The crew on the test frigate were also very nervous at the moment. After all, it was the first test, and if anything went wrong, everyone would be doomed.
"Beep beep... Starting test. Target: Earth orbit."
"Yes, coordinates have been entered. Energy is being fed into the warp drive!"
"Warp drive activated, ready for jump!"
"Beep beep... Jump!"
"Understood, jumping!"
The pilot looked at his right hand gripping the warp lever, gritted his teeth, and pulled it down suddenly!
At this moment, everyone observing on the research vessel suddenly saw the warship in front of them twist for a moment before instantly disappearing.
"Quick, check the data!"
"Yes, Doctor Bennett!"
A group of experts began to get busy.
"Doctor Bennett, Earth has confirmed the experimental vessel. The experimental vessel's exterior is intact!"
"What? That fast? Immediately contact the experimental vessel and have them report the time on their onboard timer."
"Understood!"
At the same time, in Earth orbit, the crew on the experimental vessel's bridge were collectively bewildered, especially the pilot.
Damn it, I just unconsciously blinked when I pulled the warp lever, and when I opened my eyes again, Earth was right in front of me? 200 million kilometers, in the blink of an eye?
"Beep beep... Experimental vessel, please respond. Experimental vessel, please respond."
"This is the experimental vessel. We have arrived in Earth orbit. All personnel are safe!"
"Good, excellent! Immediately check the warp data collector installed on the bridge and see what the number on it is."
"Yes, the number on it is 1.14!"
"What? 1.14? Are you sure you didn't misread it?"
"Report, absolutely no misreading. It is indeed 1.14!"
The crew members didn't understand what 1.14 meant, but the experts on the research vessel on Mars were in an uproar.
1.14! That was the total warp time recorded. From Mars to Earth, the current distance is 200 million kilometers. What does 1.14 seconds mean?
585 times the speed of light! Keep in mind that the Star Path is only 3 times the speed of light. This instantly increased humanity's interstellar travel speed by nearly 200 times, and it can ignore the Star Path, allowing direct jumps from anywhere.
"Doctor Bennett, what exactly happened? What does 1.14 mean?"
President Solomon Vale looked at the hundreds of experts who seemed to be going mad and couldn't help but ask Dr. Harold Bennett!
"President Vale, 1.14 seconds! From Mars to Earth, the current distance is 200 million kilometers. It took you several days to get here, didn't it? However, our experimental vessel just completed a 200-million-kilometer jump in only 1.14 seconds! Do you know what kind of speed that is? 585 times the speed of light! Hahaha!"
President Vale was stunned. He had just flown from Earth to Mars himself, and it had taken him over 3 days.
Yet now Dr. Harold Bennett was telling him that the experimental vessel only took 1.14 seconds? 585 times the speed of light?
At this moment, he finally understood why the hundreds of experts in front of him had gone so crazy!
"Doctor Bennett, when can this warp drive be mass-produced and installed on the fleet?"
Just as anxious as President Vale was Admiral Marcus Sterling. What he cared about was when the fleet could be equipped. But as soon as he asked, he received a glare from Dr. Harold Bennett!
"What are you thinking, kid? Do you think a new piece of equipment is done after just one test? Can you ensure its safety? I'm telling you, it needs to be tested at least ten thousand times before we can confirm if its safety meets standards, if it can be mass-produced, and finally, if it can be equipped. Don't even think about it for two or three years!"
"Uh, no problem, no problem. We have seven years now, so two or three years is acceptable."
Upon hearing Dr. Harold Bennett say it would take at least two or three years, Marcus Sterling was a little disappointed, but then he remembered that they had a seven-year truce, so two or three years was indeed acceptable.
Unfortunately, Adrian Vale, who was beside him, didn't think so. After all, the system had already warned him that war would resume in at most one year.
Half an hour later, under Dr. Harold Bennett's command, the experimental vessel warped back to Mars, and the time was still 1.14 seconds.
This allowed all experts to finally confirm the speed of the first-generation warp drive: 585 times the speed of light.
This is an incredibly terrifying speed. For example, the Solar System is approximately 4.22 light-years from the Proxima Centauri system. Traveling at the Federation's speed of 3,000 kilometers per second, it would take about 1,000 years to reach.
If one were to travel via the Star Path, it would take approximately 17 months.
However, with the warp drive, at 585 times the speed of light, it would only take less than 3 days to arrive. How significant is this improvement?
Whether in the civilian or military sector, the warp drive will bring explosive development to humanity.
The results of this test gave the Federation's high-ranking officials immense confidence. President Vale had already decided that upon his return, he would gather all his advisors to significantly revise future policies. Many things that were previously unimaginable or deemed impossible could now be brought up for reconsideration.
After the initial experiment, Dr. Harold Bennett immediately led his team to begin manufacturing new warp engines. This time, they would produce ten at once to accelerate the testing speed.
Even though Dr. Harold Bennett was so blunt with Marcus Sterling, in reality, Dr. Harold Bennett was even more anxious than him. As soon as he returned, he immediately began working, striving to complete the safety tests within a year.
Half a month later, ten new warp engines were completed. Marcus Sterling was also very cooperative, directly dispatching another battlecruiser, one carrier, three cruisers, three destroyers, and two frigates to Dr. Harold Bennett for all-ship-type testing.
Although the progress on the warp drive was very encouraging, the energy shield project was somewhat troublesome.
All the technology was available, so why was it still troublesome? Because the energy couldn't keep up. Maintaining the shield required a massive amount of energy, but the energy provided by the nuclear reactors on the warships simply couldn't match the continuous consumption of the shield.
Simply put, the recharge rate was slower than the consumption rate, so after the shield was active for a while, it would fail to sustain itself due to insufficient recharge speed.
This was under normal circumstances. In combat, not only would energy be consumed to maintain the shield, but also to withstand attacks. With the current nuclear reactors, it was even more out of the question.
As for nuclear fusion reactors, sorry, even in the 58th year of the Federation, this technology still couldn't be developed. The key technologies remained elusive.
However, Adrian wasn't concerned about any of this. At this moment, he was in his room, holding his future wife.
"Have you hugged enough? I still have things to deal with. Let go quickly!"
"I can let go, right here!"
Adrian pointed to his mouth and said to Lena Sterling.
"You—mmph... mmph."
Unfortunately, before she could finish speaking, Adrian sealed her lips.
Lena's eyes widened immediately, her face filled with disbelief, and she pushed Adrian a few times.
But what kind of physique did Adrian have? How could Lena push away a body strengthened by the gene-enhancing serum? Before long, Lena's hands dropped in resignation.
It wasn't until two minutes later that Adrian finally let her go. By then, Lena's face was completely flushed, and she immediately turned around and fled.
"So adorable!"
Watching Lena flee in a panic, Adrian couldn't help but smile.