Huizhou Province — Institute of Plasma Physics.
Inside a quiet office, Li Jian was poring over research papers and technical documents, trying to find a breakthrough in their current line of study.
Li Jian was no ordinary scientist—he was an academician of the Academy of Engineering, former director of the Plasma Institute, deputy general manager of the superconducting tokamak project, and lead expert on the Tokamak experiment.
In their most recent controlled nuclear fusion test, they had achieved a significant milestone: stable fusion for over 100 seconds. The next step was even more challenging—extending that stability for longer durations.
For now, the Tokamak device was purely experimental. The concept of net-positive energy output—producing more energy than it consumed—was still considered a distant goal. Their immediate focus was maintaining a steady-state reaction. Only once that was achieved could they seriously tackle the energy yield problem.
In nuclear fusion circles, there was a long-standing joke: "Fusion power is always 25 years away." The reality behind the joke? Unless there's a sudden breakthrough, even decades of work might not yield success.
Sometimes a single spark of inspiration could change everything.
But without that breakthrough… even 25 years might not be enough.
For the next experiment, they hoped to break their own record—but that would require a technological leap. They had run countless simulations and internal tests. Yet without innovation, they were nearing a plateau.
Ding—
Just as Li Jian was deep in thought, the doorbell interrupted him.
"Academician Li, the director asked me to call you to his office. He said it's urgent."
"Urgent?" Li Jian frowned, carefully locking his materials away in the safe before walking out. "Did he say what it's about?"
"No, just that Teacher Wan was also notified. It sounds very serious."
"All right," Li Jian nodded and made his way to the director's office.
Unless it was directly related to an upcoming Tokamak test, urgent matters were rare—especially ones that required both him and Wan Yuanjun. As joint leads of the fusion experiment, their time was tightly scheduled. Since the next test was still some time away, what could be so pressing?
—
At the director's office of the Plasma Institute, three people were already present when Li Jian arrived.
Aside from Director Wang and his colleague Wan Yuanjun, there was a man he didn't recognize—clearly a military officer by his bearing.
Li Jian exchanged nods with Wan and Director Wang, still puzzled.
"I'll make introductions," Director Wang began. "This is Comrade Li Chengzhi, who arrived overnight from the capital. He's here on important business and would like your cooperation."
Li Chengzhi stepped forward, extending a hand. "Academician Li, a pleasure to meet you. I won't waste your time. This is extremely important—and sensitive. I need your help verifying a set of data."
Li Jian, Wan Yuanjun, and Director Wang all looked at each other.
"What kind of data?" asked Wan, his white hair and calm demeanor marking him as a senior figure in the field. Many in the institute had studied under him.
His tone was casual, but his eyes were sharp. For something to require the attention of the institute's top three experts… it had to be serious.
Li Chengzhi didn't answer directly. He pulled three documents from a secure case and handed them over.
"This is the data. Please take a look and give me your expert opinion."
The room went quiet as the three men began reading.
As their eyes scanned the papers, the atmosphere slowly shifted. At first curious, then focused… then visibly shaken.
"Where… where did you get this?" Wan suddenly stood up, staring at Li Chengzhi. His hands were trembling.
He had worked in plasma physics and fusion research for decades. At a glance, he could tell these were simulation results for controlled nuclear fusion—and not just rough theory. Some formulas were familiar, but others were new—refinements or novel frameworks. It was real.
Too real.
Fusion data like this was top secret. Even within the institute, access was tightly compartmentalized—no single researcher had the full blueprint. Yet here it was… in their hands.
"If this material was leaked…" Director Wang's voice was low, full of concern.
"Calm down," Li Chengzhi said, seeing their tension. "This data didn't come from your systems. The source is classified for now, but there's no breach on your end."
The three men breathed a little easier at that.
Li Chengzhi watched their reactions closely. Their shock confirmed what he needed to know—Chen Mo hadn't lied.
"Please look closer," he said. "I need a firm conclusion."
Li Jian, a bit calmer than the others, spoke up: "Some of this is different from our current theoretical framework. There are new formulas here. It doesn't align completely with our own nuclear fusion models."
Director Wang and Wan Yuanjun both leaned in for a second, more focused review.
"Wait… these equations…" Wan's expression turned serious. "Some of these transformations—we've never seen them before. But they make sense. It's elegant."
"There are novel theoretical derivations here," Li Jian said, brows furrowed. "It's not copied from known fusion work—at least, not ours. And the way some of these parameters are calculated... this could be a different approach to solving the confinement problem."
"Gentlemen," Li Chengzhi cut in, seeing them slowly slipping into research mode, "this isn't the time to dissect the theory. Can you verify whether the data is genuine? And how useful it might be?"
Li Jian took a deep breath. "The materials are incomplete. The theoretical models differ from ours, and we'd need to re-run simulations and validate results. But... based on what I see here, this could open a new line of attack for fusion control. Possibly even offer a breakthrough."
"If you had the full dataset—could you confirm it?" Li Chengzhi asked.
"We could certainly try," Li Jian said seriously.
Li Chengzhi nodded. From his secure briefcase, he pulled out the hard drive Chen Mo had given him.
"All right then. The full data is in here."
—
Back in the capital, Chen Mo had no idea that Li Chengzhi had already flown overnight to Huizhou to get the data verified.
Early in the morning, after breakfast, Chen Mo left the hotel with Wang Hai and Lanxi.
Today marked the final day of the World Artificial Intelligence Conference, but there was nothing on his schedule.
He had already handed off the nuclear fusion data to Li Chengzhi. When an answer would come, and when the authorities would call him in for formal discussions, was unclear. All he could do now was wait.
If things dragged on too long, he'd just return to the company.
Still, he had no doubt the authorities would act. Controlled nuclear fusion wasn't just a technical upgrade—it had the potential to transform civilization itself. There was no way they'd ignore it.
"Boss, where to?" Wang Hai asked as they got into the car.
"Financial Street Mall," Chen Mo replied.