Spred glanced at the panel a few times before heading in the other direction. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

Next, Spred walked around the ship where the warp engine could be seen, but found nothing out of the ordinary. Just like the first time Zhou Xin saw this engine, its appearance still looks so intact and there is no damage.

Walking from one end of the warp engine to the other, Spred stood in the last observation position and thought about it, and after a while, he raised his head and said to Zhou Xin: "There is really nothing wrong with the outside of the warp engine, and now it seems that we can only go to the inside of the engine to check and see." The engine has just been shut down, and if you want to check its inside, you will have to wait until tomorrow when the engine cools down. ”

Although he was very anxious to find out what was wrong with the warp engine, it was true that the matter of cooling the engine could not be completed in a moment, so Zhou Xin had to press his mood first, leaving a few people on duty before to monitor the cooling state of the warp engine, and Zhou Xin asked the others to go back first. However, he also knew in his heart that after such a big incident, these people might not be able to sleep now, and even Zhou Xin himself was full of worry. Back in his room, Zhou Xin, who was lying on the bed, couldn't fall asleep over and over, thinking that he might have to face more serious problems tomorrow, he took out the methods he had taught in previous training and forced himself to fall asleep.

However, Zhou Xin's sleep did not last long, when he woke up, it was just past six o'clock in the morning, and he slept for less than two hours in total. After waking up this time, he really couldn't sleep anymore, no matter how much he forced himself to fall asleep, he decided to get up after lying in bed for ten minutes.

Ignoring washing, he came directly to the command cabin, and now there are only a few people left by Zhou Xin before leaving, and they are staring intently at the screen in front of them, for fear that something will happen to the warp engine, and they didn't even notice the sound of Zhou Xin opening the hatch.

Walking up to them, Zhou Xin spoke up and began to ask about the current situation, and those people were also startled by Zhou Xin's voice, and when they saw that it was Zhou Xin, they began to answer Zhou Xin's questions.

Through their Zhou Xin, they learned that in the two hours since he left, the warp engine had not completely cooled down. Zhou Xin had no choice but to sit down in his seat and read the daily report, but even so, he still seemed a little restless, and every few minutes he would always raise his head to look at the situation of the warp engine. However, it was obvious that the engine would not be able to cool down for a while and a half, so Zhou Xin had no choice but to continue to look at the report, but obviously his attention was not on the report in his hand.

In this way, after Zhou Xin waited in his seat for half an hour, Spred took the lead in the command cabin. As soon as he walked into the command cabin, just like when Zhou Xin came in before, he walked directly to the console to learn about the warp engine. However, apparently he knew more about the warp engine, and after getting the news that the engine had not yet cooled down, he still maintained a normal look, walked to Zhou Xin's side, and after exchanging a few words with him, Spred walked to a seat in front of the console, he wanted to check the current condition of the warp engine again.

The others also began to come to the command cabin one after another after Spred appeared, and Zhou Xin saw that each of them had dark circles under their eyes that were obviously sleep-deprived, and many of them yawned while walking to their seats. Sitting in their seats, they whispered to the others about the situation, and then went about their work in silence, and the entire command cabin was immersed in a heavy atmosphere.

Everyone, without exception, was rechecking the warp engine, but it was clear that they were not checking for anything unusual right now. Therefore, their attention was not focused on the data in front of them, but on the cooling progress of the warp engine, but as if to test everyone's patience, the temperature of the engine was slowly dropping like a snail, and it had not completely cooled down by noon.

After a day of torture in this kind of torment, the warp engine finally returned to normal temperature, which may be the longest day in everyone's opinion. When the people who were monitoring the warp engine reported to Zhou Xin that the engine had finished cooling, Spred was ready to enter, as expected.

Since the radio waves emitted by the communicator can affect the parts of the warp engine, the communicator is not allowed to be used during internal inspections. Before entering the engine, Spred and several people stood at the energy entrance of the warp engine and explained to the people in the command cabin. After a few words, Spred led a few people behind him into the interior of the warp engine.

As Spred went to get ready to enter the warp engine, Ralph, who didn't know where to get the news, came to the command module, but she came in quietly, and no one noticed her arrival. It wasn't until Spred went in that Zhou Xin noticed that she was standing beside him with a worried face.

"Don't worry, with your father here, there will be no problem with the engine." Zhou Xin comforted, "If it really doesn't work, we still have the main engine of the Voyager, and it won't be a problem to reach the target galaxy." ”

Ralph shook his head worriedly, "I'm not worried about this, I'm worried about my father's safety. ”

"His safety? Is there still a danger of going inside a warp engine? Why didn't you mention it when you checked the engine before? Zhou Xin was taken aback and asked repeatedly.

"Because it was a routine inspection before, it didn't go deep into the core of the engine." Ralph said worriedly, "I secretly watched my father's analysis last night, and this time the problem seems to be at the core of the engine, if that's the case-"

Seeing that Ralph mentioned the core of the warp engine, Zhou Xin found that he didn't seem to know much about the engine that had been installed on the Voyager for nearly three years, although he had asked Spred about the operation principle of the warp engine before, but because the two of them were very busy, he didn't give Zhou Xin a detailed introduction, and Zhou Xin didn't have any concept of what the core looked like.

"What's at stake in the core?" Zhou Xin asked.

