124: Chapter 124 The US is overjoyed to receive the blueprints, and the top brass of China are laughing their heads off.

Across the ocean, at the US National Laboratory, the lights had been on for forty-eight consecutive hours.

The air was thick with the strong scent of coffee and the smell of sweat born from extreme excitement.

Hundreds of top scientists, sporting massive dark circles under their eyes, crowded around the black hard drive worth a hundred billion US dollars like a group of fanatical believers.

"God... what kind of divine design is this?"

Dr. Wilson held the core architecture diagram that had just been decompressed; his hands were shaking as if he had Parkinson's.

In his bloodshot eyes, there was no exhaustion, only two ghostly fires burning, named "Greed."

"Perfect! Simply perfect!"

Wilson slammed his hand on the table, startling his napping assistant so much that he nearly dove under the table.

He pointed at the photonic circuits on the big screen—complex as a labyrinth yet full of geometric beauty—and his voice was hoarse and fanatical:

"Look at the design of this logic gate! It's three-dimensional! It's multi-dimensional!"

"And this energy transmission formula; it actually utilizes the properties of quantum entanglement to avoid heat loss! This is simply a work of art! It's the Mona Lisa of physics!"

The assistant rubbed his eyes and asked cautiously:

"Doctor, but... is this core medium, 'Hafnium-178,' a bit too... too obscure?"

"This isotope is extremely unstable, has a very short half-life, and its natural reserves on Earth are almost zero!"

"Fool!" Wilson slapped the back of the assistant's head. "This is exactly why the people of the Dragon Country have the blueprints but cannot mass-produce it!"

Thinking he had seen through the whole truth, he wore an arrogant smile of intellectual superiority:

"Although they designed the blueprints, they don't have the resources!"

"Although Hafnium-178 is rare, our nuclear waste repositories have plenty of it! As long as we are willing to spend money to refine it, this is a bottomless gold mine!"

Wilson paced back and forth in the laboratory with his hands behind his back, feeling more and more that this deal was worth it.

"The people of the Dragon Country are still too naive, too short-sighted."

"They thought this was a hot potato, an unrealizable theoretical model, which is why they were willing to sell it to us."

"Little did they know, this plays right into our strengths!"

"When it comes to refining technology and industrial foundation, what can they compare with us?"

Wilson turned around suddenly and shouted at the group of equally fanatical scientists behind him:

"Gentlemen! Get to work!"

"Tell The White House, tell that terrified president!"

"The blueprints have been verified! The theory is completely feasible!"

"Just give me enough budget, give me enough nuclear waste, and in three months... no! One month!"

"I will be able to create the first 'Photonic Heart' belonging to the US! When that time comes, that arrogant Jiang Chen can just wait to cry!"

Meanwhile, in the Dragon Country, within the Red Wall compound, in an antique tea room, the atmosphere was completely different.

Here, there were no fanatical roars, only the gurgling sound of boiling tea and the occasional... uncontrollable bursts of laughter.

"Pfft—cough, cough, cough!" General Qin Weiguo had just taken a sip of top-grade Dahongpao tea when he sprayed it all over the intelligence documents in front of him.

He didn't bother to wipe his mouth; he pointed at the "Top Secret Meeting Minutes" just intercepted from the US and laughed until tears almost came out:

"Old Zhong, oh Old Zhong, isn't this trick of yours... a bit too malicious?"

"I heard from the intelligence officer that Dr. Wilson has almost put these blueprints on a pedestal, even calling them 'God's gift'."

"If he knew that the core logic of this thing is an infinite loop, would he have a cerebral hemorrhage on the spot?"

Dean Zhong was sitting opposite him, leisurely skimming the tea foam with a gaiwan.

Hearing this, this usually respected old academician couldn't help but let a very "unkind" smile tug at the corners of his mouth.

"This isn't something I came up with." Dean Zhong shook his head, passing the buck completely. "This was all Jiang Chen's idea, and Academician Chen Shuyin was responsible for the execution."

"You don't know, those blueprints are full of pitfalls."

"Take, for example, the formula for the 'core catalyst' that the US treats like a treasure."

Dean Zhong put down his teacup, held up two fingers, and gestured mysteriously:

"The molecular formula written on it is incredibly complex, with benzene rings and amino groups; it looks very intimidating."

