The Imperial Glory's Geller Field had failed in the Warp, causing the entire crew to become corrupted.
The Adeptus Mechanicus members responsible for maintaining the warship's various systems were no exception.
With no one left to maintain or oversee them, the warship's systems had fallen into paralysis and ceased operating.
To restore the warship to operation, they first had to restart the reactor.
Only with an adequate energy supply could the various subsystems operate at normal power.
Never mind where they were supposed to take the Imperial Glory; at the very least, they needed to stay alive.
If they did not restart the reactor, once the reserve power ran out—
The artificial gravity, temperature control, and oxygen circulation systems would all fail.
The players simply could not survive in an oxygen-deprived, freezing environment.
Although Planet Automata was near the Imperial Glory—
No one knew what the situation there was like now.
How many areas had the rebels captured? Had they seized the anti-aircraft batteries?
If the governor was already dead, or the enemy had taken control of the anti-aircraft batteries—
Without a logistical base, it would be harder than climbing to the heavens for the players to retake Planet Automata from the Chaos Cultists.
Restarting the reactor and turning the Imperial Glory into their main base was the wiser choice.
No matter what, this was a Lunar-class Cruiser.
If it could operate normally, weapons such as the Lance Battery, torpedoes, and Macro-cannons could intimidate an entire planet.
It could also provide air superiority for players operating on the ground.
Dovahkiin raised his hand. "Guide, we do know a little about fixing things, but reactors are a pretty advanced field."
Heavens!
He was only a sophomore in college.
What had he done to deserve being asked to repair the reactor of a Lunar-class Cruiser?!
Old Bird nodded in agreement.
He did hold an MIT degree.
His research fields included nuclear physics and plasma engineering.
But even he lacked confidence in this mission.
This game was too realistic. He was afraid he would fail to fix it.
"It's fine. Just go ahead and do it. The Emperor will guide you."
Qin Yun offered some encouragement, then his tone turned stern.
"This matter is not open to refusal. Do not say anything else detrimental to loyalty."
"You will certainly complete this mission, repair the reactor, and restart the Imperial Glory."
Looking at the bewildered, helpless players, Qin Yun felt a little embarrassed as well.
But he did not show it and maintained his cold demeanor.
It was better to put the players in a difficult position than himself.
"If you need anything, just say so. I'll have the other veterans help you as much as possible."
After saying that, Qin Yun turned and left.
He still had other matters to handle.
"Fix the reactor, me?" Magical Monkey pointed at himself.
"This feels pretty unreliable!!" Dovahkiin scratched his head.
"Let's find the manual first," Old Bird said. "It may be difficult, but that doesn't mean there's no chance."
"Besides, we only need to restart the reactor and get it running."
The group began searching through the chamber.
Eventually, they found the reactor maintenance manual at a data storage terminal.
It was more than ten thousand pages long. Besides written descriptions, it contained design drawings and data.
The manual detailed every situation the reactor might encounter, as well as the corresponding appeasement rituals.
"This game is realistic enough to kill me."
Looking at the complicated design drawings and figures accurate to six decimal places, Old Bird's head began to ache.
Dovahkiin and the others were even worse off.
Their education was not as advanced as Old Bird's!
Reading that manual was like reading a heavenly scripture.
No matter how they looked at it, all they could tell was that the diagrams were complicated and the numbers were plentiful.
For the next stretch of time, Old Bird focused on studying the blueprints and data.
At first, he was amazed by the game developer's rigor.
The data was as detailed as scientific literature, and the design drawings complied with engineering standards. He could not find a single flaw.
"Is it so realistic that they even simulated a reactor?!"
Old Bird silently gave the developers a thumbs-up.
But before long, he began to feel that this was all terrible.
It was just a game, yet it was made so complicated.
Could this reactor actually run in the real world or something?
Old Bird studied the reactor manual until he logged off.
Even while he was at work, the reactor's blueprints and data filled his mind.
Dongda Research Institute cafeteria.
"Ding Yanfeng, what's wrong with you?"
"You've seemed absent-minded all day."
Dong Hai set down his tray and sat opposite Ding Yanfeng.
Ding Yanfeng looked up, saw that it was his friend, then lowered his head again.
