Morton shook his head, his face pale as he faced President Albert's question.
"No... I don't know."
"The Hall Thrusters NASA developed before definitely didn't have that much thrust!"
"Should I... ask Professor Austin, who used to be in charge of the Hall Thruster project?"
Albert glared furiously at Morton and growled, "Then what are you waiting for?!"
Morton's face fell, a trace of grievance showing in his eyes.
"You were the one who said there was no need to ask that professor in the first place..."
"Hm? What did you say?" Albert's expression instantly darkened.
Morton didn't dare talk back. He could only silently pull out his phone and call Professor Austin.
The call connected quickly.
"Professor Austin, this is Morton."
As soon as the call connected, Morton switched on the speakerphone and asked bluntly, "I wanted to ask: can a Hall Thruster produce fifty tons of thrust?"
No sound came from the speaker.
Morton frowned and asked again, softly, "Professor Austin, are you listening?"
Professor Austin's voice drifted bleakly from the speaker. "Director Morton, are you making fun of me?"
"That isn't funny at all!"
Morton glanced awkwardly at the president beside him, then cleared his throat. "Ahem! Professor Austin, the president is here with me."
"I hope you'll give this some serious thought!"
After hesitating for a moment, Morton added, "Xia Country already has a Hall Thruster capable of producing fifty tons of thrust, and they've installed it on an aerospace plane."
"What?! That-that's impossible!" Austin's startled cry came from the other end. "Current generators definitely can't supply enough power for a Hall Thruster like that!"
Morton's gaze flickered slightly as he asked gravely, "What if... Professor Austin, I'm saying what if Xia Country combined small-scale nuclear fusion with a Hall Thruster?"
Austin fell silent.
From that