Chapter 128: The Quaternary Computer

Words : 1578 Updated : Sep 21st, 2025

The destruction of Earth, the Jupiter-Moon Collision, and the collisions of Tianyuan A with Tianyuan IV were insignificant compared to the nova explosion. Simply put, one was at the star system level, while the other was at the galactic level—two scales that could not be compared. Under the influence of the immense energy released by the nova explosion, material from the red dwarf star was stripped away, forming a tail behind it. Simultaneously, the accretion disk surrounding the white dwarf was blown apart in an instant, with trillions of tons of material ejected into space. Amid this intense material release, Xiao Yu keenly detected the black dot’s trajectory. At that moment, he successfully observed its position, speed, and other parameters, tracking it for a full ten minutes. After analyzing the data, Xiao Yu reached an astonishing conclusion. “It... it’s heading toward the Aquila One system? I was worried it might escape too far, making it impossible for me to capture. But now, with it coming in this direction, I’m 90% confident I can intercept it.” With the black dot’s details secured, Xiao Yu relaxed and began meticulously observing every detail of the nova explosion. This level of energy release provided valuable insights for advancing his technological theories. Over the next ten minutes, Xiao Yu watched as the violent energy reached the binary system’s lone planet. The radiation heated the gas giant’s atmosphere, causing uneven temperature distribution and generating massive storms observable even from Xiao Yu’s vantage point. These storms howled across the planet’s surface. At the same time, the planet developed a long tail on the side facing away from the white dwarf. At that moment, the white dwarf’s brightness surpassed even that of the stars in the Aquila One system. Using distance and apparent magnitude calculations, Xiao Yu determined the white dwarf’s absolute magnitude. He further calculated how bright the white dwarf would appear from Earth without interstellar dust blocking the view. The result showed that, without the dust clouds, the white dwarf would outshine Sirius when observed from Earth. This energy release left Xiao Yu in awe. At the same time, he felt a sense of relief: “Thankfully, it was just a nova explosion. If it had been even the weakest Type 1a supernova, I wouldn’t have survived, not even at this distance.” The violent energy release lasted for an entire week. Afterward, the white dwarf gradually dimmed, and the tails behind its companion star and the gas giant finally disappeared. During this week, the white dwarf released energy equivalent to the total output of the Sun over several hundred million years. This was the power of a stellar catastrophe. The dimming of the white dwarf’s brightness signaled the end of this energy outburst. The star returned to its quiet state. However, its companion star continued to supply it with mass. In a few decades, or perhaps millions of years, it would inevitably experience another nova explosion. The violent energy release, triggered by Xiao Yu and resulting in the powerful Alien Beast’s demise, had finally concluded. In the void of space, only an ever-expanding nebula remained, silently telling the story of the explosion. Yet, this nebula would not exist for long. Over time, it would become increasingly diffuse until it disappeared into the vastness of the universe, leaving no trace behind. This epic battle would also fade into the river of time, forgotten by all. From this moment onward, the Aquila Nebula would no longer be classified as a Level 2 danger zone. “All preparations are complete. It’s time to set out for the Aquila Three system...” Xiao Yu thought silently. The planet hosting the Arrow Beast Civilization was located 1.6 light-years from Aquila One and 0.7 light-years from Aquila Two. It orbited a yellow dwarf star in its middle-aged phase, with a mass similar to the Sun and an estimated age of 3 billion years. During this time, Xiao Yu used his newly constructed super telescope to conduct several observations of this star system, gathering a wealth of data. The star system had three planets: one Earth-like planet and two Jupiter-like gas giants. The Arrow Beast Civilization’s homeworld was the Earth-like planet. This planet was twice as massive as Earth and located 170 million kilometers from its star. With liquid water present, the planet’s overall environment was not much different from Earth’s. However, two planets with similar environments gave rise to two entirely different civilizations. This phenomenon prompted deep reflection in Xiao Yu, who eventually came up with a plausible explanation. “Perhaps it’s the butterfly effect, or more accurately, the chaotic effect. A minute change in initial variables can lead to vastly different outcomes.” “All preparations are complete. Let’s set out. First, head toward the Aquila Two binary system to capture the unidentified black dot blown out from the Alien Beast. Then, alter course and head toward the Aquila