Chapter 117: The Icosahedron in the Electron Cloud, Weak-Electromagnetic Interactions Encoded with Information [Bonus Chapter]

6:40 AM. The hectic preparations finally came to a halt.

Ren Zhong and five others boarded a cylindrical, eight-meter-diameter hover-elevator, descending nearly three hundred meters deep into the earth. As the elevator doors slid open, a vast, brightly lit, barrel-shaped hall came into view.

On the circular walls of the hall, forty-eight numbers were sprayed in black ink against a white background. Directly beneath each number sat a maintenance bay for a "Spiral-Rock Excavator." Docked in each bay was a machine resembling a firework rocket: the front was a conical, spiral drill bit shaped like a sugar cone, while the rear was a cylindrical body—like an oil tanker—nearly half the diameter of the drill.

The machine was pitch black, its surface devoid of any visible weld seams. Under the orange-yellow lights, the spiral drill bit at the top reflected a fluorescent purple luster, reminiscent of amethyst. Ren Zhong could not tell with his naked eye whether the material was metal or some crystalline substance akin to diamond.

At that moment, his breathing quickened.

Ren Zhong, struggling in solitude on Source Star, had long believed that the brutal reality of Spark Town had hardened his heart into stone. He never expected that a piece of machinery would stir his emotions so violently. This machine was a cutting-edge product of interstellar trade: the Spiral-Rock Excavator. Although he had already watched video materials in the manual, standing in its shadow and looking up at the real thing caused his heartbeat to accelerate uncontrollably.

After an unquantifiable passage of time and across an unknown number of light-years, memories that could never be forgotten—and perhaps could never be touched again—rushed back like a fierce, overwhelming tide.

He suddenly recalled an ancient anime he had watched as a ten-year-old, stealing a moment of leisure countless years ago. To children of the 2040s, it was an antique with a simple plot and an antiquated style, yet it had left an indelible mark on young Ren Zhong’s heart. His youthful spirit had once leapt alongside that invincible, world-shattering drill.

*Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann!*

Who had named this excavator? It was too perfect. Was it a coincidence, or had someone done it on purpose? What kind of species was the higher civilization that towered over Source Star? Were they human?

Filled with questions, Ren Zhong, clad in his gear, grabbed a folded black leather pouch from the rising platform nearby. He stepped through the door at the rear of the cylindrical body, traversed a narrow passage, entered the cockpit, and sat in the pilot's seat.

The seat’s design language followed human ergonomics; it was exceptionally comfortable and offered a snug, secure fit, like lying in an inflatable sofa. Self-sensing restraint straps extended from the sides of the backrest and seat, securing him firmly without feeling oppressive. Two control levers rose from his left and right with a faint hum.

The massive screen in front of him flickered to life. At its center was a 3D structural projection identical to his survey map. Six flickering green dots representing Lin Wang’s team appeared at the edge of the cylinder at the top of the projection, while forty-two yellow dots representing other miners were scattered throughout the cylinder and the subterranean depths.

He hadn't expected that even with the vile capitalist lackey Yu Junren pushing work hours to a grueling fourteen—outdoing even the legendary miser Huang Shiren—some people would still set out early. Ren Zhong silently grumbled; the capitalist must be thrilled to see the working class internalizing such ruthless competition. If they hadn't stretched the shifts to fifteen and a half hours, one might even call Yu Junren "kind."

Lin Wang’s voice crackled over the communication system. "This is our first real-world mission, so focus on familiarizing yourselves with the controls. I’ve sent the planned excavation routes to everyone. Unless you encounter Void Beasts, no one is to deviate from their path today. Seek no merit, just avoid mistakes. This Spiral-Rock Excavator is worth more than our lives; if you break it, we’re all dead."

"Understood!" replied Bei Lihui, followed by others.

The hall walls slid open, revealing the dark gray rock face behind. The anti-gravity engines engaged, and the excavators hovered slightly before pushing forward. The top drill bits accelerated, their RPMs climbing steadily. Ren Zhong carefully nudged the right control lever forward and pressed the throttle with his right foot.

The excavator glided forward. The drill bit bit into the rock wall, sending soil flying and rock fragments scattering. The cabin shuddered slightly, then stabilized. Seconds later, Ren Zhong’s excavator was submerged in the rock.

Inside the cockpit, Ren Zhong’s hands danced across the console. Ghost particle communicator, activated. Seismic scanner, activated. Energy induction detector, activated...

