Chapter 192 A New Journey
4:00 AM, Lin Mo stood by the window again.
This was his second consecutive night of insomnia. The last time was due to the alien signal prompted by the system; this time—he couldn't even explain it himself.
Outside the window, the night sky over the Gobi Desert was clear as water, without a single cloud. The Milky Way stretched across the horizon like a glowing river, flowing quietly for billions of years.
He remembered his childhood in the countryside, summer nights lying in the yard counting stars. His grandfather pointed to the Milky Way and told him it was the river in the sky, with the Cowherd on this side and the Weaver Girl on the other. Later, when he went to school, his teacher told him it wasn't a river, but countless stars, each like the sun, some even larger and brighter than the sun.
Later, he studied physics and learned that those stars were too far away. The nearest one, Proxima Centauri in Centaurus, was 4.37 light-years away—even with humanity's fastest probe, it would take tens of thousands of years to fly there.
But now—
In the direction of Centaurus, an intelligent civilization was sending signals to the solar system.
Lin Mo's gaze involuntarily turned in that direction. In the low southeastern sky, that inconspicuous dark star was almost invisible to the naked eye. But Lin Mo knew it was there.
Right there, someone was calling out.
His phone vibrated.
Wang Zhenguo: "Still not asleep?"
Lin Mo replied: "How did you know, teacher?"
"I guessed. I'm not asleep either."
Lin Mo looked at the screen, fell silent for a few seconds, and then dialed the number.
"Teacher."
"Hmm." Wang Zhenguo's voice was a bit hoarse but clear, "What are you thinking about?"
Lin Mo didn't answer and instead asked back: "What about you? Why are you awake so late, what are you thinking about?"
Wang Zhenguo laughed: "Thinking about the old days. When I was your age, I often had insomnia too. Back then, I was wondering when Nuclear Fusion would succeed. Now that it has, I've started wondering—what's the next step?"
Lin Mo was silent.
"Lin Mo," Wang Zhenguo's voice turned serious, "Do you have any ideas for the next step?"
Lin Mo looked at the starry sky outside the window and spoke slowly:
"Teacher, I have a question for you."
"Go ahead."
"Do you think humanity is alone in the universe?"
There was silence on the other end of the line.
After a long while, Wang Zhenguo spoke: "Why ask this suddenly?"
"Just... just thinking about it." Lin Mo didn't tell the truth, "Nuclear Fusion has succeeded, and the energy problem is solved. What then? Humanity has inexhaustible energy, what should we use it for?"
Wang Zhenguo was silent for a moment, then said:
"What you're thinking is right."
"What?"
"Lin Mo, do you know why I chose Nuclear Fusion back then?"
"Why?"
"Because energy is the foundation." Wang Zhenguo's voice was slow and powerful, "Only with energy can we do other things. Desalination, transforming deserts, interstellar travel—none of these can be done without energy. I thought at the time, if I could make Nuclear Fusion a reality, future generations would have the capital to dream bigger dreams."
He paused and continued:
"Now, you have helped me realize this dream. So, Lin Mo—what is your dream?"
Lin Mo didn't speak for a long time.
Outside the window, the Milky Way hung quietly in the sky, silent and eternal.
"Teacher," he finally spoke, "My dream might be a bit big."
"Being big is not something to fear," Wang Zhenguo laughed, "What's to fear is it not being big enough."
Lin Mo took a deep breath:
"I want to lead humanity off Earth."
On the other end of the line, Wang Zhenguo was silent for three seconds.
Then he laughed, his laughter full of gratification:
"Good. Good! That is the student of Wang Zhenguo!"
After hanging up, Lin Mo stood by the window for a long time without moving.
Wang Zhenguo's reaction was beyond his expectations—no surprise, no questioning, only gratification and support.
He remembered the scene three years ago when he first showed Wang Zhenguo the data on Room-Temperature Superconductivity. At that time, Wang Zhenguo had the same reaction: first silence, then laughter, and then saying "Good."
Three years had passed, and he had accomplished Room-Temperature Superconductivity, the Lithium-Sulfur Battery, Lithium Extraction from Seawater, and Nuclear Fusion.
Now, it was time to start the next journey.
