Chapter 206: Touching…the Black Hole (2)

Chapter 206 – Touching…the Black Hole (2)

On one side, there was the Earth’s Pacific Ocean.

On the other side, there was the Solar System’s edge located several hundred astronomical units away.

One door connected these two spaces.

Chen Yu stood on one end of the Interstellar Portal and picked up the second rock. After pausing for a moment, he tossed the rock across the portal.

In just 20 seconds, the rock with a diameter of more than 30 centimeters disappeared into the terrifying darkness…

“The direction is still correct. The black hole is not far ahead.”

Removing his glove once more, Chen Yu glanced at his watch before saying, “The research institute just sent in the second calculation’s results. The gravitational acceleration the rock experienced is 2.2 meters per second, and we are within 150,000 kilometers of the black hole. The acceleration caused by my toss is also included.

“Well, then…”

Lowering his watch, Chen Yu looked at the camera and said, “Let’s continue advancing.

“Another 100,000 kilometers!”

As bullet comments flooded the five livestream rooms, Chen Yu calibrated his destination to within 50,000 kilometers of the black hole.

After the prompt for a successful link sounded, he picked up a one-meter-diameter rock and threw it into the darkness.

This time, the rock “fell” exceptionally quickly! In just three seconds, it had disappeared from Chen Yu’s and the audience’s vision.

[Crap! It’s gone?!]

[Isn’t the acceleration a little too scary?]

[There’s nothing scary about it. It’s not a stellar-mass black hole. Its mass is only over 100 times of the Earth.]

[Disaster is clearly imminent, yet I still can’t help but type lololol…]

[Ditto.]

[We can basically confirm the black hole’s existence now. If it was a planet, there’s no way we can’t see its surface now that the gravitational acceleration has reached such an extent.]

[Why doesn’t the black hole’s gravity suck the host through the portal?]

[Please rewatch the host’s first livestream.]

[I have 300,000 yuan in savings. UP, if you can’t save humanity, I’ll enjoy it with my family.]

[The world is going to be messed up at that time. Where are you going to spend it at? I bought plane tickets already, though.]

[I already sold my house. :)]

[You guys should calm down…]

…

Inside the aerospace institute, as the researchers got more and more data, their calculations got more accurate.

“The mass is 7.45625000E+26. The gravitational acceleration is 20.72 meters per second…”

“Forty-nine thousand kilometers!”

“Forty-nine thousand kilometers!”

“Me too.”

After obtaining the data, the old director immediately forwarded it, “Mr. King, you are only 49,000 kilometers away from the black hole.”

…

Inside the island-building ship, after Chen Yu received the old director’s message, he displayed his watch’s screen to the camera and said, “There are 49,000 kilometers remaining. The direction is still correct.

“We are already at a very close distance. The distance is approximately the circumference of Earth’s equator.

“In a vacuum, I can fly at a minimum of 1,000 meters per second in my protective suit, which is much greater than the escape velocity at this distance. So, it should be safe for me to move a little farther forward.”

“We’ll advance another 20,000 kilometers!”

[…Farewell.]

[Farewell.]

[Farewell.]

[Farewell.]

Operating the portal, Chen Yu had it “advance” by another 20,000 kilometers.

When the spatial link was established, darkness still reigned within the metal arch. Without a reference, it looked as if the portal had not moved closer to the black hole at all.

Whoosh—

The fourth rock flew across the portal. In the blink of an eye, it vanished without a trace…

Shortly afterward, the aerospace research institute’s calculation results arrived once more.

“The rock’s acceleration is 59.16 meters per second, and we are 29,000 kilometers away from the black hole.”

After double-checking the distance, Chen Yu started manipulating the virtual projection while casually explaining, “We are less than 30,000 kilometers away. If Earth is so close to the black hole, the resulting tidal force will instantly tear the Earth apart. In the scale of the universe, we’re basically within arm’s reach of the black hole. Now, let’s continue advancing…

“Another 20,000 kilometers!”

When the fifth spatial link was successfully established, the portal’s warning indicator suddenly lit up in orange.

This light represented the first level of warning.

The spatial film was currently being tugged at by a strong gravitational force…

“The Interstellar Portal has three levels of warning: orange, red, and black. If the warning indicator lights up with a red color, it represents extreme danger. If it turns black, the spatial link cannot be established. As we are only receiving an orange warning now, everyone doesn’t need to be nervous.”

