The Geller Field of the Imperial Glory failed in the Warp, causing all crew members to be corrupted.
The Adeptus Mechanicus members responsible for maintaining the battleship's systems were no exception.
Without anyone to maintain and supervise it, the battleship's various systems became paralyzed and ceased operation.
To restore the battleship's operation, the reactor must first be restarted.
Only by providing sufficient energy can the various subsystems operate at normal power.
Never mind where the Imperial Glory needed to go, at least it needed to maintain its survival.
If the reactor wasn't restarted, once the backup energy ran out, artificial gravity, temperature control, and oxygen circulation systems would all malfunction.
In an environment of oxygen deprivation and extreme cold, Players would be unable to survive.
Although Planet Atoma was near the Imperial Glory, no one knew what the situation there was like.
How many areas had the rebels captured? Had they seized the anti-aircraft guns?
If the Governor was already dead, or if the enemy had already seized the anti-aircraft guns, without a logistics base, it would be as difficult as ascending to heaven for Players to retake Planet Atoma from the Chaos Cultists.
Restarting the reactor and turning the Imperial Glory into a base was the wise move.
Regardless, this was a moon-class battleship.
If it could operate normally, its weapon systems like the Lance arrays, torpedoes, and macro cannons could all deter the planet.
It could also provide air superiority for Players operating on the ground.
Zack raised his hand, "Guide, we do know how to repair some things, but the field involved with something like a reactor is a bit too profound."
Oh my god!
He was just a sophomore in college.
How could he be capable enough to repair the reactor of a moon-class battleship?!
Old Bird nodded in agreement.
Although he held an MIT degree certificate, and his research covered nuclear physics and plasma engineering, he wasn't confident in this task either.
This game was too realistic; he was afraid he wouldn't be able to fix it.
"It's alright, just go for it, the Emperor will Guide you."
Alex encouraged them for a bit, then his tone became stern again.
"This matter is not open to refusal, and do not speak anything further that is detrimental to loyalty."
"You will definitely complete this mission, repair the reactor, and restart the Imperial Glory."
Looking at the bewildered and helpless Players, Alex also felt a bit awkward.
But he didn't show it, maintaining his cold demeanor.
Troubling the Players was better than troubling himself.
"You can state any needs you have, and I will have other veterans help you as much as possible."
After speaking, Alex strode away.
He still had other matters to attend to.
"Repairing the reactor, me?" Maverick pointed to himself.
"This kind of thing just feels unreliable!!" Zack scratched his head.
"Let's find the manual first," Old Bird said. "Although it's difficult, that doesn't mean there's no chance."
"Besides, we only need to restart the reactor and get it running."
Everyone started searching the cabin.
Eventually, they found the reactor maintenance manual on a data storage stack.
It was tens of thousands of pages long, with not only text descriptions but also design drawings and data.
The manual detailed various situations the reactor might encounter, as well as corresponding appeasement rituals.
"This game is so realistic it could kill me."
Looking at the complex design drawings and data precise to six decimal places, Old Bird felt a headache coming on.
There was no need to mention Zack and the others.
Their education wasn't even as high as Old Bird's!
Looking at that manual was like looking at a heavenly book.
No matter how they looked at it, they just saw complex diagrams and many numbers.
For a period of time, Old Bird was looking at blueprints and data.
At first, he was amazed by the game developers' rigor.
The data was as detailed as scientific research papers, and the design drawings conformed to engineering specifications, with no problems to be found.
"It's so realistic that even the reactor has to be simulated?!"
Old Bird silently gave a thumbs up to the official team.
But soon, he felt that all this was too terrible.
It was just a game, why make it so complicated?
Could it be that this reactor could even operate in Holy Terra (Earth/Reality)?
Old Bird studied the reactor manual until he logged off.
Even at work, his mind was filled with the reactor's design drawings and data.
East University Research Institute, cafeteria.
"Ding Yanfeng, what's wrong with you?"
"You've seemed out of sorts all day today?"
Dong Hai placed his tray down and sat across from Ding Yanfeng.
