15: Chapter 15: Undercurrents and Dawn

The market frenzy ignited by Spark Technology with xinghuo no. 2 and Lingmou 1 had yet to subside, but the undercurrents surging beneath the calm surface were already quietly gathering toward this rapidly sailing giant ship.

In an office with a cold, highly Hyundai-style decor, Zhou Tianyu stood before a massive one-way glass window, overlooking the bustling city veins beneath his feet.

His gaze was calm, but deep within his eyes hid a hint of patience and coldness before a hunt.

Su Chen's clean and decisive refusal to let him join the board of directors was like a thorn, deeply embedded in his heart.

Whatever Zhou Tianyu wanted, he had never failed to obtain.

He was determined to eat this piece of fat, Spark Technology, even if it meant using some unconventional methods.

"Boss, the 'mole' has successfully infiltrated."

Behind him, a subordinate in a black suit with a sharp appearance reported in a low voice, "The identity background has been processed through three layers, clean and flawless."

"The interview performance was excellent, and she has been assigned to the pre-research team led by Wang Ming."

Zhou Tianyu did not turn back, just gave a soft "Hmm," the corners of his mouth curling into an imperceptible arc.

Wang Ming's team was the hotbed for Spark Technology's core technology incubation.

"Tell her to stay calm and stand firm."

"Her task is not short-term theft, but to blend in like a real cell, to obtain long-term, strategic intelligence."

"Especially regarding their next-generation technology direction, particularly... the energy direction."

He specifically emphasized the last four words.

The keen sense of capital made him realize that behind the terrifying iteration speed of Spark Technology, the breakthrough in energy technology might be the key.

"Understood."

The subordinate bowed and retreated.

Zhou Tianyu slowly sat back in his leather chair, fingers crossed in front of his abdomen.

Su Chen, do you think everything is fine just by blocking the door to the board of directors?

True wars often happen in corners you cannot see.

He closed his eyes, as if he had already seen that carefully placed chess piece beginning to pulse silently in the heart of Spark Technology.

Spark Technology R&D Center, bright and clean, full of technological sense and vitality.

Under the modern R&D management system introduced by the new Technical Director Evan Chen, all departments operated efficiently and in an orderly manner.

The frontier technology pre-research department led by Wang Ming welcomed a new colleague—Li Mengqi (using her alias Li Mengqi).

She looked twenty-five or twenty-six, with a delicate appearance, wearing rimless glasses, appearing intellectual and quiet.

Her resume was perfect: a master's degree from a top domestic materials college, experience in well-known overseas laboratories, published several high-quality papers, and had unique insights into new battery materials and nanotechnology.

"Hello everyone, I am Li Mengqi, I am very happy to join Spark and work with you all."

Her self-introduction was graceful, her voice gentle, instantly winning the favor of many colleagues.

Wang Ming, this kind-hearted technical veteran, had always been caring toward talented young people and personally took her to familiarize herself with the environment.

"Little Li, our pre-research department is mainly responsible for 'wild imagination,' and then conducting preliminary verification of possible ideas."

"Your previous research on battery materials is very valuable, and you can participate more in this area in the future."

"Thank you, Teacher Wang, I will work hard."

Li Mengqi bowed slightly, her attitude humble, her eyes appropriately revealing a hint of yearning for this holy land of technology and respect for her senior.

She quickly integrated into the team using her solid professional knowledge and helpful attitude, and even proposed an inspiring material modification idea during a discussion about drone endurance bottlenecks, which made Wang Ming nod in praise.

However, in unnoticed corners, her seemingly casual chats always carried imperceptible inquiries.

"Teacher Wang, I see the company invests so much in R&D, I wonder if our next focus will be on energy systems?"

"Engineer Zhang, I heard the company's newly built park has a large plot of land planned, is there a new production line being laid out?"

Her questions were cleverly wrapped in technical discussions and concern for the company's development, like water dripping through stone, silently collecting fragmented information.

The potential crisis had already infiltrated the healthy body like a tiny bacterium.

Meanwhile, in the chairman's office, Su Chen was facing tremendous pressure from the outside.

Lin Wan placed a neatly organized market report on his desk, a trace of worry between her brows: "President Su, the price-cutting strategy of the 'Star Hunter Alliance' is starting to show results."

"Although our xinghuo no. 2 is absolutely leading in technology, in some low-to-mid-end markets that are extremely sensitive to price, their products have indeed slowed down our penetration speed by relying on brand accumulation and significant price cuts."

"Moreover, according to feedback from President Shen, they have also caused us some trouble in the supply chain."

Su Chen looked at the curve on the report representing the slight slowdown in Spark's market share growth, his brows slightly furrowed.

He walked to the strategic map, which was marked with the logos of Lingyun, Yihang, and Jiguang, like three hungry wolves circling on the side.

"Technological leadership, without forming an absolute, generation-gap barrier, will lead to a war of attrition."

Su Chen muttered to himself.

Simply iterating in the drone field, even if leading for a year or two, would sooner or later be caught up, especially when opponents united.

He needed a technology that could span product categories and be enough to redefine industry standards, a technology that could truly be called a "revolution."

This was not just for the market, but also to complete the pending system task—[Lead a Micro-Technology Revolution].

