Chapter 124: A Technological Leap

After more than two months of comprehensive care, Lin Lei could finally barely stand up.

Lin Lei did not interfere much with his body’s recovery; it was a natural result of Earth’s existing medical technology.

Because his work could basically be completed in his mind, this body only served as a vessel.

By this time, Lin Lei had fully organized the energy concept he had told Lin Xin and the others about, and drawn a highly operable design sketch according to Earth’s current industrial standards.

This design drawing had cost Lin Lei a great deal of effort. Yes, he knew the principles inside out, but just as many modern people know the principles of internal combustion engines, few can actually build one.

The knowledge involved here far exceeded pure theory. Fortunately, his Will was strong enough, and the hardware of this body’s brain was sufficient, allowing him to perform simulations close to reality.

This design drawing quietly took shape during the months Lin Lei lay in the hospital bed.

When Lin Lei returned to the Interstellar Technology Research Institute again, he saw Old Xiao. Still in his prime, Old Xiao looked somewhat unkempt, with his hair slightly messy, but the depth in his eyes remained unchanged as always.

The previous owner of Lin Lei’s body was Old Xiao’s favorite student. Additionally, Lin Lei (the previous owner) had made great contributions to the design of the Warp Engine, which is why he was still cared for by the Earth Government for ten years despite being fully paralyzed and near brain death.

If he were an ordinary person, he would have been abandoned long ago. Now, humanity only supports those who contribute to social development; any parasite would be ruthlessly eradicated.

Lin Lei’s return did not cause much stir in the institute. His former colleagues merely welcomed him as a matter of routine and then returned to their respective workstations.

Soon, only Old Xiao, Lin Xin, Heler, and Liu Yi were left there.

They stayed only to see what kind of new energy design Lin Lei would come up with.

The current spaceship design had indeed hit a bottleneck. Humanity could build a Warp Engine, but had not invented a matching energy supply!

The experimental spaceship from several months ago could sustain Warp Flight for at most one minute. This was because the energy source for the engine was merely high-energy chemical fuel.

Of course, chemical fuel alone could not reach the level required to drive a Warp Engine. This involved the Energy Multistate Superposition technology proposed by Lin Lei’s predecessor.

Flying for only one minute with a Curvature of only 5.0, such a spaceship could not even fly out of the Solar System! Obviously, it had little practical value.

But now, Lin Lei dropped a weighty bombshell. Looking at the four of them, he slowly said, “Over these ten years, I have successfully conceptualized a controllable Deep Nuclear Fusion energy source that can be practically applied to small spaceships!”

All four were geniuses with high IQs and immense pride. They basically understood the principles of Deep Nuclear Fusion, but the key issue was how to apply it in practice.

Anyone who had studied it seriously knew how difficult it was. For Lin Lei to say he could design it just by conceptualizing it in his mind sounded unreliable to everyone.

Heler immediately rebutted, “That’s impossible. I know how complex the calculations involved are. White, I know you have extremely strong spatial imagination, but I really find it hard to believe.”

Old Xiao and Lin Xin remained silent, waiting for Lin Lei to explain his design. Science did not allow for fraud. Whether this Deep Nuclear Fusion energy design was feasible would be obvious at a glance.

“Heler, when you are trapped in a fully enclosed space without hearing, smelling, seeing, or even touching, you would do the same thing I did.”

Lin Lei was now completely dependent on a wheelchair. It would take at least another year of recovery for him to walk independently.

He rolled the wheelchair slowly toward the engineering computer not far away.

Seeing this, Lin Xin inexplicably felt a pang of pity. After hesitating for a moment, she stepped forward, placed her hand on the back of the wheelchair, and gently pushed Lin Lei over.

“Thank you.” Lin Lei thanked her and began to input his design into the computer, starting his explanation at the same time.

His fingers were clumsy, and his operations were very slow. However, as he gradually drew out the design for the Deep Nuclear Fusion energy source, the faces of the four bystanders slowly became serious.

At least at this point, the design appeared completely reasonable. The principles utilized were familiar to everyone, but the angles from which these principles were applied were exquisite, worthy only of being described as miraculous.

Some bottlenecks that could not be broken through by conventional means were easily bypassed by Lin Lei from another angle. This was a completely new approach, distinct from humanity’s existing controllable nuclear fusion reactor.

Heler looked at the nearly perfect design drawing slowly appearing on the three computer screens and sucked in a breath in shock. The way he looked at the man in the wheelchair was nearly reverent.

Even Old Xiao couldn’t help but slap the table in admiration when he saw the brilliant parts, but fearing he might disturb Lin Lei’s train of thought, he forced himself to hold back.

Lin Xin was the same; her eyes shone with wonder as she watched the design, hoping Lin Lei would finish drawing it quickly.

As for Liu Yi, he was completely dumbstruck, his mouth wide open, unaware that drool was running down his chin.

