Chapter 44 Calm Response
The atmosphere in the conference room froze.
Chen Xueming stood in front of the whiteboard, his gaze behind his gold-rimmed glasses sharp as a knife.
He stared at Lin Mo, waiting for an answer.
The other six experts also looked at Lin Mo; some were expectant, some worried, and some were waiting to see a spectacle.
In the corner, Li Xiao's palms were already sweating.
She glanced at Zhang Zhe. Zhang Zhe was expressionless, but his fingers were tapping lightly under the table—this was his habitual action when nervous.
At the door, Zhao Gang's body leaned forward slightly, like a leopard ready to pounce at any moment.
Everyone looked at Lin Mo.
Lin Mo stood there, without any panic on his face.
He met Chen Xueming's gaze and spoke calmly.
"Dr. Chen, I understand your skepticism."
His voice was low, but every word was crystal clear.
"The Lithium-Sulfur Battery has been studied for twenty years, and no one has ever achieved 1450.
If someone suddenly said they had, I would be suspicious too."
He walked over to the stack of laboratory notebooks and patted the one on top.
"These are the original records.
From the first day to the last, every set of data, every failure, and every success is in here.
Anyone who wants to see them can, at any time."
He looked at Chen Xueming again: "If you are willing, I can take you to the laboratory right now and reproduce the key steps on the spot."
A slight commotion rippled through the conference room.
Several experts exchanged glances; some nodded, and some showed expressions of surprise.
Chen Xueming stared at Lin Mo, his expression changing.
"Reproduce it on the spot?" he asked.
Lin Mo nodded: "Yes.
From raw material preparation to the final test, the whole process takes about four hours.
You can supervise the entire process, and you can stop and ask questions at any step."
He paused and looked into Chen Xueming's eyes: "Are you willing?"
Chen Xueming was silent for a few seconds.
Then he smiled.
It was a strange smile—containing surprise, appreciation, and a trace of complexity that Lin Mo couldn't understand.
"Dr. Lin," he said, "you are the first person I have ever met who dared to reproduce it on the spot."
He turned around and looked at the other experts: "Everyone, I want to go to the laboratory and take a look.
Is anyone coming with me?"
Several experts looked at each other and stood up one after another.
"I'll go."
"I'll go too."
"Might as well take a look."
Fang Lin stood up and looked at Lin Mo.
Lin Mo nodded at her.
"Alright," Fang Lin said, "then let's head to the laboratory."
A group of people walked out of the conference room in a grand procession, crossed the corridor, and headed toward the third basement level.
Zhao Gang followed at the very back, his gaze never leaving those people.
10:20 AM, laboratory.
Lin Mo changed into his lab coat and stood in front of the workbench.
Li Xiao was helping prepare the raw materials and instruments nearby; her hands were still shaking a little, but her movements were steady.
Chen Xueming stood at the very front, only two meters away from the workbench.
The other experts gathered behind, some standing, some finding chairs to sit on.
Zhang Zhe leaned against the wall, arms crossed over his chest, watching everything expressionlessly.
"Can we begin?" Chen Xueming asked.
Lin Mo nodded and picked up a bag of powder.
"This is the base powder for Room-Temperature Superconductivity material, with a purity of 99.8%."
He handed the bag to Chen Xueming, "You can check it first."
Chen Xueming took the bag, carefully looked at the label, opened it to smell it, and finally dipped a little with his finger and rubbed it between his fingers.
"No problem." He handed it back.
Lin Mo began the operation.
Weighing, mixing, adding solvent, stirring...
Every step was done slowly, and every step was explained clearly.
"This is slurry preparation.
The ratio is 85% superconducting powder, 10% conductive carbon black, and 5% binder."
He poured the slurry into a mold and put it into a freezing device.
"Now starting the freezing process.
The freezing rate is controlled at 5 degrees per minute, with a final temperature of minus 50 degrees."
Chen Xueming looked at the equipment and asked: "Why choose 5 degrees for the freezing rate?"
Lin Mo looked at him and said: "We learned this from a Japanese team's paper.
