204: Forging a Sharp Sword - The Birth of the "Morning Star"

The "Deep Space Expedition" plan was like a top-level mobilization order, instantly igniting the passion and potential of the entire Homeland. This shelter, which had been silent underground, quietly accumulating power, was like a sleeping giant awakened, with every part of its body beginning to operate at high speed with unprecedented efficiency. All resource allocation, research directions, and production plans were unreservedly tilted toward this grand goal. Barriers between various departments were broken down, and collaborative operations became the norm. The energy department prioritized supplies for shipyards and laboratories; the material science team tested new alloys day and night; the life support group simulated a closed ecological cycle lasting several years; the navigation and communication department began drawing detailed interstellar star charts and establishing a deep space communication relay network. The goal was clear and pure: concentrate all wisdom and power in the shortest time to build a super starship capable of carrying hope and mission, performing interstellar voyages, and integrating cutting-edge scientific research, deep space exploration, self-defense, and long-term life support!

Challenges Like Mountains: Breaking Through Technical Barriers

This was undoubtedly an extremely arduous, even crazy challenge. Although Homeland had mastered some fragments of technology beyond contemporary civilization through the study of the planet core and Excellence's Energy Programming practices, integrating these scattered, unverified advanced concepts into an actually operational, safe, and reliable interstellar spacecraft required overcoming difficulties as vast as mountains and seas. Every system was an ultimate test of the limits of existing human engineering.

Energy Core: Traditional nuclear fusion engines, while powerful, are massive in size and weight. The amount of fuel carried limits the range and cannot meet the enormous energy demands of long-term voyages, nor the power consumption of strong shields and weapon systems that might be needed in the future. A more efficient, durable, and powerful energy source was required.

Propulsion system: Interstellar distances are measured in light-years. Relying on chemical or conventional fusion propulsion would take thousands of years to reach the destination. A breakthrough propulsion method must be found—whether it be warp drive, space jumps, or other faster-than-light (or near-light-speed) technologies based on unknown physical principles.

Life support: Deep space voyages lasting several years require the establishment of a completely self-sufficient closed ecosystem that recycles water, air, and nutrients. At the same time, the effects of long-term weightlessness or acceleration on the astronauts' bodies, as well as the problem of deep space radiation protection, must be addressed.

Defense system: Unknown star regions are full of dangers, including cosmic rays, micrometeoroids, high-energy particle streams, and potentially hostile civilizations. The ship must possess powerful energy shields, physical armor, and necessary self-defense capabilities.

Navigation and communication: Navigating in the vast and boundless interstellar space, which lacks reference points, requires an extremely precise navigation system. Maintaining contact with Homeland requires solving communication delays and information transmission issues over ultra-long distances.

Facing these unprecedented challenges, Excellence, as the chief technical consultant, became the busiest, most pressured, and most indispensable soul of the entire project. He not only needed to tackle core technologies with the top scientific research team led by Evelyn but also used his unique Energy Programming ability to solve many bottlenecks that conventional technical means could not break through, turning seemingly impossible ideas into reality.

Revolution of the Energy Core: The Birth of the Resonance Matrix

The biggest bottleneck appeared in the Energy Core. Traditional design proposals were rejected one by one during reviews. Just as everyone was at a loss, Excellence gained inspiration from the nearly eternal energy cycle of the planet core.

"Perhaps we shouldn't always think about creating a larger 'boiler,' but instead learn from the core to create a stable and efficient energy 'resonator'." Excellence proposed a bold idea. Drawing on the multi-layered, high-dimensional energy harmony resonance mode inside the planet core, he designed an unprecedented Resonance Energy Matrix. This matrix consisted of hundreds of small, efficient energy generators. They did not simply output energy in parallel but operated synchronously in an extremely complex phase relationship. Through subtle resonance effects, the output energy was amplified exponentially, with a theoretical efficiency far exceeding any traditional fusion or antimatter engine.

However, while this plan sounded wonderful, it was fraught with difficulties to implement. The synchronization precision required for hundreds of energy generators was extremely high; a tiny error would at best cause the matrix to fail and consume energy internally, and at worst trigger catastrophic energy vortices and violent explosions. Conventional computer control systems simply could not achieve such precise real-time fine-tuning.

At the critical moment, Excellence stepped forward. He personally entered the Energy Core test chamber, which was filled with dangerous radiation. Closing his eyes, he connected his consciousness with the entire prototype matrix. In his Energy Vision, the hundreds of energy generators were like hundreds of tuning forks with slightly different pitches. He needed to be like a top symphony conductor—no, a tuning master thousands of times more refined than that—using his mind to perceive the vibration frequency and phase of every tuning fork and fine-tune them in real-time so they finally reached a state of perfect harmonious resonance. This process was extremely taxing on mental power; fine beads of sweat broke out on Excellence's forehead, and his body trembled slightly. Once, a Node's phase suddenly spiraled out of control and deviated. The entire matrix instantly emitted a piercing noise and dangerous light, on the verge of collapse! Excellence snapped his eyes open, his hands pressing down in the air. His powerful mental force, like an invisible hand, forcibly "pushed" the out-of-control Node back onto the correct track! After dozens of hours of sleepless debugging, the moment the phase of the last Node was accurately calibrated—hum! A low and pleasant hum sounded, and the entire matrix suddenly lit up, emitting a stable, warm, and majestic light like a newborn star! The Resonance Energy Matrix was a success! Deafening cheers erupted from the scene!

Stealth Camouflage: The Art of Merging into the Sea of Stars

Another area where Excellence shone was the ship's stealth system. For deep space navigation, concealment is crucial. Excellence elevated the Energy Camouflage Technique he had previously developed to a whole new height. He designed a dynamically adjustable Energy Camouflage system covering the entire body of the morning star.