As each instrument engaged, the parameters on the giant screen became increasingly rich. Ren Zhong read the route planned by Lin Wang at high speed and used a neural link to transcribe it into the excavator’s central control system. Frankly, he could just sit back and relax now; he had no real combat duties.

If a Void Beast were encountered, an alarm would sound in the cabin three hundred meters out. Once within two hundred meters, the detector would provide an estimate of the beast's energy level and type. The squad system would automatically sync this information to everyone else. Ren Zhong didn't need to do anything; he just had to steer clear and focus on running far enough to meet his quota, putting on a show of hard work. While others had to dash out of their machines to fight, Ren Zhong, who barely had to leave his cockpit, was even more idle than Sima Wan, who specialized in collecting corpses.

Of the million-credit salary offered by Morning Glow Company, Lin Wang had only allocated a tenth—one hundred thousand—to Ren Zhong, precisely for this reason.

But Ren Zhong was not idle; he was far from relaxed. He had activated the geomagnetic sensor on the excavator, and massive amounts of geomagnetic data surged in like a flood as he pushed deeper. Compared to the sensors he had used in the abandoned mines, this product of higher-civilization technology was in a different league; its precision and processing speed were outrageously fast.

He didn't need to stop; he just maintained a speed of fifty kilometers per hour, pushing forward, deeper and deeper.

***

Ren Zhong’s eyes were glued to the geomagnetic data rapidly scrolling down the left side of the giant screen; he didn't dare blink. He wished he could go back to his old ways: using a tablet to tabulate, record, and automatically calculate and graph the data. That would have been so much easier.

But the catch was that the excavator’s central computer didn't come with this custom functionality. To avoid raising suspicion, Ren Zhong hadn't dared to bring his own computer, so he had to rely on his naked eyes, frantically marking data in his head, and using his spatial geometric intuition to struggle to outline the magnetic field line models. The mental intensity required was no less than when he had participated in the National High School Physics Competition.

Only when he encountered "strong" Void Beasts that required his personal intervention did he reluctantly stop, leap out, and use the tunnel behind the machine as a combat space, thrashing wildly with his spear.

Time flew. In the blink of an eye, five hours had passed; it was noon. Lin Wang ordered a twenty-minute break for lunch. While gulping down his meal, Ren Zhong glanced at the squad's morning hunting report.

Impressive. Twenty-three Level 4 Void Beasts, with Lin Wang single-handedly killing ten, Bei Lihui five, Song Qianlian three, and Pan Fenglian two. Three others were taken down in coordination. There were sixty-four Level 3 Void Beasts and twenty-odd Level 2s. Level 1s were the rarest, with only eight, all killed by Ren Zhong.

Sima Wan was busy stripping the chips from the Level 3 and 4 beasts, not even bothering with the lower-level ones. Ren Zhong, however, had given Lin Wang a new surprise. Holding to the principle that waste is shameful, he had donned his Level 2 dissector gloves and casually stripped the Level 1 and 2 beasts he had killed himself. Although he was a bit slow and "accidentally" bungled a few, it was better than wasting them.

Lin Wang hadn't expected much from him, so he didn't care. Roughly calculating, the squad's total morning haul was worth nearly fifty thousand points—a staggering sum.

As they ate, Lin Wang praised him: "Everyone adapted quickly. Let's keep it up this afternoon. Normally, the chips from Level 1 and 2 beasts go to waste. Ren Zhong, you did well. I didn't expect you to have this skill. Though you're not proficient, it’s useful. Keep the credits from the chips you stripped."

"Thank you, Captain!" Ren Zhong replied, his voice trembling with excitement.

His face was flushed, his heart rate spiking to 150 beats per minute. He froze, chopsticks in hand, mouth agape, eyes wide, pupils dilated, his face a mask of disbelief. He stared blankly at the screen in the top-right corner, unable to speak for a long time. No words could describe his shock.

Just moments ago, distracted by his meal, he had paused his memorization of the geomagnetic data and casually opened a small, unused feature of the excavator: a sample analysis tool. A tiny mechanical arm had extended from the tail of the machine, grabbed a rock from the ground, and processed it in the automated analysis chamber behind the cockpit.

This was standard procedure, but other miners never paid attention to the data because they couldn't understand it. But Ren Zhong had spent years in laboratories. His advisor had even taken him to visit the 21st century's most powerful particle collider, witnessing the grandeur of human achievement firsthand.

