179: Chapter 179 Mechs

As soon as Lin Yuan's words fell, everyone present froze in unison.

Several veteran experts exchanged glances, their minds buzzing as the same frantic thought raced through them.

What did he mean by... "it might be possible"?

Lin Yuan, he surely isn't planning to announce that he'll finish the south heaven gate project in six months, is he?!

He Mingde's hand stiffened slightly; he opened his mouth, then opened it again, but was simply unable to squeeze out a complete sentence.

"Th-th-this..."

He had weathered all kinds of storms in his life, yet right now, his tongue was tied like a graduate student who had just stepped onto the podium for a defense and been completely bewildered by their advisor's questions.

Zhou Changming, standing beside him, was the same. He had only unscrewed the lid of his thermos halfway before he froze, as if someone had pressed a pause button, locked in that comical posture.

The other veteran experts were even worse; they stared with wide eyes, not daring to breathe, terrified that in the next second, Lin Yuan would really blurt out that phrase: "Finish it in six months."

Given his previous track record, who would dare to bet that he wouldn't say it?

After all, this was the famous "Lin Six Months"!

However, Lin Yuan did not continue to push on the "six months" point.

"Alright, seniors, don't be so nervous. I'm not here to issue a military order."

He scanned their stiff, tense faces, his tone light and airy, even carrying a hint of leisurely reassurance.

"The progress on Controlled Nuclear Fusion has been pushed forward very solidly by everyone during this period."

"The first ignition yesterday was a success without any hitches, which shows that our technical reserves and engineering capabilities have fully caught up."

"I've also organized the technical roadmap and optimization plans on the hard drive; the corresponding concepts for how to proceed are all in there."

"This includes material limit tolerance tests, divertor heat load distribution, and so on; I've already done the model simulations."

"With these as a foundation, plus the capabilities of everyone here, I am truly at ease leaving the road ahead to you."

At this point, he paused for a beat, glanced at the portable hard drive that He Mingde was still clutching tightly, and added.

"Of course, I'm not just going to wash my hands of this completely."

"I will come back every few days to check on the progress, and if there are any sticking points, I can take a look."

"It's just that I won't be hovering here every single day like before."

As soon as these words were spoken, the tension that had been hanging high in the hall finally eased, as if a weight had been lifted.

Several veteran experts let out a long sigh of relief in unison and nodded repeatedly.

As long as he wasn't abandoning it completely, that was good!

As long as Lin Yuan, who could make the final call at critical moments, was there as a safety net, their confidence was instantly bolstered.

He Mingde pulled the hard drive closer to his chest, his facial muscles, tense for so long, finally relaxing as he grinned, half-serious and half-joking.

"That's good, that's good!"

He repeated "That's good" twice, then chuckled and started joking.

"If you really just walked away and left this hard drive behind..."

"To be honest, this old bag of bones really wouldn't dare to guarantee when I could push fusion to complete engineering implementation."

"After all, this thing is too cutting-edge; without you there to oversee things, I really don't feel at ease."

The veteran experts nearby nodded in agreement, with open honesty and no bashfulness.

This sincerity was genuine, and none of the veteran experts present felt ashamed.

The facts were right there; for every step of progress in Controlled Nuclear Fusion, Lin Yuan was the well-deserved core and soul.

Without his "guidance" at critical nodes, with their own abilities, even exhausting half a lifetime of effort, it would be questionable whether they could even touch the threshold of a Q-value breaking 1.

Let alone when they would reach over 10 from 1.25.

Upon hearing this, Lin Yuan laughed softly.

"Dean He is too modest."

"I know your capabilities; what you were missing was just a direction."

"Now that I've given the direction, no one is better at implementation than you."

He Mingde felt quite comfortable being praised like this and was about to say a few polite words when Lin Yuan continued without pausing.

"However, that being said."

Lin Yuan crossed his arms, lifted his chin slightly, and swept his gaze unhurriedly over the silver-white fusion device in the center of the hall.

"With the complete technical roadmap in the hard drive, plus everyone's execution, and me coming back every few days to keep an eye on things..."

He turned his head and glanced at He Mingde.

"Calculating it this way, starting from today, half a month."

"Within half a month, the laboratory-stage Q-value optimization and engineering verification should be completely wrapped up."

He Mingde was stunned, his eyes widening instantly.

"Half a month?"

"Yes, half a month!"

Lin Yuan raised a finger, his tone so certain that it allowed for no rebuttal.

"As for the subsequent grid-connection trial operation, equipment rollout, and other finishing work, add another two weeks."

"Adding it all together, in about a month, the whole Controlled Nuclear Fusion project will be completely finished."

A month!

These three words were like a bombshell, smashing heavily into He Mingde's ears.

His mind went blank for a moment, and then, uncontrollable ecstasy surged from the depths of his chest like a volcanic eruption.

Just a moment ago, he had been worried that Lin Yuan would run off to work on the south heaven gate project, slowing down the progress here.

But what happened?

Lin Yuan gave a timeline so fast it made one want to faint from happiness.

The ultimate energy dream that humanity had pursued for over half a century would come to a perfect conclusion in one month!

"One month... it can be finished in one month..."

Zhou Changming muttered to himself on the side, the thermos in his hand shaking violently, not even noticing that the water inside had spilled onto the back of his hand.

The other veteran experts present had similar reactions.

Their faces were filled with irrepressible joy, a strong sense of satisfaction from having struggled their whole lives and finally seeing the dawn arrive.

However, just as everyone had digested this timeline and were rubbing their hands, ready to dive into the work.

Lin Yuan's next unhurried sentence made the entire experimental hall go completely silent.

"Since the fusion project is expected to be completely finished in one month."

He paused, looked around at everyone's ecstatic faces, and said lightly, in a tone that sounded matter-of-fact, even a bit understated:

"Then, this also means..."

"The south heaven gate project must also produce its first phase of results within one month."

The air in the hall froze instantly at that second.

Those faces that had just been overflowing with joy stiffened in place in unison.

He Mingde's smile stuck at the corners of his mouth, unable to retract upward or fall downward, his whole face bearing an extremely strange expression.

He suspected that something was wrong with his ears.

The south heaven gate project... within one month... produce results?

Wait, you were just talking about Controlled Nuclear Fusion finishing in one month, and before your voice had even faded, you started scheduling the south heaven gate project?

Can these two things be done at the same time?

No one made a sound.

The hall was silent for a full three or four seconds.

He Mingde was the first to catch his breath and spoke dryly.

"Academician Lin, did you just say... produce results in one month?"

His voice was very low, carrying a tone of cautious verification.

Lin Yuan looked at him and nodded with a smile.

"That is natural!"

"However, the south heaven gate project is a systematic large-scale project that covers a complete strategic system of aerospace integration."

"It's unrealistic to get the whole thing done within a month."

As soon as these words were spoken, several veteran experts breathed a sigh of relief simultaneously.

That's good, that's good.

They had thought Lin Yuan was going to break physical common sense and the bottom line of human cognition again to produce an Aerospace Carrier in one month.

"But."

Lin Yuan's tone shifted, and that "but" with a drawn-out ending caused the atmosphere that had just relaxed to snap tight again, as if a bowstring were stretched to its limit.

Everyone's gaze converged once more, staring fixedly at him, rising and falling with his breath.

"Just because the whole system can't be finished in a month doesn't mean we can't cut out some sub-projects first and achieve a breakthrough on a single point."

"For example, the core of the south heaven gate individual soldier system..."

He paused, a flash of fanaticism and sharpness in his deep eyes, his lips parted slightly, and he spat out four words, enunciating each one clearly.

"Chengying Mecha."