Through his telescope, Xiao Yu observed the chaotic fluctuations of debris created by Earth's explosion. Some smaller fragments had strayed from their orbits and were heading toward the Sun, but the larger pieces remained more or less on their original paths. Xiao Yu breathed a sigh of relief, quietly thankful that the Sun had narrowly escaped disaster—and that he had as well.
High-energy radiation bursts were like that: incredibly powerful, arriving fast, but leaving just as quickly.
Xiao Yu didn't emerge from the shadow of Mars. The high-energy radiation burst was only the first wave of the oncoming storm. There was another one still to come.
That second wave: high-energy charged particle streams, also known as solar wind. The auroras on Earth are caused by the interaction between these charged particles from the Sun and Earth's magnetic field.
When solar flares erupt, the intensity of these charged particle streams can be so great that they disrupt satellite communications and even cause power grid failures. A major power outage in the United States during the 20th century was attributed to a solar flare.
And if one could just think for a moment, it was obvious: the high-energy charged particle stream coming from Jupiter would be countless times more powerful than the Sun's! After all, the Sun's particle streams are emitted in a relatively stable manner. But now, with Jupiter's state, who could even imagine the magnitude of the upheaval?
These charged particle streams traveled much slower than light, at about four million kilometers per hour. Based on this speed, they would reach Mars' orbit in approximately five days.
The real problem, however, was that Xiao Yu's survival depended entirely on his electronic systems. Although he was safely hidden on the far side of Mars, there was no telling how much damage Jupiter's solar wind might inflict on his ship.
The first crisis had been avoided. But now, curiosity consumed Xiao Yu. After thinking it over, he finally decided to burn a bit of the remaining fuel to change his trajectory and observe Jupiter.
He carefully emerged from the large shadow of Mars and aimed his telescope at the giant planet.
At Mars' orbit, Jupiter would appear as nothing more than a bright dot to the naked eye, with no discernible details. But Xiao Yu's ship was equipped with an advanced optical telescope, specially optimized. And with the closer distance, the quality of the images was every bit as impressive as those taken by the Hubble Space Telescope.
What Xiao Yu saw took him completely by surprise.
The side of Jupiter facing the Sun had turned dark red, as though bleeding. Countless violent cyclones raged across the planet, and even the orbits of its moons were being affected.
The planet's axial tilt had shifted by three degrees as a result of the impact.
Xiao Yu studied the scene intently. Meanwhile, all of the ship's observation equipment had been activated, collecting as much data as possible. These readings were invaluable, with crucial implications for Xiao Yu's future scientific endeavors.
After an hour of observation, Xiao Yu suddenly realized something of great importance: "There is nuclear fusion occurring in the impact zone on Jupiter."
A jolt of anxiety ran through him. He immediately stopped the irrelevant data calculations, redirecting all of the ship's processing power to analyze this phenomenon.
Gradually, as Xiao Yu continued to observe Jupiter, his previously incomplete theories began to take shape.
It was a theory about controlled nuclear fusion. Through the spectacular natural event of the Moon's collision with Jupiter, the universe had provided Xiao Yu with an unexpected lesson, teaching him about controlled nuclear fusion.
The quest for nuclear energy has long fascinated humanity, dating back to Einstein's famous equation, E=MC². The most significant example of this quest was the hydrogen bomb. But hydrogen bombs rely on uncontrolled nuclear fusion, which is useful as a weapon but not for sustainable energy. To truly harness nuclear energy, humanity needed to find a way to control nuclear fusion.
As a leading scientist, Xiao Yu had studied this topic in depth. Yet even he had never been able to solve the problem.
But now, nature, the greatest teacher of all, had shown him the way. Xiao Yu felt as though he was on the brink of solving the problem.
The greatest obstacle to controlled nuclear fusion had always been finding a material capable of withstanding the immense temperatures involved. During fusion, temperatures can soar to tens of millions or even billions of degrees, far beyond the tolerance of any known material.
To solve this, two main methods had been proposed: magnetic confinement and inertial confinement. Both methods aimed to stabilize a fusion reaction, allowing it to release energy in a controlled manner. However, both methods were still in the theoretical stage.
Xiao Yu had focused his research on magnetic confinement.
Jupiter's magnetic field was immense and powerful. It was this magnetic field that had stabilized the fusion reaction occurring at the impact site, preventing it from exploding uncontrollably.
