207: Chapter 207 Star Rescue

April 16th, 3:00 AM, Spark chip Shenzhen Laboratory production line.

This was originally a pre-production line for experimental test data, and the equipment had already been calibrated. Now, it had to undertake its first urgent task: produce 5,000 "16nm wafers" within 72 hours, then complete the dicing, which would eventually yield approximately 450,000 "flint-t1" chips.

The production line manager, Old Chen, 45 years old, was conducting the final mobilization.

"Brothers, everyone knows the situation," Old Chen said, his voice raspy. "ZTE is waiting for these to keep the lights on. 450,000 chips, 72 hours. Normally this volume takes a week, but now, we must do it."

Below the stage, over three hundred engineers and technical workers stood; no one complained of fatigue—they had already worked for 24 hours straight.

"We're switching from three shifts to two, 12 hours per shift," Old Chen said. "The cafeteria will serve meals 24 hours a day, and the dorms are right next door. If you're sleepy, go sleep for 4 hours, then come back and get to work. The company is paying triple overtime, and everyone gets an extra 50,000 bonus upon completion."

He paused: "But money isn't the most important thing. What matters is that this batch of chips will save a Chinese giant. We're going to show the Americans that even without them, we can do just fine."

"Let's do it!" someone shouted.

"To the end!" more people responded.

The production line started up.

The lithography machines hummed as wafers flowed through one by one.

Etching machines, ion implanters, chemical vapor deposition... every piece of equipment was running at full capacity.

In the monitoring room, data refreshed in real-time:

Output speed: 80 wafers per hour

Yield rate: 91.2%

Cumulative output: 2,000 wafers completed

At this rate, completing 5,000 wafers in 72 hours would be no problem.

But an accident happened anyway.

At 5:00 AM, the etching machine alarm went off.

Engineers rushed over to check: unstable gas supply was causing uneven etching.

"Where are the spare gas cylinders?"

"Used up. New ones won't arrive for another two hours."

"Two hours? A two-hour delay means 160 fewer wafers!"

At the critical moment, a materials engineer named Xiao Li came up with a solution: "Use argon mixed with a small amount of oxygen as a temporary substitute. I've calculated the ratio; it should work."

"But it hasn't been verified..."

"There's no time for verification. Trust me."

Parameters were adjusted, and the machine restarted.

Ten minutes later, the first wafer came out. Test result: Qualified.

"Success!" Cheers erupted in the workshop.

Old Chen patted Xiao Li on the shoulder: "Good job. Your bonus is doubled this month."

Xiao Li grinned: "Manager Chen, I don't care about the bonus. I just want this batch of chips delivered to ZTE as soon as possible."

The early morning of April 18th, a certain country in the Middle East.

This was a desert wasteland, with only a solitary base station tower standing tall. Two ZTE engineering vehicles were parked beneath the tower.

Engineer Wang, 42 years old, had worked in the Middle East for eight years. At this moment, he was up on the tower replacing equipment.

"Engineer Wang, a car is coming below," his assistant's voice came over the walkie-talkie.

Engineer Wang's heart tightened: At this time and in this place, no one should be coming.

He looked down. Two black SUVs parked next to the engineering vehicles, and several uniformed men stepped out—they were officials from the local telecommunications regulatory authority.

"Crap," Engineer Wang whispered. "What are they doing here?"

According to regulations, replacing core base station equipment required prior reporting. But this operation was being conducted in secret without following the standard procedures.

The officials had already reached the foot of the tower and were shouting in Arabic.

Engineer Wang bit the bullet and climbed down.

"What are you doing?" the lead official asked sternly. "There was no maintenance application for this base station recently."

Engineer Wang's mind raced as he explained in broken Arabic: "Equipment failure, emergency repairs. It has... has already been reported."

"Where is the reporting documentation?"

"In... in the car." Engineer Wang stalled for time while signaling his assistant with his eyes.

The assistant quietly dialed a domestic number.

Five minutes later, the official's phone rang.

After finishing the call, his expression softened slightly: "My superiors say you are permitted to proceed with the replacement. But you must submit a test report after it's finished."

"Understood, understood," Engineer Wang breathed a sigh of relief.

The officials got into their cars and left.

Engineer Wang climbed back up the tower, his heart still pounding. He knew that the call just now must have been ZTE headquarters utilizing diplomatic resources.

At 3:00 AM, the replacement was complete.

The core board of the new base station was Spark's "flint-t1," and the software was Xingchen Communications' "Sky Dome" system.

Engineer Wang pressed the power button.

The equipment indicator lights lit up in sequence: Power, Processor, Memory, Network...

Finally, all the lights turned green.

On the monitoring computer, the system startup progress bar reached 100%.

Network self-check complete.

Capacity: 1,200 users (previously 800).

Peak rate: 2.5 Gbps (previously 1.8 Gbps).

Power consumption: Reduced by 35%.

"Success..." Engineer Wang murmured.

He dialed the domestic number: "President Hou, the replacement is complete. The parameters... far exceed expectations."

On the other end of the line, Hou Zhenghua let out a long breath.

At that moment, the local operator's manager also arrived at the scene—he had been jolted awake by the data monitoring, which showed a sudden surge in the performance of this base station.

"Wang, what's going on?" The manager looked at the monitor screen, dumbfounded. "Capacity increased by 40%, energy consumption reduced by 35%... What kind of magic did you swap in?"

Engineer Wang smiled: "It's not magic, it's Chinese technology. We've replaced it with a new generation of chips and systems."

The evening of April 18th, Shenzhen.

Xingchen Communications had been established for a year now, and its headquarters was still located in the annex building of the Spark Technology Tower. CEO Fan Sizhe's office was simple yet elegant, with a desk, two computers, a bookshelf, and some green plants.

When Su Chen pushed the door open and entered, Fan Sizhe was looking at a global base station distribution map.

"President Su, the first batch of ZTE base stations has been replaced," Fan Sizhe reported. "Middle East, Africa, Southeast Asia—a total of 120 sites. All parameters meet the standards, and some even exceed them."

"Very good." Su Chen walked to the map. "But this isn't the end; it's the beginning."

He pointed to the red areas on the map: "America, Europe, Australia... ZTE can't enter these markets because of the American ban. But if we embed our technology into ZTE's products and spread them globally through ZTE's channels, what will happen?"

Fan Sizhe's eyes lit up: "These countries ban ZTE from using American technology and equipment, but they cannot ban a ZTE with a 'completely independent core.' Once our equipment gains a foothold in 140 countries, Xingchen Communications can then enter as an independent brand..."

"Correct." Su Chen nodded. "Parasitize first, then evolve. Use ZTE's channels to complete technical verification and market preparation. When the time is right, Xingchen Communications will take the field directly."

"But the risk is high," Fan Sizhe said cautiously. "Eventually, America will discover the core belongs to Star, and they might impose sanctions on Xingchen Communications."

"That's why we need to make a clean break," Su Chen said. "All technology is licensed through offshore companies, and patents are registered in the Cayman Islands. Legally, the cooperation between Xingchen Communications and ZTE has nothing to do with America."

He paused: "More importantly, we have to be fast. Complete the global deployment before America can react. By the time they want to impose sanctions, they will find it's already too late—our equipment will already be running in their allied nations."

Fan Sizhe took a deep breath: "I understand. This is a race."

"Yes." Su Chen looked out at the night sky. "In the field of communications, we have been lagging behind for too long. Now, it's our turn to lead."