Chapter 75: The Charge Toward a Type I Civilization
Chapter 75: The Charge Toward a Type I Civilization
In the year 275,
Under immense pressure on energy, within Huaxia Nation, production capacity continued to explode with growth.
The scale of extraction for energy materials and all kinds of industrial raw materials, to the size of the entire industrial production cluster, expanded rapidly.
Within the Brain Intelligence Project, city-level Computing Power Towers needed for Strong Artificial Intelligence achieved basic universal implementation across Huaxia Nation.
As the Brain Intelligence Project secured sufficient computing power, Strong Artificial Intelligence also linked up with all levels of transportation across Huaxia Nation, including both intra-city and inter-city transit,
And simultaneously connected with other kinds of social services and the vast majority of smart production factories throughout the entire Huaxia Nation.
The previously conceived and planned goal of integrating production chains across all industrial fields into a single framework had achieved initial success.
Strong Artificial Intelligence could issue production plans to smart factories all across Huaxia Nation,
Enabling several smart factories, situated at different upper and lower levels of the supply chain, to work together seamlessly like different stations on a production line, completing the production of a single task cooperatively.
The road and rail systems were transformed into conveyor belts on a production line, bringing together all the smart factories throughout Huaxia Nation into one massive ‘versatile factory’ that spanned vast distances.
Production plans themselves could also be formulated using data gathered by the Strong Artificial Intelligence,
Relying on the entire integrated industrial production system managed by the Strong Artificial Intelligence. Consumption data flowed to the production end, and production data then flowed to the raw materials end.
Bolstered by the enormous computing power supplied by the existing Computing Power Towers, society operated with increasing efficiency and cohesion under the Brain Intelligence Project, or under the Strong Artificial Intelligence.
Within the Human Coalition (HCC),
As Huaxia Nation’s production output ballooned,
The share of total HCC production output originating from regions outside Huaxia Nation dwindled to a single-digit percentage,
And it was expected this number would keep falling.
Meanwhile, the products generated by the exploding industrial scale and production capacity within Huaxia Nation obviously couldn’t all be consumed domestically.
Even a small overflow of goods outside its borders, under the sheer weight of its production disparity, created massive waves worldwide.
By this year, ‘prices’ across the entire world had decreased slightly compared to levels before the Intelligent Era arrived.
While many people were happy about this, smart individuals outside Huaxia Nation naturally understood what was happening.
Yet, this situation was pure production superiority; no one could do anything about it.
This year,
The Strong Artificial Intelligence of the Brain Intelligence Project stepped beyond the Nine Provinces for the first time.
Huaxia Nation began selling Intelligent Machinery widely to nations outside its territory, establishing smart factories beyond the Nine Provinces. The requirement was that all Intelligent Machinery worldwide must connect to the Brain Intelligence Project and accept control by its Strong Artificial Intelligence.
The same year,
Two major events happened within the Human Coalition.
The first event:
Huaxia Nation proposed a major objective for the entire Human Civilization:
That is, ‘Human Civilization begins its final charge toward becoming a Type I Civilization.’
With the computational limitations of the Intelligent Era solved,
Achieving the vision of a Type I Civilization now required just one final step: further increasing energy production and scaling up production capacity.
From this moment on, Human Civilization would launch its ultimate charge toward the Type I Civilization milestone!
The second event:
Proposed by Huaxia Nation,
After over two hundred years, the Human Coalition (HCC) finally established Collective Social Rearing as the only method for nurturing the next generation of Human Civilization,
Determining that traditional family-based child-rearing would be completely abolished worldwide.
Furthermore,
The HCC demanded all its member parties follow the coalition’s designated population growth plan. Population numbers would be increased or stabilized using Human Reproduction Devices.
This year,
Huaxia Nation accelerated its population growth rate further via the Human Reproduction Devices.
The total population reached 2.3 billion.
Unlike earlier debates where Collective Social Rearing and traditional family rearing were allowed to coexist for a period,
This decision required the entire world to reach this step simultaneously.
The abolition of transaction markets and the disappearance of private enterprises within Huaxia Nation
Needed to be mirrored worldwide.
Otherwise, disruptive complications might inevitably arise.
Therefore,
The HCC’s steady integration was essential.
…
The same year, a new Controlled Nuclear Fusion Experimental Reactor,
Led by the Energy and Power Research Institute of the Negentropy Research Institute, completed construction.
It was an unprecedentedly massive Controlled Nuclear Fusion experimental facility, located on the outskirts of Lingchuan City.
Its huge size and the significant attention drawn during construction made its existence nearly impossible to conceal.
The main reactor structure and its auxiliary power generation facilities covered an area larger than most city center plazas, rivaling the size of some large airports.
Its highest point was over two hundred meters above ground.
