Capital City, Xia Country.
Inside a small villa.
A man dressed in expensive designer clothes, with a pair of nonprescription glasses perched on his nose, stared intently at the computer screen before him.
The screen displayed an author's dashboard.
On the dashboard's home page, an article had received countless likes and comments.
As the view drew closer, the article's title gradually became clear. It was none other than the article posted on Zhihu attacking Sandao Kou University!
Watching the steadily rising numbers of likes and comments, the man curled his lips into a cold smile.
This article should earn him a tidy sum.
With that thought, he pressed F5 on his keyboard.
The page refreshed.
The article that should have appeared on the home page had turned gray.
"What's going on?!"
The man sprang out of his chair, his expression shifting uncertainly.
An unpleasant suspicion slowly formed in his mind.
He moved his cursor over the grayed-out article title and clicked the left mouse button.
"Hello, Deng Haochu. Your article is suspected of..."
Simply put, it had been taken down.
Looking at the line of dark red text before him, Deng Haochu's expression changed abruptly.
Damn it!
He hurriedly moved his mouse and switched to the earnings page.
A great big zero greeted him.
Bang!
Deng Haochu slammed his palm onto the computer desk, making the monitor shake.
"Damn Sandao Kou University..."
Deng Haochu knew perfectly well that only someone from Sandao Kou University could have pulled something like this!
"This... isn't over!"
A cold glint flashed in Deng Haochu's eyes.
At the thought of the hundreds of thousands, perhaps even a million, in earnings that had vanished into thin air, a pained look crossed his face.
A week later.
As the article was deleted and banned across the internet, the negative public sentiment it had stirred up gradually faded.
Meanwhile, Sandao Kou University was once again placed under lockdown.
The reason was simple.
The second controlled nuclear fusion experiment was about to begin in Sandao Kou University's Nuclear Physics Laboratory!
Inside Sandao Kou University's library.
Su Yutong frowned as she lifted her head from the workbook before her and instinctively glanced at the seat beside her.
As always, it was empty.
She closed her eyes slightly and let out a deep sigh.
Ever since meeting Lü Yongchang, she had been like a woman possessed, coming to the library at the same time every day in hopes of another "chance encounter."
But after more than ten consecutive days of disappointment, her somewhat restless heart had gradually settled down.
Perhaps that "graduate student" only visited the library occasionally.
"Yutong!"
Just as Su Yutong sank into thought, a clear voice called out from nearby.
Su Yutong gave a slight shudder and abruptly turned around.
When she saw who it was, her tense body relaxed a little. "Chen Yun? What are you doing here?"
Chen Yun shot Su Yutong an exasperated sideways glance and said loudly, "What? Am I not allowed to come here?"
"I have no idea what's gotten into you, sitting in this little corner of the library every day... Are you waiting for someone?"
Panic flashed in Su Yutong's eyes at having her secret exposed. "D-don't make things up!"
"This is a library. Keep your voice down!"
Chen Yun gave Su Yutong another sideways glance. "Keep my voice down? Why don't you look around and see if anyone else is here?"
Su Yutong froze for a moment, then hurriedly stood up and looked around.
The enormous library was completely empty.
"What... what's going on?"
Chen Yun sighed deeply, helplessness showing in her eyes. "My dear princess, didn't you read yesterday's campus announcement?"
Su Yutong shook her head blankly.
Chen Yun stepped forward and took Su Yutong's right hand. "Come on, come on! Hurry back to the dorm with me!"
"The university issued an announcement last night. All students are to remain in their dorms unless they absolutely need to go out!"
"I honestly have no idea how you managed to get out today..."
"If I hadn't known you came to the library every day, I wouldn't even have known where to find you!"
Su Yutong looked even more bewildered. "But... why?"
Chen Yun pulled Su Yutong toward the dorms. "Why? Are you playing dumb, or do you really not know? Our university's Nuclear Physics Laboratory is conducting its second controlled nuclear fusion experiment today!"
Inside the Nuclear Physics Laboratory.
Lü Yongchang looked solemnly at the Stellarator before him, which resembled a tangled ball of yarn.
"Let's get ready to begin!"
Without wasting words, Lü Yongchang spoke directly to Fang Xu beside him.
Fang Xu nodded lightly, then turned and gave orders to the researchers nearby.
The familiar procedure began again.
Once the power switch was thrown, a hum rose as an immensely powerful current passed through the superconducting coils, forming a closed, twisted, ring-shaped magnetic cage inside the Stellarator's chamber.
While the heating apparatus warmed up, Fang Xu asked Lü Yongchang apprehensively, "Yongchang, how long do you think we can extend the duration of controlled nuclear fusion in this experiment?"
At the question, Lü Yongchang gave Fang Xu a strange look.
What did he mean, how long could they extend it?
In Lü Yongchang's view, apart from not being connected to a generator, the Stellarator's basic structure was already little different from the large fusion reactors of the future.
At the very least, it already had all the necessary components.
"Fang Xu, I think that depends on how long you want to keep it running."
Fang Xu's pupils abruptly contracted.
Did that mean...
Before he could think it through, a researcher nearby called out loudly, "Professor Lü, the warm-up is complete!"
With no time to explain further to Fang Xu, Lü Yongchang said in a firm voice, "Inject the deuterium-tritium gas!"
"Prepare for ignition!"
The instant the deuterium-tritium gas became high-temperature plasma inside the Stellarator's chamber, a laser beam struck its surface!
Within mere seconds, the fire of fusion ignited once more.
"Large numbers of neutrons detected!"
"The nuclear fusion reaction is proceeding normally!"
Reports rang out one after another.
Lü Yongchang's expression was somewhat grave.
"Keep a close watch on the remaining deuterium-tritium fuel. Replenish it immediately if it runs low!"
Unlike the previous experiment, Lü Yongchang's goal this time was to sustain controlled nuclear fusion for an extended period.
They therefore absolutely could not repeat the previous experiment, in which the fuel had burned out shortly after the fusion reaction began.
"How's the heat dissipation?"
Lü Yongchang asked in a low voice.
The researcher monitoring the temperature immediately replied, "The cooling system is working well! The Stellarator's surface temperature is twenty-five degrees Celsius!"
Five minutes...
Ten minutes...
Twenty-seven minutes!
When the sustained fusion reaction surpassed ITER's twenty-six-minute record, Fang Xu's face filled with excitement and apprehension.
Naturally, he was excited because they had set a new record.
His apprehension... came from remembering what Lü Yongchang had said about the Tokamak Device's thirty-minute threshold.
Time ticked by, second after second.
The thirty-minute threshold passed without any change in Lü Yongchang's unremarkable expression.
He looked up at the time, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly. "Thirty-five minutes. That should do it. Prepare to shut it down!"
As the researchers carried out their tasks in an orderly manner, the heating system slowly stopped, and the current passing through the superconducting coils gradually weakened.
Finally, the flame of nuclear fusion slowly died out inside the Stellarator.
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