Chapter 236 Officially Commences

September 18, 2038.

Six o'clock in the morning, equatorial Pacific, 150 degrees east longitude.

As the first ray of sunlight pierced the horizon, Lin Mo stood on the edge of the "sky ladder project" offshore platform, watching this steel behemoth wake from its slumber beneath his feet.

After the foundation ceremony ended last night, most of the guests had left by private jet. The hustle and bustle had dissipated, leaving behind only the core members of the engineering team and the first batch of construction workers. The sea breeze, carrying a briny scent, rushed towards him, flapping his work uniform loudly.

"Chief Designer Lin, haven't you slept all night again?" Li Xiao's voice came from behind, carrying two insulated bags. "Master Liu asked me to bring these to you. He said if you don't eat breakfast, he'll stop supplying the braised pork for a month."

Lin Mo turned around and took the insulated bags. Inside were steaming buns and soy milk—Master Liu knew he didn't like porridge, so he had made them specifically.

"Why are you up so early too?" Lin Mo took a bite of the bun; it was pork and scallion filling, still hot enough to burn his mouth.

Li Xiao smiled: "The blockchain system is officially connecting to the project finance today, and I have to keep an eye on it. Director Fang also sent word that the list of the second batch of international suppliers has been reviewed, and the online signing is at ten this morning."

Lin Mo nodded, eating while walking toward the temporary command headquarters in the center of the platform.

The command headquarters was a three-story container-style building, painted with the striking "sky ladder project" logo. The first floor was the lobby and conference room, the second floor was the technical team's office, and the third floor was the Chief Designer's office and emergency command center. At this moment, the lobby was already brightly lit, and dozens of engineers and technicians were busy at their respective workstations.

"Morning, Chief Designer Lin!"

"Chief Designer Lin, have you eaten?"

"Chief Designer Lin, the geological survey data for the No. 2 anchor point has just come back. Would you like to take a look?"

Lin Mo responded to the greetings while heading toward his own workstation. It was called the Chief Designer's office, but in reality, it was just a workbench piled with blueprints, plus an encrypted computer and a whiteboard. The whiteboard was densely packed with today's task nodes—

September 18 Work List:

1. Platform expansion project launch (Person in charge: Liu Jianguo)

2. Carbon Nanotubes factory phase II commissioning (Person in charge: Section Chief Wu)

3. Space station component design docking meeting (14:00, video conference)

4. Third demonstration of cable anchoring scheme (19:00)

5. Online signing with international suppliers (10:00, Li Xiao in charge)

Lin Mo stared at the whiteboard for a few seconds and put a checkmark next to "Platform expansion."

A long whistle sounded from outside the window. He looked up and saw three ten-thousand-ton engineering ships slowly sailing into the construction waters, their hulls painted with the "China Communications Construction" logo. Further away, a dozen small barges shuttled back and forth, transporting construction materials and daily supplies.

The sky ladder project had officially commenced.

Eight o'clock in the morning, platform expansion site.

Liu Jianguo stood on the temporarily built trestle bridge, holding a walkie-talkie, his voice loud enough to drown out the sound of the waves: "No. 1 ship, five degrees to the left! Slow down, slow down—good! Stop!"

The three engineering ships were already in position, arranged in a 'pin' shape on both sides of the platform. According to the design, the existing "sky ladder project" platform was just the starting point. Within the next three months, a large working area equivalent to the size of six football fields needed to be expanded around it.

"Factory Director Liu, can we keep up with this schedule?" a young technician nearby asked in a low voice.

Liu Jianguo glared at him: "Can't keep up? Back when I was building the Divertor, I finished a year's worth of work in three months. This is nothing!"

The technician shrank his neck, not daring to ask further.

Liu Jianguo turned around and roared into the walkie-talkie: "Piling ship, prepare! The first pile must be driven in by two o'clock this afternoon!"

On the sea surface, a piling ship slowly adjusted its position. The 80-meter-high pile-driving frame on the ship pointed directly at the sky, like a giant sword waiting to strike.

Nine forty-seven, the first steel pile was hoisted.

That steel pile was 65 meters long, 2.2 meters in diameter, and weighed 130 tons. It shimmered with a cold gray luster under the sunlight, and the top was painted with a striking red marker—that was the depth scale for entering the sea.

"Drop!"

Following Liu Jianguo's command, the steel pile slowly descended. When it touched the seabed, the pile driver made a dull, thunderous sound—

Dong!

The entire platform seemed to tremble.

