The chances of making a breakthrough in computational science in the short term were not high, but the construction of a Star Cluster-Class battleship was an undertaking that could be completed within an expected timeframe. In previous construction tasks, when building Planet-Class and Star-Class battleships, Xiao Yu had already accumulated a sufficient industrial foundation, so building a Star Cluster-Class battleship was a matter of further development, not of starting from nothing.

This saved Xiao Yu a great deal of time. Even so, Xiao Yu estimated that it would still take five hundred years to complete his first Star Cluster-Class battleship.

Time quietly slipped by amidst this busy work. Xiao Yu developed his technology on one hand, focusing especially on space technology and computational technology, while on another hand he continued searching for the vanished small universe, and at the same time proceeded with the construction of the Star Cluster-Class battleship.

In the tranquil sea of stars, countless celestial bodies slowly moved along their own orbits, everything neat and orderly. Even the most chaotic places were still precise. Just like asteroid belts where meteors flew wildly, however chaotic they might appear, their motion was still governed by extremely precise physical laws. This was true for the central black hole of a galaxy that had a mass one hundred million times that of the sun, and it was true for the tiniest grain of dust at the edge of a star system. It was as if there was an invisible great hand in the vast main universe, manipulating everything in it. Xiao Yu knew that the name of this great hand was physical law.

Sometimes Xiao Yu would also divert a bit of computing power and attention. While handling all kinds of complex tasks, he would quietly gaze at the vast and deep universe, thinking of nothing at all, merely staring in a daze, sensing the mysterious power that lay behind this universe.

In Xiao Yu’s words, any phenomenon in the universe, any behavior of any kind of matter, could be explained. A meteor suddenly changed its orbit and rushed toward another meteor. This phenomenon could not be without a cause. It could not change its orbit for no reason. The fact that it changed its orbit could only mean that some other force had been applied to it. A meteor changing its orbit was one example, and stellar explosions, planetary condensation, collisions, nuclear fusion and so on, every noun and behavior Xiao Yu could think of, could all receive an explanation from physical law.

“In that case, does there exist in this universe a phenomenon that does not need any explanation? For example, a planet explodes, with no cause and no basis at all. It is not governed by any physical law. It simply explodes for no reason at all. Could such a situation exist in this universe? If there is such a place, then it certainly would not be in the universe I am currently in. In that place, there would definitely be many mysterious phenomena that cannot be explained… If there really is such a place, then it must be very beautiful and very wondrous.” Xiao Yu murmured.

At the same time, Xiao Yu extended a bit of thought toward what he called philosophical weapons, or causal weapons.

Where there is an effect, there must be a cause. This was something determined by physical laws in this three-dimensional main universe. For instance, a meteor changes its orbit and collides with another meteor. That collision is the effect, while the cause is that some other force acted upon it. Xiao Yu’s previous conception of a causal weapon, or philosophical weapon, was based on this principle. First, he would specify the effect, such as forcing this meteor to collide with another meteor, and then allow the natural forces of the universe and physical laws to specify the cause.

Causality was the foundation of the universe’s existence, the basis for the existence of all physical laws. Xiao Yu had already confirmed that the universe possessed a certain self-healing capacity, so it was highly likely that, with regard to causality, the universe also possessed a self-healing capacity.

When all was said and done, the universe did not allow events that violated causality to occur. It did not allow inexplicable events to appear, such as a planet that exploded without any reason. If the result could not be changed, then in order to maintain the normal operation of causality, the universe would have no choice but to create the causes that would lead to that result. This was the principle behind a causal weapon.

Xiao Yu’s previous conception was also like this. But now he discovered a new possible mode of existence for causal weapons. In this mechanism, causality did not exist, or one could say it was temporarily shielded. Within this mechanism, an event could occur out of nowhere without needing any reason. A planet explodes, and it simply explodes without cause. If you ask for a reason, ask why it exploded, then unfortunately there is none, no reason at all. There is no causality, no physical law supporting the occurrence of this phenomenon, and yet it explodes.

