Chapter 11: Interstellar Chord
The midwinter Cold Pool was shrouded in a thin mist as Chen Feng stood before the newly completed aerospace laboratory. The pendant in his palm emitted a light brighter than usual, and the prompt tone of the Space System echoed in his mind: "Interstellar exploration module unlocked. Priority recommended for developing the gravitational field resonance engine." Inside the glass doors, the prototype of the first rocket engine was undergoing magnetic field calibration, its titanium alloy casing bearing faint Ice-Crack Patterns formed by the quenching of Cold Pool Water.
"Director Chen, the engine's gravitational wave detector is showing anomalies." Su Yuhan's voice came over the intercom as she leaned over the console to debug the equipment. "The gravitational field simulation data shows that when the engine operates, the fluctuation amplitude of the Cold Pool's geomagnetic field increases by thirty percent."
Chen Feng pushed open the door, his gaze falling upon the permanent magnet mineral array in the engine's core cabin. Those blue crystals from the bottom of the Cold Pool were vibrating gently with the engine's operation, forming visible resonance ripples with the pendant's Light-Mist. "Activate the Cold Pool water quality monitoring system," he recalled the Space System's "interstellar symbiosis" prompt. "No technological breakthrough can come at the cost of destroying the ecology."
Just then, Liu Ruyan's video call broke through forcibly. Noisy footsteps echoed from the United Nations headquarters corridor behind her. "Chen Feng, the International Astronautical Federation suddenly revised its access standards for rocket engines. The newly added 'geomagnetic field protection clause' is clearly targeting us." She held up a document, the red annotations glaring on the screen. "Black Wolf Heavy Industries has joined forces with three Western companies, accusing our engine of potentially triggering geological disasters."
Chen Feng stared at the clauses on the screen, suddenly remembering a page of handwritten drafts tucked inside his father's blueprints—a sketch of a geomagnetic field protection device drawn by his father back in 1987. "Feed the real-time magnetic field data of the Cold Pool into the United Nations monitoring center," he told Liu Ruyan. "Attach the design drawings for the gravitational wave buffer device we developed—tungsten-chromium-vanadium alloy quenched with Cold Pool Water can absorb ninety-nine percent of magnetic field radiation."
The laboratory alarm suddenly blared, and Jiang Xue's security report came through the broadcast: "Director Chen! Five unidentified drones have broken through the outer defense and are flying toward the aerospace laboratory!" Her voice carried the static of metallic collision, clearly rushing into battle. "Their hulls carry Black Wolf Heavy Industries' stealth coating!"
Chen Feng rushed to the window, seeing five drones approaching from different directions, the electromagnetic interference devices suspended beneath their hulls already activated. He pulled out the pendant, and the Light-Mist transformed into an invisible barrier enveloping the laboratory. The drones' signals were instantly interrupted, and they plummeted into the Cold Pool like kites with broken strings. "Notify the salvage team," he spoke into the intercom. "The chips inside the drone wreckage must be completely extracted; those are the latest espionage devices from Black Wolf Heavy Industries."
The engine's research and development hit a bottleneck, the core issue lying in the stability of the permanent magnet minerals' gravitational field. Chen Feng took Su Yuhan deep into the old mine tunnel behind the mountain, his father's blueprints glowing yellow under the mining lamp, one page circled in red reading "Cold Pool Center Magnetic Field Node." "Su Yuhan," he pointed to the star-shaped mark on the blueprint. "Back then, my father might have discovered the resonance point between the Cold Pool and the geomagnetic field."
The Space System's Light-Mist suddenly projected a three-dimensional star map deep within the mine tunnel, every point of light corresponding to a permanent magnet mineral vein at the bottom of the Cold Pool. When Chen Feng brought the pendant close to the center of the star map, the rock walls of the entire tunnel suddenly hummed, the blue mineral veins linking their light together to form a natural gravitational field model. "So that's it!" Su Yuhan exclaimed. "The engine needs to simulate the natural magnetic field resonance frequency of the Cold Pool!"
Returning to the laboratory, they inputted the Cold Pool's magnetic field data into the engine control system. When the prototype was started again, the vibration frequency of the permanent magnet mineral array synchronized completely with the flow rhythm of the Cold Pool Water, and the pointer of the gravitational wave detector steadied firmly in the safe zone. Engineer Zhang looked at the monitoring data, his voice trembling with excitement: "Director Chen, the gravitational field stability has increased to ninety-nine point seven percent, exceeding the highest international standards!"
When the verification delegation of the International Astronautical Federation arrived at the Cold Pool, Chen Feng was debugging the newly developed ecological balance device. This device could convert the magnetic field energy generated by engine operation into circulating power for the Cold Pool Water. On the monitoring screen, the water quality indicators and fish population numbers of the Cold Pool were steadily rising. "We are not just manufacturing rocket engines," he demonstrated the real-time ecological data to the delegation, "we are building a symbiotic system between extraterrestrial exploration and Earth's ecology."
