pjbooks Chapter 431 Lifespan!
Chapter 431 Lifespan!
Zhang Yan didn't sleep that night.
Nie Qingcheng didn't sleep either.
The two sat in the study, with the system panel, a photocopy of an ancient book from Guantian Pavilion, the locksmith's notebook, and Nie Qingcheng's notebook filled with various data spread out in front of them.
There is only one core issue.
The door needs a maintainer.
The maintainer is a person.
People die.
"System." Zhang Yan's voice rang out in the quiet study, "Is there an automatic maintenance mode in the upper-level protocol?"
The panel flashed.
The text appeared line by line.
"Yes. Startup conditions: The integrity of the seven-gate network must be maintained above 95% for a complete cycle. Definition of a complete cycle: 100 years. At that time, the system will automatically switch to self-sustaining mode and no longer require maintenance intervention."
Zhang Yan stared at that number.
100 years.
Nie Qingcheng was also looking at it. She didn't say anything, but quickly wrote a string of numbers on the notebook with her finger.
Zhang Yan knew what she was planning.
The current overall efficiency of the gate network is 58.7%.
To increase it to over 95%, every door needs to be repaired to at least 93%.
Currently, only the first gate has reached 81%, while the highest among the remaining five gates is the fifth gate at 65%, and the lowest is the second gate at 35.2%.
The repair work would be enormous, but technically feasible. The real problem is "lasting 100 years."
Efficiency must not fall below 95% within 100 years. Not even for a second.
The thing outside the door possesses boundless patience and ample wisdom. It only needs to succeed once every 100 years.
"Stargazing." Zhang Yan dialed the number.
"Here." The voice of the stargazer came quickly, with the sound of turning pages in the background.
"Are there any records in the ancient books of Guantiange about doors operating automatically?"
There was a few seconds of silence on the stargazing side. Then the sound of pages turning quickened.
"Yes," she said. "Before the destruction of Tiangong City 30,000 years ago, the Gate Network operated in a self-sustaining mode. It lasted for 8,000 years."
Zhang Yan and Nie Qingcheng exchanged a glance.
"There has been no maintainer for eight thousand years," Guan Xing continued. "The door operates entirely on its own. It only stopped when the ruins seeped into the internal structure through the cracks, thus halting its self-sustaining mechanism."
Zhang Yan tapped his finger lightly on the table.
Eight thousand years. Once the self-sustaining mode is activated, it cannot be broken from the outside.
It can only be destroyed from the inside.
Internal sabotage requires something to infiltrate first.
The Ruins have been sealed, and two of the cracks have been repaired. The remaining energy is being maintained in a stable state through energy balancing.
If all cracks are repaired and all seepage is completely removed before self-sustaining is activated...
Self-sustaining means permanent.
"The key is still that number." Nie Qingcheng's voice brought him back to reality, "95% for 100 years."
Zhang Yan leaned back in his chair.
He is twenty years old this year.
Even if you live to be 120, you'll only have 100 years left.
During this hundred years, he cannot fall ill, cannot be injured, and cannot have any accidents that cause maintenance interruptions.
Unrealistic.
"And that thing outside won't just wait idly." Nie Qingcheng closed her notebook. "It will definitely launch an attack within 100 years. With its learning ability, each attack will be more precise than the last."
The study was quiet for a while.
Then Nie Qingcheng turned to a new page in her notebook and wrote down two words.
Observe the celestial anchor, a time-delayed field.
Zhang Yan looked at her.
Nie Qingcheng raised her head, her eyes clear.
At three in the morning, there was no sign of sleepiness in her eyes.
"The Sky Anchor can create a time-delay field," she said. "It was used during the Sealing War."
"A radius of 300 meters, a ratio of approximately 1:60," Zhang Yan continued. "One year inside the field, six days outside."
"If we create a sufficiently large delay field," Nie Qingcheng pointed to the two words on her laptop, "we can enclose the entire gate network within it."
Zhang Yan's breath hitched.
"For the network across the street, 100 years have passed," Nie Qingcheng said, looking at him. "For the outside world, only—"
"Twenty months," Zhang Yan blurted out.
He had already calculated that with a ratio of 1:60, 100 years would equal 608 days in the outside world, or about twenty months.
Twenty months. He can handle it.
"You need to use the time difference." Zhang Yan's voice was a little hoarse.
