43: Chapter 43 Completely Red-Eyed!

This news announcement, less than a hundred words long, completely overturned the ocean of public opinion in the Xia Kingdom!

The first to react were those netizens who had been battling on major forums and social media for nearly half a month, having long held back a belly full of fire.

"Holy crap, a global press conference in three days!?"

"It's here, it's here, it's finally here! I've waited so long for this day that the flowers have already withered!"

"It's been nearly half a month since that bullshit report from foreign experts came out, and every day I've been chased and mocked. I can't take this anymore! The country is finally going to unsheathe its sword!"

In the comment section, countless messages with similar content were refreshing crazily at a rate of over a hundred per second.

The humiliation that had been suppressed for too long was, at this moment, entirely transformed into ecstatic anticipation.

Over the past few days, every time they were mocked by people using the reports of those foreign "authoritative experts" to step on their faces, domestic supporters could only console themselves with a few analytical articles, having nothing substantive to fight back with.

It was too suffocating!

But now, it's different.

Three days!

Just need to wait three more days!

They were incredibly eager for the country to produce truly eye-catching results, a slap so loud and deafening that it would ruthlessly strike the faces of all the naysayers around the world!

Of course, there was never a lack of another kind of voice on the internet.

"What's the rush? The announcement only says there are results, it doesn't say how big the results are. Everyone had better stay calm."

"Exactly, the assessment report from foreign experts is logically rigorous. Scientific laws cannot be overturned just by holding a press conference."

"Supporting the country is a good thing, but don't be blindly confident. What if... I mean, just what if, a bigger joke happens in three days? Then there will be no way to back down."

However, these "calm" arguments were quickly completely drowned out by a massive amount of rebuttals.

"Now you're worried about making a joke? When you said the country couldn't build a Photolithography Machine the day before yesterday, I didn't see you being this 'worried'."

"We don't need you know-it-alls to lecture us on physics laws. We'll just wait three days. If it succeeds in three days, you remember to eat all these things you posted."

"Ignore them. These people just can't stand to see their own country do well; they come with a 'kneeling' pedigree. Brothers, let's meet in the press conference livestream in three days!"

Anxiety, anticipation, confrontation...

Various emotions intertwined, making this not-yet-started press conference reserve the headlines of the global internet for the next three days in advance.

Countless Xia Kingdom people were waiting.

Waiting for a truth sufficient to shatter all arrogance and prejudice.

...

At this moment, on the other side of the Blue Star.

Inside a luxurious office on the top floor, the atmosphere was cold and oppressive.

A man with blonde hair and blue eyes sat on a leather swivel chair, holding a translation that had just been printed out in his hand.

This was a copy of the official announcement from the Xia Kingdom.

"Three days later?"

"After nearly half a month of silence, they actually chose to hold a global press conference at this point in time?"

He threw the paper on the table, leaned back into his chair, crossed his fingers, and his azure eyes held unconcealable astonishment and irritability.

This kind of open, active provocation completely exceeded his expectations.

In his view, the people of the Xia Kingdom should currently be busy dealing with the internal pressure brought about by that "expensive farce," turned upside down by the storm of public opinion he had personally orchestrated.

How dare they?

How dare they put this matter under the global spotlight and accept the scrutiny of everyone?

Could it be... that they really have some trump card he doesn't know about?

This thought made him feel a sense of inexplicable trepidation.

He quickly pressed the button on the intercom.

"Have Dr. Harrison come over."

In less than five minutes, a man with graying hair, gold-rimmed glasses, and a rigorous, rigid demeanor pushed the door open and entered.

He was none other than the authority in the field of high-energy physics, the lead author of that "farce" assessment report, Dr. Harrison.

"Sir."

"Harrison,"

The blonde man pushed the announcement in front of him.

"The Xia Kingdom people are going to hold a press conference in three days, broadcast globally. I need you to confirm one more time, is your assessment 100% accurate?"

Dr. Harrison picked up the announcement, his gaze lingered for only a second, and then he contemptuously threw it back onto the desktop.

"Sir, scientific conclusions will not change for any reason."

"The technical bottleneck of the Synchrotron Radiation Light Source is at the level of physical laws. Its core defect lies in the inability to provide long-term, high-precision 'continuous and stable' output."

Harrison adjusted his glasses and explained slowly and methodically, his tone like he was lecturing a naive student.

"Every time the particle beam deflects in the accelerator, there is energy loss, which causes microsecond-level jitter in the energy and position of the light beam."

"This kind of jitter is harmless to high-energy physics experiments, but for a Photolithography Machine that etches circuits on a scale of a few nanometers, it is a fatal disaster."

"This is the fundamental reason why it was abandoned by all of us thirty years ago."

He paused and added with a smile.

"It's not like the Xia Kingdom people could solve the problem of continuous and stable output."

The blonde man heard this, and his tense nerves relaxed slightly.

That's right, this is science.

This is logic.

The irritability pressing on his chest dissipated a little.

But looking at the announcement, he always felt something was wrong.

The Xia Kingdom people had been silent for half a month, yet at this specific juncture, they had actively put themselves under the global spotlight.

This wasn't recklessness.

It was more like... having a well-thought-out plan.

He suppressed this absurd thought, folded the announcement, and pushed it to the side.

"Fine."

"Then we'll wait three days."

"I want to see what kind of earth-shattering joke they can make at this press conference."

Dr. Harrison nodded confidently and turned to leave the room.

After the heavy door closed, the entire office fell back into silence.

The blonde man sat alone behind that large desk, head lowered, his fingers rubbing the corners of the report.

There was something in his mind that just wouldn't settle down.

...

Meanwhile.

Xia Academy of Sciences, Research Building No. 7.

Long before the news announcement was released, the special task force had already received the notice in advance.

Three days later, a milestone achievement press conference will be held.

The moment this news hit Research Building No. 7, the scientific research engine, which was already operating at high speed, seemed to have its accelerator pedal floored!

Everyone was completely red-eyed.

They knew better than anyone who this press conference was for and whose face they were going to slap!

The Light Source system would undoubtedly be the most shining protagonist in this counterattack.

However, does a Photolithography Machine only need a Light Source?

In the area of the Automation Control Group, Yang Lin slapped his hand on the conference table.

"Did you all hear that!?"

"Three days! Just three days left!"

"The Light Source Group has fired the first shot, and the Objective Lens Group is also fighting with all their might. Are we going to just be spectators at the press conference!?"

One sentence made everyone in the Automation Control Group feel a burning sensation on their faces.

The same scene was playing out in the area of the Objective Lens Group.

A silent competition, a charge involving honor, had completely broken out in every corner of Research Building No. 7!

In the corridors, researchers hurried along, their footsteps swift, holding thick documents in their hands, muttering to themselves.

The laboratory lights stayed on all night.

And at the center of this storm, inside Lin Yuan's Chief Engineer office, it was peaceful.

He leaned back in his chair, his fingertips sliding gently on the phone screen, browsing the clearly divided opinions on the internet, as well as the sarcastic broadcast previews from overseas media.

Very good.

Anticipation, questioning, mockery, defense...

All emotions were being pushed to the ultimate climax according to the script he had carefully designed.

Lin Yuan picked up the hot tea on the table, took a gentle sip, and looked out the window with profound eyes.

Now, the stage is set, and the audience is in place.

Even those clowns preparing to watch the joke have impatiently bought front-row tickets.

The curve of Lin Yuan's lips became more and more obvious, and he whispered.

"Then let the bullets fly for a while longer."