167: Chapter 167 A Tale of Two Extremes

Not long after the official Xia Country headlines were released, the editorial departments of major news agencies and tech media outlets around the world fell into complete chaos.

Countless editors-in-chief still in dreamland were forcibly awakened by phone calls. When they saw the push notification on their phones, they didn't even have time to get dressed, rushing to their desks in their pajamas.

"Quick! Take down that damn celebrity scandal on the front page immediately! Replace it with the news from Xia Country! Now! Right now!"

In the building of a top-tier media outlet, an editor-in-chief roared frantically. Even when his trembling hand accidentally knocked over a cup of hot coffee, sending the brown liquid flowing across the floor, he remained completely oblivious.

Soon, one sensational report after another was pushed to the homepages of news websites across various countries at a near-frenzied speed.

"Xia Country Claims Achievement of Room-temperature Superconductivity; If True, It Will Rewrite the Future of Human Energy!"

"Historic Breakthrough or Scientific Blunder? The World Waits for Xia Country to Provide Substantial Evidence!"

"If This Is True, Then Controlled Nuclear Fusion Is No Longer Far Away!"

"Room-temperature Superconductivity: A Fifty-Year Dream Come True, or Another Absurd Academic Farce?"

...

It was overwhelming.

Every reputable news organization in the world immediately pinned this news firmly to their front-page headlines.

The wording varied and stances differed, but the core message expressed over and over again was only one thing:

Shock, as well as a deep-seated fear and unease.

However, tracing back all these lengthy reports, the common source of information they cited was only one—

That official announcement of less than a hundred words in the Xia Country Daily.

There were no detailed technical parameters, no crystal configurations of the material, not even a single on-site photo from the laboratory.

Just those few dozen words, sitting there cleanly, not even bothering to offer an extra punctuation mark.

And it was precisely this laconic restraint that created a massive information vacuum on a global scale.

Within that vacuum, speculation, fear, and debate rushed in with explosive force.

In the arena of international public opinion, major social media platforms were the first to boil over.

"Wait, let me get this straight! Xia Country's official report is just those few short sentences without even giving any parameters. Is this a real breakthrough or just a smokescreen?"

"That's not important. What's important is that they said they successfully developed a Room-Temperature Superconducting Material during the research process for Controlled Nuclear Fusion. During the process! Do you understand what that means? This thing is actually just a byproduct to them!"

"Please, stop scaring me. Last time they mentioned the Photolithography Machine, I laughed, and what happened? Last month they mentioned Fifth-generation Communication, I laughed again, and what happened? This time, I don't dare to laugh."

"Everyone calm down. Regarding Room-temperature Superconductivity, the world has been fooled who knows how many times. Every year, some unreliable lab jumps out to shout slogans, and it always turns out to be fake. Why should Xia Country's be real this time?"

"Why? Because of the name Lin Yuan. If it were anyone else, I wouldn't believe it either, but with that name attached, I'm getting goosebumps."

The number of likes on this last comment surged to the very top of the comment section within just a few minutes.

The replies below were densely packed, a uniform display of silence and hesitation.

No one dared to carelessly tap their keyboards in mockery anymore.

The lesson from the previous Photolithography Machine incident hadn't passed long ago; the stinging sensation of 'the joke's on me' was still branded into their minds.

Meanwhile, far more nervous and desperate than ordinary netizens were the world's top scientific research institutions.

To be precise, it was those top research teams that had been deeply involved in the field of superconductivity for decades.

Room-temperature Superconductivity—who wouldn't want to achieve it?

The world had researched it for over fifty years, spending astronomical sums of money, trying path after path from High-pressure Hydrogen Sulfide to Lanthanide Superhydrides, stepping into one pit after another.

In the end, they hadn't even figured out a reliable direction.

And now, Xia Country says they just did it?

"Could Xia Country have made a mistake?"

"Could it be another so-called 'Room-temperature Superconductivity' achieved under extreme high-pressure conditions?"

"That kind of thing is worlds away from engineering applications and doesn't count as a real breakthrough at all."

Someone proposed the most reasonable direction for doubt.

