257: Chapter 257 Three Major Projects Launched Simultaneously: The Gears of Civilization's Leap Forward Meshed Together!

Su Che's shuttle landed on the newly built airport runway in Su Family Village.

This airport had just been put into use; the runway was long enough to accommodate medium-sized transport aircraft, so a shuttle-class spacecraft could land with ease.

The cabin door opened, and Su Che walked down the ramp.

The supporting facilities around the airport were complete, with a control tower, hangars, and fuel depots all in place.

Plainclothes agents from the Ministry of State Security were distributed in every corner, with a few more than when he last returned.

Su Pingan was already waiting at the exit.

The old man was wearing a military overcoat—not the kind issued by the army, but a cotton-padded coat sold at the village convenience store for fifty yuan, looking incredibly rustic.

Yet, worn on Su Pingan, paired with that stern face, it carried a certain air of unprovoked authority.

"Dad, why did you come?"

"Your mother's grave is over there, so I came by to pull some weeds."

Su Pingan said this, but he was holding a thermal container in his hand. "I stewed some pork rib soup for you; you definitely didn't eat well on the spaceship."

Su Che took the thermal container; it was still scalding hot.

"Dad, I need to tell you a few things."

The two walked toward the exit, where Su Che's official car was parked outside.

"Speak."

"For the next period, I will be presiding over work at the Interstellar Development Zone. I'll have to live there and won't be staying in the village."

Su Pingan gave an "Hmm" without much reaction.

"Also, I can fly a spaceship now. Traveling between Earth and the Moon is very convenient; it only takes about twenty minutes."

"A spaceship?" Su Pingan's footsteps paused. "You're flying it?"

"Yes, I'm flying it myself."

Su Pingan glanced at him, opened his mouth, and finally could only choke out one sentence: "Don't crash."

Su Che grinned. "Don't worry, it's steadier than driving."

"One more thing."

Su Che tucked the thermal container under his arm and freed up his hand.

"The life-extension function of the medical pod is now usable. Once I finish this period of work, I'll bring you and Grandpa up to use it."

Su Pingan slowed his pace. "No rush."

He put his hands into his pockets. "As for your grandfather, with the brain-computer interface you gave him, his body is slowly improving. My old body is still very sturdy; let's talk about it after you're done with your work."

"Alright, I'll listen to you."

The two got into the car, and it drove toward the village.

Passing the old locust tree, Su Che glanced out the window.

Village Chief Wang Fugui was no longer squatting under the tree; Auntie Wang had taken his place, picking vegetables there.

"How is the village now?"

"It's doing great." Su Pingan leaned back in his seat. "So good it's unimaginable, except that Auntie Wang's pig ran off again, rooted up half a mu of Grandpa Wang's vegetable plot, and they almost started a fight."

Su Che chuckled.

The car stopped at the entrance of the village, and Su Pingan got out.

"Go ahead, don't let this delay your important business."

Before closing the car door, he added, "The soup won't taste good if it gets cold, drink it while it's hot."

The door closed, and the car turned around, heading toward the Interstellar Development Zone.

Su Che unscrewed the lid of the thermal container, and the aroma of pork rib soup wafted out.

He took a sip; it was very hot, but the taste was indeed excellent.

...

Su Family Village Interstellar Development Zone.

A little over a month ago, it was just a few buildings with erected frames, but now it had completely changed.

The main building complex was entirely completed, and the silver-gray exterior walls reflected the sunlight.

The spire of the Quantum Communication base station pierced the clouds, and the white dome of the medical station was particularly striking among the buildings.

Various laboratories, R&D facilities, testing and training bases were arranged in order, with wide paved roads in between, and engineering vehicles and personnel coming and going.

Lieutenant General Peng Zhenbang, dressed in casual clothes, stood on the steps in front of the main building of the development zone, waiting.

Behind him were Academician Qian Zhenhua, Zhao Mingyuan, Academician Li Zhengyang, Academician Sun Qiwen, Wen Bo, Academician Zhang Weide, Zhou Dehai, and Academician Chen Shian.

Su Che's car stopped at the foot of the steps.

He got out of the car, stuffed the empty thermal container into his bag, and walked up the steps.

"Lieutenant General Peng, everyone, you've all arrived."

"Chief Engineer Su, the conference room is ready." Lieutenant General Peng Zhenbang stepped aside to make way.

Su Che nodded and walked straight inside.

In the large conference room on the third floor of the main building, all ninety-nine Kairos experts were already seated.

