Chapter 83 Troubleshooting

Before the sky was fully bright, Chen Xueming was already standing at the door of the Prefabricated Building, waiting.

Last night, Lin Mo said he would use the system simulation to find substitute materials, and he hadn't slept soundly all night.

He had never seen the true form of this system—Lin Mo never used it in front of others, only calling it "technical support from a special channel."

Yet, every time it was activated, it could solve problems with precision.

Footsteps approached from the distance.

Lin Mo walked over from the Gobi Desert; his face bore the fatigue of a sleepless night, but his eyes were bright.

"Found it." He walked up to Chen Xueming and handed over a piece of paper. "There are three options, and this one has the best cost-performance ratio."

Chen Xueming took it to look.

Rows of data were printed on the paper—material grade, corrosion resistance, mechanical parameters, supply cycle, and cost estimation.

The one circled in red at the very top was: Titanium-Palladium Alloy TA10.

"TA10?" Chen Xueming frowned. "I know this material. Its corrosion resistance is better than pure titanium, but it's rarely used domestically. Is there stock available?"

Lin Mo pointed to the data column: "The system shows that a special materials factory in Baoji brought in a batch last year, prepared for a certain nuclear power plant, and it hasn't been used yet. The specifications match our valves perfectly."

Chen Xueming was stunned: "It even knows the inventory?"

Lin Mo smiled without explaining and took out his phone. "I've already found the number. Will you call now?"

Chen Xueming took the phone, looked at the number on the screen, took a deep breath, and pressed the dial button.

"Hello, is this Manager Li? I am Chen Xueming from Kunlun Base..."

The call lasted for twenty minutes.

During the call, Chen Xueming's voice went from anxious to calm, and from calm to pleasantly surprised.

When he hung up, a smile finally appeared on his face for the first time in three days.

"It's a success!" He waved the phone. "They said they happen to have six in stock and can allocate three to us. They'll ship it tomorrow, and it will arrive the day after!"

Li Xiao poked her head out of the Prefabricated Building: "Really? That's great!"

Zhang Zhe also ran out, his eye sockets dark—he had also stayed up for several nights.

Lin Mo patted Chen Xueming on the shoulder: "Let's go, go back and get some sleep first. There's still a tough battle to fight when the goods arrive."

Chen Xueming shook his head: "I can't sleep. I'm going to go over the installation plan again."

Lin Mo stopped him: "Teacher Chen."

Chen Xueming turned back.

"If you go sleep for four hours now, your mind will be clear when you wake up, and you'll avoid ten mistakes," Lin Mo said. "That is an order."

Chen Xueming opened his mouth, wanting to retort, but looking at Lin Mo's bloodshot eyes, he finally nodded.

Two mornings later, a military truck kicked up yellow sand as it drove onto the construction site.

Captain Zhou led the soldiers to unload the cargo, while Chen Xueming stood by and watched, itching to lift it himself.

The wooden crate was pried open; the three silver-gray valves lay quietly in shock-absorbing foam, their metal surfaces gleaming with a soft luster.

"TA10..." Chen Xueming squatted down, his fingers gently brushing over the valve body. "Good stuff. It's ten times more expensive than 316L."

Lin Mo stood by: "Don't worry about the cost, as long as it works well."

Chen Xueming looked up at him: "Your system simulation... it's truly miraculous. It can even find out which factory has stock."

Lin Mo shook his head: "It's not me who's miraculous; it's the data. Behind this system is a massive database that integrates material inventory and technical parameters from all over the country. I just know how to use it."

Chen Xueming stood up and looked at Lin Mo, his eyes complex.

He remembered when he first arrived three months ago, full of resentment, thinking this young man was just lucky to have stumbled upon Room-Temperature Superconductivity.

And now? Room-Temperature Superconductivity, Lithium-Sulfur Battery, Lithium Extraction from Seawater—every step was ahead of the curve.

When problems arose, he didn't shift blame or yell at people; he would crawl into the reactor in the middle of the night to help find the cause and use "special channels" to help solve the problem.

"Lin Mo." He suddenly spoke.

"Hmm?"

"I'm convinced."

Lin Mo was stunned for a moment, then laughed: "Convinced of what? Hurry up and get to work; we have a test run tonight."

