104: Chapter 104 General, how about we order some power banks?

Military Science Commission Compound, Expert Apartment, 8:10 AM.

The phone call ended.

In the living room, the only sound was Lin Waner's slightly rapid breathing.

Lieutenant General Peng Zhenbang held the red phone, veins bulging on the back of his hand. He didn't put it down immediately, instead holding it like a grenade about to detonate.

Taklamakan Desert.

One month.

To create waves of golden rice.

This was no longer a mission; it was a military order of mythical, epic proportions.

He turned abruptly, his gaze locking onto Su Che on the sofa like a hawk.

"Little Su! What do you need? People, money, equipment! As long as it exists on this planet, I will get it for you! If it doesn't exist, you draw the blueprints, and we will use the 'Candle Dragon' to grow it for you!"

Su Che had just returned the phone to Lieutenant General Peng Zhenbang and was leaning on the sofa, reaching for the last scallion pancake on the table.

Lin Waner was one step ahead of him, taking the plate away.

"You just finished eating and now you're sitting, you're not allowed to eat any more."

Su Che's hand froze in mid-air, and he pulled it back sheepishly.

He looked at Lieutenant General Peng Zhenbang and shrugged, "General, the ideal is grand, but the reality is harsh."

"What do you mean?" Lieutenant General Peng Zhenbang's heart jumped into his throat.

"This 'Earth Mother Box' on the balcony," Su Che gestured toward the balcony, "its power is only enough to drive this one plastic box. If you throw it into the Taklamakan Desert, the area it can cover might not even be as big as the slippers on my feet."

"My statement that 'the power consumption is about the same as a router' was based on the scale of this box."

Su Che stood up, walked to the window, and looked at the open playground downstairs.

"To turn the entire desert into fertile land, the energy required is an astronomical figure. Relying on the national power grid to run lines there? The power loss would make the Three Gorges Dam cry."

Lieutenant General Peng Zhenbang's expression visibly darkened.

He had only seen the rice that matured in ten minutes, but had ignored the most fundamental law of conservation of energy behind it.

"Then what should we do?!" he pressed.

"Simple." Su Che turned around, his face showing no pressure, "Equip the 'Earth Mother Box' with an independent, ultra-high-power, mobile energy core."

"Be specific!"

"It's that small Controlled Nuclear Fusion device we developed earlier; let's make a large mobile version of it to use as a power bank." Su Che said in a relaxed tone.

The corner of Lieutenant General Peng Zhenbang's mouth twitched. A power bank? He actually called an "artificial sun" a power bank? And it was to be used to provide energy for farming?

This kid's train of thought was always so unique.

"The technology is ready, but to achieve desert-level coverage, what's needed is scalability and ultra-high-power stable output." Lieutenant General Peng Zhenbang's thinking quickly caught up, "Do you have a plan?"

"Of course." Su Che nodded, "Otherwise, why would I bring it up?"

He took a tablet out of his backpack, brought up a few design drawings, and tossed it to Lieutenant General Peng Zhenbang.

"This is an upgraded Tokamak device; I optimized the magnetic confinement coils and the energy conversion module. A module the size of a shipping container has enough output power to support a matrix of 'Earth Mother Box' units covering hundreds of square kilometers operating simultaneously."

"I call it 'Kuafu', chasing the sun, quite fitting, right?"

Lieutenant General Peng Zhenbang took the tablet, looking at the structural diagrams—which he was already familiar with but were now even more precise—with a piercing gaze.

He didn't understand all the details, but he understood the confidence on Su Che's face that said "it's simple to get it done."

"What do you need to build this 'Kuafu'?"

"Materials are not a problem; the 'Candle Dragon' can handle that. It's just..." Su Che scratched his head, "I need a place that is absolutely secure, with complete supporting facilities, preferably in the west, closer to the desert."

"Also, I need a team—experts in materials science, nuclear physics, and high-energy physics, all top-tier."

After listening, Lieutenant General Peng Zhenbang didn't say another word; he picked up the red phone on the sofa and dialed a number directly.

"Connect me to the Western Theater Command! This is Lieutenant General Peng Zhenbang!"

He spoke into the receiver, his speed as fast as a machine gun.

"Order! Immediately clear out Bunker No. 3 at the Lop Nur Nuclear Test Base, and complete the maintenance of all facilities within twenty-four hours! I want the highest level of security and logistical support!"

"Order! Within half an hour, arrange a special plane to send Academician Li Zhengyang from the Institute of Nuclear Physics at the Beijing Academy of Sciences, Academician Wen Bo from the Institute of Materials Engineering, and all core members of their teams to the west! Yes, all of them! Not a single one can be missing!"