The blue-skinned alien scientists sat quietly in the left area, while fifty-six academicians from the Longguo Academy of Sciences sat on the right.

Su Che walked to the head of the conference table and stood still, scanning the room.

"Everyone, today's meeting will only cover one thing."

He pushed three documents to three different directions on the table.

"Three major projects, launching simultaneously."

A holographic projection rose from the table, and three sets of data floated in the air.

"The first item, the Dyson Cloud."

Su Che opened the first document.

"Project lead, Eric Weir."

A Kairos expert stood up and nodded to the room.

He had a slender build, and his blue skin was a shade darker than the others; he was a key engineer in the field of deep space energy engineering for the Kairos Civilization.

"Team members: nineteen Kairos experts, plus Academician Qian Zhenhua, Zhao Mingyuan, Academician Li Zhengyang, and seventeen academicians from the Longguo Academy of Sciences, totaling forty people."

Su Che looked at Academician Qian Zhenhua.

"Academician Qian, you are responsible for deep space communication and the quantum network. The communication system and data transmission for the Dyson Cloud project are entirely under your coordination."

Academician Qian Zhenhua adjusted his glasses. "Understood!"

"Zhao Mingyuan, you will interface with the AI algorithms and the energy regulation unit of the Deep Space Main God AI."

"No problem." Zhao Mingyuan touched the goji berries in his pocket.

"Academician Li Zhengyang, you will cooperate with Team Lead Weir on the energy transmission scheme and orbital maintenance parameters for the Dyson Cloud."

Academician Li Zhengyang acknowledged.

Su Che called up the technical data for the first phase of the Dyson Cloud and projected it onto the main screen.

"Phase One: Stellar system global survey and orbital calibration."

"Deploy multi-band detection satellites to map stellar luminosity, flare activity cycles, stellar wind intensity, and gravitational field distribution."

"Scan the galaxy for asteroid, rocky planet, and interstellar debris resource reserves, and calculate the total material requirements for construction."

"Divide multi-layer safety orbital belts: high-energy inner ring near the star, mid-distance primary power supply orbit, and long-distance buffer orbit; calculate orbital spacing to avoid satellite collisions."

"Output standardized satellite configurations, energy transmission schemes, and a complete set of engineering benchmarks for orbital maintenance parameters."

Eric Weir took over, his Chinese transmitted via a neural translation chip.

"Chief, for the survey satellites in Phase One, Kairos has mature plans, and they can be produced directly on the satellite production line in Su Family Village."

"Good." Su Che turned to Zhou Dehai. "Regarding the Zhulong Production Line, the first batch of one hundred lines has already been put into production. Can the production capacity for the chips and core components of the survey satellites keep up?"

Zhou Dehai stood up.

"No problem. With one hundred Zhulong Production Lines running at full capacity, the production capacity of Sub-nanometer chips is completely sufficient. Three hundred chip production lines have also come online simultaneously, with a yield rate stable at over ninety-nine percent."

"Alright, that's all for the Dyson Cloud project team."

Su Che opened the second document.

"The second item, the third-generation Nantianmen Fleet R&D."

"Project lead, Soren Kesh."

Another Kairos expert stood up and nodded.

He was half a head shorter than Weir, but with broad shoulders; he was the chief engineer of the Kairos Civilization in the field of antimatter energy.

"Team members: nineteen Kairos experts, plus Academician Sun Qiwen, Wen Bo, Academician Zhang Weide, and seventeen academicians from the Longguo Academy of Sciences, totaling forty people."

Su Che's gaze fell on Academician Sun Qiwen.

"Engineer Sun, thermal management and energy distribution are your specialty. You will lead the heat dissipation circuits and energy regulation for the antimatter energy core."

Academician Sun Qiwen nodded. "Understood."

"Wen Bo, you will interface with Team Lead Kesh regarding the high-temperature superconducting materials and ultra-high vacuum chambers required for the antimatter storage tanks."

Wen Bo acknowledged.

"Academician Zhang Weide, you are responsible for structural engineering, including the structural design and stress simulation of the antimatter storage tanks."

Academician Zhang Weide tapped his fingers on the table. "Received."

Su Che called up the technical data for the first phase of the third-generation Nantianmen Fleet.

"Phase One: Antimatter application technology."

"This is the high-level energy core for the third-generation Luan Niao Mothership. Core technologies include efficient antimatter preparation technology, antimatter magnetic confinement vacuum storage technology, antimatter-matter annihilation energy conversion technology, and antimatter weapon miniaturization technology."

