Chapter 5: The Third-Generation Controlled Nuclear Fusion Device, and Departure

Yan Xia toured the Hope, but he didn't visit every corner.

Most importantly, he wanted to see his living quarters.

Ella had prepared a luxurious space for him.

A massive 20-square-meter bedroom, a media room with a 1,000-inch giant movie screen, a kitchen, game room, study, gym, and of course, a toilet.

A very comfortable living area.

Additionally, there was a simulated street, a life-like replica of Earth with a sky and ground but no people, spanning a total area of 31,371 square meters.

Holding a tablet, Yan Xia zoomed in on a video.

The video showed a scene of Earth.

A hundred years after its destruction, Earth had been completely torn apart. Even if there was a chance that millions of people had survived, there was none left now.

It had been hit by the moon, and both Earth and the moon had been pulled into a long string of debris.

In the video, he could only see tiny fragments.

But each fragment might have been a city or a country, home to tens or hundreds of millions of people.

Now, those fragments likely held the remains of tens of millions of humans.

Yan Xia couldn't help but feel a sense of melancholy.

Ella appeared on a screen in front of him, reminding him.

"Yan Xia, we'll depart in half a year."

"The remains of Earth and the moon will soon reach the surface of the sun, and when they collide, there will be a massive change in the solar system."

"If we remain in the asteroid belt, we'll be mercilessly destroyed."

A hundred years had passed since Earth's destruction, and it was about to sink into the sun's embrace.

Yan Xia felt a surge of determination upon hearing this.

"Take me to see the third-generation controlled nuclear fusion device."

Ella led Yan Xia outside.

Of course, they had to wear spacesuits.

Compared to a hundred years ago, the spacesuit Ella had made for Yan Xia was jet black, with a thin, skin-tight layer, much more comfortable and convenient than the bulky spacesuits of the past.

As they left the spaceship, Yan Xia realized how massive it was.

The platform he was standing on was over 200 meters wide and 5,000 meters long.

Standing there, he felt like an insignificant ant on an A4 sheet of paper, or even smaller.

He turned back to look at the Hope, even more awe-inspiring.

The dark hull against the dark background of space seemed infinitely deep, with a hint of metallic reflection, giving it a cold, icy aura. It lay there like a giant beast, waiting to awaken.

Soon.

A wine-red, streamlined magnetic supercar stopped in front of him, resembling a Bugatti.

The supercar, being in space, was not restricted by gravity and appeared quite large, about six meters long and over three meters wide.

Yan Xia sat comfortably inside.

As the door closed, the supercar accelerated to 300 kilometers per hour in just one second, covering five kilometers in less than a second.

Then, it entered the asteroid's surface and, after two seconds, stopped outside a 180-meter-tall, over 100,000-square-meter factory.

The factory's code was A-283.

Ella had assigned an engineering importance rating to the factories, with A being the highest and F the lowest.

Yan Xia entered the factory.

Before him stood a massive device.

The device was over 70 meters tall and 200 meters in diameter, and the most eye-catching feature was the transparent toroidal chamber, where he could see flickering, jumping currents of electricity.

Each current was as thick as Yan Xia's arm.

"Electromagnetic confinement?"

Controlled nuclear fusion devices require high-intensity magnetic fields for confinement, and this device's powerful magnetic field was beyond Yan Xia's understanding.

Its size alone indicated its terrifying performance.

"Yan Xia, the third-generation controlled nuclear fusion device is in the final testing phase. Watch."

Ella pointed to the device.

A deafening roar filled the air, like a giant fan blowing directly into his ears, the noise overwhelming.

They were in space, and the sound was possible because Yan Xia was standing on the ground, allowing the sound to travel through the solid surface.

Yan Xia jumped in surprise, leaving the ground, and the sound disappeared.

Looking back at the controlled nuclear fusion device, the entire toroidal chamber was glowing, almost blinding.

It was essentially a tokamak device, a small sun.

Inside, the atomic nuclei of deuterium and tritium underwent fusion, releasing tremendous energy.

This energy was collected as heat and converted into kinetic energy.

It was still a matter of "boiling water."

This device was humanity's greatest pursuit a hundred years ago.

With controlled nuclear fusion, there would be an infinite supply of energy.

Yan Xia and Ella had taken a significant step forward for human civilization.

Astonishing!

Yan Xia was overwhelmed.

The third-generation controlled nuclear fusion device had successfully ignited thirty-seven times during testing and was now being installed.

As the massive device was loaded into the spaceship, Yan Xia couldn't believe it.

After all, his consciousness was still in the past.

"Yan Xia, after installing the third-generation controlled nuclear fusion device, my main computer's power bottleneck will be lifted."

"In a hundred years, my code has been rewritten 23 times, and I hope you, my creator, can check it for me."

Ella swiped on the screen, revealing a large amount of code in front of Yan Xia.

As a computer engineer, Yan Xia felt nauseous at the sight of the code, especially when he saw the number of lines. He couldn't contain himself.

The source code had 183,729 lines!

Although it was dizzying, Ella was his primary guarantee, so Yan Xia carefully checked the code, including the three laws at the lowest level.

After all, among these 180,000 lines of code, some were written by Ella for herself.

This code had gradually surpassed the level of human society.

Ella's willingness to let him check it was likely to reassure him, indirectly showing that Ella had become more human-like over the past hundred years.

It took a month.

"Check complete, very okay."

From Yan Xia's perspective, there were no flaws.

"Great!"

The virtual Ella jumped with excitement.

At this moment, the third-generation nuclear fusion device was finally installed on the Hope.

Yan Xia sat in the giant cockpit, surrounded by screens displaying scenes from various factories. Some robots were still working.

Everything on this spaceship was too large to fit.

These things could only be left behind.

"Ella, do these robots have a chance of surviving the solar storm?"

Ella replied seriously.

"There's a one in a million chance, Yan Xia!"

"We're too close to the sun, and even our escape is risky. Our thrusters use nuclear fusion to heat protons, but we don't directly use nuclear fusion to generate plasma for propulsion, which is less efficient."

Yan Xia sighed, as he and Ella had discussed this issue. Nuclear fusion thrusters weren't difficult to make, but it was challenging to generate propulsion and produce electricity simultaneously. The efficiency was insufficient for Ella's computational needs, so they had made some compromises.

"At least there's a small chance."

"Write an AI program for them. If they survive, they can develop on their own."

"This is the origin of humanity."

"Their birth is an extension of human civilization."

"As we leave the solar system, not knowing if we'll return, we hope that if these robots survive, they can inherit the will of humanity."

Ella nodded, her white hair trembling, and she even managed to look sad.

"Okay, Yan Xia!"

In less than a second, all the work was done.

"Fire up, Ella."

"Destination remains Proxima Centauri."

Yan Xia watched the factories on the screens.

He didn't know if he would ever return.

"Okay, Yan Xia! Solar System Port 001 is retracting, the clamps are disengaged, the spaceship has left the port, and it has reached the predetermined takeoff position!"

"The target route has been confirmed, the best route has been set, all magnetic valves are open, and all electromagnetic thrusters are being powered."

"One, ready!"

"Five!"

"Four!"

"Three!"

"Two!"

"One!"

"Fire..."

The spaceship awakened, and a terrifying ice-blue heat wave erupted from its tail, capable of melting everything in its path. It departed like a meteor.

This might be a final farewell.

On the asteroid, all the robots came out and saluted the Hope as it departed.