Chapter 238 New Challenges

October 27, 2038.

Two o'clock in the morning, offshore platform.

Chen Xueming was shaken awake.

He sat up in bed and felt the entire room tilting—it wasn't an illusion. The sound of waves outside the window was terrifyingly loud, like thousands of wild beasts roaring.

"Chief Chen!" a hurried voice came over the walkie-talkie. "The typhoon's path has changed! It was supposed to graze us, but now it's heading straight for us!"

Chen Xueming grabbed his clothes and rushed out the door.

In the corridor, workers were gathering in an emergency. Wind and rain poured in through the gaps in the doors that hadn't been closed tightly, carrying a salty, fishy sea scent. He ran to the command room, pushed open the door, and immediately saw the meteorological cloud map on the screen—that massive vortex was approaching the platform's coordinates at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"Where is the forecaster?" he shouted.

"Here!" a young technician ran over, his face pale. "Chief Chen, an hour ago it was still a glancing blow, but now it has suddenly turned. The center is expected to pass directly over the platform in two hours! The wind force is over level 12!"

Chen Xueming's mind went blank.

Two hours.

There were over three hundred workers on the platform, equipment worth over a billion, and the already poured anchor base.

"Activate the Level 1 emergency plan!" he grabbed the walkie-talkie. "Everyone put on life jackets, non-essential personnel evacuate to the bottom floor of the living quarters! Secure any equipment that can be secured, abandon what cannot!"

"Chief Chen, what about the anchor base—"

Chen Xueming gritted his teeth. "The base was poured with eight hundred tons of concrete; the typhoon can't lift it. But we must save the construction equipment!"

He rushed out the door, and the wind and rain soaked him instantly. Figures were running everywhere on the platform, and searchlights cast chaotic beams of light through the rain curtain. In the distance, the piling ship was frantically retracting its anchors, its hull heaving up and down with the giant waves, at risk of capsizing at any moment.

"Piling ship!" Chen Xueming shouted into the walkie-talkie. "Abandon ship! Everyone retreat to the platform!"

"Chief Chen, there's still equipment on the ship—"

"Forget the equipment! Get the people back first!"

There was a two-second silence on the walkie-talkie, then the captain's voice came through. "Understood."

Five minutes later, a dozen crew members struggled in the giant waves on a lifeboat, approaching the platform. Chen Xueming stood at the edge, working with the workers to pull them up one by one. As soon as the last crew member stepped onto the platform, the lifeboat behind them was overturned by a wave and vanished into the darkness instantly.

"Is everyone up?" Chen Xueming roared.

"Everyone is up!"

Before he could catch his breath, a loud bang came from behind him.

Everyone turned back—the containers stacked on the east side of the platform had been overturned by the waves, and a dozen boxes rolled into the sea, containing the construction materials needed for the next month.

Chen Xueming clenched his fists, his fingernails digging into his palms.

"Leave it! Everyone evacuate!"

Four o'clock in the morning, the center of the typhoon passed through.

Chen Xueming and the workers huddled in the bottom floor of the living quarters, listening to the howling wind outside. The entire structure was trembling, as if it could be torn apart at any moment. Some were whispering prayers, some had their eyes closed in silence, and some were clutching their hard hats tightly.

He took out his phone; there was no signal.

He wanted to send a message to Lin Mo, but it wouldn't go through.

He wanted to let Li Xiao know he was safe, but he couldn't.

He suddenly remembered what Lin Mo had said: "You being stationed on the platform means you have to live on that steel island floating on the equator for at least three years."

At the time, he had agreed with a smile.

Now he understood.

The typhoon's passage lasted for a full three hours.

When the first ray of morning light shone through the clouds, Chen Xueming pushed open the door of the living quarters and walked out.

The scene before him left him stunned in place.

The yard was a mess, containers were scattered everywhere, one of the two tower cranes had collapsed, and the boom of the other was twisted into a strange shape. The piling ship was gone—it must have drifted away after they abandoned ship last night. Over half of the construction materials were lost, and some of the newly installed equipment had been soaked by seawater.

Chen Xueming stood in the center of the ruins, silent for a long time.

Behind him, the workers walked out one after another, looking at the scene before them, no one spoke.

Someone squatted on the ground, holding their head.

Someone lit a cigarette, their hands shaking.

Chen Xueming took a deep breath and took out his phone—the signal had been restored.

He dialed Lin Mo's number.

"Old Lin." His voice was hoarse. "Something happened to the platform."

That same afternoon, two thousand kilometers away, at the Carbon Nanotubes factory in the southwestern mountains.

Section Chief Wu stared at the report in front of him, his eyes bloodshot.

Carbon Nanotubes mass production yield: 31.7%.

This number felt like a slap in the face.

