33: Chapter 33: What's wrong with that!?

Build a Photolithography Machine within six months?

The moment these words hit the conference room, everyone's brain went blank for a brief moment.

Everyone present, without exception, was stunned!

Immediately after, countless pupils contracted sharply, eyes filled with unbelievable shock, and even a touch of absurdity, as if they thought they had misheard.

Six months?

A Photolithography Machine?

Putting these two terms together had an impact comparable to someone pointing at Mount Everest, then turning back and saying airily to you, "I'll reach the summit this afternoon and have dinner there while I'm at it."

You have to realize, those top Photolithography Machine manufacturers abroad spent nearly a decade or more from theoretical breakthrough to the rollout of their first prototype!

And that was only with a complete industrial chain, the cooperation of hundreds of the world's top suppliers, and the technical accumulation of generations of engineers.

Yet Lin Yuan just opened his mouth and said six months.

This wasn't just a fantasy; to many extremely rigorous old experts, it was practically a blasphemy against common sense in modern industry!

However, just as everyone's thinking was still in a state of shutdown and strong resistance, the familiar system prompt quietly emerged from the depths of Lin Yuan's mind.

[ lie-to-truth system has been activated ]

[ Locking current lie... Lock successful! ]

[ Lie content: Lead the team to build a Photolithography Machine within six months. ]

[ Lie level assessment: Level 3 (involves the realization of a complete cutting-edge industrial product, and sets a clear time limit) ]

Level 3.

A whole grade higher than the last lie.

Lin Yuan wasn't surprised by this.

The chasm between "mastering the core theory of a Photolithography Machine" and "building a Photolithography Machine" is as vast as the difference between "being able to draw building blueprints on paper" and "actually constructing the building."

However, the system's prompts didn't end there.

Following closely, a new line of warning appeared in his mind in striking, glaring red text.

[ Note: Given that this lie contains a clear time constraint (six months), the system is initiating a mandatory countdown mechanism— ]

[ The host must increase confidence to 100% within five months. If the target is not met by then, this lie will be declared a failure, and the locked lie progress will be reset to zero! ]

[ Current confidence: 0% ]

[ Please work hard, host, to make more people believe your lie! ]

A series of system prompts flashed rapidly through his mind.

Lin Yuan lowered his eyelids slightly, his eyebrows arching imperceptibly.

Five months?

Instead of six months?

But his brain turned extremely fast, and he soon figured out the core logic behind it.

The content of the lie was "build a Photolithography Machine within six months," while the system requirement was to max out confidence within five months.

That missing month was clearly the cycle the system left for "physical engineering implementation."

Once confidence reached its peak, the system would pour the complete, ready-to-implement set of engineering and technical data into his brain.

From receiving the data to creating the physical object, that one month would be the final sprint.

The system was certainly calculating.

However, Lin Yuan didn't care much about the five-month timeline.

The reason was simple.

If it really took until the fifth month to max out confidence, then this game would basically be over.

One drum beat boosts morale, the second exhausts it, and the third drains it.

confidence is like the tide; when it rises, it's like a stampede of ten thousand horses, but when it recedes, it leaves nothing behind.

What he had to do was always to fight a quick battle to force a quick decision.

Bring everyone's expectations to the peak in the shortest time, and then, at their most fervent moment, make the lie come true.

Only with speed is there momentum.

Only with momentum is there belief.

This was the iron law Lin Yuan had summarized from his two lifetimes—when doing big things, the worst taboo is to be sloppy and hesitant.

Thinking of this, his consciousness glanced at the confidence progress bar in his mind.

The numbers on it had already started jumping.

Slowly, creeping up bit by bit.

1%... 2%...

Finally, it got stuck at 3%. Then it wouldn't budge no matter what.

With so many top scientific leaders present, added together, they had only contributed a mere 3%.

While this was certainly due to the significant increase in the total confidence required after the lie level was raised, it also realistically illustrated a fact.

Most of the people present were completely in a state of skepticism regarding the matter of "building a Photolithography Machine in six months."

In fact, the proportion of doubt was far greater than that of belief.

However, Lin Yuan wasn't panicked at all about this.

This was just the beginning.

After all, he was making a promise as absurd as building a Photolithography Machine within six months; it would be normal for them not to believe it.

If someone believed it completely just because he said it, that would be truly bizarre.

"Comrade Lin Yuan."

Chen Jingshan's voice rang out.

In the now-silent conference room, this voice was exceptionally clear.

