Chapter 20: Technological Breakthrough

Words : 1463 Updated : Sep 12th, 2025

This was Xiao Yu’s first time building a hydrogen bomb and witnessing its detonation. Although he had mentally prepared himself, the earth-shaking scene left him utterly stunned and speechless. At the moment of the explosion, seismic waves equivalent to a magnitude 4 earthquake were detected at the main base, 1,000 kilometers away. At Base Three, the shockwave measured a magnitude of 7. Fortunately, Xiao Yu’s factories and buildings were constructed entirely from steel and could withstand such tremors. At most, some unsecured machinery was damaged, but it was repairable and could still be used afterward. The explosion unleashed a massive storm that swept across tens of kilometers, reaching Base Three. Thankfully, Xiao Yu had prepared in advance, moving all mobile machinery into the fixed factory buildings. The storm caused no significant damage, merely blowing away a layer of surface dust, making rare earth mining even easier. As the storm subsided, Xiao Yu surveyed the scene. Before him lay a chaotic landscape littered with insect corpses, stirred up by the wind. His eyes sparkled with excitement. “These... these are gifts from the heavens!” If Xiao Yu still had hands, they would have trembled with exhilaration. Before the hydrogen bomb’s explosion, Xiao Yu had been furious—enraged by the seemingly endless insects that he couldn’t exterminate completely. But now, he wished there had been even more of them. Over the past few days, Xiao Yu had thoroughly analyzed the physical properties of the insect corpses, discovering their extraordinary radiation resistance and high-temperature tolerance. The insects’ bodies, averaging only 0.1 millimeters in thickness, offered radiation protection equivalent to the entire shielding layer of Xiao Yu’s old spaceship. Even the thousand-degree heat of flamethrowers couldn’t destroy their remains. “If I collect these... if I collect enough to make radiation and thermal insulation layers, then even the radiation and heat of the sun from 100,000 kilometers away wouldn’t be able to harm me!” Xiao Yu burst into laughter. “Immediately reinforce Base Three. This time, I’ll develop robots specifically designed to collect insect corpses,” Xiao Yu decided resolutely. “Also, I wonder if other lakes have these black insects?” The thought suddenly struck Xiao Yu. On Titan, Xiao Yu had no qualms about ecological damage. The idea of an ecosystem on Titan was laughable—if it existed at all, it belonged to the insects and had nothing to do with him. Killing them brought no guilt whatsoever. Rain began to fall from the sky. Xiao Yu quickly calculated the reason. It was the result of Lake Two’s complete evaporation, forming rain clouds overhead. Torrential rain poured down, and Xiao Yu hurriedly commanded all robots to retreat into the factory buildings. However, something caught his attention immediately. The rain had created flooding that washed away large quantities of insect corpses from Base Three. Because Lake Two was at a lower elevation, the liquid was flowing back toward it, threatening to refill the lake. Xiao Yu cursed loudly, “I worked so hard to empty Lake Two, and I haven’t even collected the spoils! Am I just going to lose everything? No way, I have to stop this.” If Lake Two refilled with liquid methane, it would make collecting the insect corpses far more difficult. Even without much thought, it was obvious that Lake Two’s crater held a massive quantity of insect remains—an extremely valuable resource Xiao Yu couldn’t afford to waste. “Damn it, just wait!” Xiao Yu muttered to himself. With the help of his powerful photon computer, he devised a plan in just three seconds, and after running 3,700 feasibility tests in two seconds, he decided to implement it immediately. Objective: Prevent rain near Base Three and stop Lake Two from refilling. At the main base, countless robots got to work. Water from Azure Lake was collected in large quantities, mixed with liquid oxygen, and transformed into high-pressure incendiary bombs. The Fengshen-1 helicopter quickly took off, loaded with these bombs, and headed 50 kilometers beyond Lake Two. This desolate plain had no mineral veins, mountains, or lakes—an ideal location. Xiao Yu dropped the incendiary bombs one by one. As soon as the bombs hit the ground, they ignited with the aid of liquid oxygen, creating massive flames that engulfed several square kilometers. Enormous quantities of air were heated and rose upward. The intense updrafts destabilized Fengshen-1, forcing Xiao Yu to hastily release the remaining bombs and retreat. The principle was simple