Ding Yanfeng looked up, saw it was his good friend, then lowered his head again.
"I'm thinking about how to repair the reactor."
Dong Hai widened his eyes, looking at his friend.
"Repair the reactor? Have you developed delusions lately? Where would you even find a reactor to repair?"
"Don't react so strongly." Ding Yanfeng looked around, lowering his voice. "It's a game I just started playing recently."
"The NPC in it gave me a mission to restart a plasma fusion reactor."
"A game mission, why don't you just ask a game expert?"
Dong Hai said while eating, "Is such a simple thing worth being so troubled over?"
Ding Yanfeng explained, "This game is different from others on the market; it uses a realistic physics engine and aims for one hundred percent realism."
"There are no hints in the game, so I have to figure out how to fix it myself."
Dong Hai looked his friend up and down, a suspicious look in his eyes.
"As a top student from MIT, don't tell me you've been scammed."
After returning to China, Ding Yanfeng joined the East University Research Institute, where he met Dong Hai.
After a while, the two became good friends.
"I haven't been scammed." Ding Yanfeng shook his head. "The game I'm playing is very realistic; two Players have already repaired the turrets and weapons using their engineering knowledge."
"Now the NPC is asking us to figure out a way to get a plasma fusion reactor back online."
"Sounds interesting." Dong Hai showed a look of interest. "But you don't need to take game things too seriously."
"I thought so too at first, but that plasma fusion reactor has a maintenance manual, which alone is tens of thousands of pages long, hundreds of thousands of words, and also has detailed design drawings and data."
"I even drew a few drafts and data from memory; take a look yourself."
Ding Yanfeng handed Dong Hai the drafts he had drawn while slacking off at work.
Dong Hai reached out to take them, while still questioning.
"I'm telling you, you're just stubborn. Why take game things so seriously…"
Dong Hai's words trailed off as his eyes widened.
He stared intently at the design drawings and data on the drafts.
Dong Hai held dual doctorates in mathematics and physics and had also returned from studying abroad.
He was very sensitive to numbers, and he could spot discrepancies in many numerical things at a glance.
The moment he saw the drafts, Dong Hai began to calculate mentally.
He was surprised to find that the data on the drafts were all self-consistent and not randomly fabricated.
"Is this really a game? You didn't steal confidential blueprints from some lab, did you?"
Dong Hai looked at his friend with a shocked expression.
"Do you believe me now? It's just a game, one hundred percent realistic." Ding Yanfeng said exasperatedly. "The game developers probably hired some scientific bigwig as a technical consultant."
"Interesting." Dong Hai looked at the drafts. "If it's one hundred percent realistic, I'd like to ask, how does this game solve the problem of confining high-temperature plasma flow?"
How to confine high-temperature plasma is currently the most important research topic in nuclear physics laboratories.
It relates to how to commercialize nuclear fusion.
"Don't even think about it; this game is set in a sci-fi background and has gravity field technology."
Ding Yanfeng glanced at Dong Hai, saying exasperatedly.
"By relying on gravity field confinement technology, its operating temperature threshold is far below laboratory standards, allowing for stable energy output and thus commercialization."
Dong Hai showed a look of regret.
"It's still a 'deus ex machina'; I thought there might be some completely new idea."
"However, since the game is so realistic, you should just follow real-world thinking."
"The reactor operation process is divided into three steps: ignition, burning, and output."
"As long as the output is greater than the input, it's considered normal operation."
"In the game, it's simply using gravity field technology to confine the plasma flow, causing it to undergo fusion reactions, and then stably outputting energy, but the steps should be unchanged."
"When you enter the game, just try to figure out which step has a problem, then repair it according to the manual."
"That makes sense." Ding Yanfeng nodded. "Anyway, it's not real, so I'll try it when I log in."
"Right, that's the attitude. It's just a game, so even if it explodes, it doesn't matter." Dong Hai said nonchalantly.
Imperial Glory Strategic Room.
Alex, who was checking messages, suddenly sneezed.
He rubbed his sore nose.
"I'm already a Living Saint, how can I still sneeze? Could something bad be about to happen?!"