66: Racing against time, the entire team was completely focused and determined!

When Long Weiguo's ultimatum, filled with trust and entrustment, clearly echoed throughout the resolute and solemn Kunlun Mountain Underground Base.

An unprecedented technological war, a race against time!

Officially began!

Thousands of the most elite scientists and engineers across the entire "Kuafu" Chip Project team acted like wound-up war machines!

They completely entered a "frenzied" workaholic mode!

Here, there is no day and night!

Only laboratories that are lit, and laboratories that are closed!

Here, there are no leaders and subordinates!

Only one common designation—Comrade!

Here, there is no rest or entertainment!

Only one common goal—three months!

Conquer the lithography machine!

...Optical Experiment Center.

This is one of the two most critical and difficult battlefields in the entire lithography machine project!

The person in charge here is the national-treasure-level optical veteran who was previously so angered by ASML's CEO Winningk that he nearly suffered a cerebral hemorrhage on the spot—

The closed-door disciple of Qian Xuesen, the intimate friend of Hua Luogeng... *cough cough*, wrong channel.

In short, the utterly formidable doyen of the optics field—Elder Qian!

This elder, already over eighty and who should have been enjoying his retirement at home.

Was acting like the youngest of lads!

Wearing thick sterile suits!

Staring with a pair of bloodshot, cloudy old eyes!

Fixedly staring at the ultra-precision machine tool in front of him that was currently grinding lenses!

"No! That won't do!"

"The curvature is still wrong!"

"The error is 0.01 nanometer! Although it has already reached the Western Alliance's 'Zeiss' standard!"

"But! It's still miles away from the 'God-tier' standard of 0.001 nanometer required by Academician Lu!"

"Start over! Tear it all down and start over, damn it!"

He roared, pointing at the special glass lens worth several million US dollars!

His appearance was filled with the madness and obsession of pursuing perfection!

The Doctoral Student apprentices behind him, who hadn't closed their eyes for seven days and seven nights, shivered in fear.

"Teacher..."

A young apprentice mustered his courage and quietly reminded him:

"You haven't slept for seventy-two hours."

"Why don't you go rest for a bit?"

"Rest?!"

Elder Qian whipped his head around!

His bloodshot eyes were wide as copper bells!

"When I was working on the 'Two Bombs, One Satellite' back then! I ate sand on the Gobi Desert for three whole years!"

"And I never uttered the word 'tired' once!"

"What's wrong with staying up a few nights now?!"

"Those sons of bitches from the Western Alliance are still watching us become a global joke!"

"Where do we find the time to sleep?!"

"Where do we have the right to sleep?!"

He roared, pointing toward the door:

"If you're tired, get the hell out!"

"Our 'Kuafu' Project team doesn't keep trash!"

The young Doctoral Student was thoroughly chewed out!

Yet, there was not a hint of grievance on his face!

Instead, raging flames ignited in his equally bloodshot eyes!

"Yes, Teacher!"

"I'm not tired!"

"I can fight for another three days and three nights!"

...Precision Manufacturing Workshop.

This was another equally spine-tingling Asura... battlefield!

The one responsible here was the Academician of the Academy of Engineering who had previously almost knelt down to formally acknowledge Lu Chen as his master on the spot—

Li Zhenbang!

This old man, known for his "fiery temper."

Was holding a megaphone!

Standing atop a giant gantry crane, towering over ten meters high!

He roared at the hundreds of master technicians below, who came from major military factories across the nation!

"Snap out of it, damn it!"

"Don't you dare let your hands shake!"

"This is the core 'work stage' of our lithography machine!"

"Its movement precision requirement is 2 picometers!"

"2 picometers! What the hell kind of concept is that?!"

"It means you fire a shot from Jinghai and have to accurately hit the left wing of a fly located all the way in the Capital!"

"Do you all understand, damn it?!"

"Understood!"

A deafening collective roar came from below!

"Good!"

Li Zhenbang nodded in satisfaction!

"Today!"

"If anyone dares to mess up the chain of command!"

"I will personally throw him off these Kunlun Mountains!"

His words were full of murderous intent!

Filled with the iron blood and ferocity characteristic of military factories!

...The entire Kunlun Mountain Underground Base.

Everyone involved in the "Kuafu" Project.

Was insane!

Was driven to madness!

They were like a pack of wolves driven to desperation!

For victory!

For dignity!

For that seemingly impossible "three-month" military pledge!

They completely burned up all their life and soul!

Yet, as the initiator of all this.

Lu Chen had instead become the most "leisurely" person.

He merely appeared in the various laboratories at fixed times every day.

Solving some advanced problems that even heavenly craft could not resolve.

Then he would return to his main control room.

Quietly watching the project progress bars on the light screen, which, though advancing slowly, were moving forward steadfastly.

There wasn't the slightest ripple of emotion on his face.

As if everything was under his control.

"Master."

heavenly craft's ethereal virtual figure slowly materialized beside him.

Looking at Lu Chen's calm face, a hint of humanized worry flashed in her wise eyes.

"You seem... not worried at all?"

"Why should I be worried?" Lu Chen asked calmly in return.

"But..." heavenly craft pointed to a blood-red module on the screen whose progress was clearly lagging behind the others.

"The development of the 'Light Source System' has hit a bottleneck."

"Elder Qian and the team in charge of this project have failed thirty-seven times in a row."

"At this rate..."

"We might not be able to complete the task within three months."

"Is that so?"

Lu Chen smiled.

He picked up the teacup beside him and took a small sip.

Then, under heavenly craft's confused gaze.

He slowly spoke a sentence that nearly caused her super-brain, composed of infinite data, to crash on the spot.

"Who told you..."

"I actually needed them to complete the task within three months?"