Chapter 53: Rein Leinar

On Blue Star, there are multiple grading systems for the classification of cosmic intelligent civilizations, and Du Qiu has his preferred one, which categorizes civilizations as follows:

A Level 1 civilization is a planetary civilization, also known as a mother star civilization, representing a civilization that has control over its entire planet.

A Level 2 civilization is a stellar civilization, indicating control over an entire star system.

Level 3 civilizations are interstellar, possessing the capacity to leave their mother star’s system freely to other star systems.

Level 4 and Level 5 civilizations are confined within a galaxy, but the difference between the two lies in their disparate utilization of space.

A Level 6 civilization can venture out of its own galaxy to visit others.

Level 7 civilizations can traverse multiple galaxies.

Civilizations above Level 8 are the stuff of legends, currently beyond our imagination.

Some science fiction narratives refer to these top-tier civilizations as God-like, suggesting they have the power to reboot the universe, of course, based on the Big Bang theory.

In this system, civilizations Level 4 and above are considered mid to high-grade, and mastering the Grand Unification Theory is the hallmark of reaching this status.

Only with this theory can one achieve ultra-long-distance space travel and even begin to use space in a basic way.

So, how could Du Qiu not be excited?

However, Du Qiu, looking at the image of this fine magnetic field, was entirely unable to comprehend its underlying mysteries.

It was akin to ancient people looking at a mobile phone, having no idea how it could possess such miraculous features.

In the magnetic collection module of the super machine, there was no description of how the fine magnetic field was generated.

When this module was activated, a corresponding hardware device would start up, and the fine magnetic field would be produced.

The magnetic collection module merely required input parameters. As long as the separation and purification program supplied the respective mixture when calling on the module, it could generate varying magnetic forces.

This hardware device was named the Sub-micro Magnetic Field Generator.

Apart from the name, Du Qiu had no clue about its inner workings or principles.

In fact, there were many such modules and parts in the entire super machine.

It was understandable, as on Blue Star, when you buy a machine, even though the manufacturer may provide detailed instructions, they may not explain the working principles of some components purchased from other suppliers.

Du Qiu was uncertain whether his makeshift high-speed separator, lacking the magnetic collection feature, would achieve the desired purification effect.

But this didn’t deter him. After all, having come 99 steps in a hundred-step journey, there was no reason not to forge ahead.

If needed, he would simply acquire several more separators and link them in a cascade arrangement, running multiple separations.

Sometimes, if quality isn’t attainable, quantity can compensate—a practical approach indeed. Back in the day, when Tang Country was making atomic bombs without computers, they managed with abacuses.

The cost, however, would likely increase a bit.

It appeared the journey to replicate the super machine was still long.

After all, the original creators were at least a Level 4 civilization with a complete understanding of matter and energy, allowing them to travel within the galaxy at will.

These enigmas currently beyond his understanding, Du Qiu could only set aside.

Of course, he was currently inside the super machine’s intelligent core. If this alien civilization had network-connected smart devices like Blue Star, there might be hope of accessing a data center to acquire a more comprehensive technological tree.

But Du Qiu, faced with computer technology obviously generations ahead of Blue Star’s, had not figured out how this alien civilization’s smart machines were networked.

Blue Star’s computers have clear network interfaces, whether it’s wired or wireless.

However, after using his knowledge of the visible light and infrared subsystems and other sensory systems he understood, to explore the super machine, Du Qiu failed to find anything resembling a network interface in the large device.

At a loss, Du Qiu had to halt his research and once again looked around the space within the intelligent core.

When his gaze fell on the white swirl opposite the starscape, he suddenly realized something!

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As he stared at the ceiling, Du Qiu was wide awake once again.

This left him feeling rather melancholic; just as he was about to try out his understanding of how the alien technological devices networked with each other, he was disconnected from the network.

That’s right, through entering the super machine’s intelligent core in a dream-like state, Du Qiu grasped that the network ports in alien technology were those white swirls!

He vividly remembered that the alien maintainer had only set up barriers around three white swirls, strikingly similar to network firewalls on Blue Star.

Unfortunately, even though Du Qiu was itching to try and out his theory, he’d have to wait for his dreams that night to test his guess.

Getting out of bed, Du Qiu looked at the crystal pillow and remembered the microscopic crystal material map he’d memorized in his dream; he needed to visit his alma mater soon.

Understanding the secrets of the crystal pillow earlier might mean he wouldn’t have to rely on this one crystal pillow any longer.

Indeed, last night, after seeing that kind of crystal material, Du Qiu speculated whether crystal pillows could be produced. If they could be manufactured, he wouldn’t need to treasure the one he had anymore.

His recent research into dream technology made him notice something.

Ever since the super machine was restarted by the maintainer, he would always wake up at exactly six in the morning after coming out of his dreams.

When Du Qiu first noticed this pattern, he became very cautious and searched the intelligent core on his next dream-entry, checking if the maintainer had made additional settings.

But it was a fruitless endeavor.

From that point until now, waking up from the dreams always meant it was six o’clock sharp.

After getting up and finishing his morning exercise, Du Qiu made a phone call.

“Batti, are you busy lately?”

“Du, as you know, I only teach three times a week. I’m working on an experiment with a servo motor,” a deep voice answered slowly, as if each word bounced out.

Batti Rein Leinar, a German who chased after love to Tang Country and is now a visiting scholar at Shanghai University, also teaches a course at the Electrical and Mechanical Engineering School.

Of the foreign friends Du Qiu made at school, only Rein Leinar shared his major, and the two had a relationship that was both collegiate and friendly.

“Batti, I’ve started a company, Dream Technology. I’ve successfully developed that software.”

“Oh my God, you did it all by yourself? I am so impressed!” Rein Leinar exclaimed with surprise and admiration over the call.

“How about it? Would you like to be a technical consultant for my company?”

With Rein Leinar’s deep research into smart machines and his obsession with various types of CNC machining centers—to the point he could reel off details about them—Du Qiu thought that if such a technical expert became a consultant for his company, he could answer many questions for the research and development department, saving Du Qiu a lot of time.