921: Chapter 916 Keeping Cultural Relics Alive

No matter how good a technology is, if it is too expensive for anyone to afford, it is merely an ornament in the laboratory.

Shen Yan put down his coffee cup and took a USB drive from his pocket, placing it gently on the lab bench.

"Replace the catalyst with deep-sea brown algae extract."

"The specific molecular formula and reaction environment parameters are all in here."

Han Mo froze.

He looked at Shen Yan as if he were an alien.

Brown algae? That stuff that is so abundant in the ocean it's even treated as marine garbage?

To replace palladium, which is more expensive than gold?

"Mr. Shen... this is theoretically impossible according to chemical bond theory..."

Han Mo instinctively objected; it was the instinct of a scientist.

"You only know after you try it."

Shen Yan did not explain, merely dropping this sentence before turning and walking out of the core experimental area.

He didn't need to explain.

The results would speak for themselves.

Watching that excessively young back, Han Mo gritted his teeth and plugged the USB drive into the computer.

Three hours later,

A scream that sounded unlike a human's erupted in the Jinsan Laboratory.

The sound contained shock, ecstasy, and the reshaping that follows the collapse of one's worldview.

All the researchers gathered around.

Inside the reaction vessel, the new batch of "titan's Blood" was slowly taking shape.

The color was purer, and the fluidity was stronger.

Most critically, the number on the cost calculation sheet was missing several zeros.

The current cost was even cheaper than ordinary super glue on the market.

Zhao Tiezhu, that honest and straightforward chemical Artisan, stared at the number, his pipe shaking in his hand.

"This isn't doing experiments; this is practically printing money..."

Li Xiang pushed up his thick-rimmed glasses, looking at the perfect reaction curve on the screen, his admiration for Shen Yan instantly maxed out.

In their eyes, Shen Yan was no longer just the boss; he was a god.

Shen Yan sat in his office, watching the jubilant crowd on the surveillance monitor, his expression still calm.

This was only the beginning.

With low-cost "titan's Blood," he now held an ace card.

Next, it was time to reap true prestige.

"Guang Ke."

Shen Yan pressed the intercom on his desk.

"Prepare the car. We're going to the National Cultural Heritage Administration."

Chen Guangke's voice immediately came through, laced with excitement.

"Yes, Brother Yan! Are we going to present a treasure to the nation?"

"No."

Shen Yan stood up and straightened the collar of his suit.

"We're going to discuss business."

Since the technological barrier had been broken, there was no need to hide it anymore.

Simple commercial applications made money, but that was too slow and easily targeted by capital.

He needed to put the hardest armor on the Jinsan Laboratory—state endorsement.

Repairing cell phones or mending porcelain? That scope was too small.

What he wanted to repair were the nation's vital artifacts.

In the West District of Jinghai City, a courtyard with red bricks and green tiles.

This was the Institute of Science and Technology for Cultural Relics Protection, subordinate to the National Cultural Heritage Administration.

Compared to the modernity of the Shenyan Building, this place exuded a solemn and profound historical aura.

In the conference room, smoke hung in the air.

Several white-haired old experts were frowning around a photograph.

On the photo was a bronze ding that had just been unearthed.

The body of the ding was covered in green powdery corrosion—the terminal disease of bronze artifacts: 'powdery rust'.

Once this disease spread, the hard bronze artifact would rapidly deliquesce into a pile of powder in a short time, beyond saving even by immortals.

"It's such a pity. This is a masterpiece from the late Shang Dynasty. The inscriptions on it are extremely valuable for dating research."

The speaker was Elder Qi, a titan in the field of bronze artifact restoration in the country.

He took off his reading glasses, rubbed his throbbing temples, and his tone was full of regret.

"All current chemical passivation methods have been tried; they can only slow it down, not eradicate it."

"Unless we seal it in a vacuum glass case and never let it touch the air, but then it loses its significance for display."

Director Sun, seated at the head, sighed and pinched out his cigarette butt.

"Is there really no other way? Even foreign technology?"

Elder Qi shook his head.

"This is a difficult problem internationally as well. The British Museum has several similar pieces, and they can only watch them rot."

The conference room fell into a dead silence.

Just then, the secretary lightly knocked on the door.

"Director Sun, Shen Yan from the Shenyan Group has arrived. He said... he has a way to solve the bronze disease."

Director Sun was momentarily stunned.

Shenyan Group? That company that has been making waves online recently, claiming to have developed black technology glue?

"Let him come in."

Director Sun waved his hand, but in his heart, he held no hope.

In his view, this was likely just another businessman trying to ride the wave and create hype.

In this day and age, all sorts of charlatans appear just to get government subsidies.

Shen Yan pushed the door open.

He was followed by Wu Ya, who was carrying that iconic silver briefcase.

Chen Guangke stood guard at the door like a gate god and did not enter.

"Good afternoon, leaders and experts."

Shen Yan skipped excessive pleasantries and walked directly to the end of the conference table to sit down.

This composed and self-possessed attitude made the elderly experts present frown slightly.

Young people nowadays have no sense of propriety.

Elder Qi glanced at Shen Yan, his tone carrying a hint of arrogance.

"Business requires integrity, and restoring cultural relics requires reverence."

"Do you know what bronze disease means? It's caused by chlorides, a chemical reaction spanning millennia."

"You, someone from a software background, even if you recently set up some laboratory, shouldn't speak so confidently."

Faced with the questioning, Shen Yan was not annoyed.

He knew the temperaments of these old scholars too well.

In their field, experience is everything, and seniority is the truth.

To convince them, mere words wouldn't suffice.

"Elder Qi is correct; reverence must be maintained."

Shen Yan signaled Wu Ya to open the briefcase.

There were no documents or PPTs inside the box, only a bronze fragment covered in rust.

Shen Yan had asked Chen Guangke to buy it from an antique market—a typical sample of powdery rust damage, crumbling at the slightest touch.

"But I believe true reverence means letting the cultural relics live on, not watching them die on the operating table."

Shen Yan picked up the fragment and placed it gently in the center of the table.

"This is a fragment I received not long ago. Everyone can see the severity of the damage at a glance."

Elder Qi glanced over and snorted.

"It's terminal; it can't be saved."

Powdery rust of this degree meant the internal structure was already completely friable, easily shattering into dust with slight pressure.

Shen Yan said nothing, merely taking out a spray bottle from the case.

It contained the improved 'titan's Blood' No. 2 liquid, specially modified for metal repair.

"I would like to borrow ten minutes of everyone's time."

With that, Shen Yan pressed the nozzle.

A fine golden mist enveloped the bronze fragment.

There was no pungent chemical smell; instead, there was a faint fragrance, like the earth after rain.

Everyone's gaze focused on the fragment.

Initially, there was no change.

A hint of mocking laughter played on Elder Qi's lips, and he was about to open his mouth to lecture this presumptuous young man.

Suddenly, his pupils contracted violently.