103: Chapter 103 I am Lin Yuan

Elder Zhang's words were like a sudden clap of thunder on level ground, stirring up stormy waves in everyone's hearts.

Absolute orders.

At all costs.

These two phrases coming down were more direct and violent than any red-headed document or long-winded meeting spirit.

Among the hundred or so people in the tiered conference room, not a single one dared to harbor any illusions of bargaining.

Who among those present hadn't spent half their lives struggling in their respective fields?

Who among those who could sit in this position today wasn't the elite of the elite?

They understood the subtext of Elder Zhang's words clearly, and it felt like thorns on their backs.

This wasn't a discussion to explore feasibility, nor a demonstration for everyone to express their views, and certainly not a tea party leaving room for bickering, passing the buck, or complaining about poverty to get a budget.

This was an unquestionable military order!

The higher-ups had completely made up their minds to firmly drive the two nails of Fifth-Generation Communication Technology and Brain-like Machine Intelligence, which could pierce Western hegemony, into the scientific and technological map of Great Xia.

No one should even think about dropping the ball at this critical juncture or acting like a shrinking turtle!

Elder Zhang scanned the room, looking at the faces below who were so shocked they couldn't speak, and nodded slightly.

Then, he continued to speak, his voice steady but carrying an irresistible sense of pressure.

"Since it's an absolute order, there must be a deadline."

"I won't elaborate further on the importance the higher-ups place on these two projects."

"Everyone here is a smart person; the fact that you were urgently summoned to sit in this conference room today already says everything."

Elder Zhang paused for a moment, his rough fingers tapping heavily twice on the solid wood tabletop.

"On my end, the deadline I've set for the Special Task Force is—"

"Half a year!"

These words were crisp and neat, without the slightest hesitation, yet they were like a heavy sledgehammer, smashing hard onto everyone's skulls!

The vast tiered conference room fell into a deathly silence at that moment.

Crazy.

This was absolutely insane.

Everyone was frantically working their brains, trying to find even the slightest possibility within existing engineering logic to support this timeline.

For Fifth-Generation Communication Technology, not even a basic framework had been built internationally; it was all a complete blank.

Brain-like Machine Intelligence only existed in the paper deductions of top laboratories; they hadn't even seen a model that could run through the underlying logic.

For such a super major project that crossed generational barriers and was enough to overturn the existing global landscape.

The deadline given was actually half a year?

A sudden, uncontrollable rustling sound broke out below.

Some people shifted unconsciously in their chairs, some instinctively flipped through the documents in their hands, and others exchanged extremely brief glances with colleagues beside them, their eyes filled with 'did I hear that right?'

The intense, almost suffocating anxiety permeating the air was enough to explain everything.

Half a year to finish two era-spanning projects?

Is this some kind of international joke?!

However, just as everyone in the venue fell into this near-collapsing silence, an extremely tiny yet unignorable detail accurately pierced their peripheral vision.

On the rostrum.

In the seat right next to Elder Zhang's right hand.

Lin Yuan sat there, hands folded on the tabletop, his back leaning slightly against the chair, his posture extremely relaxed.

There was still a faint, perfectly measured smile on his face.

That smile contained no surprise, no tension, and certainly no panic or unease about whether 'half a year is too short.'

It was as if the six-month deadline Elder Zhang had just dropped didn't matter to him at all.

This discovery made many people's hearts skip a beat.

Wait.

This half-year...

Countless people instinctively looked at each other, their eyes conveying a spine-chilling understanding.

The matter of the Photolithography Machine from a while ago was still fresh in their minds!

Back then, at the press conference, Lin Yuan had also declared he would 'build a Photolithography Machine within half a year.'

At that time, countless people around the world thought he was bragging.

The result?

Two months.

In just two months, he had ground the entire Western Semiconductor Alliance into the dirt!

And this time, it was 'half a year' again...

Was this same half-year deadline set by Elder Zhang?

Or...

Countless gazes converged from below onto Lin Yuan's face, then quickly jumped to Elder Zhang, then back again.

In the front row, Yang Lin swallowed hard, the muscles in his cheeks twitching uncontrollably.

Looking at Lin Yuan's excessively young face, an incredibly absurd yet perfectly reasonable thought couldn't help but pop into his head.

Last time he said half a year, it was done in two months.

This time he says half a year again...

The more Yang Lin thought about it, the more his heart pounded, and he didn't dare think any further.

Meanwhile.

Lin Yuan sat upright on the rostrum, his deep eyes slightly lowered, taking in all the commotion and shocked expressions of the hundred or so people below.

Deep in his mind, that light blue progress bar began to jump violently again.

[Current confidence: 3.5%... 6.6%... 9.8%!]

For a hundred or so big shots who controlled Great Xia's core industrial resources, even a small shift in trust from each of them could collectively bring a very significant increase in confidence.

Lin Yuan lowered his eyes and slightly suppressed the smile at the corner of his mouth.

It seemed the credibility bonus brought by the success of the Photolithography Machine was even more terrifying than he had estimated.

This was truly a perfect start.

On the rostrum.

Elder Zhang also took in everyone's reactions.

Those subtle stirrings, the unease, and the forcibly suppressed whispers did not escape his sight.

He didn't offer any comfort or further explanation.

He was very clear about his role in today's meeting—

Unifying thoughts, assigning tasks, and acting decisively.

He didn't need the people below to understand; he only needed them to execute without compromise.

As for technical matters, they should be left to someone who knows the trade.

He turned his head and looked at Lin Yuan on his right.

"The specific technical route, implementation plan, and the detailed division of labor for each unit present..."

Elder Zhang's words were brief and clear, carrying the solemnity of entrusting a heavy responsibility.

"Comrade Lin Yuan, I'm leaving it to you."

As those words fell, the microphone was also delivered to Lin Yuan.

Shua—!

In the next second, a hundred pairs of eyes converged on Lin Yuan simultaneously.

It was an extremely complex gaze.

There was awe, curiosity, shock that hadn't been fully digested, and a bit of scrutiny and expectation.

The tiered conference room was silent.

The faint sound of the air conditioning, the light click of a pen being placed on the table, and the rustling of someone opening a notebook to take notes.

All tiny sounds were infinitely magnified.

Lin Yuan reached out his slender fingers, grasped the microphone in front of him, and slowly pulled it closer.

"Tap, tap."

His index finger casually tapped twice on the microphone stand.

The short, crisp tapping sounds spread throughout the conference room via the amplification system.

Everyone straightened their backs reflexively, even their breathing slowed down instinctively.

Lin Yuan was in no hurry to speak; he just sat in his seat and tilted his head slightly to look at Elder Zhang.

Elder Zhang met his gaze and nodded slightly.

Seeing this, Lin Yuan then turned his head, his gaze sweeping unhurriedly from left to right across the hundred or so faces representing half of Great Xia's tech industry.

Then, his thin lips parted slightly, and his clear, steady voice echoed in the venue.

"Hello, everyone."

"I am Lin Yuan."