Chapter 665: Extra 16

Project Helios.
The core entry, publicly disclosed, is simply stated in a single line:
"Environmentally friendly space energy transmission."
With the explosive growth of superconducting materials science and architectural engineering, especially with the advent of bionic robots that can operate 24/7 with just a refueling...
Theoretically, as long as the funding chain remains intact, industrial-grade 3D printing and nanoscale micro-manipulation technology can forcibly transform holographic designs into physical entities at an unprecedented speed.
Even castles in the air can rise from the ground in the blink of an eye!
At this moment, inside the launch center of Gaia Base, everyone's expression is incredibly solemn.
"Director, didn't you say before that Project Helios would need at least five years just to build a prototype?" the assistant asked softly.
“This was the original plan,” Zhou Yi stared intently at the large screen.
“But less than forty-eight hours after the project was approved, complete engineering drawings, encompassing 40,000 subsystems, were already being sent to the central control terminal.
From that instant, the entire bionic robot assembly workshop took over, frantically starting 24/7 production…”
On the day the “Helios” project was approved within Gaia, everyone collectively experienced hours of cognitive dissonance.
On the surface, it was nothing more than an environmentally friendly device that used a high-energy microwave array to collect solar energy in near-Earth orbit and direct it to a surface receiving station.
A super satellite capable of providing instant “cloud charging” to energy-depleted areas.
A flawless engineering blueprint, perfectly aligned with universal human values.
In the actual project plan, the densely packed partial differential equations and energy conversion thresholds were indeed perfectly self-consistent.
But this was the Gaia Research Center, the highest hall gathering the world's most brilliant minds!
To those experts who had worked themselves to the bone, "Helios," no matter how you looked at it from any angle, was still that ultimate weapon of mass destruction that existed only in science fiction:
"The Rod of God!"
"Five, four, three, two, one.
Main engine ignition, launch!"
Zhou Yi stared intently at the rocket soaring into the sky, his expression as complex as if he had swallowed ten pounds of undercooked bitter melon.
"I thought, knowing your temperament, Director, you would definitely intervene. You might even stop the launch,"
his assistant said from the side.
Zhou Yi didn't turn around, but simply nodded his chin listlessly.
"I did consider that.
This thing goes against our Gaia's mission to save the Earth; it's purely a super weapon that could threaten the entire world. But..."
Zhou Yi's Adam's apple bobbed, and he swallowed.
Su Yun.
That monster that swept through the entire edifice of modern physics with overwhelming force...
actually, it only took a year to bring this behemoth, encompassing twelve intergenerational disciplines, into reality from start to finish.
Previously, according to the most optimistic estimates in academia, even with the combined efforts of the entire world, the first five-year plan could only barely assemble a prototype that couldn't be connected to the grid.
The project had barely been approved when the flawless, almost mystical design drawings were thrown at the faces of all the engineers!
Following this, even the verification process was skipped, and construction proceeded arbitrarily.
"I was foolish.
Even if he's a once-in-a-century genius, who could have imagined that he'd already completed the entire concept for a theoretical theory that didn't even have blueprints, and even skipped all the trial and error stages to start construction right away?"
When Su Yun submitted the project proposal, he wasn't requesting resources, nor was he preparing to start from scratch!
That kid had already drawn up all the blueprints; he just needed a legitimate excuse to launch this globally awe-inspiring weapon into space!
“But whether this thing will even work properly is still unknown, isn’t it?” the assistant frantically tried to reassure himself.
“Even with the most advanced technology, the ‘Rod of God’ is still just a fantasy!”
“You still don’t understand what dimension Su Yun is at?”
Zhou Yi took a deep breath, his voice tinged with a suffocating helplessness.
“When that kid first arrived, he only took a few months to break through all the technical bottlenecks that had been holding us back for years, like piercing a thin layer of paper.
He’s far beyond the limits of what we consider genius; he’s like a cheat code!”
Such a monster dared to launch the finished product into space without any low-orbit testing, brimming with confidence.
What does this mean?
It means Su Yun is 100% certain that this thing will function perfectly, without even a single scratch on the paint!
"Then, Director, shouldn't we have a backup plan to prevent Su Yun from abusing that weapon?"
"Are you fucking trying to drag everyone down with you?
You know perfectly well who personally signed off on this project in the final approval process.
It was the Chairman!"
A deep sense of apprehension flashed in Zhou Yi's eyes.
"Perhaps the Chairman and Su Yun had already been plotting the 'Helios' project for a long time before the project was even approved!"
In front of the outside world and the media, Zhou Yi had always been a ruthless figure, fearless of authority, upright and incorruptible, leading Gaia with a bulldozer-like toughness.
But in reality, everyone had misjudged him.
No matter how high Zhou Yi stood, he was still subject to gravity, still a mortal, and knew all too well the insurmountable presence hanging over his head.
"Although everyone calls me crazy, I'm actually more rational than anyone else at heart.
I'm not the kind of fool who would be stupid enough to defy a god they absolutely cannot offend, only to have their ashes scattered in the end.
You've been with me for so many years, you should know that too, right?"
"..."
"Even if we risked our lives today to stop Su Yun's launch,
what about the other fourteen key projects he's currently handling?
In Gaia's labs, there are mountains of massive projects concerning the future of humanity, eagerly awaiting Su Yun's solutions!
Those mega-projects that would normally consume the life's work of generations of researchers could take off in a few months if Su Yun were involved!"
"Are we really going to forcibly sever all hope for human civilization for the sake of this potential threat?"
Zhou Yi closed his eyes in anguish.
His reason told him that this overwhelming torrent was far beyond what someone of his level could possibly dam.
"If you truly had moral fastidiousness, if you felt guilty, you shouldn't have stepped into Gaia's doorstep in the first place!
Have you forgotten how Fang Huan's colossal commercial empire rose from the ashes of millions, amidst pools of blood and countless bones?"
To heal the ravaged Earth, to save this world teetering on the brink of destruction!
This initial intention remained deeply embedded in Zhou Yi's heart.
But the pull of reality was too heavy. Faced with absolute hegemony, you must learn to turn a blind eye, feign deafness and dumbness, and embrace a rare period of ignorance.
Just like the deathly silence in the launch pad at this moment!