Cataclysmic Era: I can unlock the tech tree

"squeak……"

A screech of brakes interrupted Lu Hezheng's thoughts.

"Professor Lu, we've arrived!"

Du Zhen's voice came from the driver's seat.

Lu He, having regained his senses, looked out the car window.

A makeshift factory appeared on the gravel-covered ground in front of us.

"This...this is a temporary research institute?"

Lu Hezheng's eyes widened slightly, and he said with an incredulous expression.

To be honest, this was absolutely the most rudimentary laboratory he had ever seen, bar none!

Du Zhen, in the driver's seat, scratched the back of his head and said with an embarrassed smile, "Professor Lu, we're too pressed for time. This kind of laboratory is the best we can do."

"Let's not talk about that. Let me take you to see Professor Lü first!"

……

Lu Hezheng followed Du Zhen to the door of a makeshift tin shack.

"Professor Lu, Professor Lü is inside, so I won't go in."

Du Zhen smiled and finished speaking to Lu Hezheng before turning and leaving.

Lu Hezheng looked at the extremely simple tin shack, took a deep breath, and stepped inside.

As soon as Lu Hezheng entered the tin shack, he saw a young man in his early twenties sitting behind a desk with a serious expression, holding a fountain pen in his hand, burying his head in writing or drawing something on the desk.

Although the young man's face was somewhat immature, Lu Hezheng sensed an incongruous aura emanating from him.

He had only ever seen this kind of aura in top scientists who were called national heroes!

Although he had never met Lü Yongchang in person, at this moment, Lu Hezheng was absolutely certain that the young man in front of him was Professor Lü Yongchang, who had single-handedly promoted the development of nuclear fusion!

Perhaps hearing some noise, Lü Yongchang, who was engrossed in his work, slowly raised his head.

Upon seeing Lu Hezheng, Lü Yongchang's eyes lit up slightly. He quickly put down his pen, stood up, and greeted him, "Professor Lu, please have a seat!"

Lu Hezheng paused for a moment, then asked, "Professor Lü... do you know me?"

Lü Yongchang chuckled and waved his hand, "Don't call me that, I haven't graduated yet!"

Lu Hezheng: "..."

Seeing Lu Hezheng's disgusted expression, Lü Yongchang's smile widened: "Just kidding."

"Professor Lu, I've reviewed your materials. You were in charge of temperature control for the tokamak device at Beijing University of Science and Technology, right?"

A hint of surprise flashed in Lu Hezheng's eyes.

He never expected that Lü Yongchang, as the chief engineer of the nuclear fusion demonstration reactor, could remember his information so clearly!

Seeing Lü Yongchang's gaze directed at him, Lu Hezheng quickly nodded and said, "That's right!"

"So, how about you also be in charge of this research for the demonstration reactor?"

Upon hearing Lü Yongchang's suggestion, Lu Hezheng hesitated for a moment: "Professor Lü, my previous research focused on tokamak devices, and my understanding of stellarators is not very deep. Is this... really alright?"

Along the way, Lu Hezheng truly realized the importance that Xia Guo attached to the fusion demonstration reactor.

Therefore, he felt a lingering fear.

If his personal mistake leads to a serious problem with the fusion demonstration reactor, then the consequences for him will be...

Lu Yongchang smiled and shook his head, his tone softening again: "Professor Lu, I think you don't need to worry about this issue."

"The temperature control module on the stellarator is definitely less difficult to design than that of the tokamak device."

"Moreover, apart from you, 95% of the researchers in the temporary research institute originally studied tokamak devices."

Lu Yongchang's words put Lu Hezheng at ease.

After all, we're all researching tokamak, so there's not much difference!

"Then it's settled. As for salary... we can offer you the highest possible rate, but there's one condition!"

At this point, Lü Yongchang's expression instantly became much more serious.

Lu He looked at Lü Yongchang somewhat nervously and asked softly, "What...what are your requirements? As long as it's not too outrageous, I can accept them!"

Faced with a remarkable individual who single-handedly promoted the development of nuclear fusion, Lu Hezheng adopted a very humble attitude.

Lu Yongchang was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and waved his hand, saying, "It's not an unreasonable request."

"During the research period, it is necessary to cut off all communication with the outside world."

"This will continue until the demonstration reactor is truly completed."

Lu Hezheng breathed a slight sigh of relief.

It turns out that was all there was to it.

He had been mentally prepared for this ever since he saw so many patrolling troops on the way here!

He nodded repeatedly and said, "Of course, of course! Professor Lü, don't worry, I will definitely cooperate in this regard."

Lu Yongchang nodded in satisfaction: "In that case, you can go and rest. We'll start researching the mission tomorrow."

……

Time flies by.

In the blink of an eye, three months have quietly passed.

As the hype died down, the number of viewers in Xia Guo News' official Douyin live stream also decreased by 90%.

Just when everyone had forgotten about the incident, Xia Guo News's Weibo account quietly pushed out a news item.

Warmest congratulations on the completion of the Xia Guocang Bay Fusion Demonstration Reactor project!

boom!

The release of this news caused an uproar throughout the Xia Kingdom!

"Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap!?"

"I completely forgot about this... Could someone calculate the timeframe and see if it's three months?"

"I just calculated it, it's exactly 90 days. If you include two long months of 31 days... the construction schedule is even two days ahead of schedule!"

"I just can't believe it... Such a massive task, really completed in 90 days? Won't there be any quality issues?"

"I don't know what the person upstairs is so sour about. Xia Guo News and Douyin have been live-streaming the construction process around the clock for the past three months, and you still don't believe it?"

This comment instantly reminded everyone who was following the gossip on Weibo!

In just a few minutes, hundreds of thousands of viewers flocked to Xia Guo News' Douyin live stream!

In the live stream footage, the four enormous hemispherical buildings gleamed silvery-white in the sunlight!

After a brief silence, countless comments flooded the screen!

"Holy crap! So handsome!"

"What can you see from this far away? Can you move the camera closer?"

"??? I suggest a thorough investigation of that guy; I suspect he's one of the 500,000 hidden among the crowd!"

"By the way, is this fusion reactor really called the Canghai Bay Fusion Reactor? Shouldn't it be given a more meaningful name?"

"That's right! I strongly urge a nationwide naming contest for the fusion reactor!"

"Name suggestion +1!"

"..."

In just a moment, the rhythm of the comments in the live stream was skewed.

Seeing the screen filled with suggestions for naming the fusion demonstration reactor, the person in charge of the official news account of Xia Guo posted a message on Weibo after obtaining approval from the higher-ups.

"Naming Campaign for the Xia Guocang Bay Fusion Demonstration Reactor!"

Perhaps because Weibo officials underestimated the enthusiasm of the people of Xia Kingdom, Weibo even experienced a brief outage within just a few minutes!

Once the Weibo server returned to normal operation, countless strange and unusual names appeared in the comment section of the Weibo naming contest.

Hou Yi, Phoenix...

These names are relatively normal.

SpongeBob SquarePants, Patrick Star...

Unsurprisingly, these unusual names received the most likes.