Chapter 197 Chen Xueming's Foresight

At nine in the evening, there was a knock on Lin Mo's dormitory door.

"Come in."

The door pushed open, and Chen Xueming poked half his head in. "Old Lin, do you have a moment?"

Lin Mo was sitting at his desk reading documents. He looked up at him and asked, "Aren't you leaving early tomorrow morning? Why aren't you asleep yet?"

"Can't sleep." Chen Xueming walked in and closed the door behind him. "I wanted to talk to you."

Lin Mo put down his pen and pointed to the chair next to him. "Sit."

Chen Xueming sat down but didn't speak immediately. He stared at the stack of documents on the desk for a while—the one on top had "Carbon Nanotube Pilot Production Line Construction Plan" printed on the cover.

"Still looking at this?" he asked.

Lin Mo nodded. "Once I see you off tomorrow, I'll officially start pushing this project forward."

Chen Xueming was silent for a few seconds, then said:

"Old Lin, I came to see you precisely because I wanted to talk about this."

Lin Mo looked at him, waiting for him to continue.

Chen Xueming took a deep breath, as if organizing his words:

"During the meeting today, I talked about space and the space elevator, but there were some things I didn't finish saying."

"What things?"

Chen Xueming stood up and walked to the window. Outside, the night over the Gobi Desert was deep and heavy, and the silhouette of the tokamak-3 device loomed indistinctly in the moonlight.

"Old Lin," he said with his back to Lin Mo, his voice a bit low, "Nuclear Fusion has succeeded, and energy is now limitless. Do you know what that means?"

Lin Mo didn't answer.

Chen Xueming turned around, his eyes shining startlingly bright in the dim light:

"It means that the greatest limitation on humanity for thousands of years has been broken."

He walked back to the desk and tapped his finger on the surface, counting them off one by one:

"Why did ancient people fight wars? To fight for land, water, and food. Why did people fight in the industrial age? To fight for oil, minerals, and energy. All conflicts, at their root, were due to limited resources."

"But now," his finger stopped in mid-air, "Nuclear Fusion is a success. Limitless energy means seawater can become fresh water, deserts can become oases, and minerals can be extracted from stone at will. Suddenly, the resources on Earth are enough."

Lin Mo listened quietly.

Chen Xueming continued, "But that's just the beginning. The real change is in space."

He picked up a pen from the desk and drew a simple diagram on a sticky note:

"This is Earth, this is the Moon, and this is Mars. We couldn't go before because it was too expensive. Launching one kilogram of material into space via rocket cost ten thousand US dollars. Building a space station cost a hundred and fifty billion US dollars. Ordinary people couldn't even dream of it."

"But now," he tapped heavily next to 'Earth', "Nuclear Fusion has made energy cheap, and launch costs can drop to a tenth or a hundredth of what they were. Old Lin, do you know what that means?"

Lin Mo looked at him. "You tell me."

Chen Xueming's eyes grew brighter and brighter:

"It means we can do big things—build factories in space!"

He stood up and began gesturing:

"There are things that can't be made on Earth, or are too expensive to make. For example, high-purity crystalline materials require a microgravity environment; certain alloys require a vacuum; protein crystals require a convection-free environment. All these things can be made in space at a much lower cost than on Earth."

"And Space Power Stations!" he said, becoming more excited as he spoke. "Lay down photovoltaic panels in geostationary orbit, generate power twenty-four hours a day, and transmit it back to the ground using microwaves. The efficiency would be ten times higher than on the ground, it wouldn't take up land, and it wouldn't be affected by the weather. One Space Power Station would be enough for an entire province!"

Lin Mo nodded. "People have proposed plans for Space Power Stations. The problem is that the construction cost is too high; it costs billions for a single launch, so it's not worth it."

"That was before!" Chen Xueming waved his hand. "With Nuclear Fusion, cheap energy, and lightweight materials made of Carbon Nanotubess, launch costs can drop by two orders of magnitude! When that time comes, building a Space Power Station will be just like building a thermal power plant now—you get output for your investment!"

Lin Mo was silent for a while, then asked:

"What else?"

Chen Xueming paused for a moment, then smiled:

"And—a Mars Base."

He sat back down, his tone calming:

"Old Lin, do you believe that one day, humanity will migrate to Mars?"

Lin Mo didn't answer.

Chen Xueming continued, "Mars has an atmosphere, water resources, and a twenty-four-hour rotation period. With a little terraforming, it can be inhabited. But we couldn't go before; first, it was too far, taking six months to reach; second, it was too expensive, costing billions to send one person up. But now—"

"Now," Lin Mo picked up the thought, "with Nuclear Fusion, we can use Plasma Engines and get there in two or three months. With cheap energy, we can produce fuel on Mars and won't need to bring too much from Earth."

Chen Xueming slapped his thigh. "Exactly! That's the logic!"

He stared at Lin Mo with a burning gaze:

"Old Lin, I came to see you today because I wanted to tell you—our goal can't just be the space elevator. The elevator is just the beginning. With the elevator, we can send things into space on a massive scale; with cheap materials, we can build factories and power stations in space; with factories and power stations, we can build bases on the Moon and Mars—it's a chain, each link connected to the next!"

Lin Mo looked at him without speaking.

Chen Xueming waited for a few seconds, feeling a bit anxious. "Why aren't you saying anything? Am I thinking too far ahead?"

Lin Mo shook his head.

Then he stood up, walked to the desk, took a folder out of a drawer, and handed it to Chen Xueming.

"Look at this."

Chen Xueming took it and opened it.

On the first page, the title read: "Preliminary Concept for Launching the 'Space Elevator' Pre-Research Project."

He looked further down—

The second page was a roadmap for Carbon Nanotube Mass Production Technology.

