Day 87-- Consumption of other research supplies increased by 30% over the previous day. The Controlled Nuclear Fusion Research Center began testing its circuitry. Upgraded the security system's radar and new Electromagnetic Cannons. High-Energy Laser Weapons were added to the security system. Day 88--
A cluster of cameras stood silently in the sand.
A silver metal pole, a solar panel, and a wireless signal device.
It hung permanently in midair, keeping the cylindrical silver building in the distance within its sights.
Inside the Controlled Nuclear Fusion Research Center, data from the many moving T3 Robots and the building's cameras was compiled, reconstructing every scene in the Second World.
Here, never mind a person-even a fly would be caught by countless cameras.
Viewed from the First World, the research center was full of robots.
But viewed from the Second World, all those figures were Luo Qi Replicas, their every movement overlapping with the robots in the physical world.
"Controllable Nuclear Fusion must involve an intermediate electromagnetic force system."
"If this is only intermediate, how terrifying would an advanced electromagnetic civilization be?"
"There's probably more to the intermediate level than this. It involves manipulating magnetic fields."
"Once we succeed, the information from Earth and Water Blue Star won't be able to help us anymore."
All the copies wore white lab coats, conversing with an air of seasoned expertise.
They shared a vast database, and each possessed an extremely comprehensive knowledge of science, yet each also had his own independent views.
"Will the original come?"
"Maybe. The fuel is ready. Five minutes left in the First World."
Luo Qi watched from the shadows.
The Controllable Nuclear Fusion experiment was about to begin!
Code name: Stardust Generation 1.
This experiment had already been simulated over a hundred times.
T3 Robots carried the fuel into a cylindrical device four meters wide and tall, an electromagnetic confinement apparatus constructed with superconducting wires.
The research center at Orange Star Base had developed these superconducting wires through new breakthroughs based on human technology from Water Blue Star. They represented the most advanced laboratory-grade technology on Orange Star.
The resulting confinement field was dense enough to contain fusion at 300 million degrees Celsius.
At 11:34 a.m., the fusion device underwent its final checks.
11:35.
The T3 Robots began withdrawing, gathering at the observation posts on the second floor.
11:35.
Controllable Nuclear Fusion began receiving power. The magnetic field apparatus activated, and an invisible magnetic field suspended the fuel in a sphere.
Ignition began!
In the blink of an eye, the fuel inside became a terrifying fireball.
Its temperature shot straight up to 240 million degrees Celsius!
The energy input-to-output ratio was 1:76.
Electrical output reached approximately 22 million kilowatt-hours.
The electricity successfully passed through the relay station and entered the base's power grid.
The success was expected, but it still brought an excited smile to every copy in the Second World.
We did it!
Orange Star has forged its own path!
Monitoring instruments continued collecting data on the relevant electromagnetic models. With Controllable Nuclear Fusion, they could enter the intermediate electromagnetic force system and test the controllability of magnetic fields.
The electromagnetic models were uploaded to the central database, and they devoted computing power to recalculating the optimal operating models for electromagnetic confinement.
The first-generation fusion device successfully completed a 150-second trial run!
It then shut down, and T3 Robots inspected the first-generation Controllable Nuclear Fusion equipment.
Meanwhile, the Materials Research Center achieved another breakthrough in new materials, obtaining metal zero.
The whole of Orange Star Base had already become a technological empire...
Day 89. The Controllable Nuclear Fusion device was being upgraded. Rocket construction continued. Space satellite equipment underwent power-on testing. Plans were being proposed for the construction of a large ground-based satellite station. New research into magnetic field controllability began.
Day 90-- The research center expanded by four buildings. Supply consumption rose by 20% over the previous day. The entire industrial base completed its chip-based smart technology overhaul. All new equipment used new materials.
Day 91-- Controllable Nuclear Fusion ignited and ran again! A two-day extended operating trial began. Research began on a new generation of Controllable Nuclear Fusion. Upgrades to electromagnetic equipment began. Construction of the satellite launch rocket was completed.
Day 92--
In just a few days, their technological capabilities had leaped from the 1960s into a new era in the twenty-second century.
Large quantities of smart equipment appeared inside Orange Star Base. Well, in truth, it hardly looked any different from before.
The robots were still the same robots; they simply freed up Luo Qi's computing power.
The continuously operating fusion power source supplied the entire industrial park.
The sense of abundance and saturation brought by limitless energy drove Luo Qi to pursue further research. Perhaps high-temperature plasma confined by controllable magnetic fields could be used as a weapon.
After the fusion power source had run for 56 hours, the research center shut down the fusion reactor once more.
Robots began inspecting damaged components, while the researcher copies addressed losses in the input.
They considered whether to keep increasing magnetic field strength through superconducting materials.
With ample energy available, their tests of controllable magnetic fields also achieved some breakthroughs.
Preliminary experiments in magnetic field control consumed enormous amounts of energy. Only fusion power could support such research.
Improving efficiency and reducing size, meanwhile, remained eternal themes in scientific research.
Research into miniaturized fusion devices was also put on the agenda.
At the same time, under the Space Exploration and Defense Plan, a rocket carrying ten Prospecting Satellites awaited launch.
The eighteen-meter-tall rocket stood at a temporary launch site fifteen kilometers east of the base.
Support structures clasped the pointed rocket as high-energy fuel was pumped into it.
Of course, Stendhal could not be kept in the dark. Luo Qi intended to bring him along to witness the spectacle firsthand.
Luo Qi said it was an experimental product intended to launch satellites and accumulate the experience needed for aerospace development.
At the sight of the rocket, Stendhal burst into tears.
Luo Qi did not comfort the poor man. Small meteor fragments were still falling and burning through the planet's vast atmosphere.
Luo Qi could only say that he could afford to lose the rocket. Once the satellites were in orbit, they would provide basic global communications.
He would then be able to establish communications across the globe and have mechanical equipment replicate itself.
Under program control, the rocket ignited.
The roaring rocket spewed red smoke.
It rose into the sky against the backdrop of the industrial district, where construction was in full swing.
There was no control center, nor any grand crowd of spectators.
Under the watch of more than a hundred turrets controlled by the security system, it successfully left the planet's surface. Otherwise, this rocket would have become a one-use moving target.
Luo Qi expected to receive signals from the satellites in two hours.
Meanwhile, out in space, Tianhe 1 entered the countdown to docking. At this distance, Orange Star's red body was already visible.
The sealed activity areas inside opened up. The corridors were likewise lined with soft, pale-yellow blocks.
The four main sections remained isolated from one another.
Now able to leave the assembly halls, everyone stepped into the larger areas, full of curiosity about Orange Star, their destination.
This might not be humanity's first time setting foot on another planet, but it would certainly be theirs.
Through the space observation windows in each section, whose protective coverings had been withdrawn, Lin He and the others gazed out into space.
Beyond the darkness were glittering stars and brilliant clouds of nebulae shaped like eyes.
The mystery and emptiness of the universe filled every heart with awe. They longed to land on Orange Star immediately and put human industrial methods to work on an alien planet's surface!
Each section of the transport ship had one actual astronaut, while everyone else was an expert in a research field.
The transport ship carried large quantities of seeds and embryos, along with the corresponding automated construction machinery.
If it landed successfully on Orange Star, it would establish a bridgehead for humanity's future interstellar activities.
Everyone aboard would become a hero of humanity!
Unfortunately, the humans aboard did not know that more than four months earlier, a vast quantity of meteor debris had suddenly appeared in orbit around this planet.
Caught within Orange Star's gravitational pull, the fragments moved in regular circular orbits.
Others drifted into the depths of space...
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