Thermoelectric Conversion

Bai Ge finished reading all the data and silently exited the database.

So far, everything was fine. No world-shaking containment objects had appeared.

But clearly, this kind of thing had been discovered all over the world, and governments everywhere had evidently begun paying attention.

"As containment objects increase in number, they'll attract more and more attention from the authorities. A global response organization will inevitably emerge..."

"However, judging from this information, the U.S. government chose to keep things hidden. It's also possible that, in the end, each country will only deal with the containment objects within its own borders."

"Both outcomes are possible."

Bai Ge was deep in thought when, suddenly, Lingdang reminded him,

"Overlord, with the amount of knowledge we currently possess, we can already build a supercomputer."

Bai Ge smiled. "Are you in such a hurry to get yourself a body?"

"No. A supercomputer is the foundation for developing other technologies. Processing real-world data requires real-world energy, and using that energy to manifest higher-order properties is the optimal choice. Therefore, it's better to leave data processing to a computer made of real-world matter," Lingdang said.

Bai Ge said, "I know, but supercomputers consume too much energy. Electricity alone would cost a hundred million RMB a year. If you don't use a supercomputer, can't you develop technology?"

Lingdang said, "I can, but it would only be theoretical research. Without concrete experimental data for verification, I can't confirm that my simulated data is one hundred percent accurate."

Bai Ge nodded. "That's good enough, then. Based on the project data we just obtained, many of them haven't finished their research. Which ones can you complete?"

Lingdang quickly listed more than forty technologies.

"Completing these technologies is only a matter of time and funding. I finished simulating all of them just now and constructed mature technological frameworks."

Bai Ge took a look. From chips to satellite weapons, Lingdang had completed the development of all of them.

With mature blueprints and a theoretical foundation, even the detailed parameters of the finished products had been simulated.

These were all studies the United States would complete sooner or later. After obtaining all their research data, Lingdang simply continued from there and completed the remaining work in an instant—work that should have taken human researchers several years.

"Hmm? An electromagnetic cannon? This was a weapon the United States had researched for forty years without being able to deploy in actual combat, and you've already finished developing it?"

Lingdang said, "The electromagnetic railgun has already left the experimental stage and entered engineering testing. The problems that remain to be improved are only a matter of time."

Bai Ge nodded. The electromagnetic railgun was probably the most powerful weapon he could make.

The principle was simple, but putting it into actual combat required adjustments to many issues. Lingdang had solved all of them in an instant.

As for the materials, Bai Ge had no difficulty with them either. Most basic materials could be bought, while he could manufacture some of the more precise materials himself. The relevant technologies were all available.

Bai Ge quickly shared the relevant information and shook his head.

"But I can't use it. First, it's too large. Second, its energy consumption is terrifying. Its power may be impressive, but using that energy to manifest properties would undoubtedly be better."

"That's why I recommend that you build a supercomputer as soon as possible, or obtain one. With it, I can complete controlled nuclear fusion technology," Lingdang said.

Bai Ge was startled. Controlled nuclear fusion—this technology was far too important.

It could be said that it was one of the technologies the world most urgently needed.

Nuclear fusion fuel could come from seawater and certain forms of deuterium, making it practically inexhaustible. Hydrogen was the most common element in the universe, without question. Under controlled nuclear fusion technology, it could be converted into the cleanest and most efficient source of energy.

It would have revolutionary significance for other technologies, and it was also extremely important to Bai Ge.

With this technology, how many properties could he manifest? Why would he need a diesel generator anymore?

"A supercomputer... I understand."

"If I build one myself, it will require too many materials. It would be better to borrow an existing supercomputer from one of the countries, and I wouldn't have to supply its energy myself."

"I'll find an opportunity to borrow one from the United States or RB."

Before obtaining a supercomputer, Bai Ge had to carry out another plan first.

Exploring the Earth's core.

Bai Ge had too many things to do, and everything required energy.

After accumulating electrical energy for more than six days, he also happened to sign a contract during that time.

"Three million kilowatt-hours! The Earth's-core plan can begin!"

Inside the world of imagination, Bai Ge looked at his appendix. Lingdang told him that he could begin the experiment.

"First, manifest the property that lets me obtain thermal energy. This is the most important thing!"

"Thermal energy itself is energy the human body needs, but once my body stores too much thermal energy, my body temperature will also rise."

"Even if I can raise the upper limit of the thermal energy the human body can withstand and keep myself from being burned to death, it would cause enormous inconvenience in my daily life."

For example, clothes. If his body temperature reached several thousand degrees Celsius, he could forget about wearing clothes.

Giving someone a hug would be equivalent to killing them.

Refueling would definitely cause a massive explosion.

Of course, that was under normal circumstances. Bai Ge could set an abnormal property to deal with it.

For example, forcibly absorbing thermal energy while ignoring the laws of thermodynamics and storing the thermal energy directly.

Why could it be stored? That was the universe's problem, not Bai Ge's.

