127: Chapter 128 Top-Secret Recording That Shocked the Power Center! A Probing Investigation That Alarmed the Military Industry's Underbelly

Half an hour later, the vehicle pulled up steadily outside the Shen Family courtyard, hidden deep within the bustling city and shaded by sycamore trees.

The car door opened, and Secretary Shen Hai crossed the high threshold, taking the steps two at a time.

He didn't even have time to return the guard's salute.

He hurried straight through the long corridor, heading directly toward the quietest main hall in the backyard.

He pushed open the door.

The scene inside the room had barely changed since he had hurriedly left.

The old patriarch, who controlled the vast Shen Family and could even indirectly influence the majority of Shanghai's economic lifeline,

was still reclining comfortably in that polished master's chair, just as he always did.

The small stove beside him radiated a gentle warmth.

A semi-old radio was playing a classic Peking opera tune in a wavering, melodic voice.

Seeing his second son burst through the door, his breathing slightly rushed,

the old man merely raised his eyelids slightly, without asking a word.

Secretary Shen Hai didn't waste any words.

He strode over to the Eight Immortals table and reached out to press the power-off button on the radio.

As the long, melodious tune came to an abrupt halt, the entire main hall instantly fell into absolute silence.

Immediately after, Secretary Shen Hai took something from his briefcase.

He solemnly produced a military-grade recording device, only half the size of a palm, pitch-black, and without any signal transmission capabilities.

He placed the device steadily on the mahogany tabletop and, without any preamble, pressed the play button.

After a faint background hum of static,

the recorder played back exactly what had happened an hour ago.

In that top-secret conference room at the Dongjiao Hotel, where not even a fly could enter,

the conversation with Shen Du, which contained a terrifying amount of information, began to play.

"... What exactly is the purpose of piecing together these top-tier instruments and materials that are strictly embargoed by the West?"

Secretary Shen Hai's cold, sharp voice echoed through the empty hall.

Following that was Shen Du's undisguised arrogance and candor: "... I didn't get authorization from any major international semiconductor manufacturers.

I just took their prized underlying server chip architectures and graphics card architectures.

I performed a complete physical 'magic modification' and re-packaging..."

Hearing this, the old man lying in the master's chair suddenly opened his eyes.

A stunning, tangible sharpness instantly erupted from those originally cloudy eyes.

His hands, which had been resting loosely on the armrests, clenched tightly in an instant.

The gears inside the recording device were still turning faintly.

But in the quiet main hall, where you could hear a pin drop, this sound struck people's nerves like war drums.

The short few minutes of recorded conversation

contained an amount of information like a detonated deep-sea torpedo,

shaking the mind of this old man, who had always been as steady as Mount Tai and had weathered countless storms.

As for the "cold plasma generators" and "superlattice hybrid materials" that Secretary Shen Hai questioned in the recording, the old man actually didn't understand them at all.

After all, he was a top-tier anchor, controlling the macroeconomy and capital flows,

not a scientific researcher sitting in a lab deriving formulas.

However, as a calculating superior,

he might not understand physics, but he possessed precise industrial intuition.

He knew all too well what the two cold terms "yield rate" and "good product rate" meant.

In high-end manufacturing, they represented a terrifying amount of value!

The old man was as clear as a mirror in his heart.

Currently, the "national treasure" that the Shanghai authorities were pouring all their resources into supporting,

SMIC, which had gathered top talent from across the country and even returnees,

was currently holed up in the Zhangjiang high-tech park, struggling bitterly to crack the manufacturing process of underlying chips.

But every time SMIC reported its internal confidential data to superiors,

the abysmal yield rate on advanced process nodes was simply painful to look at.

The country had poured hundreds, even thousands of billions in funds into it,

yet it was still struggling through the quagmire of patents set by the West, with every percentage point of improvement costing a painful price.

Yet now, the young man in his early twenties on the recorder

had unexpectedly tossed out, in a casual, even slightly disdainful tone, a shocking figure capable of overturning the entire industry:

"The yield rate for replicating the original version is 75%... The remaining 25% can only be used at reduced frequencies.

To avoid wasting R&D time, I had them all thrown away as electronic waste."

A 75% perfect yield rate!

Even the remaining ones, which were considered defective, were physically intact!

This was tantamount to declaring a 100% physical finished product rate!

Hearing this "humblebrag" addition,

the old man's withered hand, resting on the armrest of the master's chair, trembled violently.

Then, he gripped the edge of the rosewood tightly.

His knuckles turned a shocking, ghostly white from the excessive force.

Was this even scientific research?

This was simply a form of dimension-reduction strike directly against the existing global semiconductor industrial system, completely defying logic!

The single sentence that Shen Du had said so casually

had completely shattered the industrial common sense and technological understanding that the old man had built up over most of his life!

As the last faint bit of background static in the recorder gradually dissipated into the air,

the main hall once again fell into a suffocating silence.

Secretary Shen Hai stood quietly by the Eight Immortals table, watching the old man, who was lost in deep thought with his eyes closed, remaining silent for a long time.

He finally couldn't help but break the heavy silence.

His voice was filled with a rare gravity:

"Dad, the current situation has completely exceeded our expectations.

If that kid really is holding a magic-modified chip with a 75% yield rate in his hands,

then the waters here are too deep, and conventional political and economic means simply won't be able to handle it.

What should we do next?"

The old man did not answer immediately.

He kept his eyes slightly closed, his withered fingers rhythmically tapping on the rosewood armrest.

Having been immersed in the pinnacle of power for most of his life,

he knew better than anyone that the more one faced a cataclysmic change capable of overturning the nation's destiny, the more absolute reason and caution were needed.

A full five minutes passed before the tapping on the wood suddenly ceased.

The old man opened his eyes abruptly, a flash of seasoned ruthlessness and decisiveness appearing in his world-weary eyes:

"Contact your eldest brother, Shen Che, immediately."

Hearing the four words "eldest brother Shen Che," Secretary Shen Hai's expression suddenly turned grave.

Within the entire Shen Family, Shen Che was the absolute core force secretly positioned in military industry and top-tier national research institutes.

Unless it was a cataclysmic change, the old man would never easily play this trump card.

"Have your eldest brother prepare secretly and quietly assemble a few top experts in the semiconductor field who are the most authoritative and have absolutely loyal and reliable backgrounds."

Although the old man's voice was hoarse, it carried an irresistible supreme will:

"The primary task is to take this group of experts and go give me a solid, thorough investigation!

I want them to personally verify the true situation of those devices in the Sheshan underground laboratory, as well as that batch of chips!"

The old man paused, his gaze as deep as the sea, his tone becoming incomparably heavy:

"For such a major matter, we cannot just listen to that kid's one-sided story.

Only by putting the most authoritative, indisputable physical verification report on the table

can our Shen Family truly make a final decision on how to play this major game that concerns the nation's destiny!"

"Understood!"

Upon receiving this order, Secretary Shen Hai did not hesitate in the slightest.

He immediately locked the recording device on the table back into his briefcase, not even sparing a moment to drink a sip of water.

Then he strode out the door.