Chapter 7

When Xiao Yu approached the Sun, he realized that his previous understanding of the Sun was far too superficial.

One can never truly appreciate the Sun's power from books alone.

Now, Xiao Yu was 60 million kilometers away from the Sun, still outside the orbit of Mercury.

At this distance, even Jupiter would only appear as a bright point, with no details visible. But the Sun at this distance was as large as a millstone.

There was no air here, so there was no scattering of light. In the pitch-black sky, a massive fireball hung, radiating infinite light and heat. Xiao Yu tested the temperature of the heat shield, which was about 400 degrees Celsius.

A powerful stream of high-energy charged particles blew out from the Sun, with an intensity more than ten times greater than what was measured on Earth.

"This must be due to the influence of Jupiter," Xiao Yu speculated, then decisively stopped the idea of getting any closer and adjusted his orbit to a circular one.

This was the closest Xiao Yu had ever been to the Sun, perhaps the closest he would ever be. If not for the need to use the Sun's gravity to accelerate, he would never have come to such a dangerous place.

The mass of the Sun was not much different from that of Tianyuan IV, making them good analogs. With nothing else to do, Xiao Yu allocated some of his CPU to begin processing the data collected from the Sun.

This data would help Xiao Yu make a rough estimate of the conditions in the Tianyuan IV star system, to decide his actions upon arrival.

Xiao Yu's ionization plan was also officially launched at this time. In the previous stage of collection, Xiao Yu had gathered about 900 tons of water. This 900 tons of water would be converted into hydrogen and oxygen over a four-month journey around the Sun, serving as fuel for Xiao Yu.

The 900 tons of fuel exceeded Xiao Yu's maximum reserve level. With ample fuel, Xiao Yu finally felt like a nouveau riche, launching several projects simultaneously, operating at full capacity. The central computer was running at maximum load, processing data from Jupiter, while the robot reproduction plan was officially initiated. Two robots were manufacturing the next generation, and one was assigned to continue repairing the spaceship.

Everything was developing in a positive direction. At this point, Xiao Yu's mind finally relaxed.

Four months passed in a flash. Xiao Yu's position moved from one side of the Sun to the other. As the spaceship moved farther from the Sun, its speed gradually decreased due to the Sun's gravity. However, since Xiao Yu planned to escape the Sun's gravity, he naturally could not delay preparations.

In fact, about a month and a half ago, Xiao Yu had started to slowly accelerate, increasing the spaceship's relative speed from 20 kilometers per second to 40 kilometers per second, and it was still accelerating. It was expected that after crossing the orbit of Mars, Xiao Yu's speed would reach 60 kilometers per second, surpassing the fastest human-made spacecraft, Voyager 1.

After that, Xiao Yu would travel at this speed until reaching a distance of 100 million kilometers from Saturn, then begin to decelerate slowly, eventually landing on Titan.

Everything was as familiar as when he came. Once again, he passed by Mars at a distance of 30,000 kilometers, looking at this planet that had suffered a great disaster and provided him with strong protection, Xiao Yu felt a myriad of emotions.

"Alright, it's finally time to cross the asteroid belt and take a new step forward!" Xiao Yu was full of confidence.

The last time he planned to cross the asteroid belt, he was forced to change his course due to the collision between the Moon and Jupiter. Fortunately, Xiao Yu was not fatally injured. Like a cockroach that couldn't be killed, he obtained supplies in Earth's orbit and returned like Hu Hansan.

This time, no one could stop Xiao Yu's progress.

The asteroid belt indeed had many asteroids, with an estimated total of one million or more. However, distributed over a vast space, their density was questionable.

In fact, if not for a specific target, one would not find any asteroids while passing through the asteroid belt. It looked as empty as the rest of space. Therefore, unless one was extremely unlucky, there was generally no need to worry about being hit by an asteroid here.

Xiao Yu passed through the asteroid belt safely, accelerated to 65 kilometers per second by Jupiter's gravity, and sped toward his destination.

Here, the distance from the Sun was about 300 million kilometers. The distance from Jupiter's orbit was about 480 million kilometers, and the distance from Saturn's orbit was about 1.1 billion kilometers.

Fortunately, Jupiter and Saturn, as well as Xiao Yu, were on the same side of the Sun. Otherwise, without Jupiter's gravity assist, Xiao Yu would have needed more time.

In the blink of an eye, another three months passed. The distance between Xiao Yu and Jupiter had shortened to less than 30 million kilometers.

Looking at the increasingly close Jupiter, Xiao Yu began to think about an important question.

That was whether to go near Jupiter for a look.