After saying so, Chen Yu picked up the fifth rock and threw it into the darkness.

In an instant…

The rock disappeared.

The speed at which the rock was dragged toward the black hole far exceeded the upper limits of human dynamic vision.

Chen Yu subconsciously took a step back before looking at the camera and saying, “Can you calculate the rock’s flight speed? And how far am I from the black hole?”

Ten seconds later, a reply came from the aerospace research institute. “I’m very sorry, Mr. King. The video your camera recorded doesn’t contain sufficient information. After slowing it down to a certain extent, the information becomes too blurry. We cannot accurately calculate the rock’s acceleration. Can you bring a group of the institute’s experts and professional equipment with you?”

After looking at the rely, Chen Yu hesitated for a while before nodding, “Okay, I’ll head over now.”

After saying so, Chen Yu pulled up the aerospace institute’s coordinates he previously saved and established a spatial link.

When the portal opened, the sight of 14 researchers standing in the middle of a plaza appeared. These researchers carried all sorts of tools, equipment, and notebooks on them, their bodies shivering as they stood in the cold outdoors.

“Oh!”

“He’s here!”

“Hurry up and cross over. We can’t let the lithium batteries freeze.”

“Bring the stand! Hurry!”

The fourteen researchers quickly swarmed through the portal. Without even greeting Chen Yu, they immediately started setting up an ultra-high frame rate camera and all sorts of computing devices.

Everyone’s faces were flushed with excitement.

Would the Earth be destroyed?

Would humanity go extinct?

Did the universe exist?

In their eyes, none of these things mattered!

A black hole!

This was a black hole they were talking about!

It was even a primordial black hole that could be observed up close!

Just acquiring the black hole’s gravitational acceleration data at different distances would already create a revolutionary breakthrough in the physics world…

After the researchers were done setting up their equipment, the person in charge approached Chen Yu while carrying a rock that had been accurately weighed and measured. The person in charge then suppressed his excitement before saying, “M-Mr. King, we’re ready.”

“Okay.”

Chen Yu didn’t say much and simply accepted the rock. He then approached the portal and adjusted the portal’s spatial coordinates. Once that was done, he threw the rock through the portal under the floating camera’s and high frame rate camera’s focus.

Whoosh—

Darkness instantly enveloped the rock. It didn’t even leave behind a trail of light as it disappeared…

Beep!

A buzz came from the ultra-high frame rate camera. Immediately, the researchers exported the video data, and nervously conducted their calculations.

“The gravitational acceleration is 593.65 meters per second, a=GM/r^2…6.6726 times 10 minus one-tenth of M-m^2/kg^2…

“M=5.965 multiplied by 10 to the power of 24 multiplied by 125…

“I got the result!”

A middle-aged researcher abruptly jumped up excitedly and yelled, “The black hole’s distance is 9,154,730 meters! It’s accurate!”

“I also derived the black hole’s mass,” another researcher said. “7.45625331E+26!”

“I also got the escape velocity. At a distance of 9,154,730 meters, the escape velocity is 104,255.92 meters per second.”

“A hundred thousand meters per second?!” Chen Yu was stunned. “Doesn’t that mean I can’t escape once I go in?”

Hearing this, the researchers became momentarily stunned as well, though for a different reason. A moment later, a female researcher hurriedly stepped forward and explained, “Mr. King, that isn’t the case. You have misunderstood the escape velocity’s meaning. The escape velocity is the minimum speed needed for a free, non-propelled object to escape from a massive body’s gravitational influence. In other words, if you’re moving at this speed, you can swing out of the black hole’s gravitational field even without thrust! If you have continuous thrust, you can fly out of the gravitational field even if you are far from reaching the escape velocity. It is sufficient so long as your flight speed is greater than the falling speed.”

“I see.” Realization dawned upon Chen Yu. He then asked, “That means I can continue advancing, right?”

“Yes, yes, yes!” x14

The researchers nodded like little chicks pecking at rice, and they stared at Chen Yu with glowing eyes.

“That…” Chen Yu vaguely felt that something was amiss. “If we continue moving forward, how many kilometers will be appropriate?”

“Go forward by another 5,000 kilometers!”

“I-Isn’t that a little too much?”

“No.” A middle-aged researcher stepped forward and patted his chest, saying, “Please trust us!”

Chen Yu: “…”