129: Truly stunning (4K, please support!)

Jiang Feng took a deep breath internally.

It wasn't easy; heaven knows how much knowledge he had scanned.

The vast majority of it consisted of practical cases that the Mainframe had painstakingly sifted through from the interstellar web.

To be honest, even Jiang Feng was amazed by his own ability to remember everything he saw and draw inferences.

"I wasn't like this before, was I?" he thought to himself.

But he knew the test wasn't over yet; Menedes was still watching him like a tiger eyeing its prey.

If he could gain his approval, he could firmly grasp this team in his hands.

"This team isn't bad. Everyone's coldness is just fear of having incompetent teammates. If I can control them, wouldn't that be a better choice than paying high salaries to poach people from outside?"

"It seems Molly's eye for talent is accurate. Looking at them is..."

"And looking at me is too."

Jiang Feng frowned slightly. For some reason, Molly's face appeared in his mind.

Along with those smooth ankles and the black stockings alternating back and forth.

"Oh no!"

"I've been charmed by her!"

Menedes's voice was like a life-saving straw, bringing Jiang Feng back to reality and clearing his mind.

"It seems Miss Molly has found us a true technical pillar."

"In that case, as the person in charge of drilling technology, I have a few long-standing problems I'd like to consult you about."

His tone was humble, but the desire for an answer was unmistakable.

"You're too kind, please go ahead." Jiang Feng met his gaze.

"In space, during asteroid drilling operations." Menedes spoke unhurriedly, like a professor in a classroom.

"The Terran Union currently makes extensive use of the 'Selective Evaporation Enrichment System.' The theory is clear, but practice always hits bottlenecks."

"I've always been curious, why must microwave and laser be combined when choosing an energy source?"

"Wouldn't using just one be more efficient? The equipment would be simpler, and the cost lower."

"For example, a more powerful 'gyrotron,' or a more focused 'solid-state laser'?"

He threw out the question, seemingly asking for advice, but in reality, he had completely abandoned his pride.

Carl, Laura, and Hoffman looked at him speechlessly. He was clearly the technical expert, yet he had to ask student-level questions in a professor's tone.

"So awkward!" the three of them thought at the same time.

Jiang Feng didn't even need a moment to think: "Thermal stress control."

He was concise and to the point, tapping his fingertip lightly on the metal next to him, producing a crisp "ding" sound.

"Microwave frequency has a longer wavelength and good energy penetration. It can act on the deep gangue structure of the target mineral, causing it to expand through overall heating, which generates internal stress and makes it 'loosened' over a large area, creating conditions for subsequent processing."

"But the disadvantage is that the action range is large, the control precision is low, and either the ore needs to be rich in metal or rich in water ice, otherwise microwaves won't work at all."

"Laser is the opposite." Jiang Feng's gaze became a little sharper.

"The wavelength is extremely short, and the energy is highly concentrated. It can even achieve micron-level precision focusing. Its role is 'sniping,' targeting different mineral components, different absorption spectra, and melting points..."

"To perform selective, high-precision vaporization and stripping." Jiang Feng paused.

"Combining the two—microwaves are responsible for 'loosening the soil,' and lasers are responsible for 'pulling the radish'—is the only way to minimize collateral damage to high-value precious metal particles." Jiang Feng said with a serious expression.

"A single energy source will either destroy the overall structure, resulting in low efficiency, or fail to strip it completely, leaving behind impurities."

"Only by combining both can we avoid filling the cargo ship with waste rock and transporting it thousands of miles back to the space refinery."

Laura nodded subconsciously.

As a mineral analyst, this was something she dealt with every day and argued with Menedes about.

The direction of the ore vein, the type of gangue, the type of ore deposit, and the best drilling plan.

Carl's eyes lit up, and he nodded vigorously in agreement. This was the work he was woken up by Laura and Menedes for every day: the "gyrotron" that generated microwaves was broken, the "nonlinear optical crystal" that generated solid-state lasers had melted.

Et cetera, et cetera, which caused him to lose sleep countless times, annoying him to no end.

Hoffman, on the other hand, looked blank, only catching "loosening the soil" and "pulling the radish."

"Are they talking about gardening?"

