26: Chapter 26 Special Task Force, officially established!

Elder Long flipped open the report and looked through it page by page.

The dozens of pages of the proposal covered the organizational structure of the special task force, the list of core members, the breakdown of key tasks, the list of resource requirements, and the milestone targets for each stage.

The content was detailed and well-organized; it was impossible to tell that Chen Jingshan had rushed it out overnight.

Long Zhenguo did not read slowly, but he did not skip a single page.

From beginning to end, it took him about ten minutes.

Closing the final page, he picked up the fountain pen on his desk that he had used for many years and began writing in the blank space on the front page of the report.

The nib glided across the paper, leaving behind several lines of vigorous and powerful instructions.

After finishing, Long Zhenguo handed the report to Lin Jixian, who was standing nearby.

"Hurry and implement this."

After giving his instructions, Elder Long picked up the budget report he had previously set aside, not sparing Lin Jixian another glance.

Lin Jixian took the document with both hands, bowed slightly, turned, and exited the office.

He didn't stop until he rounded the corner of the corridor and was completely out of sight of the office area.

Lin Jixian flipped to the first page of the report and looked down at Elder Long's instructions.

There weren't many words, just a few lines in total. The fountain pen script was fast and hard, the strokes carrying a decisiveness that brooked no negotiation—

"Establishment approved. If manpower is insufficient, continue to add personnel; if funds are lacking, apply for additional allocations. Relevant departments must cooperate fully and must not shirk responsibility or engage in bureaucratic wrangling."

In addition, Elder Long had personally drawn an ink line on the member list, indicating that the name 'Lin Yuan' should be moved directly to the very top of the ordinary member sequence!

The names of the academy leaders and the directors of each institute were listed in order at the top, followed by the very first ordinary member—Lin Yuan.

Lin Jixian stared at that ink line for two seconds, his Adam's apple bobbing uncontrollably.

Elder Long had been approving documents for years and was always sparing with his ink.

In all the time Lin Jixian had followed him, this was the first time he had seen the man personally draw a line to adjust the ranking on a list.

He closed the report, tucked it into a file folder, and strode toward the office area.

The approval process had to be followed.

But as for time, they couldn't afford to waste a single minute.

...

Third Microelectronics Equipment Research Institute.

In the core breakthrough laboratory, the sound of keyboard clicks and the hum of fans intertwined into a single noise.

Lin Yuan stood by a high-performance workstation, discussing the modification parameters of a small particle accelerator with two researchers responsible for equipment selection.

Wei Jiancheng was at the other end, holding a list of suppliers and talking on the phone in a loud voice.

The entire team was operating at full speed according to the morning's deployment. Although the special task force had not yet been formally approved, Wei Jiancheng had issued a strict order—

All preliminary work that doesn't require waiting for approval must be rolled out for me today.

Consequently, everyone in the laboratory was like a wound-up clockwork, never stopping for a moment.

Lin Yuan had just pointed out a key parameter in the accelerator's injection section that needed correction, and the bespectacled Xiao Li beside him quickly noted it down in the document without even looking up.

While they were busy, a rapid set of footsteps came from the end of the corridor.

An administrative staff member pushed open the laboratory door, clutching a document in his hand. His face was flushed red, and his lips were trembling.

"Wei... Director Wei!"

The clamor in the laboratory suddenly quieted down a bit.

Wei Jiancheng covered the phone's mouthpiece and turned his head with great impatience.

"What are you shouting for! Has the sky fallen? Can't you see I'm busy—"

"The special task force... it's been approved!"

The administrative staff member held the document high above his head, his voice cracking completely from excitement.

"The document just arrived! Someone from the Academy Office delivered it personally! It just arrived!"

Wei Jiancheng's hand shook, and he hung up the phone directly.

The entire laboratory, after a second of dead silence, exploded like a powder keg being ignited.

"Approved?!"

"For real? So fast?"

"My god, it was only reported yesterday afternoon, right? The document is down already today?"

The researchers stood up from their respective workstations, whispering to each other with faces full of disbelief.

This speed was completely abnormal.

Everyone present had been in the system for many years and knew all too well how long the normal process for an approval document of this level would take.