and rooted in basic physics: heated air becomes lighter and rises. Xiao Yu planned to exploit this principle to disrupt the rainfall over Base Three and Lake Two, preventing his hard-earned spoils from being destroyed. Under the laws of physics, the firestorm triggered a chain reaction. The heated air rapidly rose, creating a low-pressure zone in the area. Cold air from the surroundings rushed in to fill the void, only to be heated again and continue ascending. This cycle caused continuous air movement, and when air moves, wind is formed. And wind carries clouds. Without clouds, there would be no rain. This was Xiao Yu’s entire plan. Monitoring the airflow, Xiao Yu felt a surge of encouragement. “However, the burning area isn’t large enough, and the fire will die out in another 20 minutes,” Xiao Yu thought, piloting Fengshen-1 back to the base. He loaded it with another large batch of incendiary bombs and returned to the firestorm. The area was already experiencing strong winds. However, Fengshen-1, with its superior performance, far outmatched helicopters on Earth and was unbothered by such wind conditions. Following the same process, Xiao Yu dropped more incendiary bombs, then returned to reload. This cycle continued for five hours. At Base Three, the wind detector reported good news. The area had begun to experience strong winds, which were steadily increasing. As expected, the wind was blowing toward the burning zone. “Excellent, excellent,” Xiao Yu muttered, filled with pride as he watched the rain diminish and finally stop altogether. “There’s likely some liquid methane left in Lake Two, but not much. It won’t be a problem. I’ll leave it as a fuel source for Base Three.” With this decision made, Xiao Yu moved on to the next phase. The robot production lines were now operating at full capacity. This time, the focus was on producing vacuum-cleaner-style robots. Collecting the insect corpses manually would be inefficient, but these robots were perfect for the task. Three days later, the first batch of fifty vacuum-cleaner robots arrived at the site. Xiao Yu deployed them immediately to collect the insect corpses. Each vacuum-cleaner robot was paired with a large transport vehicle, which handled the storage of collected corpses and refueled the robots. This setup allowed the robots to work continuously without frequent trips back to the base, greatly improving efficiency. Each robot carried a large backpack-like container, with two sizable vacuum arms. Sweeping across the ground, the robots sucked up insect corpses mixed with dust, storing them in their containers. Once full, the contents were transferred to the large transport vehicles. While the corpse collection program was underway, construction at Base Three resumed. With a steady supply of materials from the main base, the rebuilding effort progressed rapidly, and even rare earth production had begun. Xiao Yu estimated that in just three days, rare earth production would stabilize. Once operational, a major bottleneck in Xiao Yu’s development would be eliminated. Under the command of Xiao Yu’s vast computational power, everything proceeded methodically. With matters at Base Three temporarily resolved, Xiao Yu turned his attention to planning Bases Four and Five. Each base would serve a unique purpose: one would specialize in silicon production, another in aluminum, and yet another in gold. The raw materials produced would converge at the main base, where they would be refined, processed, and cast into components. These components would become the foundations of interstellar ships, propelling Xiao Yu on a grand journey across the stars. Simultaneously, large-scale insect inspections were underway. Realizing that one Fengshen-1 helicopter wasn’t sufficient, Xiao Yu immediately began constructing Fengshen-2 and Fengshen-3. Fengshen-1 was tasked with surveying all methane lakes on Titan larger than one hectare. Heat sources were installed near each lake. If any black insects resided in a lake, they would inevitably be drawn to the heat, allowing Xiao Yu to detect them. Depending on their threat level, Xiao Yu would decide whether to deploy hydrogen bombs for eradication. As for Titan’s ecosystem? If it were damaged, so be it. There was no intelligent life on Titan, and the hydrogen bomb explosions wouldn’t affect Xiao Yu himself. Titan’s large-scale development continued at full speed. Meanwhile, good news arrived from Base Two’s controlled nuclear fusion laboratory. A major technological breakthrough had been achieved in controlled nuclear fusion research.

Chapter 20: Technological Breakthrough

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