Chapter 158: Drill Underground!
Accompanied by people’s busyness, the interior of the originally slightly spacious ion drilling equipment gradually became crowded.
The full 50 square meters of internal space was gradually occupied by one refrigeration equipment, superconducting cables, gas passages, and so on.
In this process, every procedure was refined to perfection, and every step underwent repeated inspections and verifications by experts.
Every tiny damage would be exposed under the strict inspections, and even the smallest mistake was not allowed.
Because everyone knew that this was their only chance to directly operate this giant equipment.
After this, sections of drill pipes would be connected one by one, and the drill bit would go deeper underground, eventually reaching over 20,000 meters.
It would be impossible for them to pull it out and then repair the damage at the top.
Under this strict attitude, even though everyone was working overnight with the immense pressure of the apocalypse approaching, the installation of the internal equipment still took a full day.
Immediately after, the second 70-meter-long drill pipe was once again hoisted by the giant crane and connected to the first drill pipe using physical fixation, welding, and other methods.
The equipment to be installed in the second drill pipe was less than in the first, but still considerable.
Finally completing the installation, the special ropes of the drilling equipment, which were suspended directly via a cable-stayed bridge for load unloading at the top of the drill pipe, were extended downward a bit, allowing the drill bit to reach a depth of 140 meters.
This special rope was originally developed for constructing a space elevator, but was ultimately proven to be far from sufficient in strength and inadequate for the space elevator construction task.
However, at this moment, it was more than sufficient for bearing the self-weight of the ion drilling equipment.
It was the toughest, most corrosion-resistant and wear-resistant material in the world today, with tensile strength over 100 times that of steel cables of the same volume, the most advanced special material.
Just a very thin strand could suspend an adult. These dozens of special ropes together could easily hold it even if the drilling equipment’s self-weight reached hundreds of thousands of tons after final assembly.
As the drill bit went deeper and the special ropes were extended inward, the numerous complex superconducting cables, high-pressure pipes, and others inside the drilling equipment were also extended inward a bit.
Next came the third drill pipe, the fourth drill pipe…
The 500 final assembly factories distributed around the world did not stop after producing the drill bits but continued to operate frantically, producing subsequent drill pipes.
Factory production, giant special truck transportation, crust base drill pipe installation and continuous deepening of drill pipes—this was a complete, overall regulated system.
Under precise control, as drill pipes were produced in factories and transported by giant trucks to each crust base, it was exactly when the previous drill pipe had gone deep and needed the next one connected.
The time error in this was at most not exceeding one hour.
At this moment, over 6,000 giant special trucks were speeding on highways around the world. Counting the logistics support teams, pathfinding teams, and others for these vehicles, the number just for transportation was nearly 100,000 people.
Apocalypse Project Command, Logistics Support Command Hall, Gu Changshan, who served as the military support chief consultant, sat in his seat, quietly watching the red dots—either fixed or moving—on the large screen in front.
There were countless complex lines connecting between the different red dots. The data flow speed beside them was like a rainstorm, too fast to see clearly.
In front of hundreds of computers, hundreds of staff members were each tense and fully focused, not daring to slack off even a little.
In contrast, Gu Changshan himself remained calm throughout.
Because he had experienced this scene once before.
He knew what to pay attention to in such ultra-large-scale dispatch, how to adjust, and how to respond to every special situation—he knew it all.
Although the technology level was different and the form of ultra-large-scale dispatch had variations, some underlying, fundamental logic would not change.
Under the unified dispatch from the central command department, one drill pipe after another was transported in, and the drill bit kept extending deeper.
At this moment, from Crust Base No. 1 to Crust Base No. 500, the ends of the seventh drill pipes of the 500 ion drilling equipment had uniformly reached about level with the surface.
At this moment, the drill bit tip was only 10 meters away from the cave bottom.
Drilling was about to officially begin.
This giant equipment, which gathered the wisdom of all relevant experts from entire human civilization and mobilized almost all the world’s resources, finally welcomed the moment of its ultimate test.
Thousands of circuitry workers climbed up and down everywhere, using various advanced equipment to carefully check the entire power supply system. Staff of one module after another all held their posts, ready to handle any possible faults, even though they had checked these devices countless times themselves.
The first to start was Crust Base No. 1.
“Crust No. 1… activate!”
That large red button was fiercely pressed down. At this moment, a dull, low-frequency, extremely faint buzzing sound appeared throughout the base.
People knew that was the sound of ultra-strong electric current flowing, transformers, voltage stabilizers, and other circuit equipment starting full-power operation simultaneously.
The surging electricity from windmills, photovoltaic panels, dams, and nuclear power stations around the world surged into Crust Base No. 1 through superconducting lines at this moment.
Just like a dam suddenly opening a breach.
At this moment, the global power grid showed clearly visible voltage and frequency fluctuations due to this sudden impact.
And at this moment, this equipment had not yet entered full-power operation state.
At the same time, in thermal power plants scattered around the world, under the orders of old experts with hair either gray or fully white, the heavy ultra-supercritical unit turbines began to slowly rotate.
Comparing the global power grid to a lake, and Crust Base No. 1 to a suddenly appearing dam breach allowing water to flow out wildly, then these thermal power stations were like originally dry riverbeds that now had water flow again, injecting into the lake.
Between inflow and outflow, the lake’s water level drop was quickly controlled, balance was restored, and the lake water level was stabilized.
This surging energy now entered the drill bit through the guidance of superconducting lines.
The pre-injected high-pressure argon gas was directly ionized and heated, then under precise magnetic field control, fiercely pounced toward the hard rock ahead.
The next moment, due to uneven heating, countless micro-explosions erupted on the rock surface. The moment after, those rock substances were directly vaporized into gas.