"The gate network completes its 100-year self-sustaining startup period in accelerated time," Nie Qingcheng said. "We only need to stay outside for twenty months. During those twenty months, we maintain more than 95% efficiency without interruption."
Zhang Yan stood up and took a few steps around the study.
My thoughts are racing.
The sub-core, covering six global gates plus L2 points, has a delay field far exceeding the capabilities of a single observation anchor.
An array is required, along with a large number of Wind Jade, and precise topology calculations are needed to ensure that the delay field is spatially continuous.
But in principle... it's feasible.
"The problem is," Zhang Yan stopped. "When the delay field covers the gate network, attacks outside the gate are also accelerated. For it, each of its attacks is amplified 60 times in duration within the field."
"That's not right." Nie Qingcheng shook her head. "The delay field acts inside the gate network. The area outside the gate exists outside the field. Its attack frequency remains unchanged, but the self-repair speed of the gate network is accelerated by 60 times. That means for every punch it throws, the gate is repaired sixty times."
Zhang Yan was stunned for a second.
She's right.
The time delay field accelerates all physical processes within the field, including the self-repair of the gate.
Attacks outside the gate originate from outside the arena and are unaffected by acceleration.
This is a long time.
"Twenty months." Zhang Yan sat down again. "How many Sky Anchors are needed?"
He brought up the system and began calculating.
The delay field radius of a single sky-observing anchor is 300 meters.
The six gates are located in different locations around the world, plus the L2 point in space.
Instead of a continuous giant field, you only need to place an independent delay field at each node and achieve synchronization through the topology connection of the gate network itself.
Two tokens per node to ensure redundancy. Seven nodes, fourteen tokens in total.
Subtracting the one already in reserve, thirteen more are needed.
The amount of Wind Breath Jade required for each Sky-Gazing Anchor is three times the total amount he collected in Broken Cloud Valley last time.
Thirteen. Thirty-nine times.
"Broken Cloud Valley," Nie Qingcheng said. She had already finished calculating.
Zhang Yan nodded.
"Last time you were tracked down in the valley after less than two hours of harvesting," Nie Qingcheng said, flipping through previous records. "This time, we need thirty-nine times the amount."
"We'll go in batches," Zhang Yan said. "Each time we go into the valley, we won't stay for more than four hours, and we'll leave immediately after harvesting."
"several times."
Zhang Yan calculated the density of the ore vein and the mining efficiency of the thousand-arm mining machine. "Nine times."
Nie Qingcheng wrote "9" in her notebook, then drew a line next to it and wrote "Gukou support".
"Qin Xiao." She picked up her phone.
It was 3:30 a.m. Qin Xiao answered the phone in two seconds.
"sister in law."
"Deploy a special operations team to be stationed outside Broken Cloud Valley. They will arrive the day after tomorrow."
"Received. How many people?"
"You decide. Just make sure the valley entrance is safe."
hang up.
Nie Qingcheng looked at Zhang Yan. "We're leaving the day after tomorrow. You'd better get at least twelve hours of sleep today and tomorrow."
Zhang Yan did not refute.
He knew there was no signal or mecha electronic systems in Broken Cloud Valley, only the purely mechanical Thousand-Arm and his own physical strength. He went in and out nine times, each time for four hours, and in between, he also had to deal with that wind spirit beast whose true nature was unknown.
He needs rest.
"There's one more thing." Nie Qingcheng's voice brought him back to his senses.
"What?"
"The manufacture of the Sky Anchors. Last time you collaborated with the Star Gazer and used the Heart of Heavenly Craftsmanship to solve the triggering problem. Thirteen of them are needed; how long will the manufacturing cycle be?"
Zhang Yan did the math. "With all the materials ready, each one takes about eighteen hours. Thirteen pieces, continuous operation would require—"
"No consecutive work allowed," Nie Qingcheng interrupted directly. "A maximum of two per day. Complete in seven days."
Zhang Yan glanced at her but didn't argue.
"Seven days," he said. "Adding the nine mining trips, with a day's rest between each trip to recover strength, that's a total of sixteen days. Then add seven days for manufacturing. Twenty-three days."
"Within a month." Nie Qingcheng closed her notebook. "That's enough time."
She stood up, walked to Zhang Yan's side, bent down and touched his forehead.
Go to sleep.
Zhang Yan followed her upstairs. Before lying down, he took one last look at the system panel.
The last signal outside the door was still hanging there.
"Always."
Zhang Yan turned off the panel.
You wait your turn, I have my own way.