Wisdom flashed in Hoffman's big head.

The smile on Menedes's face became increasingly sincere, as if a hunter had seen his prey step onto the predetermined path.

He immediately threw out a second question, the difficulty of which suddenly increased.

"Very insightful. Then, the next trouble: in space, in microgravity or zero-gravity environments."

"Dust, molten droplets, and debris clouds generated by selective evaporation—if they diffuse uncontrollably, they will seriously interfere with subsequent drilling and collection, and even threaten the safety of the equipment."

He glanced at Carl: "Traditional blowing and adsorption are inefficient. Modern mining generally uses the 'Gravity Regulation Array.' In your opinion, how should it be applied to maximize efficiency?"

This time, Jiang Feng was silent for a few seconds.

The air seemed to solidify. Everyone's eyes were focused on him, their ears pricked up.

"The key lies in the density difference." Jiang Feng finally spoke.

"The core of the Gravity Regulation Array is to generate a highly focused, directionally controllable graviton beam field."

"The target is high-density precious metal particles or enriched mineral powder."

He raised his hand, palm up, and made a gesture of precise traction: "Applying a controllable intensity of gravity directed toward the collection device allows precious metal particles or mineral powder to overcome the zero-gravity environment and move and converge directionally."

"As for low-density dust, debris, and harmful gases."

He flipped his palm and made a motion of repelling outward: "Apply a reverse weak gravity, or use the repulsive effect formed at the edge of the gravitational field to guide them, or even drive them away from the operating area."

"In between, a gravity gradient is needed. Whether it's traction or repulsion, different gradients of gravity are required to make substances of different densities separate rapidly, making collection or discharge more convenient."

"All substances should be directed to a preset exhaust port or adsorption zone. At the exhaust port, combined with a high-speed centrifugal field and a high-voltage electrostatic adsorption device, final collection or discharge is carried out."

Jiang Feng paused and added: "In short, the gravitational field does not complete the sorting instantly, but creates intangible high-speed channels that naturally sort according to density."

"Sorting channels..." Laura repeated in a low voice, shaking her head and laughing: "Why didn't I think of this term in my paper?"

"Using density differences to separate substances in a vacuum—look at the terms I used before, no wonder I was criticized."

She thought to herself, unable to help but laugh again.

Menedes's pupils contracted suddenly. He took a deep breath, and when he spoke again, his tone carried a hint of urgency.

"Then, the last question, about the efficiency limit of the refining process!"

"How to deeply coordinate the 'plasma refinery' with the gravitational field you just mentioned?"

"How to use this synergy to truly break through the existing efficiency bottleneck of space refining?"

"Especially when dealing with high-value, high-melting-point targets like platinum group elements."

Jiang Feng's gaze swept across Menedes's face. That face looked calm, but there were hidden waves.

"Isn't this an out-of-syllabus question?" Jiang Feng roared internally.

"Strange, isn't this what Menedes has been studying recently?" Carl wondered secretly.

Laura's eyes lit up: "Ho ho ho, there's a good show to watch. The old man is using something he only just got a clue about to test others..."

Jiang Feng paused for a long while before speaking.

"The core of synergy is to increase energy density and accelerate phase separation."

"The first step is to heat the molten ore pulp to over ten thousand degrees Celsius in the plasma furnace, turning it into an ionized state."

"At this time, precisely superimpose the strong gravitational field generated by the Gravity Regulation Array with the inherent confining magnetic field in the furnace."

"The gravitational field points inward, powerfully compressing the high-temperature plasma flow..." He paused.

"Like an invisible ten-thousand-ton forging hammer, it causes the energy density to increase several times in an instant. This ultra-high-pressure, ultra-high-density plasma environment can greatly accelerate the speed at which different element ions separate due to mass differences."

Jiang Feng leaned forward slightly, wisdom glowing in his mind—it was the silver, sand!

Countless nanomachines surged out of his cells, forming high-speed pathways on the surface of nerve cells.

Inside the nerves, chemical signals and bioelectricity moved at low speeds, responsible for human thinking.

Outside the nerves, interconnected nanomachines formed networks transmitting electrical and light energy.

