266: Chapter 266 Cold Fusion Stellar Furnace Ignition! Lv.5 Advancement Countdown

The seventy-fifth day, 00:32 AM.

The physical modifications of the four Lv.4 top-tier cores were proceeding simultaneously.

The most noticeable change in the Cockpit was the Cold Fusion Stellar Reactor.

The low hum of the miniature tokamak reactor faded, and another sound gradually became clear.

That sound was different from the mechanical operation; it was a deeper kind of resonance, like a heartbeat.

"City Lord." Lin Wan stared at the energy panel. "The tokamak reactor is being absorbed by the new system, and all plasma confinement fields are being reconfigured."

"The operating principle of the Cold Fusion Stellar Reactor is different from thermonuclear fusion." Lu Chen looked at the description on the technology tree. "It doesn't require ignition temperatures of hundreds of millions of degrees. It achieves hydrogen isotope fusion at room temperature through ultra-high pressure microscopic tunneling effects, and the energy output is over a hundred times that of the tokamak."

"A hundred times." Zhao Tiezhu turned this number over in his mind.

"Injecting one high-grade sourcefire coal crystal into the Stellar Reactor gives a theoretical operating time of ten years." Lu Chen finished reading the last line. "Energy anxiety, completely resolved."

Ten years.

One coal crystal.

Ten years.

The modification countdown on the panel was ticking.

Cold Fusion Stellar Reactor: 47 minutes remaining.

Super-giant City-State suspension chassis: 31 minutes remaining.

Mimetic natural climate chamber: 22 minutes remaining.

Supercomputing predictive fire control network: 18 minutes remaining.

The supercomputing predictive fire control network finished first; the modification was completed at 00:50 AM.

The changes on the fire control panel left Zhao Tiezhu stunned in his chair.

"City Lord." Zhao Tiezhu's voice was hoarse. "After the supercomputing predictive fire control network went online, the system overlaid a layer of probability cloud prediction on all incoming trajectories."

"What does that mean?" Zhou Yuan asked.

"It means," Zhao Tiezhu read the description on the panel word for word, "that before the enemy fires, the fire control network uses supercomputing probability deduction to predict the enemy's firing barrel orientation and ballistic parameters with extremely high accuracy, and then automatically initiates interception procedures 0.3 seconds before the enemy shell leaves the barrel."

"Before the enemy even fires, we know where the shell will fly." Zhou Yuan translated the words.

"Correct."

A prophet.

The mimetic natural climate chamber finished next.

Large-scale structural changes occurred in the space between the fifth and sixth levels of Polaris.

A massive enclosed space with a surface area exceeding 60,000 square meters was formed.

The temperature inside the space rose from minus 60 degrees to 22 degrees within thirty seconds, and the humidity rose from zero to 65 percent.

A holographic projection simulating the sky appeared on the ceiling.

Blue sky, white clouds.

Then, it began to rain.

Real water droplets condensed and fell from the condensation nucleus generator at the top of the climate chamber.

Indoor rain.

"City Lord." Lin Wan turned her head to look over. "It's raining in the climate chamber, real rain."

She paused for a moment.

"I've been on Blue Star for seventy-five days, and this is the first time I've seen rain."

The super-giant City-State suspension chassis was completed at 01:03 AM.

The entire chassis structure of Polaris underwent a complete transformation.

The original heavy track system was retained as auxiliary landing support.

Six sets of giant suspension thrusters grew out from the center and sides of the chassis, each with a diameter exceeding eighty meters.

The suspension thrusters emitted low-frequency energy pulses during the online test.

The chassis of Polaris left the ice, one centimeter, five centimeters, twenty centimeters, and finally stabilized at a position fifty centimeters off the ground.

The 1,500-meter-long steel City-State floated half a meter above the ice sheet.

"We're floating." Lin Xiao's communication cut in, his voice trembling with irrepressible excitement. "City Lord, the entire city is floating, everyone below can see it."

"Tell them it's a test." Lu Chen spoke into the communicator. "The Stellar Reactor will go online in ten minutes, followed by the upgrade. The commotion will be even greater during the upgrade."

"Bigger than floating?"

"Much bigger."

01:20 AM.

The modification countdown for the Cold Fusion Stellar Reactor reached zero, and an incomparably low resonance came from deep within the city.

That was the sound of energy.

The Stellar Reactor ignited.

The ultra-high pressure microscopic tunneling effect triggered a hydrogen isotope fusion reaction at room temperature.

An immensely vast amount of energy radiated outward from the Stellar Reactor core at the very bottom of the city.

The numbers on the energy panel refreshed.

The power generation output jumped from the 12,000 percent of the tokamak era to a number Lu Chen had never seen before: 1,200,000 percent.

"This is basically a small sun." Zhou Yuan stared at that number, his voice drifting.

A prompt popped up on the panel.

Lv.4 technology tree 16/16, all physical modifications completed, city upgrade evolution countdown started.

Lv.4 to Lv.5, upgrade time: 720 seconds.

720 seconds.

Twelve minutes.

"Everyone." Lu Chen opened the all-frequency communication, his voice spreading throughout the city.

The 1,500-meter-long steel City-State.

Thirty thousand people.

"Hold on tight."

The countdown began.

720.

719.

718.

Polaris began to grow.

From 1,500 meters, to 2,000 meters, to 2,500 meters, to 3,000 meters.

The city was devouring all available matter in the vicinity, incorporating all remaining metal fragments and minerals on the ice into its growth system.

The balance on the system panel was being consumed frantically.

11,872.

8,432.

5,123.

2,876.

The balance was extracted by the system during the upgrade process to supplement the truth logic operations required for growth.

1,203.

567.

89.

3.

Balance cleared to zero.

The city's growth rate stabilized, and subsequent self-assembly was driven by the energy output from the Stellar Reactor.

The city's length settled at 3,200 meters, width 1,100 meters, height 420 meters, with a 12-level structure.

400.

300.

200.

100.

0.

A system prompt popped up.

City upgrade evolution complete, Polaris has upgraded to a Lv.5 wonder-class Mobile City.

Dual super-specification bonuses continued; the initial area was expanded by 240% compared to a standard Lv.5, 12-level structure, all equipment expanded proportionally by area, and the output efficiency of existing nodes increased by 120%.

wonder-class, the same level as the crusher, the same level as Dawn.

"Cheng Zheng." Lu Chen pressed to open the communication.

The other side was quiet for a long time.

"Here." Cheng Zheng's voice sounded a bit tight.

"Report the dimensions."

"3,200 meters long, 1,100 meters wide, 420 meters high." Cheng Zheng read out word by word. "It's nearly 50% larger than the crusher, and nearly 40% larger than Dawn."

"Is Forge listening?"

"Yes." Another voice cut in, Forge.

"City Lord Lu." Forge's voice revealed extremely complex emotions. "You took less than a day to go from a lv.3 fortress to a Lv.5 wonder."

"Correct."

"Do you know how many years it took Dawn to upgrade from Lv.4 to Lv.5?"

"I don't know."

"Twenty-three years."

Only breathing sounds remained in the communication.

"Forge." Lu Chen spoke.

"Yes."

"How many more pre-civilization core blueprints do you have on hand?"

The other side was silent for five seconds.

"You want more?"

"I want as many as you have." Lu Chen opened the technology tree interface, staring at the sixteen gray nodes of Lv.5. "The price is negotiable."