Inside the lting furnace, the light released by the tal powder in the mold was very bright, but it did not lt yet.
Both tal rhenium and tal tungsten are extrely heat-resistant with high lting points—this is one of the main reasons they are used to cast components inside a nuclear bomb. Simple heating alone cannot quickly change their form; additional operations are needed.
Apply pressure.
"Click!"
With a sound, Richard pulled down a lever outside the furnace.
"Buzz buzz buzz!"
A slight humming noise started as the air pump began working, injecting inert gas argon into the sealed furnace to increase the pressure.
Finally, under the dual action of high temperature and high pressure, the tal tungsten and tal rhenium gradually lted, successfully sintering into Re-W alloy tal blocks.
...
Richard worked in front of the furnace for a long ti, producing hundreds of sintered Re-W alloy components.
These components were quite rough and required further processing to reduce tolerances to et the nurical requirents of the nuclear weapon design diagrams.
Nevertheless, the second process in the making of the nuclear weapon was considered complete.
Next was the third process.
Richard stretched his body and left the furnace.
...
The third process took place in the highest-grade laboratory in Eden, which was the hazardous materials functional sector underground laboratory.
This task involved processing tallic beryllium.
tallic beryllium is considered a non-toxic elent, but beryllium powder reacts with air, easily transforming into oxidized beryllium. Once oxidized beryllium is absorbed by the human body, it can react within to convert into hydroxylated beryllium, potentially causing beryllium poisoning pneumonia, which can be fatal.
For this reason, Richard donned a full set of protective gear. On one hand, to ensure absolute safety; on the other, to prepare for the next step through practice.
In the highest-grade underground laboratory in Eden, a processing table was already set up in a room, not much different from the one in Research Room No.1 in the chanical Processing Sector. Both were wide and heavy, stable and precise, equipped with leveling instrunts and screw jacks, as well as additional chanical arms. The ends of the chanical arms were fitted with Space Iron Rings for cutting—the reality had proven these to be the best blades.
Inside the triply protected mask, Richard took a deep breath of air from the oxygen tank, walked to the operating table, and grasped the chanical arm to start working.
The energy elents within his body surged out, penetrating the protective suit and acting on the Space Iron Ring, activating its "Absolute Cutting of Space Scissors" and "Absolute Spatial Precision" functions, approaching the tallic beryllium on the operating table.
"Squeak, squeak..."
A faint sound arose, as the tallic beryllium continuously changed shape, moving closer to the form outlined in the design diagram.
...
After another extended period, the processing of the tallic beryllium, the third process, was completed, officially ushering in the fourth process.
This was the most important step in nuclear weapon manufacturing, the core.
In this step, nuclear material—naly tallic uranium-235—had to be processed.
Specifically, this involved casting tallic uranium-235 into tal blocks, then cutting them into the required shapes—a combination of the second and third processes—thus the reason for the previous steps, ensuring through "practice" that the already low chance of accidents could be further reduced.
...
Once again, in the highest-grade underground laboratory in Eden.
In another room.
Richard, wearing protective gear, took weapons-grade tallic uranium out of a heavy lead box, placing it into a ceramic crucible, and sending it into an electric furnace installed there.
By pulling down the lever, the air pump began working, first evacuating the internal oxygen, then injecting an excess of inert gas argon, creating a high-pressure environnt inside the furnace to prevent oxidation reactions and facilitate lting.
After completing this step, Richard solemnly pressed a button.
"Sss..."
With the circuit connected, the furnace operated, and the internal temperature rapidly rose, lting the weapons-grade tallic uranium, which was then poured into the mold to cast the desired shape.
After completing this step, the reshaped tallic uranium was placed on the processing platform in the previous room, where Richard manipulated the Sword Control Iron Ring at the end of the chanical arm, cutting the tallic uranium as he had the tallic beryllium.
"Squeak, squeak..."
The Space Iron Ring smoothly skimd over the surface of the tallic uranium, smoothing out the uneven bumps, to a precision beyond the limit of the human eye.
"Squeak, squeak..."
Richard kept processing, and the surface of the tallic uranium beca increasingly bright, appearing as if a damp cloth had wiped over a dust-covered mirror—as if the tallic uranium was ant to look this way, and he was rely restoring it to its original state.
In the silent processing room, the chanical arm moved continuously, and a large bright component slowly took shape, manifesting an astonishing aesthetic.
Finally, the component was complete.
It looked sowhat peculiar, reminiscent of a glass tumbler, the rim bending steeply outwards before extending towards the base—in another view, it was like an extravagantly shaped vase.
However, in reality, it was neither a tumbler nor a vase; an imnse round hole at its base rendered it unable to contain anything.
It was an internal component of a nuclear weapon—the most important and core nuclear material component.
Its exterior was as smooth as glaze and as bright as a mirror, with every surface reflecting the light of the room’s fixtures. It seed to shimr more magnificently than diamonds or crystals, like an exceptionally crafted piece of art.
In fact, it was indeed a work of art—a creation of the art of technology, industrial art, and the art of destruction.
This was a "Crystal Heart," a seed of destruction.
Breathing inside the protective suit, Richard carefully picked up the processed tallic uranium component and gazed at it for a long ti, revealing a knowing smile.
So much effort had finally paid off; the dawn of success was finally visible.
It wasn’t easy, very difficult.
But it was worth it.
Worth it.
Richard spent more than ten seconds quietly enjoying the satisfaction of a successful job, then gradually packed away the tallic uranium component and left the room.
...
Now that the fourth process in nuclear weapon manufacturing, the most crucial step, was complete, it did not an the nuclear weapon was fully made.
Quite the opposite, there were still many tedious steps before the nuclear weapon was fully created.
While these steps aren’t as crucial as the "Crystal Heart" tallic uranium component, they still affect the performance of the nuclear weapon.
The principle of nuclear weapons is simple, but producing one is a highly precise industrial product. This ans any detail could significantly reduce its explosive power, or even prevent an explosion altogether.
Simply put, the nuclear weapon has not yet been successfully manufactured and requires continued effort.
So, let’s keep working hard.
...
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