150: Chapter 150 Interim Results

"Hmm, not bad!"

Lin Yuan stared at the progress bar in his mind, which was still slowly rising, and nodded with satisfaction.

Less than a day, and over half the confidence.

One must know, this is the engineering of Controlled Nuclear Fusion.

It not only involves multiple cutting-edge interdisciplinary fields but also crosses the cognitive barriers of current technological levels.

The capacity of confidence required is many times greater than that of the Level 3 lies when he was working on Fifth-generation Communication and Photolithography Machine before.

Fortunately, Lin Yuan only delved into this Level 4 lie after holding several heaven-defying achievements capable of changing the nation's destiny.

Otherwise, there would really be little hope of realization.

Just then, his phone screen suddenly lit up.

Lin Yuan glanced at the message that popped up, and his smile deepened a little.

Afterward, he threw off the quilt and got out of bed.

After washing up, Lin Yuan changed his clothes and walked out of the bedroom; breakfast was already laid out in the living room.

Zhou Xiulan was wearing an apron, tidying up the stove in the kitchen, while Lin Jianguo sat at the dining table reading a newspaper, his face filled with unconcealable joy.

Seeing this, Lin Yuan sat down directly at the table and picked up his chopsticks to start eating.

By the window, the old man, Lin Wen, held a bowl of porridge, drinking it slowly.

Lin Yuan ate two bites of a bun, and when he looked up, he happened to meet the gaze cast by the old man.

Lin Wen put down his bowl and looked at him for two seconds.

"You are leaving, aren't you?"

It was not a question, but a statement of certainty.

Lin Yuan's chewing motion paused, then he smiled calmly.

"Nothing can be hidden from you."

Lin Wen snorted, picked up the side dish of pickled vegetables, and moved a chopstick-full into his own bowl.

"What is there to hide?"

"Can I not tell from the way you look?"

"You've been like this since you were a child; whenever you have serious business to attend to, you start getting absent-minded while eating."

"It's the same virtue as those experts—eating with their mouths, but their brains are full of experimental data and blueprints."

The old man picked up a piece of pickled vegetable, chewed slowly, and continued unhurriedly.

"Being able to gather for a whole day yesterday was already enough."

"Don't dawdle, go do what you need to do."

He lifted his chin and pointed toward the direction outside the window.

"Half a year is not a long time; you said it yourself on stage, and the whole nation is listening."

"You can't just leave them waiting in the end."

Hearing this, across the dining table, Zhou Xiulan leaned half her body out of the kitchen.

Lin Jianguo put down the newspaper, moved his lips twice, but in the end, said nothing.

Lin Yuan put down his chopsticks, leaned back in his chair, and smiled at the two of them.

"Don't worry, it's not like we won't see each other in the future."

He took his phone out of his pocket, tapped it twice on the table, brought up the video call interface, and shook it.

"Besides, see this?"

"5G video call, high definition, you can even see the pores."

"In the future, if you miss me, just make a video call; I'm online twenty-four hours a day, available whenever you call."

Lin Yuan smiled and looked at the old man again.

"Besides, it'll be Chinese New Year in two months, and I will definitely come back for a reunion on New Year's Eve."

Lin Wen was just putting the last mouthful of porridge into his mouth; hearing this, his hand stopped.

"Nonsense."

The old man placed the bowl heavily on the table.

"When research is at a critical juncture, how can you distinguish between New Year's Eve and any other day?"

"Back when I was in the foxholes on the front lines, I was still charging under enemy fire on New Year's Eve; who would celebrate the New Year with you?"

"The country's major affairs are important; don't get distracted by these trivial matters."

Hearing this, Lin Yuan did not refute him, just smiled and nodded heavily.

Afterward, he stood up, gathered the bowls and chopsticks together, walked to the old man, and bent down to clear the dishes in front of him.

"Alright, I'll listen to you."

Lin Wen stared at him for a moment, said nothing more, and just waved his hand.

That palm, covered in calluses, waved quite decisively.

Lin Yuan turned and walked to the entryway to change his shoes.

Behind him came Zhou Xiulan's hushed words, "Be careful on the road," and Lin Jianguo's supplementary remark after clearing his throat, "Take care of your health."

Lin Yuan pushed the door open and looked back.

In the living room, the old man was sitting with his back to him, his spine still held straight.

He retracted his gaze, stepped out, and closed the door.

...

Downstairs, a black sedan was already waiting quietly by the roadside.

