53: Chapter 53 Helium-3

The last one was the protective shield. Chu Ge had a headache because its materials couldn't be provided on Earth—strictly speaking, they couldn't be supplied in large quantities.

The base material for the protective shield was high-strength polymer organic glass, with a set of integrated circuits and sensors fused into the edge connecting to the helmet.

Finally, after data processing, it would be displayed on the glass screen, similar to a modern car's HUD (Heads-Up Display).

However, it displayed basic data such as the environment, temperature, humidity, atmospheric composition, and radiation intensity.

All of that was easy enough.

The key was its core function, the protective shield. When Chu Ge was researching its trigger mechanism and material composition, he hadn't paid much attention to the latter.

The trigger mechanism was easy to understand. The high strength of the shield itself could handle ordinary bullets and electromagnetic attacks. When the intensity of a physical or electromagnetic attack was too high, the protective shield would be triggered.

As for the material composition, once Chu Ge carefully studied its components, he was stunned.

The internal components of the protective shield were actually a mixture of two gases. Once the mechanism was triggered, it would instantly release a high-intensity current. Upon reaching a certain intensity, the current would break apart the atoms of the mixed gases. After the atoms of the two gases were broken, the released electrons would react with each other to form a super-dense gas wall.

The density of the super-dense gas wall was extremely high, enough to defend against any means of attack and achieve temporary invincibility.

Of course, this shameless defensive measure could only be used once; the high-energy battery only had enough power for one release.

According to the data equations provided by the system, Chu Ge followed the logic down and found that these two gases were actually Helium-3 and Helium-4.

Chu Ge vaguely felt something was wrong.

Finally, when Chu Ge reported to Professor Chen that he needed one ton each of Helium-3 and Helium-4 as experimental materials, he realized what was wrong.

"Helium-3? One ton? Little Chu, if you want money or people, I can use this old face of mine to get them for you, even if it means stopping all other projects in the Research Institute—no problem!"

"But the proven reserves of Helium-3 on the entire Earth are only 500 kilograms. Where am I supposed to get a ton for you? Forget a ton, even a single kilogram would be a struggle!"

"Huh? No, wait. Why do I remember Helium-3 being so familiar? I can't recall it for a moment."

"Oh, there's one place where the reserves are extremely rich. You could say it's everywhere."

"Where?"

"At Change's place!"

"..."

Chu Ge was furious. He went back to demand a refund from System Big Brother.

"Big Brother, wake up! What is this? We don't have Helium-3 here. Doesn't this count as consumer fraud?"

[This... the system defaults to Helium-3 reserves being extremely abundant.]

"What? Is your hometown the Moon?"

Chu Ge's hair stood on end instantly.

[What on earth is the Moon? You'll likely need to upgrade to the final level to know the explanation regarding this system's origin. Please keep working hard, Host!]

"Wait a minute, let's put the upgrade aside for now. For this protective shield of yours, using one battery per use (it's expensive, hidden here) is one thing, but couldn't you make a simpler one? A light shield, particle shield, or physical shield would all work. Why did you make this fancy Gas Shield?"

[System default: this excitation mode is the simplest and most effective, mainly because the materials are extremely abundant.]

"Abundant my ass! If you dug through the entire Blue Planet, you'd only find 500 kilograms of Helium-3. You want to use that for a mask? Aren't you afraid they'll take me and you in for research?"

[...]

"Oh, and there's one more thing I don't understand. Wouldn't a regular bulletproof mask be enough? Why make it so complicated, with a life-saving shield? Just to extend a life?"

[One: The application of the super-dense Gas Shield is not limited to saving lives; it can also be used for large-scale defense barriers for warships or even Interstellar Fleet clusters. The cost is consistent with the effect; it requires the fleet to mobilize super-strong currents for support, and the effect is to withstand a single fatal blow from an enemy's ultimate strategic weapon.]