They said that 5 degrees per minute achieves the optimal pore size distribution."
Chen Xueming nodded and said nothing more.
Twenty minutes later, the freezing was complete.
Lin Mo put the frozen sample into the freeze-dryer.
"Next is freeze-drying, which takes about two hours.
It sublimes the ice directly, leaving behind a porous structure."
He looked at the clock on the wall: "It's eleven o'clock.
It will be exactly one o'clock when the drying is finished.
Everyone can go eat first and come back at 1:30 to continue."
Chen Xueming shook his head: "I'll wait here."
The other experts looked at each other; some stayed, and some left first.
1:30 PM, freeze-drying was complete.
Lin Mo took out the sample; it was a silver-gray cylinder, the surface covered in dense, tiny pores.
"This is the three-dimensional framework."
He handed the sample to Chen Xueming, "Take a look."
Chen Xueming took it and looked at it against the light for a long time.
He even took out the magnifying glass he carried with him and leaned in close to observe the pores.
"What is the porosity?" he asked.
"72%," Lin Mo said. "We did a mercury intrusion test, and the data is in the report."
Chen Xueming nodded and returned the sample to him.
Next was sulfur impregnation.
Lin Mo placed the framework into a container, added molten sulfur, and then put it into a vacuum device.
"Vacuum impregnation allows the sulfur to fully fill the pores.
This process takes about an hour."
2:30 PM, impregnation was complete.
Lin Mo took out the sample, which had now turned dark gray.
He placed the sample into the battery casing, added the electrolyte, and sealed it.
"Battery assembly complete," he said, looking at Chen Xueming. "Next is the test.
It takes about an hour."
Chen Xueming nodded, his eyes never leaving that small battery.
3:40 PM, the test began.
Everyone was staring at the screen.
Chen Xueming stood at the front, arms crossed over his chest, saying nothing.
The voltage began to rise.
The current began to flow.
The energy density numbers began to jump.
100, 200, 300, 400...
The number jumped past 420; that was the result of their previous round.
500, 600, 700, 800...
It jumped past 780; that was the highest record of the Germany team.
900, 1000, 1100...
Chen Xueming's brows knitted slightly, but not in skepticism, rather in focus.
1200, 1300, 1400...
The number stopped at 1450.
The laboratory was silent.
Chen Xueming stared at that number for a full ten seconds.
Then he turned around and looked at Lin Mo.
"Dr. Lin," he said, "your data is real."
His voice was calm, but everyone could hear what lay beneath that calmness—it was validation, admiration, and the respect of one researcher for another.
Lin Mo looked at him and smiled.
"Dr. Chen, thank you."
Chen Xueming shook his head: "Don't thank me.
It is I who should thank you."
He looked at the still-flashing number and suddenly said: "In these eight years, I have done countless experiments and failed countless times.
My best result was 680.
I always thought that the upper limit for the Lithium-Sulfur Battery was around 800."
He turned his head and looked at Lin Mo: "You have taught me a lesson."
Lin Mo was stunned for a moment.
Chen Xueming continued: "I was too stubborn.
I kept using my own line of thinking, my own methods, and never thought about changing direction.
You let me know that it could actually be done this way."
He extended his hand and looked at Lin Mo.
Lin Mo shook that hand.
The two hands clasped together and shook firmly.
Applause broke out in the conference room.
5:00 PM, the experts left the laboratory one after another.
Chen Xueming was the last to leave.
He walked to the door, stopped again, and turned back to look at Lin Mo.
"Dr. Lin," he said, "what I said today was not just polite pleasantries."
Lin Mo nodded.
Chen Xueming looked at him, his eyes holding a complex emotion.
"If there is an opportunity," he said, "I would like to work with you."
Lin Mo was stunned.
Chen Xueming didn't wait for his answer and turned to leave.
In the laboratory, Li Xiao leaned over and whispered: "Teacher Lin, what did he mean by that?"
Lin Mo looked at the back disappearing at the end of the corridor and said nothing.
But in his heart, he already had the answer.