Chapter 59: Planetary Engines

Words : 1583 Updated : Sep 17th, 2025

The mass of Tianyuan B exceeds that of Jupiter, and correspondingly, its gravitational influence extends further. Xiao Yu observed that among the satellites orbiting Tianyuan B, over twenty had achieved hydrostatic equilibrium. “This place is perfect for constructing interstellar fortresses. Hmm, once the large particle collider around Tianyuan IV and the new fleet are completed, construction here will begin. Tianyuan C must also be developed into an interstellar fortress. With Tianyuan B and Tianyuan C as two defensive lines in the Tianyuan IV star system, even if we encounter arrogant aliens with superior technology, we’ll still be able to put up a fight,” Xiao Yu contemplated silently. The composition of Tianyuan B is similar to that of Jupiter, making it an inexhaustible source of nuclear fusion fuel for Xiao Yu. After an initial survey, Xiao Yu, stationed aboard the Tianyuan, escorted by 50 Town-Class ships, sent the remaining 300 Village-Class ships into Tianyuan B’s atmosphere, allowing them to drift with its atmospheric currents. It took a full month for the 300 Village-Class ships to collect enough fusion fuel to fill all their tanks. Based on current construction progress, this amount of fuel would last Xiao Yu for about three months. “It’s still not enough. My projects are too massive and consume an enormous amount of energy. Using these combat ships to gather fuel is too inefficient. It seems that once I return, I’ll need to develop a dedicated fuel collection ship,” Xiao Yu resolved as he embarked on the return journey. In this era of monumental construction, Xiao Yu’s energy consumption alone was estimated to rival the total energy consumption of all humanity during the Earth era—an unbelievable figure. Fortunately, an entire planet served as Xiao Yu’s energy base. If this were happening on Earth, there would have been an energy crisis long ago. Due to the increased mass of the ships fully loaded with fuel, the return journey to Tianyuan A took ten days. With the arrival of the vast fuel supplies, the pace of various construction projects in this grand era of development accelerated once more. Xiao Yu temporarily halted the construction of combat ships and focused entirely on building a new type of spacecraft dedicated to fuel collection. These ships were larger than any of Xiao Yu’s current fleet, with a total mass of 3 million tons and dimensions of 1,200 meters by 500 meters by 60 meters. In Xiao Yu’s classification, they were considered medium City-Class ships. However, these ships were still far from true City-Class ships. Aside from essential laser collision-avoidance systems, they were not equipped with any other weapons. Their maneuverability was poor, with a maximum speed of only 100 kilometers per second, and their defenses were weak—one low-power energy cannon shot could easily destroy them. Overall, they had no combat capability, but they were well-suited for transport purposes. In Xiao Yu’s plan, each of these ships would be accompanied by 200 Village-Class and Town-Class ships. Upon reaching Tianyuan B, the City-Class ship would enter an orbit around Tianyuan B while the smaller ships would descend into the atmosphere to mine fuel. Once fully loaded, the fuel would be transferred to the City-Class ship, and the process would continue until all ships were filled, after which they would return to Tianyuan A. The first batch of City-Class ships consisted of five vessels. Including their accompanying Village-Class and Town-Class ships, a single fully loaded trip could meet the fuel demands of Xiao Yu’s construction projects for an entire year. Furthermore, with the experience from the first fuel collection mission, Xiao Yu had developed automated collection programs, eliminating the need for him to personally oversee future missions to Tianyuan B. With the energy supply problem resolved, Xiao Yu focused entirely on constructing space turrets, ground turrets, large planetary engines, and the large particle collider. The City-Class ships busily shuttled through space, transporting vast amounts of fuel for Xiao Yu. Thousands of mining bases and hundreds of mechanical foundries operated at full capacity. Hundreds of Village-Class ships took on the task of surface transportation on Tianyuan A, tirelessly moving back and forth. The entire Tianyuan IV star system was a picture of thriving activity. Three years later, the first large planetary engine was completed. This was a colossal structure, towering 100 meters tall and covering an area of 600,000 square meters. The entire building was shaped like an inclined cylinder, with adjustment mechanisms installed at the base to facilitate directional tilting of the entire structure. Thousands of robots bustled inside the building, fine-tuning various instruments. Over a million sensors embedded throughout the structure continuously transmitted data to the central computer. Xiao Yu utilized his immense computational power to respond to each one. “Fuel tank pressure: normal. Fusion