Chapter 137 The Backbone of a Great Nation! Red Star, Pillar of Strength!

The feed rate slowed down instantly, turning into a crawl of a few millimeters per minute.

At this very moment, in the microscopic world invisible to ordinary people, a "battle" invisible to the naked eye was unfolding.

In Lin Xi's live stream, the viewers also held their breath.

【Did you see that! The spindle just had a micron-level thermal drift trend!】

【Holy crap, it was pulled back! That's the chip calculating like crazy!】

【This is what "software-defined hardware" is! Using mathematics to crush physical errors into the ground!】

【It's getting heated! This is way more intense than Boruto!】

In the actual workshop, everyone was watching that tool.

The tip of the tool glided across the surface of the steel, leaving no tool marks, only a mirror-like finish as smooth as spilled mercury.

Cold sweat trickled down Zhang Zhengguo's forehead.

It flowed into his eyes, stinging painfully.

But he didn't even dare to blink, afraid of missing a single detail.

There was only that faint cutting sound.

One beat, another beat.

It sounded like it was knocking on everyone's heart.

"Retract tool."

When Lin Xi's voice rang out, everyone felt as if they had surfaced from the deep sea, taking a deep, desperate breath of oxygen.

The spindle slowly stopped.

The oil cooling system washed over it, carrying away the last of the shavings.

Revealed before everyone was a lead screw, gleaming with a cold, sharp light, its threaded grooves as smooth as a mirror.

It lay on the chuck, reflecting the fluorescent lights on the workshop ceiling; the glare was almost blinding.

"Measure."

Elder Qian said only one word.

Li Jianguo used a specially made purple copper hook to carefully remove the workpiece.

He placed it into a constant-temperature box to rest for 10 minutes.

Afterward, the workpiece was sent to the "inspection instrument" nearby.

The operator mounted the lead screw between the centers and started the measurement program.

The ruby probe on the measuring head gently pressed against the thread raceway. As the lead screw rotated, the needle of the high-precision dial indicator nearby began to sway slightly.

Zhang Zhengguo leaned in, his eyes wide as copper bells.

Lin Xi stood where he was, hands in his pockets, his expression calm.

Not acting cool.

It was simply because the live stream comments had already spoiled the result for him.

The amplitude of the needle's movement was tiny, never crossing the red graduation line on the dial—that was the 0.003 mm limit.

Dead silence.

Zhang Zhengguo looked at the data, his lips trembling.

He wanted to say something, but found his throat was too hoarse.

He turned his head abruptly and looked at the experts who were equally stunned, his eyes conveying only one sentence:

"See that? We made it!"

Li Jianguo turned his back and quietly wiped his face.

For this one micron, his generation had been held by the throat by foreigners for decades.

Today, that hold was broken.

Lin Xi walked up to Elder Qian and straightened his back.

He gave a solemn salute.

"Reporting, Chief."

"Prototype, testing complete."

"300mm lead error: 2.8 microns."

"Meets C0-grade ball screw requirements."

"Please instruct."

Elder Qian looked at the excessively young face before him, then looked at the black machine tool.

The old man reached out the hands that had calculated countless ballistic trajectories and gently stroked the cold machine bed.

The granite was cold, the iron was cold.

But the old man's hands were hot, burning hot.

"Good... very good."

Elder Qian's voice was slightly hoarse, carrying a trace of imperceptible trembling.

"Outside, there is the blockade of storms; inside, there are industrial shortcomings."

"This machine didn't use a single screw from the foreigners, nor a single line of code from them."

"It is just like this stone: let the winds blow from any direction, I remain unmoved."

The old man turned around, his gaze sweeping across the room, his voice suddenly rising:

"It is the backbone of our industry."

"In my opinion, let's call it 'Mainstay'."

"red star - mainstay."

A pillar in the middle of the stream, turning the tide.

Whoosh—!

Who knows who started it in the workshop, but applause erupted like a bursting flood.