"But in reality..." He leaned closer to General Qin Weiguo and lowered his voice, as if telling a huge joke:

"Academician Chen Shuyin let me in on it."

"That molecular formula is actually just carbonic acid from cola, plus monosodium glutamate from MSG, mixed with some industrial pigment, and then rearranged."

"In other words... what the US is currently using its entire national strength to refine from nuclear waste piles is actually—a pot of 'Happy Water' with radiation!"

"Hahahaha!" General Qin Weiguo could no longer hold it back; he slapped his thigh and laughed uncontrollably, shaking the tea set on the table.

"Happy Water?! Spent a hundred billion US dollars to buy a recipe for Happy Water? And it's even radiation-infused?"

"This Jiang Chen... is truly a living Yama! Only he could do something this wicked; anyone else wouldn't be able to pull off such a dastardly stunt!"

After laughing, General Qin Weiguo wiped away his tears, his expression becoming slightly more serious.

"However, Old Zhong, will this cause trouble? Although the US is stupid, they still have a solid foundation. What if they are really stubborn and manage to cobble the chip together using that pile of messy materials?"

"Cobble it together?" Dean Zhong sneered, a flash of confidence and pride as a top scientist appearing in his eyes:

"It's better if they do. The most ruthless part of those blueprints isn't the material, but the 'heat infinite loop'."

"As long as it's powered on for more than five minutes, the photons inside the chip will generate high-frequency oscillations due to logical conflicts."

"When that happens..." Dean Zhong made an explosion gesture: "It won't be a chip anymore. It will turn into a micro-incendiary bomb with a temperature as high as 800 degrees."

"Just think, if this thing were installed in the fire control system of a fighter jet, or in the supercomputing center on Wall Street..."

General Qin Weiguo gasped, feeling a chill run down his neck. Ruthless. Too ruthless.

This isn't selling technology; this is clearly planting a time-delayed super landmine for the US!

"Alright, let's drink tea, drink tea." General Qin Weiguo picked up his teacup to mask the shock in his heart. "My only worry now is, when the US really explodes, will they blame us for not providing an instruction manual?"

"Blame?" Dean Zhong blew on the tea leaves. "The contract clearly states in black and white: 'Technical risks are to be borne by the buyer.' Besides, we didn't force them to buy it."

The following month, the entire Western world fell into a bizarre state of excitement.

The US went absolutely crazy over these blueprints. Congress specially approved a special budget of 500 billion US dollars, directly classifying the blueprints as a national project on the level of the "Apollo Program."

Tens of thousands of engineers were conscripted, and hundreds of factories were retrofitted overnight. In order to refine that damned "Hafnium-178," they even went so far as to dig up nuclear waste barrels buried deep in the desert one by one, causing radiation levels across the entire state of Nevada to skyrocket.

Environmental organizations went to protest? They were directly dragged out by the National Guard!

In the face of the temptation to "return to the peak," environmental protection and human rights were all pushed aside.

Finally, late one night a month later, in the core factory of the US National Laboratory.

Dr. Wilson, wearing a full hazmat suit, carefully carried a crystal only the size of a fingernail, emitting a faint blue light, out from the production line as if he were holding a newborn baby.

This was the finished product. This was the first "US-version Photonic Chip," created by pooling all of the US's top resources and costing countless funds.

"Success..." Wilson looked at the crystal in his hand, his eyes filled with tears of excitement.

Although the cost of this chip was outrageously high, although its yield rate was terrifyingly low (only one out of a thousand), and although three laboratories were ruined to create it, as long as it could light up, it was all worth it!

"Doctor, it's ready." The assistant reminded him from the side, his voice also trembling. "The supercomputer has been connected, and we can conduct the first ignition test at any time."

"Good." Wilson took a deep breath and walked to the massive mainframe. With trembling hands, he slowly inserted the chip, which carried the national destiny of the US, into the specially made slot.

"Click." It fit perfectly. "God bless America."

Wilson made the sign of the cross on his chest, then closed his eyes, and with all his might, pressed the red start button.

"Hum—" As the current connected, the screen lit up. Inside that chip, a brilliant, dazzling light instantly burst forth.

However, Wilson did not know. This light was not the dawn leading to the future. It was... the grimace of death.