A month ago, the second-phase production line test run was successful, a five-hundred-meter continuous sample filament was successfully drawn, and the tensile strength was 84.1 GPa. Everyone thought mass production was just a matter of time.

Then reality dealt him a heavy blow.

"Section Chief Wu," a technician walked over, his voice weary. "The third batch of raw filament broke again. The break point is the same as before, two meters from the exit of the drawing furnace."

Section Chief Wu rubbed his temples. "Have you found the cause?"

"Still investigating. It might be uneven wear on the traction roller surface coating, or perhaps a problem with the raw filament cooling rate control. But we've already replaced three batches of traction rollers and adjusted the cooling parameters five times, and it still doesn't work."

Section Chief Wu was silent.

For a whole month, the production line started and stopped, stopped and started. Every time the filament was drawn to two or three hundred meters, it would break, and the yield just wouldn't go above thirty percent. At this efficiency, let alone thousand-ton capacity, they couldn't even complete existing orders.

He stood up and walked into the workshop.

The production line was stopped, and the workers were repairing the equipment. Someone was lying next to the traction roller measuring the coating thickness, someone was checking the cooling nozzles, and someone was recording data. Everyone's face was written with fatigue, but no one complained.

"Section Chief Wu." An old worker walked over and handed him a cigarette. "Don't be too anxious; let's take it slow."

Section Chief Wu took the cigarette but didn't light it. "Old Zhou, where do you think the problem really lies?"

Old Zhou was silent for a while. "I've worked in machinery for forty years and have never seen such precise work. In the past, when we processed parts, a difference of a few microns was acceptable. Now with this, even a difference of a single hair's breadth won't do."

Section Chief Wu nodded.

The precision requirements for Carbon Nanotubess are an order of magnitude higher than mechanical processing. During the drawing process, temperature, humidity, traction speed, and coating state—any tiny deviation will cause the filament to break.

"How about," Old Zhou hesitated, "we talk to Chief Designer Lin? Ask him to give us a few more days?"

Section Chief Wu shook his head. "Chief Designer Lin is under even more pressure than us. The offshore platform just suffered from a typhoon, the equipment damage is severe, and they are waiting for our cables to restock."

Old Zhou sighed and didn't speak again.

Section Chief Wu looked at the stalled production line in front of him and suddenly remembered what Lin Mo had said: "Confidence is built on details."

Details.

They were stuck on the details.

That same evening, in Changzhou, Jiangsu, at a Carbon Nanotubes equipment supplier's factory.

A young man wearing work clothes walked into the factory area, carrying a toolbox in his hand.

The security guard stopped him. "Who are you looking for?"

"Equipment maintenance, it was scheduled in advance." The young man presented his work ID. "From the Precision Machinery Factory, I'm here to check the drawing furnace parts you reported for repair last week."

The security guard looked at the ID and let him pass.

The young man walked into the workshop and headed straight to the area where the Carbon Nanotubes production equipment was stored. He squatted in front of a piece of equipment, opened his toolbox, and began to inspect it.

Five minutes later, he took out his phone and pretended to take pictures to record data.

But in reality, he was taking pictures of the equipment nameplate—model, serial number, production date, and technical parameters.

This information was enough to infer the production capacity and technological level of the Carbon Nanotubes production line.

Just as he was about to take the second photo, a hand suddenly rested on his shoulder.

"Brother, what are you taking pictures of?"

The young man turned around and saw a middle-aged man in plain clothes with sharp eyes.

"Taking pictures of the equipment model to match the parts when I get back." The young man smiled, very naturally.

The middle-aged man also smiled. "Is that so? Then please come with me to the office to register the maintenance record."

The young man's smile stiffened for a moment.

"What, is it inconvenient?"

"Convenient, convenient." The young man put away his phone and stood up.

The two walked towards the office one after the other.

Just as they exited the workshop door, the middle-aged man suddenly said, "The equipment you just took pictures of was installed just last month and has never been reported for repair."

The young man's footsteps paused.

The next second, he took off running.

The middle-aged man didn't chase him, just took out his walkie-talkie. "Security, stop someone wearing work clothes and carrying a toolbox. Yes, that's him."

Three minutes later, the young man was pinned to the ground at the factory gate.

From him, they searched and found three mobile phones, two fake ID cards, and an encrypted file with detailed records of the equipment parameters.

And a credit card from a South American country.

Three days later, Beijing, Science and Technology Security Bureau.

Fang Lin pushed an investigation report in front of Lin Mo.

"George's people." She said. "The target is the Carbon Nanotubes production line."

Lin Mo flipped through the report, his expression grave.

"The one we caught is just a pawn." Fang Lin said. "The real target is to steal the full set of process parameters. Once they succeed, they can copy the production line, or even apply for international patents in advance, and strangle us."

