Wandering Meteor
Chapter 74: Calculations at Every Level

Chapter 74: Chapter 74: Calculations at Every Level

In fact, Lu Chen did not see it wrong; that phenomenon was indeed a helium flash!

The helium flash is a brief loss of control that occurs during the process of helium undergoing nuclear fusion, and because it is very peculiar, it is called the helium flash!

Under normal circumstances, a helium flash occurs after low-mass stars leave their main-sequence phase, when there has been a large depletion of hydrogen, leading to an accumulation of a significant amount of helium in the core.

Of course, the helium flash also occurred in the quasi-star we have in front of us.

This demonstrates that under certain conditions, white dwarf stars can also produce helium flashes.

As long as the surface of a white dwarf star accretes enough helium, and the temperature on the surface of the white dwarf star is not yet able to support helium fusion, there will naturally not be the thermal pressure from nuclear fusion to counteract gravitational collapse.

Therefore, under the strong pressure of collapse, helium atoms will be crushed and their electrons will escape.

Since each electron possesses very strong repulsion, this repulsive force between electrons, also known as degenerate pressure, becomes the main force in resisting gravitational collapse at this stage; and in the process of this pressure and degenerate pressure working against each other, electrons and helium nuclei undergo intense friction, slowly increasing in temperature.

When the temperature reaches around one hundred million degrees, helium fusion will be instantaneously ignited.

At this time, since degenerate pressure and physical pressure are still in conflict and hydrostatic equilibrium cannot control the rate of collisions between nuclei, the collision rate of helium nuclei in a high-density degenerate state increases, which directly raises the fusion rate of the nuclei, causing all accumulated helium to start nuclear fusion reactions, until the thermal pressure produced by the fusion replaces degenerate pressure to counteract gravitational collapse and hydrostatic equilibrium is re-established, thereby slowing down the rate of nuclear collisions and the speed of fusion.

However, by this time, all helium elements have already undergone nuclear fusion, and the immense energy released instantaneously results in a terrifying explosion, which cools down to the speed of sound after a few short seconds.

Overall, the basic principle and process of helium flashes in stars and white dwarf stars are quite similar, the only difference is that one occurs in the core, the other on the surface of the white dwarf star.

Just as Lu Chen realized it was a helium flash.

He saw the quasi-star suddenly make a move, rapidly closing the distance with Lu Chen.

When the distance between them narrowed and they entered the gravitational range, the quasi-star began to sneer triumphantly.

"Didn’t expect you to have some insight, that’s right, that was a helium flash just now, and I specifically used it to slow down your speed."

"Now that you and I are too close, and we’ve entered within the Roche limit, unless you completely neutralize gravity and give me all the hydrogen, how do you plan to escape?" Excitedly finishing its taunt, the quasi-star began to control gravity, plundering the vast amounts of hydrogen from Lu Chen’s star body!

Lu Chen asked in a grim tone, "What about those things you mentioned concerning Earth Civilization just now?"

"Heh, you’re really naive. I can’t believe you actually believed a word I scammed you with. Even if there were such things, under the high temperature of a star level, they would have already turned into a plasma state. How could they possibly still exist?" The quasi-star said, gloating with mockery.

Lu Chen confirmed two things from the quasi-star’s words.

First, the quasi-star was unaware of the existence of strange materials that can ignore temperature, such as Gravity Stones; secondly, all of this indeed was a conspiracy and calculation by the quasi-star.

Previously, seeing that it could never close in on Lu Chen, and that its only long-range attack, the Crown Hole Radiation, was useless, the quasi-star purposefully spoke about Earth Civilization, then during the battle, it intentionally received hits passively and took the opportunity to accelerate the rate of hydrogen nuclear fusion, thereby secretly accumulating enough helium.

