Chen Chen opened his eyes as he lay inside the Medpod3000, also dubbed as the Blacklight Fully-automated Medical Platform.
The first thing that came to view was an all-white room that was plainly decorated. The only thing present in the room was the medical platform that was shaped like a CT scanner and a simple-looking but extremely premium rug.
There was also an oil painting framed on the wall. It was a portrait of Chen Chen. His eyes were sharp in the portrait and his gaze seemed to pierce through the layer of portrait and into the real world. The artist tasked with this painting could not have been anything less than a world-class professional.
As usual, Chen Chen got up from the medical platform and stretched.
“What a long dream…”
Chen Chen yawned and mumbled in a low voice to himself. After that, he planted his bare feet on the cc-tapis[1] handmade rug.
“Sir Godfather, breakfast?”
A fairy-like lady dressed in a beautiful white dress entered the room with a tray filled with a wide variety of food. The presentation of the food was just as pleasing to the eye as they were appetizing. Another thing to note was that these cuisines must cost a fortune.
“X, any interesting news today?”
Chen Chen approached a silver dining table designed with a postmodernist approach and asked stately.
“Quite a lot of interesting news.”
Little X flashed an enchanting smile that seemed to steal the luster of everything else present in the room. After she set several plates on the dining table, she tilted her head to one side in a teasing manner. In an instant, four web pages stacked on top of one another appeared in front of Chen Chen.
The web page on the uppermost layer contained the picture of an elderly man whose white hair was combed in an odd style. The picture was a still of this man in the middle of a passionate speech.
Chen Chen darted his eyes to the caption written in bold black font below the picture of the elderly man that said: “The man is back. Donield Trump today announced on Twitter that he’ll be running for the 48th president of Northern America. The Republican Party had expressed its full support for the presidential campaign.”
“Not bad.”
Chen Chen took a quick bite of his meal and swiped the web page into the corner and made it fade away. The second web page proceeded to jump at Chen Chen after that.
“Steven Spielberg announced that he’ll shoot the live-action version of Evangelion. The film is adapted from the animation produced by Hideaki Anno in Japan in 1995. It tells the story of the Evangelion…”
Again, Chen Chen moved it out of the way without a change in expression, ushering in the third web page up the list.
“Earth Federation makes a grand announcement: The CUERB Project announced three years ago was a complete success. The world’s first commercially Tokamak super-reactor is now operating in Switzerland and as of yesterday, it has crossed the 24-hours operation mark, generating a total of 24 million kilowatt-hours of electricity. The reactor is stable and its Q value exceeds 100.”
“Sir Godfather, are you just going to allow them to commercialize this technology?”
Little X pouted and asked slightly begrudgingly.
“X, you’re not a child anymore, there’s no need for this pettiness.”
Chen Chen shrugged, completely unbothered. “Of all the technologies I gave them, the nuclear fusion reactor technology is the only one that I’ve given permission to be commercialized, do you know why I did so?”
It was not a question since Chen Chen proceeded to explain immediately, “Of all the other technologies, spanning from the temperature superconductor to artificial intelligence are only permitted for use in the military sector. We’re the only ones permitted to commercialize them for profit. The reason for that is that the commercialization of this technology can only bring in upward of tens of billions of dollars annually at most, but the nuclear fusion reactor? That’s a different subject.
“As we all know, electricity is an essential resource in modern life. It’s the only energy that plays such a crucial role. Once nuclear fusion reactors are adopted into the market, most other alternatives such as coal combustion, hydroelectricity, wind turbines, even nuclear fission power plants become effectively obsolete. Nuclear fusion reactors will become the only remaining energy source in the world. What do you think are the consequences of that? What country would willingly concede their benefits and submit the reins of their energy generation to an outside corporation?
“The revenue generated from all other technologies combined can barely compare to the sheer revenue generated with the use of nuclear fusion reactors. This is also the reason that I’ve agreed to give the relevant technology for nuclear fusion reactors to the four major continents.”
Chen Chen breathed a sigh of relief as he said this, “Due to the implications of this technology, I only have two choices. It’s either I wage war against everyone or I give it to them for free. Since my goal is to cooperate with the four major continents, which one do you think is the better approach?”
“That’s true.”
Little X finally gained some insight and nodded with deep understanding.
Chen Chen shook his head and left the topic at that. After that, he swiped the third web page away to reveal the final web page.
“The world-famous variety show Call of Duty directly endorsed by Blackwatch just wrapped up its semi-finals round. The winner of the Northern American division is Pedro Lane from New York.”
Below the title was a handsome, charismatic young man waving to the stadium packed with crowds in front of him. His legs were two jet-black, intricately designed bionic prosthetics.