This was the simplest, most effective way of demonstrating controlled nuclear fusion. It was like trying to fold a paper airplane: if you didn't know how, someone showing you the folding steps could make it instantly clear.
Nature had just folded the paper airplane for Xiao Yu.
If Xiao Yu had eyes, they would have been burning with excitement. If he still needed to breathe, his breathing would now be shallow and rapid.
No one else could appreciate the significance of controlled nuclear fusion more than Xiao Yu.
With controlled nuclear fusion, interstellar travel would finally become possible. Energy would no longer be the limiting factor in technological progress.
"My dream of traveling the cosmos, it might finally be possible!" Xiao Yu felt an overwhelming urge to cry.
Xiao Yu spent the next five days carefully collecting as much data on controlled nuclear fusion as he could. Then, just before the expected arrival of the high-energy charged particle stream, he retreated to the far side of Mars. With this invaluable data, solving the problem of controlled nuclear fusion had become just a matter of time—sooner or later.
"Build a massive interstellar fleet! Leave the Solar System and conquer the Milky Way!" Xiao Yu's mind roared with excitement.
Five hours after Xiao Yu hid behind Mars, the high-energy charged particle stream finally reached Mars' orbit. The results were predictably catastrophic.
Even with Mars serving as a massive shield, half of the ship's systems were instantly damaged by the Jupiter winds, and the central computer's processing capacity dropped to just thirty percent of its peak performance.
High-energy charged particles also had a strong stripping effect. Since Mars' magnetic field was almost negligible, the planet had no defense against the overwhelming force of Jupiter's solar wind.
In the blink of an eye, the thick, polluted atmosphere of Mars was almost completely stripped away, exposing the molten lava on the surface to the cold vacuum of space.
The powerful Jupiter wind transformed Mars into a colossal comet, trailing a long, fiery tail toward the Sun. The tail was filled with countless meteorites, all of which rained down on Xiao Yu's small ship.
"Damn it! Are you kidding me?" Xiao Yu couldn't help but curse loudly as he watched the chaos unfold before his eyes.
The ship's central computer, now operating at just thirty percent capacity, roared into action. The engines and radar systems were pushed to full power, and the energy consumption soared to levels that made Xiao Yu's heart ache.
In the pitch-black space, Xiao Yu skillfully maneuvered his ship, dodging meteorites flying in all directions.
"I've just unlocked the core technology of controlled nuclear fusion, my future is waiting for me—there's no way I'm going to die here!"
This resolve helped Xiao Yu survive the next three days of the intense Jupiter wind storm. When he finally managed to breathe and conducted a full diagnostic on his ship, a bitter feeling washed over him.
"The damage is too severe…" Xiao Yu sighed helplessly.
The Jupiter winds had finally dissipated, and Mars' comet tail began to fade. But this process would likely take a long time. Xiao Yu even speculated that the material from Mars' comet tail would gradually fall back onto Mars' orbit, forming a ring around the planet.
Mars was on the verge of becoming the first solid planet in the Solar System to possess rings.
Looking at Earth's orbit, Xiao Yu noticed that the largest fragments had not been blown toward the Sun by Jupiter's wind. This was a good sign, because if that had happened, it would have punched a hole in the Solar System's convective layer, causing the Sun's internal material to erupt. The resulting solar wind would have swept through the entire Solar System, transforming it into an inferno.
At that point, Xiao Yu could not even imagine how he could survive.
The catastrophic events that began with Earth's explosion and culminated in the Moon's collision with Jupiter had now passed. At least, the direct effects of Jupiter's influence on the outer Solar System had begun to wane. What remained were the slow, deep, and far-reaching consequences for the entire Solar System.
The most significant impact was on the inner terrestrial planets. The three gas giants beyond Jupiter—Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune—had been largely unaffected. Saturn's moon Titan, which Xiao Yu had hoped to reach, had been fortunate to be on the far side of Saturn during the impact, and its environment had remained largely unchanged.
Now, however, there was a critical problem: Xiao Yu's fuel supply was nearly depleted.
Not only that, but the ship's hull had been badly damaged, riddled with holes. Several modules had short-circuited. To prevent further damage, Xiao Yu had to shut down their power. Even the storage compartments were breached, and the spare parts and supplies were lost.
A large chunk of the ship's hull had been torn off. But thankfully, the navigation system still worked, and the gyroscopes were operational—otherwise, Xiao Yu would have been lost in the vastness of space.
"Am I really going to be stuck here, in Mars' orbit, until I run