Rebirth: Controlled Nuclear Fusion

Part 86：Military Training Performance

Professor Ma, who had previously regarded Jiang Fan with a cool demeanor, now looked at him with renewed warmth and eagerness. Given the depth of the knowledge Jiang Fan had already mastered in space science, it was evident that he had acquired the core theoretical principles of the discipline in an astonishingly short time. In just one day, he had grasped what others typically take four years to learn. This left Professor Ma in utter disbelief.

Reflecting on this, Professor Ma could now understand why Jiang Fan had caught the attention of both Old Long and Principal Lu. He had misjudged Jiang Fan before, but now it was clear—Jiang Fan had every right to be proud.

"Professor Ma, do you have any other questions?" Jiang Fan interrupted his thoughts.

Professor Ma quickly shook his head. "No, no more questions."

"Jiang Fan, you're truly remarkable. The future of space tourism might just depend on you," he added with a chuckle.

Jiang Fan smiled but remained silent, though in his heart, he harbored ambitions far greater than mere space travel.

"Professor Ma, do I need to study any more books?" Jiang Fan asked.

"If your goal is just to write an SCI paper, this knowledge is more than sufficient. While humans have studied the cosmos for nearly two thousand years, most of that has been speculative observation. True space science is still in its infancy. I'll give you a topic to focus on, and you can write based on that."

"Understood, Professor Ma!" Jiang Fan responded.

Professor Ma then wrote down a topic on a piece of paper: Technologies Connecting Blue Star to Space. Jiang Fan's mind immediately flooded with ideas. This topic, though seemingly simple, narrowed the vast field of space science into a manageable framework. All Jiang Fan needed to do was develop his ideas within this structure.

"Jiang Fan, do you see any issues with this topic?" Professor Ma asked.

"I don't think so!" Jiang Fan replied.

"Good. This topic is relatively straightforward. You can break it down into several sections: the relationship between Blue Star and space, humanity's exploration of space, the current state of space technology on Blue Star, and future technological directions connecting Blue Star to space... As long as there are no factual errors, your SCI paper should be fine."

Professor Ma continued to outline key points on the paper for Jiang Fan's reference before handing it to him.

"Jiang Fan, is there anything else you don't understand?"

"Not for now, thank you, Professor Ma!" Jiang Fan said sincerely. Without Professor Ma's guidance, he would have had no idea where to begin, as the scope of space science was vast and covered many areas.

After a brief exchange, Jiang Fan left, ready to begin working on his SCI paper. He recalled his conversation with the system about the flow state and the methods it had suggested for entering this state quickly. Over the past year, Jiang Fan had unknowingly entered the flow state on a daily basis, though he hadn't understood what it was at the time. Now, with the system's guidance, he could effortlessly enter the flow state at will.

Time passed unnoticed as Jiang Fan immersed himself in his work. He remained oblivious to the passage of hours until, by the time he emerged from his focused state, it was nearly nine o'clock. He had written over 20,000 words and felt quite satisfied with his progress. With only two more hours of work, his SCI paper on space science would be completed.

He decided to visit the cafeteria to meet Aunt Li, as they had arranged to dine together. On his way there, he stopped by a fruit shop and bought some fruit for Aunt Li. After all, it wasn't right to always eat her food without offering something in return.

Carrying two bags of fruit, Jiang Fan arrived at the cafeteria. The light at window number 10 was still on, so he walked up to it and called out, "Aunt Li!"

A middle-aged woman's head appeared from behind the counter, but it wasn't Aunt Li.

Jiang Fan was momentarily taken aback.

"You're Jiang Fan, right?" the woman asked.

"Yes," Jiang Fan replied.

"I'm Aunt Li's colleague. She asked me to give this to you." The woman handed him a thermos container.

"Where is Aunt Li?" Jiang Fan asked.

The woman hesitated, then sighed. "Ah, never mind. It doesn't matter. Just take this, and go. She... she's not feeling well."

Before Jiang Fan could ask more, the woman had turned off the light and left. She returned from another aisle shortly after, and Jiang Fan quickly handed her the fruit he had bought.

"Could you please give these fruits to Aunt Li?" he asked.

The woman looked at the fruit and nodded, accepting it. "Not bad, seems like Old Li has treated you well."

After she left, Jiang Fan took the thermos and returned to his quarters, still preoccupied with Aunt Li's condition. After a few moments of pondering, he decided not to dwell on it for too long.

"Never mind, I'll eat first," he muttered to himself. "I still have to finish my SCI paper."

Opening the thermos, Jiang Fan found two steaming buns, a stir-fry of celery and shrimp, and a bowl of century egg and lean pork congee at the bottom. It was clear that Aunt Li had put a lot of thought into preparing his meal.

He ate quickly, finishing every last bite. Afterward, he cleaned the thermos and sat down at his desk, shifting his focus entirely to his paper.

Three hours later, Jiang Fan had completed the paper and spent another two hours refining it. Satisfied with his work, he finally went to bed, ready for a well-earned rest.

The next day, the Dragon Science and Technology University campus was alive with energy. The freshmen stood in perfect formation on the sports field, shouting their military training slogans. The cheers echoed throughout the campus, marking the conclusion of their 20-day military training. They were no longer the disorganized group they had been when they first arrived. Military posture, marching, turning, and saluting—all were done with the precision of seasoned soldiers.

Under the blistering sun, each student stood with unwavering focus, responding to their instructor's commands, performing the demonstration flawlessly. On the podium, university officials nodded approvingly, clearly pleased with the performance.

"Excellent! These are the future pillars of our country!" Principal Lu said with a satisfied laugh.

After the demonstration, when the principal gave his speech, the instructors quietly gathered their things, preparing to leave. When the students realized this, they rushed toward their instructors in a unified charge...