Chapter 23 Chapter Twenty Two

Kohler stood up tremblingly with two shrunken legs.His face was pale, and he shouted hoarsely: "Victoria, don't touch it!" Standing aside, Langdon was taken aback by the panic-stricken director. "That's five thousand nanograms!" Kohler said, "in case you disrupt the electromagnetic field—" "Director," Victoria said firmly, "there is no danger in doing this. For safety, each antimatter trap has been installed with a fuse—that is, a backup battery. Even if the reservoir is removed, the sample will still be suspended in the air." Mid-air, motionless."

Kohler was skeptical.After hesitating for a while, he sat back in the wheelchair. "Once the antimatter trap is off the charger," Victoria said, "the backup battery will start itself immediately, and the charge will last for a full twenty-four hours, just like a car's gas tank." Sensing Langdon's uneasiness, she continued: "Antimatter has truly amazing properties, Mr. Langdon, so it's not without danger. A mere ten milligram sample of antimatter—the size of a grain of sand—has the energy equivalent of two hundred tons of conventional rocket fuel." Langdon felt dizzy.

"This energy is thousands of times stronger than nuclear energy. It is a 100% efficient energy source. It is fully capable of becoming the energy star of tomorrow. Moreover, there are no by-products, no radiation, and no pollution. Only a few grams can provide a large The kinetic energy a city needs for a week." How many grams?Langdon took several steps back in panic. "Don't worry," Victoria said, "the samples here are minuscule—one millionth of a gram. Basically, there's no danger." She reached for a reservoir and tried to unscrew it from its base.

Kohler shuddered and stayed still. Only a "beep" sound was heard, the storage device was unscrewed, and the electronic display screen at the bottom was activated immediately, the red number flashed, and the countdown began. 24:00:00... 23:59:59... 23:59:58... Langdon stared at the dwindling timer, feeling like a ticking time bomb. "This battery," Victoria explained, "can power the antimatter trap for a full twenty-four hours. And it can be recharged as soon as it is plugged back into the charging station. This is done for the antimatter trap. For the sake of safety, of course, but also for the convenience of transportation.”

"Transportation?" To Kohler, this was undoubtedly a blow to the head, "Are you still transporting this damn thing outside?" "Of course not," Victoria said unhurriedly, "this is just for the convenience of studying it." She led Langdon and Kohler to the far end of the experimental center and drew back the curtains to reveal a window. Outside was a large room with walls, floors, and ceilings all made of steel.This reminded Langdon of a large fuel tank on an oil tanker he had been on when he went to the Gulf of New Guinea in Papua to study Hanta's body paint.

"This is the annihilation reaction room," Victoria said. Kohler looked up. "You really study the annihilation reaction?" "My father is very obsessed with studying the physical principles of the Big Bang—how a tiny nucleus of matter can release a huge amount of energy." Victoria said, opening a steel drawer under the window, and put the antimatter trap Put it in, then close the drawer, and pull the lever on the side of the drawer.After a while, the antimatter trap appeared in the room opposite the window. It rolled smoothly in a large arc on the metal floor, and finally stopped near the center of the room.

Victoria smiled unnaturally. "You will witness the annihilation reaction of antimatter for the first time, this is a few millionths of a gram, a tiny sample." Langdon watched the tiny antimatter trap sitting alone on the floor of the vast reaction chamber.Kohler also turned around, facing the window, looking dazed. "Normally," Victoria said, "we'd have to wait twenty-four hours until the battery died. But there are magnets under the floor of the reaction chamber that disrupt the electromagnetic field of the antimatter trap and thus disrupt the levitation state. Thus , once antimatter hits matter..."

"Annihilation." Kohler whispered. "Also," Victoria reminded, "a large amount of pure energy released by antimatter will be converted into photons in an instant. Therefore, don't look directly at the sample and protect your eyes." Langdon had always been cautious, but now he felt that she was playing tricks.Don't look directly at the sample?The contraption was thirty yards away, behind an extra-thick wall of tinted plexiglass.Furthermore, the particles in the reservoir are so small that they are only barely visible under a microscope.Protect your eyes?Langdon was puzzled.Just how powerful such a small particle can release——

Victoria pressed the button. For an instant, Langdon could see nothing.A dazzling bright spot flashed in the center of the storage device, and then the bright spot exploded, sending out a frightening wave of light that radiated to the surroundings, hitting the window in front of him with a thunderous bang.The entire reaction room was shaken, and he staggered backward unconsciously.The scorching light lingered for a while, then suddenly retreated quickly, shrunk into a small spot, and disappeared into nothingness.Langdon blinked hard, and it took him a while to regain his vision.He squinted at the smoldering reaction room inside.The storage tanks on the floor were gone, disappeared without a trace.Not a trace was left.

His eyes widened in surprise. "On...God." Victoria nodded sadly. "Exactly as my father described."