Dong! Dong! Dong!

The sound of the hammer rang rhythmically, and with every strike, it seemed to declare: The sky ladder of the Chinese people is taking root.

At the same time, three thousand kilometers away, in the southwestern mountains.

In the phase II workshop of the Carbon Nanotubes factory, Section Chief Wu stared at the control screen in front of him, fine beads of sweat seeping from his forehead.

This was a brand-new wire-drawing production line with a designed annual capacity of 500 tons, ten times that of the current phase I production line. From equipment installation to commissioning, he had slept for less than twenty hours—not because he didn't want to sleep, but because he didn't dare to.

"Section Chief Wu, the temperature of the No. 3 traction roller is too high," the technician's voice came over the walkie-talkie.

"How much?"

"237 degrees, three degrees higher than the set value."

Section Chief Wu frowned: "Reduce the speed and turn on the cooling circulation. Report the numbers in five minutes."

"Understood."

He took a deep breath and scanned the entire production line. In the 150-meter-long workshop, dozens of workers and technicians were busy at their respective posts. In the wire-drawing furnace, the Carbon Nanotubes raw filament was being drawn out at a speed of 20 meters per second, passing through cooling, coating, and winding, and finally winding onto a huge spool.

Those spools would eventually become part of the sky ladder cable.

"Section Chief Wu, the temperature has dropped, 234 degrees, it's stable."

"Good." Section Chief Wu let out a sigh of relief and picked up the walkie-talkie: "Attention everyone, the next stage is to draw a 500-meter continuous sample filament. Everyone, stay sharp. If there's a problem, I'll treat you to the Canteen for a year!"

A burst of laughter erupted in the workshop. Amidst the laughter, the rotation speed of the wire-drawing furnace slowly increased.

Two o'clock in the afternoon, Beijing Aerospace City.

Chen Xueming stood outside the conference room of the Space Station General Design Department, holding a stack of blueprints, and took a deep breath.

The meeting inside was the sky ladder project space station component design docking meeting. In addition to the sky ladder project team, dozens of experts from the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, the Space Technology Research Institute, and the Manned Spaceflight Office were attending. He was representing Lin Mo to report on the space station modification plan—converting the existing "Tianhe" core module into the top anchor platform for the sky ladder.

"Director Chen, you can go in now," the secretary opened the door.

Chen Xueming nodded and walked into the conference room.

The long table was full of people. At the head of the table sat an elderly expert with gray hair—Elder Guo, a titan in the aerospace field and the former deputy chief commander of the manned spaceflight project.

"Little Chen, come, sit," Elder Guo pointed to the seat next to the projector.

Chen Xueming was a bit surprised. He had expected to sit in a corner to report, but he didn't expect Elder Guo to let him sit in the main seat directly.

"Don't just stand there, start," Elder Guo smiled.

Chen Xueming steadied himself and turned on the projector.

"Experts, I am reporting on the sky ladder project space station component modification plan on behalf of Chief Designer Lin. The core idea is: on the basis of the existing 'Tianhe' core module, add a cable anchoring mechanism, a climber docking module, and a material transfer system. After modification, the space station will simultaneously assume the dual functions of scientific research experiments and the top hub of the sky ladder..."

As he spoke, he switched the PPT. Every page had detailed drawings and parameters—structural stress analysis, docking mechanism design, energy distribution plan, and emergency backup measures. These were all things he and his team had stayed up countless nights to rush out.

When he reached the 37th page, an expert raised his hand to ask: "How can the fatigue life of the cable anchor point be guaranteed? There are climbers going up and down every day, and it is under long-term stress. What about metal fatigue?"

Chen Xueming was well prepared: "We have designed six-fold redundancy at the anchor point, with each cable corresponding to an independent anchoring mechanism. Under normal circumstances, all six are under stress. If one of them develops fatigue cracks, the system will automatically identify and redistribute the load. At the same time, the space station is equipped with mobile maintenance robots that can regularly inspect and replace anchoring components."

Elder Guo nodded: "Considered very thoroughly."

Chen Xueming continued.

When he reached the 72nd page, another expert raised his hand: "Is the volume of the climber docking module enough? In the future, there will not only be cargo but also personnel. We can't let people climb ladders, right?"

Chen Xueming smiled: "We have already considered this during the design phase. The docking module is divided into two parts: the upper part is the cargo module, and the lower part is the personnel module. The personnel module can accommodate twelve people and is equipped with a life support system and emergency return device. If the climber malfunctions, personnel can return directly to the space station through the emergency module."

