CH 201

"Whether we can get any images on the black hole will rely on how sturdy these drones are," muttered Baron Sisse.

The lag between the images we received and the actual location of the drones kept increasing. The interference of the powerful gravity on our radio waves was perfectly displayed as we were receiving far more images than videos from the drones as time passed.

We continued waiting patiently. At that point, Skyhawk had reached a relatively safe distance from the black hole. What we needed to face next was our desire for knowledge of the unknown. Suddenly, an image with traces of light was sent back to us.

"Canyue, look, there seems to be light on this super black hole," exclaimed Zhang Bao'er.

"That's not surprising. Light, time, and everything else can't escape the gravitational pull of a black hole. At the end of the Schwarzschild radius, right before regular space, is a boundary where energy congregates, a boundary known as the event horizon. That is where light, time, and everything will appear for the final time. Due to the accumulation of all of this at the event horizon, there will be more energy around the event horizon than beyond it. Thus, light will be visible. Of course, through the event horizon is a world of nothingness," said Old Du.

"What world of nothingness?" I asked curiously.

"It's a term I coined myself to represent that nothing exists in there," said Old Du.

"That might not necessarily be true. I believe it is not completely empty within a black hole. It is merely something we can't see and have yet to discover," said Baron Sisse.

"Regardless, the existence of light is enough to show that the drones are nearing the black hole itself," said Old Du in excitement.

As time passed, we received less and less data from the drones. However, from the few images we did receive, more and more light could be seen. Right at that moment, Skyhawk's alarm blazed.

"What is it? Is there a new enemy attack?" Zhang Bao'er asked nervously.

"Nothing unusual was detected. Perhaps the drones are on the verge of collapse. From the data, their bodies have reached the limits of what they can withstand. They will blow apart very soon," said Jack.

"Jack, how much longer can the drones last?" asked Baron Sisse.

"Reporting to the captain, according to their speed, they will take 60 minutes to reach the event horizon. But from the data, they can break apart at any moment," said Jack.

"What can we do to help them?" asked Old Du.

"Nothing. We can only wait silently. I have already issued the order to shift all energy to the laser cameras and take a picture right before destruction. We'll see how far they can go before they take the pictures and send them back," said Jack helplessly.

And thus, we waited helplessly because it was the only thing we could do. After about 15 minutes, the first drone vanished from our system. After another 5 minutes, the second drone vanished, leaving the final drone.

We were all waiting nervously, aware that this was the very first time in history that a black hole was observed from such a close distance. Each second the drone lasted would create a significant record in history. Although that might not be an unsurpassable record, it would definitely stay unbeatable for a very long time.

As we watched attentively, the final drone miraculously persevered for 30 minutes. We lost contact with it when it was roughly 500 million kilometers from the event horizon.

Cheers broke out in the ship. The sturdiness of that drone had surpassed all our expectations. We had not imagined that the interstellar technology of the empire had reached such a high level.

A distance of 150 million kilometers was about the same as Blue's distance from the sun. With such a distance, so long as the drone was able to take a picture, with the technological level of the drone, we would be able to get a look at the true appearance of the black hole.

However, we had to hold back our optimism. The black hole's gravitational field was too big. We weren't even sure if the data would be able to reach Skyhawk. As we waited, the data and images taken by the drones were starting to arrive one after another.

From the images, we could see that the outline of the black hole was becoming clearer the nearer the drones got. Although a black hole was something that couldn’t be seen, the event horizon around it was able to showcase the black hole's outer appearance.

As more and more data returned, we found with astonishment that the black hole wasn't actually round. Rather, it was oblate. That was an astonishing finding. Perhaps the powerful gravitational field had resulted in some imbalance between the inner and outer parts of the black hole, resulting in the shape difference.

Also, from calculations performed based on the data, we found out that this black hole's Schwarzschild radius was about 2 million kilometers, which was astonishing as it was about one-sixth of the Schwarzschild radius of Sagittarius A*, the largest black hole in the Milky Way Galaxy. It was no wonder this black hole was powerful enough to affect Betelgeuse's stability.

"Baron, Jack, something is odd with this picture," said Old Du as he pointed at the final picture.

