When Are You Planning to Graduate?

As the Xia Country news aired, Weibo's trending list updated at lightning speed!

"Shocking! A sophomore at Sandao Kou University actually..."

"Controlled nuclear fusion experiment a complete success, and the Chief Engineer was him!"

Eight or nine in the evening was when most ordinary people were surfing the internet.

Headlines this eye-catching naturally drew plenty of attention.

Within minutes of the news breaking, the comments section went wild!

"Wait? Am I reading this right? A sophomore is the Chief Engineer of the Controlled Nuclear Fusion Project? Is today April Fools' Day?"

"To the person above, this came from the Xia Country news. It should be real!"

"Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! What the hell?!"

"My vocabulary fails me. All I can say is holy shit!"

"Look at someone else's sophomore year, then look at mine.JPG"

"Holy shit! Isn't that my classmate?!"

"??! Tell us your story!"

"..."

At that moment.

The Sandao Kou Nuclear Physics Laboratory was brightly lit.

In his office, Lü Yongchang set down his phone, a complicated look in his eyes.

He had just finished speaking to his parents.

Thinking of his mother's final reminders left him with a feeling he could not put into words.

Although his parents had lived well under the protection of Xia Country and the Human Federation in his previous life... as chief scientist, he had been destined to have no time to spend with them.

Maybe... I should find some time to go home and see them?

The thought slowly surfaced in the depths of his mind.

But a moment later, he shook his head and banished it.

The Sword of Damocles still hung over all humanity. He could not stop moving forward!

Knock, knock, knock!

A rhythmic knock interrupted his thoughts.

Lü Yongchang composed himself and said softly, "Come in. The door's unlocked."

The office door slowly opened, and Fang Xu appeared in the doorway.

His face was full of smiles. "Congratulations, Chief Engineer Lü! You've become famous overnight!"

Lü Yongchang rolled his eyes in exasperation and capped the pen in his hand. "Xu, don't tell me you're like all those other people and came to see me over something this trivial?"

Fang Xu hurriedly shook his head in denial. "Of course not!"

"Dean Jiang asked me to pass along a message."

"Hm? Dean Jiang?" Lü Yongchang immediately perked up. "What does Dean Jiang want with me?"

Fang Xu looked at Lü Yongchang with an odd expression and said quietly, "Dean Jiang wanted to ask... when are you planning to graduate?"

Lü Yongchang: "...???"

"Huh? Graduate?"

Lü Yongchang's expression gradually turned odd as well.

Now that Fang Xu mentioned it, he remembered that he was apparently still an undergraduate who had just started his sophomore year!

"Well... can I graduate? Come to think of it, I haven't written my graduation thesis yet!"

Feeling a little guilty, Lü Yongchang reached up and rubbed the tip of his nose.

Forget his graduation thesis. How long had it been since he last attended a class?!

The professors in his department had probably all but forgotten him by now, hadn't they?

Fang Xu also looked at Lü Yongchang with a strange expression.

Honestly, this was the most unusual undergraduate he had ever met.

He had not even finished his undergraduate thesis, yet he could lead academicians in developing controlled nuclear fusion.

Fang Xu's brow immediately furrowed, and he murmured to himself, "Dean Jiang didn't say anything about that..."

Lü Yongchang looked at Fang Xu, sweating profusely. "What do we do?"

"Do I have to go back to class now? Can I still make up my GPA?"

Fang Xu shook his head repeatedly. "No, no, no! That won't do!"

Go back to class?

What a joke!

With only one final step left in controlled nuclear fusion, the Chief Engineer was going back to university to take sophomore classes?

Just listen to that. Did it make any sense?!

Fang Xu pondered for a moment, then his eyes suddenly lit up. "I've got it!"

"You don't need to worry about your GPA. I'm sure the school leadership won't hold up your graduation paperwork over that."

"The main issue now is your graduation thesis."

After saying that, a hint of uncertainty appeared in Fang Xu's eyes.

He felt that the school leadership probably would not, and really should not, hold up Lü Yongchang's graduation paperwork over a thesis.

This was the Chief Engineer of the Controlled Nuclear Fusion Project!

If word got out that an academician-level scientist had not even graduated from university... surely the school leadership would not look good either!

But... Fang Xu had also considered another issue.

Not having a proper graduation thesis would ultimately leave a blemish on his record.

"How about... you compile our laboratory's data and publish a paper in Science?"

"That can serve as your graduation thesis!"

"What do you think?"

The corners of Lü Yongchang's mouth twitched twice, and he nodded helplessly. "Well... I suppose that's our only option."

Great!

If my undergraduate thesis has to be a Science paper, will I have to submit a paper to aliens when I'm up for election as an academician?

Lü Yongchang grumbled inwardly.

"Then should I start compiling the data now?"

Fang Xu shook his head repeatedly. "No rush, no rush!"

"Why would you need to do such simple work yourself? Here's what we'll do. I'll have one of the PhDs working under me help you finish the paper!"

"Just carry on with your work."

The corners of Lü Yongchang's mouth twitched again.

Good grief!

Having a PhD help me finish my undergraduate thesis.

Isn't that a bit of a waste of talent?

"Oh, right."

Fang Xu said casually, "Minister Hong may come to see you in a couple of days."

Lü Yongchang's expression grew slightly serious, and he immediately put the matter of his graduation thesis out of his mind.

"Minister Hong? What's going on?"

Fang Xu pondered for a moment before continuing, "My guess is that it's to take you to meet Senator Li Chief."

"After all, we can already sustain controlled nuclear fusion for extended periods in the laboratory. Whatever else happens, Xia Country should be starting preparations to build a Demonstration Reactor, right?"

Something stirred in Lü Yongchang's heart.

A Demonstration Reactor!

That would be nothing like the small Stellarator in the laboratory!

It would be a massive installation supplying Xia Country's power grid!

But that raised another issue.

Building a Demonstration Reactor did not end with igniting nuclear fusion!

At the very least, it had to generate electricity, didn't it?

They could hardly pour a mountain of funding into something that could only ignite nuclear fusion without generating electricity, could they?

"In that case, shouldn't we start considering what kind of generator to use?"

Hearing Lü Yongchang's question, Fang Xu froze briefly and instinctively asked, "Generator?"

"What else is there besides boiling water?"

Lü Yongchang shook his head with a wry smile.

That was indeed true.

Throughout human history, from the steam age to the information age, humanity had seemingly never escaped its destiny of boiling water.

Even the most advanced controlled nuclear fission power plants currently generated electricity by boiling water!

Even in his previous life, every nuclear fusion power plant on Earth had used that same simple, brute-force method of boiling water.

As he reflected on this, his gaze shifted slightly, and a fragment of memory flashed through his mind.

Perhaps we could try a Magnetohydrodynamic Generator?