Chapter 660 - 644: Phantom Sailing

High-energy physics is a research field with vast differences in direction but high levels of integration.

A high-energy physicist might have substantial achievements in laser physics, quantum physics, nuclear physics, and micro science, with research tools and environments that are highly versatile and rely on each other’s research to make progress.

So Zhao Xiaowen understood Lu Qiu’s implication right away—he was hinting at Electromagnetic Control Technology.

Indeed, he had first-hand experience. Although the technical materials for the laser smelting satellite contained related technologies, the technologies used on "Blazing Sun," "Chi Ren," and the "C172-A" metallic hydrogen battery also heavily employed micro strong electromagnetic force control.

According to the current mainstream thinking surrounding tokamak devices in the world, there is a great need for such strong and precise electromagnetic confinement devices, rather than using weak force binding as in the "laser inertial confinement" from future timelines obtained by the base previously.

However, in Zhao Xiaowen’s view, this was a good thing, meaning that the base could potentially be deeply involved in the EAST program. Even if tokamak was not the way forward, it could still provide a wealth of experimental data for the laser inertial confinement fusion chosen by the base.

Reasonably extending the base’s reach to EAST had always been one of the top dreams of the base’s leadership.

Zhao and Lu took advantage of this moment to exchange ideas, both colleagues keen to learn more information, and they chatted happily for a while.

Meanwhile, on Lin Ju’s side, things finally calmed down and a consensus was reached. Zhong Cheng and the three officers unified their opinions.

They hoped to organize a more comprehensive destruction experiment as soon as possible and proposed to provide very accurate guidance technology to combine with "Blazing Sun" and perform strike testing on airplanes and satellites.

Meanwhile, the military, with Zhong Cheng’s corroboration, learned of the base’s strained budget and immediately offered to provide 500 million in funding.

They would initiate a large-scale military laser project and designate New Yuan as the contractor, pushing forward various laser research projects through a weapon procurement process.

Although they needed to gather the high-level leadership for a discussion before the project could be initiated, and it would take some time to finalize, the urgently provided 500 million in funds could be deposited in advance.

And there was no issue with New Yuan taking on the project; they had long been involved in several top-secret military projects and had all the necessary licenses and qualifications.

...

Aside from Zhong Cheng and Lu Qiu who stayed behind as the liaison officer, the others took a technical summary after a hasty visit and flew away to attend a meeting that evening.

At the strong request of the military officers, the warehouse where "Blazing Sun" was located was closed and sealed, and an additional ten core guards were brought over from the neighboring guard base before they left with peace of mind.

Lin Ju looked at this scene and couldn’t help but comment:

"I don’t feel like the head of a private enterprise; I’m more like a factory director at an ordnance factory, with troops stationed right beside me."

But he just muttered a few words to himself as this situation had been anticipated.

The base originally planned to announce the full development completion of "Blazing Sun" in May or June when it was ready for launch, but after considering various factors, they decided to disclose it now to avoid any extreme reaction.

But it seemed that many people would be up all night, possibly due to a strategic change of significant importance.

Having been bottled up for a long time, Zhong Cheng finally had the chance to relax. His responsibilities also included the Space Force, and a breakthrough in new technology also brought significant changes:

"Lin, you’re not only going to drain our aerospace funds but our military funds as well.

With Project 909 included, expenditures for 2016 have exceeded a trillion, and at this rate, isn’t it heading towards two trillion?

If I remember correctly, wasn’t the guy in charge of lasers a university professor before? How come everyone who goes to you guys starts working like they’re on drugs, with outcomes coming out like money doesn’t matter?"

"This... the drug part is true; the 314 injection and the 504 injection are great stuff. Do you want me to send you a few?"

"..."

Zhong Cheng shook his head, simply complaining with a troubled look and even rarely cursing:

"This is fucked up; why do I feel like chaotic times have come?"

...

February 11, Futaba District.

Forty days had passed since the last hydrogen bomb explosion, but the international "rescue teams" in the controlled area had still not departed, continuing to carry out their two-month mission of post-explosion disaster defense and power testing.

The frontline personnel’s job was to drive armored vehicles or fly aircraft, passing through the epicenter to measure the content of radioactive dust in the air and record the readings from the Geiger counters.

