156: Chapter 156 Igniting the Flames: Just the Beginning?

He Mingde was flushed with excitement, laughing heartily.

"Good, good, good! Let's get to ignition as soon as possible!"

"If it weren't for Academician Lin, us old bones wouldn't have dared to dream of saying something like this in our lifetime!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the white-haired experts around him nodded repeatedly, their eyes shining with undisguised brightness.

"Exactly. We never dared to think about it before; we didn't even dare to dream of such things."

"It's been forty years, and today, we've finally seen the dawn!"

In just a few sentences, the atmosphere in the entire hall came alive.

The frustration that had been suppressed for decades was swept away, replaced by a fervor that made them eager to burn themselves up for the cause.

Only Lin Yuan, sitting in the main seat, remained largely unresponsive.

He merely leaned back in his chair, hands resting casually on the edge of the table. He listened to the chorus of exclamations from the others with a faint smile on his lips, neither joining the conversation nor interrupting.

He Mingde naturally noticed this difference.

The old man stopped laughing, turned his head to study Lin Yuan for a moment, then shook his head and remarked with genuine emotion.

"We're all worked up, but you're as steady as if nothing happened."

Lin Yuan smiled faintly at his words.

Everyone present regarded "Ignition" as the ultimate goal, the finish line of their lifelong pursuit.

After all, they had spent decades grinding away on this path; simply witnessing the day of ignition would be enough to bring tears to their eyes.

But in Lin Yuan's mental framework, ignition was merely one piece placed on the chessboard.

"Dean He, you flatter me."

Lin Yuan waved his hand, his posture casual.

"To be honest…"

"Ignition is actually just the beginning."

The moment those words were uttered, the lively buzz of discussion in the hall instantly died down.

What did he mean, "Ignition is just the beginning"?

Dozens of people looked at each other, their eyes filled with confusion.

He Mingde's brow twitched, and he quickly recovered to ask a follow-up question.

"Academician Lin, you mean…"

"Subsequent industrialization and commercial application?"

Several old experts nearby nodded repeatedly upon hearing this, following He Mingde's train of thought.

"Exactly, exactly. Ignition is indeed just the first step. There's still steady-state operation, tritium breeding cycles, optimization of thermoelectric conversion efficiency…"

"The design of a commercial reactor alone is a massive undertaking, not to mention grid integration and electricity price reform."

"Is that what you meant, Academician Lin?"

The old experts chimed in, one after another, filling in the subsequent roadmap for Lin Yuan. The more they talked, the more reasonable it seemed, and they all nodded in agreement.

Lin Yuan listened, neither refuting nor nodding.

He simply picked up his water cup for a sip, the curve of his lips deepening slightly.

He Mingde watched his inscrutable expression, feeling that something wasn't quite right.

But he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was.

Lin Yuan didn't give them time to continue speculating.

Lin Yuan set his water cup back on the table and abruptly changed the subject.

"Alright, let's wrap it up for today."

He turned his head to look at Chen Jingshan.

"Dean Chen, I'm going to head back to the Xia Academy of Sciences first. There are some things I need to organize in advance."

Chen Jingshan, who was sitting upright to one side, nodded at his words.

"Go ahead, get back to your work."

He gestured with his chin toward He Mingde.

"I'll go over the deployment details of the computing infrastructure with Old He here. Once the joint debugging is finished tonight, you'll be able to use it as soon as you arrive tomorrow morning."

"Alright."

Lin Yuan replied, rising decisively.

He gave a slight nod to He Mingde and the others.

"Seniors, I'll take my leave now."

"See you tomorrow at eight."

He Mingde stood up from his chair and took a couple of steps after him. His lips moved, but in the end, he didn't say anything more, just gave a heavy nod.

"Good! See you tomorrow!"

Lin Yuan said nothing more, turned around, and walked toward the hall entrance.

Behind him, it wasn't until his young figure had completely disappeared around the corner that the hall erupted back into an irrepressible buzz of discussion.

… The black official car soon drove back to the exclusive rest area of the Xia Academy of Sciences.

Back in his room.

The moment the door closed, Lin Yuan sat directly in the chair at his desk, hands resting on the armrests, and focused his mind.

A pale blue light curtain unfolded silently in the depths of his consciousness.

Seeing the prompt on the system panel, Lin Yuan didn't hesitate in the slightest.

"Three."

The moment the command was issued.

An immense stream of information flooded into his mind, transforming into precise logical data that was systematically written into the depths of Lin Yuan's memory.

The preparation process for the new generation of high-temperature superconducting tapes, the atomic structure models of special tungsten-based materials, the engineering parameters for RAFM low-activation steel, the sintering curves for SiC/SiC ceramic composites…

All the cutting-edge technologies related to materials supporting Controlled Nuclear Fusion were completely integrated into his knowledge system in a mere instant.

The entire process was calm and efficient.

After the flood of information subsided, Lin Yuan slowly opened his eyes.

He remained leaning against the back of the chair, his gaze fixed on some non-existent focal point on the ceiling, while the corners of his mouth slowly, bit by bit, curled upward.

"It really is… the whole package."

Lin Yuan whispered to himself, tapping his fingers lightly against the armrest twice, a faint glint of sharpness flashing in his eyes.

Afterward, he stood up, stretched his shoulders and neck, and walked straight to the bedside table.

Then, he pulled open the drawer.

… The next day. 7:40 AM. The test hall of the Institute of Atomic Energy.

It wasn't yet the agreed-upon time of eight o'clock, but the hall was already packed.

In stark contrast to yesterday, the demeanor of these old experts today was like night and day.

They had all shaved, changed into clean white lab coats, and were sitting with their backs ramrod straight.

Although the bloodshot redness in their eyes hadn't completely faded, their energy and spirit were worlds apart compared to yesterday.

Zhou Changming sat in the very front row, his hands resting properly on his knees, though his eyes drifted toward the entrance every ten seconds or so.

The old experts specializing in materials next to him were much the same; each sat with proper posture, appearing calm on the surface, while their fingers incessantly rubbed the seams of their trousers.

He Mingde sat beside the main seat, watching his old friends and couldn't help but find it amusing.

Time ticked by, minute by minute.

In the anxious wait, some began to unconsciously raise their wrists to check their watches, lower them, raise them again, then lower them again.

"Clack, clack, clack—" Just then, a clear, measured sound of footsteps suddenly came from the direction of the hall entrance.

The rhythm was relaxed, the stride steady.

The buzzing murmurs, the moment those footsteps were heard, instantly ceased, vanishing completely.

Forty or fifty people turned their heads in unison, their gazes all converging on the entrance.

Before long, Lin Yuan's figure appeared at the entrance.

He looked unhurried, his right hand casually tucked into his trouser pocket, a faint smile on his face.

And when their gazes shifted to his left shoulder, they saw a black canvas backpack slung securely over it.

The moment they saw the bag, expressions of shock and ecstasy involuntarily appeared on the faces of every expert present.