Chapter 130 Construction of the Device Begins

At 6:00 AM, the Gobi Desert was dyed gold by the first rays of sunlight.

Lin Mo stood on a sand dune, overlooking the land beneath his feet that was about to be changed.

Three days ago, the country officially approved the construction plan for the main project of the tokamak-3; today, the first pile foundation would be driven into this wasteland that had been sleeping for thousands of years.

The roar of heavy trucks came from behind.

Dozens of trucks fully loaded with building materials formed a long line, driving slowly along the temporarily constructed gravel road, the swirling yellow sand rolling in the morning light like a giant dragon.

"General Manager Lin, the foundation laying ceremony starts at nine," Li Xiao trotted up, holding a tablet. "Teacher Chen has already taken people to the site to check the coordinates of the embedded parts, and Zhao Gang has set up four layers of security perimeters; not even a wild camel can get within a five-kilometer radius."

Lin Mo nodded and took the tablet to take a look.

The screen was densely marked with coordinates, progress schedules, and person-in-charge information for each construction area.

This was the first time Li Xiao's digital twin system had been applied to actual engineering construction; the real-time location of every piece of equipment and the installation status of every embedded part could be seen on the screen.

"Let's go down and take a look."

The construction site had already become a boiling ocean.

More than three hundred workers, over fifty pieces of construction machinery, and hundreds of transport vehicles played the prelude to humanity's march toward Nuclear Fusion on this previously empty Gobi Desert.

Chen Xueming, wearing a hard hat, stood by a deep pit with a diameter of twenty meters, holding blueprints and arguing with the construction team leader about something.

Seeing Lin Mo come over, he waved: "General Manager Lin, you've come just in time. These guys want to cut corners and say that the position of the embedded parts is 'good enough.' I told them that even a one-millimeter error is unacceptable, and they still aren't convinced."

The construction team leader was a dark-skinned man in his forties with a weathered face; one look and you could tell he was a veteran engineer who had worked for decades.

He rubbed his hands and smiled apologetically: "Professor Lin, don't listen to Teacher Chen trying to scare people. We've been at this for so many years, what kind of precision haven't we handled? What difference can one or two millimeters make?"

Lin Mo didn't speak, but walked to the edge of the deep pit and looked down.

At the bottom of the pit, hundreds of embedded parts were densely arranged, each half a person tall, which would eventually secure the Magnet System of the tokamak-3 device.

He turned his head and asked Chen Xueming: "What is the design requirement?"

"± 0.5 millimeters," Chen Xueming replied. "The installation precision requirements for the Magnet System are extremely high. If the deviation of the embedded parts exceeds 0.5 millimeters, the entire magnetic field configuration will shift, affecting plasma confinement."

Lin Mo nodded and looked at the construction team leader: "Sir, how many years have you been in this line of work?"

"Twenty-three years!" The leader patted his chest. "From thermal power plants to nuclear power plants, what kind of major projects haven't I worked on?"

"Then you must know that Nuclear Fusion is different from thermal power plants." Lin Mo pointed to the embedded parts at the bottom of the pit. "The magnetic field strength inside is tens of thousands of times that of the Earth's magnetic field, and the plasma temperature is over one hundred million degrees. If it's off by a millimeter, the entire device might be ruined. You've worked for twenty-three years; are you willing to leave a regret on this project?"

The leader was stunned.

Lin Mo patted his shoulder: "I know you have experience, but this time, we follow the blueprints. Not a single millimeter can be off. If the construction schedule is delayed because of this, I will take responsibility; but if the precision is off, you will take responsibility. Can you do that?"

The leader was silent for a few seconds, then nodded firmly: "Alright! Professor Lin, I like what you said. Brothers, reset the lines! Get the laser level; let's build a model project for these scientists!"

Chen Xueming watched from the side, dumbfounded.

When the leader walked away, he leaned over and whispered: "General Manager Lin, that move of yours was impressive. I argued with him for half an hour without winning, and you settled it in a few sentences."

Lin Mo smiled: "You talk to him about precision, and he talks to you about experience; you're not on the same channel. You have to make him feel that this matter is his responsibility, his honor."

Chen Xueming nodded thoughtfully.

