Start with a blacksmith shop.

Chapter 329 Recent Developments

With that one phone call, he had achieved his goal.

Who was he talking to on the phone? Of course, it was the old man Wang Yuesheng. Ever since the old man met him, he had practically become his personal military liaison.

As for the purpose of the call, it was undoubtedly about the final activation of the energy core. For the solar energy core, the manufacturing and assembly of its parts, as well as the helium-3 fuel it uses, are all extremely safe.

When not initiating the activation process, the solar energy core is extremely safe. However, the activation process is different, and it is the most dangerous step in the process.

Ultimately, the core energy source of the solar system also uses nuclear physics technology. If there is any problem when the core energy source of the solar system is activated, there will only be one consequence: a nuclear explosion.

A nuclear explosion is imminent, and it's a nuclear fusion explosion, which is equivalent to a hydrogen bomb exploding, so it's extremely dangerous.

If the solar energy core is to be activated, then a deserted place must be found, and the nuclear test site where he activated the solar energy core last time is a suitable place.

That's why he called Wang Yuesheng again. After that call, his problem was solved by the old man, and Li Zhenhua was relieved.

He was relieved, but Wang Yuesheng, who had just hung up the phone in his office in Beiping, was filled with excitement.

Because he had just learned from Li Zhenhua what exactly was going to happen: ten solar energy cores, and the other party had also told him that each energy core would contain fifty grams of fuel.

Fifty grams of helium-3 fuel means that if these ten solar cores are successfully activated, they will run indefinitely for 150 years. How much value will such a long-running energy core generate?

Leaving aside the space fighters used in conjunction with the Sun Star, the role played by this energy core itself alone is immeasurable. Just take power generation as an example! How much electricity can it generate in 150 years?

It seems that after this energy core emerges, the thermal power plants that exist in almost every county will be swept away by the wheels of history, and the thermal power plants will have no advantage whatsoever in the face of this energy core.

However, this involves a huge amount of money, so it is obviously wishful thinking to shut down thermal power plants at this stage. What will become of the tens of thousands of thermal power companies across the country? So now is not the time for the core energy sector to exert its power. The only place where it is suitable to play a role is in the military.

Wang Yuesheng had many thoughts. Ever since he met Li Zhenhua, this young man, he had been dealing with a lot more things. But he was willing to have more of these things, because if even one such thing happened, it would have an immeasurable impact on Kyushu.

Shaking his head to clear his mind of the many complicated thoughts, he realized that the most urgent task was to arrange the activation of the ten solar core fusion energy cores that Li Zhenhua had just mentioned to him on the phone.

Wang Yuesheng then called the Lop Nur nuclear weapons test base. The base was originally in a semi-closed state. After the period of frequent nuclear tests in the last century, the base was considered to be sealed off until Li Zhenhua went there to start the solar energy core.

When he last visited, the Lop Nur base was essentially restarted, and a few people were left behind to guard it again.

Wang Yuesheng's phone call brought the base back to life, and the nuclear weapons testing base regained its former vitality.

The old man wasn't just contacting Lop Nur; he was also contacting the transport aircraft squadron at the Quancheng Air Force Base. Five 20mm Y-20 transport planes were lined up, ready for takeoff.

On another runway, a squadron of J-36 fighter jets was parked, awaiting takeoff orders. This squadron's role was escort. This demonstrates the immense importance the higher authorities placed on the ten energy cores developed by Li Zhenhua.

Transport planes and escort fighters awaited the order to take off. Meanwhile, in Beiping, Wang Yuesheng was writing documents in his office, incorporating all his hypotheses about the applications of the solar energy core.

Although he was a military officer, and shouldn't have been involved in the civilian use of the energy core, he was one of the first to come into contact with it and had some understanding of it. A sense of responsibility compelled him to write these things down.

Once the document was finished, Wang Yuesheng picked up the information he had just written and headed straight for the military leader's office. After that, things were simple. As the highest-ranking officer in the military besides the big boss, it wasn't difficult for him to meet with the big boss.

The materials written by Wang Yuesheng were delivered to the big boss's desk, which meant that the big boss had become aware of the things Li Zhenhua had done afterward.

While everyone was busy, one of the hottest topics among the people of Kyushu was visiting the Kyushu Space Museum.

Visiting the Kyushu Space Museum has now become a must-visit destination for all tourists to Beiping (Beijing). Why? Because the Dongfanghong-1 satellite, brought back by the spaceplane, is housed in the Kyushu Satellite Museum.

The public exhibition of Dongfanghong-1 signifies that Kyushu has mastered the technology of recovering satellites from outer space, and the emergence of this technology has an impact on all parts of Kyushu.

Especially for some military enthusiasts, they all felt their backs straighten up instantly. Why did they feel this way?

That's because if you can recover your own defunct satellites, it means you can recover those from other countries as well. This means that it's not just about recovering defunct satellites, but about recovering any kind of satellite.

Furthermore, Kyushu News recently reported that Kyushu was carrying out a cleanup operation for space debris in Earth's orbit, which gave military enthusiasts a strong boost of confidence and pride.

The Dongfanghong-1 satellite on display at the Kyushu Space Museum has made the museum quite popular recently. Everyone in Kyushu who is following this story is curious about Kyushu's first satellite to be launched into space.

After seeing Dongfanghong-1 in the museum, I also admired the predecessors who made this satellite, which was made when they were poor and had no semiconductor industry.

The hardships involved are beyond the imagination of modern people.

The spaceplane that recovered the defunct satellite is currently en route to the moon.

This is the third time this plane has headed towards the moon in recent times. This time, the plane is carrying supplies that are urgently needed on the moon, with only a small portion being building materials.