The members of the delegation were shocked by the intelligent ecological chain beside the Cold Pool: the waste heat from the rocket engine was used to heat the food factory's sterilization workshop, the minerals in the exhaust gas were recovered and made into organic fertilizer, and even the degradable alloy of the engine casing could become nutrients for the mountain soil after retirement. When they saw Old Zhou carving the character "Feng" onto the engine casing, they finally understood that this was not a cold industrial product, but a technological crystallization carved with the warmth of an artisan.
The counterattack from Black Wolf Heavy Industries came unexpectedly. On the very day the rocket engine passed international certification, Chen Feng received an anonymous package containing a hidden-camera video: a foreign spy attempting to turn a material engineer in the laboratory. Liu Ruyan quickly activated the blockchain traceability system, discovering that the video had been deep-faked, with the giveaway being the non-existent Cold Pool water ripples in the background.
"They want to stage a technological kidnapping." Jiang Xue slammed her augmented reality glasses onto the table, the lenses still bearing cracks from tracking the spy. "They didn't expect, however, that all our core technologies are stored in the Space System's biometric locks, and only your pendant can unlock them."
The global bestseller status of new energy vehicles provided financial support for the aerospace project, and Chen Feng decided to shift a portion of the "Cold Pool Core" battery's production capacity toward the aerospace field. When the first sounding rocket carrying the Cold Pool permanent magnet mineral engine stood tall at the launch site, Old Zhou specially tied Father's Old Wrench to the tail of the rocket, just as he had tied it to the rearview mirror of the very first car back then.
"Dad, look," Chen Feng whispered to the rocket. "This time, we are going to carve the names of Chinese artisans into the starry sky."
The electronic countdown for the launch echoed through the valley, and the surface of the Cold Pool suddenly reflected the shadow of the rocket, the blue light of the mineral veins intertwining with the silver light of the rocket. When Chen Feng pressed the launch button, the roar of the engine was no longer a harsh noise, but an industrial symphony composed together with the Cold Pool Water, the mountain wind, and the turning of gears. The moment the rocket pierced the night sky, the geomagnetic field of the Cold Pool rippled gently, as if bidding farewell to the child it had nurtured.
Real-time footage transmitted by the satellite showed that the gravitational field of the rocket engine was as stable as a pendulum, the permanent magnet mineral array flashing a unique blue light in space. Su Yuhan suddenly pointed at the monitoring screen: "Chen Feng! The pattern formed by the rocket trail is an exact match to the distribution of mineral veins at the bottom of the Cold Pool!"
International media reports flooded in; the focus was no longer on cold technical parameters, but on the Chinese team by the Cold Pool that had woven industry and nature into a symphony. When the European Space Agency actively proposed cooperation intentions, Chen Feng showcased the "planetary resonance" model newly unlocked by the Space System at the signing ceremony: "Every step we take to explore the universe carries the heartbeat of Earth."
Deep winter snow fell quietly, and Chen Feng stood on the viewing platform of the aerospace laboratory, watching the Cold Pool gradually become covered in white snow. His phone vibrated, and Su Yuhan sent a new prompt from the Space System: "Civilization resonance degree exceeds eighty percent, unlocking the research and development blueprint for 'anti-gravity materials'." He smiled, pulling out his father's old blueprints, where newly emerged anti-gravity formulas perfectly matched the blueprint of the Space System.
"Director Chen," Jiang Xue's voice came from behind. She was holding newly arrived security equipment, her body still dusted with snowflakes. "The chairman of the board of Black Wolf Heavy Industries just resigned. I heard he stayed by the Cold Pool for three days and bowed to the water when he left."
Chen Feng looked toward the Cold Pool, snowflakes falling onto the water surface and stirring up tiny ripples. He knew that Black Wolf Heavy Industries would never understand that the true technological barrier was not patents or equipment, but the awe and inheritance engraved in the bones of every artisan—awe for the gifts of the land, inheritance of the dreams of the older generation, making the rotation of every gear carry the rhythm of nature.
That night, the lights of the aerospace laboratory shone brightly alongside the warm glow of the food factory and the cold light of the machinery factory area, forming a magnificent picture of humanity and nature resonating together. Chen Feng wrote in his diary: "When the rocket pierces the starry sky, the echo of the Cold Pool finds a new melody. We are not conquering the universe, but taking the heartbeat of Earth to seek a broader resonance."
In the distance, Old Zhou was telling young technicians stories about Chen Feng's father from years past, the metallic sheen of the wrench exceptionally warm in the snowlight. Chen Feng knew that the interstellar journey belonging to Chinese artisans had only just begun, and the water of the Cold Pool would forever be the gentlest chord in this great expedition.