It was not until twenty hours later that Lin Lei fully displayed the design from his mind on the 3D screen. During this time, the regulatory robots in his body alarm multiple times, but Lin Lei ignored them. He knew his own body well.

At this time, the people surrounding the computer were no longer just four; the entire institute was present.

Everyone held their breath, quietly watching the design projection now on the main hall screen. They also accompanied Lin Lei, passing these twenty hours in silence.

These twenty hours were destined to become the most important moment in human history.

During this period, a man sitting in a wheelchair stood at the pinnacle of human wisdom.

The people of the institute witnessed this scene. Everyone deeply engraved Lin Lei White’s image at this moment into their minds, never to be forgotten!

Old Xiao looked at the exhausted Lin Lei with extreme excitement and spoke incoherently, “White! You are the most talented person I have ever seen. This Deep Nuclear Fusion energy design is enough to accelerate the development process of the Earth Civilization by ten years!”

After the group finished viewing Lin Lei’s design, they felt the principles were very simple. Many even sighed, wondering why they hadn’t thought of this approach before.

The difficulty of Deep Nuclear Fusion lay in providing an ultra-high pressure and ultra-high temperature environment that could sustain continuous fusion reactions. This allowed the atoms of the fuel within to gain enough kinetic energy to overcome the strong nuclear force, thereby fusing together and converting a portion of their mass into energy.

This high-temperature, high-pressure environment, however, created another contradiction: how to make it controllable! Not like a hydrogen bomb, where everyone goes boom and finishes everything at once!

Lin Lei’s design principle borrowed from Liu Yi’s idea of the Space Loop and adopted a multi-loop design. This cancelled out the gravitational effects generated by spatial distortion while also creating an extremely powerful binding force.

This Space Loop was divided into two sets. One set was used for nuclear fusion, while the other was used to extract the energy from nuclear fusion. The two were combined in a very elegant form, which could simply be called a miracle!

The creation of the entire Space Loop required only an initial trigger, with subsequent energy completely provided by nuclear fusion. It achieved a small energy sub-cycle.

The binding force of the Space Loop was bound to the intensity of the nuclear fusion through a clever design. The two were strong together. As long as there was a relatively stable operating environment, there would basically be no risk.

In the process, Lin Lei simultaneously integrated the theory of spatial curvature. This allowed the particles needing fusion to carry an energy upper limit far exceeding the speed of light limit in Four Space-time Dimensions. Therefore, the result of their collision was not just hydrogen turning into helium, but continuing to fuse until it reached stable iron, just like the core of a star!

After viewing the entire design, Liu Yi only murmured to Lin Lei, “White, I only proposed an achievable method for the Space Loop, but you have applied it to the peak level. I feel inferior!”

Lin Xin also sighed and said, “It seems that, regarding the research on spatial curvature, I will also have to ask for your advice, White.”

Applause began to sound sparsely in the hall, then merged into a continuous wave, and finally echoed to the clouds.

This design for Deep Nuclear Fusion was completed by Lin Lei. Although he knew the principles, this was the first time he had truly created an energy core with such practical significance.

Some things, if not done, will never reveal the difficulties in certain details. Lin Lei encountered many during the design process, but he solved them one by one.

Now that his design was recognized, although it did not make him proud, it was comforting.

Finally, Old Xiao announced loudly, “Lin Lei White has returned to the Interstellar Technology Research Institute once again. From now on, the main focus of all work in the institute will be to manufacture a Deep Nuclear Fusion energy core. Lin Lei, as a matter of course, becomes the highest person in charge of this project.”

“White, you are my pride. I am proud of you!”

Old Xiao walked in front of Lin Lei and firmly grasped Lin Lei’s thin hand, unable to suppress the excitement in his tone.

“I will work hard to fully realize it. The first spaceship of humanity with complete significance will be born soon.”

…

Soon, the Earth Government announced this technological breakthrough. And Lin Lei White completely became a household name.

Even his fame spread to surrounding civilizations such as the Layite People and the Morentz People.

“It seems another incredible genius has emerged from Earth.” This was the general impression of the Morentz People. They had a favorable impression of this striving new civilization.

Dozens of years of trade had allowed the Morentz People to taste considerable sweetness.

As for the Layite People, there was silence. The mastery of Deep Nuclear Fusion energy meant the true beginning of a Fifth-grade Civilization.

Earthlings, despite taking many shortcuts with the help of that legendary warrior, had taken only thirty-six years to go from having nothing to where they were now!

This was a number that terrified the Layite People. Internal dark currents had even risen within the Layite Civilization, aiming to annihilate the third planet of the Solar System at once, disregarding the constraints of the Star Alliance!

But these dark currents had just emerged when the Layite Civilization received a warning from the Star Alliance, which forcibly suppressed these disturbances in the bud.

Annihilating a Life Planet was a completely different concept from an armed invasion. As long as the Layite People dared to do it, their time until the destruction of the Layite Civilization was not far off.