The moon waxed and waned; people came together and parted, knowing joy and sorrow.
One person's joys and sorrows were not shared by another.
While all of Xia Country celebrated, the United States, thousands of miles away across the ocean, sank into panic and regret!
On the streets of Huadon in the United States.
Countless citizens held banners and flags as they marched toward the White House in an immense procession.
The chaos outside kept drawing the attention of Americans who had stayed home.
As more and more American citizens joined in, the procession grew longer and longer!
Gradually, a dense crowd packed the space outside the White House!
"We need an explanation!"
"Why did you kick Xia Country out of the ITER Project?!"
"We need nuclear fusion!"
Bold English letters covered one brightly colored banner after another.
The White House security personnel looked utterly powerless before the hundreds of thousands of protesters.
Meanwhile, inside the White House.
President Albert, his blond hair tousled, stared through the window at everything happening outside with a worried expression.
"Ah..."
He sighed deeply and drew his gaze away from the window.
"Mr. Albert, there's no need to pay attention to these ignorant fools. They..."
"Shut up, Anthony!" Albert glared fiercely at Secretary of Defense Anthony and snapped, "If it weren't for you, Xia Country would be sharing its nuclear fusion technology with us for free right now!"
"Look at what you've done!"
Anthony's expression darkened at Albert's rebuke. "Mr. President, with all due respect, even if Xia Country hadn't withdrawn from the ITER Project, they wouldn't share their nuclear fusion technology with us!"
Albert snorted. "How do you know Xia Country wouldn't do that?"
"I'm telling you, Anthony, nobody understands Xia Country better than I do!"
"I believe Xia Country would honor that agreement!"
As he spoke, Albert suddenly turned to Professor Collins beside him. "Professor, how is our controlled nuclear fusion Demonstration Reactor project coming along?"
"Don't tell me it's still sitting on the drawing board after all these days!"
Abruptly caught in the crossfire, Professor Collins stiffened and answered nervously, "Mr. President, we've... already started construction!"
Albert's expression relaxed.
Finally, some good news!
"Oh?" A hint of delight appeared in Albert's eyes. "How far along are we?"
The corners of Professor Collins's mouth twitched twice. He lowered his head and said quietly, "The... the foundations."
"...WTF?!"
"Professor, are you kidding me?!" Albert's face reddened visibly.
"Mr. President, we've already pressed the construction crews repeatedly." Professor Collins sighed deeply. "There's nothing else I can do..."
The corner of Albert's eye twitched sharply twice. "I don't care! Tell those damned construction crews I want to see the Demonstration Reactor within a month!"
"I don't care how you do it. You have one month!"
"Do you understand, Professor Collins?!"
It was the third day after Pangu One's successful operation.
Although the Controlled Nuclear Fusion Project had succeeded, the research team had not disbanded.
At Lü Yongchang's request, all the researchers had gathered at a secret nuclear laboratory in Xia Country.
Outside the Great Xia Bay Nuclear Physics Laboratory.
Over a hundred researchers looked at Lü Yongchang in bewilderment.
"Yongchang?"
After a moment's thought, Fang Xu decided to ask him outright. "What are you planning to do?"
Lü Yongchang chuckled, slowly sweeping his gaze over the researchers before him.
"You're all wondering what's going on, aren't you?"
As the researchers nodded, his smile grew wider.
"Everyone, we've completed our research and development task for controlled nuclear fusion."
"But... don't you want to take it a step further?"
Fang Xu frowned.
Having spent more time with Lü Yongchang than anyone else, Fang Xu began to get an inkling of his intentions.
He had a rough idea of what Lü Yongchang wanted to do!
"Everyone, I've already submitted a project application to the Speaker!"
"As for what the project is..." Lü Yongchang chuckled and continued, "Fusion reactor miniaturization. Would any of you be interested?"
"Of course, I won't force anyone to stay if they don't want to participate. Once you've signed a confidentiality agreement, someone will escort you out."
The moment he finished speaking, cries of astonishment erupted!
"What?!"
"Fusion Reactor Miniaturization Technology? Isn't that a little too far ahead of its time?!"
"Is... is that really possible?!"
Unlike the others, who looked astonished, Fang Xu asked calmly, "Yongchang, how confident are you about this technology?"
Lü Yongchang considered for a moment before answering slowly, "Compared with controlled nuclear fusion, I only have a rough idea for miniaturization technology at the moment. It'll definitely be more difficult."
"I'd say about eighty percent!"
Fang Xu's pupils abruptly contracted.
Even with his composure, he couldn't help exclaiming, "Eighty percent?!"
"Are you sure you didn't misspeak?!"
In scientific research, never mind eighty percent-most projects were doing well if they had a twenty percent chance of success!
Fang Xu even wondered whether Lü Yongchang had mixed up the success rate and the failure rate!
After all, in Fang Xu's estimation, this project would be worth trying as long as its chances of success reached twenty percent!
Faced with Fang Xu's astonishment, Lü Yongchang gave him a speechless glance and muttered, "What's all the fuss about..."
"An eighty percent success rate is already low enough... when I was working on Pangu One, I was ninety-nine percent confident!"
Fang Xu: "...???"
He shook his head with a wry smile.
He really couldn't tell whether Lü Yongchang was too confident or whether he simply hadn't grasped the full extent of Lü Yongchang's abilities...
"I... I'm in!"
"I'm in too!"
"How could I miss a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity like this? Count me in!"
"Exactly! After this, I'll be able to say I've worked on two world-class research projects!"
While Fang Xu was still questioning everything he knew, the other researchers were already voicing their decisions one after another.
"What do you say, Xu?" Lü Yongchang smiled at Fang Xu beside him. "Made up your mind yet?"
Fang Xu's expression grew slightly more serious, and a gleam flashed in his eyes.
"Of course!"
"How could I miss something this good?!"
Just as Lü Yongchang was preparing to lead everyone into the Great Xia Bay Nuclear Physics Laboratory, a paper quietly appeared in the latest issue of Nature.
"On the Sun's Anomalous Behavior over the Past Month"
With the publication of this paper, the Hubble Space Telescope in orbit slowly turned, directing its gaze toward the sun!
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