[Two: System default: the life of the owner using this shield is extremely precious and must not be easily lost in battle. If your planet's population is vast and lives can be discarded at will, it does not need to be equipped for individual soldiers; the system will not interfere.]

[Three: No refunds!]

Chu Ge listened patiently. He was shocked. Holy crap, he felt like System Big Brother hadn't said this many words since he was born. Rare, truly rare.

Then he remembered the system's subsequent disdain—it actually looked down on human rights? What do you mean "the original owner's life was extremely precious"? On the Blue Planet, people from other countries can die for all he cared, but those from Huaxia must be just as precious! The more Chu Ge thought about it, the angrier he got. He couldn't help himself, and then—

"You... ma... Big Brother, let me ask, do you have a mother?"

[System default: Please upgrade for questions regarding origin!]

Chu Ge surrendered. This guy's defense was watertight; even verbal attacks were ineffective.

After a flurry of activity, Chu Ge returned to his office dejectedly.

Currently, it seemed this helmet could only be made into a stripped-down version.

It wasn't that he didn't respect life, but he really couldn't make a meal without rice. The Moon was just too far away; even taking a rocket wouldn't be fast enough.

However, the system's words had woken him up. This super-dense Gas Shield really was a good thing. Aside from Helium-3 being difficult to handle, it was simple and direct. More importantly, the future Interstellar Fleet would need it. Who knew what kind of ghostly world lay outside Earth?

If he excitedly went to explore the stars only to be captured by some "Arash" Martians right outside the door, that would be too pathetic.

Chu Ge began to work on organizing the stripped-down protective shield until the moon was bright and the stars were sparse.

Having finished the final step of programming, Chu Ge lit a cigarette and walked to the window.

Outside, the bright moon hung high.

"The Moon, Helium-3... Helium-3... if I remember correctly, it's also a very clean fuel and the most ideal fusion fuel for power generation—a super energy source."

"Now I've reached a crossroads. A choice needs to be made between two paths. Either build transport spaceships first to travel between Earth and the Moon, doing nothing else but digging soil..."

"Or, I need to establish a Lunar Base. It looks like I'll have to build a 'greenhouse' at my doorstep first."

Chu Ge's difficulty in making decisions flared up again.

After thinking for a long time, Chu Ge leaned toward the second option.

Human society was too complex. Huaxia would surely sweep through all opposition in the near future. Chu Ge had performed a sandbox simulation in his mind.

With matchless military power, Huaxia would announce that everyone present was a "little brother." Weak countries would naturally sway with the wind and follow Huaxia's lead.

The problem lay with those few troublemakers and several neighboring countries that had always been at odds with Huaxia. Perhaps on the surface, they'd say, "Yes, yes, you're the boss!" But behind his back, who knew what they were thinking or doing? They were no different from thugs, saying one thing and doing another.

He didn't believe those countries would honestly obey.

So the question was: if some blind fool provoked Huaxia, should there be a bloodbath? And after a bloodbath? What kind of chain reaction would follow? This was hard to estimate, so Chu Ge simulated according to the worst-case scenario.

Don't count on destroying their military power and colonizing their citizens and territory. Chu Ge knew that in the current world, populism was severe; it would lead to endless suppression and counter-suppression.

Unless there was a massacre across three thousand miles.

But that didn't match Huaxia's DNA. We are not bloodthirsty.

The perfect simulation was: after the aerospace carrier, heavy battleships, Interstellar Fleet clusters, Prism Towers, Mech warrior groups, and so on all made their debut, all nations would be completely awestruck, and the Earth Alliance would be established with Huaxia at the helm.

This was possible but not inevitable, because damn it, there were still tens of thousands of nuclear weapons out there.

If they were provoked too much and decided to just blow everything up, there would be no way to reason with them.

After several simulations, Chu Ge resolutely decided to implement the Lunar Base plan. This required a decision from high-level leadership. Chu Ge felt he should submit a proposal when the time was right.