It was no exaggeration to call it a man-made mountain. Yet every detail was far more finely crafted than any natural rock formation.
Standing before this gigantic fusion reactor, a person not only felt small but also experienced a profound shock from the sheer power of industry and technology.
The entire Controlled Nuclear Fusion Experimental Reactor presented a unique blend of raw power and incredible precision – the ultimate beauty,
A true miracle of the Intelligent Era’s production capacity.
An industrial masterpiece belonging exclusively to this era.
Although it was completed in less than three years,
Such speed would have been unthinkable before the Intelligent Era.
October of that year.
After the October holiday celebrations,
Under the leadership of the Energy and Power Research Institute of the Negentropy Research Institute,
This newly built giant Controlled Nuclear Fusion Experimental Reactor prepared for its first trial ignition.
Qin Yu and the Senior Leader were naturally present for the event.
Before entering the ignition command center,
Qin Yu stopped outside the reactor complex and took a long look at it from a distance.
Even as its primary designer, he couldn’t help feeling a powerful surge of awe facing this colossal feat of industrial engineering.
In fact, perhaps because he understood it deeper, the feeling was more intense.
If you could look down from above, seeing straight into the guts of the Controlled Nuclear Fusion Experimental Reactor,
You’d see that its inner structure, built along the ‘Tokamak’ (a type of fusion design) route, resembled a city encircled by circular walls,
Inside, there were no residential buildings. Only various instruments and devices existed there – coils used for heating and magnetic confinement.
Attached to the outside of this main structure were supporting facilities like power generator units and a Computing Power Tower for computational support. These too matched the main structure’s massive scale.
Beneath this enormous framework lay intricate and complex structures along with instruments. These enabled precise control over the operation of the Controlled Nuclear Fusion Experimental Reactor.
The contrast between this immense size and delicate precision created an even more powerful impact.
It was no exaggeration to say that the very fact such a huge, complex system – the main system, supporting systems, subsystems, submodules… – could run smoothly was almost a miracle of control systems.
Long before Qin Yu, the design and research for the Controlled Nuclear Fusion Experimental Reactor had already embodied the wisdom of countless researchers.
…
“…Academician Qin, you should make the announcement.”
In the command hall of the giant Controlled Nuclear Fusion Experimental Reactor ignition experiment,
the two other Academicians leading the reactor project stood with Qin Yu.
One of them gestured and smiled at Qin Yu, inviting him to speak.
This time, Qin Yu shook his head.
His contribution to the Deuterium-Tritium Fusion technology wasn’t major. He had only participated a little in the final crucial step.
In this historic moment, he saw no need to take the center position.
Seeing Qin Yu decline, the other two Academicians exchanged a look, then said to him,
“Then, Academician Qin, let’s all announce it together.”
“Alright.”
“Now… we announce that the ignition experiment for the No. 02 Controlled Nuclear Fusion Experimental Reactor starts now!”
The voices of all three Academicians, including Qin Yu, rang out simultaneously.
The very first operational test of this unprecedented, giant Controlled Fusion Experimental Reactor officially began.
After this point, there wasn’t much that Academician Qin Yu or any other researchers involved needed to do immediately.
In the design of this new Controlled Nuclear Fusion Experimental Reactor, they had delegated the vast majority of control tasks to the Strong Artificial Intelligence from the Brain Intelligence Project.
Utilizing the computing power supplied by the reactor’s dedicated Computing Power Tower, this Strong Artificial Intelligence meticulously executed the startup and operation of the Controlled Nuclear Fusion Experimental Reactor.
Human intervention was barely required.
At that moment, Qin Yu was essentially just a witness to this Deuterium-Tritium Fusion reactor’s first ignition, alongside others witnessing it, like the Senior Leader.
The Computing Power Tower was activated first. To start the Deuterium-Tritium Fusion reactor’s main body and supporting facilities,
a substantial power station had been built beside the reactor during construction.
Now, electricity from this station surged in. The entire Deuterium-Tritium Fusion reactor core and its supporting systems gradually powered on, one after another.
Accompanied by notification tones from the Strong Artificial Intelligence’s feedback,
they knew,
The confinement coils and heating coils inside the tokamak device began working.
The ‘Deuterium-Tritium fuel’ already loaded into the device was accelerated while its temperature was steadily raised.
When the temperature reached a certain point, the ‘fuel’ transformed into Plasma. Despite this transformation, the powerful constraining force of the tokamak device securely contained it at the reactor’s core.
Once temperatures surpassed ten million degrees,
precise detectors within the reactor registered that fusion reactions were occurring within the core zone.
Simultaneously,
the Strong Artificial Intelligence confirmed that all parts of the reactor were operating stably.
The pressure confining the Plasma within the core zone remained safely within the designed limits.
