15: Chapter 15 Super Technology Base

"When have I ever lied to you?"

Gao Yuan said, looking at Zhang Baiyi.

"Back then, you told me that if I worked with you, we'd definitely make big money. And then? We went bankrupt and closed down!"

Gao Yuan felt a bit awkward. "It's normal for accidents to happen during the startup process. Aren't we starting over again now? This time... we have no reason to fail..."

Zhang Baiyi still didn't believe him. They didn't even have the money to register a company; what a joke!

Gao Yuan decided to let him see for himself...

"Come with me to the backyard!"

Zhang Baiyi followed Gao Yuan to the backyard.

"Old Gao, what are you playing at?"

"Is there some secret in this backyard?"

As Zhang Baiyi spoke, he saw several things resembling printing presses stacked there.

"Holy crap... what is this? When was it moved here?"

"I told you I have a secret base and a team. This is a Photolithography Machine!"

Zhang Baiyi's eyes widened. He walked over and touched the Photolithography Machine. "Stop kidding me. I've seen KML's Photolithography Machines; they're huge, bigger than a room. Why is yours so small?"

"Because it's overly advanced, of course..."

"This thing is the 'Flower of the World's Optical Industry'? The Photolithography Machine that some scientists claim is harder to build than a hydrogen bomb?"

"You don't believe me? Go wait in the house; I'm going to call some people over..."

"Call people for what? It's not like we're fighting..."

Zhang Baiyi grumbled but obediently went into the house...

Gao Yuan flashed through the Space-Time Gate and beckoned ten research robots over. These robots were all dressed like high-end scientists... Gao Yuan had Li Qingmei send over the silicon wafers, then had the robots take some and return to the real world.

"Old Zhang... come out!"

Zhang Baiyi walked out and saw the ten research robots... he was completely dumbfounded.

"Where did they come from?"

"Let me introduce you. This is our research team's Chief Technology Officer, named... Jia Yi. This is his assistant, Jia Er! They are the ones researching Photolithography Machines... Now, they'll give a demonstration! These silicon wafers were also extracted by them using a new refining method; the purity can reach 100%!"

Zhang Baiyi looked at the two machines. "They aren't biological brothers, are they? Although they don't look alike, their vibe is too similar! Even their names are similar!"

Gao Yuan smiled. That was because he didn't know the names of the other robots: Jia San, Jia Si, Jia Wu... all the way to Jia Yiqian!

"You know that behind Muza is Daqing Mountain, and my house is in the last row of Muza. Actually, our basement leads to a base in Daqing Mountain... these people research there, they just don't like meeting strangers! That basement, because it's overly advanced, doesn't allow anyone inside—not even me..."

Zhang Baiyi looked at the door Gao Yuan was pointing at. "Are you sure that's a basement and not your family's old abandoned cellar?"

Gao Yuan was a bit embarrassed but could only stick to his story...

"Old Zhang, ever heard of a cover-up? After all, we're engaged in a high-tech industry..."

"Alright, stop obsessing over it. Cellar, basement—isn't it the same thing? Now, let them demonstrate to you how chips are produced..."

"You can produce chips?"

Zhang Baiyi asked.

"Of course... the hardest parts of a chip are the Photolithography Machine and the silicon wafers, followed by chip design. Jia Yi's team has even handled the Photolithography Machine; isn't chip design a piece of cake?"

As he spoke, Gao Yuan instructed Jia Yi, Jia Er, and the others to begin the demonstration...

Next, Zhang Baiyi witnessed the most incredible scene.

In an old courtyard in a mountain village in an underdeveloped province in central Xia, a group of scientists produced the world's top chips...

Zhang Baiyi held a chip. "Old Gao, you're amazing... let's just sell chips!"

Gao Yuan shook his head. Sell chips? If needed in the future, they would, but for now, selling chips couldn't bring in money as fast as selling Photolithography Machines!

"No, we're selling Photolithography Machines..."

"Why?"

"Selling chips has a long cycle. We urgently need a sum of capital to build a super tech base! Moreover, the chip market is huge, and our foundation is too shallow. We need to pull in a partner with enough weight..." Gao Yuan said!

"So, you chose Xiawei?"

"Of course. Selling Photolithography Machines doesn't actually affect us. Our silicon wafers and chip designs are our true trump cards. Besides, we're only selling 3nm Photolithography Machines; we won't sell the more advanced ones!"

