210: Chapter 211 Is the Singularity Production Line Going to Shut Down?

Three days after the supply chain blockade, the sky over Jiangcheng turned gloomy again, with a cold, drizzling rain tapping against the tempered glass of the Singularity Technology production base, as if accompanying this crisis on the verge of eruption.

In the production workshop, half of the originally roaring assembly lines had stopped. Workers stood in twos and threes by the operating consoles, their faces full of anxiety—the inventory of core components was critically low, and even the most critical AI medical equipment production line had only three days of materials left.

Zhou Yurou, dressed in blue work clothes, walked briskly through the workshop. On the tablet in her hand, the red "Inventory Warning" text was glaringly obvious.

"Qualcomm's in-transit chip shipment has been detained!" Her voice carried a hint of urgency as she shouted to the head of the procurement department on the other end of the phone, "They detained the 50,000 chips we ordered at their warehouse in the Port of San Francisco, citing a 'patent infringement investigation.' That's enough to maintain 15 days of production!"

Hanging up the phone, Zhou Yurou leaned wearily against the operating console.

The originally projected one-month inventory now only had 20 days of supply left because some suppliers had detained in-transit goods and core component losses exceeded expectations—among them, the sensor inventory for AI medical equipment could last at most 10 days, and the core control modules for the Star Core Engine were only enough to produce 50 units, far below the demand of overseas orders.

In the conference room of the production base, an emergency meeting was underway.

Several executives looked grim. President Zhang, who was in charge of overseas sales, spoke first, his tone filled with anxiety: "President Zhou, the client for the 100 Star Core Engine orders in Europe has already urged us three times. If we cannot confirm the delivery time, they will cancel the order and turn to cooperate with Musk's SpaceX!"

"And there are the orders from domestic Grade A tertiary hospitals," added President Li, who was in charge of domestic business. "Three hospitals have already sent an 'ultimatum.' If we cannot deliver 500 sets of AI medical equipment within 15 days, they will terminate the long-term cooperation agreement and switch to Siemens products."

What was even more headache-inducing was the wavering from within. A veteran executive hesitated and said: "President Zhang, why don't we... talk to Tianming Group? Isn't their goal just the core technology? We can offer some non-core patents in exchange for the restoration of the supply chain..."

"No!" Zhou Yurou immediately retorted, "Tianming Group is insatiable. If we compromise this time, they will want more next time, and in the end, it will only lead to our doom! Furthermore, President Zhang has said long ago that core technology is our lifeline and must never be given to others!"

The conference room fell into silence, and everyone's gaze turned to Zhang Fan on the video call.

He was sitting in the headquarters office with the gloomy rain outside the floor-to-ceiling windows in the background, yet there was not a trace of panic on his face. His tone was steady: "Negotiation is absolutely impossible. What Tianming wants is not just some patents; they want to completely crush us and seize the brave peace and health formula and the Photon Chip technology. Once we compromise, we will never have a chance to turn things around."

He paused and continued: "I have already made arrangements for the inventory issue. First, prioritize the production of medical equipment. The Star Core Engine orders will be temporarily postponed. President Song will be responsible for communicating with the clients. While paying liquidated damages, promise that 'the new generation Star Core Engine's performance will be improved by 30%, and an additional 3-year warranty will be given for delayed delivery' to stabilize core clients."

"Second, regarding the negotiation with domestic alternative suppliers, I have personally connected with the heads of Huawei HiSilicon and SMIC. They agreed to prioritize supplying us with alternative chips. Although the performance is slightly lower than Qualcomm's, after optimization by the technical team, it can fully meet the needs of medical equipment. The first batch of chips will arrive in 3 days, enough to get us through the emergency period."

"Third, the progress of the autonomous supply chain must be accelerated." Zhang Fan's gaze turned to Zhou Yurou, "I have already asked the Germany headquarters to send more technical personnel to the Photon Chip mass production line at Rhine Photonics. The monthly production capacity will increase from 100,000 to 150,000 units, and it will be able to mass-produce in 5 days. The self-developed sensor production line will complete its final round of debugging this afternoon and officially start production tomorrow, with an initial capacity of 1,000 units per day, which will be gradually increased later."

