Building a Sci-Fi Empire: Starting with Cold Nuclear Fusion

Southwest Institute of Physics, Nuclear Industry.

A bespectacled man in his late forties had just finished reading a paper sent by the Ministry of Education.

His name is Xu Qiu, and he is the chief engineer of the Southwest Institute of Physics in the nuclear industry. He is mainly engaged in experimental research on magnetic confinement nuclear fusion.

Despite his young age, his resume is anything but simple. As early as 2012, he worked on fusion science at the Southwest Institute of Physics of the Nuclear Industry, engaging in theory and simulation, and later led the Circulation-3 project.

Although Xu Qiu does not hold the title of academician, his level of expertise in nuclear fusion technology is extremely high, ranking among the top in China.

After reading the paper, his face was filled with surprise, and his eyes gleamed with excitement.

Previously, Xu Qiu believed that the only way to achieve controlled nuclear fusion was to adhere to both magnetic confinement and inertial confinement.

After reading this paper today, he felt enlightened and believed that the "hydrogen bomb Dyson sphere" scheme had a higher probability of achieving controlled nuclear fusion.

The only pity is that the technical information of several key devices in the paper was hidden, so he could not verify how they worked.

Xu Qiu thought about it carefully for a moment and decided to talk to someone.

He picked up the landline phone on his desk and pressed a few keys.

Beep, beep beep.

It rang many times, but no one answered.

Xu Qiu was about to hang up and dial again.

Fortunately, the call was answered at that moment, "Hello, Xiao Xu, what's up?"

Xu Qiu heard a rushing sound on the other end, like it was raining.

He laughed and said, "Teacher Xin, where are you? It's raining so hard!"

Teacher Xin said, "I'm in Suzhou, here to take care of some business. You haven't contacted me for over half a year, so your call today must have been more than just a casual greeting, right?"

"You guessed it." Xu Qiu explained his purpose: "The Ministry of Education just sent me a paper about nuclear fusion. I thought it was very well written, but there are some key issues that I haven't fully considered yet, so I wanted to talk to you about it to see if I could understand it."

Without much thought, Professor Xin said, "Okay, magnetic confinement fusion or inertial confinement fusion?"

Xu Qiu shook his head and said, "Neither."

"Neither?"

Teacher Xin was taken aback and asked in confusion, "Currently, the global research paths for controlled nuclear fusion are nothing more than magnetic confinement or inertial confinement fusion. If it's neither, then what technology is it?"

Xu Qiu thought for a moment and said softly, "Let me give you a brief description."

Teacher Xin said, "Okay."

Xu Qiu countered, "You know about Dyson spheres, right?"

Teacher Xin chuckled, speechless, "Who doesn't know Dyson... Wait a minute!"

He seemed to realize something, and his tone changed abruptly.

Professor Xin asked quickly, "That paper suggests that the way to achieve controlled nuclear fusion is a 'hydrogen bomb Dyson sphere,' right?"

Xu Qiu was taken aback, then laughed, "You actually knew about this? Have you read the paper?"

……

Two hours ago.

Xin Long, Liu Wei, Zhang Shulin and others got out of the car. There had been a lot of traffic on the road, which had delayed them for a long time.

Upon entering the hotel, Xin Long said irritably, "Old Zhang, what kind of person did you introduce? Someone who can put a Dyson sphere on a hydrogen bomb? He might as well suggest we lay solar panels in the desert; that would be relatively easier to obtain energy."

"that is."

"This proposal almost made me laugh to death."

"Most importantly, this kid is so arrogant, thinking that his mastery of nuclear fusion technology is comparable to that of Professor Xin."

Xiao Wu and several other employees of China Nuclear Power Corporation were speechless.

They were still furious when they recalled what had happened earlier, believing that the guy named Chen Yuan was clearly wasting everyone's time. He clearly had only a mediocre understanding of nuclear fusion technology, yet he was still acting like a big shot!

Zhang Shulin kept his head down and remained silent.

He thought highly of Chen Yuan, which is why he reported to that important figure and recommended him to his superiors.

Who would have thought that Chen Yuan's performance today would be so disappointing.

Even if you just randomly come up with some technologies related to magnetic confinement fusion or inertial confinement, it's still better than the "hydrogen bomb Dyson sphere".

Zhang Shulin couldn't understand why Chen Yuan would have such a far-fetched idea.

The group chatted as they took the elevator, then went to Xinlong's room and sat chatting for a long time.

Gradually, it got dark.

A group of people were a little hungry and were about to go downstairs to eat.

Suddenly, Xin Long's cell phone rang in his pocket.

He picked up the phone and said, "Hello, Xiao Xu, what's up?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Wei, Xiao Wu, Zhang Shulin, and others couldn't help but look over.

When they first heard the name "Xiao Xu," they didn't know who it was, since there are quite a few people with that surname. But when Xin Long said, "You haven't contacted me for more than half a year," they immediately guessed who was on the other end of the phone.

It is highly likely that he is Xu Qiu, chief engineer of the Southwest Institute of Physics of the Nuclear Industry.

Liu Wei, Xiao Wu, Zhang Shulin, and others thought something had happened at the Southwest Institute of Physics of the Nuclear Industry, so Xu Qiu called Xin Long to discuss it.

The others didn't pay much attention and continued to sit and chat quietly.

A moment later, Xin Long suddenly raised his voice an octave and asked quickly, "That paper suggests that the way to achieve controlled nuclear fusion is a 'hydrogen bomb Dyson sphere,' right?"

