21: Chapter 21: If there's no water in three days, I'm out.

Time passed day by day.

Life in the desert could wear a person out completely.

At Chief Engineer Wang Heshan's main camp, the atmosphere grew increasingly heavy.

The giant drilling machine that everyone was counting on had been spinning for nearly a week, twenty-four hours a day without stopping.

Several drill bits had been ruined, and the mud mixed with coolant was piled up like a small mountain, but on the screen, the depth numbers kept jumping downward with no other movement.

One thousand meters... one thousand two hundred meters... one thousand five hundred meters...

It had long exceeded the depth of the "pressurized aquifer" originally calculated by the experts, yet the extracted rock cores were either dry sandstone or hard igneous rock, without even a hint of moisture.

Inside the command tent, the smell of smoke was choking.

Chief Engineer Wang Heshan had not slept properly for several days; his eyes were bloodshot, and his lips were chapped and peeling.

He stared at the real-time geological data, trying to extract a shadow of water from that pile of curves.

"Chief Engineer Sun Hai, how is it?" His voice was extremely hoarse.

The complexion of Chief Engineer Sun Hai was even worse than his.

He shook his head, his voice filled with an unfathomable exhaustion: "Chief Engineer Wang, something is wrong, something is very wrong. According to our radar model, we should have seen water at this depth long ago. But underneath, it's like it's been roasted dry, without any signs. This... this doesn't conform to geology."

"Theory? Theory!" Chief Engineer Wang Heshan slammed his hand on the table, making everyone in the tent jump.

"I don't want to hear any bullshit theories right now! I just want to know, where is the water!"

In his life, he had completed so many major projects—moving mountains, filling seas, cutting off rivers—when had he ever suffered such humiliation?

He had brought the best team in the country, used the best equipment, and declared he would conquer this dead land, only to find not a single drop of water.

It was embarrassing, truly embarrassing.

"Chief Engineer Wang, please don't be anxious..." An official in charge of logistics and budget approached cautiously with a report.

"That... the drilling costs have already tripled. The super-hard alloy drill bits brought from Russia are almost used up. Should we... stop for a moment and recalculate?"

These words struck a nerve with Chief Engineer Wang Heshan.

He snatched the report, looked at the string of numbers on it, and his hands began to tremble.

"Recalculate? How do we recalculate? Our plan was calculated using the most scientific data! Data doesn't lie!" He roared.

The tent was deathly quiet; no one dared to make a sound.

Just then, a young engineer, perhaps unable to bear the atmosphere any longer, mustered the courage to mutter softly: "That... Chief Engineer Wang, why not... go see Consultant Jiang? I heard that their foundation is already finished."

The voice was not loud, but in the dead silence of the tent, everyone heard it.

Everyone's gaze instantly converged on that young man.

Chief Engineer Wang Heshan's eyes turned red instantly.

He glared at the young man and asked word by word: "What did you say? Say it again?"

The young man was so scared his face turned pale, and he stammered in defense: "I... I meant nothing else, I just heard people say their progress is quite fast..."

"Fast? Can't it be fast when digging sand with shovels!" Chief Engineer Sun Hai scolded from the side.

"Can children playing house compare to our scientific drilling?"

"But we haven't dug up water, what if they..."

"Shut up!" Chief Engineer Wang Heshan kicked over a chair nearby, the loud noise making everyone shrink their necks.

A fire surged to the top of his head.

He, Chief Engineer Wang Heshan, the top name in Infrastructure Construction in the country, was actually being compared by his own subordinate to a twenty-year-old girl?

And they were implying he was inferior to someone engaged in feudal superstition?

His pride and authority of a lifetime were all trampled underfoot in this instant.

"Good... very good!" Chief Engineer Wang Heshan was trembling with anger.

He pointed at the drilling machine still sounding outside the tent and shouted at everyone: "Do you all think I'm old? Think that my methods don't work anymore? Do you all think that little girl can summon water from the sand by drawing a few talismans?"

No one dared to respond, but the expressions of many already spoke volumes.

People are just like this; when science hits a dead end, it is inevitable that they will harbor thoughts they shouldn't about those mystical things.

"I'm telling you!" Chief Engineer Wang Heshan pointed at his own nose, his voice becoming high and sharp due to excitement.

"I, Chief Engineer Wang Heshan, have spent my life doing engineering, believing in data, science, and that man can conquer nature! I have never believed in any ghosts or gods!"

He gasped for air, his chest heaving up and down.

"Keep drilling for me! Use all the remaining drill bits! I don't believe this ground is solid!"

He paused, scanned his subordinates with varied expressions in the tent, and made a ruthless decision.

"I'll put it this way today!"

"Three days! If this well doesn't see water within three days!"

"I, Chief Engineer Wang Heshan, will resign from the position of Chief Engineer of the 'Kuafu Project' on the spot! Whether this project succeeds or fails in the future will have nothing to do with me!"

"Not only that, for the rest of my life, I will never touch any engineering project again! I said it!"

These few sentences were like a thunderclap.

Everyone was stunned.

This was no longer a technical issue; this was Chief Engineer Wang Heshan betting his entire reputation and career on the gambling table!

He wanted to use this method to protect the science he had believed in his whole life, and to protect his face as a top-tier engineer.

"Chief Engineer Wang, you can't!"

"Old Wang, don't be impulsive!"

Chief Engineer Sun Hai and a few old colleagues rushed up to persuade him.

"Shut up, all of you!" Chief Engineer Wang Heshan pushed them away, roaring with red eyes.

"It's decided! Either I, Chief Engineer Wang Heshan, use science to dig up water and prove I'm right! Or I get out, and you all can follow that superstitious little girl and go worship the Dragon King in the desert!"

After roaring, he flipped open the curtain and walked out of the tent.

He stood alone under the giant drilling machine, letting the cold wind blow his graying hair.

The entire camp was deathly silent.

Everyone knew that this time, there was no turning back.