This layer of camouflage was not as simple as absorbing radar waves. It could analyze the cosmic background radiation around the ship in real-time (including electromagnetic spectra, gravitational ripples, neutrino flows, etc.), then control the energy field on the hull's surface to simulate energy characteristics almost identical to the background, achieving ultimate optical and sensor invisibility. Even more miraculously, under Excellence's fine control, this camouflage could even perform short-range optical distortion, making the ship visually "become" an irregular asteroid or a thin cloud of interstellar dust.

On the day of the stealth test, the massive morning star hovered in the testing field. As Excellence activated the system, on the monitoring screens of the ground control center, the ship's outline began to blur, finally disappearing completely from all detection methods, including visible light, infrared, and radar! Only through a special resonance scanner, which shared the same source as the ship's camouflage system, could an extremely faint phantom be seen, merged with the surrounding starry background. When Excellence demonstrated the "asteroid" disguise, the ship even simulated the characteristics of an asteroid's slow rotation! This lifelike technology left all observers in awe, clicking their tongues in wonder.

hand-crafted Starship: Excellence's Metaphysics and Craftsmanship

The entire construction process of the ship was not only a technical battle but also filled with Excellence's personal style, a unique mark of hand-crafted fun and humor.

He would often appear on the front lines of construction. Once, the transmission efficiency at a complex energy pipe interface consistently failed to meet standards, and engineers could not find the cause despite using various testing instruments. After Excellence arrived, he put on special Energy Induction Gloves and gently stroked the pipe with his hands, closing his eyes to feel for a moment. Then he said to the engineers nearby, "There's a small 'energy lump' here, the flow isn't smooth; we need to 'straighten it out'." As he spoke, his fingers moved slightly, guiding a faint stream of energy to gently wash through that invisible Node. A few minutes later, the instruments showed that the energy flow had returned to smoothness. The engineers were dumbfounded, calling it "unclogging pipes with bare hands."

He also "forced" the intelligent welding robots to upgrade. He modified the robots' control programs, not by optimizing welding paths and parameters, but by injecting a segment of energy coding he called "Pleasurable Wave Frequency." He claimed that under the influence of this "pleasurable" energy field, metal molecules would bond in a more "harmonious" way, welds would be stronger, and material fatigue life would be longer. Su Mu complained incessantly about this: "You're building a ship with metaphysics! Do metals have emotions or something?" Excellence, however, was dead serious: "Everything has an energy field. If the field is harmonious, the structure will naturally be stable. This is science, Class Monitor, you don't understand." However, subsequent strength tests showed that components treated with this Pleasurable Welding did indeed have fatigue limits and toughness several percentage points higher than those from the standard process. Although it couldn't be fully proven that the "pleasurable waves" were responsible, everyone privately joked that this was Excellence's "blessing." It was an indisputable fact that the failure rate of components "blessed" by him was significantly lower.

Mainstays: The Dedication of Evelyn and Su Mu

In this epic construction project, Evelyn and Su Mu played indispensable key roles.

Evelyn was the well-deserved Chief Designer and Engineering Commander-in-Chief. She needed to translate Excellence's wild, sometimes nearly "metaphysical" energy concepts into rigorous design drawings and manufacturing processes that complied with engineering mechanics and physical laws. She coordinated the design, production, testing, and final assembly of tens of thousands of components, ensuring that every screw played its proper role in the correct position. Her office was piled with drawings and data pads; she only slept a few hours a day, but her eyes remained sharp and focused. She was the drawer of the skeleton and blueprint of the morning star.

Su Mu became the busiest Chief Logistics Officer and Morale Officer. She had to ensure the supply of all materials, from rare metals to daily meals, and mediate conflicts between different departments arising from resources or schedules. More importantly, she kept a constant eye on Excellence, this "technical maniac" who would forget to eat and sleep once he started working. She would show up at the lab on time to force him to go eat; she would shut down his console directly after he had worked for more than twenty consecutive hours; she would bring him steaming late-night snacks in the middle of the night and "threaten" him that he wasn't allowed to continue working until he finished eating. She was the lubricant and stabilizer for the smooth progress of the morning star project, as well as Excellence's strongest support.

The morning star Rises: The Ship of Hope Takes Shape

After a whole year of arduous, day-and-night struggle, through the collective efforts of all members of Homeland, a streamlined behemoth—shining with a deep silver-blue metallic luster, possessing elegant and powerful lines, and equipped with a massive Resonance Matrix engine at the rear emitting a soft and stable blue light—the morning star starship finally completed its final assembly and debugging in the secret shipyard in the deepest part of Homeland, standing tall and fully formed! Its scale was comparable to a small city, silently hovering in the shipyard like a giant about to embark on a long journey.

At a grand naming ceremony, Wang Jianguo personally named it the morning star, signifying that this ship would be like the brightest star before dawn, leading Homeland and human civilization toward the unknown and vast deep space, opening a new journey of hope.

When Excellence stood on the broad bridge of the morning star for the first time, looking down through the massive porthole at the huge and precise hull below, and feeling the stable and powerful energy pulse from the Resonance Matrix beneath his feet, his heart was filled with unspeakable pride, excitement, and a sense of responsibility. This ship not only condensed the top technology and industrial power of Homeland but also deeply integrated his blood, sweat, his abilities, and his understanding of the essence of energy. It was a sharp sword piercing into the unknown universe, a mobile home sailing in the sea of stars, and even more, a heavy ark carrying hope and mission. It would carry them toward the distant stars, to uncover mysteries of billions of years and face unknown challenges. A new journey was about to begin.