The current age of the universe is only about 13.8 billion years, and it is still in its early stages of evolution.

At this stage, the most abundant element in the universe is hydrogen, as it has not yet been processed into other elements by numerous stars through fusion.

Not to mention stars, even gas giant planets are more than 90% hydrogen by mass.

Although this newly designed proton decay detector uses a vast amount of hydrogen, it is insignificant compared to the hydrogen reserves in the universe.

Tom then manufactured more Jupiter aircraft and deployed them into the dense atmosphere of Planet 2.

The previous Jupiter aircraft were specifically used to collect deuterium, while protium, or ordinary hydrogen, would be filtered out. These new Jupiter aircraft are different; they will also bring back protium, which will then be transported to a location approximately 100 billion kilometers from Pegasus V342.

This location is far from any stars or large planets. Within several hundred million kilometers, there isn't even a dwarf planet.

This provides the location with an extremely stable gravity environment. Coupled with an appropriate orbital velocity, the gravity here is reduced to a level very close to zero.

In this place, Tom constructed a super-large ultra-pure hydrogen separation plant.

Hydrogen from the gas giant planets was transported here and then underwent a series of processes such as pressurization and concentration, ultimately refining ultra-pure hydrogen.

Its purity can even reach a level where there is only one atom of another element among billions of hydrogen atoms.

While refining ultra-pure hydrogen, Tom simultaneously proceeded with the construction of the main body of the proton decay detector.

Under a pressure of 400,000 atmospheres, the density of hydrogen is approximately 0.7 \text{ g/cm}^3, about 70% that of water.

Based on this volume, 1.6 billion tons of hydrogen would have a total volume of 2.285 billion cubic meters.

Converted into a sphere, its radius would be about 650 meters.

What Tom needed to build at this moment was such a giant sphere with a radius of 650 meters.

This number doesn't seem large. However, some mountains on Earth are only a little over a thousand meters in total height, and the sphere Tom needed to build now already exceeds the height of those mountains!

At the same time, mountains can be regarded as cone-like structures. But now, Tom is building a sphere!

At the same height, the volume of a sphere is far greater than that of a cone.

Compared to this sphere, even the famous Mount Heng in Southern China on Earth would be completely insignificant in front of it.

Countless special steel plates, countless types of connectors, and precision equipment from within the galaxy converged here like a flood. Under the diligent work of hundreds of thousands of general-purpose robots, these building materials were assembled bit by bit in deep space.

Action and reaction are equal. To prevent the outer shell of this sphere from being ruptured by the immense internal pressure, Tom also mobilized a large number of high-strength ropes, similar to those used in Space Elevator construction, and wound them in circles to secure them onto this giant metal shell.

After completing the main body's construction, the next step was the most precise and difficult internal construction.

Inside this spherical shell, Tom installed a large number of magnetic field control devices to create a super-strong magnetic field. Simultaneously, at about five meters from the inner surface of the spherical shell, the inner layer of the proton decay detector also began construction.

This inner layer is only 0.5 centimeters thick, and its material strength is ordinary, completely incapable of withstanding a pressure of 400,000 atmospheres.

However, this material has two characteristics.

Firstly, it has strong resistance to hydrogen embrittlement.

Due to hydrogen's extremely small molecular weight, under high pressure, it can "squeeze" into the structure of other materials, causing their strength to decrease. This material can effectively prevent this from happening.

Secondly, it has good electrical conductivity, which means it can be manipulated by a magnetic field.

At that time, the magnetic control devices manufactured by Tom will inject immense pressure into it, using it as a transfer medium to apply pressure to the internal hydrogen.

While constructing the detector's main body and the ultra-pure hydrogen refining plant, Tom also simultaneously initiated a third construction project.

A nuclear fusion power plant specifically designed to accompany it.

Magnetic control devices require an enormous amount of electricity. Furthermore, it is not a one-time operation after the pressure is applied. It must operate continuously, without a moment's pause, to maintain this pressure.

In fact, according to Tom's estimates, to maintain the operation of this detector, he would need to consume approximately 20 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity per hour on average!

This is basically equivalent to the electricity consumption of an entire nation during the Earth's national era, and at this moment, such a vast amount of electricity is only used to maintain the daily operation of a single detector.

Calculating with a Deuterium-Tritium fusion plant's installed capacity of 3 billion kilowatt-hours, merely to supply this single detector, he would have to build 7 power plants around it!

It was in this deep space, far from any large celestial bodies, that Tom rapidly carried out various constructions.

Even with Tom's industrial capabilities, building this detector took almost an entire year.

Afterward, ultra-pure hydrogen began to be injected.

Ultra-pure hydrogen, refined through multiple layers, was injected into the inner spherical shell through dedicated pipelines. Soon, the pressure inside the inner spherical shell climbed to about one atmosphere.

The relatively soft inner spherical shell was initially somewhat deflated. But at this moment, supported by the internal atmospheric pressure, it inflated like a balloon filled with air, returning to the shape of a standard sphere, with no more dents or deflation on the outside.

If the internal pressure were to be increased further, it might be directly torn apart.

At this point, the magnetic control devices installed inside the outer spherical shell began to operate.

Under the immense power supply, based on a mode similar to magnetic levitation or magnetic confinement, the external pressure was evenly applied to every molecule and every atom of the inner spherical shell.

The internal pressure experienced by the inner spherical shell was converted into pressure on the outer spherical shell.

The Space Elevator material on the outer spherical shell firmly restrained the outer spherical shell, dissipating all pressure into nothingness. At the same time, the thick armor also blocked most of the radiation from the outside, preventing it from affecting the internal detection.

Under the continuous injection of hydrogen, the atmospheric pressure inside the inner spherical shell rapidly increased.

Five atmospheres, ten, fifty, one hundred, one thousand...

At this moment, the pressure inside the inner spherical shell is almost identical to the atmospheric pressure at the bottom of the Mariana Trench.

If a clone were to enter the inner spherical shell at this moment, he would instantly be crushed into a meat paste.

But even with such immense pressure, under the suppression of the magnetic control devices, the soft inner spherical shell remained completely intact.

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