A low murmur of discussion erupted in the conference room.

Elder Guo turned to look at the few elderly experts next to him, and they all nodded slightly.

"Good," Elder Guo turned back. "Continue."

Chen Xueming spoke until the 93rd page, and all the plans were reported. He turned off the projector, stood up straight, and waited for questions.

The conference room was silent for a few seconds.

Elder Guo was the first to stand up, walked to him, and extended his hand: "Little Chen, thank you for your hard work. I vote in favor of this plan."

Chen Xueming was stunned.

The elderly experts behind Elder Guo also stood up one after another: "In favor."

"In favor."

"No objections."

Chen Xueming held Elder Guo's hand, his eyes suddenly feeling a bit hot. He remembered what he was like when he first joined the team a few years ago, full of arrogance, looking down on everyone. He remembered the embarrassment when stationed at the Divertor factory, the breakdown when the Nuclear Fusion ignition failed, and the night Lin Mo deduced and corrected the parameters.

"Thank you, Elder Guo, thank you, experts," his voice was a bit hoarse.

Elder Guo patted his shoulder: "No need to thank us. It is you yourself who made this plan work."

Seven o'clock in the evening, sky ladder project platform.

Lin Mo sat in the emergency command center on the third floor of the command headquarters, staring at the 3D simulation on the screen. This was the third demonstration of the cable anchoring scheme. Participants included structural mechanics experts, ocean engineering experts, materials scientists, and Academician Zhou Deming, who was attending via video from Beijing.

"Chief Designer Lin, we have simulated seventeen types of extreme sea conditions, including a once-in-fifty-year typhoon," an expert pointed to the data on the screen. "The conclusion is: the existing anchoring scheme's cable swing amplitude will exceed the safety threshold when the wind speed exceeds 65 meters per second."

Lin Mo frowned: "What is the threshold?"

"Fifteen meters. The simulation shows a maximum swing of 18.3 meters."

The conference room went quiet.

Lin Mo stared at the screen, his brain running at high speed. 18.3 meters, it did exceed it. But typhoon weather would naturally suspend climber operation. As long as the cable didn't break, it wasn't a big problem...

"Can we install a damping system?" he asked.

Another expert took over: "Yes. We have designed a set of hydraulic damping devices installed at the connection between the platform and the cable. Simulations show that the maximum swing can be reduced to within 12 meters after installation."

"What about the cost?"

"About 300 million."

Lin Mo was silent for a few seconds: "Install it. This is money for saving lives; we can't save on it."

Academician Zhou Deming nodded on the other side of the screen: "I agree. Safety redundancy must be sufficient."

The demonstration meeting lasted until 11 o'clock at night, and the final plan was finally settled. Lin Mo rubbed his sore temples and stood up to walk to the window.

Outside the window, the offshore platform was brightly lit. The piling ship was still working, and the sound of the hammer—dong, dong, dong—came through the night. Further away on the sea, dozens of engineering ships were lined up, their ship lights connected together like a galaxy floating on the sea.

He thought of the reports he received today:

— Southwest Carbon Nanotubes factory, 500-meter continuous sample filament successfully drawn, tensile strength 84.1 GPa.

— Beijing Aerospace City, space station modification plan passed expert review.

— Shanghai Jiangnan Shipyard, climber prototype assembly started.

— Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, the first batch of sky ladder project materials arrived, waiting for the launch window.

— Luxembourg, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE officially signed to become the second batch of international partners for the sky ladder project.

— Seventeen central enterprises, fifty-three private enterprises, and nine universities in China are participating in the project construction, and tens of thousands of builders are heading to the equator.

Tens of thousands of builders.

Lin Mo looked at the lights on the sea and suddenly remembered what Wang Zhenguo said: "You go and take a look for me."

Teacher, I have taken a look for you.

It is very lively here.

One o'clock in the morning, Lin Mo returned to his workstation, preparing to organize tomorrow's tasks again.

On the table was a document, a briefing on the international supplier signing sent by Li Xiao in the afternoon. He opened it casually, and when he saw the last page, his gaze suddenly paused.

It was a summary of encrypted communication records from the Science and Technology Security Bureau.

The content was only one line:

"Professor Smith from Cambridge University sent an encrypted message: Willing to provide whatever help I can."

Lin Mo stared at that line of words, silent for a long time.

Outside the window, the sound of the hammer continued.

Dong—dong—dong—