Chapter 105 Nuclear Fusion Blueprint
Lin Mo shut himself in the Prefabricated Building for a whole week.
A "Do Not Disturb" sign hung on the door, but at every mealtime, Li Xiao would still knock with a lunch box. Sometimes the door would open, Lin Mo would take it, say thank you, and then close the door again. Sometimes the door wouldn't open, and the lunch box would be left at the entrance; by the time she came to collect it for the next meal, it would already be empty.
Whenever Chen Xueming passed by, he would always glance at that door, shake his head, and continue with his Tritium Extraction optimization.
On the afternoon of the seventh day, the door finally opened.
Lin Mo walked out, his eyes dark-circled and his beard stubbly, but his eyes were bright. In his hands, he held a thick stack of printed papers, at least thirty or forty pages.
"Teacher Chen!" he shouted.
Chen Xueming poked his head out from the "tritium road" Prefabricated Building.
"Help me take a look." Lin Mo walked over and handed him the stack of papers.
Chen Xueming took them and glanced at the cover.
"Proposal for the Controlled Nuclear Fusion "tokamak-3" Project"
Applicants: Lin Mo, Chen Xueming, Li Xiao, Zhang Zhe
Date: December 2036
Chen Xueming's fingers paused for a moment.
He looked up and stared at Lin Mo.
Lin Mo nodded.
Chen Xueming took a deep breath and flipped to the first page.
An hour later, he finished reading.
It was very quiet in the Prefabricated Building. Li Xiao and Zhang Zhe also leaned in, flipping through the proposal page by page. Zhao Gang stood at the door; although he couldn't quite understand it, he was affected by the solemn atmosphere and didn't speak.
Chen Xueming closed the last page, looked up, and stared at Lin Mo.
"Lin Mo, this thing..."
He stopped halfway, unable to continue.
Lin Mo waited for him.
Chen Xueming took a deep breath and reorganized his words.
"This thing is... far more complete than I expected."
He pointed to several sections in the proposal.
"The technical route, from Tritium Extraction to First Wall Material, from plasma control to device integration—every step has clear milestones. The risk assessment lists seventeen potential problem areas, each with a contingency plan. Resource requirements—equipment, talent, funding, site—everything has been calculated clearly."
He paused.
"And the expected results—completion of key material verification within three years, construction of a small experimental reactor within five years, and achieving grid-connected power generation within ten years."
Li Xiao whispered from the side, "Can... can this work?"
Lin Mo looked at her.
"I don't know," he said honestly. "But this is the most complete plan I could produce within my capabilities."
Chen Xueming was silent for a few seconds, then stood up.
"Then let's submit it."
Lin Mo looked at him.
"Are you sure?"
Chen Xueming nodded.
"I'm sure," he said. "This thing is worth letting the higher-ups see."
Lin Mo picked up the proposal and looked at the words on the cover.
Ten years.
In ten years, he would be forty years old.
At that time, if this plan succeeded, Huaxia would become the first country in the world to achieve Controlled Nuclear Fusion power generation.
If it didn't...
He shook his head, casting the thought aside.
Even if it didn't, he still had to walk this path.
The next day, Lin Mo flew back to Beijing.
Fang Lin was waiting for him in her office at the Science and Technology Security Bureau.
She took the stack of proposals, not rushing to read them, but first poured a glass of water for Lin Mo.
"You've lost weight," she said.
Lin Mo smiled and didn't respond.
Fang Lin sat down and opened the first page.
The office was very quiet, with only the sound of pages turning.
Lin Mo held his water glass, watching her read page by page.
Ten minutes.
Twenty minutes.
Thirty minutes.
Fang Lin read very slowly, sometimes stopping to stare at a certain piece of data for a long time before continuing to flip through.
Lin Mo didn't rush her.
He knew the weight of this proposal.
Forty minutes later, Fang Lin finished the last page.
She closed the proposal, looked up, and stared at Lin Mo.
Silence.
A long silence.
Lin Mo waited for her to speak.
Fang Lin was silent for a few more seconds, then said slowly:
"Lin Mo, this matter might have to reach the highest levels."
Lin Mo's heart jolted slightly, but he didn't show it on his face.
Fang Lin stood up, walked to the window, and looked at the street view outside.
"Room-Temperature Superconductivity, Lithium-Sulfur Battery, Lithium Extraction from Seawater, Tritium Extraction—you've walked step by step, hitting every mark. Now that you've brought this out, it's not a flight of fancy; it's supported by a solid accumulation of technology."
She turned around and looked at Lin Mo.
"Controlled Nuclear Fusion, the ultimate answer to energy. Whoever develops it first will hold the initiative for the next hundred years."
Lin Mo nodded.
"I know."
Fang Lin walked back to the desk and picked up the proposal.
"I can't make the call on this," she said. "But I can get it into the hands of someone who can."
Lin Mo stood up.
"Director Fang, thank you."
Fang Lin shook her head.
"Don't thank me. You paved this path yourselves."
She paused, then suddenly smiled.
"Lin Mo, do you know? When I first met you, you were just a college student who had just received the System. Back then, you told me you wanted to develop Room-Temperature Superconductivity. I was skeptical."
Lin Mo also smiled.
"And now?"
Fang Lin looked at him and said seriously:
"Now that you say you want to do Nuclear Fusion, I believe you."
Lin Mo was stunned for a moment, then nodded.
"Then I'll go back and wait for news."
Fang Lin saw him to the door.
"Lin Mo."
Lin Mo looked back.
"Take care of yourself," Fang Lin said. "The road is still long."
Lin Mo nodded, turned, and left.
Three days later, Lin Mo received a call from Fang Lin in the Gobi Desert.
There was only one word:
"Approved."
Lin Mo held his phone, standing next to the device, looking at the distant sand dunes.
The wind was strong, kicking up a sheet of yellow sand that stung as it hit his face.
But he didn't move.
He just stood there, for a long time.
Chen Xueming walked over and stood beside him.
"What did they say?"
Lin Mo turned his head and looked at him.
"It's approved."
Chen Xueming was stunned for a moment, then slowly smiled.
He smiled until his eyes crinkled and the wrinkles on his face smoothed out.
"Lin Mo."
"Yeah?"
"We're about to do something big."
Lin Mo nodded.
"Yes, something big."
In the distance, Li Xiao and Zhang Zhe also came running.
"Teacher Lin! Teacher Chen! What's the situation?"
Chen Xueming waved at them.
"Pack your things, get ready to work!"
Li Xiao was stunned for a moment, then began to cheer.
Zhang Zhe also started shouting.
Zhao Gang jumped down from the patrol car, looking bewildered. "What happened? What happened?"
Chen Xueming patted his shoulder.
"Captain Zhao, the thing you have to protect next is more important than everything before combined."
Zhao Gang looked at him and slowly began to understand something.
He stood up straight and gave a salute.
"Mission guaranteed to be accomplished."
On the Gobi Desert, the wind was still blowing.
But that device was still running.
That group of people was still moving forward.
Toward that even more distant future.