Abnormal properties were forcibly implanted into reality, compelling the universe to accept them. Sometimes, there was no need to be reasonable.

"This is somewhat like Superman. Superman can absorb the radiant energy carried by sunlight without increasing his own heat. This thermal energy is converted into energy that supplies Superman's other properties, such as his steel body and his ability to fly... Well... Superman's ability to fly is incredibly unscientific, as is his super-hearing. It even violates the way sound travels at the speed of sound..."

In Bai Ge's mind, Superman's setting was essentially a collection of abnormal properties.

Just being able to hear sounds from across the entire world was bizarre beyond words. After hearing a gunshot in another country, Superman could fly across a thousand kilometers at incredible speed, reach his girlfriend's side, and block the bullet. That blatantly violated the laws of nature.

It wasn't that his movement speed was too high. It was that sound wasn't that fast...

By the time the sound traveled a thousand kilometers, the bullet would have killed his girlfriend. Her body would have gone cold and she would already be ready for burial.

"Ignore the details and simply store thermal energy safely. Can it be done?"

Bai Ge tried, but there was no reaction at all.

"Fine..."

"Then let's convert it into another form of energy... Electrical energy."

"The conversion speed will be one hundred million Planck times, and the upper limit of the temperature I can withstand will depend on the upper limit of the electrical energy my cells can store. Approximately one to one hundred million."

Sometimes, one had to give reality a way out, especially when there was insufficient energy.

At that moment, Bai Ge set a second energy-storage property for himself.

"When all heat enters my body's cells, the cell temperature will not rise. The thermal energy will be instantly converted into electrical energy, stored, and supplied to my own needs."

This meant that Bai Ge would no longer fear heat.

Standing inside a furnace would be equivalent to charging.

All energy was the movement of matter. Normally, when heat reached Bai Ge, the matter in his body would move violently and eventually turn to ash.

But with this property, Bai Ge's body temperature would never exceed thirty-seven degrees Celsius.

All external heat exceeding that temperature would be converted into electrical energy.

In his setting, Bai Ge also established a growth threshold. The upper limit of the thermal energy he could accept would increase along with the upper limit of electrical energy he could accept.

At present, all of Bai Ge's cells combined could store up to five trillion kilowatt-hours of electricity. This meant Bai Ge could withstand temperatures of up to fifty thousand degrees Celsius.

Bai Ge had carefully considered this ratio. If the temperature he could withstand was too high, the cost of manifesting it would definitely be higher.

He would start lower and increase it gradually later.

Bai Ge only needed to raise the upper limit of the electrical energy stored by his cells, and the upper limit of the heat he could withstand would naturally rise with it.

"What? It still doesn't work? What's wrong?"

Bai Ge thought carefully and understood.

His setting was self-contradictory, making it one of the most expensive possible settings. Naturally, it couldn't be realized.

Contradictions with the laws of reality could still be accommodated. But contradicting oneself belonged to the realm of gods.

The contradiction lay in the fact that Bai Ge had set thermal energy to be instantly converted into electrical energy the moment heat entered his body. Heat was a process quantity, while thermal energy was a state quantity.

During the conduction of heat, matter moved. The greater the movement, the greater the heat, and the greater the thermal energy.

In Bai Ge's setting, the movement of matter in between had been removed to keep his body temperature constant, because otherwise Bai Ge would be unable to survive.

Thus, before the heat had time to produce thermal energy, the property was already demanding that the thermal energy be converted into electrical energy. It was completely self-contradictory.

It was equivalent to the property demanding two things at once.

1: Convert the thermal energy carried by heat into electrical energy.

2: Do not let the heat produce thermal energy.

"This would be better if I simply ignored the laws of thermodynamics. If I ignore them, I'd only contradict reality, while my own logic could remain self-consistent. The property could simply do whatever it wanted."

"But contradicting itself is like an omnipotent God creating a stone that even He can't lift. The energy consumption is the most terrifying kind."

Bai Ge was not discouraged, however. This problem was actually easy to solve.

He only needed to modify the main premise while leaving the other auxiliary settings unchanged.

"All external high-temperature matter and energy above my body temperature will have the thermal energy it carries converted into electrical energy on the surface of my cells before the heat that should have been conducted arrives. The cells will then absorb it."

After finishing the setting, Bai Ge returned to reality and immediately felt that ninety percent of the energy in his appendix had been depleted.

It worked.

He had merely changed the order in which things happened, and the contradiction had immediately disappeared.

The automatic conversion of thermal energy into electrical energy on the surface of his cells, followed by its absorption, seemed miraculous, but in reality, the 'event logic' was reasonable.

From now on, all heat would be isolated outside his cells. Did it want to conduct inward? Fine... It could turn into electrical energy first and roll its way in!

Automatic conversion into electrical energy had become the admission ticket for heat to be conducted to Bai Ge.

"Done! It cost me two million eight hundred thousand kilowatt-hours of electricity..."

"Next, I'm heading to Earth's greatest treasure vault!"