74: Chapter 74 The Dragon-Slaying Blade Technique is in hand; the US won't sell carving knives!

By evening, Su Che and his team had left Longmai Base and arrived at the Pangu No. 3 Laboratory.

In the laboratory, the cooling system of the Pangu Quantum Computer was emitting a faint hum.

On the main screen, the 3D model of the [Adaptive Variable Cycle Aerospace Engine], marked with countless red warnings, was being repeatedly scoured and deconstructed by massive data streams.

Su Che's fingers tapped on the console, his expression focused.

Lieutenant General Peng and President Liu Qianghua stood behind him, holding their breath.

They were waiting.

Waiting for Su Che to diagnose the root cause of this giant ship that had been stranded for fifteen years.

"I've found it."

Su Che's voice was not loud, but it struck the taut nerves of the two leaders like an electric current.

He did not turn back, only pulling up a dynamic simulation video.

In the video, within the engine's combustion chamber, the blue plasma flame was like a raging dragon; every pulsation represented hundreds of millions of variables coming into existence and vanishing in an instant.

"Insufficient material strength is just the surface appearance."

"The real problem is here."

Su Che reached out and pointed to a micro-solenoid valve controlling the nozzle in the video.

"Its response speed cannot keep up with the rhythm of combustion."

"It is like a top-tier sprinter wearing slippers; the brain sends the command, but the feet are always a beat behind."

"The result is that energy cannot be effectively constrained and guided, eventually spiraling out of control and destroying the engine itself."

President Liu Qianghua adjusted his glasses and asked incisively: "Is it a problem with the control algorithm?"

"No."

Su Che shook his head and pulled up another set of data.

It was a terrifying string of numbers representing the required computing power, long enough to seem endless.

"As for the algorithm, my grandfather had already written it to the limit fifteen years ago."

"It is the 'computing power' that is insufficient."

"This algorithm requires the control core to process over 500 billion flow field variables within one ten-thousandth of a second and provide the optimal solution."

"To achieve this, we need an array composed of at least 30,000 '3-nanometer process chips' working in coordination."

"30,000?"

Lieutenant General Peng gasped.

President Liu Qianghua's expression sank completely the moment he heard the term "3-nanometer."

A deep sense of powerlessness appeared on his weathered face.

"We... do not have them."

His voice was incomparably dry.

"Let alone 30,000, we cannot even manufacture a single one."

Lieutenant General Peng fell silent.

This iron-blooded general, who was decisive on the battlefield, could only remain silent at this moment.

The Dragon Country's chip industry had been firmly strangled by the Eagle and its allies with a piece of paper—a ban.

Advanced EUV lithography machines were not sold; high-end EDA design software was banned; even the special photoresist needed to manufacture chips was strictly restricted for export.

This was a war without smoke.

The enemy used a small, almost invisible silicon wafer to choke the throat of the soaring dragon.

The "Southern Gate" project had the world's most advanced blueprints, yet it couldn't even manufacture a single "brick" capable of powering it.

This was the deepest despair of the past fifteen years.

Just at this moment, that mechanical voice, which Su Che found so familiar, sounded in his mind once again.

[Ding! New national strategic requirement detected, main quest triggered!]

[Quest Name: Forge the Dragon Chip, Shatter the Hegemony!]

[Quest Content: The dragon's wings have been drawn in the blueprints, but its central nervous system is firmly locked by the ban from The White House! Please develop a [3-nanometer quantum chip] capable of crushing the era and bypassing all technical barriers, install a true heart for the Southern Gate, and carve out a bloody path for the technological rise of the Dragon Country!]

[Quest Reward: 3500 skill points, unlock [Quantum Etching Technology], [Nanoscale Quantum Dot Arrangement Technology], [Quantum State Control Integration Technology], and a list of core supporting technologies and materials; requires 2000 exchange points.]

[Current host accumulated skill points: 5000 points. Redeem?]

Su Che looked at the quest panel, his eyes calm.

"Bypass all technical barriers? This system really thinks highly of me. However... I like it."

"Redeem!"

[Ding! 2000 skill points consumed, [3-nanometer quantum chip] full technology suite redeemed.]

[Current host accumulated skill points: 3000 points.]

A massive torrent of technology, far more complex and profound than any before, instantly flooded into Su Che's mind.

He slowly raised his head, looking at Lieutenant General Peng and President Liu Qianghua, who had fallen silent.

"Who says we don't have them?"

His voice was not loud, but it was like a clap of thunder on a clear day, causing both leaders to suddenly raise their heads.

"If the Eagle won't sell us carving knives, then we will build a hammer ourselves."

Su Che walked to a tactical board and picked up a pen.

"They play with silicon-based, we won't follow them anymore."

"We will play with... quantum."

He turned to the side, pressing the pen tip heavily onto the tactical board, leaving a clear ink dot, his eyes filled with immense confidence.

"What I am going to build is not a chip."

"It is a... dimensional strike that will directly smash their era to pieces."

Meanwhile. Across the ocean, the Eagle, The White House.

In the Oval Office, cigar smoke swirled.

A tall, blonde-haired and blue-eyed man, our President Trump, was resting his feet on the expensive desk, listening to the report from Secretary of Defense Pierce.

"Sir, according to our latest intelligence, there have been anomalies in the recent movement of military and scientific research supplies in the Dragon Country."

Pierce pushed up his glasses and pointed to the satellite map on his tablet.

"Over a dozen large transport planes landed simultaneously at a secret base in the western suburbs of Beijing within three hours, transporting top-level strategic materials."

"Also, their 'Sky Eye' radar experienced an unexplainable signal blackout lasting for half an hour."

President Trump, behind the desk, chuckled upon hearing this and blew out a smoke ring.

"Oh? Is that so?"

His tone was full of condescending arrogance.

"No matter how much the Dragon Country tosses and turns, what kind of tricks can they pull off?"

"It's just moving their rusty iron lumps from one warehouse to another."

"Our chip ban is a noose around their necks; as long as we are willing, we can tighten it at any time."

Pierce nodded and chimed in: "You are right."

"However, just in case, I suggest uniting with Sakura Country and South Korea to further tighten export controls on the Dragon Country in the fields of photoresist and high-purity chemicals."

"Make it even harder for them to even manufacture low-end chips."

"Granted."

President Trump waved his hand casually, as if shooing away a fly.

"Don't bother me with such trivial matters."

He picked up a document on the table, which had an eye-catching title printed on it.

——"Strategic Report on Further Strengthening Global Technological Hegemony."

His gaze swept over the region where the Dragon Country was located, his mouth full of disdain.

"A bunch of guys who can't even manufacture high-end lithography equipment. Want to fight us? Ridiculous!"