power increased to 70%. Suddenly, a red warning box popped up on the screen—"Coil temperature abnormal."

Qian Zhiyuan suddenly stood up, his chair sliding backward and hitting the wall. "Temperature exceeded the limit—"

"Stop?" Lin Jianguo's hand had already moved to the emergency stop button.

He Yuzhu pressed down on his wrist. "Wait."

Three seconds. Five seconds.

The warning box disappeared. The controller's voice came through: "Sensor noise, false alarm. Temperature normal."

Qian Zhiyuan slowly sat back down; the chair had slid too far for him to reach. He moved forward slightly, his palms sweaty. "Dean He, it was a false alarm."

Tan Wei asked from space, "What's happening on the ground?"

He Yuzhu picked up the microphone and said only one word: "Continue."

"Ninety percent. Ninety-five percent. One hundred percent."

The warp drive was operating at full power. The stars on the porthole screen appeared as thin lines, the blue light in front and the red light behind merging into one, like a crumpled piece of colored silk. The interior of the spaceship remained silent. Zhao Mingyuan's voice came again, this time with an inexplicable sense of awe.

"Control center, the star chart changes are very obvious. The spectra of the stars are shifting. This is the Doppler effect. We are accelerating."

"How many times the speed of light?"

Tan Wei glanced down at the instrument panel. "0.001%. It's still increasing."

Lin Jianguo stared intently at the data screen. "Target speed reached. Duration: three seconds." He paused. "Five seconds. Seven seconds. Ten seconds."

No one applauded in the control center. Some held their breath, some clenched their fists. Ma Yuejin squatted in a corner, his cigarette snapped in half, the tobacco spilling all over the floor.

He Yuzhu picked up the microphone. "Kunlun, slow down."

"receive."

The coil power gradually decreased. The lines on the star chart slowly returned to dots, the blue shift and red shift gradually faded, and the starry sky outside the window returned to normal.

Zhao Mingyuan's voice came again, much more relaxed than before. "Control center, judging from the changes in the star map, our position has changed. At this speed, we've traveled 3,000 kilometers in ten seconds. But there's been no impact inside the cabin. Warp drive isn't like a rocket; it doesn't propel you."

Tan Wei added, a smile playing on his lips, "Control center, warp drive test complete. Spaceship operating normally."

Lin Jianguo removed his fingers from the keyboard and wiped them on his trouser leg. He turned to look at He Yuzhu. "Peak speed 0.001 light speed, duration 10 seconds, all parameters meet expectations."

There was a two-second silence in the control center. Then Ma Yuejin stood up from the corner, threw the crushed cigarette into the trash can. "It's done," he said. No one answered. It wasn't that they didn't want to talk, but their throats were tight.

Qian Zhiyuan didn't smile. His eyes remained fixed on the stress curve. A sharp peak appeared at the top of the curve, small but glaring. "Dean He, the coil stress is excessive. The peak exceeds the material's fatigue limit by five percent. Microcracks may have appeared at the joint."

The heat in the control center dissipated instantly. Someone lowered their hand that had just been raised.

"How big?" He Yuzhu walked over to Qian Zhiyuan.

Qian Zhiyuan pulled up a magnified image of the area. "It's less than 0.1 millimeters. Similar to the crack in the anti-gravity coil last time. But the curvature coil has a more complex structure, making it more difficult to repair."

"Can we hold out until we return to base?"

Qian Zhiyuan calculated again and again, his fingers tapping repeatedly on the keyboard. "Yes. The crack won't spread. But the damaged coil segment must be replaced before the next test. Otherwise, the risk is uncontrollable."

He Yuzhu didn't sigh. He straightened up and turned to Lin Jianguo. "Record. First real-world test of warp drive successful. Speed: 0.001 light speed, duration: 10 seconds. Microcracks found in the coil; returned to factory for repair."

He paused for a moment. "The coil design for the second spacecraft increases the safety margin from five percent to twenty percent."

Lin Jianguo was taken aback. "The second one?"

"The Kunlun took three years to build and six months for test flights. Will two years be enough for the next one?"

Lin Jianguo swallowed hard. "Enough."

He Yuzhu picked up the microphone. "Kunlun, curvature test complete. Well done."

Tan Wei's voice came back from space, this time without being deliberately suppressed. "Control center, thank you. When can we try again?"

"Wait until you get back, change the coil, and then try again."

"clear."

The people in the control center began to move. Some packed up files, others turned off the backup screens. Ma Yuejin picked up the broken cigarette from the corner, looked at it, and threw it into the trash can.

He Yuzhu stood alone in front of the command platform. He took a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket and unfolded it. On the paper was a photocopy of He Nianhua's diary from a few years ago, the handwriting crooked and messy—"I want to drive the faster kind in the future."

He folded the paper and put it back in his pocket. Then he picked up the red phone on the table and dialed a number.

"The second one can be approved for approval."

There was a few seconds of silence on the other end of the phone.

"allow."

He Yuzhu put down the microphone. Outside the window, it was already dark.