Chapter 728 - 702 Departing Atop a Hydrogen Bomb

The main purpose of such analysis is to assess how much resources America can allocate to space, and there are already economists who believe that this endless inflation could lead either to a colossal financial crisis or to the bankruptcy of the Federation’s finances.

This conclusion terrified those in the know; they dared not think about the tremendous impact it would bring to the world economy.

"Don’t worry about them; I truly don’t believe those wolves on Wall Street understand MMT,"

Lin Ju was not particularly disturbed; by 2024 in the original timeline, America’s quantitative easing had already reached an extreme level, even more severe than what the think tanks had suggested.

Besides the AI craze absorbing hot money at that time, America’s bankers also played an indispensable role, as it was proven that no one outdid America in siphoning wealth.

Of course, other than these reasons, he firmly believed that America would never fall:

"Even if it truly becomes inevitable, neither America nor we will be the ones to suffer."

Zhong Cheng pondered the meaning of these words and, upon understanding them, suddenly felt a terrible malice.

Crisis would not vanish into thin air; it would only shift.

As long as they could wave the flag of defending human civilization and remain on the sidelines, America had plenty of means beyond economic measures to control the situation.

Even more extreme, if the two supergroups reached an agreement, they could even suppress a third world war.

Alien civilization was a crisis, but certainly also an unprecedented opportunity; it was clear that Lin Ju had thought much more and further on this front.

His face turned somber immediately:

"Don’t discuss this matter with anyone; if it leaks, it will bring big trouble."

It’s been almost a month since the discovery of alien civilization became known to the highest levels, and nearly all top department individuals have vanished from view, clearly making all kinds of active preparations.

These ideas were just rough speculations between the two, but in the unknown underground bunkers, they had definitely become part of some contingency plan, even discussed openly.

For the past ten days, he and Lin Ju had essentially resumed their previous work, intent on distancing themselves from the forming maelstrom.

Especially for Lin Ju and New Yuan, every move could bring unexpected consequences.

At times, humans were more unfathomable than alien civilizations.

Lin Ju agreed readily. There was absolutely no need for the base to be involved in these matters; in fact, during previous interactions with Ye Changsi and others, everyone agreed that the base should maintain considerable independence in the future, remaining a tightly knit organization.

"I understand, but Director Zhong, we’ve already started organizing the technology we have and tackling it; New Yuan is really..."

New Yuan possessed a lot of advanced alien technology and could foresee acquiring even more in the future. It was clearly stated from above that possession of these technologies would still belong to New Yuan.

The method of converting these technologies into tangible products was also through collaborative research and joint funding, with New Yuan having great autonomy.

Of course, this was also related to New Yuan’s extremely special status; no one viewed it as a privately-owned behemoth, there was both dependence and a subtle wariness.

Lin Ju revealed that Karst’s next mission was to land on Titan, and the Aerospace Development Committee would assist New Yuan in completing this, which was essentially tantamount to the state accomplishing these mission objectives.

The massive funding required, of course, would be provided by the government, but Zhong Cheng did not expect Lin Ju to ask for money so quickly.

Although this funding was nominally disbursed by the Aerospace Development Committee, Zhong Cheng couldn’t help asking:

"How much do you need?"

"At least a hundred billion?"

"A hundred billion!"

"Fifty billion will do, too. The main issue is that Academician Zhang chose the ’Chi Ren’ material and controlled nuclear fusion, requiring the construction of several high-energy physics labs, as well as the Weak Force Test Center. These things are unprecedented in the whole world, and fifty billion is only a conservative estimate."

Lin Ju wore a helpless expression. Of course, he was also lobbying for research funding for the System. However, the high cost of high-energy labs was no fiction. Take, for example, the conditions needed for research into weak forces and quantum sync communication technology, which required particles to be cooled to the utmost degree, providing an environment of high vacuum and temperatures infinitely close to absolute zero.

The costs of maintaining these environments for experiments were astronomical. At least when Zhang Shoucheng and Ye Changsi did the calculations, they thought that these two projects could consume a minor goal in a single day without any problem in the future.

The reason Huanxing Laboratory suggested building labs on the Moon was also important: they attempted to mine and refine large quantities of helium-3 for creating extremely low-temperature environments in the labs, a quantity that Earth’s production might not even meet the experimental demand.

According to the laws of technological development, the more advanced the technology, the higher the requirements for the manufacturing environment. Digesting these cutting-edge technologies under current technology is not a comfortable process, and it will remain a heavy burden for a long time.

This is entirely a result of a mismatch between the level of technological development and the productive forces of society, but now there is no other choice.

"The investment in basic science is indeed staggering..."

Zhong Cheng muttered to himself, but he knew that no matter how New Yuan pleaded, those above would always find a way to satisfy the demand, otherwise money would be meaningless in the future.

Suddenly, he turned his head:

"How much longer do you think these peaceful days can last?"

The continuous massive investment in space is always at a cost and will eventually affect the ordinary lives of the public.

Lin Ju shrugged:

"Who knows? It could be decades, like half a century during the Cold War, or it could all fall apart next month.

Isn’t John planning to visit us? I reckon he’ll come quite early; everyone is getting ready."

...

"Be careful, I mean, are you really going to place this damn thing under Roy’s ass?"

Victor Glover directed the workers who were cautiously maneuvering the trailer, maintaining an appropriate distance from the streamlined object they were cradling.

The young man known as "Roy" stood motionless beside him, watching the hydrogen bomb being carried in, involuntarily swallowing his saliva.

Victor clapped him on the shoulder, flashing a dazzling set of teeth:

"Hang in there, kid, you’re about to surpass me."

"But I don’t want to at all..."

"Shut up, don’t be a coward."

The former astronaut hero Victor had risen to the position of director of the Astronaut Training Center, and "Roy" next to him was the payload specialist for Artemis VI.

In mid-July, eight hydrogen bombs were set to be detonated, provided by Huamei and UK in a 2,2,2,1,1 ratio. Artemis VI, assisting in the operation, was to deliver three 10-megaton hydrogen bombs from America and UK in total.

The storage location for the hydrogen bombs was just behind the command module. Whether during the flight or upon landing, the three super hydrogen bombs would always accompany the four astronauts closely, and saying they would be sleeping with the hydrogen bombs was no exaggeration.

Although these highly educated elites understood how difficult it was to detonate a hydrogen bomb, the thought of spending several days with these terrifying objects still unsettled them.

This was especially true for the young genius engineer Roy, who was responsible for guarding these three treasures. It now seemed to be an extremely challenging task.