"You have even more advanced ones?"

Zhang Baiyi was already numb!

"Of course. In fact, if necessary, we could render silicon-based chips obsolete..."

"Old Zhang, please, act like a human! Bragging doesn't cost a dime, does it..."

Zhang Baiyi didn't believe it at all!

Gao Yuan smiled and didn't speak. In the Future World, silicon-based chips were indeed already obsolete.

In the future, carbon-based chips were the mainstream, but the carbon-based chips of the Future World were completely different from those in the real world...

The so-called carbon-based chips in the real world were graphene, using carbon nanotubes to make transistors. If mass-produced in the future, their efficiency would be much higher than silicon-based chips. However, the carbon-based chips of the Future World had three stages. The first stage was carbon nanotube materials...

The real world had already stepped through that threshold!

The second stage was the carbon-oxygen active smart chip... this was the beginning of the true era of intelligence.

The so-called artificial intelligence in the real world was actually just the comprehensive use of big data. In the Future World, true artificial intelligence only existed after the advent of carbon-oxygen active chips...

The third stage was the organic carbon chip, also called a 'bio-chip.' Bio-chips truly brought machines to a point where they were almost indistinguishable from real humans...

The robots currently in wide use actually adopted 'bio-chips'!

Robots equipped with bio-chips could learn proactively, guess their owner's thoughts, and even sense their owner's emotions. They could get angry and even conduct independent research and development...

However, 'bio-chips' were not omnipotent. Because they were too advanced, they were unsuitable for certain situations...

For example, on toys, there was no need for that much intelligence...

So currently, in the Future World, big data chips, semi-intelligent chips, and bio-chips coexisted.

Big data chips included silicon-based chips and graphene chips. Due to the low cost of silicon-based chips, they were still clinging to life and hadn't been completely phased out...

At this time, Zhang Baiyi asked.

"Old Gao, what's our main business?"

"Mobile phones!"

"You want to make phones?"

Zhang Baiyi looked confused. The mobile phone business had already been divided up by several major manufacturers. Wasn't it a bit late to make phones now? All kinds of phone manufacturers were moving into electric vehicles; for Gao Yuan to enter the phone market now, wasn't he just following in others' dust?

"Old Gao, are you serious?"

"Of course! My team is developing a new type of smart device that can achieve 3D virtual imaging. For example, when you're on a call, it feels like the other person is standing right in front of you!"

Zhang Baiyi was stunned for a long while. If that were the case, there was indeed something to be done...

"Any progress?"

"Of course. In a few days, the first batch of products will be manufactured. I have a base in Daqing Mountain; the Photolithography Machines were manufactured there!"

"I see. Old Gao, I was saying that even if you went bankrupt, you could have found a place to work. Why did you have to come back and hunker down in this backwater? So you set up a secret base here! Is the production cost for this thing high?"

"Not high..."

"Then it'll be easy. We'll just join the major e-commerce platforms and start selling..."

Gao Yuan shook his head. "Old Zhang, I'm afraid you'll need to go back to your old trade. First, make a plan. Our phones are revolutionary; we need to form a complete ecosystem in the future. Joining e-commerce platforms will inevitably lead to restrictions... So, we have to do it ourselves, promoting both online and offline..."

"Easy! The key is funding... Old Gao, I'll contact Xiawei right away!"

Zhang Baiyi dialed the number of Li Qingquan, the deputy director of Xiawei's research department!

"Quan'er, it's me, Zhang Baiyi! I've got something good here..."

"Right, right, don't tell anyone. Come to Linzhou! I'll send you the location! Yes, it's important... very important. It'll definitely be of huge benefit to you guys!"

"The sooner the better!"

...

At Xiawei's headquarters in Qinjing, Li Qingquan was full of doubt. He knew Zhang Baiyi too well; he knew that although he usually spoke nonsense, he never faltered in important matters...

This was also why Li Qingquan had invited Zhang Baiyi to join Xiawei before. Receiving Zhang Baiyi's call this time, he didn't hesitate and immediately booked a ticket...

He flew to Linzhou that very night...

Upon arriving in Linzhou, he rented a car and headed straight for Linhai Muza.

At ten o'clock that night, Gao Yuan and Zhang Baiyi had been busy all day and were ready to sleep.

There was a sound outside, and soon Zhang Baiyi's phone rang.