Chapter Nine: The Underground Laboratory of Emerald Mountain

At night, Zhang Mingyang lay in bed, unable to sleep for a long time. In the room next door, the lights were bright and the noise incessant.

Early the next morning, Zhang Mingyang climbed out of bed, packed his clothes, and prepared to return to the city. He finished packing, tidied up his bedding, and carried his suitcase out into the courtyard.

"What? Did I get up late today?"

He was alone in the courtyard. Looking at the time, it was already approaching seven o'clock. Zhang Mingyang walked to the door of his grandparents' room and knocked.

Knock, knock, knock!

"Grandma, are you up?"

Knock, knock, knock!

"Grandpa, are you up?"

There was no answer from inside. Zhang Mingyang wondered if he had slept in and the two had already left.

"Mingyang, why are you up so early?" came his grandmother's voice from inside.

"Grandma, it's almost seven o'clock. You're still not up?"

"Seven o'clock? Wait a moment, we'll be ready soon."

"Alright."

Half an hour later, the two emerged, each carrying a suitcase.

"Grandma, you used to say I was the late riser, but today—"

"Grandma, why do you have such dark circles under your eyes?" Zhang Mingyang asked in shock, noticing their tired eyes. "Did you two not sleep at all last night?"

"Let's go," his grandmother said.

Without another word, both turned and walked straight toward the gate.

On the way to the subway station, the three were unusually silent, ignoring one another. From their expressions, Zhang Mingyang could guess what had happened—there had surely been a quarrel last night.

And so, the three returned home in utter quiet. As they entered, his grandparents, each with their luggage, went directly to their rooms, leaving Zhang Mingyang standing at the doorway, bewildered and at a loss.

"Grandma, I'm going back to school for a bit."

"Come back early."

"I know."

Zhang Mingyang closed the door behind him and drew a long breath. The cold atmosphere compelled him to leave quickly; he knew this was the calm before the storm.

He descended the stairs and, as usual, took the bus to school. After facial recognition, he boarded the campus shuttle, heading toward the school's forbidden ground—the Jade Mountain Underground Laboratory.

Jade Mountain, the tallest peak in Jiyang City, stands at only 545 meters. It lies in the city's northwest outskirts, where the land is barren and the underground is mostly rock, making cultivation impossible. There are no villages or residents nearby.

When the school was first established in Jiyang, the government allocated a large tract of land. After surveying it, the school allowed each department to choose a location. The Department of Energy immediately decided Jade Mountain was ideal for constructing an underground laboratory.

After four years of construction, the mountain's interior was hollowed out, and nearly 500 meters were excavated underground, finally creating the nation's first school-affiliated underground energy laboratory.

Riding the shuttle, Zhang Mingyang gradually left the main campus, heading toward wasteland. Within a kilometer of Jade Mountain, there were no buildings.

At the foot of the mountain, the first thing he saw was a massive metal door twenty meters long and five meters thick—the sole entrance and exit to the laboratory.

Outside the door, Zhang Mingyang underwent both facial and iris recognition. With a thunderous roar, the giant metal gate slowly opened.

"Researcher Zhang Mingyang, identity confirmed. You may enter."

In truth, Zhang Mingyang’s undergraduate status did not qualify him to enter the lab. Admission was reserved for professors, academicians, and doctoral researchers.

His access was granted after he stood out in last year’s departmental competition, defeating all other contestants. Academician Lin Guangming took notice and allowed him to join the "Nuclear Fusion Research Group" he led, permitting Zhang Mingyang entry.

Inside the central hall, Zhang Mingyang walked to his group's room, changed out of his clothes, stored his personal items, donned a radiation suit, and headed to the central elevator.

In the elevator, after a second round of facial and iris recognition, Zhang Mingyang pressed the button for the twenty-fifth underground level—the deepest.

As the elevator descended slowly, Zhang Mingyang contacted Lin Guangming, who was already waiting in the lab, letting him know he would arrive soon.

After a minute-long descent, the elevator doors opened.

Stepping out, a vast space unfolded before him: ten meters high, three thousand square meters in area.

"Mingyang, you’re here," called a lean, dark figure waiting by the elevator.

"Senior, have the materials arrived?"

"Not yet. The supplier says the earliest will be tomorrow."

Talking, they approached the reactor.

Looking at the now-idle reactor, Zhang Mingyang felt helpless.

"Senior, can’t we make the first wall material double-layered, or compress it further?"

His senior shook his head. "It’s possible, but at best the reactor’s run time would only double. It still wouldn’t operate for long periods. And if we do make it double-layered, the reactor’s weight won’t meet requirements. It won’t work."

Zhang Mingyang scratched his head in frustration. "Nothing works—why is it so hard to solve this material issue?"

"Yesterday, the professor came by," his senior said.

"The professor was here?" Zhang Mingyang asked.

"Yes, yesterday he was just like you, scratching his head, thinking about how to solve the material problem. Today, he said he’d visit the manufacturer to see if there’s a production issue."

"I doubt it’ll help. I’ve been to that factory. This is already their strongest material."

"Exactly!"

Both looked troubled.

"Oh! Mingyang, there’s an email about visiting the Space Administration. It’s for you!"

"My email?"

They went to the computer, where his senior opened the message:

"Dear Mr. Zhang Mingyang, we have received your application for a visit. After departmental review, we approve your request. Please arrive at Room 145, 4th floor, Space Administration Building at 8:30 AM on February 26. A staff member will guide your tour..."

Staring at the email, Zhang Mingyang was dumbfounded. "When did I apply to visit the Space Administration? And it’s tomorrow!"

His senior looked at him, baffled. "Seriously, you don’t remember your own application? What a memory!"

Suddenly, Zhang Mingyang recalled Grandpa Wang, who had always wanted him to intern at the Space Administration, and it became clear.

"Damn, did he really have to arrange my internship like this?"

"Internship? Arrange it?" His senior was even more confused watching Zhang Mingyang mutter to himself. He placed a hand on Zhang Mingyang’s head. "Are you feverish? Why are you talking nonsense?"

Zhang Mingyang snapped back, glanced at the hand on his head, and shot his senior a sidelong look. "What are you doing, Senior?"

"Checking if you have a fever!"

Zhang Mingyang stepped back to free himself, smiling. "Senior, I’ll have to trouble you to keep an eye on the equipment these next few days. Tomorrow… I have to go check out the Space Administration."

"Keep an eye on it for you? I haven’t been home in a week!"

Zhang Mingyang rushed forward, grabbed his senior’s hand, and shook it vigorously, full of gratitude.

"Senior! Thank you for your hard work!"

With that, he dashed toward the elevator.

Watching Zhang Mingyang race away, his senior stood there, shouting, "Don’t you have any conscience, kid? You’re off having fun and I have to watch over everything!"