Rebirth: Controlled Nuclear Fusion

Part 59：Of Great Value

At Longke University in Longguo, Jiang Fan had just finished his breakfast and was about to head to the laboratory that Long Lao had mentioned.

The night before, he had stayed up late, briefly reviewing the blueprints for the battle mechas and fighter jets that the system had awarded him. He was astounded by how much more advanced they were compared to the current technology on Blue Star.

He had spent the whole night in excitement, but despite his enthusiasm, he realized that he was still unable to begin the development. This was because the mechas and fighter jets were powered by a controllable nuclear fusion micro-device, and currently, the Tokamak device for controlled nuclear fusion was missing a crucial component: the ITER magnet material.

Only once this issue was resolved could the research on controlled nuclear fusion progress.

The previous day, Zhou Huaide had informed him that the issue of the ITER magnet material had been reported to the government, and the country would negotiate with the Beautiful Nation to solve the problem.

"I wonder how it's going?" Jiang Fan muttered to himself.

At this moment, his primary concern was the ITER magnet material. Once he could successfully develop controlled nuclear fusion, he would be able to proceed with creating the mechas and fighter jets.

Before he realized it, Jiang Fan had arrived at Long Lao's laboratory. Since it was Jiang Fan's first day there, Long Lao had arrived early to greet him.

Seeing Jiang Fan enter, Long Lao beamed and quickly approached, clapping him on the shoulder.

"Good lad, you really bring me honor, haha..."

Jiang Fan was momentarily stunned by the sudden praise from Long Lao.

Then Long Lao continued, "You're the first freshman in the history of Longke University to win a Grand Slam in the Traditional Challenge! Haha..."

Jiang Fan finally understood and humbly replied, "It was just luck."

"Luck is also a part of strength," Long Lao responded, clearly in a good mood.

Afterward, Long Lao clapped his hands and called over three of his assistants.

"Everyone, come over here, I'd like to introduce you."

Two men and one woman walked over. As soon as the young woman saw Jiang Fan, she couldn't help but let out a soft "Eh!"

Everyone turned to look at her, and she quickly added, "It's nothing! Nothing at all!"

Long Lao didn't pay much attention to it. He simply introduced Jiang Fan to the three of them.

"This is Jiang Fan, my new student. From now on, he'll be working with you all in the lab, focusing on the energy systems for the mechas."

The three assistants exchanged confused glances. Long Lao had never taken on students before—why the change today?

"Hello, I'm Jiang Fan, a freshman this year. If I don't understand something, please feel free to offer your guidance," Jiang Fan said politely.

The young woman smiled warmly at him and said, "Hello, I'm Xia Xiaoyu, your senior. Hehe..."

She placed extra emphasis on the word "senior," making it clear. Xia Xiaoyu was a close friend of Qiao Yifei, and after hearing from her that Qiao Yifei liked Jiang Fan, she had taken it upon herself to gather information about him. To her surprise, she had run into him here in the lab. If Jiang Fan and Qiao Yifei were to become a couple, Xia Xiaoyu would also be addressed as "senior" by Qiao Yifei!

Thinking of this, Xia Xiaoyu couldn't help but laugh lightly.

"Hello, I'm Xu Guangyuan, a senior in my fourth year. I major in materials science," another assistant introduced himself.

"I'm Niu Xu, a junior majoring in computer science," said the third assistant.

After the introductions, Long Lao took Jiang Fan on a tour of the lab.

The lab's primary focus was the energy systems for the mechas.

The night before, Jiang Fan had reviewed the blueprints for the battle mecha provided by the system, and he now had a rough understanding of the mecha's overall structure. The mecha consisted of ten major systems:

Energy SystemDrive SystemSkeletal SystemArmor SystemWeapon SystemPlugin SystemPerception SystemCentral Control SystemControl SystemLife Support System

Each system was specialized in a different field, so research on the mechas was typically divided into separate projects for each system, which would later be integrated. Regular meetings were held to report on each system's progress, with adjustments made accordingly.

Long Lao, with his remarkable achievements in rocket fuel, was responsible for the energy system of the mecha.

The energy system in Jiang Fan's blueprints was based on a small-scale controllable nuclear fusion device, which was significantly different from the aluminum battery energy system Long Lao was currently researching.

However, with Longguo lacking the ITER magnet material, Jiang Fan couldn't yet develop the small-scale nuclear fusion device.

After showing Jiang Fan around and explaining the lab's work, Long Lao left. As the chief engineer for Longguo's rocket fuel research, he needed to oversee a critical project, so he had to leave Jiang Fan in the care of Xu Guangyuan.

Xu Guangyuan would help Jiang Fan familiarize himself with the lab.

However, as soon as Long Lao left, Xia Xiaoyu enthusiastically approached Jiang Fan and said, "Jiang Fan, let me show you around!"

She began explaining the current research in the lab.

Seeing that someone was willing to show Jiang Fan around, Xu Guangyuan lost interest in doing so himself and returned to his research on lithium battery materials.

Having studied nanomaterials in his previous life, Jiang Fan was familiar with battery energy materials, so he quickly got up to speed with their research process. By the afternoon, he was able to assist with experiments and contribute to discussions.

This surprised everyone in the lab. They hadn't expected Jiang Fan to be so knowledgeable, and it made sense why Long Lao had taken him on as a student!

At lunch, Jiang Fan called Zhou Huaide to inquire about the ITER magnet material. Zhou Huaide informed him that the matter hadn't been resolved yet. Given the nature of the Beautiful Nation, it would likely be difficult to handle, and it might take at least two weeks.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Fan resigned himself to waiting. There was no use rushing the process.

After hanging up the phone, he received a call from Dean Li of Longke University. The call was to inform him that the reward promised by the principal the previous day was ready.

Jiang Fan was overjoyed.

He quickly made his way to the laboratory that Dean Li had mentioned. It was in the building next door to Long Lao's lab.

After waiting for a short while, Dean Li arrived with a key.

He opened the door, revealing the laboratory, which was equipped with various experimental instruments.

"Jiang Fan, this lab was previously used by an old professor from Longke University. If you need any additional equipment or materials, just let me know, and I'll arrange for it to be purchased."

"Thank you, Dean Li!" Jiang Fan responded, then pulled out a pen and began writing something on a desk.

Dean Li was a little puzzled by this.

After a while, Jiang Fan picked up the paper and handed it to him.

"Dean Li, could you please help me prepare these materials?" Jiang Fan requested.

"Sure!" Dean Li agreed, but couldn't help grumbling inwardly, "This kid really doesn't hold back."

As he glanced over the list of materials and equipment, his eyes widened in shock. The total cost of these items was quite high—his initial estimate was at least 50 million.