For military enthusiasts worldwide, the idea of hand-crafting a nuclear bomb is a highly contentious one.
On civilian tech forums across various countries, threads similar to the following frequently appear:
"Is it possible for ordinary people to build a nuclear bomb... or perhaps a civilian-grade micro-nuclear power station with less stringent requirements for uranium purity?"
However, the answers often come as a surprise.
Individuals *can* indeed build nuclear bombs.
Leaving aside civilian-grade micro-nuclear power stations, which have lower purity requirements for uranium, even the difficulty of constructing a military-grade, high-purity nuclear warhead is not insurmountable.
It essentially involves collecting enough uranium ore, purifying it, placing it within a nuclear device, and then using conventional explosives to trigger the detonation. This releases energy, impacts U-235, causing it to split and release neutrons. These neutrons then continuously strike other high-purity uranium atoms, creating a chain reaction, while ensuring the device remains in a critical state throughout the explosion.
This is the simplest method for constructing and detonating a nuclear bomb.
It is commonly referred to in the industry as "gun-type assembly."
This widely used detonation method has also been proven in actual combat.
For example, the "Fat Man" and "Little Boy" that danced in the skies over the island nation of Fusang back then became famous for their "gun-type assembly" detonation.
Furthermore, blueprints and specific parameters for constructing civilian-grade nuclear power stations and even military-grade nuclear bombs can be found in abundance online!
The key difficulty lies in one thing:
Ordinary people simply cannot obtain a sufficient quantity of uranium ore.
After all, uranium ore is a strategic, militarily controlled resource in every country on Earth.
The critical state achieved by a nuclear explosion requires uranium material with a purity of 90% or higher... Let alone for ordinary individuals, even most medium-to-small sized nations lack the particle accelerators, vaporization purifiers, and centrifuges necessary for uranium ore refinement.
Finally, there's the issue of maintenance... Most countries cannot handle the storage and maintenance of uranium ore with up to 90% purity. Even the storage and maintenance technology for yellowcake, an 80% purity uranium material used in civilian nuclear batteries, is mastered by only a handful of top-tier nations.
However, all these things...
In the base equipped by the system, not only are they present, but they are also more advanced than the equipment in the nuclear laboratories of the world's leading countries.
As for uranium ore...
The numerous Uranium Rose formations densely scattered throughout this massive cavern are an inexhaustible source.
The problem now is—
Detonating a nuclear bomb in the heart of the Taklamakan Desert would undoubtedly trigger global attention due to the resulting mushroom cloud, nuclear radiation, and seismic tremors.
At that point, the mech laboratory equipped by the system would be exposed.
If the system and laboratory are revealed, he would be erased.
Facing the threat of death,
Meng Hao's heart felt as if it had been doused with a basin of cold water.
Forcing down the urge to hand-craft a nuclear bomb, Meng Hao, his initial excitement gone, could only shift his attention to manufacturing the uranium energy core required to drive the primary mech... Yes, a civilian-grade micro-nuclear power station didn't sound as exciting as detonating a nuclear bomb!
However...
He could pilot a mech!
And the system did not explicitly forbid revealing the existence of mechs.
On second thought,
The embers in Meng Hao's heart, which had just been extinguished, flared up once more.
Compared to detonating a nuclear bomb, which was like setting off firecrackers, piloting a mech and roaming the desert seemed far more cool, flashy, and awesome.
...
With even the most crucial uranium ore identified,
The manufacturing of mechs seemed to have shifted from a technical challenge to a labor-intensive task.
On the scorching surface of the Taklamakan Desert,
Countless shifting sand dunes rolled like a vast ocean.
Meng Hao, clad in a heat-resistant suit, drove a desert crawler, towing a multi-purpose drilling vehicle and a mineral excavator, continuously collecting various ores, including Uranium Rose.
Then, he would transport them, load them, and haul them back to the base.
Following that, came various stages of rough and fine processing.
The vaporization purifier would crush the ore... The purification machine would refine it to produce yellowcake with 80% uranium content... The particle accelerator would separate out U-235 material with over 90% purity...
Iron ore, coke, and other fluxes were loaded into the pure oxygen blast furnace... Technical parameters from the central control system were referenced, and various values were input... The alloy melting furnace was loaded, melted, its chemical composition adjusted, refined, treated, its temperature adjusted, and finally cast...
The fine parameters of the nano-scale giant 3D printer were adjusted... The mech's various components were demolded... Remote-controlled assembly robots then put the components together...
Day turned to night, night to day...
Day after day, repeated, one trip after another...
In the desolate heart of the Taklamakan Desert, the surface of the Gobi, known as a death zone where life cannot exist.
Under the morning sun...
Under the scorching sun...
Under the setting sun...
The sand crawler driven by Meng Hao, towing seven or eight various instruments, equipment, and vehicles, cast long or short shadows.
Beneath the rolling sand dunes, it shuttled back and forth frequently, toiling away diligently.
Like a desert sand painting.
Resembling a solitary and lonely camel caravan traveler!
...
Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, it was golden autumn, September.
Students, after more than two months of idleness, once again faced the arduous trials of the world's foremost disaster... the start of the school year!
Due to certain special circumstances, offline classes at Shilin University were temporarily canceled and replaced by a temporary online commencement.
Of course, this did not mean that Gao Ping, the extremely rigid class advisor, who had been nicknamed "toilet stone, stinky and hard" by students, would not fulfill his promise to check assignments via video link.
After all, this was the final year-end assignment for most of the students in their survival journey.
The scheduled class time had arrived.
However, the indolent students only numbered about seventy percent.
Unlike the students' laziness, even while working from home, the "toilet stinky stone" Gao Ping was still in full formal attire, impeccably dressed and spotless.
He held his thermos cup, which had been used for an unknown length of time, stained and worn, with only a faint hint of its original appearance as a souvenir from a doctoral student of some university.
With a receding hairline that belied his age, he began to take attendance and check assignments with a stern expression.
Class time had begun.
Gao Ping had no intention of waiting.
"In the last class of our junior year, I repeatedly emphasized that failure to carefully read the questions and complete the assignments properly would result in a zero for the usual grades, retakes, and delayed graduation..."
"Now, let's see what kind of surprises your assignments can bring me..."
"Let me reiterate, those whose names I call but who fail to submit their assignments due to tardiness will also receive a zero grade..."
...
Gao Ping opened the student roster.
He randomly selected a name.
The first to be called was Zhao Chen, one of Meng Hao's close friends and a representative of the laid-back youth in Class Four of the Physics Department.
On the screen.
Zhao Chen's goldfish-like eyes stared blankly at the camera.
After staring at each other through the network for nearly half a minute, Gao Ping could no longer contain himself.