What caught Ren Zhong’s eye was a tiny detail in the analysis process—a small, inconspicuous graphic hidden in the corner. It was a 3D electron cloud diagram of a chromium atom, rendered by the photon imaging system. It was flickering.

Five seconds later, the diagram was replaced by new data.

Ren Zhong sat back in his seat, eating his meal slowly, one tiny bite at a time. The 3D electron cloud diagram haunted his mind. He had never imagined that the electron cloud of a single atom could present such an eerie shape, causing the scientific worldview he had built over twenty-three years in his "past life" to collapse.

On Earth, the most familiar electron cloud was that of a hydrogen atom. In a vacuum, it should be a perfect sphere. It was impossibly round, round enough to be intimidating. Electrons appeared randomly according to wave functions, with higher frequencies toward the center and lower toward the edges.

But what Ren Zhong saw was the electron cloud of a chromium atom. It had twenty-four outer electrons. In his memory, they should have been complex, discrete distributions. But what he saw now were forty-eight regular icosahedrons—resembling the heads of bacteriophages—at the center of each "water drop" of the cloud.

These icosahedrons were formed by the probability of electron presence. The fact that patterns existed meant the probability of electrons appearing at these specific locations was far higher than anywhere else, ultimately forming icosahedrons in the 3D model.

This filled Ren Zhong with profound terror.

A few minutes later, a new electron cloud diagram flashed on the screen: a rubidium atom. It had thirty-seven outer electrons. He saw more "water drops." Gritting his teeth, he paused the screen and zoomed in. He saw regular icosahedrons in every single "water drop."

Ren Zhong drew a deep breath. He adjusted the detection system to irradiate the rubidium atom with polarized lasers. No matter how he irradiated it, the icosahedrons remained. He then tested iron oxide, then captured hydrogen atoms from the air.

Eight minutes later, a 3D electron cloud diagram of a hydrogen atom appeared on the screen. A clearly visible regular icosahedron stood there, with the hydrogen nucleus silently suspended at its geometric center.

Ren Zhong slumped into his chair, his mind buzzing. Why an icosahedron? What was the meaning of this? In mathematics, Euler proved that the limit of regular polyhedra is the icosahedron. How could this happen? Electrons are bound by the Coulomb force—the electromagnetic force. Only an unusual electromagnetic force could confer such specificity upon electrons.

But how could a fundamental interaction force become "unusual"?

Since 1979, humans had proven that electromagnetic force and the weak nuclear force were two sides of the same coin: the electroweak interaction. It was a fundamental truth of the universe. Yet now, it had been overwritten, like a voice in a conversation or a signal in a fiber-optic cable. Its form had become a medium for transmitting information. It was acting directly at the atomic level, "drawing" these information-encoded icosahedrons.

How was this done? How far did this influence reach? Was this just a coincidence?

Throughout the afternoon, Ren Zhong tested hundreds of samples—solids, liquids, gases—hundreds of atoms and molecules. No exceptions. He reached a conclusion: on the entire Source Star, the electroweak interaction had been distorted. Physical laws had been tampered with at their foundation.

The distorted laws affected every atom on Source Star. Electrons here no longer followed the law of uncertainty. Void Beasts, chips, mineral ores, the brief human lifespans, the gargantuan biological clock spanning the planet, the memories of the dead preserved in "Demon Infants," the birth of the mining district... all these anomalies were likely linked to the existence of these icosahedrons.

Was this the norm in the universe, and were Earth's physical laws the anomaly?

Ren Zhong, a double PhD in chemistry and biology from the 21st century, fell into deep confusion and fear. From the depths of his soul came a cry that a scientist should never utter: *No! This is not scientific!*

Then came a thought that a revolutionary should never have: *What kind of enemy am I facing? I can’t even comprehend their existence—can I possibly defeat them?*

Did the people on Source Star know what an electron cloud was supposed to look like? Obviously not. Because the atoms composing their own bodies must also contain icosahedrons; just as a fish in water never knows it is in water. Otherwise, this clearly abnormal diagram wouldn't have appeared so blatantly before a lowly miner like him.

He had come to "borrow" some mineral ore. He had intended to be a petty thief stealing gold coins, only to discover the Pirate King's treasure. But his hands were now too heavy to even pick up a single coin.

God really had stopped throwing dice.