Qin Meng stood by the rear car door, standing straight; seeing Lin Yuan come out, she deftly opened the door.

Lin Yuan bent over and sat in the back seat, casually pulling the seatbelt over to fasten it.

"Go to the Institute of Atomic Energy."

Qin Meng didn't ask further, closed the door, walked around to the passenger seat, sat down, and nodded to the driver.

The car started smoothly and merged into the morning traffic.

The street scene outside the window receded rapidly.

Lin Yuan leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes; on the light blue light screen deep in his mind, the numbers were still jumping.

[ Current Total confidence: 52.41% ... 52.58% ... ]

Although the growth rate had slowed down significantly compared to yesterday's explosive period, it was still climbing at a steady rate.

The concentrated explosive effect brought about by the live broadcast of the Academician awarding ceremony was fading, and subsequent growth would rely more on continuous fermentation and secondary dissemination.

However, 52% confidence, as an interim result of a Level 4 lie, was already quite considerable.

He was not in a hurry for the remaining 48%.

After all, the next step in what he had to do would itself continuously generate new increments of confidence.

The car drove onto the expressway, with a clear path all the way.

Before long, the car turned into a wide avenue lined with poplar trees on both sides.

At the end of the road, a gray and white building complex stood prominently.

That was the destination for this trip, the Institute of Atomic Energy.

The black sedan drove past the final, extremely strict security checkpoint and slowly stopped in front of the main entrance of the main building of the Institute of Atomic Energy.

Lin Yuan pushed open the car door, and just as his foot touched the ground, he saw two figures waiting on the steps.

Walking in front was Chen Jingshan, wearing a dark gray thin jacket, with reading glasses perched on the bridge of his nose, smiling.

Beside him stood a thin, elderly man.

Lin Yuan stepped forward quickly.

"Dean Chen."

"You've arrived."

Chen Jingshan smiled and patted his shoulder, then stepped sideways half a step, gesturing with one hand toward the old man beside him.

"Let me introduce you; this is the Dean of the Institute of Atomic Energy, Academician He Mingde."

"Old He has been deeply involved in the field of plasma physics and magnetic confinement for over forty years and is one of the pioneering figures in this direction in our country."

Lin Yuan looked at He Mingde and noticed that this old academician's condition was extremely alarming.

He saw that his eye sockets were deeply sunken, surrounded by dark circles, and his eyeballs were filled with alarming red bloodshot veins; it was obvious he hadn't closed his eyes for several days.

He just stared fixedly at Lin Yuan, sizing him up for two seconds.

During those two seconds, the expression on the face of this old man, who had spent most of his life in the fusion field, was quite complex.

There was anticipation, scrutiny, and, more importantly, an unconcealable urgency.

"Academician Lin."

He Mingde finally spoke, his voice sounding a bit rough.

"I've heard much about you."

Lin Yuan smiled and extended his hand to shake his.

"Dean He, just call me Lin Yuan."

He Mingde nodded, not wasting any more time on pleasantries, and cut straight to the point.

"Academician Lin, after the theoretical materials you provided the other day were transferred to us, the core team has been working around the clock to digest them for several days."

"To tell you the truth, those things... exceed the imagination of all of us."

"Many theoretical paths are directions we never even dared to think about, but after careful deduction, the logic holds up."

"So as soon as we heard you were coming today, those old guys arrived before dawn, and now they are all waiting for you in the experimental hall."

Listening to He Mingde's description, Lin Yuan smiled calmly.

"Then let's not keep the seniors waiting."

"Let's go."

Lin Yuan took the initiative and led the way.

He Mingde came back to his senses, then also turned and led the way toward the main building entrance.

The three of them passed through the main hall of the main building and walked straight along a spacious corridor.

At the end of the corridor was a large double door.

He Mingde walked to the door, took a deep breath, reached out to grab the door handle, and pushed hard.

"Creeak—"

The heavy metal door panels slid slowly to the sides.

An experimental hall with a huge area appeared before their eyes.

Under the high vaulted ceiling, various instruments and equipment were arranged neatly along the walls.

A large open space had been temporarily cleared in the center of the hall, with several rows of long tables and chairs set up.

At this moment, in front of those tables and chairs, a crowd of people was sitting densely.

All wearing white coats, all with white hair.

At least forty or fifty people, all top experts whose names are known in the nuclear physics field of Xia Country.

The moment they saw the door open.

Forty or fifty pairs of bloodshot eyes looked simultaneously toward the door, finally landing on that young figure.