Sun Ai: "0.404000055435... seconds, with many more decimal places behind."

Ren Zhong: "Let's round it to 0.404 seconds. 0.404 seconds? Our current direct distance to South Nine Star is four light years. Assuming the Empire Super Network's computational time for information is infinitesimally close to zero, it means the round trip only takes a brief 0.404 seconds, which makes the one-way trip 0.202 seconds. Essentially, the transmission speed of the information flow is about twenty light years per second. This..."

Ren Zhong genuinely wants to know what kind of energy transfer method can reach this speed.

In the 21st century understanding of Earthlings, the ultimate speed in the universe is the speed of light at three hundred thousand kilometers per second, nothing faster.

But later, humans theoretically deduced the existence of particles faster than light, although the amount of surpassing the speed of light isn't exaggerated, just a few times or at most ten times faster.

Based on the above understanding, Ren Zhong has always believed that the so-called Ghost Particle Communicator is likely relying on the quantum entanglement resonance existing through human brain neuron cells.

But now his understanding has been upended.

There are two possibilities.

First, whether in the Milky Way or the current Elliptical Star System, the energy transfer method named information flow has always existed, just that 21st-century human technology couldn't perceive nor utilize it.

Second, the mysterious energy, which has altered weak electromagnetic interactions and imprinted a positive icosahedron at the atomic level, is essentially a net. This net is exceptionally vast and very dense. When the fleet's current position pulls this net, the vibrations can be sensed at South Nine Star, four light years away, in 0.202 seconds and receive the information. Both pulling the net and sensing the vibrations require using human brain neurons as a medium.

"Uncle, stop pondering these things. What I want to say isn't this; none of this is the key point! The key point is, I've discovered that my time doesn't match the Empire's standard time!"

Ren Zhong: "Huh?"

"The standard time provided by the Empire is currently 17:56:55...56 on February 18, 711 in the 98th era of the Da Feng calendar, but when I mentioned this information, my time was 15:48:49 on February 18, 711 in the 98th era. This means my timeline is precisely 7627 seconds slower than the Empire's standard time!"

Ren Zhong was shocked: "What!"

Sun Ai: "This is definitely not a regular error. Because time correction is a very straightforward matter, whether it's the 'net' or myself, or the existing atomic clock on Source Star, have always been correcting the time. My time couldn't be wrong. But the Empire's time couldn't be wrong either. Thus, there's only one explanation left, our time moves slower than the Empire's by 7627 seconds. We've been robbed of over seven thousand seconds!"

Ren Zhong: "This..."

Even Ren Zhong's scientifically inclined brain momentarily went offline.

No matter how much he racked his brains, he couldn't figure out where exactly the problem originated.

After a long contemplation, Ren Zhong instinctively asked: "Could this be related to our current acceleration? Is it because we are approaching one-tenth the speed of light?"

Sun Ai shook her head, "Don't joke about it. Uncle, you just said the communication transmission speed between us and the Empire is twenty light years per second, much faster than that. The Annulus Ship used to routinely cruise at one-tenth the speed of light between Source Star and South Nine Star without encountering this time discrepancy. Thankfully, when I applied for timeline synchronization earlier, I didn't expose our local time. Otherwise, we'd likely be immediately taken to some Empire Academy of Sciences as test subjects. Oh right, I'm no longer human."

"No, fortunately, I still have a human mindset. If I were still the former 'net', facing this simultaneous timeline confusion shock, I'd either fall into logical conflict causing major bugs and systemic collapse, or obediently confess everything to the Empire Super Network. As half-human, I'm not that strict, and I have my own judgment on what to say and what not to say."

Ren Zhong acknowledged, "Still, why was our time stolen? This doesn't make sense."

Sun Ai: "Exactly, why?"

In the vast and void hibernation space hall, the two of them remained speechless, staring at each other puzzled.