Chapter 539 - 528 Dreamland_1

"This is amazing, maybe we should send a physicist up here."

Yun Hongjun gazed out into the vast and boundless starry skies through the elliptical porthole, expressing his feelings.

Xie Liaofu, who was beside him, was spinning in place in the middle of the cabin, seeming to have a great time, but he still found a moment to respond:

"Why send a physicist?"

"Because I’ve heard that, like literature, the cutting edge of science always relies on those fleeting moments of inspiration, which don’t come from mundane life.

Now, whenever I look out at the stars, I feel like my whole life can be interpreted differently. This is definitely the dreamland for creators."

Xie Liaofu laughed in an unflattering manner, feeling something similar in his heart, but he was more eager to enjoy the sensation of space itself.

The man who had sent countless astronauts into space could now send himself, which was in itself a very meaningful thing.

"Chief Designer Yun, soon you will be able to seek understanding on the Moon. The NACA Director said he wants to send the Lunar Landing Chief Designer over, and you should go too.

Then, you’ll stand outside in your spacesuit, holding a model of the CZ-10 in your hand. I bet that photo will go down in history."

This time Yun Hongjun did not reply; he indeed started to daydream about such a scene.

"Mr. Yun, Mr. Yun!"

The young man who had been complaining with him before boarding seemed very close, floating over to hand him a camera.

"Could you help us take a picture? It’s not complete, but it could count as a graduation photo."

Yun Hongjun noticed he was also holding something in his hand, and upon asking, he found out it was, surprisingly, a cap and gown, which they had also brought aboard.

young people naturally could not stand side by side in the cabin, but thanks to the lack of gravity, aligning on the same cross-sectional plane was theoretically possible.

So the group of youths squeezed together, trying to form a three-dimensional circle with their heads toward the middle. They fumbled with their positioning, still knocking into each other, creating chaos all around.

Xie Liaofu, holding his head, floated slantedly to one side, observing the mess in front of him and said:

"The Aero-Space Plane really isn’t enough; the capacity is too small and rockets are too expensive."

Yun Hongjun: "Mr. Xie, I think we’ve done very well as it is, with the Aero-Space Plane and the reusable rockets. Even by 2050, this combination won’t be outdated."

Xie Liaofu: "But what about after that? As long as we don’t have the ability to exchange large amounts of materials between the Earth’s surface and low Earth orbit—I’m talking thousands to tens of thousands of tons at a time.

I think we need a space elevator, whether it’s by dropping a rope from geostationary orbit or building it from the ground up like the Tower of Babel, we need this kind of epoch-making thing."

"Hmm..."

"I think that’s something for the next generation, or the generation after that, to consider. The material technology needed for these plans is just too advanced."

"Maybe, but in my opinion, we have to achieve these things within this century."

"Mr. Yun, take the photo quick, it’s about to get chaotic again!"

"Ah, I bumped my head again!"

"Hold on to me a bit, I think my foot’s caught on the porthole."

"..."

...

Presidential Palace.

Sullivan wiped the sweat from his forehead and with a ’you’ve got to be joking’ expression, looked at John and asked:

"Sir, are we really still going to charge them?"

"Of course, we’re going to charge!"

John looked as if it went without saying, even gritting his teeth a bit.

"Do you know how much funding several national laboratories have applied for from me? $340 million, $340 million US Dollars!"

"They’re asking for $340 million just to produce a single small warhead with mature technology and a yield of less than 200,000 tons!"

Sullivan immediately explained:

"This isn’t just the cost of producing a hydrogen bomb. We haven’t manufactured new nuclear weapons for decades, the eight major nuclear laboratories and businesses all need to restart their production lines and recruit parts suppliers, which will be even more necessary for future Moon programs.

For now, this money is just to get them up and running, not a penny extra.

We have already agreed that all the costs should be waived, and now opposing it is rather troublesome."

The point of contention between the two was, of course, the hydrogen bomb to be used for nuclear radiation cleanup. The official stance of the IAEA had already been announced as free of charge, but John wanted to back out and withdraw first.

He had his reasons: We provide the people and equipment to clean up the mess you made, isn’t it only right to charge a fee?

Sullivan believed that from the standpoint of Island Country, this might be somewhat unacceptable, but John immediately countered with the recently signed amendment to the Outer Space Treaty:

This is not even a hydrogen bomb, formally known as a "multi-purpose engineering explosive device for fusion," there’s no need to worry about these matters.

After arguing for a while, Sullivan finally compromised:

"Since you also think that this sum of money is too much for us to pay, then we should have others chip in, after all, saving Fukushima is the same as saving the Pacific Ocean, equivalent to saving the people of the entire world."

John was taken aback for a moment, then shook his head, "You mean the United Nations? Having them pay for pollution cleanup? What funds do they have? They surely won’t be able to contribute."

"No, not official organizations, we can initiate fundraising from the public, cough..."

Even though there was no one around, John still lowered his voice:

"We should approach the people of Asia for donations; they are sure to be very enthusiastic."

...

October 12th, Edo.

Academician Zhou, Tomarsov, Jon, and other experts had finally donned their suits again after playing for over ten days, which made Tomoaki Kobayakawa, who had been staking out at the hotel, instantly alert.

He hurried over and asked with concern:

"Academician Zhou, may I inquire where the IAEA plans to inspect today? We will arrange for someone to receive you immediately."

Academician Zhou chuckled, "We are not inspecting today. We have already completed the preliminary data collection we needed, and we will be leaving Island Country soon."

Tomoaki Kobayakawa, upon hearing the expert group was about to leave, could hardly contain his laughter, but he managed to feign regret as he said:

"That’s truly a pity, there are many authentic delicacies and customs in Edo that you haven’t experienced yet. We are really to blame for not having shown you everything, I am truly sorry."

"There’s no need for that, Mr. Kobayakawa. The IAEA will continue to book the hotel rooms, and we’ll probably be back in about a week. This time we are just heading to Manhattan for a conference."

"Manhattan?"

Tomoaki Kobayakawa immediately realized that was where the United Nations is located, but their visit to the United Nations... did that mean they were planning something?

"This... Academician Zhou, may I ask if it’s convenient for you to disclose anything..."

Academician Zhou smiled knowingly and lightly rubbed his thumb and forefinger together.

Seeing this, Tomoaki Kobayakawa felt a surge of indignation. He had tried to use money as a bribe in recent days; at first, the experts rigidly refused, but for some reason, they had all recently changed their stance and were willing to accept money, and not an insignificant amount either—with the minimum starting at one million US Dollars.

Over twenty million had already been spent on operational expenses, and they still hadn’t heard anything valuable, but now they were in a position where they just had to pay.

Seeing Kobayakawa nod reluctantly, Academician Zhou kept a smile on his face, but inwardly he was cursing, blaming the IAEA for being shamelessly opportunistic. However, he was also excited to see what Kobayakawa’s reaction would be once he found out what the money was being used for.

It wasn’t until he watched Kobayakawa complete the transfer that he felt assured enough to say:

"The IAEA has already finalized the first-phase pollution management plan and will pass it in the upcoming United Nations meeting."