Chapter 182 Breakthrough of 1.2x
After the output power stabilized at 15.2 megawatts, the cheers in the control room gradually died down.
But Lin Mo did not relax.
He stared at the power curve on the screen, his brows slightly furrowed.
According to the design, after the plasma burned stably, the output power should have leveled off.
But this curve was still rising at an extremely slow speed.
15.3, 15.4, 15.5...
"Teacher Chen," he spoke up, "take a look at this."
Chen Xueming leaned over, stared at the curve for a few seconds, and then his eyes widened.
"It is still rising?"
Lin Mo nodded: "Very slowly, but it is indeed rising."
Chen Xueming immediately called up other parameters—temperature, density, confinement time—and compared them one by one.
A few seconds later, he gasped: "Plasma self-heating effect! It is even stronger than what we simulated!"
The heart of Lin Mo skipped a beat.
Plasma self-heating is the most ideal state in Nuclear Fusion—the high-energy particles produced by the fusion reaction in turn heat the plasma itself, forming a positive feedback loop.
Theoretically, this could allow the output power to far exceed the design value.
But no one had ever truly achieved it.
At least, not to this extent.
The numbers on the screen continued to jump.
15.6, 15.7, 15.8...
Li Xiao leaned over, her voice trembling: "Director Lin, is... is this normal?"
Lin Mo did not answer.
He did not know if this was normal.
Because no one had ever seen this situation on a real device before.
But he knew one thing—
This might be a greater breakthrough than the successful ignition.
15.9, 16.0, 16.1...
The control room fell silent again.
Everyone stared at that curve, holding their breath.
16.2, 16.3, 16.4...
The palms of Chen Xueming were covered in sweat.
He had been conducting Nuclear Fusion research for decades and had seen countless simulation data, but he had never seen a curve like this—not leveling off, not dropping, but continuously rising.
What did this mean?
It meant the performance of the device exceeded the expectations of everyone.
It meant that Artificial Sun was brighter than they had imagined.
16.5, 16.6, 16.7...
On the screen, the power curve began to accelerate.
It was not rising slowly, it was starting to spike.
16.8, 16.9, 17.0...
"Teacher Chen!" Li Xiao exclaimed, "The self-heating feedback has increased!"
Chen Xueming rushed to the screen and called up all the parameters.
Temperature, density, confinement time—each item was slowly rising, promoting each other, forming a perfect positive feedback loop.
His lips were trembling: "This is... this is the theoretical limit state..."
17.1, 17.2, 17.3...
Lin Mo stared at that curve and suddenly asked: "What is the design output power?"
Chen Xueming was stunned for a moment, then said: "15 megawatts."
Lin Mo nodded and said nothing more.
Because that curve had already exceeded 18 megawatts.
18.1, 18.2, 18.3...
When it reached 18.5 megawatts, Lin Mo finally spoke: "Has it stabilized?"
Chen Xueming stared at the screen and shook his head: "It is still rising. But the speed has slowed down."
Sure enough, the curve began to slow down.
18.6, 18.7, 18.8...
Getting slower and slower.
18.9...
19.0...
Then, it stopped.
On the screen, the number stabilized at—19.2 megawatts.
Chen Xueming looked at that number and was stunned for several seconds.
Then he turned to look at Lin Mo, his voice hoarse: "Old Lin, this is 1.28 times the design value."
Lin Mo did not speak.
He just stared at that number, motionless.
19.2 megawatts.
4.2 megawatts higher than the design value.
7.2 megawatts higher than the 12-megawatt input power.
Gain factor—1.6.
The control room was so quiet that one could hear heartbeats.
Then, the alarm sounded.
"Beep beep beep—beep beep beep—"
The hearts of everyone sank suddenly.
But the next second, a line of green text popped up on the screen: "Power exceeds design value by 120%. Automatic celebration program initiated."
The control room froze for a second.
Then, countless ribbons suddenly showered down from the ceiling.
Music began to play.
Colorful lights began to flash.
Li Xiao was the first to react, screaming and jumping up: "This is a celebration! Not a malfunction! It is a celebration!"
Chen Xueming stood there, stunned, watching the ribbons flying everywhere, and suddenly burst into laughter.
As he laughed, tears began to flow down.
Zhao Gang was covered in ribbons and stood there in a daze.
Then he hugged the technician next to him, and the two grown men laughed and jumped around.
Fang Lin stood in the corner, watching this sudden revelry, and could not help but smile.
She picked up her tablet, took a picture of the screen filled with ribbons, and sent it to her superiors: "Device performance exceeded expectations. 1.28 times the design value. Celebrating now."
Sent.
Then she looked up at the people cheering like children.
Lin Mo stood in front of the main console, motionless.
Ribbons fell on his shoulders and head, but he did not move.
He just stared at that number—19.2 megawatts.
Even more than his wildest dreams.
Chen Xueming rushed over and hugged him: "Old Lin! 1.28 times! Did you hear that! 1.28 times!"
Lin Mo was held by him and finally smiled.
The smile was faint, but very genuine.
In the observation area 500 meters away.
Twenty-three international experts looked at the brightly lit control room in the distance, listening to the faint music, and looked at each other.
"What happened?" the French expert asked.
No one could answer.
But Smith suddenly smiled.
His smile was complex, but very sincere.
"They did it," he said, "and they did it better than anyone could have imagined."
In the control room, the revelry continued.
Li Xiao dragged Zhao Gang to dance, Zhao Gang clumsily followed along, both of them laughing like children.
Chen Xueming held up champagne he did not know where he got from, spraying it everywhere.
Those technicians, engineers, and logistics staff were all singing and dancing like they had gone crazy.
Lin Mo stood in the middle of the crowd, watching this scene.
He suddenly remembered that lonely late night seven years ago.
He remembered the surprise of discovering Room-Temperature Superconductivity for the first time.
He remembered the anxiety when Chen Xueming questioned him.
He remembered the thrill when George attacked.
He remembered the crisis when Black Sparrow sabotaged it.
He remembered those countless sleepless nights.
He remembered the words Wang Zhenguo said: "Tomorrow, the whole world will see."
Yes.
The whole world saw it.
They saw that they had done it.
And, better than anyone had imagined.
Ribbons were still falling.
The music was still playing.
The cheers continued.
Lin Mo looked up at the colorful lights on the ceiling.
Then he said softly: "Thank you."
The voice was very soft, drowned out by the revelry.
But some people heard it.
Chen Xueming heard it; he walked over and patted the shoulder of Lin Mo hard.
Li Xiao heard it; she gave him a thumbs up from across the crowd.
Zhao Gang heard it; he raised the champagne in his hand and toasted him from afar.
Fang Lin also heard it; she stood in the corner, smiling and nodding.
Lin Mo looked at them and suddenly felt that this life was worth it.
Outside the window, the tokamak-3 was running stably.
That Artificial Sun, with a power 1.28 times the design value, illuminated the entire Gobi Desert.
It also illuminated the entire future of humanity.