“It seems like he ended up selling out his comrades?”
This final article finally made Chen Chen react with a look of mild surprise. “What about his four comrades?”
“The captain of the third squadron of B.S.S., Sara was dispatched on the mission. Three of them were killed at the scene and the only female survivor was captured alive. Sara wanted to extract the information of their secret benefactor from her.”
Little X answered, “Unfortunately, what Sara didn’t know at the time was that even this Christina didn’t know about the identity of this mysterious benefactor they called Cain. However, after our department went through the server machines at their base, we’ve found out that the identity of Cain is none other than the captain of the BHB Combative Police Force, Brooke.”
Chen Chen was unfazed by this revelation. “After Sara submits a report on this mission, tell her that her work is done and there’s no need to follow up. Right, how’s Lane’s popularity in Northern America like?”
“Not bad at all.”
Little X noted. “In the semi-finals, he received 35.23 million votes which are more than 35% audience support rate. There was no competition as he completely crushed the second-place contestant. Although a part of this was due to the contribution of our stage crew and stylists as well as the post-production team, he still has proved his mettle on his own. He does have excellent qualifications and overall performance, enough to rank at top-five among the contestants.”
Chen Chen smiled upon hearing this. “In that case, we can give him one more gentle shove. I want his name spread far and wide before the grand finals commence. Also, announce that from here on, each final champion of Call of Duty will earn the privilege of joining the BHB Combative Police Force.”
Little X nodded contemplatively. “In that case, that means that he’ll soon directly confront the person he has a grudge on. How do you think he’ll respond to that?”
“I’ve gone through his files. It appears that his goal was never to oppose Blacklight Biotechnology nor to avenge his mother by killing Brooke. His ultimate goal was to dig up dirt on Brooke and drag his reputation through the mud.”
Chen Chen finished the cup of nutrient solution in one swing before mentioning, “Anyways, we’ve squeezed all the value we can out of Brooke already. Over the last two years, he’s been constantly making subtle maneuvers against us and even investing in groups like these that are scheming against our company. It’s about time we find someone to replace him.”
“Understood, I’ll build up Lane’s reputation as the next up-and-coming superhero.”
Little X nodded before mentioning, “There’s good news coming from the Spire Experimental Base. The high-energy physics experimental team led by Professor Charles has achieved a significant breakthrough. They’ve manufactured a variation of a ‘high-offset metal’ that can be reproduced in small quantities.”
“They’ve finally succeeded?”
Chen Chen was delighted to hear this. Since he had already finished his breakfast, he immediately got up and bolted toward the door. “Let’s head over there and take a look!”
…
Three years ago, Chen Chen launched the second expansion project of the Spire Experimental Base. In addition to expanding the base by three times its original size, he also carved a ring of tunnels around the base to install the long-awaited particle accelerator.
By relying on the technology brought back from the dimension of Elysium and key devices outsourced from Europe, this particle accelerator would be the most advanced accelerator of its kind in the history of mankind as there was none other like it.
It took an entire year to wrap up the enormous project. By now, the multi-billion-dollar particle accelerator had been up and operating for two years.
As far as super high-end devices go, this was considered dirt cheap. However, its efficiency had reached the highest end of the spectrum, measuring up to 100TeV. At this time, Professor Charles led dozens of God’s Forbidden Zone’s scientists along with hundreds of assistants to perform physics experiments with the particle accelerator.
“The atom particles have reached sub-light speed in the linear acceleration device. Get ready to redirect them into the toroidal acceleration rectifier and activate the magnetic field…”
“Successful redirection into the toroidal acceleration rectifier, now commencing another round of acceleration… The current speed is 93.735% the speed of light. The particle is still accelerating at a steady pace!”
“That’s enough acceleration! Get ready to activate the ultra-high-field magnetic field generator! Get the resonance machine to collect the subsequent neutrons!”
“The particles have passed through the generated magnetic field, performing inspection!”
“Reporting, signs of tear in the collected atom particles are detected. The protons and atoms have been separated, only the neutrons are not affected by the simulated magnetic field. The particles are showing signs of deceleration!”
“Prepare the electric combiner to bond the electrons and neutrons. Monitor the speed of the neutrons and make sure they don’t decelerate more than needed!”
“…”
“Task completed, virtual particles have been formed, now initializing the second round of acceleration!”
“It has now accelerated to 98% of the speed of light. Professor Charles, should we continue the acceleration?”
“We’re almost there, prepare to redirect the particles into a linear orbit. We must drive the protons into the aluminum atoms, I won’t accept any result other than an unqualified success!”
