Aboard the Ranger, in the captain's lounge.
Wearing a white lab coat, Nie Yun gently shook a glass test tube and studied it closely. It contained a little emerald-green liquid, a diluted solution of the Water of Life.
Behind Nie Yun, Little Octopus crept stealthily toward him, its eyes fixed on the test tube in his hand.
Thump! It pushed off hard, its body shooting upward like a black shadow!
But the very next moment, Nie Yun's delicately poised fingers appeared in front of the airborne Little Octopus.
Thunk! A single Finger-Flicking Divine Skill sent the dumbfounded Little Octopus flying straight into the faceplate of a nearby Silverwing Guard!
With a click, the faceplate closed, and Little Octopus's indignant puffing came from inside...
Nie Yun rolled his eyes helplessly. Just as he was about to resume his research, Codename's projection slowly appeared before him.
"Captain, the Prometheus project has successfully completed its initial trial!"
Nie Yun nodded in satisfaction at the news. "Good! Continue the project. Next, expand the Mercury base. We need to extend this energy network throughout the Solar System as soon as possible. Prioritize the energy link running directly from the sun to the wormhole.
"Also, we can begin designing and planning Archimedes' Mirror, the Prometheus system's subsystem. Allow the Earth Defense Force limited participation!"
"Yes!"
The Prometheus project was enormously significant to Nie Yun. It could completely transform his energy infrastructure within the Solar System.
The thermonuclear fusion technology Nie Yun currently used relied on two hydrogen isotopes, deuterium and tritium, as nuclear fuel.
Both isotopes were abundant in the Solar System, but their distribution was uneven. The moon, for instance, held enormous reserves that were easy to extract at extremely low cost. Many smaller celestial bodies, however, had limited nuclear fuel reserves that were