Chapter 80 Gobi Desert Trial
The site for the Pilot-scale production facility was finally chosen deep within the Gobi Desert.
This place was over a hundred kilometers from the nearest town, with no signs of human life for dozens of miles around. Looking up, there was nothing but yellow sand and gravel, with the occasional cluster of Camel thorns shivering in the wind. But there was one thing here that nowhere else could match—the sun.
With three thousand hours of sunshine a year and constant wind, this seemingly desolate land had become a natural laboratory for renewable energy.
Chen Xueming stood on the newly poured concrete base, squinting at the Photovoltaic panel array in the distance. Over a hundred Monocrystalline silicon panels had just been set up, shimmering with a deep blue light under the sun. Beside them were six wind turbines, their blades spinning slowly like giant white windmills.
"Teacher Chen, the sandstorm is coming again!"
Li Xiao's voice came from behind. Chen Xueming turned his head; a brownish-yellow line was approaching on the western horizon.
"Everyone into the Prefabricated Buildings!" he shouted, though he didn't move himself.
The equipment installation was at a critical stage—the Core reaction vessel for Lithium Extraction from Seawater had just been hoisted into place and wasn't fully secured yet. He had to keep an eye on it to ensure the dust didn't damage the precision interfaces.
The security captain sent by Zhao Gang was surnamed Zhou. He was in his early thirties, his face tanned dark by the Gobi Desert winds. He ran over and pulled at Chen Xueming: "Professor Chen, let's go, this sandstorm is no small matter!"
"Give me five more minutes." Chen Xueming shook off his hand and crouched down to check the flange interface at the bottom of the reaction vessel.
Captain Zhou grew anxious and shouted into his walkie-talkie, "Position Three, Position Three, send two men over here!"
Two soldiers ran over and, without a word, grabbed Chen Xueming and dragged him toward the Prefabricated Buildings. Chen Xueming struggled, "Hey, hey, hey, I'm not finished checking yet—"
Before he could finish, the yellow sand had already reached them.
The sand filled the sky, blotting out the sun, and visibility instantly dropped to less than ten meters. Chen Xueming was hauled into a Prefabricated Building. As soon as the door closed, the wind howled outside, and sand pelted the corrugated iron with a loud pitter-patter.
Li Xiao handed over a wet towel: "Wipe your face."
Chen Xueming took it and wiped his face haphazardly, then pressed himself against the window to look out. The yellow sand was a vast blur; nothing could be seen.
"The reaction vessel hasn't been covered with the protective cloth yet..." he muttered.
"It's covered," Captain Zhou said. "Our men covered it ahead of time, don't worry."
Chen Xueming froze for a moment and turned to look at him.
Captain Zhou grinned. "Zhao Gang gave instructions. He said you're the type who works like your life depends on it, so we had to keep a close eye on you. He said if you lose so much as a single hair, he'll hold us accountable."
Li Xiao burst out laughing nearby.
Chen Xueming opened his mouth to say something but ended up just shaking his head, though the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.
The sandstorm lasted for over forty minutes before passing.
As soon as the wind died down and the sand settled, Chen Xueming was the first to rush out. The reaction vessel was safe and sound; the protective cloth was half-buried in sand, but no dust had gotten inside. He crouched down to carefully inspect the flange interface and, after confirming there were no issues, finally let out a long sigh of relief.
"Teacher Chen, don't you ever get tired?" Li Xiao walked over, holding a thermos. "Have some water. You haven't rested since this morning."
Chen Xueming took the cup, tilted his head back for a few gulps, but his eyes remained fixed on the equipment.
The main structure of the Pilot-scale production facility had been erected. The reaction vessel, Separation tower, and Pipeline pumps and valves were densely packed like a miniature chemical plant. Beside them were the Photovoltaic inverters and Energy storage cabinets, and the cables for the wind turbines were being laid. According to the plan, the first full-system integrated commissioning could take place in another week.
"Teacher Chen!" Zhang Zhe ran over from a distance, holding a tablet. "The data for the power supply system is out. The sunshine is good today, and combined with the wind power, the theoretical power generation is enough for us to run at full load for eight hours."
Chen Xueming took the tablet and looked at it for a while, frowning. "The energy storage ratio isn't enough. What about at night or on cloudy days?"
"The second set of Energy storage cabinets is being installed. The manufacturer said they'll be delivered the day after tomorrow," Zhang Zhe said. "However..."
"However what?"
"However, the transport convoy has to cross that stretch of gravel road. With the heavy winds and sand these days, I'm afraid the trucks might get stuck."
Chen Xueming thought for a moment. "Have Captain Zhou send a soldier to lead the way; they're familiar with the road conditions. If all else fails, use a Crawler vehicle to ferry the goods forward. We can't wait."
Zhang Zhe nodded. "I'll go coordinate that right now."
Li Xiao looked at Chen Xueming, appearing as if she wanted to say something but hesitated.
"What is it?" Chen Xueming asked.
"Teacher Chen, you've been... pushing yourself too hard these past few days," Li Xiao said softly. "I saw you still walking around outside at three in the morning last night, and you were the first one up again today. We still have three months; you can't keep exhausting yourself like this."
Chen Xueming was silent for a few seconds, then turned to look at the continuous sand dunes in the distance.
"Li Xiao, do you know why I took on this project?"
Li Xiao shook her head.