But immediately following that, someone else mentioned another detail in the announcement.

"Look at the original text more carefully. The report says 'successfully developed,' not 'observed in the lab,' nor 'preliminarily discovered signs of.'"

"The word 'developed' has a strict meaning in Xia Country's official terminology system. It refers to producing a product ready for engineering, not just publishing a paper."

As soon as this analysis came out, everyone fell silent.

Indeed.

The wording of the Xia Country Daily had always been cautious to the point of being stingy, and their phrasing in the field of science and technology was even more meticulously chosen.

The words 'successfully developed' were definitely not something they would just slap on randomly.

"If... if what they say is true."

Someone's thoughts finally began to push deeper.

"Room-Temperature Superconducting Material plus Controlled Nuclear Fusion..."

Halfway through the sentence, no one dared to continue.

Because following this logic to its conclusion, the result was simply too terrifying.

Room-temperature Superconductivity solves the ultimate bottleneck of energy transmission.

Controlled Nuclear Fusion solves the ultimate problem of energy sources.

If these two things were mastered by the same country at the same time...

That would mean the entire existing energy system of human civilization, from oil to natural gas, from coal to traditional electricity...

Including the entire economic order, political landscape, and military alliances built around these resources...

Would all be torn apart and rewritten.

Almost within the same time window, the intelligence systems of several major powers entered a state of maximum alert simultaneously.

The frequency of encrypted telegram exchanges increased several-fold within half an hour.

Although the wording of the orders varied, the core requirement was just one sentence:

Verify the authenticity of this news at all costs.

This wasn't an academic debate.

This was a strategic judgment concerning the fate of nations.

If it was fake, it was a carefully planned information war that needed to be quickly debunked to stabilize domestic public opinion.

If it was true...

Then from this very second, all existing strategic plans would have to become scraps of waste paper.

...

While the intelligence agencies of various countries were operating frantically, the global capital markets were the first to give their own judgment.

There was no need to wait for verification, no need to wait for evidence.

The market is always the most honest.

Because money doesn't lie.

In the trading hall of a top investment bank, the usually suit-clad and aloof traders were now like ants on a hot pan, tugging at their ties and letting out desperate roars.

"Sell! Close out all long positions in traditional energy! Regardless of the cost! Fast!"

A trading supervisor, eyes bloodshot, slammed his keyboard.

However, the K-line charts on the screen were like kites with broken strings, crashing straight into the abyss.

Less than two hours after the announcement was issued, international crude oil futures prices flash-crashed.

Limit down.

Natural gas and coal sectors followed suit, with several leading stocks triggering circuit breakers during the session.

Stock prices of traditional power companies plummeted, and low-temperature superconducting equipment manufacturers fared even worse, hitting the limit down at the opening. Sell orders filled the entire trading screen, and there wasn't even a decent buy order to take them.

In stark contrast, all stocks related to superconducting materials, Maglev Technology, New Energy, and New Materials soared across the board.

They were locked at the daily limit up, impossible to buy into.

Some previously ignored small-cap stocks, simply because their company descriptions contained the word "superconducting," saw a frantic influx of capital, pulling them directly into consecutive limit-up sessions.

Within a short period, the entire financial market staged an extreme drama of a world of ice and fire.

The old world was collapsing, and a new world was surging forth.

And the fuse for all of this was merely that announcement of less than a hundred words in the Xia Country Daily.

...

Just as the world was turned upside down and plunged into extreme madness because of that single report,

at the Xia Country Institute of Atomic Energy, in the testing hall,

it was still a scene of bustling activity; the storm outside hadn't affected the progress here in the slightest.

Lin Yuan stood by the console, his left hand resting casually on the edge of the desk and his right hand holding a pen, head down as he sketched out the milestones for the equipment assembly process in his notebook.

*Swish—*

At the moment Lin Yuan's pen tip passed over the last time node in the notebook and drew a perfect period,

deep in his mind, that pale blue system light screen lit up without warning.

He stared at the static line of numbers, his fingers gripping the pen tightening slightly.

[Current confidence: 100%]