Chapter 156: Laser Weapon

"I think we shouldn't overthink this. We must equip the Sky City with a laser weapon system. Without any weapon system, our Sky City might soon be destroyed by space debris, and the massive financial investment would go completely down the drain. Furthermore, the personnel and others in space would face tremendous danger."

After pondering for a long time, Li Fu finally decided to install a laser weapon system on the Sky City. The Sky City involved a colossal investment and served as his Fuyun Group's stepping stone into space; without any protective measures, it was simply too unsafe.

The others nodded in agreement after hearing this. Since Li Fu had already made up his mind, what objections could anyone possibly have?

"I suggest we classify this matter as top secret within the company. We should avoid exposing our weapon system as much as possible to prevent unnecessary trouble. Once our company is able to obtain a license for weapon manufacturing in the future, exposing it then will be completely logical and legal."

After long contemplation, Chen Bin added his thoughts. Whether things in outer space should be bound by terrestrial laws was still a matter of debate, so it was better to keep this quiet for now. As laws gradually matured and the company continued to grow, the company might eventually secure a permit for producing and manufacturing weapons.

It should be noted that the Fuyun Group had already obtained a permit to produce aerospace planes. Aside from traveling back and forth to space, the more vital purpose of aerospace planes was actually combat. Should the situation change, aerospace planes could quickly be retrofitted into aerospace fighters to defend China's interests.

"Agreed, it must be classified as top secret. The fewer people who know, the better."

The others nodded along. The Fuyun Group currently held an enormous amount of high technology, coupled with various external policies and deeply impactful stakeholder relationships. Therefore, internal information had been strictly classified, and many top-secret projects were known to only a handful of individuals.

Technological secrets were inaccessible even to the company's CEO, Fang Zheng, as a strict administrative and research-separation system was enforced. Beyond these secrets, non-research personnel were strictly barred from entering sensitive research zones. The entire purpose of this, naturally, was to safeguard the company's technological prowess.

With the decision made, Li Fu temporarily suspended the Sky City project and led his team to focus on developing the laser weapon first.

Why can lasers be used as weapons? This question likely leaves many people baffled. Often, when we are captivated by the astonishing capabilities and dazzling appearance of something, we tend to overlook the most fundamental "why."

In essence, lasers, much like ordinary light, are a form of light source. To understand how lasers transform into aggressive swords in human hands, one must first figure out how they differ from light sources in daily life.

Let us start with the familiar incandescent lamp. The light it emits scatters in all directions, much like ripples on the water's surface, possessing "peaks" and "valleys," or highs and lows.

Supposing our eyes were capable of detecting every single ray of light from an incandescent lamp, you would see a vast number of "peaks" and "valleys" brushing past you. In reality, they possess different frequencies and different colors, but when mixed together, they appear white to the naked eye, just like the sunlight we see.

Next, let us recall the household appliance commonly used before the 1990s—the flashlight. Was the light emitted by a flashlight more concentrated than that from an unshaded incandescent lamp? Depending on where the flashlight was pointed, most of the light converged in a single direction. However, these relatively concentrated rays still possessed different frequencies and were similarly composed of a mixture of multiple colors to present white light.

Compared to the light from incandescent lamps and flashlights, the concentration of a laser is vastly higher. Its rays possess the exact same wavelength and a single color. The peaks and valleys of laser light waves exhibit a synchronized wave pattern, meaning that different light waves can travel in parallel without interfering with one another.

Such light is emitted in only one direction; thus, it can be tightly bundled and remain concentrated even after traveling a great distance. Lasers can generate light beams with immense energy—an energy 1,000 to 1,000,000 times stronger than that of ordinary incandescent light.

Different lasers can produce light with varying wavelengths, ranging from infrared to visible light and ultraviolet light. It is now known that light is actually a form of kinetic energy. Because lasers can generate extremely dense energy and transmit it over long distances with minimal loss, they can project massive amounts of energy onto distant objects. This is why lasers can serve as lethal weapons while incandescent light cannot.

However, for a laser to be generated, its light transmission requires an unconventional method. The word "LASER" is an acronym formed from the first letters of "Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation," a name that fully describes the primary process of creating a laser. In other words, lasers emit light by stimulating the release of photons or light particles.

