Rebirth: Controlled Nuclear Fusion

Part 41：So Young

"Report, Comrade Chief, the nuclear fusion has been stable for 6 seconds!" the technician replied.

"Six seconds?"
The room fell into a stunned silence once again.
A nuclear fusion stabilization of six seconds—this was an unprecedented technological breakthrough for the Northern Base!
And it was only 4 seconds short of the most advanced nuclear fusion technology in the world, developed by the beautiful country.
Wait—no, it wouldn't be accurate to say they were 4 seconds behind, because the nuclear fusion at the Northern Base hadn't stopped yet.

At this moment, the Chief felt an overwhelming surge of excitement. He stared intently at the screen, silently cheering for Zhou Huaide and his team. If they could hold out for just four more seconds, they would break the record of the beautiful country!

He raised his watch to check the time, watching the second hand click forward with a 'tick.' Meanwhile, the Tokamak device on the screen blazed like a radiant sun.
"Seven seconds, hold on."
The Chief urged silently in his heart.
"Tick."
The second hand moved again, but there was no change on the Tokamak screen.
"Wonderful! Eight seconds, just two seconds away from reaching the beautiful country's level of technology!"
At this, the Chief's heart tightened, urging on the Northern Base in his mind.

The others in the conference room stared at the screen with wide eyes, too afraid to speak, lest their voices disturb the fragile stability of the Tokamak's fusion reaction.
"Tick."
Another second passed.
"Nine seconds! Just one more second! Come on, Zhou! I believe in you!"
The Chief shouted silently in his mind, his heart rising into his throat.
He dared not blink, fearing he might miss something.

"Come on, damn it, why is time passing so slowly?"
The Chief cursed inwardly, never before feeling so anxious.
"Tick."
The second hand clicked with a satisfying chime.
"Ten seconds! Ten seconds! Haha... we've reached the same time as the beautiful country! Haha..."

The entire conference room erupted with the Chief's shout, a far cry from his usual calm demeanor.

Everyone else in the room jumped to their feet, their faces flushed with pride. As citizens of Long Country, they were overjoyed and deeply moved by the possibility that their nation might soon lead the world in a massive scientific project.
"Tick."
The clock marked eleven seconds.
"Wonderful! Our Long Country's controlled nuclear fusion technology has reached the world's top, surpassing the beautiful country. Haha..."
"Incredible!"
"Zhou Huaide managed to stabilize fusion for eleven seconds in just one month!"
"..."

At last, the Chief's heart calmed. He laughed with unrestrained joy, something he had never done so freely before.
"Haha! Zhou Huaide, you really are something!"
The celebration wasn't limited to the scientific bureau. In the Northern Base's control room, the researchers hugged, danced, and some even wiped away tears. Their jubilant reactions were a reflection of the deep emotions they felt—pride, relief, and excitement.

Eleven seconds!
They had shattered the world record! In this moment, they felt like heroes. They had created a miracle for Long Country, and every single person in that room was filled with an immense sense of accomplishment.
Despite the exhaustion of working tirelessly for a month, the results they had achieved made it all worthwhile.

Zhou Huaide couldn't suppress a smile.
Ten years of pressure, agony, and struggle—all of it had finally been released in this moment. He had finally delivered something of value to the nation.
He felt proud to tell his wife and children that he had made Long Country proud, that he had not let them down.

But, of course, none of this would have been possible without Jiang Fan.

At that very moment, Jiang Fan remained seated at the control console, motionless, his gaze fixed intently on the fluctuating data on the screen.
Plasma temperature: 500 million degrees Celsius
Fusion output power: 18 megawatts
Magnetic ring material temperature: 890°C
...

Jiang Fan noticed that the temperature of the magnetic ring material had risen by 20 degrees Celsius from before. His heart tightened with concern.
Although the material was heat-resistant, once it reached 2000°C, its properties would change.
The system's proposed design for the controlled fusion reactor differed slightly from their current implementation. Due to the time constraints, Jiang Fan had bypassed some complex steps.
But this had caused certain materials to suffer from prolonged stress, impacting their stability.
Through calculations, Jiang Fan had predicted that once the high temperature affected the materials' normal operation, the fusion's stable duration should reach 123 seconds.
Although this was 23 seconds longer than what the Chief had requested, Jiang Fan still felt uneasy.
After all, controlled nuclear fusion was an extraordinarily complicated system, and even the smallest issue could lead to instability.

Time ticked on, and before long, the timer reached 50 seconds.
The excitement of the earlier celebrations was now replaced by a stunned silence.
Fifty seconds?
Fifty seconds!
This was an incomprehensible amount of time. No one had expected that the Tokamak device they had developed could stabilize fusion for such an astonishing length of time.

In the Scientific Bureau's conference room, the Chief stepped closer to the projection screen for a better view.
The others stood beside him, equally transfixed.
"Chief, it's... it's been 50 seconds! This... this can't be real, can it?"
"I feel like I'm dreaming!"
"..."
The Chief could hardly find the words to express his astonishment.
Fifty seconds!
If they perfected the technology, this would be ready for deployment in specialized fields, such as military aviation.
Imagine if a fighter jet were equipped with such a small-scale controlled fusion device—during a critical dogfight, it could serve as a secret weapon!
And with the World Military Games coming in just six months, Long Country could use this technology as a trump card to dominate the competition!
The Chief couldn't help but laugh with excitement.
"What?"
"Seventy seconds!"
The Chief glanced at the screen in disbelief.
Could it really be? Was the Tokamak device truly capable of achieving 100 seconds?

He had originally suggested that as a way to set an impossible goal for Zhou Huaide, hoping he would stop pestering him.
Yet here they were, with the fusion stabilized at 70 seconds. Even if it had only lasted 10 seconds, the Chief would have supported Zhou Huaide's project wholeheartedly.
Now, Zhou Huaide had given him an incredible surprise.

The Chief suddenly recalled something Zhou had said earlier—he had mentioned finding a genius in controlled nuclear fusion. Could it be that this Tokamak device had been developed by him?

"Technician, enlarge the Northern Base's control room screen!"
The technician switched the display to the main screen.
The Chief immediately spotted Jiang Fan, seated calmly at the control console.
"He's so young?"

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