247: Chapter 247 Returning Home in Glory, Dad Chases After Him, Foundation Laying for the Interstellar Village!

Hardened road surface underfoot, firm.

Su Che carried his bag and walked into the village, with Kaira following half a step behind.

The solar streetlights at the village entrance were on, and the stone roller under the old locust tree was still there.

A year had passed since he was last back; the road was wider, and the houses were newer.

Village Chief Wang Fugui was squatting under the old locust tree smoking a dry pipe. When he saw Su Che walking over, his pipe almost fell to the ground.

"Che... Che Wazi?"

Village Chief Wang Fugui stood up, wiped his hands on his trouser legs twice, took two steps forward, then stopped. He rubbed his hands together, his face plastered with a smile.

His tone, however, was incomparably more reserved than it had been a year ago.

"Village Chief, long time no see." Su Che nodded at him.

"Oh, oh, doing well, doing well."

Village Chief Wang Fugui bowed and scraped, his eyes drifting toward Kaira behind Su Che, then quickly pulling them back, not daring to look more.

Su Ergou was leaning against the foot of the wall cracking melon seeds. When he saw Su Che, he spat the shells all over the ground.

"Holy crap, Brother Che is back!"

He had just wanted to go up and throw an arm around his shoulder, but when he saw Su Che's training uniform and the blue-skinned Kaira behind him, his legs went a bit weak.

Su Ergou forcibly pulled back his stepping foot and shouted "Brother Che" with a hehe smile.

Su Che ignored him and walked straight toward his own courtyard.

The courtyard gate was open.

Su Pingan was squatting in the courtyard repairing a hoe. Hearing footsteps, he looked up and saw Su Che. The hoe in his hand fell to the ground with a clatter.

"You brat, you didn't even call when you came back!"

Su Pingan stood up, patted the dirt off his backside, and although he was scolding, his face blossomed with a smile.

"Just like when you came to the capital to find me, I wanted to give you a surprise."

Su Che placed his bag on the stone table and walked over.

"Surprise my foot. You're a big shot in the Dragon Kingdom now; you have to have the Ministry of State Security clear the area before you come back." Su Pingan huffed, but the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes were bunched up with laughter.

"Dad, I have something to tell you."

Su Che leaned in closer and lowered his voice.

"What is it? So mysterious."

"There's a medical pod on the mothership that can extend life, starting at three hundred years."

Su Pingan was stunned for a moment, then his eyes went wide.

"What did you say? Three hundred years? Did you get muddled from being outside, running back here to fool your old man?"

"It's true. Once I'm proficient in operating the equipment, I'll take you and Grandpa up for body anti-aging and life extension. By then, you'll be a young man in your twenties again."

Su Che suppressed a laugh and continued to add fuel to the fire.

"You might even be able to remarry and have a younger brother or sister for me. With Grandpa's constitution, he might even be able to have a younger brother or sister for you."

"Bullshit! You unfilial son, making fun of your old man!"

Su Pingan's face turned red, and he grabbed the broom in the corner to swing at Su Che.

Su Che was prepared; he turned and ran, circling the old locust tree in the courtyard.

"Dad, I'm telling you the truth! Science! This is science!"

"Science my foot! I think your skin is itching!"

Father and son, one running and one chasing, acting out the exact same scene as a year ago in the courtyard.

Kaira stood at the courtyard entrance, watching this scene, a trace of confusion flashing in her blue eyes, but she quickly returned to calm.

At this moment, a half-grown boy rushed out of the house, holding a mobile phone in his hand.

"Brother! You're finally back!"

Su Hao.

A year without seeing him, he had grown a lot taller, but he was still that same crafty monkey.

Su Che stopped, dodged the broom Su Pingan swung, and grabbed Su Hao's head.

"On break?"

"Yeah, yeah, just started!" Su Hao rubbed his hands excitedly. "Brother, I heard about it, you're super awesome now! Those alien spaceships are all yours!"

Su Hao's eyes rolled, and he leaned into Su Che's ear to whisper, "Brother, I don't want to study anymore."

Su Che's face darkened, and he let go.

"Why?"

"What's the point of studying? I want to work with you! You're so amazing now, following you must be better than studying!" Su Hao looked expectant.

"Work with me?"

Su Che sneered.

"With your current level, if you follow me, I can only give you the job of sweeping the floor."