To accomplish this process, a laser requires four basic elements: an optical medium, which is a source of atoms that can release specific wavelengths when stimulated (this medium can be a gas, liquid, or solid); a power source, which mobilizes and pumps these atoms to put them into a stimulated state within the laser medium; reflecting mirrors, consisting of one full mirror and one half-silvered mirror, which allow the emitted light to bounce back and forth repeatedly within the resonant cavity of the laser medium and ultimately escape; and a lens, as most laser-emitting devices are equipped with some form of lens to focus the beam.

"The essence of a laser is actually a process of energy storage and energy release. Because of the special nature of light, what we need to do is concentrate as much energy as possible onto a single point and then release it. That is the essence of a laser."

Inside a laboratory at the Fuyun Group's research institute in Yuantou Town, which had only recently been put into use, Li Fu stood in a white lab coat, his back turned to a massive display screen that was demonstrating the working principle of laser weapons.

As he explained, Li Fu operated his virtual machine to sketch different elements onto the screen. The Super Civilization Seed contained a vast amount of scientific knowledge and technology regarding energy weapons. What Li Fu had just stated was not only the essence of laser weapons, but the very essence of all energy weapons.

Accumulating massive amounts of energy, compressing that energy, and finally releasing all of it at a single point—every energy weapon in the universe escapes not from this fundamental principle.

"Currently, the most prominent types of lasers on Earth include the following: Solid-state lasers, where the laser medium is a solid crystal, such as the famous ruby laser or yttrium aluminum garnet laser, which can release light waves with a wavelength of 1.06 micrometers."

"Gas lasers, where the laser medium consists of a single gas or a mixture of multiple gases. Such lasers include helium-neon lasers or carbon dioxide lasers, which can release light waves with a wavelength of 10.6 micrometers (infrared)."

"Excimer lasers, where the laser medium is a mixture of various reactive gases such as chlorine and fluorine, and various noble gases such as argon and krypton. An argon-fluoride laser can release 193-nanometer ultraviolet light waves."

"Dye lasers, as the name implies, where the laser medium is composed of fluorescent dyes, such as rhodamine. These lasers can be tuned to different wavelengths within a certain range; a rhodamine 6G dye laser typically releases wavelengths between 570 and 650 nanometers."

"Carbon dioxide lasers are rather special because they are high-powered infrared lasers developed by various national militaries, used for cutting metal and currently the most likely candidates for researching laser weapons."

On the huge display screen, images flashed past, detailing the working principles of various lasers and the laser wavelengths they could generate.

"Actually, there is also something called a free-electron laser. There are many types of these, but in essence, they can be divided into two categories: physical laser principles and chemical laser principles."

Backed by the Super Civilization Seed, Li Fu could approach everything from a high vantage point, standing on the shoulders of giants. Li Fu frequently gave lectures to his company's research personnel, which was why the researchers progressed so rapidly. Otherwise, individuals like Yu Liang and Chen Bin would not have achieved the title of Chinese academicians at such a young age.

"Brother Fu, I understand. To research laser weapons, regardless of the method or approach we adopt, we are essentially storing energy, compressing energy, and releasing energy. As long as we can master these three steps, laser weapons are nothing more than very simple things."

Down below, the researchers of the Fuyun Group listened attentively to Li Fu's lecture while deep in thought. At that moment, a very refined-looking man with skin as fair as a Caucasian stood up. His name was Bai Cai. He was a genuine, full-blooded man, but because he looked exceptionally refined and fair-skinned, everyone loved to call him "Little Cabbage."

Despite the nickname "Little Cabbage," Bai Cai was a genius—a top graduate of Yanhuang University. He had rapidly stood out even within the talent-filled research institute. Following closely by Li Fu's side, he had grown at an astonishing pace and was now one of the core members of the company's research institute.

"Little Cabbage is right. As long as we grasp the essence of laser weapons and strive in these three directions—storing energy, compressing energy, and releasing energy—laser weapons will never be too difficult for us to conquer."

Li Fu nodded. The core of energy weapons was indeed that simple; the key lay in the degree of capability achieved. For an advanced civilization, firing an energy weapon to destroy a planet was a remarkably effortless task.

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