Three system.” “The total journey is estimated to take 67 years. Hopefully, during this time, the Arrow Beast Civilization will remain stable.” With these thoughts in mind, Xiao Yu commanded his vast fleet to activate their engines, leaving behind the star system he had stayed in for nearly a century. “Sigh... This past century was completely disrupted by the white dwarf Alien Beast incident, leaving my technological progress stagnant. I must make good use of the travel time to address these issues, starting with computational power. The second-generation photon computer is now obsolete; it can no longer provide sufficient processing power. It’s time to develop the third-generation photon computer.” As the long journey began, Xiao Yu immersed himself in intense research. Currently, Xiao Yu was using ternary computers, which represented values with different wavelengths of light corresponding to zero, one, and negative one. One represented truth, negative one represented falsehood, and zero represented the unknown. This ternary system had allowed Xiao Yu to achieve significant breakthroughs in computational science. However, as the size of Xiao Yu’s fleet continued to grow, his computational power became increasingly strained. For example, with a fleet of over 100,000 ships, if Xiao Yu engaged them in battle, the fleet’s computations would completely consume his processing capacity. This was despite Xiao Yu’s implementation of computational distribution, where as much data as possible was offloaded to automated programs. Still, certain decisions required Xiao Yu’s direct input. For instance, in space combat, an automated program might conclude that avoiding an incoming energy bomb was the optimal action. But what if Xiao Yu intended to sacrifice the ship to lure more enemy ships into a trap? Such strategic decisions were beyond the capabilities of automated systems. Until automated programs evolved into true artificial intelligence, they would never match the human brain. Yet Xiao Yu had no interest in taking the risk of creating AI that might mutate and become uncontrollable. “As long as computational power is sufficient, I can handle everything myself without risking AI development. After all, what could be more reliable than piloting the fleet with my own hands?” Thus, developing a new computer became imperative. This time, Xiao Yu planned a comprehensive upgrade, transitioning from ternary to quaternary systems. Quaternary computers would accommodate more states, mimicking human thought even more closely. A quaternary computer would consist of four states: truth, falsehood, pseudo-truth, and the unknown. Compared to ternary computers, it added the “pseudo-truth” state, representing ambiguity—akin to the complexity of human ethics, where nothing is absolutely good or evil. In computational terms, this state represented data in a half-true, half-false condition. During the long voyage, Xiao Yu aimed to complete the hardware design theory for quaternary computers and develop their foundational machine language. At the same time, Xiao Yu revived over a thousand Luka beings who had not mutated. He allocated a portion of his computational resources to collaborate with them in researching ways to repair the mutated Luka physiology. Xiao Yu hoped the Luka society could quickly stabilize. Only with a stable Luka society could their scientists focus on their work and contribute their knowledge to his projects. However, the results disappointed Xiao Yu. Together with Luka scientists, Xiao Yu spent 20 years on the research but achieved nothing. The mutation caused by the white dwarf Alien Beast’s influence was an exceptionally resilient byproduct. To date, no method could eradicate the mutated cells without harming the healthy ones. Helpless, Xiao Yu temporarily abandoned the research. “Perhaps by obtaining biological tissue from the white dwarf Alien Beast, studying its structure might provide some inspiration. Or perhaps, upon reaching the Aquila Three system, the Arrow Beast Civilization may offer unexpected insights.” As the voyage continued, over 20 years passed in the blink of an eye. During this time, Xiao Yu’s fleet traveled more than 8 trillion kilometers, covering 0.83 light-years at a speed of 10,000 kilometers per second. “Considering initial momentum, trajectory, dust deceleration, gravitational influences from nearby celestial bodies, and other factors, the Alien Beast tissue fragment ejected from the white dwarf should be nearby...” “Let’s begin preparations,” Xiao Yu commanded. Immediately, tens of thousands of Town-Class spacecraft, led by five County-Class ships, detached from the main fleet and began decelerating. After reaching zero velocity, they initiated reverse acceleration. Along their journey away from the main fleet, numerous relay satellites were deployed to serve as a communication chain. Simultaneously, all detection equipment operated at full power, gathering data on everything within 10 billion kilometers.

Chapter 128: The Quaternary Computer

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