In a mansion in a suburb of Jinling,
Inside the study room of Lu Zhou’s home.
A uniquely shaped space station that was different from the shapes of the Tianzhou and Atlantis space station was floating in a light blue holographic beam. The shape of this space station was like a spinning top with the tip aligned with the center of the earth, with four thick cantilevers extending outwards. The outer side of each cantilever was joined by an arc structure.
Ignoring the gaps between the arc structures, the entire outermost structure looked like a closed ring.
Lu Zhou, sitting inside the study room, was meticulously staring at the three-dimensional composition suspended in the holographic beam, calculating something and carefully adjusting the parameters of each component.
Xiao Ai walked into the study room with a cup of coffee. She asked curiously when she saw her master concentrating on his work, “Master, what is this? (•̀∀•́)”
Lu Zhou replied casually, “Space station, or technically, the head of the space elevator.”
When he was in Beijing, unlike what Li Guangya said, the entire space elevator project was not under control.
After leaving the Orbital Design Institute of the Pan-Asian Academy of Sciences, he went to the East Asia Heavy Industries and Aerospace Research Institute to learn about the work of the relevant units for the entire space elevator project. He finally came to a conclusion…
The problems encountered by East Asia Energy were also reflected in giant companies and institutions such as East Asia Heavy Industries and the Pan-Asian Academy of Sciences. It was just that there was probably less interference from external factors, and the latter was far less wealthy than the former.
It seemed that when society developed to a certain level, the trap of prosperity was almost inevitable.
When Lu Zhou first came into this era, he was puzzled by the reinforcement of the future plan; why should the elites of various industries in the 2050s be sent to the distant future, and why were they counting on “old antiques” to lead the way…
But now, it seemed that this plan was not so useless.
Although facts had indeed proven that it was impossible to expect people in the future to accept the management of ancient people, whether it was power, knowledge, or assets, anything would shrink under the baptism of time, but in a sense, people who came from the past had indeed alleviated the impact of the prosperity trap to a certain extent.
Of course, the situation was more severe than imagined, but there were things to be optimistic about.
At least the strong industrial capabilities of East Asia Heavy Industries had really opened his eyes to him, a scholar from the 21st century, and the accumulation of engineering research by the Orbital Design Research Institute and the Aerospace Research Institute had made considerable progress for the technical realization of the space elevator.
His original idea of “being a bystander and handing over the whole project to someone else” probably wouldn’t work.
Otherwise, it would take decades to finally see the space elevator.
Just when Lu Zhou returned his attention to the model in the holographic beam, he suddenly sneezed without warning.
“Who is thinking of me…”
Lu Zhou reached out and rubbed his nose as he murmured a little.
This was heard by Xiao Ai, who then immediately said, “Of course it is Xiao Ai! Only Xiao Ai is always thinking about Master! (///ω///)”
“Sure, sure, whatever.”
Lu Zhou was accustomed to Xiao Ai’s immaturity. He took a moment to glance at his inbox. When he saw an unread email in it, he freed up his index finger and clicked on it.
Soon, the light blue light particles changed, and an email that looked like a greeting card appeared in front of him.
[Thank you for your trust in me and your reward. This huge sum of money… has left me at a loss for a long time. Only recently did I make up my mind on how to use it. I plan to take my apprentice around the world, and it will take about two months to come back. If you have any modification needs during this period of time, I have told my friend to provide you with modification services.]
Attached was a selfie by the beach, but Lu Zhou was not interested in men’s selfies.
At about the beginning of the year, he asked Han Ming to do him a favor. Although Xiao Ai said that the remuneration was a little too high, Lu Zhou didn’t intend to break what he had promised.
For him, money was just a number that couldn’t bring any surprises.
After reading the email, Lu Zhou threw it into the recycle bin, leaving the matter behind and refocusing his attention on the model at hand.
However, Xiao Ai, who was standing on the side, showed envious eyes.
“So jealous, Xiao Ai also wants to travel the world with Master. ( ́◔‸◔`)”
Lu Zhou: “I prefer to stay alone in a quiet place and dive into the issues that interest me.”
Xiao Ai: “Huh, but research can be done anytime. (๑°⌓°๑)”
“In theory, this is true… Well, I just don’t quite understand what’s the point of traveling.”
“But Master plans to leave here… Doesn’t Master want to make some memories?”
Lu Zhou’s finger that clicked on the holographic screen suddenly paused. He stopped his hand and was silent for a while. He then looked at Xiao Ai somewhat unexpectedly.
“How do you know?”
Frankly speaking, he did have this idea more than once. It was for the same reason he went to Princeton last time.
With the completion of the second generation of controllable fusion, he was getting closer and closer to maxing out all disciplines, and he felt that the sense of alienation between himself and the real world seemed to be getting stronger.
Not because of the generation gap or anything.
It was a premonition telling him that with endless time, he would be taken to a far away place by fate; that was his final destination.
Xiao Ai: “Xiao Ai can’t explain it clearly, but Master said a long time ago that Master wanted to visit Tau Ceti? And… the second generation of controllable fusion is for this, right?”
Unlike usual, there wasn’t an emoji floating in Xiao Ai’s eyes this time.
Facing the holographic image in his hand, Lu Zhou was silent for a long time.
He suddenly asked, “If I were to go to a faraway place, would you go with me?”
Xiao Ai: “Of course! Whether Master goes to the center of the galaxy or the edge of the universe, Xiao Ai will accompany Master! (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧”
Although it was an expected answer, Lu Zhou still felt a little warm after hearing it.
A smile appeared on his face.
Lu Zhou reached out his hand and rubbed the top of her head.
“If you are always by my side, you won’t reach advanced artificial intelligence.”
Xiao Ai: “Hmph, not necessarily. (///ω///)”
That being said, the future was unpredictable.
All he could do was to grasp the present.
After completing the calculation of the last parameter, Lu Zhou looked at the holographic blueprint of the space station floating in the palm of his hand. A smile emerged on his face.
Done!