Chen Xueming also laughed and turned to call out to Zhang Zhe: "Come on, get the crane ready, let's take out the old valves first!"

At 7:00 PM, the second test run was ready.

Chen Xueming stood in front of the control console, his palms sweating.

Lin Mo stood beside him, Li Xiao stared at the data screen, and Zhang Zhe's finger hovered over the start button.

"All valves confirmed open," Li Xiao reported.

"Pump status is normal," Zhang Zhe said.

"Power supply is stable," the engineer in charge of energy raised a hand.

Chen Xueming took a deep breath and turned to look at Lin Mo.

Lin Mo nodded.

"Start."

The pump roared to life, and the seawater simulation fluid flooded into the pipes again.

The pressure gauge needle rose slowly, and the temperature curve began to climb.

Everyone stared at the screen, not daring to breathe.

Three minutes, first-stage reactor normal.

Seven minutes, second-stage reactor normal.

Ten minutes, third-stage reactor feeding—the lithium concentration numbers jumped: 0.8 ppm, 1.5 ppm, 2.7 ppm, 5.1 ppm...

Chen Xueming's heart was in his throat.

The pressure gauge was stable, the temperature curve was smooth, no fluctuations.

Twenty minutes, thirty minutes, one hour...

Li Xiao suddenly shouted: "The third-stage outlet lithium concentration has reached 50ppm! Enrichment complete!"

A cheer erupted in the Prefabricated Building.

Chen Xueming's legs went weak; he had to hold onto the control console to keep from sitting down.

The three days and nights of torment finally paid off in the face of the data.

Lin Mo walked over and patted his shoulder firmly.

"Teacher Chen, we did it."

Chen Xueming opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but his throat choked up.

He blinked hard and turned his head away, pretending to look at the data screen.

Li Xiao whispered from the side: "Teacher Chen, your eyes are red..."

"The sandstorm is strong," Chen Xueming said in a muffled voice.

Zhang Zhe couldn't help it and laughed out loud.

Lin Mo also laughed and turned to walk outside: "I'll go check the apparatus; you guys keep an eye on the data here."

Walking out of the Prefabricated Building, the night sky of the Gobi Desert was pitch black.

The stars were dense and bright, even brighter than the previous two days.

Captain Zhou walked over: "Professor Lin, did it succeed?"

Lin Mo nodded.

Captain Zhou grinned: "That's great. The way Professor Chen looked these past few days, we didn't even dare to speak loudly."

Lin Mo looked at the sand ridge in the distance: "Did that vehicle come today?"

"It came," Captain Zhou lowered his voice. "Around 4:00 PM, it stopped for half an hour and just left. It must have seen us testing and was waiting for the results."

Lin Mo nodded thoughtfully.

Let them watch.

It's just as well to let them know that when Chinese people work on technology, they can afford to fail and can also stand back up.

Laughter erupted from the Prefabricated Building again.

Chen Xueming's voice was the loudest: "Li Xiao, save this set of data. Start optimizing the process tomorrow, and strive to shorten the enrichment time by another 10%!"

Lin Mo's lips curled up, and he turned back toward the Prefabricated Building.

Pushing the door open, Chen Xueming was standing in front of the whiteboard drawing a new flowchart.

Seeing Lin Mo come in, he stopped his pen and said earnestly:

"Lin Mo, thank you for this time."

Lin Mo waved his hand: "What is there to thank? It's something we all accomplished together."

"It's different," Chen Xueming shook his head. "If it weren't for your system simulation, I would still be struggling with what material to switch to. By the time I found a suitable one, three months would have long passed. That database of yours is truly..."

He paused, seemingly looking for the right word.

Lin Mo took over: "A tool. Just a tool. The one who really did the work is you."

Chen Xueming looked at him, silent for a few seconds, then nodded.

"Alright, let's not talk about this." He turned and pointed to the whiteboard. "Next, I want to optimize the enrichment process and set the target above 60ppm, so we can truly reduce costs..."

Lin Mo walked over and looked at it with him.

Outside the window, the wind of the Gobi Desert was still blowing.

But inside the Prefabricated Building, the lights were bright, and a group of people were busy working toward the next goal.