Once there was sufficient helium, the quasi-star pretended to concede deliberately and used information about Earth Civilization to attract Lu Chen. Since it had mentioned similar things before, even if Lu Chen had doubts, he would want to check it out. Thus, the quasi-star took the opportunity when Lu Chen approached, it suddenly triggered the helium flash to slow down Lu Chen’s speed, and finally brought the distance between the two within the Roche limit!

Upon learning of the Quasi-star’s schemes, Lu Chen couldn’t help but feel utterly furious.

The clue to Earth was what he cared about most at the moment, and for the Quasi-star to have dared to deceive him with this was utterly unforgivable!

"You’re practically seeking death, now no one can save you!" Lu Chen declared with murderous intent.

As his killing intent was pronounced, he directly emitted a Constant Star Gravitational Wave.

However, this time the Gravity Wave was ineffective, as it was disrupted by the Quasi-star’s Gravity Increment, exploding mid-air and forming a clear spatial vortex!

Seeing this, Lu Chen was shocked and had a bad feeling in his heart.

Sure enough, the Quasi-star said: "Did you really think I had no way to defend against Gravity Waves? I just endured so many Constant Star Gravitational Waves that I gradually found the trick. Gravity Waves are, after all, gravity, and at best, they’re just of a higher intensity. A high-intensity Gravity Increment can disrupt them. I hadn’t used it before because I wanted to accumulate Helium Element; I didn’t expect you to take it seriously!"

With the Constant Star Gravitational Wave also being neutralized, Lu Chen fell into a complete disadvantage.

At this moment, Lu Chen and the Quasi-star were within the Rochê Limit, and even though Lu Chen concentrated the gravity within the atmosphere, the proximity still resulted in mutual influence.

Because gravity is inversely proportional to distance, the farther the distance, the weaker the gravitational effect. Constraining gravity back within the atmosphere is akin to increasing the distance indirectly, reducing the gravitational effect, just as people on Earth are bound by gravity, but this bond greatly weakens or even becomes negligible when they go to space.

But once inside the Rochê Limit, the two massive celestial bodies essentially have no distance between them, meaning distance no longer affects the strength of gravity’s pull, and they begin to tear each other apart. Due to the Quasi-star’s greater Constant Star Mass, it was rapidly plundering Lu Chen’s Hydrogen.

It could be said that Lu Chen’s situation was very dire, with danger imminent.

If one wants to escape the distance of the Rochê Limit, the only option is to eliminate gravity and completely cut off the source of gravity’s pull.

But the problem is, Lu Chen is currently a star, with all his elements in a Plasma State due to the high temperatures, completely devoid of any solid core; without gravity, all plasma state elements would disperse like a gas.

Once the gas dissipates, the body would be equivalent to disintegrating, and Lu Chen’s Intention would certainly vanish like smoke.

Therefore, for a star entirely comprised of gas, eliminating gravity is akin to suicide.

If it were a planet, at worst, eliminating gravity would mean losing the atmosphere, but the structure of a fully gaseous star differs from that of a planet, and the problem cannot be resolved in the same way.

At this moment, Lu Chen suddenly realized that each form of life has its own weaknesses.

Whether it’s a Gravity Increment or eliminating gravity, both are just methods of controlling gravity (power) with Intention and won’t alter the fact that matter exists, nor will they change the fact that life depends on matter for existence.

And now that eliminating gravity is not an option, and he cannot compete in terms of Constant Star Mass, Lu Chen can only think of other ways.

Taking stock of the attack methods available to Lu Chen now, there are Constant Star Storms, Crown Hole Radiation, Constant Star Gravitational Waves, and Annihilation Light Columns, which seem numerous; however, none of these methods can deal a fatal blow to the massive Quasi-star.

It seems that this time, Lu Chen has truly fallen into an inextricable predicament, with all paths of survival cut off.

Wandering, foreseeing the entry of Lu Chen and the Quasi-star into the Rochê Limit, had already left its orbital path to avoid being affected. At the moment, it could only watch anxiously from afar, utterly helpless.

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.