76: Chapter 76 A Resounding Slap!

"...According to the test results, all performance indicators have reached internationally leading levels."

The announcer articulated every word clearly, their voice carrying a powerful weight.

"This major achievement, led by the Xia Academy of Sciences and completed by the Photolithography Machine Task Force in less than two months, marks a historic breakthrough for our country in the field of extreme ultraviolet lithography, completely breaking the long-term foreign monopoly on this technology."

As the voice faded, the screen switched scenes.

A group of researchers dressed in white cleanroom suits appeared on the screen;

some were hugging tightly, while others were clapping with abandon.

There were also several gray-haired senior experts with red-rimmed eyes, vigorously patting the shoulders of the colleagues beside them.

Immediately after, the camera panned.

That behemoth, entirely silver-gray with cold, sharp lines, quietly occupied the entire frame.

Countless pipelines flowed from various subsystems into the depths of the machine body in an orderly fashion, and the indicator light array glowed with a steady, warm white light, exuding an ultimate industrial beauty.

The footage lingered on the panoramic view of the machine for a full five seconds before fading out.

The announcer had already begun broadcasting the next news item.

But no one was listening anymore.

Across the country, in front of millions of screens, millions of faces wore the same expression—

Dumbfounded.

"Wait... wait a minute."

A young man squatting in front of the TV with his rice bowl had his chopsticks suspended in mid-air, the grains of rice in his mouth nearly spitting out.

"That news just now, what did it say? What happened to the Photolithography Machine?"

The coworker beside him also looked as if he had seen a ghost, his hand holding the bowl beginning to tremble.

"It seems like... it's a success?"

"Holy crap, it's only been less than two months, right?"

The young man's voice shot up.

"I'm not freaking dreaming, am I?"

Similar scenes were playing out simultaneously in countless living rooms, cafeterias, and on mobile phone screens.

It was too sudden.

It was truly too sudden.

Everyone had mentally prepared themselves for a long six-month wait.

Lin Yuan had mentioned six months at the press conference, and the Xia Country Daily had explicitly written about the "Six-Month Promise." Everyone assumed that would be the moment the final answer was revealed.

Even though the Xia Academy of Sciences had just released a meaningful racing video yesterday, people at most guessed there had been some phased progress.

Who would have dared to imagine?

They had built it directly?!

It had been less than two months—not even half of the Six-Month Promise!

However, they weren't left with much time for doubt.

A few minutes after the news broadcast, the Xia Country Daily app pushed a bolded, red, top-level headline—

[Warm Congratulations: Our country's first independently developed EUV Photolithography Machine has passed all tests, with all indicators reaching internationally leading levels!]

The article used extremely rare, high-specification wording. From the historical significance of the technological breakthrough to the strategic value of an independent and controllable industrial chain, every paragraph was written with resounding force. The level of phrasing and the weight of the specifications were rare in recent years.

The sentence at the end of the text was even more brief and stirring—

"This is a victory belonging to all Xia people."

Led by the Xia Country Daily, all major official media, local media, and industry media followed suit within half an hour.

Any other news made way for this announcement.

No media outlet dared to fight for front-page space against this news.

On social platforms, the top ten trending topics were occupied by the same subject, with related entries refreshing frantically at a rate of tens of thousands per second.

"Am I dreaming? Can someone pinch me?"

"Two months! Two months! When Chief Engineer Lin said six months, I even thought he was bragging a bit too much. Now he's turning in his work four months early???"

"If anyone says Lin Yuan is bragging again, I'll have words with them. Is this bragging? This is clearly being humble!"

In the comments section, waves of ecstasy rose higher and higher, nearly crashing the servers.

Countless people used the simplest yet most passionate words to vent emotions that had been suppressed for far too long.

The humiliation and resentment of once being mocked, blocked, and held by the throat were completely crushed at this moment and trampled into the dust of history.

It's done!

The domestically produced Photolithography Machine is a success!

...

And this shockwave sweeping out from Xia Country, after crossing vast time zones, slammed hard into the dawn The Other Side of the Ocean.

Xia Country's 7 PM evening news happened to be 7 AM there.

The intelligence analysis departments of several top semiconductor companies captured this earth-shattering news immediately.

One urgent phone call after another pierced the dawn where countless industry executives and top engineers were still sleeping.

"What? It's a success?"

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible! How long has it been?"

"Is the source confirmed? Is it Xia Country's top official news channel?"

"Two months... what kind of joke of the century are they playing on us!"

Countless elites in the semiconductor industry were woken from their dreams. When they opened their computers with bleary eyes and saw the translated press release and video screenshots, their minds went blank instantly.

That silver-gray machine.

That group of cheering researchers.

And the indisputable wording of the official news.

It was like a giant hammer, smashing all their common sense, pride, and sense of superiority to pieces.

Meanwhile, inside that exquisitely decorated top-floor office.

Crash!

A loud noise rang out.

A crystal-clear crystal ornament was slammed against the wall, shattering into pieces with shards flying everywhere.

The blonde man's chest heaved violently, his azure eyes bloodshot and terrifying.

He paced back and forth on the expensive carpet like a trapped beast, his teeth grinding audibly.

"Liars! A bunch of damn liars!"

He suddenly grabbed a stack of documents from the desk, used both hands to tear them in half, and threw them into the air.

Scattered papers fluttered down before his eyes like snow.

"Six months! They said six months before! How long has it been?!"

His sanity was on the verge of collapse.

From the beginning, he had insisted this was a farce.

He had even instructed the media to distribute the assessment report led by Dr. Harrison to the whole world for free, letting everyone enjoy this "overreaching farce" performed by the Xia people.

Even at that press conference, when the theory of the "Steady-state Micro-focused Light Source" came out, and the "Six-Month Promise" was set.

He had viewed it all as a desperate bluff from the Xia people.

But now, the protagonist of the farce had flipped the entire stage four months early in the most brutal and unreasonable way.

A slap, across the entire Pacific Ocean, had slammed hard into his face.

It slammed into the faces of everyone who had mocked and doubted them.

Silent, yet stinging.

"Useless! Idiots! A bunch of irredeemable trash!"

The blonde man stopped in his tracks and slammed a fist onto the solid wood desk. The pen holder on the surface jumped from the vibration and rolled to the floor.

"What about our technological barriers? What about our export controls?"

"Why? Why can they still buy equipment? Why can their materials still get into place?!"

His roar echoed in the empty office, carrying a madness born of being humiliated to the extreme.

Knock, knock.

Just then, the office door was carefully knocked on.

Then, a deliberately lowered voice, carrying a distinct tremble, came from outside the door.

"Sir..."

"Dr. Harrison has arrived."