(ps: This chapter was expanded during the revision of the previous two chapters, and is not counted as part of today's update. Apologies to those who have already read it.)
Ling Xiao immediately shook his head, "Don't mess around, do I have the guts for that? I just feel disappointed. Even if it's not antimatter annihilation, it should at least be heavy element decay, right? If that's not enough, it would make sense to have a reactor that can achieve fusion just by throwing something into it, wouldn't it? It's just a fusion reactor, what's there to be amazed about!"
More than a decade ago, humanity's controllable nuclear fusion technology had already become practical, and two power stations had already been built.
Although there were many drawbacks, such as large volume and complex equipment, it was still something they had mastered. How could Ling Xiao not be disappointed? How could he not be disappointed?
Ou Zhanpeng's gaze shifted to look at Ling Xiao as if he were an idiot. He reached out and touched Ling Xiao's forehead, "Did you forget to take your medicine this morning?"
"What are you doing? Stop touching me!"
"Touching you? I'd send you to a mental hospital. The sun, a star that big, can't even ignite carbon fusion, and you want to casually create a reactor and achieve light matter fusion? Our research station doesn't have any donkeys either!"
"Get lost, your brain was kicked by a donkey... No, wait, it was you who kicked me!"
Ou Zhanpeng laughed heartily, making Ling Xiao grit his teeth in annoyance.
"Stop thinking about all those nonsensical things. The alien species have their reasons for using hydrogen as fuel. Moreover, I think, unless it's vacuum energy, any aliens in the universe should use hydrogen as fuel, or at least their primary fuel. Those things you mentioned are all flashy and useless."
Ling Xiao immediately objected, "Hey, hey, I don't like hearing that. So, hydrogen fusion is useful, and everything else is useless? Whose logic is that?"
"The logic of the universe!" Ou Zhanpeng said. "Take antimatter annihilation, for example. It releases much more energy than fusion, but where would you find antimatter? You need to have the ability to stably produce antimatter on a large scale before you can apply it on a large scale, right?"
Humanity's only means of producing antimatter is through particle colliders. If you want to produce antimatter this way, hehe, it's better to just go to sleep.
Ling Xiao immediately fell silent.
In terms of analysis and comparison, he, who didn't like to use his brain, was never a match for Ou Zhanpeng.
Young Master Ou didn't intend to let Ling Xiao off the hook so easily and continued, "Not only is antimatter difficult to produce, but it's also difficult to store. Just the various safety equipment would take up a lot of space. Such dangerous stuff, besides its high energy density, has nothing but drawbacks. Why should I use antimatter to solve a problem that I can solve by consuming a little more hydrogen? Or, my car can run just by charging it, but you insist on installing a reactor in my car? Isn't that being kicked by a donkey?"
Ling Xiao's gaze was strange, and Ou Zhanpeng suddenly felt something was wrong. He heard a赞许 (zànxǔ - approving) voice from behind him, "Well said, young man, what's your name?"
Ou Zhanpeng turned around and saw Professor Wu, who had been captured by the alien species, standing behind him! Professor Wu had sustained minor injuries, but before he had fully recovered, he had eagerly returned to the damaged ship and had been in charge of researching the power furnace.
Young Master Ou quickly greeted him, "Hello, Professor Wu. My name is Ou Zhanpeng. I was just speaking casually. Please don't mind if I said anything wrong."
"No, no, you said it very well, and you hit the nail on the head." Professor Wu affirmed Ou Zhanpeng's view, "Advanced technology is good, but we can't just consider whether it's advanced or not, we also need to consider whether it's practical. Antimatter annihilation is a typical example. Since fusion can meet the requirements, why go to the trouble? Hmm, you have other ideas, don't you? Tell me about them."
Ou Zhanpeng showed a rare touch of shyness, "How dare I show off in front of you, elder..."
"It's alright, among three people walking, there must be one who can be my teacher. Just say whatever you want, and I'll listen. Perhaps one sentence might give me, an old man, some inspiration."
"Then I'll just say whatever comes to mind. Please don't mind if I'm wrong, elder." Ou Zhanpeng preemptively defended himself, "I think another important point is the abundance of elements. Hydrogen is the most common and easily obtainable substance in the universe, and its separation and processing are relatively simple. If you run out of fuel, you can just find a gas giant and fill up your fuel tanks in no time. But antimatter and other fuels are different. Take helium, for example. Mining, separating, and purifying it is much more complicated than hydrogen."
"Well said!" Professor Wu nodded in satisfaction. "Let me add a few more points. The aliens' technology is indeed much more advanced than ours. Take this power furnace, for instance. Its function is very powerful, and it can operate normally with ordinary hydrogen. The technology contained within it is truly remarkable. You know, the fusion conditions for protium and protium are the most demanding. The sun can achieve such reactions because it has a high temperature of 15 million degrees and a pressure of 250 billion atmospheres."
"The reason our fusion reactors use deuterium and tritium as raw materials is because the reaction conditions are relatively low. Therefore, the technology contained in this reactor is absolutely not simple, and it is worth my dedicating ten, twenty, or even my entire life to studying it."
In fact, Professor Wu had a few more things he didn't say. His power group discovered that although the alien reactor used protium as fuel, it required a hydrogen isotope ignition to start. Only after igniting the reactor could it continue to operate with protium as fuel.
Now that they had found the fuel compartment, Professor Wu could stop the power furnace at any time if needed, but he was not confident that he could restart it, so he could only maintain the current state.
No matter how many things Ling Xiao wanted to say, he could only shut his mouth and listen at this moment. Moreover, although he was stubborn, he knew very well which technology was practical.
However, just because he knew didn't mean he would admit he was wrong!
"There's another situation I don't know if you've noticed," Professor Wu said again. "According to my observations, the layout of the power compartment is very unreasonable. The connections between equipment and the arrangement of various pipelines are very unreasonable. I personally believe that although these components are combined together, they do not seem to be an integrated design. It's more like someone found some parts and pieced them together in a makeshift manner, like an assembled car."
Ou Zhanpeng's mind was a little fuzzy. He carefully recalled the situation in the power compartment but couldn't remember where it was shoddy. "Was it because the alien species were too hasty when repairing the reactor before?"
Professor Wu shook his head, "Even the parts that weren't repaired are equally shoddy. I haven't been to other places, so I don't know the overall situation of this warship. You often move around the warship, so please help me check the situation in other compartments. Of course, this is just my own opinion and may not be accurate. Perhaps the aliens are like the Russians and just prefer this style."
Although he said this, Ou Zhanpeng and Ling Xiao couldn't help but ponder: Is this damaged ship really so unbearable?
But when Ou Zhanpeng thought of the ship's mottled exterior and the chaotic management, a bold idea suddenly sprang into his mind: Was the damaged ship really a warship?