"Brother, don't look down on people. I can do scientific research too!"

"Scientific research? What's your physics score?"

Su Hao shrank his neck and stopped talking.

"If you don't study hard, don't even think about following me. If you want to do big things, study well first. Don't just have random ideas."

Su Che patted his head.

"Hear me?"

"Heard... heard you." Su Hao looked dejected.

Su Pingan was panting on the side, leaning on the broom, pointing at Su Hao and scolding, "Did you hear that! Your brother is right! If you don't study hard, you'll be sweeping the streets in the future!"

Su Che stayed in the courtyard for less than half an hour, drank some water, and got up to leave.

"Dad, I'm going to the Interstellar Development Zone to take a look. Lieutenant General Peng and the others are waiting for me there."

"Go, go, important matters first."

Su Pingan waved his hand, his previous anger mostly gone, his face returning to that complex expression mixed with pride and heartache.

Su Che took Kaira out of the courtyard.

Auntie Wang was carrying a basin of pig feed toward the pigpen. Seeing Su Che, her hand shook, and the basin almost dropped.

"Yo, Che... Che Wazi is back?"

"Auntie Wang, busy?"

Su Che smiled and greeted her.

Auntie Wang laughed, saying "Busy, busy" repeatedly, and slipped into the pigpen as if her soles were greased, not even daring to look back.

Grandpa Wang was sunbathing at the entrance of the convenience store. Seeing Su Che coming over, he pushed his reading glasses up the bridge of his nose.

After seeing clearly who it was, he quickly pinched out the dry pipe in his hand, stood up, and called out respectfully, "Hello, Chief Engineer Su."

Su Che felt a bit uncomfortable, but there was no help for it. He could only smile and nod, then boarded the military vehicle parked at the village entrance.

The car drove along the newly paved asphalt road toward the outskirts of the village, and ten minutes later, it stopped at the entrance of the Interstellar Development Zone.

On a large piece of newly leveled foundation, the frames of several main buildings had already been erected, and the tip of the Quantum Communication base station tower pierced the clouds.

Lieutenant General Peng Zhenbang was wearing casual clothes, standing in front of the temporarily set up command post, followed by a dense crowd of people.

Su Che got out of the car, and Lieutenant General Peng Zhenbang came up to meet him.

"Chief Engineer Su, welcome home."

"Lieutenant General Peng, you've worked hard."

The two shook hands.

Su Che's gaze swept over the crowd behind Lieutenant General Peng Zhenbang: Zhao Mingyuan, Academician Li Zhengyang, Academician Sun Qiwen, Wen Bo, Academician Zhang Weide, Zhou Dehai, Academician Chen Shian...

These familiar faces were all there, but compared to before, everyone looked much more weathered.

Academician Qian Zhenhua stood at the very front, holding a folder in his hand.

Su Che took one look and understood; Liu Huaqiang was gone, and Academician Qian Zhenhua was now the acting dean.

"Everyone has worked hard."

Su Che nodded at everyone, and without any extra pleasantries, walked straight into the command post.

"Meeting."

Inside the command post, a huge holographic star map was suspended in the center, marked with the planning map of the Su Family Village development zone.

Lieutenant General Peng Zhenbang handed a thick document to Su Che.

"Chief Engineer Su, this is the construction plan for the Interstellar Village. Please take a look."

Su Che took the document, flipped through a few pages quickly, and his brows furrowed slightly.

"The initial planning is too small."

He threw the document on the table and walked to the hologram.

"Simultaneously build 1,000 Zhulong atomic production lines and 3,000 Sub-nanometer Quantum Chip production lines in the initial phase."

As soon as these words were spoken, the command post exploded.

"1,000 Zhulong? 3,000 chip production lines?"

Zhao Mingyuan widened his eyes. "Chief Engineer Su, this production scale is too terrifying. Our current energy cannot support it at all!"

"That's right, the total capacity of the currently popularized Controlled Nuclear Fusion cannot support the simultaneous construction and full-load operation of such large-scale production lines." Academician Sun Qiwen also chimed in.

Su Che raised his hand to suppress the discussion.

"I know, so we must launch the Dyson Cloud construction plan ahead of schedule."

"Dyson Cloud?"

Everyone was stunned.