Lin Yuan turned his head, meeting Chen Jingshan's gaze.

In those eyes hidden behind reading glasses, there was scrutiny, expectation, but more than that, a caution born of the fear that this young man was being reckless and arrogant.

"Six months."

Chen Jingshan picked these two words out separately, his tone very flat.

"Are you sure?"

This question wasn't a challenge, but rather a final opportunity for Lin Yuan to backtrack, given by an elder in a setting filled with titans of the Xia Academy of Sciences.

In case he had just been young, impulsive, and talking big, there was still time to change his tune.

In the conference room, dozens of eyes were also fixed on Lin Yuan.

However, Lin Yuan had no intention of backtracking at all.

He leaned forward slightly, hands folded on the table, his back still straight.

"Dean Chen, to be honest, building a Photolithography Machine in six months is indeed a very difficult goal."

He first decisively acknowledged the difficulty.

Hearing this, several people in the conference room nodded subconsciously.

"From theory to engineering transformation, and then to prototype debugging, system integration, precision verification..."

"Every step, when broken down, is a tough battle."

Lin Yuan continued.

He laid out the difficulties one by one, being extremely candid.

But immediately after, he held up a finger.

"However."

This turn of phrase made everyone's breathing hitch.

"The country has given us such great support. Giving people when we need people, giving money when we need money, with no upper limit."

"Since the leadership dares to make such a determination, we cannot let down this trust."

As these words fell, the atmosphere in the conference room changed subtly.

It wasn't that they were convinced, but rather that the rebuttals they had prepared suddenly lacked a suitable entry point.

What could you possibly argue against?

That national support isn't important?

That having money and people is useless?

Who here would dare to say such a thing?

Lin Yuan didn't give them time to think, continuing immediately.

"If we don't put some pressure on ourselves, how can we live up to the red-headed document of the special task force placed before you?"

"Six months is the goal I set for this special task force."

He paused, scanning the room.

"It is also a Military Order I have set for myself."

A Military Order.

As these three words landed, the weight suddenly became different.

A twenty-year-old young man, in front of a room full of legendary figures, in front of the Dean of the Xia Academy of Sciences, had set a Military Order for himself.

This courage, regardless of whether he could achieve it in the end, just the act of saying it itself had already caused everyone's evaluation of him to rise another notch involuntarily.

And just as everyone was still digesting this information, Lin Yuan suddenly spoke again.

"Furthermore, seniors."

His tone flattened out, as if he were talking about a trivial matter.

"If I may say something without fear of being laughed at."

"Those theoretical materials you are holding, the full theoretical derivations for the three major components—the light source, the Objective Lens, and the dual-stage system..."

"I compiled them, and in total, it took me less than half a year."

The moment these words fell, there was a deathly silence in the conference room.

The gold-rimmed glasses in He Yicheng's hand fell onto the table with a "clatter."

Yang Lin's body leaned forward half an inch, his arm resting on the edge of the table nearly slipping off.

Wei Jiancheng's hand holding his thermos stiffened; the lid wasn't screwed on tight, and warm water spilled down the side of the cup, but he didn't notice at all.

Less than half a year?

Those theoretical materials were enough to make everyone in the entire conference room dumbstruck, gasp, and repeatedly exclaim "stunning."

From the steady-state micro-bunching model for the light source, to the achromatic metalens scheme for the Objective Lens, to the magnetic levitation planar motor architecture for the dual-stage system...

All these things combined, covering three major core fields and spanning several disciplines, a subversive theoretical system...

One person.

Less than half a year.

Compiled?

Many people's mouths opened, closed, and then opened again.

They wanted to say something.

They wanted to question, to ask, to confirm if they were hallucinating.

But their mouths simply wouldn't obey.

Because their brains were still processing the previous piece of information and simply couldn't spare any extra computing power to organize their language.

"So."

Lin Yuan's voice sounded again, pulling everyone back from the state of near-overload.

He stood there, scanning the room, his gaze sweeping from left to right, face by face.

Those graying hairs, those deep-set eye sockets, those faces carved with years of time and perseverance.

Behind every face was decades of struggle and unwillingness to give up.

Lin Yuan's voice slowed down, no longer sharp, but with a bit more heavy certainty.

"On my own, in less than half a year, I was able to build the theoretical framework."

"Now, with the country's full support and all you seniors working together to tackle the key problems."

"From theory to engineering implementation, and then to building a complete Photolithography Machine—"

He paused slightly.

"Six months."

"What is impossible!?"