His consciousness sank into his mind, calling up the interface of the [Super-Dimensional Technology System].

The pale blue light curtain swirled, and the directory of the Technology Mall was as vast as a sea of smoke.

He directly filtered technologies related to "energy" and "materials" that met the definition of "micro-technology revolution."

His gaze swept over items of future technology that made people covet, and finally, two closely related technologies were locked in the center of his vision.

[Ten-ton class single-layer graphene oxide preparation production line] (Supporting reward: Chief Materials Scientist - Wu Hao)

[Technical Description]: Realize the industrial preparation of low-cost, large-scale, high-quality single-layer graphene oxide, which can reduce the cost of graphene raw materials to below 10 yuan/gram, breaking the biggest bottleneck of its commercial application.

[Scientist Profile]: Wu Hao, 38 years old, a top genius in the field of materials science, focusing on nanomaterial preparation and application research, with extremely strong engineering implementation capabilities.

Absolutely loyal to the host, with thinking beyond the era.

[Redemption Price]: 100 million system funds.

[Full set of lead-carbon battery technology] (2018 top level) (Supporting reward: Chief Electrochemical Scientist - Yang Yang)

[Technical Description]: Energy density reaches 58 Wh/kg, cycle life exceeds 1500 times, supports fast charging, and low-temperature performance is extremely excellent.

Comprehensive performance fully surpasses mainstream battery technology of the same period, leading the industry by more than three years.

[Scientist Profile]: Yang Yang, 35 years old, an expert in electrochemistry and energy systems, with subversive understanding of battery materials, structural design, and management systems.

Absolutely loyal to the host, with extremely strong execution.

[Redemption Price]: 50 million system funds.

Su Chen's heart beat violently.

Graphene! Known as the "King of Materials," its application prospects are incomparably vast, and low-cost preparation technology has always been a worldwide problem!

And lead-carbon batteries, although not the most cutting-edge lithium-sulfur or solid-state batteries, are the model of achieving performance leaps through material innovation under the existing technical framework.

Its stability and cost advantages, once broken through, are enough to stir up a storm in broad fields such as consumer electronics, outdoor energy storage, low-speed electric vehicles, and even automotive start-stop batteries!

Combining these two technologies, using low-cost graphene as a key additive to improve lead-carbon battery performance, and then pushing it to the market with subversive battery products... This perfectly meets the definition of "micro-technology revolution"!

"Redeem!"

Su Chen did not hesitate at all.

[Ding! Deducting 150 million system funds, technical data has been transmitted and materialized to the designated safe.]

[Supporting scientists Wu Hao and Yang Yang have been generated and will arrive at the company to report in a reasonable manner within 24 hours, loyalty locked at 100%.]

A huge flow of information merged into Su Chen's memory, about the CVD preparation optimization of graphene, roll-to-roll transfer technology, about the activated carbon anode modification of lead-carbon batteries, electrolyte formula, grid structure design... everything was clear in his chest.

At the same time, the images of the two scientists also appeared clearly in his mind, as if they had known each other for a long time.

The next day, HR Director He Jing brought two strange young men to Su Chen's office.

"President Su, these two are Dr. Wu Hao and Dr. Yang Yang."

"They have published many heavyweight achievements in the fields of materials and electrochemistry."

"They are top talents highly recommended by headhunters."

"I hope they can join our Spark."

Su Chen looked at the two people in front of him.

Wu Hao was tall and thin, with sharp eyes, carrying the unique focus and persistence of a materials scientist; Yang Yang looked calmer, with rational light flashing in his eyes.

When they saw Su Chen, their eyes showed a heartfelt, almost religious respect and identification.

"Dr. Wu, Dr. Yang, welcome to Spark."

Su Chen stood up and shook hands with them heavily, everything unspoken.

"I have two technical concepts here that need you to take the lead in establishing two top-secret project teams for landing transformation."

He handed over the incomplete technical summary that he had prepared, which contained some core ideas.

Wu Hao and Yang Yang took the files and browsed them quickly.

In just a few minutes, expressions of extreme shock and ecstasy appeared on both their faces at the same time!

"This... this idea! The preparation path for graphene oxide... how can the cost be so low?!"

Wu Hao's voice trembled with excitement, and his gaze toward Su Chen was like seeing a miracle.

"Energy density 58! Cycle life over 1500! Low-temperature performance... this, this is simply subversive!"

Yang Yang was also unable to suppress his excitement, he held the files tightly, "President Su, if this can be realized, the entire battery industry will be shaken!"

"Not if, but must be realized."

Su Chen's tone was calm, but carried unquestionable power, "I will provide you with the most complete data and unlimited resource support."

"Your task is to turn them from drawings into products in the shortest possible time."

"Project code names—'Cornerstone' and 'Energy'!"

"Guarantee to complete the mission!"

Wu Hao and Yang Yang said in unison, the purest flame and fighting spirit of technical people burning in their eyes.

The spark of hope had been sown, and the two top scientists rewarded by the system would lead Spark Technology toward the next dawn capable of changing the industry.

However, Su Chen did not know that at the same time he was sowing the seeds of hope, a pair of eyes hidden in the dark was also quietly watching the unusual talent flow and resource mobilization within the company.

Undercurrents and dawn, at this moment, intertwined into a new chapter in the fate of Spark Technology.