Chapter 104 Tritium Extraction Optimization

Chen Xueming hadn't closed his eyes for three days.

It wasn't that he didn't want to sleep, but that he couldn't. Every time he closed his eyes, his mind was filled with those data points—magnetic field strength, separation efficiency, airflow velocity, temperature curves... They were like a group of restless spirits, jumping around in the darkness, forcing him to open his eyes and return to the screen.

Li Xiao and Zhang Zhe took turns accompanying him. One watched during the day, the other at night. But Chen Xueming wouldn't let either of them stay, saying he could handle it alone.

The result was that after three days, he had thinned down significantly, his eye sockets were sunken, and he was unshaven, looking just like a vagrant.

At three in the morning on the fourth day, Li Xiao was startled awake by a rapid patter of footsteps.

She threw on some clothes and ran out, seeing Chen Xueming standing at the entrance of the "tritium road" Prefabricated Building, holding a tablet, his entire body trembling.

"Teacher Chen? What's wrong?"

Chen Xueming turned his head, his lips moving, but no words came out.

Li Xiao was terrified and rushed up to support him: "Don't worry, take your time—"

Chen Xueming grabbed her arm with frightening strength.

"Go... go get Lin Mo."

Li Xiao froze for a second, then turned and ran.

Five minutes later, Lin Mo appeared at the door of the Prefabricated Building with his coat draped over his shoulders.

Chen Xueming was still standing in the same spot, his posture unchanged. Seeing Lin Mo, he took a deep breath and handed over the tablet.

"Look."

Lin Mo took it, his gaze falling on the screen.

It was a data summary table. The very bottom line was marked with a red number:

Separation Efficiency: 76.8%

Lin Mo's finger paused.

He looked up at Chen Xueming.

Chen Xueming looked back at him, his eyes severely bloodshot and his lips trembling, unable to say a word.

"Teacher Chen..." Lin Mo's voice was a bit raspy, "This is..."

Chen Xueming nodded vigorously.

"The forty-seventh optimization experiment." His voice sounded as if it were being squeezed out of his throat, "Multistage series, four-stage combination. The first stage efficiency was twenty-four, the second stage thirty-one, the third stage forty-nine, and the fourth stage..."

He paused and took a deep breath.

"Seventy-six point eight."

Lin Mo stared at that number, silent for a few seconds.

76.8%.

Two months ago, during the first proof-of-concept, the efficiency was only 14.3%. At that time, Chen Xueming said that fourteen percent was enough, enough to prove the principle was feasible.

Now, it was more than five times that.

Furthermore, 76.8% had already crossed the threshold for industrial application. The efficiency requirement for Tritium Extraction in Nuclear Fusion reactors was usually above 70%.

What did this mean?

It meant that from today on, Tritium Extraction was no longer a theory or pre-research, but an engineerable technology.

Lin Mo looked up at Chen Xueming.

Chen Xueming stood there, looking as if his strength had been drained, yet also as if he had been filled with something. His hands were still shaking and his eyes were red, but there was a light in them—a light Lin Mo had seen before.

When the Lithium Extraction from Seawater succeeded, when the Lithium-Sulfur Battery made its breakthrough, and when the Room-Temperature Superconductivity first ran stably.

It was the light that only a researcher has when they see the thing they've pursued their whole life finally become a reality.

"Teacher Chen." Lin Mo walked over and took his hand.

Chen Xueming's hand was ice cold and still trembling slightly.

"You did it."

Chen Xueming opened his mouth but couldn't speak. He lowered his head, his shoulders shaking violently.

Li Xiao was nearby, covering her mouth, tears already flowing.

Zhang Zhe had also run over at some point, standing at the door and watching this scene with bloodshot eyes.

The Prefabricated Building was extremely quiet, with only the low hum of the machinery outside, like a deep nocturne.

After a long time, Chen Xueming finally looked up.

"Lin Mo." His voice was incredibly hoarse.

"Yes?"

"It's been thirty years."

Lin Mo nodded.

"I know."

Chen Xueming took a deep breath, looking at that number on the tablet screen.

"Thirty years ago, I wrote in my doctoral thesis that if we could reach seventy percent, the fuel problem for Nuclear Fusion would be solved. At that time, I thought I wouldn't see this day in my lifetime."

He paused, his voice growing even raspier.

"Today, I've seen it."

Lin Mo gripped his hand tightly.

"Teacher Chen, this is just the beginning."

Chen Xueming looked at him, startled for a moment, and then slowly smiled.

He smiled until tears came out, but he didn't wipe them away.

"Yes," he said, "it's just the beginning."

Dawn broke.

The sun over the Gobi Desert rose from the horizon, dyeing the entire base in golden-red. The apparatus that had been running for countless days and nights glinted with a metallic luster in the morning light, like a giant beast that had just awakened.

Chen Xueming sat at the entrance of the Prefabricated Building, holding a thermos, looking in that direction.

Lin Mo sat beside him.

Neither of them spoke.

Li Xiao brought two bowls of porridge, placed them beside them, and then quietly withdrew.

After a long time, Chen Xueming suddenly spoke.

"Lin Mo, you know, when I was young, what I hated most was that I wasn't smart enough."

Lin Mo turned to look at him.

"When I saw others publishing in top journals and winning big awards, I felt bitter. I wondered why it was them and not me." Chen Xueming smiled, "Looking back now, it was really childish."

He took a sip of porridge.

"Whether you're smart or not isn't what's important. What matters is whether there's a group of people willing to endure the grind with you."

Lin Mo nodded.

"You have that."

Chen Xueming looked at him and smiled.

"Yes, I do."

In the distance, Li Xiao and Zhang Zhe were recording data next to the apparatus. Zhao Gang led his soldiers past on patrol, waving to them. Captain Zhou poked his head out from the Canteen, shouting for them to come eat breakfast.

Chen Xueming looked at this group of people, his eyes getting a bit warm again.

But he didn't let the tears fall.

He stood up and brushed the dust off his clothes.

"Let's go, time to get to work."

Lin Mo also stood up.

The two of them walked side by side toward the apparatus.

The morning light shone on them, casting two long shadows.

Those shadows extended all the way to the foot of the apparatus.

Extending toward the direction of the future.