831: Chapter 826 I'll burn down the factory to entertain you

The old man cursed, but his voice sounded weak.

"With such heavy rain, why aren't you at your mansion holding your wife and sleeping? Why come here to suffer?"

Shen Yan walked over and sat down opposite him.

"Some things are more important than sleeping."

He placed the black briefcase on the table. This time, without Chen Guangke nearby, he personally unlocked the clasp.

"Old Feng, I investigated that accident back then."

As soon as these words were spoken, Feng Quji's previously cloudy eyes instantly sharpened, like an old lion whose territory had been violated.

The surrounding air seemed to freeze.

"Do you want to die?"

Feng Quji's voice was squeezed out from between his teeth.

"That is the taboo of the 303 Institute. You dare to investigate it?"

Shen Yan stared directly into the old man's bloodshot eyes without retreating in the slightest.

"The accident report said it was caused by operational error leading to excessive furnace pressure and explosion."

"But the real reason was that the impurities in that batch of imported nickel-based alloy exceeded the standard, causing intergranular corrosion at high temperatures."

"You submitted three requests to stop work, and all were rejected by the higher-ups."

Feng Quji's body trembled violently.

He stared fixedly at Shen Yan, his breathing becoming rapid, as if a scar that had scabbed over for many years was suddenly ripped open.

"You... how did you know?"

This matter was classified as top secret, and the archives were sealed. How could this young man possibly know so clearly?

This was high-level intelligence provided by the system.

It was also the trump card that made Shen Yan dare to come here to bite this hard bone.

"Not only that."

Shen Yan took out the few yellowed blueprints from the box and pushed them towards Feng Quji.

"I know why you stopped working on furnaces."

"It's not because you're afraid; it's because you're unwilling."

"You are unwilling to ruin your craft using those garbage materials."

Shen Yan's finger tapped on one of the blueprints.

"This is the original heavy water centrifuge driveshaft blueprint from Country D in the 1940s."

"Its material requirements are three grades higher than the batch you used when the furnace exploded back then."

Feng Quji's gaze was magnetically drawn to the blueprint.

At first it was disdain, then surprise, and finally it turned into a kind of near-fanatical obsession.

That was an instinct carved into his bones.

It was the yearning of a top Artisan for the ultimate challenge.

His hand began to tremble, not from pain, but from excitement.

He wanted to reach out and touch the blueprint, but halfway there, he pulled his hand back.

He looked at his own hands, covered in calluses and grime, and gave a self-mocking laugh.

"Good stuff... truly good stuff."

"It's a pity. Current materials can't forge it."

"This is just a pile of waste paper."

Feng Quji painfully shifted his gaze away and picked up his wine glass, intending to gulp it down.

"Current materials can't forge it."

Shen Yan's voice suddenly rose slightly.

"What if I have the native ore from the K-9 mining area?"

Clang.

The wine glass in Feng Quji's hand fell onto the table, splashing wine everywhere, which dripped down the table edge onto the floor.

The old man suddenly stood up, moving so abruptly that he knocked over the stool behind him.

"Where did you say? K-9?"

The legendary mining area rich in rare Rhenium and special Tantalum?

That was something everyone involved in high-temperature alloys dreamed of obtaining!

With those ores, let alone replicating this blueprint, it would even be possible to improve upon it by two more grades!

Feng Quji fiercely grabbed Shen Yan's collar, not caring if the grime on his hand stained the expensive casual wear.

"Kid, if you dare lie to me, I'll stew you in the big pot in the back kitchen!"

Shen Yan let him hold him, without any panic on his face.

He took out a fingernail-sized piece of grayish-black stone from his pocket.

That was the sample Chen Guangke brought back from the mining area.

Feng Quji snatched the stone, pulled out a magnifying glass full of scratches from his pocket, and examined it closely under the light.

His breathing grew heavier, his chest rising and falling violently.

After a long while,

The old man collapsed onto the floor like a deflated ball, crying and laughing.

"It's real... it's actually real..."

"Damn it, is heaven trying to play me to death?"

He looked at Shen Yan, and the cloudiness in his eyes completely disappeared, replaced by a long-lost, heart-stopping firelight.

"Kid, what do you want me to do?"

Shen Yan adjusted his wrinkled collar and sat down properly again.

"I need to see the finished parts for these blueprints within three months."

"Materials are sufficient, pick any equipment you want, and name your price for the money."

"But I have one condition."

Shen Yan looked at Feng Quji, emphasizing every word.

"The performance of these parts must be 2% higher than the original blueprint specifications."

Feng Quji got up from the ground and brushed the dust off his pants.

He looked at Shen Yan and suddenly grinned, revealing a mouth full of yellowed teeth.

"2%?"

"Who do you think you're looking down on?"

"If it's less than 3%, I'll dig out these eyes of mine and let you use them as stepping stones!"

Feng Quji turned and walked into the kitchen.

In less than a minute, he walked out holding a cleaver.

Chen Guangke was startled and instinctively shielded Shen Yan.

"What are you doing?"

Feng Quji didn't even look at Chen Guangke; he brought the cleaver down hard onto the greasy table.

The blade sank deeply into the wood.

"I've long wanted to quit running this broken shop!"

The old man untied the filthy apron and threw it forcefully onto the ground, as if discarding the decadence and humiliation of the past decade.

He turned his head and looked at Shen Yan.

"When do we leave?"

Shen Yan stood up, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.

"Now."

"The car is at the mouth of the alley."

Feng Quji strode out, not even bothering to lock the door.

When he reached the doorway, he suddenly stopped, turned back, and glanced at the dilapidated tavern that had been his companion for over a decade.

There was no sentimentality.

He even asked for a cigarette.

"Mr. Shen, let's get the ugly words out of the way first."

"If even one piece of that ore is fake, I will smash your factory."

Shen Yan took out a lighter and helped the old man light the cigarette.

The flickering flame illuminated their vastly different faces.

One young, steady, and ambitious.

One aged, wild, but still sharp.

"If there is one fake piece, you don't need to smash it; I'll burn down the factory myself for your entertainment."

The rain was still falling.

But for Shen Yan, this rain had already stopped.

At the company, Ning Ke was leaning against a Roman column in the elevator lobby, smoking.

He was idly spinning the expensive Patek Philippe on his hand, his brow slightly furrowed, clearly growing impatient waiting.

As a regular patron of the Cloud Top Club and an old broker in Jinghai's business circles, he did not look favorably upon Shen Yan's current "treasure hunt."

In his view, Shen Yan refusing the returned overseas PhD David Chen and instead running off to the slums to find an old madman who had disappeared for over a decade was simply gambling with the company's future.

Although David Chen was greedy, he had credentials and a team; the capital market recognized that brand.

As for that Feng Quji?

What was left besides a few yellowed old newspapers and a pile of negative rumors about his furnace explosion at the 33rd Institute?