"Order! Western Mining Group, all inventory of special rare metals, including but not limited to superconducting materials, beryllium-copper alloys, and tungsten-rhenium alloys, are to be sealed on-site, waiting for allocation!"

"Yes! This is the highest directive! Codename: Shennong!"

Lieutenant General Peng Zhenbang hung up the phone; his series of orders made the high-level machinery of the entire Western Theater Command of the Dragon Kingdom spin into high-speed operation within minutes.

Lin Waner stood to the side, her small hands tightly clutching the corner of her apron.

For the first time, she felt so intuitively what it meant for the state apparatus to be as powerful as thunder.

And the start of all this was just because of a few words from Su Che.

Su Che was quite calm; he walked to Lin Waner's side, took the plate from her hand, picked up the last half of the scallion pancake, and stuffed it into his mouth.

"Waner, pack your bags." He said vaguely.

"Huh?" Lin Waner hadn't recovered from the shock just now, "Go... go where?"

"To the desert, to farm."

That afternoon, at the military airport in the western suburbs of Beijing.

A large transport plane had already opened its massive rear cargo door.

Su Che was pulling a suitcase, holding Lin Waner's hand with his other hand, walking on the tarmac.

Lin Waner was wearing a tracksuit convenient for movement and a baseball cap, her face still showing some confusion.

In the morning, she was still worrying about what to have for dinner, and in the afternoon, she was going to the desert.

This life was more exciting than a roller coaster.

"Su Che, are we... really going to live in the desert?" she asked in a low voice, "Is there water there? Can we take a shower?"

"Don't worry, everything is arranged." Su Che squeezed her hand, "I promise, you can still apply face masks every day there."

He pointed to several huge boxes being loaded onto the plane.

One of them was an enlarged version of the "Earth Mother Box" that had been on the balcony.

Another was a small ecological maintenance system that Su Che had worked overnight with the "Candle Dragon" to create, integrating water circulation, air purification, and temperature and humidity regulation functions.

"With them here, let alone living in the desert, we could even open a room on the moon." Su Che laughed.

Lieutenant General Peng Zhenbang walked over in big strides and handed two identification cards to Su Che.

"These are your highest-level passes for the base." He glanced at Lin Waner and added, "Miss Lin, I apologize for the inconvenience."

"It's no hardship." Lin Waner shook her head. She looked at Su Che's profile and said softly, "Wherever he goes, I go."

Lieutenant General Peng Zhenbang nodded and said nothing more. He patted Su Che's shoulder, "Kid, when you get there, go all out."

"The future of the Dragon Kingdom is in your hands."

Su Che tucked the IDs into his pocket and looked up at the sky.

"General, don't make it sound so tragic. I'm just going to set up a large outdoor agritainment spot."

He pulled Lin Waner and walked onto the transport plane's ramp without looking back. The cargo door slowly closed. Amidst a huge roar, the transport plane lifted off the ground and rushed into the clouds.

Six hours later, evening. In the hinterland of the Taklamakan Desert, an area designated as a top-secret military exclusion zone.

Rows of brand-new barracks and huge dome-style buildings had already risen from the desert. This was the main base for the "Shennong" Project.

The transport plane landed smoothly. The cargo door opened, and a heatwave mixed with sand and dust rushed toward them.

An officer wearing the rank of Colonel stepped forward quickly, stood at attention, and saluted Su Che, who had just walked down the ramp.

"Reporting to Chief Engineer Su! Base Commander of 'Shennong', Zhou Qihang, reporting to you!"

"The base has completed its initial construction. Academician Li Zhengyang, Academician Wen Bo, and their teams arrived three hours ago and are waiting in Bunker No. 3!"

"All equipment and materials needed for the 'Kuafu' project are arriving one after another!"

Su Che nodded and handed the suitcase to the guard behind him. "Take Miss Lin to rest." He turned to Zhou Qihang, "Take me to Bunker No. 3."

Just as Su Che and his group were riding in a military off-road vehicle, driving toward the entrance of that huge underground bunker in the distance.

In the monitoring center of the base's highest command tower, a technician responsible for monitoring global satellite dynamics suddenly frowned.

He zoomed in, and zoomed in again, on a high-resolution satellite image.

The coordinates of the image pointed to the other side of the Dragon Kingdom's western border, also a desolate, uninhabited area.

There, several large, mysterious facilities, like giant antenna arrays, were being rapidly constructed.

The technician adjusted his headset and reported to his superior.

"Report, at coordinates 83 degrees east longitude, 39 degrees north latitude, in the southern edge area of the Tarim Basin, large-scale abnormal energy reactions and infrastructure activities have been detected."

"According to thermal imaging and spectral analysis... it seems like... they are also planting something."