64: Chapter 64 A Dead End in Fifteen Years? That's the Treasure Map My Grandfather Left Me!

Su Che's voice was soft, yet it felt like a depth charge dropped into the Pangu Quantum Computer No. 3 Laboratory.

Hundreds of the Dragon Kingdom's top scientists experienced a collective mental crash.

"Mass decay? What kind of joke is that!"

"This is the cornerstone of the Nantianmen Project! It is the 'divine beast' they have spent fifteen years of painstaking effort trying to tame!"

"If its basic physical properties are unstable, then what have they actually been doing for these fifteen years?"

"Did they build a castle in the air that could collapse at any moment?!"

"No... impossible!"

Academician Qian Zhenhua was the first to react, retorting in a hoarse voice.

"We have conducted tens of thousands of physical property tests on the Kunlun Alloy! If mass decay existed, it would be impossible for us not to have noticed it!"

"Is that so?"

Su Che did not turn around; he simply tapped a few keys on the Quantum Computer's control console.

On the main screen, comparison data from hundreds of experimental reports instantly popped up.

On the left was the original mass data of the Kunlun Alloy material recorded by the Dragon Vein Base over the past fifteen years.

On the right was the mass data re-measured after each experiment.

Behind every data point was a difference so minute it could almost be ignored.

"It is not that you did not discover it; you did, but you dismissed them all as 'instrument error' or 'environmental loss' and ignored them."

Su Che's voice was cold and calm, like a scalpel dissecting the last shred of pride held by this group of top scientists.

Academician Qian Zhenhua stared fixedly at the red-marked differences on the screen.

His body began to tremble uncontrollably.

It was true.

He had personally reviewed this data countless times.

Each time, he had habitually attributed these tiny changes beyond the sixth decimal place to error.

This was the instinct of all experimental scientists.

But now, when those tens of thousands of 'errors' were arranged by an absolutely rational machine, presenting an irrefutable, fixed decay curve, he realized how absurdly wrong he had been.

They had not been defeated by technology; they had been defeated by their own fixed mindset.

"I... we..."

An old academician behind Academician Qian Zhenhua clutched his chest, staggered back two steps, and was caught by the person beside him.

"Fifteen years... we have actually... been using a piece of 'evaporating' ice to light a pile of wet firewood?"

Despair. A despair more thorough than fifteen years of failed research washed over everyone present like a tide.

If even the foundation was quicksand, how could they speak of building a skyscraper?

The expressions on Lieutenant General Peng and President Liu Qianghua's faces also became extremely grim.

Although they were not frontline researchers, they instantly understood the severity of the problem.

Su Che looked at the group of dejected seniors, his face devoid of any pride or mockery.

"Who told you this was 'decay'?"

Everyone was stunned.

Su Che ignored them and walked straight to another military supercomputing terminal.

He pulled up the scanned copy of his grandfather's notes that he had brought in his backpack.

Then, he returned to the Quantum Computer and typed another line of commands.

[Task: Using the 'Kun-Repulsion' (Kunlun Repulsion Field) No. 3 deduction formula as the core algorithm, re-analyze all energy conversion models in the 17.8 PB database.]

The 'Kun-Repulsion' No. 3 deduction formula was the very core description from his grandfather's notes regarding the 'ordered collapse' of the Kunlun Alloy's internal particles when subjected to a strong electromagnetic field!

Academician Qian Zhenhua leaned forward again, staring at the line of mathematical formulas he had never seen before, yet which possessed a certain profound, mysterious beauty.

His intuition told him that this was the key!

"Hum—" The Quantum Computer began running at full speed once more.

This time, it was faster than before. Almost the instant the command was given, it beeped. Calculation complete!

On the main screen, a brand new, dynamic three-dimensional model replaced all previous data.

The core of the model was a simulated piece of Kunlun Alloy.

In the model's demonstration, countless microscopic particles within the material were collapsing, annihilating, and transforming from a material state into the purest form of energy, following a peculiar rhythm, slowly but irreversibly.

And this conversion rate perfectly matched the previously calculated 'mass decay' rate!

A line of final conclusions popped up at the bottom of the screen.

