Courtyard House: A Major Power's Heavy Industry, Hand-Crafted Nuclear Fusion

Base 504, five underground floors.

This is an absolute no-go zone. Even someone of General Zhang's rank has to sign a "life or death waiver" before entering.

In the center of the laboratory, there is an ordinary worktable.

But the things on the worktable were anything but ordinary.

It was a hemispherical beryllium metal reflective layer, with a brick underneath. Below this hemisphere was another identical beryllium reflective layer.

Between the two hemispheres lies a newly arrived, highly enriched uranium sphere, only the size of a fist.

This is the famous "criticality experiment," commonly known as stroking the dragon's tail.

The principle is simple: by adjusting the distance between the upper and lower beryllium reflectors, the number of neutrons escaping from the uranium sphere is controlled and reflected back. The more neutrons reflected back, the stronger the chain reaction.

When the distance shrinks to a certain critical point, the uranium sphere will enter a "self-sustaining chain reaction" state.

That moment was when the "dragon" awoke.

The experimenter's job is to hold a screwdriver and slowly lower the upper hemisphere until the instrument detects the critical peak, then quickly separate them.

It sounds like they're playing with building blocks.

But this is a gamble with your life on the line.

If your hand slips or the screwdriver doesn't hold, the upper hemisphere will fall off and instantly close up...

"Bang!"

A soft sound.

Then there was a blue flash.

That was the smile of death. Everyone present would die painfully within days from acute radiation sickness, their DNA chains broken by neutron flux, their bodies melting away like mud.

"All unauthorized personnel, please evacuate."

Su Zheng put on a white lab coat. He didn't wear the heavy lead apron because that would affect his feel for the material.

"Dean Su..."

The old professor stood behind the bulletproof glass, his hand gripping the microphone tightly. "Should we check the equipment again? Or use a robotic arm?"

"The robotic arm is not responding."

Su Zheng shook his head, his tone calm, "This kind of subtle feeling can only be perceived by the human hand."

He glanced at Ye Xinyi standing beside him.

Ye Xinyi held the notebook, her face pale, but she still insisted on standing less than two meters away from him.

"Get out," Su Zheng said.

"I don't."

Ye Xinyi stubbornly raised her head. "I'm the recorder. I have to record every single piece of data."

"There will be radiation."

"I'm not afraid."

Su Zheng looked into her clear eyes and remained silent for a few seconds.

"it is good."

"If you see a blue light, run to the door immediately. Don't look back."

"Um."

Su Zheng turned around, took a deep breath, and sat down at the worktable.

He held the beryllium reflective layer in his left hand and an ordinary flathead screwdriver in his right, which he inserted into the gap between the two hemispheres as a support.

"start."

Su Zheng tightened his fingers slightly.

The screwdriver was tilted at a very small angle. The upper hemisphere dropped by 1 millimeter.

"Click...click..."

The Geiger counter beside me began to chime. The sound was sparse, like the ticking of an old clock.

"The neutron flux has increased by 10%," Ye Xinyi reported.

"continue."

Su Zheng adjusted the screwdriver again.

It dropped another millimeter.

"Click-clack..."

The sound of the counter became more frequent.

Su Zheng's Eye of Truth is now fully activated.

In his field of vision, the silvery-gray uranium sphere was glowing. Countless invisible neutrons flew out of the sphere like startled wasps, crashing into the beryllium reflector and bouncing back.

Each rebound triggers a new fission.

Energy is accumulating inside the sphere.

The sleeping dragon is slowly opening its eyes.

"We're 5 millimeters away from the critical point." Su Zheng's brain was calculating rapidly. "The current multiplication factor is 0.95."

"It can go down further."

Su Zheng's hand was as steady as a rock.

The screwdriver tilted again.

This time, it only dropped by 0.5 millimeters.

"Sizzle sizzle—"

The sounds of the Geiger counters had merged into a chilling hum of electricity.

The air seemed to be filled with static electricity, making my hair stand on end.

