71: Can't manufacture the core components? Not a chance! I have a new idea!

When Su Qingying's cry of “I'll die with you,” filled with determination and tragedy, clearly echoed in the tense corridor,

Lu Chen, who was about to step into the laboratory entrance, paused slightly.

He did not look back.

He merely curved his lips into a gentle arc that even he hadn't noticed.

Then, resolutely, he walked into that dangerous place, which in Su Qingying's eyes was like 'hell'!

...Level A Core Laboratory of the Optical Experiment Center.

This was the highest security area in the entire Kunlun Mountain Base!

Without exception!

The walls were made of special alloy, three meters thick!

It was enough to withstand a direct hit from a conventional missile!

Yet, at this moment,

in this laboratory, which resembled a steel fortress, the atmosphere was so oppressive it felt like water could drip from it!

Old Qian and the group of Xia Nation's top optical experts under him were all pale, gathered around a huge instrument filled with a sense of future technology.

That was the prototype of the Supercritical Carbon Dioxide-Laser Plasma Light Source System, personally designed by heavenly craft and built by Academician Li Zhenbang.

And in the center of the prototype, inside the vacuum target chamber made of the highest quality quartz glass,

it was a mess!

Countless metal fragments, smaller than dust, were scattered everywhere.

They emitted the scorched smell of failure.

"It failed again..."

A young Doctoral Student's legs gave out, and he collapsed onto the ground.

His face was etched with despair!

"This is the seventy-second time we've failed this week!"

"It's no good! It simply won't work!"

"The Ultra-High Frequency Electromagnetic Pulse Ignition Scheme fundamentally cannot precisely control the energy output of the plasma!"

"Every time we ignite, the energy instantly goes out of control, causing the tin target to collapse prematurely!"

"This direction is wrong! It's a dead end!"

His desperate wail instantly ignited the negative emotions that had already accumulated to their limit in the hearts of all the researchers present!

"That's right! Old Qian! We can't keep trying like this!"

"Every failure consumes special materials worth tens of millions!"

"We've almost burned through the entire project team's budget!"

"And the most critical factor is time! Time is running out!"

"There is only one month left until the 'three-month' Military Pledge set by Academician Lu!"

"One month! We can't even sort out the light source system! How can we talk about building the complete unit?!"

"We... we are doomed to lose."

A cold plague named "Despair"

was spreading wildly throughout the laboratory!

It was almost enough to completely crush the already fragile will of everyone present!

Even Old Qian, the optical maestro always known for his 'iron fist',

now had deep fatigue and helplessness written across his wrinkled old face.

He looked at the pile of expensive "scrap metal" before him.

For the first time, his cloudy old eyes revealed self-doubt.

Could it be... could it be that he was truly old?

Could it be that he had truly failed Academician Lu's heavy trust?

Just as the entire team was about to be swallowed by the abyss of despair,

a calm voice, devoid of any fluctuation, suddenly sounded from the laboratory doorway.

"Who said... we are doomed to lose?"

Everyone subconsciously turned their heads!

They saw.

The young man whom they regarded as a "god"

was leaning calmly against the doorway.

There was no trace of anxiety or anger on his face.

Only a sense of composure, as if everything was under control.

"Academician... Academician Lu!"

When Old Qian saw him, his old face, covered in fatigue and guilt, instantly flushed red!

He lowered his head like a child who had done something wrong, saying hoarsely:

"I'm sorry..."

"We... we have disgraced you..."

"Disgraced me?"

Lu Chen smiled.

He walked in slowly, scanning the faces filled with dejection and despair.

He said lightly:

"In my opinion,"

"not only have you not disgraced me,"

"but rather..."

"You've done very well."

"Huh?!"

Everyone was stunned!

We messed up a project worth billions!

And you say we did well?!

Academician Lu... are you being sarcastic?

"I am not being sarcastic."

Lu Chen seemed to read their minds and shook his head.

He walked up to the scrapped prototype and pointed at the chaotic vacuum target chamber.

"You used seventy-two failures"

"to prove one thing to me."

"That is..."

"the path of the Ultra-High Frequency Electromagnetic Pulse Ignition Scheme is a dead end."

"That itself is a huge success!"

His words, full of 'philosophical speculation,' instantly left all the research staff present dumbfounded!

Failure... is also success?!

What the hell kind of divine logic is this?!

"But..." Old Qian said bitterly, "Even if we proved this path is wrong,"

"where is the right path?"

"We don't have time to slowly test and fail anymore!"

"Who says... we don't have time?"

Lu Chen smiled.

He looked at Old Qian's despairing face, which spoke of 'the end of the road,' and slowly uttered a sentence that struck him and everyone present like lightning!

"Who said..."

"we must use an 'Electromagnetic Pulse' for ignition?"

"Huh?!"

Old Qian abruptly looked up!

His cloudy old eyes were filled with shock and disbelief!

Not use an Electromagnetic Pulse?!

Then what should they use?!

This was the only theoretically feasible scheme derived by heavenly craft after hundreds of millions of supercomputer simulations!

Could it be... a terrifying, chilling thought instantly surfaced!

Could it be that even heavenly craft... calculated incorrectly?!

"No, heavenly craft did not calculate incorrectly."

Lu Chen read his mind again and shook his head.

"Under the existing technological framework,"

"it indeed provided the only optimal solution."

"But..."

The corner of his mouth curved into a mysterious and subversive smile!

"Who stipulated..."

"that we must operate within the existing technological framework?"

He turned around and looked at the huge, blank holographic screen behind him.

He extended his finger and tapped lightly in the air.

The next second!

A brand new, incredible design blueprint, full of violent aesthetics and mysterious aura,

instantly appeared before everyone!

It was a ring-shaped device with streamlined beauty!

Its interior was densely packed with the mysterious Energy Coils that Lu Chen had previously used in the Anti-gravity Engine!

And right in its center!

Was a bizarre Energy Core composed of countless complex Force Field Generators!

"This... what is this?!"

Old Qian pointed at the blueprint, whose components he couldn't understand even one of, his voice trembling!

"Is this also... an ignition device?!"

"No."

Lu Chen shook his head, a hint of disdain appearing on his face.

"'Ignition' is too low-brow of a term.

"It doesn't match my brand new creation."

"I call it..."

He looked at the Old Academicians, who were completely petrified, and stated clearly, word by word:

"'Energy'..."

"'Constrictor'."

"Its function is very simple."

"It is, in that one ten-thousandth of a second!"

"To create an absolutely stable, miniature..."

"Artificial Black Hole around that tiny tin droplet!"

"And then..."

"Use the terrifying energy burst from the black hole's 'Singularity'—energy powerful enough to tear apart space-time—"

"to cause the plasma..."

"to detonate!"