First, there would be an internal review by the academy, then discussions by relevant committees, then a coordination meeting for resource allocation, and finally, waiting for the signatures from above—

At the shortest, it would take half a month; at the longest, several months.

That was the norm.

But what about now?

Reported yesterday afternoon, a mobilization meeting held this morning, and now it was just reaching the afternoon—

And the document was already in hand?

By all accounts, it hadn't even been twenty-four hours.

This wasn't just fast.

This was riding a rocket!

The administrative staff member hurried over to hand the document to Wei Jiancheng, who snatched it and flipped it open immediately.

His eyes scanned the red-headed document's header and number on the cover at lightning speed. After confirming it was correct, he flipped directly to the second page's organizational structure and member list.

At the very top of the list was the leadership of the special task force—

Chen Jingshan was the Commander-in-Chief, with several Vice Presidents and relevant Institute Directors serving as Deputy Commanders-in-Chief.

All of this was expected.

Wei Jiancheng's finger continued to slide down.

Past the academy leadership.

Past the various institute directors.

Then, his finger stopped.

Because after all the names of the leadership, in the sequence of 'Special Task Force Members' that followed immediately, the name in the first position was shockingly—

Lin Yuan.

It wasn't sorted by the number of strokes in the surname.

It wasn't sorted by the date of employment.

It wasn't sorted by professional title rank.

He was blatantly placed at the very top of all ordinary members.

Behind his name was a long string of senior researchers at the Professor and Associate Professor levels.

Wei Jiancheng stared at those two characters, stunned for a full three seconds.

Then he suddenly looked up and subconsciously glanced in Lin Yuan's direction.

Over there, Lin Yuan was leaning over to confirm a set of data with Xiao Li, one hand propped on the edge of the desk and the other pointing at a line on the screen, his posture very casual.

He had no intention of coming over at all.

Wei Jiancheng snapped back to his senses and handed the document to the administrative staff member behind him.

"Pass it around, everyone take a look."

The document was quickly passed into everyone's hands.

The red-headed header on the first page and the bright red official seal made all voices of doubt vanish without a trace.

This was an official document, set in stone.

Then, everyone soon saw the member list of the special task force as well.

The laboratory went quiet again.

Dozens of gazes rose from the document and swept in unison toward the young man still squatting by the workstation looking at data.

Were they shocked?

Yes, they were.

But it wasn't entirely shock.

More so, it was a complex realization of "as expected."

Reported yesterday, mobilization today, and the document arrives in the afternoon—

If this absurd speed had nothing to do with Lin Yuan, no one present would believe it.

And then there was that prominent position on the list.

Placed at the very front of all ordinary members, right after the academy leadership and institute directors.

None of the people present had ever seen such an arrangement.

But combining everything that had happened these past few days—

The exceptional promotion, the official announcement in Xia Country Daily, the instant fame of the light source theory, research into all three major components, and personally convincing the President to form a special task force—

When these things were strung together one by one, looking at this position again, it actually felt like a matter of course.

If someone who could produce results of that level wasn't ranked first, who else should be?

A young researcher couldn't help but mutter in a low voice.

"The first one on this list is Lin Yuan... just how much does the higher-up value him?"

An older colleague beside him glanced at him and whispered back.

"You tell me. From the time you entered the institute until now, have you ever seen a document approval move this fast?"

The young researcher shook his head.

"Well, there you go."

The older colleague lowered his voice further.

"Don't overthink it. This time, we just need to follow Researcher Lin and keep our heads down and work!"

...

At the same time.

This red-headed document regarding the establishment of the Lithography Machine Special Task Force was simultaneously distributed by the Xia Academy of Sciences Office to several other relevant research institutes.

The Institute of Precision Instruments, the Automation Control Institute...

When this document appeared on the desks of the various institute directors and was quickly relayed to the core teams, the waves it stirred were not a bit smaller than those at the Third Research Institute.

"A Lithography Machine Special Task Force? The higher-ups are really serious this time!"

"Simultaneously pushing forward all three major components... This scale is unprecedented!"

"And this list..."

In countless offices and laboratories, countless figures who could be called titans in their respective fields all saw that list.

Their gazes, as if by prior agreement, all stopped on the same name—

Lin Yuan.