The Agreement

Jiang Fan, shown on the video feed, stood in stark contrast to the other members of the control room!

Everyone else was thrilled, excited, and in high spirits, while Jiang Fan's expression was somewhat grave!

He was staring at the temperature of the magnetic ring material on the monitor. It had already reached 1,678 degrees Celsius.

It was only 322 degrees short of the 2,000-degree Celsius maximum. That temperature would degrade the magnetic ring material's performance!

The temperatures of the other materials were also slowly rising.

Jiang Fan saw that the fusion reaction had remained stable for 81 seconds!

If it held on for another 19 seconds, it would reach 100 seconds, and his mission would be complete.

Then, as long as the National General Bureau of Scientific Research approved ten billion in funding, he was absolutely confident that he could develop controlled nuclear fusion within a year!

After that, he could shift his focus to researching space technology!

"Hold on. Just 19 seconds left."

Jiang Fan silently prayed!

However, the magnetic ring material's temperature suddenly began climbing faster, rising forty degrees every second!

When the timer reached 82 seconds, the magnetic ring material's temperature reached 1,718 degrees. That meant it would rise another 720 degrees over the remaining 18 seconds.

By the time it reached 100 seconds, the temperature would be around 2,500 degrees. But once the magnetic ring material reached 2,000 degrees, its performance would decline, potentially destabilizing the fusion reaction!

Based on those figures, it could not possibly hold out for 100 seconds!

Then Jiang Fan suddenly thought of something and shouted to a researcher at a secondary console!

"Set the magnetic ring confinement device to power level eight!"

The researcher operating the magnetic ring confinement device was dancing for joy.

Hearing Jiang Fan's words, he immediately stopped smiling and hurriedly lowered the magnetic ring confinement device's power from level nine to level eight!

"The magnetic ring confinement device has been set to power level eight!"

Jiang Fan continued watching the magnetic ring material's temperature. Seeing its rate of increase noticeably slow, he let out a breath of relief!

But even at this temperature, holding out until 100 seconds would still be difficult!

The other researchers also noticed Jiang Fan's expression and immediately fell silent.

Although their nuclear fusion had already reached heights other countries could not attain, they had not yet met the conditions Commander-in-Chief Zhou had agreed upon with the chief!

They all calmed down and stared fixedly at Jiang Fan's main control screen!

Magnetic ring material: 1,928 degrees Celsius. Stable fusion duration: 92 seconds!

Eight seconds left!

Zhou Huaide clenched his fists so tightly that his nails dug into his flesh, but he did not feel the slightest pain.

Just eight more seconds, and they would fulfill the agreement with the chief.

Come on! Come on, Jiang Fan! You can do it!

Zhou Huaide silently cheered Jiang Fan on!

Time ticked past, second by second. At 97 seconds, Jiang Fan saw tiny fluctuations in the fusion temperature and the pulsed fusion output power!

His heart immediately tightened, and he cried inwardly, This is bad!

"Set the magnetic ring confinement device to level seven!"

"Increase the external power supply's output!"

"..."

"Understood!"

The researchers at the secondary consoles then adjusted the corresponding settings according to Jiang Fan's instructions!

Everyone stared intently at the stable fusion duration on the screen!

"98 seconds!"

"99 seconds!"

Just one more second! Hold on!

"100 seconds!"

"We did it! 100 seconds! We did it!"

"We reached 100 seconds! Hahaha..."

"We really did it! 100 seconds! We kept the fusion reaction stable for 100 seconds!"

"Commander-in-Chief Zhou, we did it!"

"We did it..."

"Hahaha..."

Everyone in the control room cheered at the top of their lungs, but as they laughed, tears of excitement began streaming down their faces.

And Jiang Fan's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally settled.

Yes!

They had succeeded!

He had not let down everyone who had placed their trust in him.

He rose from the main control console and smiled as he watched everyone huddled together in an embrace.

Zhou Huaide walked over, smiled at Jiang Fan, then pulled him into a tight hug!

"Thank you, Jiang Fan!"

Zhou Huaide spoke softly. He tried to control his emotions, but the tears welling in his eyes still spilled out!

He hurriedly released Jiang Fan and secretly wiped them away, murmuring.

"The wind's strong on the grasslands. Something got in my eyes!"

Jiang Fan smiled at him without exposing the excuse. He understood Zhou Huaide very well!

Ten years of perseverance without a single technological breakthrough, all kinds of doubts from the outside world-he had endured far too much pressure and pain!

"Let's all thank Chief Engineer Jiang!"

Someone shouted, and then more than a dozen researchers surrounded Jiang Fan.

Before Jiang Fan could react, they hoisted him up and tossed him high into the air!

"Whoo!"

"Whoo!"

"Hahaha..."

All the tension and anxiety Jiang Fan had felt over the past month were swept away. At that moment, he smiled like a child.

Watching from the side, Zhou Huaide also burst out laughing. He would have been fine if he had not laughed, but the others hoisted him up too!

The entire control room was bustling with celebration!

In the National Science and Technology Administration's conference room!

Everyone there grew excited as well!

100 seconds! Dragon Country had maintained stable nuclear fusion for 100 seconds, while Beautiful Country had only managed ten seconds!

A full ten times as long.

That ninety-second gap was not to be underestimated. They would struggle to catch up and surpass it without ten years!

The chief beamed. He had never expected them to actually accomplish it in just one month. And they had even reached 100 seconds!

"Wait, it's not 100 seconds! The fusion reaction hasn't stopped!"

Someone shouted!

The chief and the others immediately looked at the screen. Sure enough, it had not stopped!

The timer had already reached 106 seconds!

"107!"

"108!"

"109!"

Someone began calling out, and the others excitedly joined in!

Their perfectly synchronized shouts filled the conference room!

Some staff outside, unaware of what was happening, heard the chief leading the count inside the conference room and looked utterly bewildered!

Was this really their normally composed, coolheaded chief, whose expression would not change even if Mount Tai came crashing down on him?

They all wondered whether they were hallucinating!

The count stopped at 118!

After a moment of silence, thunderous cheers erupted in the conference room!

That only left them even more baffled, their heads full of question marks!

The chief quickly calmed down, then spoke directly!

"Everyone, hand over your phones. No one is to take a single step out of the conference room! Wait here to sign confidentiality agreements..."

The chief did not want to announce this publicly yet, because the World Military Competition was only six months away!

He wanted to use controlled nuclear fusion as a secret weapon to pin Beautiful Country to the ground and grind it into the dirt, avenging the humiliation Beautiful Country had inflicted on them last time!

At the National Fighter Aircraft Research Base!

Chief Engineer Zhang Honglei was thinking about how to improve fighter aircraft fuel!

Just then, his phone rang. He checked it and saw that it was actually the chief of the General Administration of Science and Technology!

"Hello, Chief!"

"Notify all researchers formerly assigned to the Northern Base to return to base immediately!"