Long-Haired Battery

Energy had always been one of the greatest challenges of the twenty-first century. China had been researching controlled nuclear fusion, trying to use nuclear technology to obtain limitless energy.

As a Luzhou City native, Du Ke had often visited the Luzhou Plasma Physics Research Institute during the first half of the year, and he was thoroughly familiar with the Artificial Sun project.

But according to what he had learned by cozying up to the researchers, the Artificial Sun would probably need several more decades before it could succeed.

So petroleum and natural gas were still the mainstream energy sources internationally. New Energy sources such as solar and wind power had not yet achieved sufficiently high utilization rates. Many research organizations and major corporations were studying battery technology in an attempt to replace polluting methods such as fuel combustion, but batteries had their limits as well.

New Energy Vehicles were already racing through the streets, yet the point at which they could replace gasoline-powered cars had still not arrived. The reason was the battery problem.

"If I made a Long-Haired battery, could I seize the New Energy market and become a battery tycoon?" An idea formed in Du Ke's mind.

The thought filled him with endless motivation.

He immediately intensified his research into Long-Haired Bombs, carefully observing their general structure under an optical microscope and studying their deeper structure under an electron microscope.

Yet his observations revealed that Long-Haired Bombs contained not matter, but two special forms of energy. After repeated research and experimentation, he finally determined that one of those energies was a highly concentrated Electron Cluster. The other was a Proton Cluster.

When the Cell Chain kept them separated, they did not come into contact and showed no reaction. When the Cell Chain disintegrated and they came into contact to form matter, they released enormous energy.

"So the key isn't these two forms of energy, but the structure of the Cell Chain. As long as I can create that structure, I can create a Long-Haired Battery." After a full fifteen days of exploration, Du Ke finally gained some understanding of how Long-Haired Bombs worked.

"Next, I need to analyze the specific principles behind the Cell Chain's structure, as well as how to generate Electron Clusters and Proton Clusters." He set himself a plan.

Meanwhile, the results of his research on the other test tubes gradually came in as well.

After observing the test tube containing water and feeding it to laboratory mice, he confirmed that it was ordinary water of excellent quality, without any special elements from the Fantasy World. The flesh of the Death Worm had a cellular structure similar to that of Earth animals, and the mice showed no signs of poisoning after eating it.

However, after eating it, the mice became visibly abnormally excited and highly prone to fighting, much like the effects of stimulants.

Du Ke gave the Shield Crow's feathers a brief examination. They were not much different from ordinary bird feathers. As for how the Shield Crow actually released its magic shield, he had no idea. It was probably unrelated to the feathers.

He planted the moss, bean sprouts, and yellow algae in special containers. For now, the environment seemed unsuitable for them, and they had already withered to the point of death.

The Hopping Pill Bugs had suffocated to death in their test tubes long ago. After examining their cell structures, he fed them to the laboratory mice as well, and nothing happened after the mice ate them. The Crawling Tadpoles had also died in their test tubes. When their corpses were fed to the mice, the mice immediately bled from all seven orifices and died, proving that they were extremely poisonous.

The test tube containing humus-rich soil remained sealed away for the time being. Du Ke did not have enough time to conduct so many experiments.

All the experiments were carried out in a dilapidated house in the rural outskirts. Each time he finished an experiment, he performed a complete disinfection to prevent any viruses or germs from leaking out.

For now, his protective measures appeared to be thorough, and no leaks had occurred.

"The air in the Fantasy World can be breathed, the water can be drunk, and the meat can be eaten. That should basically guarantee what I need to survive. The next time I travel there, I can stay for a while." Du Ke summarized the recent experiments and drew a perfect full stop in his lab journal.

Next, he would devote himself fully to making money and researching the Long-Haired Battery.

"Engineer Li, where have you been lately? Several friends want you to modify their cars." The GTR owner from before had returned.

He had successfully avenged his loss with the newly modified GTR Du Ke had worked on, so he had great faith in Du Ke's skills and began introducing friends to have their cars modified.

From dealing with the aftermath to returning from his trip between worlds, Du Ke had taken a full half month off.

Now, he had returned to work.

First, he had signed a one-year contract. Second, research took time. And if he truly wanted to research and manufacture batteries, he needed to earn the startup capital.

Fortunately, the country's economy was improving by the day, and there were gradually more rich second-generation heirs and self-made wealthy people who enjoyed modified cars.

"I went home to deal with some personal matters." Du Ke had a favorable impression of this car owner. Facts had proven that if you wanted people to remember you, being foolish and rich was also a good method. "Call your friends over. Since they're your friends, Boss, I'll definitely help you carefully design modification plans for them."

"Alright, I'll notify them right away."

Before long, several sports cars drove into the modification garage. Boss Xu bustled around receiving the customers, while Du Ke directed the junior mechanics as they began inspecting the sports cars.

When it came to car modification, Du Ke was already a top-tier expert.

Thus, the modification plans were quickly completed. After some smooth talking, the wealthy young owners pulled out their bank cards one after another, some swiping their cards and others making transfers.

From this single order alone, Du Ke earned nearly three hundred thousand in commission.

Unfortunately, none of them was as generous as the GTR owner. None mentioned any extra reward, and one owner even haggled over the modification fee for quite a while.

Boss Xu handled all of that. Du Ke could not be bothered to waste words over such a small amount of money.

He still stood with his hands behind his back, guiding the modification technicians and junior mechanics to modify the cars according to his ideas, maximizing vehicle performance while ensuring the structural integrity of the entire car. The cars modified under his guidance were far less likely to return for repairs, and his reputation naturally spread.

By the end of the night, everyone in the modified-car scene knew that there was a modification expert over in Luzhou City.

Some people even came to ask to become his apprentices.

Naturally, Du Ke refused. They did not have his Mind Armor and could not learn his abilities. If he tried teaching them and only made them stupid, he would be harming them instead.

So he simply pretended that he was unwilling to pass his skills on to others.

As a result, some people used their connections with Boss Xu to get into the modification garage, replacing the modification technicians and junior mechanics in hopes of picking up a few tricks by Du Ke's side.

Du Ke saw it all but did not expose them. Whether they could steal anything was their own problem.

Instead, he felt relieved and thought, Once my one-year term is up and I refuse to renew the contract, I won't have any psychological burden.

Boss Xu had treated him well before, arranging this highly profitable job for him. If he did not renew his contract after a year, it would certainly affect the modification garage.

But since Boss Xu had secretly allowed people to come steal his skills without even informing him beforehand, that was simply the kind of relationship they had.

It was just a normal relationship between boss and employee. Neither owed the other anything.

"Engineer Li, why do we need to modify this part like this? If we move the intake pipe over here, won't it affect the original structure?" The would-be thief was full of enthusiasm and asked question after question.

Du Ke did not hide anything and answered directly, "Because of the airflow mixing issue in the intake duct. If it isn't modified this way, it can't meet the stroke requirements of a twelve-cylinder engine. As for the structure you mentioned, it's actually fine. I tested the load-bearing capacity here. Weakening it slightly won't affect the whole car."

The other man paused. "How did you test that?"

Du Ke smiled faintly. "Experience."