Fierce energy now raged inside the tokamak device,
yet the cleverly engineered reactor structure tamed it, firmly locking this power down to the ground.
At this stage,
the researchers witnessing this test run all broke into applause.
Reaching this point effectively meant Controlled Nuclear Fusion was more than halfway achieved.
However, the researchers didn’t let their excitement run wild just yet.
If achieving only this was the goal,
similar results had already been obtained on previous, smaller reactors.
What truly mattered now was the Q value of this new reactor. Could it reach the level expected for commercial operation?
For Controlled Nuclear Fusion power generation, this was the crucial question at this exact moment.
Regarding this objective,
Academician Qin Yu remained quite optimistic.
He had ample mental preparation for the potential performance outcome of this giant Controlled Nuclear Fusion Experimental Reactor, so he remained calm.
According to prior designs and calculations,
the Q value achievable once this giant Controlled Fusion Experimental Reactor sustained operation was far greater than one,
vastly surpassing that of the previous, smaller fusion test reactor.
Right now, what Qin Yu was more interested in
were some other data points generated during the operation of this huge Controlled Fusion Reactor.
He sought references for the later attempts at Helium-3 Fusion.
At this moment,
the fusion reactions within the No. 02 Controlled Nuclear Fusion Experimental Reactor stabilized.
The surging energy began being directed towards the power generator units.
The very first electric current generated by the No. 02 Controlled Fusion Experimental Reactor was produced right then.
What followed was an extreme, enormous surge of electricity pouring out.
Given its larger scale,
the No. 02 Controlled Fusion Experimental Reactor unleashed a total energy output dramatically more potent than the old model.
It seemed as if a miniature sun had been locked onto Earth, a feat achieved by an industrial marvel of Human Civilization.
The original power station gradually disconnected from the fusion reactor.
Electricity produced by the reactor’s generators was now partially routed back into the reactor to sustain its continuous operation.
At the same time,
the Q value, the metric all researchers most anxiously awaited, became visible in the most direct way possible.
Feedback from the Strong Artificial Intelligence
allowed the researchers to see
that the Q value steadily climbed upwards during these initial moments when the reactor began maintaining its own operation.
Then, finally, just as projected, the Q value exceeded the crucial threshold of 10.
Suddenly,
All the researchers cheered loudly with great excitement.
Even the two Academicians beside Qin Yu were excited and thrilled, clapping their hands hard.
Because,
by this time,
it basically meant that
the trial operation of this Controlled Nuclear Fusion Experimental Reactor had succeeded.
More importantly,
based on the results shown during the trial run,
the commercial use and widespread application of the Controlled Nuclear Fusion Reactor could now be achieved!
“Academician Qin, Academician Qin…”
An older Academician, still clapping excitedly, stepped close to Qin Yu and held his hand tightly.
He repeated Qin Yu’s title but could not speak further,
as everything showed in his slightly reddened eyes.
On the other side, the Senior Leader who had also come to witness this moment,
naturally understood its significance.
He first clenched his own hands, then placed one on Qin Yu’s shoulder.
“Good… good… excellent!”
What Controlled Nuclear Fusion’s realization meant,
its critical importance in this era of intelligence,
needed no further explanation.
The Senior Leader watched key data on the large screen, repeating his words, unable to hide his joy.
Shouts of cheer and applause
filled the command hall for a long time.
Some may have had sore hands, but in that thrilling, heart-pounding moment, they barely felt it—
they only wanted to celebrate more wildly, to etch this moment in memory.
Qin Yu, too, felt some of this excitement.
His feelings also surged at times.
As someone partly involved and yet partly an observer upon the long river of history,
he could see history changing, and huge waves rising at this moment.
This instant would surely become a historic point in Human Civilization,
a crucial moment that would remain significant as long as Human Civilization endured.
For the first time, Human Civilization held a key—a key to a door of vast, nearly unlimited energy resources.
Of course,
even as his emotions stirred, Qin Yu also narrowed his eyes slightly,
watching certain data he cared about from the reactor’s operation and thinking about some matters.
The cheers, excitement, and thrill in the command hall
kept going right until the Controlled Nuclear Fusion Experimental Reactor finished its run.
They waited for the Strong Artificial Intelligence to confirm the Controlled Nuclear Fusion Experimental Reactor’s successful shutdown sequence.
Only after Qin Yu and the other two Academicians formally announced the test’s completion
did the entire hall finally grow quiet again.
But this peace lasted only briefly.
“We announce that the first ignition and trial operation of the No. 02 Controlled Nuclear Fusion Experimental Reactor was a complete success!”
“We declare here… after our long, joint efforts in the past,”
“Controlled Nuclear Fusion has truly been achieved at this moment.”
With this announcement,
the entire command hall erupted in jubilation once more.