The third page was an overall design sketch of the space elevator, ten times more detailed than the one he had drawn during the day.

The fourth page was a parameter comparison table for Plasma Engines.

The fifth page was a preliminary site selection plan for a Lunar Base.

The sixth page was a phased plan for Martian migration...

Chen Xueming's hands began to tremble.

He flipped through page after page until he reached the end. He looked up at Lin Mo, his lips moving but unable to speak.

Lin Mo looked at him calmly:

"Everything you've thought of, I've thought of too."

Chen Xueming opened his mouth. "You... when did you—"

"A long time ago," Lin Mo said. "Since the night Nuclear Fusion was successfully ignited."

Chen Xueming looked down at the folder in his hand; it was a thick stack, at least fifty pages.

"This... did you write all of this yourself?"

"Not all of it. Some was provided by the system, and some I organized myself."

Chen Xueming was silent for a long time.

Then he looked up, his eyes a bit red:

"Old Lin, I thought I had already thought far enough. Compared to you, I'm just a frog at the bottom of a well."

Lin Mo shook his head. "No. It's already quite an achievement that you could think of these things. Most people wouldn't even dare to imagine them."

Chen Xueming took a deep breath to settle his emotions and then asked:

"Then why didn't you say these things during the meeting today?"

Lin Mo looked at him, his gaze calm:

"Because a meal must be eaten one bite at a time."

He walked back to the desk and picked up the "Carbon Nanotube Pilot Production Line Construction Plan":

"The things you're thinking of—space factories, Space Power Stations, Mars Bases—are all correct. But right now, we haven't even taken the first step."

Chen Xueming was stunned.

Lin Mo continued, "Carbon Nanotubess are the first step. Without the material, the space elevator is just a castle in the air. Only with the material can we talk about the next step. What is the next step? The space elevator. With the elevator, we can send things into space on a large scale. Only with large-scale transport capabilities can we build factories and power stations. Only with factories and power stations can we build bases on the Moon and Mars."

He looked at Chen Xueming:

"Xueming, you have great vision. But vision alone can't put food on the table. What's most important right now is to take the step right in front of us properly."

Chen Xueming was silent for a long time.

Then he nodded:

"I understand. Old Lin, you're right."

Lin Mo patted his shoulder:

"It's not that I'm right; it's that the laws of nature are right. Any great undertaking must be done step by step. Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither will the space elevator be."

Chen Xueming gave a bitter laugh. "So, was I being a bit foolish coming to see you today?"

"Not foolish," Lin Mo said. "Only those with vision can go far. But you can't have vision alone; you must also have patience."

Chen Xueming nodded and returned the folder to Lin Mo.

Lin Mo didn't take it. "Keep it."

Chen Xueming was startled. "This... isn't this yours?"

"It's mine, but it's also yours," Lin Mo said. "You're not going to Guangdong just to keep an eye on the power station. That power station will be completed in five years, and you'll only be thirty-nine then. You'll have thirty more years of work after that. What do you want to do during those thirty years?"

Chen Xueming looked down at the folder in his hand and didn't speak for a long time.

After a long while, he looked up, his eyes shining startlingly bright:

"Old Lin, I know now."

"Know what?"

"I know what I should do for those thirty years," Chen Xueming said. "First, I'll do a good job with the Guangdong Power Station, and then—I'll come back and work with you to turn these into reality."

Lin Mo looked at him, the corners of his mouth turning up slightly:

"Good. I'll be waiting."

The two talked for a long time.

From the technical details of Carbon Nanotubess to the site selection for the space elevator; from the specific impulse parameters of Plasma Engines to the life support systems of a Mars Base. Chen Xueming asked, and Lin Mo answered, each point more detailed and deeper than the last.

At one in the morning, Chen Xueming finally stood up:

"I should go. I have to catch a flight early tomorrow morning."

Lin Mo saw him to the door.

Chen Xueming turned around and held out his hand.

Lin Mo shook it.

"Old Lin," Chen Xueming said, "thank you."

"Thank me for what?"

"Thank you for letting me see that there's still such a long road ahead," Chen Xueming said. "I used to think I was already quite impressive, but later I found I was far behind you. Now I realize I'm even further from the place you want to go."

He smiled:

"But it doesn't matter. If we walk slowly, we'll get there eventually."

Lin Mo nodded:

"Go on then. Keep in touch once you're over there."

Chen Xueming let go of his hand and turned to walk into the night.

Lin Mo stood at the door, watching his figure disappear around the corner of the dormitory building.

Then he returned to his desk and continued reading the "Carbon Nanotube Pilot Production Line Construction Plan."

Outside the window, the moon over the Gobi Desert had grown a bit rounder.

Early the next morning, Lin Mo saw Chen Xueming to the base entrance.

The car was already waiting. Li Xiao stood nearby, her eyes red, clearly having cried. Zhao Gang had a stiff expression, but his brow was furrowed.

Chen Xueming hugged everyone.

First, he hugged Zhao Gang. "Brother Zhao, take care."

Zhao Gang patted his back. "You too. Call if anything comes up."

Then he hugged Li Xiao. "Xiaoer, don't always stay up late. When I come back, I'll bring you some Guangdong specialties."

Li Xiao nodded vigorously, unable to speak.

Finally, it was Lin Mo.

The two stood facing each other; they didn't hug, but simply shook hands.

"I'm off," Chen Xueming said.

"Take care," Lin Mo said.

Chen Xueming let go of his hand and turned to get into the car.

The car started and drove into the distance.

Lin Mo stood where he was, watching the car grow smaller and smaller until it finally disappeared at the end of the Gobi highway.

Li Xiao stood beside him and said softly, "Senior Brother, he'll be fine, right?"

Lin Mo nodded.

"He will be."