Chen Xueming's voice was low. "When I graduated with my PhD, my supervisor told me, 'Xueming, for those of us in materials science, if we can make one truly useful thing in our lifetime, we haven't lived in vain.' I was young and headstrong back then, thinking that was too conservative. I thought I could surely make eight or ten things that would shock the world."
He paused and gave a bitter smile.
"And the result? It's been over twenty years. I've published many papers and have several patents, but not a single one has truly left the laboratory and become a product. Every time, the lab data is beautiful, but as soon as it's scaled up, it gets stuck. Either the costs won't come down, or the process just isn't viable."
Li Xiao watched him and didn't speak.
"This time is different." Chen Xueming turned his head to look at the facility under construction. "With Lithium Extraction from Seawater, I've already proven the principles. Although the road to industrialization is still long, the direction is correct. And..."
He paused for a moment.
"And Lin Mo dared to give me the authority to lead. I cannot betray that trust."
Li Xiao felt a pang in her nose and nodded vigorously.
The sound of a car engine came from the distance. An off-road vehicle kicked up yellow sand as it drove over, stopping in front of the Prefabricated Building. Lin Mo jumped out of the car, wearing sunglasses, his face covered in dust.
"Teacher Chen!" He walked over. "I heard there was a sandstorm? Is the equipment okay?"
Chen Xueming pointed at the reaction vessel. "It's fine. Little Zhou and the others covered it with protective cloth in advance."
Lin Mo glanced at Captain Zhou nearby and nodded. "Good work."
Captain Zhou gave a salute.
Lin Mo walked to Chen Xueming's side and lowered his voice. "There's new news from Director Fang's side."
Chen Xueming's heart tightened. "What did she say?"
"The meeting in Sydney is over," Lin Mo said. "The agreement has been initialed and will be officially announced next month. They've given a buffer period, claiming it's 'to maintain the stability of the global industrial chain,' and suggested that countries voluntarily reduce production by fifteen percent, starting in three months."
Chen Xueming did the math. "Three months? Isn't that exactly when our deadline is?"
Lin Mo nodded. "So they are putting pressure on us. If we can't produce mass-producible technology in three months, they will immediately announce the production cuts. At that time, domestic lithium prices will skyrocket, and the new energy industrial chain will be reeling. Even if Lithium Extraction from Seawater succeeds later, it will be blamed for being 'too late.'"
Chen Xueming clenched his fists.
"So, we only have three months." Lin Mo looked at him. "Teacher Chen, is the pressure high?"
Chen Xueming looked up at the facility under construction nearby, watching the solar panels reflect the sunlight and the wind turbine blades slowly turn.
"Yes," he said. "But I can handle it."
Lin Mo patted him on the shoulder.
The two of them stood side by side, looking out over the desolate Gobi Desert. The wind kicked up grains of sand that stung their faces.
Li Xiao suddenly said from the side, "Hey, look over there."
She pointed toward a distant sand ridge. Something seemed to flash on the crest and then disappeared.
Captain Zhou immediately became alert and looked through his binoculars. After a moment, he lowered them, his expression grave.
"There are people," he said. "About two kilometers away. Looks like an off-road vehicle, parked behind the sand ridge."
Chen Xueming's heart tightened. "Is it one of ours?"
"No," Captain Zhou shook his head. "All our vehicles are registered, and that one hasn't appeared before. Moreover, that position is a high point that overlooks the entire construction site."
Lin Mo and Chen Xueming exchanged a look.
Had George's people found them this quickly?
Captain Zhou picked up his walkie-talkie. "All units attention, a suspicious vehicle has been spotted on the perimeter, coordinates near Sand Ridge No. 3. Group Two, go check it out. Maintain distance and do not alert them."
A response of "Roger" came over the walkie-talkie.
Lin Mo looked at that sand ridge, his eyes narrowing.
"They're monitoring our progress," he said. "They want to know which stage we've reached."
Chen Xueming gritted his teeth. "Those bastards."
"It's normal." Lin Mo actually smiled slightly. "The more nervous they are, the more it proves we're on the right track. Let's go, back to work."
He turned and walked toward the facility.
After a few steps, he turned back. "Teacher Chen, I'll stay here tonight and watch the installation with you tomorrow."
Chen Xueming was surprised. "You don't need to go back to the base?"
"Not for now," Lin Mo said. "Li Xiao's data interfacing needs system simulation support, which I can do here. Besides..."
He looked toward that distant sand ridge.
"I also need to see with my own eyes exactly what can grow out of this Gobi Desert."
The sun was setting, dyeing the sand dunes a golden red.
The wind gradually died down, and the blue of the photovoltaic panels was particularly striking in the evening glow.
On the construction site, welding sparks were still flickering, and the roar of the crane echoed across the empty Gobi Desert.
Chen Xueming returned to the side of the reaction vessel, using a flashlight to inspect every weld seam.
Lin Mo stood not far away, watching his back.
His phone vibrated; it was a message from Fang Lin: "I heard you have guests over there?"
Lin Mo replied: "They just showed up, they're keeping watch."
Fang Lin: "Do you need backup?"
Lin Mo thought for a moment and replied: "Not for now. Let them watch. It's a good chance to leak some info to the domestic public—we're racing against time while outsiders are imposing blockades. That'll make it easier for those above to make up their minds."
Fang Lin replied with an "Understood" emoji.
Lin Mo put away his phone and looked up at the sky.
The first star had already begun to shine.
The Gobi night was coming.