Xiao Yu had already completed the calculations of the data obtained from Jupiter and was now in the stage of needing experimental verification. Without new data from experiments, Xiao Yu's research on nuclear fusion could not progress further. Although Xiao Yu was 90% confident that the final answer was among his hypotheses, there was still a small chance of an unexpected outcome.

If he observed Jupiter up close and obtained more data, would his confidence be even greater? After all, once he reached Saturn, it would not be easy to come back to Jupiter.

However, the danger was also evident. Although a year had passed since the Moon-Jupiter collision, a year in astronomical terms was just a blink of an eye. The impact of such a massive collision could not be quickly resolved. There might be countless satellite fragments flying around Jupiter's orbit, or Jupiter's magnetic field might have changed, causing the spaceship's instruments to fail.

Xiao Yu clenched his teeth and frowned, thinking back and forth, and finally decided to take a look.

A strong curiosity and thirst for knowledge are basic qualities of a scientist. As the most outstanding scientist, Xiao Yu undoubtedly had a curiosity strong enough to kill 500 cats. There were two reasons to go to Jupiter: one was that close observation would indeed help Xiao Yu's research on nuclear fusion technology, and the second was that Xiao Yu was genuinely curious and really wanted to see what Jupiter looked like now.

"Even if I go to see, I must consider safety. Hmm... I will reach Jupiter in about five days. During this time, I will reinforce the spaceship's radiation shield... Also, I can only pass within 200,000 kilometers of Jupiter, no closer. Really, absolutely no closer."

Xiao Yu muttered to himself, directing eight robots—five more had been added during the journey—to reinforce the spaceship's radiation shield again. He also turned on the Geiger counter, magnetometer, radar collision avoidance system, and optical detection system to their maximum power and took out the only laser gun, ready to destroy any unavoidable meteorites.

After making all the necessary preparations, Xiao Yu watched the gradually enlarging Jupiter, feeling a mix of tension and anticipation.

Jupiter's characteristic stripes had disappeared, and Xiao Yu knew this was due to the Moon's impact. Even Jupiter's famous Great Red Spot had suffered, vanishing without a trace.

Closer... even closer... The distance between Xiao Yu and Jupiter had shortened to 2 million kilometers. This was already quite close, but Xiao Yu continued to fly forward without hesitation. In about eight hours, the distance between Xiao Yu and Jupiter would be the closest, about 200,000 kilometers, before moving away from Jupiter.

The best observation time was only 16 hours. All the instruments Xiao Yu carried were running at maximum power, observing Jupiter and trying to obtain as much data as possible.

These instruments only used less than 30% of the central computer's processing power. Xiao Yu had plenty of energy to stare at Jupiter, satisfying his curiosity.

"Really... it's magnificent," Xiao Yu muttered to himself.

Behind Xiao Yu was the spectacular Jupiter ring, and the traces of Europa and Ganymede could be faintly seen. In front was the giant Jupiter.

Jupiter now presented a chaotic yellow-brown color. Vast cyclones, visible even to the naked eye, occasionally appeared. Xiao Yu had no doubt about their power; if his spaceship were thrown into one, it would be torn to pieces in less than a second.

At the poles, countless magnificent auroras danced, far more extensive than those on Earth.

Against the backdrop of the massive Jupiter, Xiao Yu's spaceship was like a tiny mosquito.

Eight hours passed, and Xiao Yu was now 400,000 kilometers from Jupiter. The closest distance of 200,000 kilometers was approaching quickly.

Jupiter had already filled Xiao Yu's entire field of vision. Xiao Yu could almost see the countless violent storms and lightning on Jupiter. Each lightning bolt on Jupiter was hundreds of times more powerful than the strongest lightning on Earth. Long lightning bolts raged through Jupiter's cloud layers, piercing the sky and releasing incomparable energy...

Such a scene made Xiao Yu feel his blood boil just thinking about it.

200,000 kilometers.

A strange sense of unease transmitted to Xiao Yu's mind. Xiao Yu snapped out of his daze and immediately felt a surge of data that almost made his heart stop.

"Why has the radiation intensity suddenly increased so much? Why has the outer shell temperature suddenly risen to 200 degrees? Why are the instruments suddenly interfered with?"

Xiao Yu roared in anger and immediately began to check.

---------------------------------------------------------

Sweat, I had things to do today and on Saturday and Sunday, so I could only update once. I will return to normal updates next Monday, with two chapters a day.

Also, if you find it good, please leave some support, such as adding to your favorites or recommending it. Your support is my greatest encouragement, thank you!

Page flip AD starts

Page flip AD ends