144: Chapter 144 The Actions of Western Countries!

The laboratory.

The atmosphere was tense and solemn.

This time, it was no longer just Zhou Fan's battle. Lan Bowen had mobilized almost all of the most outstanding researchers from the Institute of Optics and Mechanics, and even He Xingwei had personally stepped in to serve as Zhou Fan's deputy team leader.

Achieving a breakthrough in light source technology was much harder than manufacturing lenses; it involved many more sub-technologies, and optical lenses were just one part of it.

"I will lead the team to complete the improvement of the excimer laser. I have already created plans for the R&D of other sub-projects; with a clear direction, there shouldn't be any problems!"

Zhou Fan instructed Lan Bowen while glancing at the gathered researchers. They were the elite of the Institute of Optics and Mechanics, and their abilities went without saying. With the R&D direction established, Zhou Fan believed they would be able to complete each sub-project in a relatively short time.

As for the most important laser improvement, it had to be completed by him personally; not a single mistake could be made.

"Alright, I will personally keep an eye on these projects. I definitely won't hold you back!!"

Lan Bowen promised in a deep voice.

Taking the documents Zhou Fan handed him, he immediately opened them to look. Gradually, his expression became serious, and his eyes filled with astonishment.

Zhou Fan had actually produced the R&D plans for every single sub-project. In such a short time, with such comprehensive preparation, it was somewhat unimaginable to him!

He didn't even know how Zhou Fan had managed to do it; even he only had a rough understanding of many of the technologies involved.

To push the progress of the entire project with one's own strength—such ability was simply monstrous!

Although he had long known that Zhou Fan was highly capable and a rare genius, looking at these documents, Lan Bowen still couldn't help but feel shocked.

"If there are no issues, let's get to work!" Zhou Fan said with a smile, looking at the stunned Lan Bowen.

"Alright, I'll arrange it right away!" Lan Bowen quickly snapped out of his shock and replied hurriedly.

At that moment, he felt an inexplicable pressure emanating from Zhou Fan.

He was very familiar with that kind of pressure; it was clearly the same pressure he had only felt when working on projects with some of the big shots from the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

His heart felt a bit awed. Watching Zhou Fan's back as he walked into the laboratory, he secretly marveled to himself.

This young man was likely only 20 years old, yet he could bring such a sense of oppression. This feeling made him unable to help but feel dazed again.

"Although it feels incredible, perhaps... there really is a chance!"

Looking at the documents in his hand, a light gradually appeared in his eyes, and he then turned and left.

For the next period of time, Zhou Fan stayed in the laboratory almost every day. The time he spent eating and sleeping did not exceed 7 hours a day.

He Xingwei also followed Zhou Fan's schedule the whole time, but gradually, he started to feel powerless, as if his body had been hollowed out.

"This can't go on. Engineer Zhou's body will definitely have problems. By then, the project won't be finished, and he will have collapsed!"

He Xingwei, sporting two dark circles under his eyes, said with a bitter smile to Lan Bowen, who had come to visit the progress, his tone filled with a hint of helplessness.

"How many days has Engineer Zhou not come out?" Lan Bowen asked, frowning.

"Almost half a month. Except for meal times, he sleeps right inside the laboratory!" He Xingwei said again, his tone now filled with admiration.

"Didn't you tell him to rest?"

"Of course I did, but he won't listen. He is the project team leader now, what can I do!"

"If he won't listen, can't you think of a way? He's been pulling all-nighters for half a month; if this continues, even an iron man wouldn't be able to stand it!!"

"Why don't you try persuading him?"

"I..."

Lan Bowen was immediately at a loss for words.

"If you can't get him to listen, do you think I can?" He glared at He Xingwei irritably.

Regarding Zhou Fan, he now completely dared not treat him as a young person; he even took the initiative to greet him when they met, and he felt it was only natural.

"No, since he won't listen, we must ensure his nutrition. I will have the cafeteria specially customize meals for your project team and have someone deliver them during meal times. At the very least, it can save some time. With the time saved, you should make sure Engineer Zhou gets some good rest!"

