Chapter Forty-Seven: The Second Acquisition

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The following day, the underground laboratory was teeming with people, bustling with noise and activity, as everyone prepared for the imminent second experiment.

At 7:50 in the morning, Zhang Mingyang arrived early at the control room, leaning against a corner wall, waiting for the experiment to begin.

“Operator, initiate the final inspection.”

The chief engineer issued the order for the last check, and the operator relayed the command via the intercom.

On the large screen, surveillance from every sector showed all personnel carrying out their final preparations.

“You're here early!” Hui Jun squeezed his way out of the crowd.

“If you'd come any later, you wouldn't have made it in,” Zhang Mingyang replied, glancing around the crowded control room. Suddenly, he noticed several unfamiliar faces among them.

“Hey, Hui, who are those people in front? I haven't seen them before.”

Hui Jun looked in the direction Zhang Mingyang indicated and shook his head. “I haven't seen them either. Anyone allowed in this room has to be someone important; they must be higher-ups.”

“The collider has passed inspection, no issues found.”

Upon hearing the operator's confirmation, Chief Engineer Zhong glanced at the clock—two minutes remained.

“All personnel, begin evacuation.”

With the command given, all the staff inside the tunnel began to withdraw swiftly. Soon, the tunnel would become an area of intense magnetic fields and high temperatures.

“Thirty seconds to prepare.”

Chief Engineer Zhong began the final countdown.

Twenty seconds.

Ten seconds.

Prepare for countdown.

Five.

Four.

Three.

Two.

One.

Start.

With the command to start, the operators quickly pulled down the levers. On the big screen, the collider's accelerators began spinning rapidly.

“It’s starting, it’s starting!” Zhang Mingyang whispered to Hui Jun beside him, their hearts pounding in sync with the accelerator’s increasing speed.

This time, the Ministry of Energy had not only changed the operational procedure but also revised the technical terminology.

“Accelerator reached 12 microseconds.”

“Coolant level in the pipeline normal.”

“External wall temperature minus 270 degrees, normal.”

“Accelerator operating normally.”

“Power reserves normal.”

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A series of operator reports soothed everyone’s nerves, but also tested their limits.

In the control room, aside from the tapping of keyboards, there was no other sound—everyone stared tensely at the giant screen.

“Accelerator reached 7 microseconds!”

“Begin injecting the proton clusters!”

Following Chief Engineer Zhong’s order, the operator pressed the injection button.

On the screen, four massive proton storage tanks began to rapidly inject proton clusters into the opposing ring accelerators.

“Injection complete!”

With all protons injected, the ports closed instantly. The two enormous accelerators ramped up their power, and the two clusters of protons began spinning rapidly in opposite directions.

At the very front, Chief Engineer Zhong kept his eyes locked on the screen, glancing at the operational data from time to time, ready to initiate the collision at any moment.

Since this experiment employed only the two largest accelerators, all the energy was concentrated in a single channel, causing the entire cavern to tremble slightly.

“Are you kidding me? Is the cave about to collapse?” Hui Jun, feeling the vibrations underfoot, grabbed Zhang Mingyang tightly.

“It’s alright, Hui,” Zhang Mingyang reassured him, explaining, “This time, we abandoned the gradual, step-by-step approach. We're starting straight with maximum power and speed, channeling all the energy into one path. The system can’t handle the strain at first, but once we accelerate to five times the speed of light, it’ll stabilize.”

“How do you know this?” Hui Jun asked suspiciously.

“Come on, didn’t you read the procedure update sent out yesterday?”

“Procedure update?”

Hui Jun hurriedly opened his communicator, finding an unread email sitting quietly there. Sheepishly, he replied, “I went to bed early last night and didn’t get to it.”

“I can’t believe you…” Zhang Mingyang began, but someone nearby glared at them, signaling for silence.

“Sorry! Sorry!”

Sure enough, less than five minutes later, the shaking stopped, signaling that the protons had reached five times the speed of light.

Another five minutes passed, and the proton clusters finally accelerated to the required collision speed.

“Proton clusters have reached collision speed!” the operator shouted.

“Open the collision targets and prepare to impact.”

At last, the experiment reached its most critical moment.

On screen, four collision targets sprang out from the bottom of the impact tunnel, while the diverter ports of the two accelerator channels opened.

“Ready!”

With the operator’s shout, Chief Engineer Zhong gave the order.

“Commence collision!”

The two proton beams shot into the collision tunnel, striking the four targets from opposite directions.

“Switch the feed to the dark matter storage unit!”

The operator quickly changed the display.

At that moment, the diverter received data from the particle detector and began pushing the annihilating dark matter away. The storage data started to climb rapidly.

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Five kilograms.

Ten kilograms.

Thirty kilograms.

Fifty kilograms.

The storage unit’s reading quickly surpassed the previous experiment’s record, and kept climbing.

Seventy kilograms.

Ninety kilograms.

One hundred and ten kilograms.

One hundred and twenty kilograms.

One hundred and thirty-two kilograms.

Finally, the readout stopped at one hundred and thirty-eight kilograms, rising no further.

One hundred and thirty-eight kilograms!

Zhang Mingyang stared dumbfounded at the number on the screen, his jaw dropping in disbelief.

“Yes…!”

“Whoa…!”

The control room erupted in an instant. People embraced, jumped, and celebrated the achievement.

“One hundred and thirty-eight kilograms!” Chief Engineer Zhong removed his glasses, wiping tears from the corners of his eyes. Having participated in the experiment twenty years ago, he could not help but shed tears of joy at today’s result.

Stepping down from the podium, Chief Engineer Zhong composed himself and then shouted, “I hereby declare this acquisition of dark matter a complete success!”

No sooner had his words fallen than the crowd burst into wild celebration.

Zhang Mingyang hugged Hui Jun, the two rejoicing as if they were the closest of friends, lacking only a kiss to seal the moment.

“Everyone, quiet down.”

Wang Bowen stepped forward once again.

The crowd looked at Wang Bowen, and the noise gradually subsided. Everyone feared a repeat of last time, expecting another round of scolding.

Seeing the room grow quiet, Wang Bowen cleared his throat, his expression suddenly serious.

“Oh no, not again…” Hui Jun whispered, watching Wang Bowen’s face with concern.

“I have only one thing to say,” Wang Bowen announced, raising his voice. “Tonight, in the cafeteria, everyone gets extra dishes and wine!”

At first, people glanced at each other in confusion, not quite registering what he meant.

Seeing their expressions, Wang Bowen wondered if he’d said something wrong, and repeated himself, louder: “Tonight, in the cafeteria, everyone gets extra dishes and wine!”

This time, everyone understood—it was not a rebuke, but praise.

“Alright…”