CHAPTER 372: CHAPTER 371 RED GIANT STAR

The journey to the Cosmic Center is a long and lonely process.

Constant Star Lu Chen led the entire Wandering Star System flying through the dim Universe, constantly releasing Gravity and absorbing interstellar material nearby.

Regrettably, due to the intensifying crisis of the Universe’s halted expansion, civilizations escalated the plundering of materials, causing various interstellar materials scattered throughout the Universe to drastically decline. Taking the period after the Wandering Alliance defeated the Electromagnetic Civilization and set sail again as an example, during that lengthy journey, the Wandering Alliance hardly absorbed any interstellar material. They only encountered some microscopic particles, which was essentially equivalent to nothing.

Thus, they continued their solitary flight for a while, until suddenly, a light appeared ahead.

The presence of light meant there was matter, especially since light signifies the presence of a Constant Star, prompting scientists from the Wandering Alliance to immediately carry out astronomical observations.

At first, they thought the source of the light should be a Celestial Civilization, but observation revealed that it was not a Celestial Civilization, but merely an ordinary Constant Star.

However, strictly speaking, that Constant Star was not ordinary, because according to scientists’ observations, that Constant Star was experiencing rapid expansion. Judging by the red light it emitted, this indicated that the Constant Star had passed through the prime stage of a Main-sequence Star and entered the old age, which is the Red Giant Star phase.

The Red Giant Star is an inevitable stage in the long life of a Constant Star, just as humans will inevitably enter old age.

The principle behind the formation of a Red Giant Star is quite simple. It mainly occurs because the Hydrogen Element in the core area is exhausted, and the Helium Element, which is produced over a lengthy period through Hydrogen Nuclear Fusion, cannot yet undergo nuclear fusion due to the lack of necessary conditions. Therefore, the nuclear fusion reaction originally occurring in the core starts to spread to the outer layers of the core. By then, the core begins to compress inward because it has accumulated a large quantity of Helium Element under the effect of gravity collapse. However, the energy released by the Hydrogen Nuclear Fusion occurring in the outer layer pushes outward, resulting in a unique phenomenon in the Constant Star: the inner core compresses inward, while the outer structure expands outward, forming an opposite phenomenon of contraction and expansion.

This is why the Red Giant Star stage can expand to such a terrifying extent.

Ultimately, it is because the hydrostatic equilibrium that originally acted upon the celestial body fails, leading to this outcome. The original Constant Star Body counters the force of gravity collapse through nuclear fusion in the core, but upon entering the Red Giant phase, gravity collapse and Hydrogen Nuclear Fusion seem to part ways after a disagreement. One compresses towards the core, while the other continues to expand outward, much like a quarreling couple.

You take your sunny path, I’ll walk my separate bridge.

However, the entire duration of the Red Giant phase is very brief in the lifespan of a Constant Star, lasting only hundreds of thousands to a few million years. Yet, for biological civilizations, this represents the entirety of their civilization’s evolutionary and developmental history. Unfortunately, if the Constant Star of a biological civilization happens to enter the Red Giant phase, it is highly likely that the expanding Red Giant will engulf the entire Stellar System, directly burying them in a sea of fire.

For instance, the Sun in the Solar System will enter the Red Giant phase in about five billion years.

By then, the entire Solar System will be swallowed by the expanding Red Giant, and all life will face an inevitable demise.

Although scientists from the Wandering Alliance had observed many Red Giant Stars in the Universe before, this was the first time they had the opportunity to approach a Red Giant Star. Therefore, scientists were eager to see if there was a biological civilization in the Constant Star System ahead.

The Constant Star System ahead had a diameter of about one hundred astronomical units, with no Heliosphere structure on the outer edge, consisting directly of the Constant Star and ten planets revolving around the periphery. Further observations by scientists revealed signs of biological life activity on the planet located in the fifth orbital path. However, based on the technological status of the biological life on that planet, they seemed incapable of even flying out of the Constant Star System, which meant they had not mastered Controlled Nuclear Fusion and were probably just a Primitive Civilization.

...

The observations of the Wandering Alliance were not mistaken.

The biological civilization in this Constant Star System was indeed a Primitive Civilization, with a technological level equivalent to the early 21st century on Earth, and they had just begun to research Controlled Nuclear Fusion.

Unfortunately, time waits for no one. The Universe did not give them much time to develop. They evolved intelligence at the very time their Constant Star was entering its old age, and their civilization’s fate had already been sealed.

NovelBin

Their scientists naturally discovered the expansion of the Constant Star but found themselves powerless, able to do nothing but watch helplessly as the Red Giant Star swelled to a diameter of more than a dozen astronomical units, devouring the first planet, the second planet, the third planet, until recently, it consumed the fourth planet...

Next, it would be the turn of their Mother Star, located in the fifth orbital path.

However, before the Red Giant Star truly began its substantial expansion, a high amount of heat had already surged into the planet like heatwaves, causing the planet’s atmospheric environment to rapidly increase by about ten degrees, leaving all life in peril.

Since not one of the life forms on this planet had a strong and powerful government capable of uniting the globe, under the continued pressure of the Red Giant Star crisis, more than a hundred governmental states on the planet declared their dissolution and proclaimed to the public to enjoy the last moments of life, and then to enter hell with the Red Demon willingly, completing the redemption of life. They believed that in doing so, they would be able to enter heaven in the next life.

"Red Demon" refers to the expanding Red Giant Star.

Because of the different environment in which this biological civilization existed, they did not develop an affection towards the birth of Constant Stars like many civilizations had; instead, they viewed the continuously expanding Red Giant Star as a devil, henceforth the origin of "Red Demon."

And since they were constantly under the threat of the Red Giant Star crisis, all life needed solace for their souls. Therefore, religious theism was a very mainstream worldview within this biological civilization, with a prevalent belief that they must have been creatures that had sinned in their past lives, thus punished by the God they worshiped to be born into this hopeless hellish environment, waiting for death from the moment of their birth.

However, just at this moment, the first light of hope appeared.

A dimly lit planet was flying towards the expanding Red Giant Star, and above the planet, suddenly two orbs of light shot up like lasers, leaving behind two beautiful arcs of light, then they hovered directly in the dark starry sky, as if the True God descended!

"Oh my God, it’s God, it must be the True God!"

"It has to be the True God that heard our voices, knew my repentance, hence came to save us. Be grateful quickly!"

"..."

The sudden scene made all life grasp at what seemed like the last straw, as they devoutly knelt on the ground in worship, even some scientists who believed in science involuntarily knelt down in this circumstance, making wishes to the "True God" whose origins were unknown.

And this, also formed a tremendously spectacular scene of a myriad of beings paying homage!