Ok?

A Dyson sphere for a hydrogen bomb?

Isn't this the plan Chen Yuan mentioned?

Liu Wei, Xiao Wu, Zhang Shulin, and the others were a little confused, not understanding why Xin Long and Xu Qiu would talk about this on the phone.

Everyone's attention was drawn.

They stopped chatting and looked at Xinlong, wondering what had happened.

Xin Long's expression became quite interesting.

He frowned anxiously and said, "Send me the paper, I'll take a look at it carefully... Okay, hurry up, send it over quickly."

After saying that, he hung up the phone.

"What's wrong?"

"What happened?"

Liu Wei, Xiao Wu, Zhang Shulin, and others inquired.

Xin Long shook his head without speaking, but the anxiety on his face betrayed his inner emotions.

Liu Wei and Zhang Shulin exchanged glances, realizing something.

Xiao Wu and the others couldn't help but feel a sense of foreboding.

Because everyone realized something, no one spoke after that; they just waited quietly.

A few minutes later, Xin Long's phone beeped with a message notification.

He glanced down, then immediately stood up, picked up his laptop, and opened it.

Liu Wei, Xiao Wu, Zhang Shulin, and others gathered around.

Xinlong opened his internal email, clicked on a secret document, and then entered the password.

The next moment, a paper was displayed before everyone.

The title is "Semi-Controlled Nuclear Fusion - The Dyson Sphere of the Hydrogen Bomb!"

"what!"

"this……"

"Could it be his thesis?"

Liu Wei raised an eyebrow.

Although Zhang Shulin had not yet read the contents of the paper, his expression had already become serious.

Xiao Wu and the others had similar reactions, appearing somewhat surprised.

They never expected that the proposal Chen Yuan had put forward would actually appear before them in the form of a thesis.

Most importantly, this paper was sent from Xu Qiu, the chief engineer of the Southwest Institute of Physics of the Nuclear Industry.

This made them vaguely realize that they might have made a mistake by not listening to Chen Yuan continue speaking earlier.

Nobody wants to admit they're wrong.

Therefore, whether it was Xin Long, Liu Wei and Zhang Shulin, or Xiao Wu and the others, they all calmly watched on.

The paper was very long, and it took a group of people quite a while to finish reading it.

After they finished watching, the atmosphere in the room became even quieter.

Xin Long's eyes widened.

Zhang Shulin and several other technicians were utterly shocked.

On the contrary, Liu Wei and Xiao Wu, along with several other business negotiators, looked completely bewildered and didn't quite understand the meaning of the paper.

"this……"

A technician surnamed Qian exclaimed in disbelief, "This is the Dyson sphere design for a hydrogen bomb?!"

Seeing everyone's astonishment, Liu Wei asked curiously, "What's wrong? Could this plan actually work?"

"Feasible?" Another technician, surnamed Sun, exclaimed in a dreamlike voice, "Feasible? Absolutely feasible!"

At this point, his tone became somewhat excited, "If the coronal mass ejection simulator, multi-point fusion, and multi-frequency energy absorption converter mentioned in the paper—devices that seem like they only exist in science fiction—can be built, then perhaps we can achieve controlled nuclear fusion within five years!"

Ok?

A device that could only appear in science fiction?

Will controlled nuclear fusion be achieved within five years?

Liu Wei, Xiao Wu, and other business negotiators were increasingly bewildered.

Can this device, which only exists in science fiction, be built in reality?

Zhang Shulin said, "The paper must have been written by Xiao Chen, it must have been him!"

Xin Long suddenly stood up, anxiously saying, "No, we have to go find Xiao Chen now! Not a minute later!"

When he first heard about the "hydrogen bomb Dyson sphere" concept, he thought Chen Yuan was just daydreaming.

After reading the paper, he realized that his previous ideas were completely wrong.

They're not just daydreaming; they've actually mastered the technology to create semi-controlled nuclear fusion!

Indeed, after reading the device and information described in the paper, Xin Long immediately realized that Chen Yuan might have mastered the technology to build these devices.

What does this mean?

This means that Chen Yuan's proposed "hydrogen bomb Dyson sphere" solution is feasible.

He could very well build a semi-controlled nuclear fusion reactor, or even... a truly controlled nuclear fusion reactor!

At this moment, Xin Long finally understood that Chen Yuan's previous statement that his mastery of nuclear fusion technology was no less than his was actually a humble remark.

In fact, judging from the content of this paper alone, Chen Yuan is very likely... the world's number one in nuclear fusion research!

Xin Long secretly regretted that if he had known that Chen Yuan had mastered such exquisite semi-controlled nuclear fusion technology, he should never have been so rash in getting up and leaving. Now, he had to go back and ask him for advice again.

Others might find this embarrassing, but Xinlong isn't afraid of losing face.

What he was afraid of was what Xu Qiu had just said on the phone: several large nuclear research institutes had received this paper.

He was well aware that if people from other nuclear research institutes saw this paper, they would definitely try to snatch Chen Yuan from China Nuclear Industry Corporation!

What's done is done, and it's too late for regrets.

Xin Long knew there was only one way to salvage the situation: to invite Chen Yuan to work at China Nuclear Industry Corporation (CNNC) as soon as possible, before other nuclear research institutes could contact him.

Invite them at all costs!

Otherwise, he would regret missing out on such a genius for the rest of his life!