We immediately focused on the picture in question. In the picture, the event horizon of the black hole could be seen. In the middle-left area, there was something connecting the two regions. That object existed within the Schwarzschild radius, a place where we had believed that nothing could exist. However, the picture indicated that there was clearly an object there. That discovery captured our attention. According to what we knew, no object should be able to exist there. That should be a place of pure darkness.

"Is it possible that this is the camera malfunctioning? The gravity there is too strong for any celestial object to exist," said Jack.

"It's hard to say. Anything is possible in the universe. I mean, we once entered a white dwarf. Can you imagine that inside a white dwarf, a world full of life can be found?" said Old Du, retorting with his personal experience.

"Just wait until the next picture arrives. We will know if it's a malfunction then," I said calmly.

As we spoke, another picture arrived. This picture was slightly clearer than the previous one, and we could clearly see that not only was there an object in the middle-left area, but there was also an object in the middle-right area. However, the picture wasn't clear enough for us to see what those objects were.

One thing we could confirm was the fact that beyond the event horizon within the Schwarzschild radius, there were definitely more objects. That contradicted what we knew before that no physical object could exist within a black hole. That was a discovery that caused all of us to grow incomparably excited.

Our sole regret was that we couldn't get a clear look at the objects. All the data we had received so far had come from the first two drones. Thus, all our hope was placed on the final drone, the one that had gotten the nearest to the event horizon out of the three drones. Hopefully, it was able to send us a clearer image. Time continued to pass, but no new data arrived. We started to grow nervous.

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"Did the last drone get too close to the event horizon, to the point its signals can't return to us due to interference from the black hole's gravity?" asked Dondon.

"The final drone had not only turned on its electromagnetic wave transmission system but had even shifted all its power for ray transmission during the final moments before its engine system failed, all to send one final picture back to us," said Jack.

"I believe that so close to the event horizon, electromagnetic waves won't be able to transmit any data. We can only put our hope on the ray transmission system and hope that it can bring us the closest picture ever taken of a black hole," said Master Crystal.

Alas, the cruel reality continued nibbling away at our confidence. Yet another hour passed as we waited. According to the speed of the laser transmission system, any data would have arrived if there was any.

"Looks like the gravity near the event horizon is too powerful. No data can be transmitted no matter what system we use. We have wasted too much time here. We need to return and repair the ship. We also need to begin the search for Spacetime," said Baron Sisse, preparing to end the wait.

"Can we wait a little bit more? The gravity there must be extremely powerful. The laser transmission might have slowed as a result. We encountered a similar situation at Sirius B. The data we were waiting for took several hours to arrive. Since a black hole's gravitational force is much stronger than a white dwarf's, I suggest we wait longer," said Old Du, not willing to give up on this rare opportunity to study a black hole.

He was not alone. None of us wanted to give up on this chance.

"Skyhawk will stay here for three hours. If we still receive nothing after three hours, the exploration mission will end," decided Baron Sisse after a short hesitation.

We all understood that the three hours given were extremely generous considering the urgency of our situation. We had wasted nearly eight precious hours just to study this black hole. If we couldn't receive a satisfactory result, all of us would feel regretful. We started resting and waiting. Surprisingly, everyone was able to easily fall asleep previously, but we were all fully awake despite being exhausted. All of us were waiting for the final data transmission from the drone.

Without realizing it, two hours passed. That was negligible in the grand scheme of things, but for us, that was a miserable period of time with our confidence slowly slipping away. We were aware of how slim the chance was that any data would make it back. Perhaps the heavens had shown mercy due to our ordeal. We did not have to wait until the end of the three hours for the system to suddenly beep.

"Two streams of data!" Jack jumped in excitement the moment the data returned.

All of us also jumped in excitement, including Master Crystal, who hadn't been very interested in the mission. We all gathered before the screen and waited anxiously for the historic picture of a black hole to appear.

With trembling hands, Jack opened the first picture. Disappointingly, the picture only showed a blank whiteness akin to what one would see from an exposed film roll. Nothing could be seen on it. That dealt a great blow to our excitement, and a collective sigh was heaved. All our hope lay on the final picture.

"Jack, let me," said Baron Sisse, volunteering to open the final picture.

Jack yielded the seat to the baron. Slowly, the baron processed the data stream. He also seemed to have muttered a prayer before solemnly opening the extremely important picture. With that, a picture that would shock the entire space exploration industry appeared before our eyes.