The third hydrogen bomb explosion triggered a sequence of 22 earthquakes, though the highest was only magnitude 5.2. While it did not cause any significant human or property damage, the resulting tsunami completely demolished the former site of the Fukushima Power Station.

Now, looking down from an aerial photograph, there was only a broken circular harbor, its walls smoothed as if artificially reconditioned, the deep blue sea water combined with the glittering green paraboloid unexpectedly beautiful.

According to frequent detections by the IAEA, the radiation levels had dropped to less than half their peak within 24 hours after the explosion and to one-tenth after 72 hours. Seven days later, apart from within a 3-kilometer radius of the epicenter, other areas were already viable for human activity.

By now, the level of radiation in the air had significantly decreased. Based on pollutant testing, at least 98% of the nuclear material in the two cores had been fully reacted, suggesting from this perspective, the clean-up efforts were very effective.

Tian Zhan continued to faithfully fulfill his duties and was scheduled to return to his country in 15 days as planned.

It wasn’t because he wasn’t needed, but because personnel exposed to radiation long-term needed to be rotated out; in fact, most of the rescue team members had already been replaced once.

After completing his record-keeping and sending back the data, he returned to the air command center at his base to execute an order that had come from his homeland:

A Wing Loong 5 drone had crossed the Tsugaru Strait and was now heading south along the coastline. The rescue teams stationed around Fukushima were requested to provide guidance service until it left the Island Country’s airspace.

This was a common task. The Wing Loong 5 had a maximum take-off weight of no more than 5 tons, powered by a piston aviation engine, with a cruising speed of about 300 kilometers and a maximum range of more than 10,000 kilometers.

Based on its flight path, it was likely performing some hydrological monitoring or routine patrol, right?

The operations officer at the air command center immediately executed the command, but after a while, he uttered a soft "huh."

"What’s wrong?"

"No, let me check again..."

After looking for a little while more, the operations officer said somewhat uncertainly:

"The signal for YL403A seems unstable, and while little data is coming through, it’s reporting normal... Also, the radar signature is much larger than usual."

"Then verify it again, and if there’s an anomaly, I’ll report it immediately."

"Yes!"

Neither man paid much attention to the anomaly, while over two hundred kilometers away, the Wing Loong 5 flying close to the air defense identification zone appeared completely normal.

Its back had a newly added raised section, and the sound from the engine at the tail was also off. In addition to the noise of the propellers, the engine sounded like it was electric.

It swaggered southward, but it wasn’t going to circle back as Tian Zhan and the operations officer thought.

In reality, it had taken off from deep within the mainland, nearly circling the entire southern region before emerging from the East Sea, performing a flight around the island. After completion, it would continue flying eastward to the central Pacific, visiting Hawaii before heading south to the Samoa Islands, then continue patrolling in the Southeast Asia region.

This flight plan lasted a full 168 hours, which is a full 7 days, and it was only a quarter of the way through its journey.

Its own battery was only sufficient for 2 hours of flight, but in the geostationary orbit above, Chiwu No. 1 was minutely adjusting the angle of its microwave transmitter, continuously supplying energy from space.

Chiwu No. 1, being in geostationary orbit, was only without sunlight for 71 minutes a day, and the rest of the time, it could provide an ample supply of power for the specially modified Wing Loong 5.

After Chiwu No. 3 was put into service, the original Chiwu No. 1 had its role shifted to research wireless functionality for aircraft and ships.

From Hawaii in the east to Baikonur in the west, from the Kuril Islands in the north to New Zealand in the south, it could provide 100 to 150 kilowatts of electric power to drones within nearly a third of Earth’s region, enough to meet flight needs.

In this area, as long as the Wing Loong 5 doesn’t suffer any mechanical failures, it can carry out tasks indefinitely like a ghost;

If there were a network of three Chiwu No. 1 satellites, it could appear in the major regions of each continent.

Compared to the supremely arrogant Xuehu, the microwave-powered Wing Loong 5 was low-key and almost unnoticed, yet in a sense, it was more lethal.

The main limitation holding it back was the severe interference of microwave power on electronic equipment. Before solving this issue, the flight platform won’t be any larger than the Wing Loong 5.