The invisible pressure made the old professor and General Zhang outside the blast-proof window feel suffocated. They dared not breathe, afraid that even a breath would make Su Zheng's hand tremble.

"The multiplication factor is 0.98."

"0.99".

Fine beads of sweat appeared on Su Zheng's forehead.

He could feel the faint warmth emanating from his fingertips. It was the heat generated by the nuclear reaction inside the uranium sphere.

I've already touched the dragon's tail.

"The last time."

Su Zheng said in a low voice, "I need to measure the peak value of the critical transient neutron. Xinyi, get ready to record."

"Yes."

Su Zheng's fingers twitched again.

0.1 mm.

This is a vast distance in the microscopic world.

"Buzz—!!!"

The Geiger counter emitted a sharp whistling sound.

The pointer instantly hit the red zone!

"Peak! Now!" Su Zheng shouted.

He prepared to withdraw the screwdriver and lift the hemisphere.

At this critical moment.

An accident happened.

It wasn't that Su Zheng's hand was shaking, nor that the screwdriver was slipping.

But -

A sudden tremor!

"Boom..."

A slight seismic wave came from beneath my feet.

This is a common geological activity in the Gobi Desert, and usually nothing unusual. But at this moment, when the two metal hemispheres were only millimeters apart…

The jolt caused the workbench to shake.

The screwdriver stuck in the gap shifted slightly due to the vibration.

The beryllium hemisphere, now unsupported, slid downwards under the influence of gravity.

"Smack."

A crisp metallic clang.

That was the sound of death knocking on the door.

The two hemispheres, one above the other, came together.

In an instant.

A beam of dark blue light burst forth from the crevice.

Cherenkov radiation!

That's the light emitted when electrons in the air are ionized by a super-fast neutron stream.

This also means that the nuclear reaction has crossed the critical point and entered an uncontrollable explosive state!

"what!"

The old professor outside the glass window let out a desperate scream.

It’s over.

It's all over.

At this distance, Su Zheng and Ye Xinyi would instantly receive a lethal dose of radiation of several thousand rems.

A fraction of a second later, the uranium sphere would expand and melt due to overheating, potentially causing a small-yield nuclear explosion that would level the entire basement.

Time seemed to stand still.

Ye Xinyi stared blankly at the blue light, not even having time to react.

But in Su Zheng's world, time is stretched out indefinitely.

[WARNING! Supercritical Explosion!]

[Neutron flux: Up exponentially!]

[Distance from meltdown: 0.5 seconds!]

In this life-or-death moment.

Su Zheng did not think.

His body reacted faster than his brain.

He didn't grab the screwdriver that had slipped from his hand, nor did he try to run away.

He suddenly stretched out his right hand and grabbed directly at the beryllium hemisphere that was emitting deathly blue light!

There was no protection whatsoever.

Their flesh and blood bodies came into direct contact with the core of the chain reaction that was underway.

"Open it... for me!!!"

Su Zheng roared angrily.

His right hand, like an iron clamp, gripped the scorching hot metal hemisphere and yanked it upwards!

"Snapped!"

The hemisphere was thrown out and rolled onto the ground with a clatter.

The blue light disappeared instantly.

The whistling of the Geiger counter stopped abruptly.

The chain reaction was interrupted.

Long Gang opened his mouth, only to be slapped back by Su Zheng.

A deathly silence.

Everyone remained in the same position, like a group of frozen sculptures.

Su was sitting in the chair, breathing heavily.

His right hand remained in that open position. His palm was bright red, burned from the sudden high temperature.

In his "Eye of Truth," lines of alarming red data were flooding the screen.

[Impacted by a high-energy neutron flux.]

Cell damage rate: 35%.

DNA break detection...

[System automatic repair function: Enabled.]

Energy consumed: 100%.

A warm current instantly flowed through my body. It was the system burning energy, frantically repairing the cells torn apart by radiation.

Su Zheng felt a violent wave of dizziness, but he gritted his teeth and endured it.

"Don't... move!"

