Chapter 58 Industrial Gold in the Soil

Although Lao Zheng was full of suspicion, that 12,000 RPM motor was still sitting on his office desk.

He didn't waste words and directly allocated the oldest laboratory in the factory.

For the next three days, this most remote red-brick house in the 702 Factory was brightly lit day and night.

Lin Xi hardly closed his eyes.

This was indeed "crude-method alchemy."

No Jet Mills from 2025, no highly automated isostatic presses.

Even the most basic inert gas protection environment was hard to put together.

The first batch was ruined.

When the furnace was opened, the magnet that should have taken shape had turned into a pile of black powder that crumbled at the slightest touch.

"Oxidized."

Lao Zheng looked at that tray of waste and shook his head.

His tone carried a hint of "I knew this would happen" regret.

"Manager Lin, rare earth elements are too active. Under such crude conditions, there's simply no way to sinter them."

"If there are no conditions, then create them."

Lin Xi, eyes bloodshot, stared at that pile of powder.

In the livestream room, the Expert Group was frantically spamming the chat.

[Materials Master: Oxygen content exceeds the limit! You must vacuum it! Or fill it with argon for protection!]

[Physics Class Representative: You can't get high-purity argon under current conditions. Use a vacuum pump! Modify that Diffusion Pump!]

Lin Xi rolled his sleeves up to his elbows and grabbed a wrench:

"Factory Director Lao, get that scrapped Vacuum Tube Air Extractor from our factory. I want to modify it into a Bipolar Vacuum Pump."

Lao Zheng froze for a moment: "That thing leaks air..."

"If it leaks, block it with sealant! Seal it with asphalt!"

Lin Xi gritted his teeth, looking like a gambler who had lost everything.

"If I can't burn something out today, I'll live in this furnace!"

That kind of madness made Lao Zheng, an old man who had spent his life in technology, feel alarmed.

Another twenty-four hours passed.

Which was the seventh day since Lin Xi went into seclusion.

3:00 AM.

The laboratory was terrifyingly quiet, with only the "thump-thump-thump" of the exhausted vacuum pump's noise.

The thermometer needle pointed firmly at 1,050 degrees Celsius.

"Cooling complete," Wang Yu reported in a raspy voice, his hair looking like a bird's nest.

Lin Xi took a deep breath and placed his hand on the furnace door handle.

It was a heavy cast-iron door.

"Open!"

With a dull thud, the furnace door opened.

A blast of scorching heat mixed with a metallic smell rushed toward them.

The material tray was carefully pushed out.

No powder, no cracking.

Twelve silver-gray, brick-like rectangular solids lay quietly in the Graphite Boat.

Their surfaces weren't smooth; they were even a bit rough.

They were neither the black of iron nor the brightness of silver.

It was a deep gray.

Lao Zheng leaned in, adjusting his glasses which were thicker than beer bottle bottoms, feeling curious:

"Is this the... treasure you wanted?"

"It looks no different from a lump of pig iron."

As he spoke, he casually picked up a large pair of iron pliers from the workbench, wanting to grab a piece to check its quality.

"Don't move!"

Lin Xi's shout hadn't even landed yet.

"CLANG!!!"

A loud crash made the glass in the laboratory windows buzz.

Those large iron pliers, weighing at least two pounds.

When they were still over ten centimeters away from the magnet, they were suddenly yanked over as if by an invisible giant hand.

The speed was too fast for the naked eye to see clearly.

They slammed heavily onto the silver-gray magnet.

"Ouch—!!"

Immediately followed by a scream from Lao Zheng.

The pliers were stuck firmly to the magnet, and Lao Zheng's thumb tip unfortunately became the buffer between the pliers and the magnet.

That suction wasn't the gentle "adhesion" of ordinary magnets.

It was a bite.

It was a predator's fatal blow to its prey.

"Quick! Quick, get it off!"

Lao Zheng's features twisted in pain, cold sweat instantly broke out on his forehead, and he desperately tried to pull his hand back.

But the pliers were like they had grown onto a rock, not moving an inch.

Wang Dapao and Wang Yu were startled and rushed over to help.

Two people, plus Lao Zheng himself—three people pulled together with all their might.

"One, two, three!"

"Bang!"

The pliers were finally forced off, and the huge reaction force sent the three of them falling onto their backsides.

Ignoring the pain in his rear, Lao Zheng hurriedly held his finger and blew on it.

A bruise quickly formed under his fingernail.

But he didn't curse.

He didn't care about the pain.

His eyes were wide as he stared intently at the silver-gray block still lying quietly in the tray.

Despite such a heavy impact just now, not even a corner of it had chipped off.

"What... what the hell kind of strength is this?"

Lao Zheng scrambled up shiveringly, and regardless of whether his hand hurt, he grabbed a screwdriver and threw it from a distance.

"Clang!"

The screwdriver traced a bizarre arc in the air and was instantly captured, pinned firmly to the surface of the magnet.

Then came iron nails, washers, and even iron filings from the edge of the workbench.

Those tiny iron filings automatically arranged themselves around the magnet, standing upright one by one.

They outlined the violent magnetic field lines invisible to the naked eye.

Beautiful.

An industrial miracle full of violent aesthetics.

The livestream room was dead silent, then the bullet comments exploded.

[Physics Department Top Student: neodymium iron boron! This is the first generation of neodymium iron boron! Its Magnetic Energy Product is ten times that of Ferrite!]

[Military Industry Rabbit: Looking at the old Factory Director's finger, I feel the pain through the screen, but this thing is too awesome!]

[History Witness: Sumitomo Special Metals didn't announce the formula until 1982. The Streamer has moved the timeline forward by two years! This is a total intercept!]

Lin Xi walked over, found a thick wooden board, and with great effort, pried the pliers off.

He picked up the heavy magnet and held it in front of Lao Zheng.

"Factory Director Lao, this piece is called neodymium iron boron."

"It is currently the... Magnet King of this planet."

Lao Zheng ignored the piercing pain in his finger and used his remaining good fingers to tremblingly take the "Magnet King."

He felt it.

The terrifying power contained within such a small volume.

If this was used for a rotor, the motor's size could be halved while the power could be doubled!

"Manager Lin..." Lao Zheng's voice was wavering.

"Is this thing... really just for making razors?"

Lin Xi smiled.

He pointed out the window toward the Northwest Base, and toward certain classified units deep in the mountains.

"Factory Director Lao, you come from a military industry background."

"If this thing is used in a missile's actuator, how much faster would the missile's reaction speed be?"

"If it's used in a submarine's propulsion motor, how much could the volume be reduced?"

"If it's used in a fighter jet's radar, how much could the scanning distance increase?"

With every question Lin Xi asked, Lao Zheng's face flushed a shade redder.

Until finally, this old man who had spent his life on motors was breathing heavily.

He suddenly looked up, the contempt he previously had for a nouveau riche long since vanished.

It was replaced by a near-fanatical worship, and even a hint of fear.