Wasteland Development Diary

One month later.

Jue Mingzi reported via remote extension.

"Chairman, the Legal Front has currently constructed 5 hundred-ton hydrogen isotope factories, and deuterium production has commenced, with an estimated annual output of 1,000 tons."

"The production capacity of this isotope is mainly limited by two factors. Firstly, the energy consumption is too high; producing 1 ton of deuterium requires 150 million kWh, which is not an issue at present."

"Secondly, there is a limitation in hydrogen sulfide raw materials, but we have already initiated a supporting industry for collecting and processing the relevant materials, so there is room for further growth."

Zhou Yi approved.

At the current pace, within just 4 years, enough deuterium can be produced to supply Qing Liu and directly upgrade it to a Light Core Body.

It will be challenging after that.

According to the Seeder's method, as hydrogen-based life grows, the amount required for each new isotope will become larger and larger. And deuterium is already the easiest hydrogen isotope for industrialization on Earth, with the largest output.

Another more common one, tritium, has an annual production capacity of only kilograms, even when maximized.

But any acceleration helps.

Another month passes.

Five more isotope factories are built on both the Moon and Mars, dedicated to producing deuterium.

Jue Mingzi said, "According to the survey conducted by 703 and me, the deuterium abundance in the Moon's permanent shadow regions of water ice is 0.03-0.05%, compared to 0.015% in Earth's seawater. Due to the long-term impact of solar winds, the deuterium/hydrogen ratio is three times that of Earth's."

"On Mars, the deuterium abundance in the polar ice caps and subsurface is 0.02-0.04%... Both of these planets make it easier to produce hydrogen isotopes than on Earth."

"Under the current production model, the annual output of the Moon's factory is estimated to be 2,100 tons, while the total annual output of Mars' factories is 1,400 tons."

"If all goes well, by the end of this year or early next year, 3,700 tons will be collected."

Zhou Yi was overjoyed upon hearing this.

This is the charm of having a solid foundation.

It might come in handy at some unknown point in the future.

If he hadn't stepped out of his comfort zone, participated in the Mars Base project, or developed the Moon, such a moment of seizing the opportunity would not have existed.

Hydrogen isotopes began to be produced on the three celestial bodies concurrently and frantically.

On an autumn afternoon of that year,

the Cat God woke Zhou Yi from a nap.

"Chairman, the Cave People have returned. Would you like to see them?"

Zhou Yi groggily turned over: "If they're back, they're back. They can do what they need to do..."

Wait.

He suddenly sat up: "Did the Cave People finally make progress on Jupiter?"

"Yes!"

The Cat God crackled with electricity all around: "The Dong group is over there connecting with them, but the situation seems quite complex, so they asked me to invite you to the research building of the medical department."

Zhou Yi hurried over immediately.

The top floor of the research building was designated for the Cave People. Without authorization, one could not enter this floor; the elevator would not stop, and a sealed Light Soot wall isolated the stairway.

Upon Zhou Yi's arrival, he found that Da Vinci, the Minister of Medicine, was also present.

"How's the situation?"

Da Vinci said, "Chairman, Maria Hospital has conducted a full examination of this batch of Cave People and discovered that their physiological functions are much weaker than those of the Cave People here. They have almost lost the ability to resist disruptions, and they would physiologically collapse and die at a pH level below 4.5, whereas the Earth Cave People have a tolerance from pH 3 to 11."

"In the face of antibiotics, their mortality rate is 300% higher than that of Earth Cave People."

"Due to the single microorganism environment on Jupiter, their ecological niche is compressed, causing their functional redundancy to disappear, metabolism to be obstructed, the system's collapse threshold to decrease by 90%, and their lives to become very fragile."

"In other words, the original local Cave People were already in this survival state."

Zhou Yi nodded: "After they come back, can they be regulated and balanced through our diverse microorganisms?"

"We can provide some remedial measures. We are also treating and editing them through nutritional interventions, adding protectants, and injecting healthy bacteria."

"But because their physiology is very fragile, these processes need to be handled very carefully."

Da Vinci continued: "The environment on Jupiter is like a sterile room for the Cave People, causing their physiological functions to gradually become singular and lose resistance."

"Unfortunately, we cannot send microorganisms over there. If microorganisms are delivered through the Corridor Palace, they will die immediately upon arrival and cannot persist."

"So we can only regularly bring the Jupiter Cave People back, repair them for a period in this environment, and then send them back to maintain their physiological health."

"However, this batch of Cave People that returned today has a previously unseen characteristic."

"They interfere with some of our medical equipment, causing even the accuracy to diminish and triggering local errors."

Zhou Yi frowned: "What's the reason?"

"Upon investigation, we found that the reason is related to a part of our current high-precision equipment. They interfere and react with the Silicon Crystal Gemstones manufactured by the Heavenly People; there is mutual influence between this batch of Cave People and the gemstones, albeit minimal."

Da Vinci said: "This has never happened before. The Dong group is inquiring about their detailed situation."

Reacting with gemstones?

Zhou Yi entered the laboratory.

The Corridor Palace had now turned into a transparent columnar structure, inside which were fine, branching grey lines, resembling the meridians of a plant or blood vessels drained of blood.

At this moment, the tracings formed by the Cave People's bodies were emitting a faint light.

As soon as Zhou Yi appeared, the voice of the Dong group echoed in his mind.

"Mr. Zhou, good news! Good news!"

"The Cave People are about to be revived!"

Zhou Yi said: "Speak slowly, start from the beginning."

"Yes."

The Dong group immediately said: "This matter began when you helped part of our kind return to Jupiter."

"At that time, the first batch of Earth Cave People returned to Jupiter, living near the Space Hole deployed by the company. With the enhanced physique from here, combined with accumulated knowledge and experience, they quickly gained a foothold there and acquired many active habitats."