"That's a good idea. I can consider myself benefiting from Engineer Zhou's influence, being able to get you, the 'Lan Skinflint,' to make an exception and provide special meals!" He Xingwei nodded repeatedly, a smile appearing on his face, and he shook his head with a bitter smile.

Both of their gazes involuntarily turned toward Zhou Fan, who was still busy inside the laboratory.

"How is the progress now?" Lan Bowen couldn't help but ask again.

"Far exceeding my expectations!" Speaking of the progress on the laser improvement, He Xingwei's tone changed immediately, clearly carrying suppressed excitement.

"According to the current situation, it should be possible to complete the equipment improvement in about another week, and then we will enter the debugging stage..."

"Do you think it can succeed?"

"I don't know... but it definitely won't fail..." He Xingwei shook his head gently, but his eyes were still filled with excitement.

At this moment, his heart was burning with passion. Although he couldn't be sure of the final result, judging by the current situation, there was undoubtedly hope.

The abilities Zhou Fan had displayed over the past half month left him absolutely dumbfounded.

This young man seemed to have an eidetic memory; after all the parts were disassembled, he could completely restore them in a short time. With such an ability, even if the final improvement results didn't meet expectations, at least the problem of equipment damage wouldn't exist.

At this point, He Xingwei was completely convinced by Zhou Fan, and precisely because of this, he had full confidence in him!

"It definitely won't fail?" Lan Bowen was stunned at first, but soon understood He Xingwei's meaning, and a light gradually appeared in his eyes.

"I'll go tell the cafeteria to add more dishes!!"

He didn't say anything else, turned around, and left the laboratory, walking hurriedly toward the cafeteria.

"..."

He Xingwei took a deep breath, then a flash of determination crossed his eyes, and he threw himself back into work.

...

Evening.

Zhou Fan had just finished eating and was preparing to return to the laboratory to continue working when his phone suddenly rang.

He glanced at the caller ID: Lei Jun.

A serious look appeared on Zhou Fan's face, and he quickly answered the phone.

Lei Jun knew what he was doing now; if it weren't for something extremely important, he definitely wouldn't have called to disturb him.

"Zhou Fan, the situation is not looking good!"

As soon as the call connected, Lei Jun's voice came from the other side, his tone heavy.

"What's wrong?" Zhou Fan asked, frowning.

Lei Jun didn't beat around the bush, and his deep voice came through again: "News has come in succession from TSMC and Loongson International that the West has started applying pressure, although it's not very obvious yet..."

"Loongson International was quite blunt with me; it is almost certain that once fanmi 2 hits the market and becomes a hit, the West will definitely increase the pressure. There is even a possibility that TSMC might unilaterally terminate the contract!"

"How many chips do we have in stock now?" Zhou Fan thought for a moment and asked in a deep voice.

"Less than 2 million units!!" Lei Jun replied.

Both of them knew very well that this amount of chips was far from enough.

They might sell out in a few days.

"Can production be accelerated?" Zhou Fan asked again.

"I am negotiating with TSMC. For such a large order, they actually don't want to breach the contract, but they are ultimately constrained by Western countries. So, they are already producing at full capacity. The possibility of further increasing production capacity is slim..."

"..."

Zhou Fan fell silent.

A breakthrough in domestic 45nm lithography technology was imminent.

There really wasn't much time left!

Based on his knowledge of Western countries from his previous life, since they had already noticed Fanmi, they would definitely roll out a series of measures next.

It was impossible to determine how long this process would take, but what was certain was that when that day truly arrived, if there were no countermeasures, Fanmi would definitely face a desperate situation!

"Alright, I understand!"

The two of them chatted a bit more about the situation at Fanmi. The situation was not optimistic; there was more and more public opinion online about the "Fanmi threat theory," and it seemed as if a hand behind the scenes was accelerating the push.

Perhaps this was also the reason why the West would take action.

Zhou Fan clearly knew that the current progress was still too slow.

Accelerate, it had to be accelerated!