145: Chapter 145 The equipment has been modified!

Haicheng Institute of Optics and Machinery Laboratory.

Several researchers surrounded Zhou Fan, conducting various tests on the molecular laser that had been improved over the past few days, creating a scene of busy and orderly activity.

"How come I feel like Engineer Zhou has been working even harder these past few days? He hasn't stopped at all except for the few hours he spends eating and sleeping, and he even uses the time saved by having meals brought to him for work??"

Lan Bowen frowned, watching the busy Zhou Fan. His eyes were bloodshot, and he didn't even have time to trim the stubble growing on his face. Although his eyes were shining with intensity, he looked quite haggard.

"I don't know what's going on either. These past two days, he has compressed his rest time to four hours, kept his total daily meal time to under an hour, and works eighteen or nineteen hours a day..."

"He's practically a human machine!!"

He Xingwei's tone carried a hint of amazement, his expression complex.

"This absolutely cannot go on!!!" Lan Bowen's expression became even more serious.

He was genuinely worried that something might happen to Zhou Fan here. If a young man so highly valued by his superiors were to collapse on his watch, he might as well resign as director!

"Should we forcibly control his working hours?" He Xingwei tentatively suggested.

"If there's no other choice, we'll have to," Lan Bowen nodded. Looking at Zhou Fan, who appeared to be in a crazed state, he couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy.

During this period, with Zhou Fan's help, the R&D progress of various projects in their institute was evident to everyone. Everyone admired this young man immensely, and some even regarded Zhou Fan as an idol.

If such a national treasure-level figure were to have an accident here, not only would the state not forgive him, but he wouldn't be able to forgive himself either!

"Let's go, let's go in and take a look!!"

Lan Bowen thought for a moment, made his decision, and walked towards the inside of the laboratory.

Just as the two of them pushed open the laboratory door, a burst of cheers suddenly erupted.

"It's done! The equipment modification is a success!!"

"Quick, try to see if it can start up!!!"

"Engineer Zhou, should you check it one more time? I'm actually feeling a bit nervous..."

"As long as the startup is fine, the next step is debugging. Less than a month... In such a short time, I can't believe we actually did it!!"

"Don't flatter yourself. If it weren't for Team Leader Zhou, let alone a month, you wouldn't necessarily succeed even if you were given a year..."

"..."

The researchers inside the laboratory were all excited, their eyes fixed on the molecular laser that had been modified and reassembled, their voices filled with excitement ringing out continuously.

"It's finished?" Lan Bowen, who had just walked into the laboratory, paused and instinctively looked at He Xingwei.

"That's not right. According to the current progress, it should have taken at least another three days..."

A look of confusion appeared in He Xingwei's eyes. He had been following this project the whole time and had even spent most of his time acting as Zhou Fan's assistant. If the equipment had really been successfully modified, there was no way he wouldn't know!

At this moment, he couldn't help but step forward quickly.

"What exactly is going on?" He looked at one of the researchers and asked instinctively.

"Engineer Zhou just modified the equipment's operating system. The errors in some of the original component parameters have all been solved through software control, greatly accelerating the project's progress!!"

The researcher said excitedly, looking at Zhou Fan with admiration.

"Operating system?" He Xingwei was stunned for a moment, then his eyes lit up, "Why didn't I think of doing it this way..."

He spoke instinctively, but then gave a bitter smile, unable to help but sigh inwardly.

He knew very well that even if he had thought of this method before, the people at the Haicheng Institute of Optics and Machinery probably couldn't have done it. The control systems for these devices were all encapsulated; normally, they couldn't be modified.

Zhou Fan must have used an unconventional method!

This kind of method requires a profound mastery of software engineering. At this moment, he suddenly remembered what Chang Hongsheng had said before: Zhou Fan used to research software engineering and materials science...

In an instant, he understood everything!

"He modified the equipment in less than a month?" Lan Bowen was also full of astonishment, looking at Zhou Fan who was debugging the equipment, his heart churning with waves of emotion.

In such a short time, with such complex equipment, someone unfamiliar with it probably wouldn't even have figured out the structure of the equipment yet. Yet, Zhou Fan was still reading the operation manual when he first arrived here, and now he had actually finished modifying the equipment!!!

It's simply unimaginable!

The churning emotions made his heart burn with fervor; he knew all too well what this represented.

The successful modification of the laser undoubtedly meant that what Zhou Fan had said before—that the immersion plus double exposure method could achieve 45-nanometer lithography technology—was no longer just a theoretical plan!

Instead, it now had the possibility of becoming a reality!!

"How is the progress of the other sub-projects?" He Xingwei, who had obviously also thought of this, asked Lan Bowen with shining eyes.

Once this molecular laser was debugged, they could conduct light source synthesis experiments, which naturally required the other sub-projects to produce results.

"They are still quite far behind..." Lan Bowen gave a bitter smile; he never expected Zhou Fan's speed to be so fast.

The other sub-project teams were already working in shifts around the clock, but their speed was still far behind Zhou Fan's side. It wasn't that they were too slow, but that Zhou Fan's side was simply too fast!

They simply couldn't keep up!

"It seems that, on the contrary, my side is the one holding us back!" Lan Bowen looked somewhat helpless.

Under normal circumstances, the other sub-projects should have been completed first, as the modification of the molecular laser was too complex and was the most difficult project!

But the current situation was the exact opposite!

"No, I'm going back to urge them on right now. The main problems have been solved; we can't let the technical issues of a few sub-projects delay the progress!"

Lan Bowen turned to leave.

"Wait!" At this moment, He Xingwei called out to him. His initial excitement had calmed down, and his tone had become serious again.

"We need to report this to the superiors first!"

"Also, you forgot why we came in here. Look at Engineer Zhou's condition; he is clearly pushing himself beyond his limits. We must make him go and rest!"

"Look at my brain. You're right. Since the laser has been successfully modified, you should be able to handle the debugging part. We must let him go and rest..."

Lan Bowen paused, then the two of them walked straight towards Zhou Fan. Amidst the surprised gazes of the researchers, they supported him and began to walk out of the laboratory.

"What are you doing?" Zhou Fan was bewildered as he was supported out of the laboratory by the two directors. He wanted to resist, but he felt a wave of weakness and was unable to move.

He had indeed overdrawn himself too much during this period; it wasn't just his physical strength, but his head was also throbbing with pain.

At this moment, he even felt a bit dizzy!

"Go and rest, leave the rest to us!"

Listening to He Xingwei's serious voice, Zhou Fan smiled and stopped resisting.

A wave of exhaustion washed over him instantly!