This was the second possible mode of existence for causal weapons.

Of course, what Xiao Yu was thinking about now had no practical significance for him at his present stage. But scientific development in large part arose from this kind of wild, free-association thinking. In the future, it was not impossible that Xiao Yu might really be able to create a causal weapon based on such principles. No one could say for sure.

Time continued to pass by quietly in this way. The construction of the Star Cluster-Class battleship was already more than halfway complete, and just then, Xiao Yu made a different discovery.

Xiao Yu had finally detected a trace of the small universe’s existence. After disappearing for several hundred years for reasons unknown, the small universe had finally been tracked down by Xiao Yu once again. Right where Xiao Yu was, through space fluctuation and gravity detection, he once again confirmed the position of that small universe.

“In these past few hundred years, what exactly happened inside you? In the time you vanished, where did you go?” Xiao Yu thought to himself. “Let me first send a probe into you.”

Xiao Yu had indeed detected signs of this small universe, but the numerical parameters were somewhat different from before. Specifically, the gravitational and spatial fluctuations he detected were extremely weak, surprisingly weak. This seemed to indicate that the small universe possessed only very low mass. This did not match previous detection results. Xiao Yu remembered very clearly that, when he had previously entered that small universe, there had been nearly ten thousand stars in it.

Xiao Yu could not be sure whether this small universe was still the one he had previously entered. But even if it was not, the sudden appearance of a small universe here was suspicious enough. Xiao Yu still decided to investigate it. If it really was the original small universe, then by probing the changes that it had undergone during this period of time, Xiao Yu might gain some new insights.

A specially designed probe was launched by Xiao Yu, but an unexpected situation occurred. The Loya Round Cup technology based on five-dimensional space was actually unable to complete the task of linking the main universe and the small universe. This was something Xiao Yu had not anticipated, and likewise, he still could not give a reasonable explanation for this phenomenon.

That left only two choices. One was to build a Space Bridge and enter the small universe that way. The other was to slice off another section of space, create a new small universe, place the probe within it, and then push this new small universe to merge with the existing small universe, thereby delivering the probe into it through the process of fusion.

Of these two choices, Xiao Yu selected the latter. He was worried that directly connecting the small universe and the main universe via a Space Bridge might damage some aspect of the small universe’s native environment.

Thus, Xiao Yu placed the probe into a new, extremely tiny small universe. In order to keep the entropy of this small universe stable, Xiao Yu had no choice but to supply it with energy continuously. Once everything was ready, this small universe, driven by its initial momentum, began to move continuously closer to the original small universe. Through gravity and space fluctuation detection technology, Xiao Yu could monitor the states of the two small universes in real time and with great precision.

After drifting through the four-dimensional void for a while, the small universe carrying the probe finally arrived beside the original small universe. According to Xiao Yu’s calculations, based on gravitational pull and spatial fusion dynamics, this small universe should easily attach itself to the original small universe and start the fusion process. But an unexpected situation occurred again. The calculated force that would drive fusion did not materialize. However, because the initial calculations were extremely accurate, the later small universe still managed to attach to the original one. Fusion of the small universes did happen, but at a much slower rate than anticipated.

As the fusion of the universes proceeded, Xiao Yu discovered more inexplicable phenomena. Specifically, the signatures that indicated the presence of the original small universe had been extremely weak before. Xiao Yu could only detect them with very high precision. Yet as the fusion began, these indicators of its existence rapidly increased, quickly moving toward a normal level.

Because the fusion was not yet complete, Xiao Yu still could not observe this small universe directly, so he did not know what exactly was happening during the process, and thus could not explain these strange situations.

Xiao Yu grew ever more curious and ever more eager for the results that the probe would return.

Finally, after several years, the fusion of the two small universes was complete, and the probe Xiao Yu had created successfully entered this small universe that he had once detonated and that had now been restored.

What appeared before Xiao Yu was a wondrous world. When he received the data from the probe and saw this small universe with his own eyes for the first time, Xiao Yu could not help but stand there in a daze.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep