The brutal reality lay plainly before Xiao Yu.

“Truly, misfortunes never come alone,” Xiao Yu sighed. “First, I confirmed that Faster-Than-Light Travel can’t break through the Four-Dimensional Barrier, and now I’ve learned that I only have twenty years left. Sigh.”

Letting out a long breath, Xiao Yu reported these results to the Luka scientists.

This information was restricted to the Luka scientists only. Although Xiao Yu wasn’t particularly concerned with the fate of ordinary citizens in Luka society, Luka Two and Luka Three certainly were. Under the strong leadership of the Chief Science Officer, the Supreme Social Administrator, along with Lord Wills, the news was tightly sealed off and strictly prohibited from spreading to the public.

“Well then, for the sake of life and survival, it’s time to fight,” Xiao Yu told the Luka scientists. “It’s time to give it everything we’ve got. If we don’t find a way to break through the Four-Dimensional Barrier within twenty years, we all die together.”

“Under the protection of the Great God, I believe we will definitely find a way,” Luka Two replied respectfully to Xiao Yu.

“Let’s hope so,” Xiao Yu answered. “I’ve already compiled a list of all possible methods to break through the Four-Dimensional Barrier. I’m handing it over to you now. Go through it and see if there’s anything you can add.”

As he spoke, Xiao Yu transmitted a document.

The document contained every method Xiao Yu could think of: massive-yield Elemental Decay Bomb explosions; massive Gravitational Bomb attacks; constructing solar sails to continuously burn the Four-Dimensional Barrier using stellar energy; and nonstop bombardment with Faster-Than-Light kinetic weapons, among others.

Faster-Than-Light kinetic weapons were a new type of weapon Xiao Yu developed after mastering Faster-Than-Light Travel technology. The principle was simple: attach miniature curvature drive engines to standard warheads, allowing these ordinary projectiles to travel at Faster-Than-Light speeds to directly impact enemy targets.

After passing the document to the Luka scientists, Luka Three pondered for a moment and said, “Master, perhaps we can make use of the large particle collider once again. According to our hypothesis, the Four-Dimensional Barrier must have an upper energy limit it can withstand. The particles accelerated by the collider can reach extremely high energy levels. Using these particle beams to strike the Four-Dimensional Barrier—who knows, we might be able to break it down.”

Xiao Yu thought it over and replied, “It’s worth trying. Let’s begin by testing whether a massive-yield Elemental Decay Bomb can breach the Four-Dimensional Barrier.”

Under Xiao Yu’s command, the robots in the space dock busily set to work. They assembled various instruments, added sufficient fuel, and soon, a massive-yield Elemental Decay Bomb was complete.

The Elemental Decay Bomb and the Elemental Decay Engine worked on the same principle, the difference was that one was a controlled reaction, and the other was an uncontrolled one. The relationship between the two was similar to that between a hydrogen bomb and a nuclear fusion engine.

The Elemental Decay Bomb Xiao Yu had built had a TNT equivalent of around one billion tons. However, its blast radius was smaller than that of a hydrogen bomb, meaning its destructive power per unit area was even greater.

After equipping the bomb with an engine, Xiao Yu maneuvered it toward the Four-Dimensional Barrier.

This bomb carried Xiao Yu’s hopes.

The Elemental Decay Bomb slowly approached the Four-Dimensional Barrier. When it was less than one meter away, Xiao Yu gave the detonation order.

Immediately, the monitoring satellites near the Four-Dimensional Barrier observed a light as bright as a small sun flaring up there. Endless heat and energy erupted along with this flash.

The blinding light lasted a full ten minutes before it gradually dissipated. Xiao Yu immediately began scanning the detonation point on the Four-Dimensional Barrier.

But the result was disappointing for Xiao Yu. He saw that at the site of the Elemental Decay Bomb explosion, the Four-Dimensional Barrier still existed, quietly and undisturbed. The only difference was that at the point of the explosion, its surface rippled like water, and in that area, the light it emitted was no longer a faint red but a bright, dazzling white.

Seeing this, Xiao Yu knew he had failed.

The Four-Dimensional Barrier turning a blazing white was clearly because the light from the Elemental Decay Bomb had touched it and was reflected back.

This meant that, under the obstruction of the Four-Dimensional Barrier, not a single trace of energy from the Elemental Decay Bomb’s explosion had penetrated through.

The first attempt had ended in failure.

However, this outcome had been within Xiao Yu’s expectations.

While the Elemental Decay Bomb plan was underway, Xiao Yu had been simultaneously working on several other experiments.

“The Material Disintegration Beam probably won’t be effective. It only works on matter, and the Four-Dimensional Barrier isn’t matter… but still, it’s worth a try. You never know, it might have some effect.”