Inside the cockpit, the once spacious area has become extremely crowded, for a simple reason: the cockpit is filled with astronauts sitting on the floor.

This flight to the moon utilized the spaceplane's carrying capacity to the fullest extent. As long as the cockpit could hold it, they filled it to the brim, provided that flight safety was not compromised.

This is an experiment by Kyushu, a feasibility study for future lunar terraforming. If their experiment is successful, then there is a possibility that the moon could be transformed into a habitable satellite.

There are currently ten astronauts on the moon. How many astronauts are on this spaceplane? Thirteen. Without compromising safety, thirteen people were carried, not including the astronaut who had a seat.

Fourteen people were sent up this time, and together with the ten people already at the lunar base, there are now twenty-four people in two full-strength squads.

After less than nine hours of flight, the spaceplane finally landed not far from the lunar base, where two completely different behaviors were observed.

The five crew members were already used to this flight mode. So what if it was the moon? They had landed on it four times before. They were so used to it that they didn't think landing on the moon was anything special.

But for the other fourteen people in the cockpit, it seemed incredible. Before this plane, all their training had been in manned spaceflight and rocketry.

But I never imagined that one day getting into space would be so easy. What's more difficult than getting into space is landing on the moon, but judging from the current situation, landing on the moon is actually quite simple.

It was so easy, so simple, that they couldn't believe it. They just had to board the plane, lie down, and didn't feel any difference from being on Earth.

In just nine hours, they took off from Earth and arrived on the Moon. What they found most unacceptable was hearing the snowy owl flying the plane complain about how slow it was.

According to the snowy owls, the first time they traveled from Earth to the Moon took less than six hours, but now it takes less than nine hours, a full three hours longer. No wonder they say the flight is slow.

The achievement of reaching the moon in six hours was accomplished by Academician Li Zhenhua, and also by Snowy Owl and his team during their first trip to the moon.

Fourteen astronauts who would later be permanently stationed on the moon entered the lunar base. Under the guidance of the base's astronauts, they were settled in, bringing the total permanent population of the lunar base to twenty-four.

The supplies carried in the aircraft's cargo hold were quickly unloaded thanks to the tireless efforts of the 29 people.

Then, as is customary, the plane's cargo hold was filled with lunar soil and returned to Earth, and the twenty-nine people began loading again.

At the Quancheng Air Force Base on Earth, five 20-inch Flying Girls finally received clearance to take off. They had been waiting for this order on the runway for half an hour.

Upon receiving the order, the crew quickly started the aircraft, and after a runway and afterburner, it took off. The first aircraft took off, and the following four continued to prepare.

Just a few minutes after the 20-foot-long J-36 fighter jet took off, four more J-4s appeared around him, circling him and escorting him.

The plane was flying towards the nearby town of Shu. Li Zhenhua returned to the workshop and continued working. Not long after, he heard the distinctive engine sound of an airplane coming from the sky outside.

Moreover, the sound seemed to be getting closer and closer to him. At that moment, he knew that the plane in the sky was coming to his side to transport the solar energy core.

He had no interest in continuing to manufacture parts at that moment. Instead, he walked out of the workshop, stood at the door, and looked up at the source of the sound.

Looking at the plane overhead, he saw it was indeed flying towards their test flight field, and its altitude was getting lower and lower. He turned around and went back into the workshop.

First, he put on a set of Chi You armor. Then, he used a manpower-operated pressure cart to lift a packaged solar energy core from the workshop and pulled it out of the workshop, heading towards the test flight field behind the company.

Ning Wei, who had been following him, saw him pulling a nearly three-meter-long box and quickly went to take it from him.

Li Zhenhua originally wanted to pull it over by himself, but he couldn't persuade Ning Wei otherwise, so he had to return to the workshop and use another press truck to pull up a set of Sun Star equipment. Then he and Ning Wei each pulled a set of Sun Star equipment towards the test flight field.

The company's workers were already used to the loud noises coming from the sky; everyone knew what the Nine Provinces Divine Beast was for. Needless to say, the aircraft manufacturing plant itself was in this business.

Meanwhile, the employees in the civilian product manufacturing plant area had long been accustomed to this sound. Even if they weren't used to it, they couldn't help it because it occurred so frequently that they stopped caring.

Guided by the test flight control tower, the 20-fat princess landed on the runway, while the roar of airplanes could still be heard in the sky.

Li Zhenhua, holding onto the Sun Star, looked up at the sky. He was extremely familiar with the sound of the engine, because it was the J-36 he had developed.

"Wow, the higher-ups really take the Sun Star seriously, there are actually four J-36s escorting it!" Li Zhenhua looked up at the sky and could vaguely see four small black dots in the clouds.

He and Ning Wei each wore a Sun Star suit, pulled it to the runway of the test flight field, and then walked towards 20 Fat Princess with the Sun Star suit.

Everything went exceptionally smoothly afterward. Both sets of solar cores he had brought were loaded onto the plane. Just as he was about to go back to retrieve the remaining energy cores, the pilot who had accepted the transport mission refused him the request.

Then he learned from the pilot what was going on. It turned out that the higher-ups were not entirely comfortable with having all ten energy cores on one aircraft.

To prevent any mishaps, five separate sorties of 20-fat-pig aircraft were arranged, each carrying two sets of Sun Stars, ensuring safety and security.

Li Zhenhua truly felt the importance the higher authorities placed on these ten solar stars. In his opinion, all ten sets of energy cores could be transported in one shipment, without all this trouble.

Moreover, this is in Kyushu's airspace, and it's inland airspace. What kind of problem could possibly arise? But since this is how it's arranged, it's all for safety, leaving Li Zhenhua with no choice but to obey.

(End of this chapter)