Damon's Ascension-Chapter 72: Growth Of The Human Race 4

To be able to properly make use of Controlled Nuclear Fusion, humanity first had to solve numerous sub-technologies independently. One major challenge was developing Extreme Heat-Resistant Materials, as the reactor walls needed to withstand temperatures exceeding 150 million°C without breaking down.

There was also Ultra-High-Purity Fuel Processing, which denoted extremely efficient extraction and refinement of deuterium/tritium. These two were the precious fuels used for Nuclear Fusion, and their utility was quite simple.

Deuterium (²H) was a hydrogen isotope with one proton and one neutron.

Tritium (³H) was another hydrogen isotope, but with one proton and two neutrons.

So, when deuterium and tritium fuse together in Nuclear Fusion, they form helium (⁴He) and release a single neutron, along with a huge amount of energy which can then be converted into electricity.

These two were specifically chosen because they fuse at a lower temperature compared to other options, they release more energy per reaction than other options. Since deuterium is abundant in seawater, while tritium can be produced from lithium, the ’boiling seawater’ joke held some truth to it.

The next sub-technology needed was Vacuum and Cryogenic Systems, which involved the processing of providing maintenance and stability for the superconducting magnets and plasma in the reactor.

After that was the AI-Powered Reaction Control technology, which was necessary for real-time plasma feedback stabilization, as human error could cause another Chernobyl, even with the safer fusion reaction compared to fission.

Next was the tech of Waste Heat Recovery Systems, which was necessary for extracting useful energy from reactor inefficiencies. Sometimes, the fusion might not be perfect, but you can even harvest that imperfection and use it to cut your losses rather than wail in defeat.

There was the important Mega-Scale Grid Infrastructure, which was basically about adapting power grids to handle near-unlimited energy output. Yeah, the reactor is pumping out crazy energy, but what about the wires leading to the power station? And from the power station to your house?

Finally, there was the crucially important technology of Automated Maintenance Robotics, essentially drones with AI systems for reactor upkeep and repairs. Keeping the human element away from the fusion reaction was essential, both for safety and efficiency.

For fusion to be truly endless and perfect, it had to be self-sustaining, even in a scenario where every human on Earth ceased to exist.

The self-sufficiency was even more important than the cleanliness or power output for perfected nuclear fusion.

There were many other technologies that Damon bought, but it was too long to list. He had already done the research, studying the countless civilizations that had walked this path before. With a clear understanding of what a budding civilization needed, he had shopped accordingly, ensuring they had the right tools to advance efficiently.

Now, for the materials.

Just as with the technologies, Damon only focused on the immediately necessary ones for Advanced Fusion Reaction, which numbered six in total.

The first was Helium-3 (³He), the end product of fusion and was essential for second-generation fusion. According to the index, this material could be later mined from the moon and gas giants when humanity mastered warp tech.

The second were obviously Deuterium (²H) and Tritium (³H), the basic fusion fuel which the human race had no time to mine on a large scale, given the upcoming rapid development. Likewise, this could also be extracted from ice moons or gas giant atmospheres.

The third was Lithium (Li), which was necessary for tritium breeding as well as certain reactor components. This too could be found in asteroids & moons.

The fourth was Beryllium (Be), which was a neutron multiplier in fusion reactors.

The fifth was Tungsten (W), which was a high-temperature, radiation-resistant material that was perfect for the reactor walls.

The sixth and final was Vanadium (V), which was used in the structural alloys for the fusion reactor and paired with Tungsten to seal the entire reaction.

Damon looked at the list and felt slightly dizzy. It was true that his grades had been decent growing up, but he wasn’t enough of a science buff to remain unfazed by the overwhelming flood of information hitting him now.

He decided that after increasing his Mentality further, he would definitely invest heavily in academics, especially science, as that was an important subject whose importance had only soared with the advent of the IUAS.

The final area of purchase was the technological goods.

Damon placed an order for 20 billion Virtual Reality helmets, 10 billion virtual reality pods, 40 billion AI drones, 20 billion portable terminals, 30 billion miniature quantum computers, and more.

These items were to be imported to Earth and sold using local currency because he couldn’t possibly keep humans out of the loop in the galaxy. So far, because of how he handled humanity’s entrance into the IUAS, he and those close to him in the original hundred were the only ones who had even entered a VR pod.

Damon had no intention of keeping humanity in the dark in order to exploit them while he also had no intention of acting like a silent hero for humanity. He did all this because he wanted to prevent the foolish actions of humanity from affecting him and his descendants down the line, and he would definitely claim all the recognition for his actions.

Interviews from Felicia alone were not enough to explain everything, after all.

In the end, the bill finally came down to around 800 million Essence Coins, which Damon easily paid. This didn’t surprise the vendors, as they knew that the current human race had broken the record for the most financially loaded new race to the IUAS in the organization’s history.

However, most new races would be lucky to even have 50 million Essence Coins in total, as even Earth’s solar system, which was rated to be on the upper scale of value, only came to slightly less than 50 million apart from Earth, which was worth 3.5 billion.

But of course, no race would be stupid enough to sell their home planet resources for exploitation.

After completing the purchase, Damon got up with his two compatriots and bid farewell to the elven avatar who revealed herself to be Overseer Yunian. She bid them farewell with a soft smile, but her gleaming eyes showed that she harbored slightly different thoughts.

Damon led his party back to the personal lobby of the IUAS and shared some words with them before logging out, returning to reality, in which he emerged from the pod within Ambrose’s ship.

As expected, the vampire lord was carefully observing Damon in the pod with a strange smile, causing Damon to have to push his face away as he rose up.

"How did things go then?" Ambrose asked with curiosity.

"The auction was a great success. I’m pretty sure I saw your mother there, so you can ask her for more details." Damon answered casually as he stretched his body.

Ever since the IUAS meeting where the human race was introduced, Damon had come to learn that the two female vampire representatives were Ambrose’s mother and his wife.

The red-haired beauty who had pulled his ear had his mother, while the woman pleading for him had been his wife.

It turned out that the fickle vampire lord was, in reality, a rebellious young master who had fled home in search of adventure and freedom from his overbearing mother. Despite his grandiose gestures and domineering demeanor he had displayed in his first encounter with humanity, suggesting him to be an aged big shot, Damon had since discovered that Ambrose was, in vampire years, roughly the same age as himself.

Once Ambrose had recognized Damon as his equal, his behavior also became far more playful and casual, often causing Damon headaches.

"I’ll need your help picking up the materials and goods that are being shipped here through quantum tunnel in a few hours. The quantity is huge though." Damon stated as he produced the list of purchases and shared them with Ambrose.

Ambrose looked through and nodded. "Good purchases, you got all the necessities. You’re probably already aware of this, but you should take time to invest in a harvesting infrastructure for your people because it is unsustainable to always have to buy resources externally."

"I was in two minds about that, whether to advance to the warp technology segment and construct our own mining ships and the like or to buy those produced by other civilizations to start right away," Damon shared while folding his arms and looking out of the viewport.

"Most tend to buy the ships and slowly mine while digesting the technologies, but given your wealth and your purchases, it seems you want to implement the changes first and understand them later," Ambrose decided with a shake of his head.

Damon raised an eyebrow. "Why, is there any problem with this?"

Ambrose chuckled. "Both choices have their pros and cons, but do I really need to list them? I’m sure you’ve already weighed them yourself. Anyway, I agree with your current methodology because your home planet will be swarmed with visitors 20 years later, so you might as well make your infrastructure catch up to the basic standard of the rest of the universe."