70: Chapter 70, the curtain rises!

"Yes."

Lin Jixian responded and turned to leave, his steps showing not a hint of hesitation.

Before long, a figure appeared at the doorway with steady footsteps.

The newcomer was in his fifties or sixties, of average height, wearing a deep blue jacket zipped up to the collar. His entire being exuded the efficiency of someone long immersed in documents and meetings.

He was Zhou Ping, the man in charge of Xia Country's entire industrial system and strategic resource allocation.

"Elder Long, you sent for me."

Zhou Ping stood before the desk, his back ramrod straight and his hands hanging naturally at his sides.

Long Zhenguo was in no hurry to speak, first pointing toward the chair opposite him.

"Sit."

Zhou Ping took his seat as instructed.

Long Zhenguo picked up the black hard drive from the desk, weighed it in his hand, and then passed it across the table.

"Take it."

Zhou Ping accepted it with both hands and cast a glance down.

A military-grade alloy casing, with no markings or serial numbers.

His brow twitched slightly, but he asked nothing, simply holding the hard drive steadily in his palm as he waited for what came next.

Long Zhenguo didn't make him wait long. His voice was steady, yet every word carried the weight of a mountain.

"What's on that hard drive is a complete set of preparation technologies for high-end materials related to the Photolithography Machine."

"High-purity gallium purification, Monocrystalline germanium growth, MO source synthesis, Special Quartz purification..."

"From raw ore to finished product, the entire industrial chain's technical process."

The muscles in the hand Zhou Ping used to hold the hard drive suddenly tightened.

The entire chain?

From raw ore to finished product?

These words were like a heavy hammer, pounding against his heart and making his eardrums ring.

He was in charge of industrial coordination, so he knew all too well how much Xia Country had suffered in the field of high-end material preparation.

The mines belonged to them.

They dug the ore out and sold it by the ton at rock-bottom prices.

Then they would buy back the refined finished products from others at prices dozens or hundreds of times higher, all while having to endure their arrogance.

But every key process node on this chain was locked tight by others.

Countless major research projects had consumed astronomical amounts of funding and the lifeblood of generations, only to manage to tear open a few insignificant gaps in individual links.

They were still worlds away from 'connecting the entire chain'.

And now, Elder Long was telling him that this palm-sized hard drive contained the technical process for the entire chain.

"This is a result produced by the Lithography Machine Special Task Force."

The second half of Long Zhenguo's sentence arrived as expected.

"It is top-secret material."

Zhou Ping's Adam's apple bobbed as his fingers subconsciously gripped the edges of the hard drive tighter.

Top-secret.

Lithography Machine Special Task Force.

When these two keywords collided, his first thought was of a young man.

Lin Yuan.

The twenty-year-old young man who was at the center of the global storm of public opinion and had been personally endorsed by a front-page editorial in the Xia Country Daily.

These past few days, Zhou Ping had been monitoring every move of the Lithography Machine Special Task Force.

But no matter what, he never imagined that the young man's reach would extend all the way to the very upstream of the industrial chain.

The Photolithography Machine wasn't even finished yet, and he was already filling the gaps in the national industrial chain?

Long Zhenguo didn't give him much time to digest this; the subsequent orders came crashing down with unquestionable authority.

"Take this back and organize the relevant departments and enterprises to fully master these technologies."

"Purification processes, growth formulas, synthesis routes... I want every single item assigned to specific production lines and teams."

"You are fully responsible for the deployment of the industrial chain."

Zhou Ping nodded heavily. Just as he was about to voice his commitment, Long Zhenguo added another sentence.

"If there are any technical uncertainties during the process, contact Little Lin for coordination."

"He is responsible for communicating with the special task force."

Zhou Ping ran these instructions through his mind, every task clear and distinct.

"Elder Long, I understand."

He stood up, securely placed the hard drive into the inner pocket of his jacket, zipped it tight, and pressed his hand against it through the fabric to confirm it was secure.

The entire sequence of actions was seamless and decisive.

The weight of this hard drive required no further reminders; he understood it in his heart.

Long Zhenguo waved his hand, indicating that he could leave.

Zhou Ping turned and walked out of that heavy door.

The corridor was empty and quiet, but his pace was twice as fast as when he had arrived, moving with vigorous energy.

It was an impatience born from the depths of his soul.

The only thing he had to do now was to refine and absorb the contents of this hard drive at the fastest possible speed and deploy the next phase of production capacity.

His mind was already racing with calculations:

The list of the first batch of partner enterprises, the priority sequence for technical absorption, the preliminary plans for production line modification...

An entire industrial chain that had been throttled by foreign countries for decades was about to be completely overturned by his hands.

...

The next day.

Research Building No. 7, Chief Engineer's Office.

Lin Yuan was sitting at his desk, flipping through a periodic verification report recently submitted by the Light Source Group.

The phone on the desk suddenly vibrated.

He glanced at the caller ID; it was Lin Jixian.

Lin Yuan picked up the phone and leaned back comfortably against the chair.

"Hello, Brother Lin."

"Brother Lin!"

On the other end of the line, Lin Jixian's voice was raspy from working around the clock, but his spirit was terrifyingly high.

"I wanted to let you know that the technical data you provided yesterday was delivered to the relevant units that same afternoon!"

"Early this morning, the preliminary verification results came out. The process route is completely viable, and all parameters match perfectly!"

"The first batch of pilot enterprises is currently in emergency coordination, and the production line modification plans were being implemented overnight!"

Lin Yuan gave an "mm" in response, showing no further reaction.

This result was entirely within his expectations.

Products from the system were bound to be masterpieces.

Lin Jixian paused for a beat before continuing.

"Now, there's something I want to give you a heads-up on."

"After all, they've just come into contact with this technology. During the subsequent implementation process, they might encounter some details regarding specific process parameters that they can't quite grasp."

"At that time, I expect we'll need your help to oversee things and answer questions."

"No problem."

Lin Yuan's answer was crisp and direct, without the slightest hesitation.

"When needed, have them compile a specific list of questions and send it over in advance. I'll provide a unified response."

"Great, I'm relieved to hear that! Then I'll keep an eye on things and push it forward!"

Lin Jixian agreed readily, said nothing more, and hung up the phone efficiently.

The office became quiet again.

Lin Yuan put the phone back on the desk, his gaze lingering on the verification report for two seconds before he slowly closed it.

With a silent thought deep in his consciousness.

The pale blue light screen that only he could see quietly emerged.

[Current Lie: I am a genius with peak intelligence and a photographic memory.]

[Total confidence: 66.6%]

The last digits were still ticking upward at a pleasing frequency, untiringly.

Lin Yuan leaned against the wide back of his chair, his long fingers tapping rhythmically and unhurriedly on the armrest.

Everything had entered the track he had personally laid out.

With the gradual distribution of the Photolithography Machine's engineering plans, the massive national machine had begun operating at an unprecedented high speed around him.

As the upstream material preparation technologies were implemented simultaneously, a complete, independent, and controllable industrial chain was closing its loop at a visible rate.

Before the elaborate embargo net woven by those abroad could even tighten, he had already pulled the rug out from under them at the source.

And the third lie he had prepared for himself was also racing toward its conclusion, fueled by the continuous catalysis of these unstoppable results.

He didn't even need any extra push or any deliberate hype.

He only needed to sit here and quietly watch the world move toward the climax of the play, step by step, according to the script he had written.

And that time was not far off!