The feedback of the two signals formed a massively huge symbiotic computing system, accelerating his thinking thousands of times.

But there was a limitation to this: heat!

His organism's heat dissipation capacity could no longer keep up with the operating efficiency of the nanomachines. Jiang Feng began to feel exhausted; he started to develop a fever-like state, but the nanomachines aggregated and pierced through his skin.

Countless nano-fine needles, like swaying hair, were completely transparent, but at the nano-scale, they were extremely rough.

They conducted thermal energy out and used radiation to dissipate heat.

Jiang Feng was completely unaware; he only felt that his thinking was divinely aided.

Only Hoffman seemed to catch a glimpse of the silver on his skin from the corner of his eye. But soon, he fell back into Jiang Feng's endless explanation, completely lost and knowing nothing.

"The second step, when the molten metal enters the layering stage, for example, when platinum group elements need to be separated from silicon elements."

"In the interface area of the layering, you can use the Gravity Regulation Array to instantly create a local hyper-gravity environment."

"I estimate that an intensity of 100 to 1000 times Earth's gravity would be enough."

"Under this hyper-gravity field, the speed of layering based on density differences will increase exponentially."

"Heavy elements and other high-density components settle rapidly, impurities float up quickly, and the purity and speed of separation will be far beyond what traditional refining can compare to." Jiang Feng's eyes shone brightly, flashing with a faint silver light.

He spoke faster and faster, and except for Menedes, no one could keep up.

"The third step, the moment separation is complete, the gravitational field can precisely control the morphology of the molten metal flow, as well as the cooling rate."

"This can directly achieve 'selective solidification,' producing high-purity ingots close to the final product specifications in one step!"

"But this requires not only extremely precise algorithms but also extremely precise execution units."

"I'm not sure if the current Gravity Regulation Array can do this; their refresh rate is too low."

"And algorithms, algorithms are the core of everything. It's best to use positron artificial intelligence, otherwise..."

"Otherwise, it won't be able to process it in time, and the plasma will rapidly expand and lose control, eventually turning into... a nuclear bomb!"

Menedes quickly took over Jiang Feng's words. On his face, the formulaic smile could no longer be seen.

Only sincere appreciation and respect remained.

He had been busy with this idea recently, believing that this might be an absolute breakthrough in Terran Union refining technology.

But reality did not allow him to continue his research; he had no money, his pockets were empty, and that was more painful than anything else.

Carl's mouth opened wide, his eyes staring like copper bells, looking straight at Jiang Feng.

"1000G gravity... selective solidification... one-step forming..."

"God, this idea..." Carl's mind was boiling.

Laura stood up abruptly and blurted out: "This is to compress the entire refinery into a furnace!"

Her mind was buzzing, feeling as if half a lifetime of experience had been completely overturned and reorganized.

"Those rock people of the Avebang must have done exactly this!"

"I was wondering why they wanted the Terran Union to produce so many Gravity Regulation Arrays for them, why they wanted to fund the Terran Union's positron artificial intelligence technology research. So that's why..."

"They relied on these to dominate the interstellar mining market, scrape our wealth, and suppress our enterprises!"

"Those damn rock people!"

Laura connected the dots in her mind, her face suddenly turning red.

"I think so too." Menedes sighed.

"Alien scum are all bad!" Hoffman finally understood something and shouted.

"Does anyone feel a bit hot?"

Laura tugged at her vest; there wasn't much to see.

"Hot? I'm actually a bit cold..." Jiang Feng muttered.

"Temperature: 53 degrees Celsius." Little Handsome said faintly behind him.

Carl smiled awkwardly: "The air conditioning system must be broken, I'll go check it."

He hurried back to the office and left with a toolbox.

The gentle smile on Menedes's face disappeared completely.

He stood there like a statue that had suddenly been stripped of all its disguises.

His gaze was no longer inquisitive, but a sharp scrutiny after being strongly impacted, as well as a trace of uncontrollable excitement.

After a full ten seconds, he slowly exhaled a long breath.

He put that habitual, impeccable, gentlemanly smile back on his face. Only this time, deep within that smile, there was a touch of extremely solemn approval and a sense of having made a decision.

"Perhaps, it's time to ask that question!"

He thought.