111: Chapter 111 Energy Systems

The military meeting of high-level American government and military officials regarding the Chinese aerospace carrier 'kunpeng' ended late at night.

Several giant parking lots by the Potomac River instantly became busy again, as luxury cars lined up to exit, their lights appearing exceptionally piercing in the dark and quiet night.

CIA Director Rodriguez did not join the crowd; at this moment, he was in his office with John Wilson, continuing their earlier conversation.

"John, you've been in charge of intelligence collection on China for about ten years now, haven't you?"

Rodriguez lit a cigarette with a 'click,' then turned to stand by the window, watching the busy cars in the parking lot as he asked indifferently.

"Yes, Director, it has been twelve years."

"Regarding my proposal today, what do you, a 'China expert' who has studied them for so long, think?"

Rodriguez exhaled a long puff of smoke, turned around, and looked at John Wilson seriously as he asked.

"It's a perfect response; there doesn't seem to be any better way at the moment. As you know, we haven't exactly been idle; we've forced two reconnaissance missions, both of which failed. It won't be easy to conduct that kind of recon again in the short term. As for the mercenaries, I believe they are sending a signal; the warning is quite clear. If we continue to be so reckless, I'm worried..."

John Wilson did not continue, but instead looked at Rodriguez with some hesitation. The bloated head of the CIA rubbed his chin, thought for a moment, and then nodded heavily.

"John, I want to hear your real opinion, not just pleasantries. You know that at the military meeting just now, I was purely dealing with those arrogant fellows."

"Director, I have a bad feeling. There's also something I haven't had time to report yet: there might be more to the annihilation of the mercenaries than meets the eye. Our analysis suggests that China's individual soldier systems have likely made rapid progress—possibly, possibly even surpassing our own individual combat systems."

After John Wilson finished speaking, he lowered his head deeply.

"Are you sure?"

Rodriguez, however, did not show much surprise.

"This is the conclusion we reached based on current data simulations of soldiers in close-quarters combat—under the worst-case scenario, of course, since the simulation data are all estimates."

"Hmm, what else, John?"

Rodriguez pulled out a cigarette, tossed it to John Wilson, and then gestured for him to sit down and talk.

"As for their Interstellar Fleet, I personally feel it is very likely real. The question now is just how advanced they have become!"

"Rather believe it exists than not?"

Rodriguez's fingers tapped rhythmically on the desk as he stared into John's eyes.

"Yes. I'm afraid we'll have to deal with them under that assumption from now on, which is why I believe the solution you proposed at the meeting earlier is perfect."

"Oh? John, you know our relationship after all these years; there's no need to flatter me in private."

"Haha, you know me; I'm not that kind of person."

"I also believe it's not suitable for us to show our faces again in the short term. We should let those clowns take the stage while we stay behind the scenes. Isn't that what you were thinking, Director?"

"This can be considered giving both sides some time and space to ease tensions. As for other countries, America is not omnipotent; when the time comes, we can just pretend we know nothing."

After John Wilson finished speaking, he looked at his superior with deep meaning.

"Haha, John, I find I'm liking you more and more." Rodriguez looked at the old fox before him with amusement.

"No, no, I only like women—especially women with big butts."

"Haha."

...

The clamor on the internet and the tense atmosphere in America had absolutely nothing to do with Chu Ge; he was currently concentrating on studying his energy system.

The aerospace carrier's energy system gave Chu Ge the feeling of two giant suns encased within a hull, because it was truly massive.

Specifically for the 'kunpeng', the database listed two HQL-A500 Stellarator-type Nuclear Fusion Reactors, with a single reactor power output of 500,000 MW.

Chu Ge didn't quite understand what this represented and was too embarrassed to ask System Big Brother; after all, he had been mocked countless times, and even the thickest skin couldn't withstand such constant verbal blasts.

Chu Ge stealthily took out his phone to search on Baidu, only to find that China's largest nuclear power plant currently had a total installed capacity of just over 10,000 MW. The two Nuclear Fusion Reactors on the aerospace carrier combined for 1,000,000 MW, which was equivalent to 100 of the largest nuclear power plants merged into one.

One hundred large nuclear power plants would be enough to power several countries. Chu Ge didn't do the exact math, but after a moment's thought, he stopped dwelling on it. Given the aerospace carrier's immense tonnage, the power consumption of its various facilities must be staggering—especially the weapon systems, which were the real power-hungry units.

The two Nuclear Fusion Reactors were placed in the center of the aerospace carrier's hull in a vertical, symmetrical layout, surrounded by radiation shielding and a thick armor system.

Chu Ge was very familiar with the 'Little Sun'; as for this pair of main energy devices on the aerospace carrier, he checked and found that only slight modifications had been made, with the Tokamak device being replaced by a Stellarator device.

For an ultra-large nuclear fusion device like the aerospace carrier's reactor, a Stellarator device was indeed more suitable, as its advantage lay in its ability to operate continuously and stably—the core requirement for an energy reactor.

In essence, there was no difference between the two; both used super-strong magnetic fields to confine plasma.

The reason the Stellarator type hadn't appeared in Chu Ge's vision before was that the thing was simply too large, its structure was extremely complex, and the cost was high.

However, in the face of the aerospace carrier's massive size, these disadvantages were no longer significant.

Nevertheless, Chu Ge felt that Academician Huang and the others at the Research Institute should not be strangers to this device.

Ever since it was announced that controlled nuclear fusion would be extended to civilian use, its first and most widely applied direction was its utility as clean energy. Academician Huang and his team had been developing corresponding reactors for a long time, though Chu Ge didn't know how far they had progressed.

Chu Ge thought for a while and decided to first organize all the data for the energy system. Bringing this 'weapon' to Academician Huang would then show more sincerity.

According to System Big Brother's data, besides the energy output section, the next most important part of the aerospace carrier's energy system was its EMS system.

EMS was its energy control module. The module centered around a specialized Energy Management Computer, with level-2 automatic sensing communication equipment and monitoring units as basic tools, supplemented by 10 sets of massive Energy Storage Units.

It interacted with the Central Quantum Computer based on the layout of all the aerospace carrier's subsystems.

This interaction could better and more quickly resolve sudden emergencies within the energy system.

For example, if the aerospace carrier encountered a large meteor belt and needed to activate its high-energy-consuming Array Phasing Cannons for an extended period, the EMS could temporarily shut down unrelated power-consuming units to prioritize the continuous energy output of the array system.