reactor: normal. Cooling system: normal. Nozzle: normal...” Xiao Yu reviewed the data one by one. After confirming that everything was in order, he issued the command to activate the engine. To prevent the enormous exhaust plume from impacting his space docks, satellites, and other equipment, Xiao Yu had preemptively adjusted the orbits of nearby spacecraft to avoid the exhaust trajectory. With the activation command given, thousands of fusion reactors roared to life at full power. Massive amounts of energy were conducted through wiring to the pressure chamber, where it was compressed and heated to unimaginable levels. Under the extreme heat and pressure, enormous quantities of propellant were ejected from the nozzle at an astonishing velocity. This was the far side of Tianyuan A, a place of perpetual darkness. Yet suddenly, a bright blue beam of light erupted from the equator of Tianyuan A, shooting into the sky. Stretching tens of thousands of meters, it resembled a blinding bolt of lightning piercing the dark heavens, casting an eerie blue glow over an area dozens of kilometers wide. It was as if Tianyuan A had suddenly grown a long, thin tail. A satellite orbiting 300 kilometers above the surface was caught in the exhaust stream. The extreme heat instantly melted its extended solar panels, and the satellite, like a mosquito in a gale, was hurled to Tianyuan A’s second cosmic velocity, tumbling uncontrollably into the void. “Well... damn.” Xiao Yu stared at the scene, stunned, letting slip a rare curse. “The height of the exhaust plume and the generated thrust have exceeded my initial estimates. It seems the orbital trajectories of spacecraft in space need to be recalculated and adjusted,” he muttered. After the satellite was flung away, seismic wave detectors pre-installed by Xiao Yu recorded a faint tremor. He understood that this was the result of the crust deforming under immense pressure. Simultaneously, tens of thousands of sensors buried at depths ranging from tens to thousands of meters began transmitting data to Xiao Yu’s central system. This data would help him analyze the stress distribution on the planet’s crust. Xiao Yu’s mind raced as he analyzed the incoming data, keeping a vigilant eye on pressure readings while precisely controlling thousands of robots and tens of thousands of actuators inside the planetary engine, making micro-adjustments as needed. “Based on current data, the first planetary engine can generate tremendous counter-thrust on Tianyuan A. Specifically, it can decelerate Tianyuan A by 0.1 millimeters per minute. Tianyuan A’s current orbital velocity is 59 kilometers per second. If we disregard other factors, it would take just over a century for the first planetary engine to bring the planet’s velocity to zero,” Xiao Yu calculated. “But considering crustal stress, deceleration direction, and subsequent acceleration, one planetary engine is far from sufficient. At least 10,000 engines will be needed,” Xiao Yu concluded silently. “Ten thousand planetary engines... five years should be enough to complete them.” Constructing planetary engines was a complex process. Beyond the technical aspects of construction, Xiao Yu also had to consider the geological conditions of Tianyuan A. If a planetary engine were built on a crust that wasn’t sturdy enough, the immense pressure during operation could cause it to drill straight through the crust into the mantle. Additionally, the engine’s immense power output necessitated addressing issues such as material durability and cooling systems. Despite these challenges, Xiao Yu was confident he could complete all the planetary engines within five years. Labor was not an issue for Xiao Yu. As long as there were sufficient raw materials and energy, his robotic factories could produce thousands of robots daily. These tireless, precise, and error-free workers were the backbone of his construction efforts. Currently, more than a million robots were deployed across Tianyuan A’s surface, in transport fleets, combat teams, space docks, and turret installations. This number continued to grow rapidly. And this was just the initial phase of construction. Once Xiao Yu successfully repositioned Tianyuan A, the construction of the large particle collider around Tianyuan IV would become the true test of his technological capabilities. The large particle collider around Tianyuan IV would orbit 38 million kilometers from the star, using centrifugal force from its rotation to counteract Tianyuan IV’s gravitational pull. This would result in a total collider length of over 200 million kilometers. With a diameter of 20 meters, its total mass would exceed 700 billion tons. This figure did not even account for the mass of the maintenance fleet or the meteorite-defense turrets required to protect the collider. This would be a monumental engineering project. With the completion of the large particle collider, Xiao Yu’s technological capabilities would advance to an unprecedented level.

Chapter 59: Planetary Engines

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