The Senate President

"The Senate President?!"

Jiang Yongxing drew in a sharp breath.

"H-how did this reach Senator Li?"

Fang Xu looked grim as he said quietly, "There's something you might not know yet."

"Over at ITER... it looks like Xia Country has run into some trouble."

Jiang Yongxing's expression changed instantly!

"What?! Something happened at ITER?!"

ITER stood for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor project.

It was a superconducting tokamak device capable of producing large-scale nuclear fusion reactions!

As one of the member countries, Xia Country could use the device to obtain a wealth of useful data on controlled nuclear fusion.

As for why they didn't build one themselves...

The reason was simple.

It was expensive and a hassle!

The entire ITER project had taken thirteen years and cost five billion US dollars!

Although Xia Country had developed well over the past few years, spending that much money on an experimental machine was still a bit too extravagant!

After all, whether a tokamak device could sustain controlled nuclear fusion was still unknown!

If they spent all that money and time only to build a massive machine that served no purpose, wouldn't that be a terrible waste?

Capital City, within the First Ring Road.

A location that couldn't be found on any map.

Hong Qiming stood outside an office and knocked on the door, his expression grave.

"Come in!"

An elderly voice came from inside.

Hong Qiming slowly pushed open the door and walked in.

An elderly man with graying hair sat behind the desk, quietly watching him.

His eyes were filled with wisdom and confidence, as though everything in the world lay within his grasp!

"Senator Li!"

Hong Qiming greeted the elderly man respectfully.

The elderly man set down his fountain pen and slowly said, "Minister Hong, I hear you have something very important to report to me?"

Hong Qiming hurriedly nodded and gave him an accurate account of what Sandao Kou University had reported.

Senator Li's expression grew increasingly serious.

"Is that true?"

Hong Qiming hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "It should be. You remember Academician Fang Xu, don't you?"

Senator Li nodded. "Of course. Xia Country's latest breakthrough in controlled nuclear fusion was achieved by the team he led, wasn't it?"

"Does this... have something to do with him?"

Hong Qiming nodded again in confirmation. "Fang Xu and the professors at Sandao Kou University conducted a preliminary assessment of the proposal. He has great confidence in it!"

Senator Li fell silent again for a moment.

He pulled a document from a stack beside him and handed it to Hong Qiming. "Let's put that aside for now. Take a look at this document."

Puzzled, Hong Qiming took the document. The instant he saw the title, anger visibly rose in his eyes!

"This! This is impossible!"

"Our scientists from Xia Country would never do anything so disgraceful!"

Senator Li let out a deep sigh, a trace of worry appearing in his eyes.

He slowly shook his head. "Whether it's possible or not... isn't for us to decide."

"The ITER project has wanted to kick us out for a long time, so whether our scientists actually did this doesn't matter."

Hong Qiming hesitated. "But..."

"But this will ruin our reputation!"

Hong Qiming clenched his jaw and looked down at the document again.

The document described in detail how Xia Country's researchers stationed at the ITER project had abused their access to "steal" important experimental data without authorization.

"Then... what should we do?"

"Are we supposed to just stand by and watch ITER frame us?!"

Senator Li said calmly, "Besides framing us, they're also demanding that we voluntarily withdraw from the ITER project."

"The news will probably be officially released tomorrow."

Boom!

Hong Qiming felt as though the blood vessels in his brain had exploded all at once!

"Th-this is outrageous!"

"This is just... just going too far!"

Senator Li spoke slowly. "I didn't show you this document for any other reason than to tell you one thing."

"From now on, Xia Country can only rely on itself to research controlled nuclear fusion."

"So you understand what needs to be done, don't you?"

Under Senator Li's meaningful gaze, Hong Qiming's expression tightened slightly.

"Yes!"

"Rest assured, Senator Li. I'll head to Sandao Kou University right away!"

Toward evening, Lü Yongchang returned to his dorm after spending the day wandering around campus.

"Whoa! You're finally back, Lü!"

As soon as he pushed open the dorm room door, his roommate Wu Qi called out from inside.

"Lü, what got into you during physics class today?"

Faced with his roommate's curious question, Lü Yongchang gave a sheepish laugh, unsure how to explain.

Was he supposed to tell him he'd been reborn?

After pondering for a moment, a barely plausible excuse slowly came to mind.

"Ahem! I developed something in my spare time a while back. During class, I acted on impulse and went up to write it out."

The curiosity in Wu Qi's eyes deepened. "Developed something? What did you develop?"

"Anyway, why did Professor Guan keep you behind? He wasn't going to make you drop out, was he?"

Lü Yongchang: "...???"

Drop out?

Why would he drop out?

Forget dropping out-he'd probably be moving up to a higher level of education soon!

Of course, he couldn't tell Wu Qi that.

"Uh... the professor thought my research was valuable and gave it his approval, then... let me come back."

Wu Qi: "???"

"...That's it?!"

Wu Qi stared at Lü Yongchang in astonishment. "Don't try to fool me. Everyone says Professor Guan is really strict!"

Lü Yongchang quickly changed the subject. "What happened in physics class this morning hasn't spread, has it?"

Wu Qi quickly shook his head, his expression growing a little more serious.

"Don't worry. Aside from the students in class, probably no one else knows."

Lü Yongchang's eyes widened slightly as he stared at Wu Qi in shock. "You're serious?!"

In an age when everyone loved gossip, he'd even prepared himself to become famous overnight!

Wu Qi said nothing. Instead, he turned, took a sheet of A4 paper from nearby, and handed it to Lü Yongchang.

"Confidentiality agreement"

Seeing the large black words on the A4 sheet, Lü Yongchang shook his head with a wry smile.

He hadn't expected Professor Guan to be so thorough. He'd even made every student sign a confidentiality agreement!

Still... this was for the best.

The sun hadn't begun to change yet.

If Xia Country wanted to become the leader of the Earth Human Federation, this final chance to leap ahead was its only hope!

As a native of Xia Country, Lü Yongchang naturally hoped that everyone in the country would survive the coming catastrophe!

As for how they would survive...

He had already worked that out!

Since the sun's destruction was inevitable, his only option was to lead Xia Country... to lead humanity away from Earth within twenty years!

Only the endless starry sky above offered any hope of survival in the future!