"Regarding auxiliary technologies, the blueprints for antimatter storage tanks, superconducting magnetic confinement coil design, annihilation energy collection modules, and antimatter warhead encapsulation schemes will all be provided with technical guidance by Team Lead Kesh."

"Material and equipment list: ultra-high vacuum chambers, high-temperature superconducting materials, antimatter detectors, lunar nuclear fusion energy pre-supply system, and Deep Space Main God AI energy regulation unit."

Soren Kesh took over.

"Chief, antimatter preparation is the foundation of the entire project. Kairos has ready-made preparation processes, but it requires massive energy support."

"The nuclear fusion energy station at the lunar base can provide the pre-supply." Su Che said. "I will coordinate this with Lieutenant General Peng to ensure a continuous energy supply."

Lieutenant General Peng Zhenbang made a note on the side.

"The third item, the lunar base Dry Dock."

Su Che opened the third document.

"Project lead, Talia Knox."

The third Kairos expert stood up.

She was the only female among the three team leads, with a lighter shade of blue skin; she was an expert in the field of space infrastructure engineering for the Kairos Civilization.

"Team members: eight Kairos experts, plus Zhou Dehai, Academician Chen Shian, and fourteen academicians from the Longguo Academy of Sciences, totaling twenty-five people."

"Zhou Dehai, you are already very familiar with the production management of the Zhulong Production Line and five-axis linkage machine tools. You will lead the production of construction equipment and the final assembly of the Dry Dock."

Zhou Dehai nodded heavily.

"Academician Chen Shian, you are responsible for life sciences and human-machine adaptation, as well as the personnel life support system during the construction of the Dry Dock."

Academician Chen Shian adjusted his glasses. "No problem."

Su Che called up the technical data for the lunar base Dry Dock.

"The six main buildings of the existing lunar base have been completed. The Dry Dock will be built on the wasteland on the south side of the crater, with specifications capable of accommodating the million-ton-class third-generation Luan Niao."

"We won't be moving bricks from Earth; we'll use in-situ resource utilization. The lunar soil building material molding machines and the autonomous construction robot swarm will all be reused."

Talia Knox spoke up. "Chief, Kairos's space infrastructure technology is many levels more advanced than Earth's. The construction cycle of the Dry Dock can be significantly compressed, but we need to solve the energy expansion problem of the lunar base first."

"Regarding energy expansion, coordinate with the Dyson Cloud project team." Su Che looked at Eric Weir. "Team Lead Weir, after Phase One survey is completed, prioritize allocating energy to the lunar base."

Eric Weir seconded. "Understood."

Su Che closed the three documents, and the holographic projection switched to an overview map.

"Three project teams, all personnel in place: ninety-nine Kairos experts, fifty-six academicians from the Longguo Academy of Sciences, with clear division of labor and everyone performing their duties."

"The Dyson Cloud project team has forty people, the third-generation Nantianmen Fleet project team has forty people, and the lunar base Dry Dock project team has twenty-five people."

"After the Dry Dock project is completed, continue with other comprehensive technology R&D. For humanity to break through civilization levels, it is impossible to achieve it just by completing the Dyson Cloud and the third-generation Nantianmen Fleet; technology in other fields must also be comprehensively upgraded."

Su Che scanned the room.

"Are there any questions?"

The conference room was quiet for a few seconds.

Lieutenant General Peng Zhenbang spoke first. "Chief Engineer Su, I will coordinate security and logistics. Material allocation, personnel commuting, and confidentiality management for all three project teams will be uniformly coordinated by the Interstellar Village Headquarters."

"Good, the sector under Deputy Director Qin also falls under your overall command."

Su Che took one last look at the room.

"Starting today, the Su Family Village Interstellar Development Zone is fully operational."

The meeting ended, and everyone dispersed.

The three project teams went to their respective assigned work areas.

Su Che did not leave; he stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window of the conference room, looking at the development zone outside.

Engineering vehicles shuttled on the roads, and Kairos experts and Longguo academicians walked in twos and threes toward their respective work areas.

Blue skin and yellow skin mixed together, discussing something, with someone occasionally pointing at the data on the holographic board and gesturing.

Lieutenant General Peng Zhenbang walked to his side.

"Chief Engineer Su, how long do you plan to stay in the development zone?"

"At least three months." Su Che turned around. "I won't leave until Phase One of the Dyson Cloud is completed."

"Alright, your accommodation has been arranged on the fourth floor of the main building."

Su Che gave an "Hmm" and picked up the communicator on the table.

"I'm going to tour each project team to check on the initial progress."