Su Zheng's voice was somewhat weak, but still authoritative.

"Everyone, mark your current location!"

"I like it, let's record the data!"

Ye Xinyi finally came to her senses. Looking at Su Zheng's swollen right hand, tears welled up in her eyes.

"Su Zheng! You..."

She tried to rush over, but Su Zheng stopped her.

"Don't come any closer! I'm exposed to radiation!"

Su Zheng struggled to his feet, took out a piece of chalk from his pocket, and drew a circle on the spot where he had just been standing.

Then, looking at the old professor and General Zhang, who were already slumped on the ground outside the glass window, he gave a pale smile.

"It's alright now."

"I touched the dragon's tail."

"The data... is in."

After saying this, Su Zheng swayed and fell backward.

……

three days later.

504 Base Hospital, Special Care Ward.

Su was lying in the hospital bed, his body covered in tubes.

Outside the ward, a large crowd had gathered. General Zhang, the old professor, Old Zhao, and the skilled workers—all had red, swollen eyes, as if awaiting their final verdict.

Logically speaking, facing a supercritical explosion at that distance would be certain death.

The doctor came out holding a medical report, his face showing an expression as if he had seen a ghost.

"How is it? Doctor, say something!" General Zhang grabbed the doctor's collar anxiously.

"A miracle...it's simply a miracle..."

The doctor muttered to himself, "The white blood cell count is low, but it's rising rapidly. Bone marrow hematopoietic function... is normal. Apart from a slight beta-ray burn on his right hand, all other indicators... are actually recovering?"

"That's impossible! That's a dose of several thousand rems! Even an elephant would die!"

"You mean... he's alright?" General Zhang asked incredulously.

"It seems... he won't die."

"call--"

A long sigh echoed down the corridor.

General Zhang plopped down on a bench, wiping away a bead of cold sweat. "That kid... he's like a cat, he has nine lives!"

In the ward.

Su Zheng opened his eyes.

He looked at the ceiling, feeling the surging power within him.

The system's repair not only healed his radiation damage, but it even seemed to have strengthened his body. Now, he feels more energetic than before.

"You're awake?"

Ye Xinyi, who had been staying by the bedside, exclaimed in surprise.

Su Zheng turned his head and looked at Ye Xinyi, whose eyes were bloodshot, and felt a warmth in his heart.

"Silly girl, why are you crying?"

Su Zheng reached out his right hand, which was wrapped in gauze, to wipe away her tears, but Ye Xinyi held it tightly.

"You scared me to death... If you died, I..."

"I won't die."

Su Zheng smiled and said, "The King of Hell thought I was too much trouble, so he sent me back."

He struggled to sit up.

"Xinyi, how's the data processing going?"

"What time is it and you're still concerned about the data!" Ye Xinyi was so angry she wanted to hit him, but she still obediently took out the notebook.

"The peak data at the very last moment was recorded."

Ye Xinyi opened her notebook. "According to calculations, the critical mass of this uranium sphere is 0.5% smaller than the theoretical value."

"Smaller by 0.5%?"

Su Zheng frowned.

This is no small matter.

This means that the previous theoretical model had errors. If it is not corrected and the explosive is loaded according to the original plan, it may result in insufficient detonation energy or even become a "dud".

"It seems we need to calculate it again."

Su Zheng threw back the covers and was about to get out of bed.

"What are you doing? The doctor told you to rest in bed!"

"I can't lie here any longer."

Su Zheng put on his shoes, a glint of shrewdness flashing in his eyes. "Our 'Red Star One' needs to get to work. This 0.5% error must be corrected before final assembly."

"But your body..."

"Don't worry." Su Zheng stretched his arms. "I feel like I could kill a bull right now."

He walked to the window and looked at the distant Gobi Desert.

The sandstorms continue.

But the sense of unease on the eve of the decisive battle was growing stronger and stronger.

"Xinyi, please inform the old professor for me."

"Bring all parameters to the computing center."

"We are going to perform one last iteration."

"This time, we must be absolutely certain of success."