At nine in the morning, the foundation laying ceremony started on time.

There were no red carpets, no flowers, and no long speeches from leaders.

There was only a concrete mixer truck draped in red silk and a small, temporarily erected podium.

Lin Mo stood on the podium, looking at the dense crowd below—workers, technicians, security personnel, logistics staff, and several representatives from ministries who had rushed from the capital.

In the distance, Zhao Gang led his team in perimeter security, with a serious and proud expression on everyone's face.

"Everyone," Lin Mo began, his voice not loud, but everyone could hear it clearly, "Today, we are driving the first pile here. Three years from now, this place will light up the first lamp in human history powered by Nuclear Fusion."

It was quiet below the stage.

"Some people asked me why I chose the Gobi Desert. Because it is desolate, because it is remote, because there is nothing here." Lin Mo paused, "But three years from now, this place will have everything—electricity, heat, and the power to change the world."

"I am not just making empty promises. Room-Temperature Superconductivity, Lithium-Sulfur Battery, Lithium Extraction from Seawater, we have achieved them all. Nuclear Fusion will be the same."

"Every single person here, whether you are an engineer, a worker, security, or logistics, is creating history. Three years from now, when this lamp lights up, the whole world will remember this place, and remember every one of you."

He took a deep breath and raised his hand: "Now, I announce—the main project of the tokamak-3, officially begins!"

The mixer truck roared, its huge mixing drum slowly rotating, and concrete was poured through the pipeline into the hole of the first pile foundation.

Applause and cheers resounded across the Gobi Desert.

Li Xiao stood in the crowd, her eyes slightly red.

Chen Xueming clapped vigorously, his hands turning red.

In the distance, Zhao Gang grinned and gave Lin Mo a thumbs-up.

The commencement ceremony was just the beginning; the truly arduous work lay ahead.

In the following days, Lin Mo started a "Tale of Two Cities" mode—three days a week at the base laboratory dealing with technical problems, and four days at the construction site monitoring the project progress.

Traveling three hundred kilometers back and forth, the off-road vehicle bumped out countless ruts on the Gobi Desert.

Chen Xueming simply moved to the construction site and lived in a temporary Prefabricated Building.

He would get up before dawn every day, wearing his hard hat, shuttling between various work faces, and checking data with the construction team over and over again with blueprints in hand.

Returning to the Prefabricated Building at night, he still had to organize the day's construction records into reports and send them back to the base for Li Xiao to input into the digital twin system.

"Teacher Chen, your life is even harder than ours." The construction team leader, who got up in the middle of the night to use the restroom, saw the lights still on in Chen Xueming's Prefabricated Building and couldn't help but say, "At least we work in shifts; you're carrying it all by yourself, can you handle it?"

Chen Xueming looked up at him, dark circles under his eyes, but his eyes were bright: "I can handle it. When I was abroad, I carried a laboratory all by myself, which was even more tiring than this. Now that I have you guys helping, it's much easier."

The leader shook his head and left.

Chen Xueming continued to bury himself in writing the report.

After finishing the last line, he stood up and stretched his muscles, looking through the window at the brightly lit construction site in the distance.

Hundreds of people, dozens of machines, were working overtime through the night.

Those embedded parts, that concrete, those steel bars, were slowly turning into what was on his blueprints.

He suddenly remembered thirty years ago, when he had just gone abroad to study, standing in front of a foreign Nuclear Fusion device, thinking: When will China also be able to have such a device?

Now, he was at the construction site of this device.

Not a bystander, but a participant, a person in charge.

Chen Xueming smiled, smiling like a child.

Li Xiao wasn't idle at the base either.

The digital twin system received massive amounts of data transmitted from the construction site every day—the operating status of every piece of equipment, the installation precision of every embedded part, and the inspection reports of every batch of building materials.

She had to monitor this data in real time, and once an abnormality was found, she would immediately notify the site.

"Engineer Li, the temperature of the concrete at Mixing Station No. 1 is too high." The system issued an alert.

Li Xiao called up the data and took a look, then immediately dialed Chen Xueming's number: "Teacher Chen, the concrete temperature at Station No. 1 is 2 degrees over; it will affect the curing strength. I suggest pausing the pouring."