He turned around, opened the laptop on his desk, created a new document, and typed the title:
"Preliminary Concept for Launching the 'Starry Sea' Series of Projects"
The cursor blinked.
He thought for a long time before starting to type the first line:
"I. Background and Significance: After the successful ignition of Controlled Nuclear Fusion, humanity has acquired the capability for large-scale development of clean energy. The next step should be to use this energy to expand humanity's living space—heading into the deep sea, space, and even other planets..."
He wrote very slowly, weighing every word carefully. Because this was not just an internal report, but a proposal that would change the destiny of humanity.
Writing until 6:00 AM, with the horizon already turning white, he finished the first part.
Save, encrypt, close the computer.
He stood up, stretched his stiff neck, and walked to the window again.
The morning light was dispelling the darkness, and the stars were fading one by one. The tokamak-3 device was awakening in the morning glow, and the workers began their busy day.
In the distance, smoke rose from the chimney of the Canteen.
A new day had begun.
At 8:00 AM, Lin Mo arrived at the conference room on time.
Li Xiao, Chen Xueming, and Zhao Gang were already waiting, with breakfast laid out on the table—steamed buns, fried dough sticks, and soy milk, all steaming hot.
"Senior Brother, eat breakfast!" Li Xiao called out to him, "Master Liu just fried these dough sticks, they're so fragrant!"
Lin Mo sat down, picked up a fried dough stick, and took a bite.
Chen Xueming looked at him, wanting to say something but hesitating.
"What do you want to say?" Lin Mo asked.
Chen Xueming scratched his head: "Old Lin, did you not sleep well last night again? Your dark circles are so heavy."
Lin Mo touched the corners of his eyes and didn't speak.
Li Xiao leaned in to look closely: "It's true! Senior Brother, your dark circles are almost catching up to a panda's!"
"It's nothing," Lin Mo drank a sip of soy milk, "Just thinking about some things."
"Thinking about what?" Li Xiao asked curiously.
Lin Mo put down his chopsticks and looked at the three of them:
"Have you ever thought about what we should do after Nuclear Fusion?"
The three of them were stunned simultaneously.
Chen Xueming was the first to react: "Do... do what? Isn't there still the Carbon Nanotubes? Didn't the system give us a new task?"
"That's a task," Lin Mo said, "What I'm asking about is—a goal. A long-term goal. Ten, twenty, fifty years from now, what do we want to do?"
The conference room went quiet.
Li Xiao blinked: "Senior Brother, your question is too big, my brain can't process it."
Chen Xueming frowned and thought: "Fifty years later... I'll be over eighty by then, it'll be good enough if I'm still alive."
Zhao Gang nodded: "I understand Dr. Lin's meaning. Just like back then, when the Nuclear Fusion project was initiated, no one knew if it would succeed, but there had to be a goal."
Lin Mo looked at him and nodded slightly.
"Brother Zhao is right," he said, "A goal doesn't have to be achieved immediately, but it must exist. With a goal, you know which direction to head in."
Li Xiao tilted her head: "Then what is your goal, Senior Brother?"
Lin Mo was silent for two seconds, then spoke slowly:
"I want to lead humanity off Earth."
The conference room went quiet again.
Chen Xueming's steamed bun stopped in mid-air, Li Xiao's soy milk cup remained raised, and Zhao Gang's eyes slowly widened.
Three seconds later, Li Xiao burst into laughter: "Senior Brother, you're joking, right?"
Lin Mo looked at her and didn't speak.
Li Xiao's smile slowly stiffened.
"You... you're serious?"
Lin Mo nodded.
Chen Xueming put down his bun and swallowed: "Old Lin, you mean... space?"
"Yes. space elevator, lunar base, Mars landing, and even further."
Zhao Gang took a deep breath: "Dr. Lin, this goal is indeed a bit big."
"It is big," Lin Mo said, "But three years ago, Nuclear Fusion didn't sound small either."
The three of them were silent.
Li Xiao was the first to break the silence: "Senior Brother, if you're serious, then I'm in with you."
Lin Mo looked at her.
Li Xiao smiled: "Anyway, I don't have any grand ambitions in this life, following you, I'll always be able to do something interesting."
Chen Xueming also spoke: "I'm in too. Old Lin, you say where to go, and I'll go there."