The applause was mixed with weeping and shouting, making the workshop glass hum.

Zhao Qiang and Chen Xiaodong, ignoring all rules, hugged each other, jumping and shouting.

Zhao Qiang was still clutching his notebook, waving it excitedly.

In the corner, He Zhenhua leaned against the wall, his body slowly sliding down.

This precision machinery expert, who had once been driven to the brink of collapse by phantom limb pain,

Was now staring fixedly at the cold-gleaming lead screw.

He reached out his gloved right hand, wanting to grasp at the air.

But pulled it back as if electrocuted.

He didn't dare touch it.

Afraid that body heat would affect the precision, afraid that his breath would stir up dust.

He could only bury his face in his knees, his shoulders shaking violently.

His goggles were instantly covered in a layer of white frost from the mist.

That was the steam turned from tears suppressed for half a lifetime.

For this 1-micron precision, this generation had bent their spines.

Today, they were finally straight.

"Stop crying!"

"Hold those tears back!"

Li Jianguo's scolding voice rang out, but it was thick with obvious choking.

The old man sniffled hard through his mask.

He carefully took out the stainless steel flask from his chest—

That was the gift he gave to Klaus, specifically brought with him today.

He didn't unscrew the cap.

In a constant-temperature workshop, alcohol evaporation is a huge taboo.

He just held the tightly sealed flask high.

Toward the black machine tool.

As if raising a trophy, or performing a silent memorial.

"Old friend..."

Li Jianguo, through his mask, spoke softly to the granite base that had slept for 500 million years.

"Five hundred million years..."

"You slept underground for five hundred million years."

"Today, we men have consecrated you."

"I'm saving this drink for you."

"When we get out of this door, I'll drink with you until we're satisfied!"

In the live stream, the comments had gone completely wild.

【I'm tearing up, brothers! This is red star - mainstay!】

【The moment it was cutting, I felt like it was cutting the throat of the Western powers!】

【The moment Master raised the flask, I felt like I saw the totem of the older generation of workers.】

【Named by Elder Qian! This level of honor is unbeatable!】

【From now on, whatever precision we want, we have! This is a great weapon of the nation!】

Lin Xi stood there, hands in the pockets of his anti-static suit.

Through his goggles, he saw those tear-filled eyes.

They were medals hotter than any words.

...

One hour later, in the small conference room of Red Star Technology.

There were only Lin Xi, Zhang Zhengguo, and Elder Qian in the room.

Elder Qian took a sealed document bag from his briefcase.

On the document bag were two bright red characters—【Top Secret】.

"Lin Xi, do you know why I was in such a hurry to have you develop high-precision machining capabilities within two months?"

Elder Qian's voice was very soft, yet it struck Lin Xi's heart like a heavy hammer.

Lin Xi put away his smile and stood at attention: "Is it for the new model of missile?"

Elder Qian shook his head, slowly unfolding the document, his gaze cast toward the vast starry sky above.

"Missiles are just for protecting the home; what we need to do is look to the sky."

Elder Qian handed the document to Lin Xi, his tone becoming exceptionally solemn:

"At the end of September, the nation has a special launch mission."

"One rocket, three satellites; we need to achieve high-precision separation at the millisecond level in space."

"However, the manufacturer originally responsible for making the separation hook lock..."

"Due to unexpected circumstances, their production capacity is insufficient, and they can't finish it in time."

"If this problem cannot be solved, this launch mission will have to be postponed, or even canceled."

Elder Qian turned around, staring at Lin Xi with a burning gaze.

"That is a critical battle for us to prove China's aerospace strength to the world; we absolutely cannot lose."

"Lin Xi, you have already obtained that 'ticket to enter'."

"Now, the nation wants to entrust this 'lock' to you."

"Tell me, can you build it?"

Lin Xi took the heavy document.

His fingertips touched the rough paper, yet it felt as if he were touching the pulse of history.

He looked up, no hesitation in his eyes, only a burning wild fire.

"Yes!"