Ralph looked scared, then she shook her head, "I don't know, because the core wasn't made by us, it's under the control of another institute. But when I was in the research base in the past, every time my father mentioned news related to that core, the most was an accident. Basically, the research institute that made the core of the warp engine would kill people every time it did something to the core, including the daily inspection of the core, and I once asked my father why the core was so dangerous, and every time my father was secretive and didn't tell me the specific reason. But looking at his face, it seems that he knows what is in the core. ”

After listening to Ralph's words, Zhou Xin became nervous, although he didn't know what kind of danger was in the core of the warp engine, but seeing that Ralph's face was not like a joke, Zhou Xin also showed a worried look, "Then why did he just go in casually like this, and he didn't take protective measures." No, we have to get him out of here. ”

"It's too late." Ralph shook his head, "If something happens, it's going to happen now, and even if you take precautions, it's useless." At that time, the institute did not take protective measures when it inspected the core, but no matter how foolproof the measures were, they were useless, and the sacrifice of the researcher still happened every time. ”

"So we're just going to have to wait like this now?" Zhou Xin showed a helpless expression.

Ralph didn't answer Zhou Xin's question, she just quietly looked at the energy entrance of the black hole on the screen, and her eyes showed undisguised worry.

The conversation between Zhou Xin and Ralph was conducted in a low voice, so the other Thunderers present did not know the danger of entering the core. While they also have their eyes on the big screen, they are concerned about the warp engine. Everyone had their own thoughts, and in this situation, the atmosphere in the command cabin fell silent for a while.

I don't know how long it took, everyone saw a figure faintly appear at the entrance of the energy, and after a while, Zhou Xin saw Spred walking out safely with all the people, and a big stone in his and Ralph's hearts finally fell to the ground. However, Zhou Xin did not let go of his heart, because the problem of the warp engine has not been solved. Staring at the few people who came out, Zhou Xin found that Spred's brows were tightly locked, and his eyes didn't know where he was staring, and he seemed to be thinking about something.

Walking to the side of the person waiting for him outside, Spred came back to his senses, and he said to Zhou Xin in the communicator, "The situation is a bit complicated, let's explain it in detail when I go back." Before Zhou Xin could answer, he had already walked away on the screen, leaving only a back.

A few minutes later, Spred returned to the command cabin, and the moment the hatch opened, Zhou Xin saw that he was still frowning as when he came out of the energy entrance before, and Zhou Xin could see a strong look of worry on his face.

Walking towards Zhou Xin, Spred was still looking down and thinking deeply, and before he could react, Zhou Xin first opened his mouth and blamed: "Why didn't you tell me that entering the warp engine was a dangerous thing, if I knew this, I wouldn't have let you in." ”

Spred stopped, came back to his senses, and glanced up at Ralph, "My daughter told you everything?" He asked, and without waiting for Zhou Xin to answer, he asked rhetorically, "If you don't let me in, who will go in?" Is it someone else or a robot? I'm the only one here who understands the core situation, I don't go in, is it possible? ”

Zhou Xin was suddenly speechless under Spred's rhetorical question, and after a while, Zhou Xin said helplessly: "Okay, you won, but why didn't you tell me the danger of going in before you went in, it's good to do some safety protection." ”

"You think I don't want to?" "For that thing in the heart of a warp engine, any protection in the conventional sense is useless, and it makes no difference to that thing with or without protection." ”

"So what's at the heart of a warp engine?" Zhou Xin asked.

"Element Zero." A word popped up in the translator that Zhou Xin didn't understand. Just as Spred said the word, the Thunder Stars in the command module all looked surprised, apparently they knew what it was.

However, Zhou Xin didn't seem to understand, "Element Zero? He repeated.

Spred nodded, "It's element zero, the microscopic particles that make up this substance do not have any charge, and the distance between the microscopic particles is much smaller than that of other microscopic particles, which makes this substance extremely dense, and there are hundreds of millions of tons of this substance in a little bit." He gestured with his finger to a small point.

Listening to his description, Zhou Xin had a familiar feeling, and just after a word popped up in his heart, the Voyager also said it at the same time.

"Neutron matter."

"Oh yes." Spred remembered, "You seem to call this particle neutron." ”

Hearing this term, Zhou Xin was immediately surprised, "You actually created a substance composed of neutrons?!" This can't exist naturally in the real world, right?! ”

"Of course it can't exist." Spred nodded, "So we built a super magnetic field around this mass of matter to keep it stable, and we don't make a lot of this substance, only a dozen grams, and the existence of this mass is almost invisible to the naked eye." ”

"That's pretty remarkable, too." Zhou Xin said, "How did you do this, our scientists have also tried to make this substance, but even in the laboratory, they can't make such a high pressure to combine electrons and protons." ”

"Then our manufacturing method is completely different from yours." "We collect the free neutrons and confine them in a strong magnetic field so that they come together. ”

"Let them aggregate naturally?" Zhou Xin said while thinking, "It will take a lot of time to make it in this way." ”

"So it took us decades to make this little mass of matter." Spred replied, "We spent at least half of our time building this warp engine on this mass of matter. ”

"Decades?" Zhou Xin repeated, "Why did you spend so much time making this substance and putting it in the heart of the warp engine? Zhou Xin asked......