Chapter 769

Office.

The host’s face showed a flicker of surprise, but his professional composure quickly restored; he looked at Zhang Zhi Gao across from him and said slowly, “Academician Zhang, we’ve just received word that Qiankun-1 has achieved self-sustaining fusion burn, with a q-value of 11.02.”

“.”

Zhang Zhi Gao’s expression went slack, then he let out a dry laugh. “Reporter Jiang, I suggest you first verify your source. A q-value of 11.02 is impossible for any existing tokamak device.”

You really ought to be more careful and responsible—before you speak, find out what q=11.02 even means.

Why don’t you just say they’re preparing to build a demonstration reactor right now?

Zhang Zhi Gao chuckled, picked up his teacup—but before he could drink, the office door was slammed open.

His student Shao Yilin rushed in, panicked.

Seeing this, Zhang Zhi Gao’s hand froze mid-air, a cold dread sinking into his chest.

“Professor, we just got word—Qiankun-1 has sustained net energy gain for one hour, with q reaching 11.02!”

“.”

The air froze solid.

Ten minutes passed. At the entrance.

The CTV reporters had packed their gear and were preparing to leave.

Only after leaving the institute grounds did the high ponytail girl ask: “Sis, what does one hour of energy gain mean?”

The entire research base felt strange; everyone’s faces looked grim.

“It means they can now directly build a demonstration reactor. It means commercial controlled nuclear fusion is imminent. The world’s energy landscape will be reshaped.”

The female host’s expression was complex.

“What about our report?” the cameraman asked.

“I think Academician Zhang won’t be in the mood for this right now. More pressing—we should focus on the achievements of the Materials Research Institute. That’s surely going to be the big story for the next few days.”

“Exactly, exactly.”

The group immediately got into their car.

In the office, Zhang Zhi Gao sat slumped in his chair, expressionless, as if his soul had been drained.

“Professor~ Professor~”

Shao Yilin called twice; Zhang Zhi Gao finally snapped back to awareness.

“Are you alright?” Shao Yilin asked, worried.

Ever since Zhang Zhi Gao saw the Materials Research Institute’s announcement, he’d worn this same expression.

“Teacher cares most about face. This time—”

Shao Yilin sighed inwardly. Everyone knew the tension between his teacher and the Materials Research Institute; in the past, he’d even secretly suppressed their funding.

He asked: “Teacher, what should we do now?”

“Proceed with the project as normal.”

“Oh, alright.” Shao Yilin left with tactful discretion.

“Huh~”

A sudden wave of helplessness surged in Zhang Zhi Gao’s chest.

The slap came too suddenly—he’d just claimed Qiankun-1 achieving six minutes of Lawson criterion sustainment was already the absolute limit, and the next moment reality had struck him hard across the face.

The ignition test was on October 12. Today is October 29. It took over half a month before they officially announced the news.

He finally saw it: Xu Qingzhou was the type who played the fool to hide his true strength.