Hearing these arrangements, the anxiety in the conference room gradually eased. The veteran executive who proposed the negotiation looked ashamed: "President Zhang, I was too eager for quick success. I didn't expect you to have already made preparations."

"In the face of a crisis, panic cannot solve problems." Zhang Fan's tone was calm but carried an unquestionable power, "We had long anticipated that Tianming would carry out a supply chain blockade, so we have been laying out an autonomous supply chain for the past few years. The acquisition of Rhine Photonics and the research and development of autonomous sensors were all for this day. Now, it is time to let these preparations play their part."

Just then, Song Zhiwei's call came in, her voice filled with a hint of anger: "Boss, the Western media has started disparaging us again! Aivda CEO Mark Anderson publicly mocked us in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, saying, 'Without Western chips and sensors, Singularity Technology is just a pile of scrap metal and will go bankrupt in less than 3 months.' Forbes even published an article with the direct headline 'Supply Chain Blockade: The End of Singularity Technology'."

Zhang Fan sneered: "Let them laugh. We have already won the public opinion war once. No matter how much they disparage us this time, they cannot change the fact that our autonomous supply chain is about to be implemented. President Song, you are responsible for contacting domestic technology media to release news on 'Singularity's Autonomous Supply Chain Progress,' focusing on the mass production plans for Photon Chips and sensors, and use facts to break the 'bankruptcy' rumors."

"Understood! I have already asked the PR team to prepare the materials, and we will release them tonight!" Song Zhiwei replied.

After the meeting ended, Zhou Yurou immediately took the technical team to the sensor production workshop to supervise the final debugging work. In the workshop, engineers were nervously testing the equipment, and the data on the screens was gradually stabilizing. When the text "Pass Rate 98.5%" appeared, a long-suppressed cheer erupted in the workshop.

"Success! The pass rate of the autonomous sensors has reached expectations!" Engineer Xiao Li shouted excitedly, "After officially starting production tomorrow, the daily capacity of 1,000 sets will fully meet the needs of medical equipment!"

Zhou Yurou looked at the running production line, and the stone hanging in her heart finally dropped halfway. She took out her phone and sent a message to Zhang Fan: "The sensor production line debugging was successful, and production will start tomorrow. News from Rhine Photonics says the Photon Chip mass production line has accelerated, and the first batch of 100,000 chips will arrive in 3 days."

When Zhang Fan received the message, he was reviewing intelligence sent by Gu Jingshen—Tianming Group had already detected their autonomous supply chain plan and was trying to contact the former shareholders of Germany's Rhine Photonics, wanting to sabotage the progress of the mass production line. "Want to stop us? It's not that easy." Zhang Fan whispered to himself and immediately replied to Gu Jingshen: "Send people to protect the technical team at Rhine Photonics, monitor the movements of the former shareholders closely, and take immediate action if there is any anomaly."

The night grew deeper and the rain was still falling, but inside the Singularity Technology production base, lamps of hope lit up one after another. The lights of the autonomous sensor production line did not go out all night as engineers made final preparations; in the overseas Rhine Photonics factory, the technical team was working overtime to debug equipment to ensure the Photon Chips would be mass-produced on time.

Zhang Fan stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, looking at the lights of the production base, his eyes firm. He knew that the next 20 days would be the most difficult moment—inventory shortages, order pressure, external mockery, and Tianming's obstruction; any one of these would be enough to crush an ordinary company. But Singularity was not an ordinary company; they had a decade of technological accumulation, a united core team, and, more importantly, a belief that would never compromise.

"Tianming, do you think you can crush us by pulling the rug out from under us?" Zhang Fan said softly, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes, "You are wrong. This supply chain blockade will only make us achieve autonomous control faster and get rid of our dependence on the West faster. Before long, you will discover that you have personally created an even stronger opponent."

A life-and-death race surrounding the autonomous supply chain had entered its most critical stage. And Zhang Fan knew in his heart that the real counterattack had only just begun.