Zhao Gang was the last to state his position: "I was originally here to protect you all. If you go to space, I'll go too."
Lin Mo looked at these three people and suddenly smiled.
"Good," he said, "Then let's do something big together."
At 3:00 PM, Lin Mo went to the base communication station alone.
This was an inconspicuous two-story building that very few people visited. The station chief was a middle-aged man in his forties named Zhou. Seeing Lin Mo, he quickly stood up:
"Academician Lin! Why are you here?"
Lin Mo waved his hand: "Station Chief Zhou, I want to use your equipment to check some data."
"Of course, of course!" Station Chief Zhou quickly led him to the main control room, "Please use whatever you need, just let me know if you need anything."
Lin Mo nodded, sat down in front of a terminal, and began to operate it.
He entered a string of complex commands to call up the public data from global radio telescopes. Then he entered the coordinates—the direction of Alpha Centauri, frequency band 23.7 GHz.
Data began to scroll on the screen.
Ten minutes later, he found it.
Faint, but it certainly existed—an extremely regular pulse signal, with an interval of 1.273 seconds, without the slightest deviation.
It wasn't a system misjudgment.
It was real.
Lin Mo stared at the screen, his fingers trembling slightly.
He captured a segment of the signal data, encrypted and stored it, then cleared the operation logs and exited the system.
"Station Chief Zhou," he stood up, "I'm done, thank you."
"So fast?" Station Chief Zhou was a bit surprised, "What kind of data were you checking?"
Lin Mo smiled: "Astronomical data, personal hobby."
Walking out of the communication station, he stood at the entrance and looked at the sky.
The sun was setting, dyeing the entire Gobi Desert a golden red. In a few hours, the stars would come out.
Including that one—the one 4.37 light-years away, calling out.
In the evening, Lin Mo stood by the window again.
This time, he was not alone.
There was a knock on the door behind him, and Li Xiao poked her head in: "Senior Brother, are you daydreaming again?"
Lin Mo turned around: "Something up?"
"Nothing," Li Xiao walked in, holding two cups of hot milk in her hands, "I saw you didn't eat dinner, so I brought you a cup of milk."
Lin Mo took it and drank a sip.
Li Xiao stood beside him, following his gaze to look out the window: "Looking at the stars again?"
"Hmm."
"Senior Brother," Li Xiao said softly, "What did you find at the communication station today?"
Lin Mo's hand paused slightly.
"How did you know I went to the communication station?"
"Station Chief Zhou sent me a message," Li Xiao smiled, "He said Academician Lin came to check astronomical data, which was so strange. I just thought, you must have something on your mind."
Lin Mo was silent.
Li Xiao didn't rush him, just stood quietly beside him, drinking her milk.
After a long while, Lin Mo spoke:
"Li Xiao, if one day I discovered a huge secret—so big that it might change all of humanity—but I couldn't tell anyone yet, what would you think?"
Li Xiao thought for a moment and said: "Then I wouldn't ask. I'd wait until you could tell me."
Lin Mo looked at her.
Li Xiao smiled: "Senior Brother, I believe in you. Whatever you do, you have your reasons."
Lin Mo was silent for a few seconds, then nodded gently.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome." Li Xiao placed the empty cup on the table, "Drink the milk and go to sleep early, don't stay up late so often."
She walked to the door and turned back:
"Senior Brother, no matter what that secret is—I'm on your side."
The door closed gently.
Lin Mo stood in place, looking at the door, the corners of his mouth slightly lifted.
He turned back and continued looking at the starry sky outside the window.
The Milky Way stretched across the horizon, with countless stars twinkling.
4.37 light-years away, there was a dark star, emitting a regular call.
On Earth, a group of people was gathering around him.
Nuclear Fusion had succeeded.
But a grander picture had just begun to unfold—
The space elevator would send humanity into orbit;
The Mars landing would let footprints tread on another planet;
Deep space exploration would go to listen to greetings from the depths of the universe;
Perhaps one day, humanity would truly walk out of the cradle and head towards the starry sea.
Lin Mo didn't know when that day would come.
But he knew he would walk in that direction.
Step by step.
Carrying those who trusted him, carrying this country, carrying all of humanity.
The stars outside the window remained silent.
But Lin Mo knew they were no longer unreachable.