Xiao Yu constructed a super high-powered Material Disintegration Beam emitter and slowly moved it toward the Four-Dimensional Barrier. As he prepared for this test, Xiao Yu continued to reflect on the Elemental Decay Bomb.

In Xiao Yu’s analysis, the Elemental Decay Bomb was still the most likely weapon to breach the Four-Dimensional Barrier.

“I wonder if it’s just a matter of insufficient energy. Maybe I can increase the yield and try again,” Xiao Yu mused, and then took inventory of his remaining resources.

The results of the inventory left Xiao Yu somewhat discouraged.

After departing the Arrow Beast homeworld in the Aquila Nebula, Xiao Yu had made two long-range journeys spanning light-years. The first was from the Arrow Beast homeworld to Aquila IV; the second was after leaving Taihao’s body, when he traveled more than a hundred light-years to reach this star system.

These two voyages had consumed a vast amount of Xiao Yu’s fuel, and he had never received any resupply. He had sustained himself entirely on the reserves he had stockpiled in the Arrow Beast star system.

Even though Xiao Yu had now mastered Elemental Decay technology, it still required raw materials. Until the very last moment, Xiao Yu was unwilling to dismantle his ships to obtain fuel.

“My remaining supplies are limited… okay, the Elemental Decay Bomb method can be tried once more. This time, I’ll build a bomb with a yield of one trillion tons and, using technical means, shrink its blast radius again to maximize the energy density. Let’s hope it has some effect.”

While he was deep in thought, the Material Disintegration Beam emitter had already been transported next to the Four-Dimensional Barrier. Under Xiao Yu’s control, the front end of the device began emitting rays designed to enhance electromagnetic force and weaken the strong nuclear force.

At that moment, Xiao Yu remembered the droplet-shaped probe he had once encountered in the Tianyuan IV star system.

That droplet-shaped probe had been built using the Grand Unified Theory, reinforcing the strong nuclear force. Its technical complexity was far higher, and its construction seemed to involve other technologies that Xiao Yu had yet to master. For now, with his current level of technology, he couldn’t build one.

But not being able to build it didn’t mean it couldn’t be destroyed. Under the powerful beam of the Material Disintegration Ray, Xiao Yu would have enough capability to destroy the droplet-shaped probe.

The droplet-shaped probe strengthened the strong nuclear force and weakened the electromagnetic force, allowing its material to be arranged so tightly at the atomic level. But the Material Disintegration Beam worked in the exact opposite way: it enhanced electromagnetic force and weakened the strong nuclear force. As long as the beam’s power was strong enough, the droplet-shaped probe would be unable to maintain its state and would fall apart under the beam’s bombardment.

Pulling his thoughts back from afar, Xiao Yu gave the command to activate.

Immediately, a deadly ray capable of dismantling the droplet-shaped probe was fired, striking the Four-Dimensional Barrier. But the result disappointed Xiao Yu once again. He saw that the Material Disintegration Beam was even less effective than the Elemental Decay Bomb. At least the Elemental Decay Bomb had triggered some response from the barrier, but the beam was completely ignored. Under the beam’s irradiation, the Four-Dimensional Barrier showed no reaction whatsoever.

“Sigh.” Xiao Yu let out a breath and abandoned any further attempts with it.

After the Material Disintegration Beam emitter ceased operation, a flash of light suddenly appeared within the Four-Dimensional Barrier, like a star that suddenly lit up in the void.

For a brief moment, Xiao Yu felt a surge of excitement, but he quickly realized the truth, and that excitement evaporated.

At first, Xiao Yu thought it was a reaction from the Four-Dimensional Barrier triggered by the beam. But he quickly figured out that it wasn’t the barrier reacting, but rather the interstellar dust reacting under the beam’s influence.

In this star system, unseen by Xiao Yu, there existed vast amounts of interstellar dust. Under the irradiation of the Material Disintegration Beam, they naturally began to disintegrate at the hadron level. After the beam stopped, the quarks that made up the hadrons would reassemble. Although the lack of devices to enhance the strong nuclear force and weaken the electromagnetic force made this reassembly process rather slow, reactions still occurred, and a tiny amount of matter converted to energy.

That was the source of the flash.

The atmosphere in the grand hall grew heavy. The two thousand Luka scientists sat silently in their seats, exchanging glances but saying nothing.

The two consecutive failures had dealt a significant blow to these scientists.

“We still have many chances ahead,” Xiao Yu comforted them. “Don’t lose heart. Let’s move on to the next attempt.”

“The Gravitational Bomb has been completed. We are about to begin the experiment…”