Cataclysmic Era: I can unlock the tech tree

The capital of the Xia Kingdom.

Inside a small villa.

A man dressed in high-end designer clothes and wearing non-prescription glasses was staring intently at the computer screen in front of him.

The screen on the computer is an author's backend.

On the author's homepage, an article received countless likes and comments.

As the camera zooms in, the article's title gradually becomes clear—it's the article published on Zhihu that criticizes Sandaokou University!

As the number of likes and comments steadily increased, a cold smile crept onto the man's lips.

This article should bring him considerable benefits.

As he thought about it, he pressed F5 on the keyboard.

Page refreshed.

The article that should have appeared on the homepage has turned gray.

"What's going on?!"

The man stood up abruptly from his chair, his expression shifting between anger and uncertainty.

A terrible guess slowly surfaced in his mind.

He moved the mouse, placed the cursor on the article title which was displayed in gray, and gently clicked the left mouse button.

"Hello Deng Haochu, your article is suspected of being..."

Simply put, it was 404.

Upon seeing the line of deep red Chinese characters in front of him, Deng Haochu's expression changed instantly.

Damn it!

He quickly dragged the mouse to switch the webpage to the revenue page.

A large zero came into his view.

"Bang!"

Deng Haochu raised his hand and slammed it on the computer desk in front of him, causing the computer screen to shake.

"Damn Sandaokou University..."

Deng Haochu knew perfectly well that only people from Sandaokou University could have done this!

"This matter...is not over!"

A cold glint flashed in Deng Haochu's eyes.

Thinking of the hundreds of thousands or millions of yuan in income that had vanished into thin air, a pang of heartache flashed across Deng Haochu's face.

……

One week later.

As the article was deleted and banned across the entire internet, the negative public opinion it had generated gradually disappeared.

Meanwhile, Sandaokou University was once again placed under martial law.

the reason is simple.

The second controlled nuclear fusion experiment is about to take place in the nuclear physics laboratory at Sandaokou University!

……

Inside the Sandaokou University Library.

Su Yutong frowned as she looked up from the exercise book in front of her and subconsciously glanced at the seat next to her.

As usual, it was deserted.

She closed her eyes slightly and sighed deeply.

Ever since she met Lü Yongchang, she has been obsessed, coming to the library at the same time every day in an attempt to "bump into" him again.

However, after more than ten days of setbacks, her slightly agitated heart gradually calmed down.

Perhaps that "graduate student" was just someone who came to the library occasionally.

"Yu Tong!"

Just as Su Yutong was deep in thought, a clear shout came from the side.

Su Yutong's body trembled slightly, and she suddenly turned around to look.

Upon seeing the person who arrived, her tense body relaxed slightly: "Chen Yun? What brings you here?"

Chen Yun glared at Su Yutong with annoyance and said loudly, "What? Can't I come?"

"I don't know what's gotten into you, sitting in that little corner of the library every day... Are you waiting for someone?"

A flicker of panic crossed Su Yutong's eyes as her secret was exposed: "You, you mustn't be talking nonsense!"

"This is the library, keep your voice down!"

Chen Yun glanced at Su Yutong again: "Keep your voice down? Why don't you check if anyone's around?"

Su Yutong was slightly taken aback, and quickly stood up to look around.

The huge library was completely empty.

"What... what's going on?"

Chen Yun sighed deeply, a hint of helplessness in her eyes: "My dear young lady, didn't you see yesterday's school announcement?"

Su Yutong shook her head blankly.

Chen Yun stepped forward and took Su Yutong's right hand: "Come on, come on, let's go back to the dorm!"

"The school issued a notice last night requiring all students not to leave their dormitories unless absolutely necessary!"

"I really don't know how you got out today..."

"If I didn't know you came to the library every day, I wouldn't know where to look for you!"

Su Yutong's eyes grew increasingly bewildered: "Why...why?"

Chen Yun pulled Su Yutong towards the dormitory: "Why? Are you pretending to be stupid or do you really not know? Our school's nuclear physics lab is going to conduct its second controlled nuclear fusion experiment today!"

……

Inside a nuclear physics laboratory.

Lu Yongchang stared solemnly at the stellar device in front of him, which resembled a tangled ball of yarn.

"Let's get started!"

Without wasting any words, Lü Yongchang spoke directly to Fang Xu, who was standing to the side.

Fang Xu nodded slightly and turned to give the order to the researcher beside him.

It's the same familiar process.

After the power switch was turned on, a buzzing sound was heard, and an extremely powerful current passed through the superconducting coil, forming a closed, twisted annular magnetic cage inside the stellarator cavity.

During the lull in the heating device's preheating process, Fang Xu asked Lü Yongchang with a nervous expression, "Yongchang, how long do you think this experiment can extend the duration of controlled nuclear fusion?"

Upon hearing this question, Lü Yongchang glanced at Fang Xu with a strange expression.

What does it mean to extend it for how long?

According to Lü Yongchang, the stellarator at this time, except for the lack of a generator connection, was already quite similar in basic structure to the large fusion reactors of later generations.

At least, all the necessary parts are already there.

"Brother Xu, I think this depends on how long you want to maintain this."

Fang Xu's pupils suddenly contracted.

The meaning of this statement is...

Before he could think about it further, a researcher beside him shouted, "Professor Lü, the preheating is complete!"

Without time to explain in detail to Fang Xu, Lü Yongchang said in a deep voice, "Inject deuterium-tritium gas!"

"Ready to ignite!"

The moment the deuterium-tritium gas transforms into high-temperature plasma within the stellarator's interior, a laser beam instantly strikes the surface of the deuterium-tritium plasma!

In just a few seconds, the fusion fire was reignited.

"A large number of neutrons have been detected!"

"The nuclear fusion reaction is proceeding normally!"

Reports came one after another.

Lü Yongchang's expression was somewhat solemn.

"Closely monitor the remaining deuterium and tritium levels; add more immediately if they become insufficient!"

Unlike the previous experiment, Lü Yongchang's goal this time was to maintain controlled nuclear fusion for an extended period of time.

Therefore, it is absolutely crucial to avoid a scenario like the last experiment, where the fuel ran out shortly after the fusion reaction began.

"How is the heat dissipation?"

Lu Yongchang asked in a deep voice.

The researcher in charge of monitoring the temperature immediately responded, "The cooling system is working well! The stellarator's surface temperature is 25 degrees Celsius!"

Five minutes...

Ten minutes...

Twenty-seven minutes!

When Fang Xu saw that the nuclear fusion reaction lasted longer than ITER's record of 26 minutes, his face was filled with excitement and trepidation.

What's exciting is that they've set a new record.

The unease... came from thinking of what Lü Yongchang had previously mentioned about the thirty-minute threshold of the tokamak device.

Time passed second by second.

The thirty-minute threshold passed by with Lü Yongchang's unremarkable expression.

He glanced at the time, a slight smile playing on his lips. "Thirty-five minutes have passed. That's about enough. Let's prepare to stop!"

With the researchers operating the system methodically, the heating system slowly stopped, and the current flowing through the superconducting coil gradually weakened.

Finally, the flame of nuclear fusion slowly died out in the stellarator.