Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
The reception room at the assembly center…
An old man with a head of white hair sat on the sofa. Even though he was over eighty years old, he gave off a sharp and bright demeanor.
In addition to this old gentleman, there were two other young researchers sitting next to him. Even though their demeanors weren’t as strong as the old man’s, it was obvious they were not just ordinary scientific researchers.
Therefore, even without an introduction, Lu Zhou could immediately tell which person was Zhang Jianrong.
He suddenly remembered where he first heard about this old man.
At that time, he was chatting with Academician Wang Zengguang from the China National Nuclear Corporation after eating dinner with him. They talked about the times when the China National Nuclear Corporation cooperated with the Navy Equipment Research Institute, and Wang Zengguang told Lu Zhou about Zhang Jianrong.
Back in the day, when China’s economic development was at its peak, Zhang Jianrong and 29 other experts from all over the country were assembled to research the first generation of nuclear-powered submarines. What was even more amazing was that the only references they had were two blurry photos and a children’s submarine toy from the United States…
Even now, this amazing story was still widely talked about.
When Lu Zhou saw Academician Zhang stand up, he smiled and reached out his hand.
“Hello, Academician Zhang, it’s a pleasure to meet you!”
“Hello.” Professor Zhang Jianrong shook Lu Zhou’s hand and said, “It’s my pleasure. That thing you did in Haizhou ignited the hopes of many young children. Even though I wasn’t there, I could still feel the sensation through my TV screen!”
Even though this old man was an academician, there was a military vibe to him. However, he didn’t seem arrogant. On the other hand, he was likable.
“You’re too kind.” Lu Zhou smiled and said, “May I ask why you came all the way from Beijing?”
“Yes.” Academician Zhang Jianrong nodded and said, “I read the documents on the miniaturization of controllable fusion for a long time yesterday. I also discussed with my two assistants for a long time, but I still don’t have a clue about the overall design… I have never heard anyone talk using ultrasonic waves for fusion ignition.”
The miniaturization of the controllable fusion reactor was one of the key projects of the Navy Equipment Research Institute. The Navy Equipment Research Institute had been working with the China National Nuclear Corporation regarding the miniaturization of the Pangu reactor, in hopes of implementing it on battleships.
However, their project wasn’t going well. At least for now, they hadn’t made any progress.
On the other hand, Lu Zhou had developed this new sound fusion technology.
The old man paused for a second before he said in a solemn tone, “You’re my teacher, I hope you can aid me in understanding this technology.”
Lu Zhou was a little embarrassed at how polite the academician was.
“I’m no teacher, but I can help you with the parts you don’t understand.”
The old man immediately took out a notebook from his pocket and handed it over to Lu Zhou.
“These are some of the problems I found while reading the blueprint and documents. I hope you can answer some of my questions.”
Lu Zhou took the notebook from the old man and began to flip through the notebook.
Time quickly passed by.
After around two minutes, Lu Zhou flipped the notebook to the final page and suddenly closed the notebook.
“How about this,” Lu Zhou handed the notebook to the old man and said, “I can answer the questions, but that’s all talk. How about I take you to see the real thing?”
The three people in the reception room were all stunned.
Especially the two researchers, they looked astounded.
Lu Zhou could tell a lot from their facial expressions.
Just like Lu Zhou had expected, the Navy Equipment Research Institute didn’t believe he really solved the miniaturization of controllable fusion at all.
Even though Academician Zhang didn’t doubt Lu Zhou, the two researchers who came with Academician Zhang were full of disbelief and doubt.
Of course, they didn’t doubt Lu Zhou himself, only Lu Zhou’s claims.
Even though Lu Zhou was a Nobel Prize laureate and Ling Yun medalist, the concept of sound fusion sounded a bit too unrealistic.
Especially since the reputation of cold fusion hadn’t been very good, and a lot of countries failed at cold fusion in the 1980s. Therefore, people’s first instinct was that cold fusion was a hoax.
The matter of fact was that it was true that the vast majority of research institutions or individuals who were researching cold fusion, were doing so just to receive research funding. However, that didn’t mean cold fusion was impossible.
Presupposition in scientific research was a deadly sin.
After all, a lot of things that seemed impossible a few hundred years ago, had now become part of their world…
In some sense, sound fusion wasn’t a subset of cold fusion. After all, the instantaneous temperature peak from the bubble exceeded the temperature inside the sun’s core, so it was not exactly “cold”. However, the nuclear core was operating at a temperature of 1000-1300° Celsius, which was much cooler than the millions of temperature nuclear core inside Pangu.
Because of this, after the Navy Equipment Research Institute researchers saw the documents, no one believed that this cold fusion thing was real.
“The fusion machine is… in here?” Surprised, Academician Zhang Jianrong looked at Lu Zhou.
Lu Zhou took out his phone and smiled.
“The experimental reactor isn’t here, but we have something better.”
Academician Zhang Jianrong squinted.
“Something better?”
Lu Zhou nodded.
“Yeah, come with me, you’ll see.”