The difficulty of protium fusion was so high that not even massive stars like the Sun or Pegasus V432 could achieve it. Even they could only barely sustain it through quantum tunneling, a method that was practically "cheating."
But now, after grasping the Grand Unification Formula, gaining a deeper understanding of the Strong Core Force, and even being able to further influence particles through X and Y Bosons, Li Qingsong had finally managed to sustain an environment in the laboratory that allowed for stable protium nuclear fusion!
This was true protium fusion, not the kind of protium fusion that relied on quantum tunneling!
At this moment, before the many Clones, within a device as massive as a mountain, a mere few grams of hydrogen had entered a state of fusion.
Due to the extreme temperature and pressure, the Coulomb barrier between atoms was overcome. Two protium nuclei were forcibly squeezed together, then combined through a series of processes, ultimately fusing into deuterium, helium-3, and other products.
In the process, a massive amount of energy was released.
However...
Protium fusion released more energy, with a mass-to-energy conversion efficiency as high as 0.7%. This meant that for every kilogram of protium that underwent complete fusion, 7 grams of its mass would be converted entirely into energy—double the output of deuterium-tritium fusion, Li Qingsong’s previous primary method. However, the Q-value of the entire system at this moment was only about 0.5.
In other words, for every two units of energy Li Qingsong put in, he only got one unit out.
Overall, it was operating at a loss.
But... it didn’t matter!
It was just like when Li Qingsong first mastered nuclear fusion technology; the Q-value had been very low back then, too.
This wasn’t a problem. As long as he had truly mastered the technology of protium fusion, that was enough. He could then iterate and improve it bit by bit, gradually raising the Q-value. When that time came, protium fusion would demonstrate performance far superior to deuterium-tritium fusion.
Li Qingsong was filled with excitement.
How could he not be excited? Before, a certain amount of fuel could only contribute one unit of energy. Now, the same amount of fuel could contribute two units of energy—it had doubled out of nowhere!
It was like people from the Earth era buying a stock and then watching its price double overnight. How could they not be excited?
After the major breakthrough in protium fusion entered the subsequent phase of iterative optimization, another major research project also achieved a breakthrough.
High-speed Ion Propulsion!
Once again based on a deeper understanding of the Strong Core Force, Li Qingsong finally overcame the key obstacle to increasing ion exhaust velocity. In the lab, the new ion propulsion engine he built saw its ion exhaust velocity skyrocket tenfold, from the original ~2,000 kilometers per second to the current 20,000 kilometers per second!
As a result, where one unit of propellant could originally provide only one unit of thrust, the massive increase in ion exhaust velocity now led to a massive increase in propellant efficiency. One unit of propellant could now provide ten units of thrust!
This was like people from the Earth era buying a stock and having its price double, but that wasn’t all—they then turned around and found that the cost of living had also plummeted to one-tenth of what it was.
Multiplied together, it was a staggering twenty-fold increase in wealth!
’No wonder a fleet’s speed can only increase to seventy or eighty percent of the speed of light after reaching the Strong Core Stage. So that’s how it works...’
Li Qingsong was filled with a sense of profound understanding.
At this moment, he understood everything.
The breakthrough in protium fusion technology allowed a Strong Core Civilization to access more energy.
The development of High-speed Ion Propulsion technology allowed a Strong Core Civilization to use its energy more efficiently.
The combination of the two could allow a fleet’s speed to skyrocket by ten to twenty times, from a mere 4% of the speed of light in the Electroweak Stage to seventy or eighty percent.
But right now, breakthroughs in energy technology and energy efficiency alone were not enough. One more extremely necessary condition was required.
The Energy Shield.
Don’t forget, although Li Qingsong’s fleet was currently traveling at only 8% of the speed of light, it was already suffering from the severe effects of interstellar particle impacts, forcing them to wrap the exterior of every ship in a layer of plastic sheeting for protection.
If their speed increased to seventy or eighty percent of the speed of light, not even ten layers of plastic sheeting would do any good.
This was because the effects of interstellar particle impacts did not increase linearly with speed, but exponentially.
A 20-fold increase in speed could lead to a 200-fold increase in the effects of interstellar particle impacts!
The Energy Shield was not only crucial on the battlefield; it was also indispensable for Interstellar Travel.
Fortunately, Li Qingsong had already mastered a preliminary form of Energy Shield Technology.
Now that the three necessary factors were in place, Li Qingsong immediately began the R&D for a new type of Warship—one that truly belonged to a Strong Core Civilization—while continuing to iterate and optimize the related technologies.
Of course, a true Warship wouldn’t be complete without a weapons system.
And conventional Electromagnetic Cannons were simply too backward, unsuitable for the Warships of a Strong Core Civilization.
So, it was time to develop the Energy Cannon!
The technical core of the Energy Cannon was using X and Y Bosons to influence the projectile’s material, forcing it into a stable "Strong Core Excited State."
At this moment, inside a massive experimental vessel, subjected to various complex environmental influences and, most critically, the influence of the unified force bosons, a tiny 1-gram projectile levitated silently. Then, it quietly turned dark red, and then a brilliant white.
This meant that the Strong Core Force within it had been truly unleashed. It was now in a Strong Core Excited State!
Before anyone could get excited, the tiny, brilliant white projectile exploded with a deafening BOOM, completely destroying the experimental apparatus.
If not for the Energy Shield deployed around the experimental apparatus, the entire ship would likely have been affected.
It couldn’t be helped. The total energy of a projectile in a Strong Core Excited State was simply too high.
After activating its Strong Core Force, the projectile’s mass-energy conversion efficiency reached about 0.005%, which was roughly 1/180th of the mass-energy conversion efficiency of nuclear fission.
After the 1-gram projectile exploded, it lost about 0.05 milligrams of mass. According to the mass-energy equivalence formula, this 0.05 milligrams of mass was converted into approximately 4.5 billion joules of energy—roughly equivalent to the explosion of one ton of TNT!
In terms of its energy source and intensity, it was, for all intents and purposes, a miniature nuclear bomb!
The most terrifying part was that a projectile with such immense energy and destructive power was merely the most conventional, most ordinary weapon of a Strong Core Civilization.
These projectiles could be fired just like the Electromagnetic Cannons of an Electroweak Civilization—at a rate of dozens of rounds per second, with muzzle velocities of hundreds or thousands of kilometers per second, unleashing a barrage like a torrential storm!
Just think about it: thousands of miniature nuclear bombs flying at you every minute at several hundred kilometers per second. What a terrifying scene that would be. Even a real mountain would likely be leveled in a short amount of time!