[Conclusion: The Kunlun Alloy does not undergo mass decay. Its essence is a low-dimensional solidified form of high-dimensional energy. In the environment of the current dimension (Earth), because it cannot obtain the high-dimensional energy required to maintain its stability, the material initiates a minimal 'autophagy' program—that is, it annihilates a tiny portion of its own mass to maintain the stability of its core structure.]

[This process is not 'decay', but 'maintenance'.]

Everyone in the laboratory seemed frozen, staring fixedly at the text on the screen that had upended their worldview.

Autophagy... maintenance... After all this time, it wasn't that the material was flawed. It was that they... had been using it in the wrong place!

They were like a group of natives who had found a smartphone dropped from the future; unable to find a charger, they watched its battery drain away, only to conclude that the device was defective garbage!

"So... that's how it is..." Academician Qian Zhenhua muttered to himself, looking as if he had lost his mind.

He suddenly remembered over twenty years ago, when he was just a wet-behind-the-ears youth following his teacher, and saw the high-spirited Su Changshan for the first time.

He remembered how Su Changshan had pointed to a pitch-black 'stone' and told everyone, "What we have found is not just a new material, but a key—a key to a new world."

As it turned out, they had been holding the key and guarding the door for fifteen years, yet they had never once thought to find the real 'door.'

"Where is the door?" Academician Qian Zhenhua looked up sharply, staring at Su Che with an almost pleading gaze.

Su Che did not answer. He simply opened another file on the console. It was an encrypted coordinate—the Earth-Moon Lagrange L2 point.

"My grandfather left the location of the door as well," Su Che said calmly, looking at Academician Qian Zhenhua.

"It is not that he did not tell you how to use it. He simply believed that among his successors, someone would eventually be able to understand the 'treasure map' he left behind."

Academician Qian Zhenhua fell silent. He looked at Su Che, observing the same powerful, unwavering confidence on the young man's face that Su Changshan had possessed.

He suddenly understood. Twenty-five years ago, Su Changshan had spent ten years developing the Kunlun Alloy, laying the cornerstone for the Nantianmen Project. Twenty-five years later, his grandson would personally install the engine and ignite the torch for this massive vessel. This was legacy.

Academician Qian Zhenhua took a deep breath and straightened his disheveled white lab coat.

He walked up to Su Che. In front of everyone's shocked gaze, he bowed deeply to the young man, who was even younger than his own grandson.

"Chief Engineer Su." As he looked up, his aged eyes were filled with unprecedented clarity and admiration.

In his heart, Su Che was the Chief Engineer—the well-deserved, irreplaceable Chief Engineer of the Dragon Kingdom!

"From today on, we hundreds of old bones are at your disposal. Whether it's climbing a mountain of blades or plunging into a sea of fire, we will follow without hesitation!"

Behind him, hundreds of the Dragon Kingdom's top scientists bowed their proud heads in unison. "Please, Chief Engineer Su, give the order!"

Their voices thundered like a landslide, their spirit soaring high!

Lieutenant General Peng and President Liu Qianghua exchanged a glance, seeing uncontrollable ecstasy in each other's eyes. It was done! This elite scientific research unit, one of the Dragon Kingdom's strongest and most difficult to manage, had finally been forged into a single, cohesive force!

Su Che calmly accepted everyone's respect. He walked to the main screen and looked at the [Optimal Solution] provided by the Quantum Computer.

[Plan: Construct a stable, controllable strong magnetic confinement field to simulate the high-energy environment of the Earth-Moon L2 point, thereby 'charging' the Kunlun Alloy and activating its true Anti-gravity properties.]

[Core Requirement: A clean energy source capable of sustainable, ultra-high-power output.]

Su Che's gaze swept over the group of seniors awaiting his orders. He spoke slowly; his voice was not loud, yet it clearly resonated throughout the entire laboratory.

"Nantianmen Project, step one." He paused, enunciating every word. "Wait for me to go back and study it. Trying to get it done right now? The supporting technology is far too lacking!"

"What I need to do now is enter the Dragon Vein to see my grandfather. You all need to thoroughly master the Quantum Computer first, and strive for mass production as soon as possible!"