On the other end of the phone, Chen Xueming's voice carried the sound of the wind: "Received, I'll go check immediately."

Ten minutes later, feedback came back: the cooling system of the mixing station had failed, it had been switched to backup equipment, and the temperature had returned to normal.

Li Xiao marked "Processed" in the system, then continued to stare at the data scrolling on the screen.

A new intern nearby asked in a low voice: "Engineer Li, aren't you tired from staring at this every day?"

Li Xiao shook her head: "I'm tired, but I don't dare to slack off. Hundreds of people are working over there; if something goes wrong, all the previous efforts will be in vain."

She paused and added: "Besides, General Manager Lin said that every one of us is creating history. How could creating history not be tiring?"

The intern nodded thoughtfully.

Zhao Gang's security perimeter was also constantly expanding.

As construction fully unfolded, the number of personnel and vehicles entering and leaving the base increased dramatically.

Every day, hundreds of building material transport trucks came in and out, dozens of construction teams worked in shifts, and various equipment suppliers, technical experts, and acceptance personnel came and went.

"Captain Zhou," Zhao Gang called his deputy over, "From today on, all personnel entering the core construction area must hold dual credentials—an ID card and a pass issued by the project department. Neither can be missing."

Captain Zhou was a bit hesitant: "Captain Zhao, will this affect the construction progress? Some suppliers are in a hurry to deliver goods..."

"If the progress is delayed, I will take responsibility," Zhao Gang interrupted him. "But if someone who shouldn't be here sneaks in, you take responsibility. Do you understand?"

Captain Zhou stood at attention: "Understood!"

Zhao Gang patted his shoulder, his tone softening a bit: "I know you're in a difficult position, but there are too many people watching our place. When Lithium Extraction from Seawater succeeded, how many people were jealous? Now that Nuclear Fusion construction has started, there will only be more jealous people. We cannot afford any mistakes."

Captain Zhou nodded and turned to make arrangements.

Zhao Gang stood on a high point, overlooking the entire construction site.

Machines roared, vehicles shuttled back and forth, and people came and went.

He suddenly remembered the sentence Lin Mo had said:

"This place will be impregnable."

He smiled and said to himself: "Rest assured, with me here, not even a fly will be able to fly in."

One month later.

Lin Mo stood on that sand dune again, overlooking the construction site beneath his feet.

The wasteland from a month ago had now become a huge construction site.

The foundation pit had been dug, the embedded parts were all in place, and the first layer of steel mesh was being tied.

In the distance, the concrete mixing station operated day and night, the delivery pump extended its long boom, and concrete was poured into the formwork.

Chen Xueming stood beside him, tanned, but in high spirits: "General Manager Lin, according to this progress, we can complete the main structure in March next year, start equipment installation in May, joint debugging in September, and initial ignition by the end of the year—one month ahead of the original plan."

Lin Mo nodded, then shook his head: "Speed is a good thing, but we cannot sacrifice quality for speed. Keep a close watch, especially on those critical nodes; if we need to stop, we stop; if we need to check, we check."

Chen Xueming smiled: "Don't worry, I'm even more cautious than you now. Last time the construction team leader wanted to cut corners, I scolded him severely. Now they hide when they see me."

Lin Mo also smiled.

In the distance, Li Xiao's voice came from the walkie-talkie: "General Manager Lin, Teacher Chen, the digital twin system shows that the strength of the batch of concrete poured today meets the standards, and we can proceed to the next process."

Chen Xueming picked up the walkie-talkie: "Received, continue."

Lin Mo looked at the bustling construction site before him and suddenly remembered Academician Zhou's words:

"Unite all forces that can be united."

Three hundred workers, fifty machines, hundreds of trucks—these were all forces.

Coupled with Chen Xueming's seriousness, Li Xiao's meticulousness, Zhao Gang's vigilance, and the silent contributions of countless people behind the scenes.

The power of one person is limited.

But a group of people can create miracles.

As the sun set, the lights on the construction site lit up one by one, like stars scattered on the Gobi Desert.

Lin Mo turned and walked back.

Tomorrow would be another new day.