Chapter 10: Dreamscape: Could This Be an Energy Block?

On Blue Star, the term currently used for computers is “electronic computer”.

This is because in the early stages, mechanical computers existed, but they have long been phased out.

The reason why computers are prefixed with “electronic” is not just because they are powered by electricity, but more so because, at their most fundamental level, the world of a computer is essentially a realm of 0s and 1s.

Essentially, this is not just about 0s and 1s, but rather the opening and closing of electronic circuits.

The opening and closing of the electronic circuits generate electronic signals that allow the machine to perform corresponding operations.

The development of computers is a progression of the increase in the number of these switches as well as the speed of these switches.

In fact, the human brain operates in a similar manner; each neural synapse generates a faint bioelectric signal, not unlike the electronic signals in a computer.

For this reason, in current Blue Star’s artificial intelligence research, there are neuron-inspired algorithms imitating the brain.

So, the question arises: if the chips in electronic computers are equivalent to the brain, then those numerous electronic signals are the result of the many transistor switches within the chips.

The computer chips on Blue Star are made by engraving integrated circuits on silicon wafers, but what Du Qiu is seeing now, what on earth are these stars?

Why does Du Qiu think these stars should be similar to Blue Star’s chips? Because the program instructions, after passing through a converter, are transmitted in the form of signals to these stars.

Well, for the time being, these stars could be imagined as the computer chips of Blue Star.

Du Qiu currently has no access to more information and can only apply concepts and logic from Blue Star for now; otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to continue his research.

Having figured this out, Du Qiu no longer continued to focus on the egg-sized stars.

He has come to understand a bit now if he concentrates his attention on those stars, the corresponding functions and information will be received by him.

Clearly, all these stars spanning tens of thousands of square meters are equivalent to Blue Star’s computer chips; this super machine is indeed extraordinary.

The total chip area of all supercomputers on Blue Star seems not to amount to tens of thousands of square meters, not to mention that the reaction speed of these stars far exceeds Blue Star’s chips.

Du Qiu, although highly interested in this chip technology, is currently at a loss as he doesn’t even know what the stars are, much less how to manufacture them.

A somewhat disheartened Du Qiu was about to look at other parts of the stars when a beam of light rose from an egg-sized star and instantly entered his field of vision.

Almost at the same time, he received a message.

“Master, should all programs continue to run as usual?”

Du Qiu hesitated for only one hundredth of a second before promptly answering “Yes”.

At this moment, Du Qiu was intently watching the egg-sized star that had just emitted the luminous message, right after he responded.

From Du Qiu’s perspective, he saw a flash of light disappearing into that egg-sized star; he could not tell where the light had come from.

However, it also confirmed one thing: he could exchange information with the stars, and this exchange of communication seemed to be carried out through light.

Du Qiu suddenly thought of a possibility: could it be that the computing core of this super machine is actually a photonic computer?

The concept and hypothesis of a photonic computer already exist on Blue Star, and as early as 1990, the first prototype photonic computer was created.

This type of computer uses photons as the carrier of information, with optical interconnects replacing wire interconnects, optical hardware in place of electronic hardware, and optical computation instead of electric computation.

It employs laser to transmit signals and consists of integrated optics made up of optical fibers and various optical components to perform data computation, transmission, and storage.

In photonic computers, light of different wavelengths, frequencies, polarization states, and phases represent different data, which surpasses the binary operations performed by the electronic ‘0’ and ‘1’ states in electronic computers, allowing for rapid parallel processing of tasks that are highly complex and require large computational workloads.

However, no matter how Du Qiu looked at these stars, he could not see anything that resembled the integrated optics of Blue Star, except for the data exchange just now, which seemed to be similar to laser transmission of signals.

In fact, Du Qiu also couldn’t confirm whether the glowing stars he was seeing were illusions or real; throughout the whole dreamscape, he always had a feeling of it being both real and illusory.

Du Qiu did not continue dwelling on this but instead examined the stars in various locations, wanting to see what information they contained.

At this moment, he saw that the entire swath of stars kept flickering, their light disappearing beyond his field of vision like shooting stars.

For the first time, Du Qiu shifted his gaze away from the direction of the stars and looked in another.

The scene he saw left him utterly astonished.

In the midst of darkness, there were about dozens of white vortexes appearing before his eyes, continuously spinning.

Du Qiu noticed that the light emitted continuously from the stars invariably flowed into one of these vortexes.

From the vortexes as well, light was emitted and disappeared towards the stars.

Could it be that this is the photonic computer of an alien civilization? Is what’s before him the exchange of light signals?

But why are the vortexes on that side white?

Wait, it seems he entered one of these white vortexes after traveling through the vast universe, and then he arrived in this radiant star field.

Could it be that through the dreamscape, he’s directly entered the intelligent core of this super machine?

Du Qiu felt he might not be wrong, although he couldn’t comprehend what the white vortexes were.

He continued to observe this world in all directions, finding nothing but the stars and white vortexes, with everything else around them shrouded in utter darkness, seemingly containing nothing else.

After finding nothing new about the environment, Du Qiu focused his attention back to the stars since he could obtain information from them, which would help him to further understand this place.

As he sensed the stars one by one, the information and some visual images further proved that he was within a super machine.

This machine is capable of resource collection, material separation and purification, and material combination and reconstruction, allowing for the production of basic materials.

Apparently, the mission list seen at the beginning is controlled and executed by different stars.

This seems to suggest that these stars might indeed be similar to chips.

But that’s not quite right, perhaps they are a conglomerate of chips, hard drives, and memory; it seems as if all this information is stored within the stars.

The power of the stars is evident, being able to store such an immense amount of data!

Yes, Du Qiu has only seen a small part, but the sheer volume of data is overwhelming.

While examining the stars, Du Qiu also discovered something exciting.

Each star represents a functional module, and once he senses it, he can understand the specific process of that function.

Although he only glanced briefly, to get a rough idea of what a group of stars were for before moving to the next, the information he viewed was completely memorized by him.

Du Qiu doesn’t know if he can recall what he has memorized after leaving the dreamscape, but even if he can only remember a part of it, it might bring him significant gains.

Right, Du Qiu perceives everything he sees now as a vast treasure trove of knowledge.

If he can acquire just a little knowledge from this treasure trove and implement it in reality, then the world of Blue Star could be changed.

For instance, the functional module Du Qiu is currently sensing seems to be an energy management module, and the images he sees next astonish him greatly.

Blocks shaped like solid-state batteries, glowing with a faint golden light, could they be the energy blocks mentioned in science fiction novels?

Du Qiu discovered that the key to unlocking the treasure trove of knowledge turned out to be… votes of recommendation! Gifts! Dear readers, come and unlock the treasure trove quickly.