“The vacuum chamber has been charged and ready to go…”
Each faculty member in the high-energy physics laboratory carried a heavy expression on their faces. They were all looking at the large device in front of them that was shaped like a boiler. Suddenly, the device shook violently. Charles felt the ground trembling below his feet.
After that, a flood of data appeared on the display panel that projected the live-data feed. As the stream of data poured into the feed, beads of sweat poured at the same rapid rate along the forehead of the scientist tasked with monitoring the data. He intently fixed his eyes on the display and when he finally noted a specific line of data. He was ecstatic!
“We did it!”
The scientist immediately celebrated with joyous laughter like he was a child. He jumped from his seat and declared to everyone present, “We did it, the atom particle is bonded into the aluminum atom. We’ve created the toughest substance in the world!”
The host of scientists in the laboratory erupted into bouts of cheering the moment they heard the good news. Amid their fervent celebration, Chen Chen stepped into the high-energy physics laboratory.
“Mr. Chen!”
“Mr. Chen!”
“Boss Chen!”
They all stopped their cheering when they saw Chen Chen arriving. Chen Chen gave them a short wave before he approached Professor Charles. The professor, despite a bald patch on his forehead, appeared significantly younger than before. He greeted Chen Chen enthusiastically, “Boss, are you here because you received news of the successful experiment?”
“Of course, it’s been two years and the high-energy physics laboratory run by you has burned millions of dollars. It’s only reasonable that I rush here at first notice when I hear that there’s been a successful product.”
Chen Chen teased the professor and looked at the gigantic vacuum chamber. “How’s it looking, can we open it now?”
“It’s still releasing pressure, we can open it after another ten minutes or so.”
Charles explained before he went back to his task of directing his crew of scientists.
Chen Chen waited for a while. After approximately ten minutes had passed, a silver piece of metal merely the size of a fingernail was taken out by a research member using a pair of pliers.
Chen Chen inspected it briefly. It was the so-called high offset metal – a piece of isotope made of metal aluminum.
The so-called isotopes were essentially a collection of atoms of the same element. This collection of atoms had the same number of protons, but a varying number of neutrons.
For example, proton, deuterium, and tritium each had one proton in their nucleus but the number of neutrons in their nucleus was not the same. These made them mutual isotopes.
Since they had the same number of protons, that meant they also had nuclear charge and number of extranuclear electrons as well as the same electron shell structure. All this combined meant that the chemical properties of isotopes were identical.
However, the difference in the number of neutrons made it so that the mass of each atom was different, certain physical properties on the nucleus level were also different.
Due to the scale of constant collision prompted by the particle accelerator which bonded a large number of neutrons into the isotopes, the physical properties of aluminum have undergone earth-shattering changes…
The piece of aluminum was promptly taken into the testing room, it was quickly placed on a hardness meter measure machine.
Since it was the first time they have manufactured high-offset metal, the crew of scientists rushed to the observation room without a word between them when they saw that the test was about to be conducted.
One of the laboratory assistants operated a cutting machine in the testing room. The disc-shaped blades started spinning at extreme speed upon being activated. The assistant promptly pressed the blade over the tiny aluminum block!
In an instant, a piercing screech sounded across the laboratory as sparks sprayed everywhere, even grazing the top of the ceiling!
The assistant stopped after only several seconds. His expression was contorted in awe.
“How did it go?”
Professor Charles asked from the observation room.
“There are no visible marks left on the sample.”
The assistant removed the fingernail-sized aluminum block from the device fixing it in place and presented it for everyone to see.
“As expected!”
They were enthused to see the results of their experiment. Even Chen Chen went up to the observation mirror to observe what the assistant was doing.
From where Chen Chen stood, he had a clear view of the disc blade pressing against the aluminum block just now and yet the surface of the sample was still smooth and completely unscathed. Such characteristics were nearly impossible for a piece of aluminum since the substance was not known for its hardness.
“Try switching to a tungsten-molybdenum steel blade and extend the period to 30 seconds!”
Professor Charles proceeded to instruct again.
“Understood.”
The assistant took the same sample to another cutting machine to perform the same experiment. The same thing occurred with sparks flying everywhere and the sound of metal grinding against each other sounding across the laboratory. However, the assistant stopped before the twenty-second-mark.
“Why did you stop?” some of the research crew asked.
The assistant sounded troubled as he said, “It wasn’t me who stopped, it’s just that the blade was destroyed…”
They were once again floored by this ridiculous display. Although they had prepared themselves mentally for a similar outcome, it was a wholly different experience to witness such a mysterious metal in person…
[1] Italian company that specializes in high-end hand-knotted rugs