Lin Mo looked up. "Did you interrogate anything out of him?"

"Not yet. This kid is tight-lipped, only admitting that he was paid to do the job, and he doesn't know who his handler is." Fang Lin paused. "But the method is very familiar, exactly the same as the previous times with the ghost infiltration and the arrest of Black Sparrow. George's style: he never lets his own people be directly exposed, always keeping a layer of separation."

Lin Mo was silent.

George had appeared again.

That villain who ran through the first four volumes, the mastermind of the ghost infiltration, the boss behind Black Sparrow, had not given up after fleeing from Southeast Asia to South America.

"Director Fang, what's next?"

"I have already arranged for personnel to strengthen security at all factories." Fang Lin said. "Zhao Gang is also checking for loopholes in the material transport lines. But Lin Mo, you must be mentally prepared—this person won't just target one place. The offshore platform, the Carbon Nanotubes factory, the space station modification base, and even your data center could all be targets."

Lin Mo nodded. "Understood."

Before leaving, Fang Lin called him back. "Have you not been sleeping much lately?"

Lin Mo was stunned for a moment and didn't answer.

Fang Lin looked at the bloodshot eyes in his eyes and sighed. "Lin Mo, the sky ladder project wasn't built in a day. If you burn yourself out, who will hold it up?"

Lin Mo smiled. "I have it under control."

Fang Lin shook her head. "You don't. But I won't try to persuade you either, I can't. I'll just give you one reminder—the team is not just your subordinates, they are also your backup. If something happens, don't carry it alone."

When he returned to the base, it was already ten o'clock at night.

Lin Mo walked into the data center and saw Li Xiao still sitting at her workstation, staring at the screen.

"Still not going back to rest?"

Li Xiao turned around, saw his face, and was startled. "Senior Brother, how many days have you not slept?"

"I'm asking you."

"I... I'm on shift today." Li Xiao guiltily shifted her gaze. "It's you, your eye sockets are sunken, hurry back to sleep."

Lin Mo didn't move, standing behind her and looking at the screen.

The screen showed the monitoring data from the Carbon Nanotubes factory—the production line had stopped, and the yield curve had stopped at a glaring number: 31.7%.

"Section Chief Wu is under a lot of pressure." Li Xiao said softly. "He called me, saying he was sorry to everyone for holding us back."

Lin Mo was silent.

"Senior Brother," Li Xiao hesitated. "How about I go to the Southwest? Although I don't understand materials, I can still help with data analysis. Maybe I can find a pattern in the data."

Lin Mo looked at her and suddenly remembered Fang Lin's words—the team is not just your subordinates, they are also your backup.

"Okay." He said. "I'll arrange it tomorrow."

Li Xiao's eyes lit up. "Really?"

"Really. But there's one condition," Lin Mo looked at her. "No staying up late. Sleep at least six hours a day, otherwise I'll send someone else."

Li Xiao stuck out her tongue. "Got it!"

That night, Lin Mo slept for three hours in the office.

At four in the morning, he was woken up by a phone call.

It was Chen Xueming.

"Old Lin, the platform inventory is finished." Chen Xueming's voice was hoarse and exhausted. "Equipment loss is about 37 million, material loss is over 20 million. The piling ship drifted twenty nautical miles away, just towed back, still usable. One tower crane is broken, the other needs major repairs. No one is hurt, everyone is safe."

Lin Mo was silent for a few seconds. "It's good that everyone is safe."

"But the construction period will be delayed." Chen Xueming said. "At least half a month."

"Half a month is half a month." Lin Mo said. "Safety first."

There was silence on the other end of the line, then Chen Xueming said: "Old Lin, I'm sorry."

Lin Mo was stunned for a moment. "What are you sorry for?"

"If I could have activated the emergency plan sooner, the equipment loss would have been less." Chen Xueming's voice was very low. "I... have no experience."

Listening to his voice, Lin Mo remembered the arrogant Chen Xueming from a few years ago who never admitted his mistakes.

"Xueming," he said. "You saved over three hundred people in the typhoon. Equipment can be bought again if lost, but if people are lost, they are truly gone. You made the right choice."

There was silence on the other end of the line for a long time.

Then Chen Xueming said: "Old Lin, thank you."

Hanging up the phone, Lin Mo looked out the window.

The sky was about to brighten.

A new day, a new challenge.

Typhoons, yield rates, spies—problems came one after another, surging like waves.

But he knew that no matter how big the waves were, they couldn't wash away the foundation that was growing.

Because there were over three hundred people below.

There was Chen Xueming, there was Li Xiao, there was Section Chief Wu, there was Zhao Gang.

There were countless people like them, gritting their teeth and persevering.

Lin Mo stood up and walked to the window.

The morning light pierced through the clouds and shone on the roof of the base.

A new day had begun.