"I'm thinking about how to fix a reactor."
Dong Hai's eyes widened as he looked at his friend.
"Fix a reactor? Have you developed delusions recently? Where would you even find a reactor to fix?"
"Don't overreact." Ding Yanfeng glanced around and lowered his voice. "It's a game I started playing recently."
"An NPC in it gave me a mission to restart a Plasma Fusion Reactor."
"A game mission? Why not just ask some gaming expert?"
Dong Hai ate as he spoke. "It's such a simple matter. Is it worth agonizing over?"
Ding Yanfeng explained, "This game is different from the ones on the market. It uses a realistic physics engine and aims for one hundred percent realism."
"There are no hints in the game. You can only figure out how to fix things yourself."
Dong Hai looked his friend up and down suspiciously.
"As an MIT graduate, don't tell me you got scammed."
After Ding Yanfeng returned to the country, he joined the Dongda Research Institute, where he met Dong Hai.
Over time, the two became close friends.
"I didn't get scammed." Ding Yanfeng shook his head. "The game I'm playing is very realistic. Two players already repaired its gun turrets and weapon systems using their engineering knowledge."
"Now the NPC wants us to figure out how to restore a Plasma Fusion Reactor to operation."
"That sounds interesting." Dong Hai looked intrigued. "But there's no need to take game stuff so seriously."
"That's what I thought at first, but the Plasma Fusion Reactor has a maintenance manual. The content alone is more than ten thousand pages and hundreds of thousands of words, with detailed design drawings and data."
"I even drew a few sketches and copied down some data from memory. Take a look yourself."
Ding Yanfeng handed Dong Hai the sketches he had drawn while slacking off at work.
Dong Hai reached out to take them while voicing his doubts.
"I'm telling you, you're just too stubborn. Why take game stuff so seriously—"
Before Dong Hai could finish, his eyes widened.
He stared fixedly at the design drawings and data on the sketches.
Dong Hai held doctorates in both mathematics and physics, and he had also studied abroad.
He was highly sensitive to numbers and could spot clues in numerical information at a glance.
The moment he saw the sketches, Dong Hai began calculating in his head.
To his surprise, the data on them was internally consistent and not randomly fabricated.
"Is this really from a game? You didn't steal classified blueprints from some laboratory, did you?"
Dong Hai looked at his friend in shock.
"Do you believe me now? It's just a game, one hundred percent realistic." Ding Yanfeng said irritably, "The developers probably hired some major researcher as a technical consultant."
"Interesting." Dong Hai looked at the sketches. "If it's one hundred percent realistic, then I want to ask: how does this game solve the problem of confining high-temperature plasma flow?"
How to confine high-temperature plasma was currently the most important subject in nuclear physics laboratories.
It was related to how nuclear fusion could be commercialized.
"Stop thinking about it. The game has a science-fiction setting and gravitational field technology."
Ding Yanfeng shot Dong Hai an irritated glance.
"With gravitational field confinement technology, its operating temperature threshold is far lower than laboratory standards, allowing stable energy output and thus commercial application."
Dong Hai looked disappointed.
"So it's still a deus ex machina. I thought there might be some entirely new approach."
"But if the game is made so realistically, then just follow real-world reasoning."
"A reactor's operating process can be divided into three steps: ignition, burn, and output."
"As long as the output exceeds the input, it counts as normal operation."
"In the game, it's nothing more than using gravitational field technology to confine the plasma flow and make it undergo fusion, then produce stable output. The steps should not have changed."
"Once you enter the game, figure out which step is causing the problem, then repair it according to the manual."
"That makes sense." Ding Yanfeng nodded. "It's not real anyway. I'll try it once I log in."
"Right, that's the attitude. It's just a game. Even if it blows up, it doesn't matter." Dong Hai spoke carelessly.
Imperial Glory Strategic Command.
Qin Yun, who had been checking messages, suddenly sneezed.
He rubbed his sore nose.
"I'm already a Living Saint. Why am I still sneezing? Could something bad be about to happen?!"
PS: Cadia has fallen. Old Thirteen will soon return to work like a beast of burden.
Thank you all for your support. If you have time, please flip to the last page every day to give the author a little extra readership.
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