183: Chapter 183 Cold Controlled Nuclear Fusion?!

Facing Yang Tongan's question, which was laden with intense anticipation, Lin Yuan did not answer.

He simply leaned back on the sofa, his spine straight, hands resting casually on his knees, a faint, elusive smile playing on his lips.

No nodding.

No shaking his head.

No offering any promises.

Yang Tongan stared at him for a full five seconds.

In those half-lidded eyes, sharpness and profound meaning were intertwined. Then, he suddenly let out a low chuckle, shook his head, and maintained their tacit understanding.

Some things do not need to be spelled out.

As long as the first brick of the "south heaven gate" lands firmly on the ground, the speed at which the subsequent shocking sci-fi weapons land will only get faster and faster.

"Alright."

Yang Tongan stood up and casually placed the white porcelain teacup back on the table, making a soft "clack" sound.

He smoothed out the wrinkles on the hem of his casual clothes, his voice low and hoarse as he said:

"Let's not waste time here."

"Let's go. First, let's go take a look at those things you wanted."

Upon hearing this, Lin Yuan smiled slightly and rose from the sofa with composure.

The office door pushed open, and the two walked side by side into the corridor.

Qin Meng, who had been waiting outside the door, followed silently, half a step behind.

The three of them walked along the dark gray corridor toward the deeper parts of Xishan Base.

On both sides of the passageway, armed sentries stood like statues. As they passed, the sentries stood at attention and saluted in unison. The sound of their military boots clicking together echoed through the long, dim corridor, solemn and oppressive.

Finally, they stopped in front of a heavy silver gate.

"Hiss—"

Accompanied by the muffled sound of air pressure being released, the heavy gate slowly slid open to both sides.

Behind the door was an expansive alloy hall with a strong sense of technology.

Cold white shadowless lights poured down from the high dome, illuminating every corner in minute detail.

In the center of the hall, dozens of experts and engineering personnel in white lab coats were huddled around a workbench, whispering and discussing something.

Hearing the movement of the door opening, everyone turned their heads in unison.

Seeing it was Yang Tongan, everyone quickly straightened their backs and greeted him in unison:

"Elder Yang!"

Subsequently, when they shifted their gaze from Yang Tongan to Lin Yuan beside him, the breathing in the hall clearly lost its rhythm.

"Old Shen, come here."

Yang Tongan beckoned to the front of the crowd, then introduced the middle-aged man who hurried up to meet them to Lin Yuan.

"This is the person in charge here, Shen Changhe."

"He is also one of our country's top experts in precision manufacturing and power engineering."

Shen Changhe was in his early fifties, with slightly thinning hair and thick-rimmed glasses.

He hurried over to Lin Yuan, extended both hands, and firmly grasped Lin Yuan's hand. Because he was using so much force, the veins on the back of his hands stood out.

"Academician Lin!"

Shen Changhe's voice was very low, but the excitement could not be hidden at all; even his shoulders were trembling slightly.

"The earth-shattering things you've done recently have really gotten us fired up!"

"A few days ago, when I heard from Elder Yang that you were coming here to start the south heaven gate project, and something about an integrated aerospace strategic system..."

"You don't know, these past few days our researchers here have been so excited they couldn't even sleep, just hoping you would come over sooner!"

Upon hearing this, Lin Yuan let the other man hold his hand and smiled gently:

"Chief Engineer Shen, you are too kind."

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Shen Changhe quickly shifted into work mode.

He turned to the side, made a "please" gesture, and led Yang Tongan and Lin Yuan to the largest dust-free workbench in the center of the hall.

On the table, several sets of components that had just come off the line, exuding a cold metallic luster, were placed quietly.

One set was a palm-sized, highly complex standardized casing assembly; the other set consisted of several tiny, capsule-like tubular objects.

Shen Changhe pointed to those components, his face showing a mix of excitement and a little confusion.

"Academician Lin, these are the pieces of hardware we rushed to manufacture using the country's highest-precision machine tools, according to the technical data you provided. Please take a look and see if there are any issues..."

"None of us old folks could figure it out; after all, we don't even know what these things are actually used for?"

The dozens of experts around them also nodded one after another, their eyes filled with confusion.

"Alright, let me take a look first."

Lin Yuan smiled and nodded, then stepped forward, picked up the standardized casing assembly, and examined it for a moment under the bright lights.

His fingers brushed over the seamless metal texture, feeling the ultimate beauty of top-tier industrial manufacturing.

"Hmm, not bad, the craftsmanship is perfect."

Lin Yuan nodded with satisfaction, then looked at the crowd and continued:

"As for what Chief Engineer Shen just asked, what these things are actually used for..."

"You will all see for yourselves in a moment."

As soon as he finished speaking.

Lin Yuan very naturally reached into the pocket of his Zhongshan suit.

Just like pulling out a lighter, he took out a matte dark gray, disc-shaped alloy object smaller than a palm from his pocket.

"This is..."

Shen Changhe was stunned.

The surrounding experts were also dumbfounded.

Lin Yuan completely ignored the doubtful gazes around him. He picked up the casing assembly on the workbench with his left hand and held the matte disc with his right.

"Click."

An extremely crisp metallic clicking sound rang out.

The matte disc was inserted seamlessly into the casing base.

Immediately after, with movements as skilled as if he had practiced them a thousand times, Lin Yuan picked up the deuterium-tritium fuel sealing capsule and precisely embedded it into the groove in the center of the disc.

Locked. Closed.

The entire assembly process took less than ten seconds.

Subsequently, Lin Yuan casually pulled over a test line from the workbench and connected it to the reserved interface at the end of the device.

"Everyone, keep a close eye on the monitoring panel next to you."

Lin Yuan smiled slightly, clapped his hands, and stepped back half a step.

"Beep—"

From inside the device, only an extremely faint "hum," like the beating of a mosquito's wings, was emitted.

The very instant this imperceptible hum sounded.

"Whoosh!"

On the large screen next to the workbench, the previously flat lines suddenly surged like a waking dragon!

The reaction characteristic data soared crazily at a speed that made one's scalp tingle.

The energy output curve shot straight up, instantly stretching into a vertical line.

Then, it stopped steadily at a high level that no one could comprehend!

Red values jumped wildly on the screen.

Thermal energy conversion! Synchronous release of electrical energy! The energy surplus was continuously expanding by geometric multiples!

However, the palm-sized device on the workbench still lay there quietly.

Only a faint, ghostly blue glow shimmered through the gaps in the casing, breathtakingly beautiful.

"What... what is going on? Is the instrument broken?!"

The top expert in charge of safety monitoring stared fixedly at the screen, frozen in place. The clipboard in his hand dropped to the floor with a "clatter," and he didn't even notice it hitting his foot.

Shen Changhe lunged forward, both hands gripping the edge of the console tightly, his eyes practically popping out of their sockets as he stared intensely at the rock-steady energy output curve and that palm-sized device.

For a long time, Shen Changhe leaned on the console and slowly turned his head.

His gaze turned to Lin Yuan, who was standing to the side with a slight smile, his lips trembling violently.

A sentence that had swirled in his mind countless times, yet one he never dared to believe, finally squeezed out of his dry throat.

"Academician Lin..."

"Could this... could this be... Cold Controlled Nuclear Fusion?!"