"Yes, the Dyson Cloud construction plan in the third-generation interstellar version of the Nantianmen Fleet program will be launched ahead of schedule."

Su Che called up the data on the Dyson Cloud and projected it onto the hologram.

"The Kairos team will provide technical assistance. We currently have the conditions for landing. The Dyson Cloud will adopt a phased construction and gradual expansion model, increasing the energy supply in sync with the expansion of the production lines."

He pointed to the position of the sun on the star map.

"Ultimately, the Dyson Cloud can fully support the full-load operation of 1,000 Zhulong and 3,000 chip production lines. I will follow the construction progress of the Dyson Cloud throughout."

Everyone looked at the huge satellite cluster orbiting the sun on the star map, speechless for a long time.

"Adjust the initial construction scale."

Su Che turned around and looked at everyone.

"Start with 100 Zhulong production lines and 300 Sub-nanometer Quantum Chip production lines. The Sub-nanometer Quantum Chip technology is already fully mature domestically, and you are responsible for building the production lines independently."

He looked at Zhou Dehai.

"The Zhulong technical data will be sent to you after the meeting. You will lead the overall Zhulong production line. Based on your experience at the Kaitian Base, there shouldn't be a problem."

Zhou Dehai nodded heavily. "Guarantee to complete the mission!"

"As for the special materials required for the production lines, the rare material reserves previously provided by Kairos can fully support it. They have all been transported to the special storage warehouse in the Interstellar Development Zone, no need to worry about material shortages."

After Su Che finished speaking, he scanned the room.

"Any other questions?"

The command post was silent.

"Good, next topic: the research and development of the third-generation interstellar Nantianmen Fleet."

Su Che called up the design plan for the third-generation fleet.

"Antimatter application, dark matter detection, Penrose energy, space distortion stealth, directional gravitational wave weapons..."

Academician Li Zhengyang looked at the string of terms on the screen and swallowed hard.

"Chief Engineer Su, these technologies... can we really achieve them?"

Su Che looked at him.

"Relying on ourselves, of course, it's difficult. But those technologies, for Kairos, which is in the late stage of a Level 3 Civilization, are basic technologies."

He paused.

"So you must learn from them diligently. Only by truly mastering the technology is it yours, is it Earth's. We can't rely on Kairos forever."

Everyone's expression became solemn, and they nodded one after another.

"Finally, let's summarize the goals for the first phase of civilization breakthrough."

Su Che held up one finger.

"Three and a half years."

"Within three and a half years, complete the Dyson Cloud main body proliferation and core energy supply supporting facilities, and put 1,000 Zhulong and 3,000 Sub-nanometer Quantum Chip production lines into full production."

"The full set of technologies for the third-generation Nantianmen Fleet will be implemented and form initial combat capability, and human civilization will officially stand firmly at the threshold of the peak of a Level 2 Civilization."

At this time, Academician Chen Shian raised a question.

"Chief Engineer Su, as a peak Level 2 Civilization, Tayake Civilization possesses Space Jump technology, but our first-phase civilization breakthrough R&D project does not involve this technology. Why is that?"

Su Che smiled.

"The Space Jump technology of the Tayake Civilization is entry-level, and it is also extremely immature."

"Look at the last time they jumped from outside the Solar System; it took them several days. Kairos jumped from 15,000 light-years away and finished it in tens of minutes."

He waved his hand.

"So, I put the Space Jump technology into the next phase of R&D. You have to eat one bite at a time, and walk one step at a time."

Half an hour later, the meeting ended, and everyone dispersed.

Su Che stood in the command post, pulled the Zhulong manufacturing technical data from his terminal, and sent it to Zhou Dehai.

"Kaira."

"Present, Chief."

"Prepare the shuttle, we're going to the capital."

"Yes."

Su Che walked out of the command post and looked up at the sky.

The sky was blue and cloudless.

He got into the car, and the car drove straight to the apron.

The shuttle was already parked there, its silver-gray hull reflecting a cold light in the sun.

Su Che stepped onto the gangway and turned to take one last look at this Su Family Village Interstellar Development Zone that was rising from the ground.

A year ago, he was still here using scrap to tinker with a quantum router.

A year later, this place would become the starting point for Earth civilization to step into the interstellar era.

The hatch closed, and the shuttle rose silently, cutting through the atmosphere and flying toward the capital.