87: Chapter 87 Applying Maximum Pressure? Chief Engineer Su Che Assembles a Team of Academicians from the Dragon Kingdom!

It was 11:00 PM.

The air in the Xishan Command Center was heavy and oppressive.

"The 'Extreme Pressure' executive order from Eagle Sauce has been broadcast to all 193 member states via the United Nations emergency channel."

The voice of an intelligence analyst rang out clearly in the room.

"Semiconductors, precision optics, special alloys, biopharmaceuticals... in all the fields covered by the list, Eagle Sauce has united with seventeen technologically advanced nations, including Sakura Country, Gaul Chicken, and Germany, to form a 'Technology Barrier Alliance'."

"Their slogan is: Any country or enterprise that dares to provide even a single screw from the list to Dragon Country will be considered a direct provocation to the 'Alliance' and will face indiscriminate sanctions in the financial, trade, and energy sectors."

Lieutenant General Peng's face was as gloomy as water, his knuckles white from clenching his fists.

What a "just counterattack."

This was an attempt to completely uproot Dragon Country from the global high-tech supply chain!

"They are too impatient."

Su Che's voice broke the suffocating tension.

Looking at the long list of sanctions, there was no anxiety on his face; instead, there was a sense of ease, as if he had seen through his opponent's hole cards.

"A watertight global blockade order—from drafting to getting seventeen countries to sign it, and then to its release—could not possibly have been completed without seventy-two hours of prior communication."

He looked at Lieutenant General Peng.

"Therefore, before we even counterattacked Sakura Country, this net was already being cast."

"The 'Amaterasu' plan was just an excuse for them to press the 'start' button."

Deputy Director Qin suddenly realized the truth, and a chill ran down his spine.

What a vicious game of chess!

Regardless of whether Dragon Country counterattacked, or whether Su Che lived or died, they were determined to pin the blame for this 'cyber-terrorism' on them!

"Time."

Lieutenant General Peng slowly spat out the two words.

He understood now.

The enemy didn't want to defeat them; they wanted to drag them down.

They intended to use an airtight technological iron curtain to trap Dragon Country and turn the 'Sky-Opening' plan into a joke that could never be completed.

"Exactly, it's all about time."

Su Che stood up and removed the "impossible list" from the main screen.

"General, Dean Liu."

"The command center is no place for research and development."

"I need a place—a place where we can pack all of Dragon Country's top minds."

"A place... where we can snatch our time back."

...

The next morning.

In the northwest suburbs of the capital, there was a secret base that had never appeared on any map.

Its codename was 'Sky-Opening'.

This place was once the core calculation center for Dragon Country's "Two Bombs, One Satellite" program. It had been abandoned for nearly thirty years, but now, in just one night, it had been brought back to life.

One dark green military helicopter after another tore through the morning mist and arrived with a roar.

Stepping out of the cabins were figures with gray hair, yet their steps remained steady.

President Liu Qianghua stood on the tarmac, greeting them personally.

"Academician Qian! Didn't you just get transferred to the Gobi Desert to oversee the final stages of the 'Stargazer' radio telescope array? How did you get here so quickly..."

The person who arrived was none other than Academician Qian Zhenhua. He took off his glasses and gripped President Liu Qianghua's hand tightly, looking emotional.

"The country's very heart and soul are being torn out, and you expect me to keep looking at stars?! The theater command used its highest authority to 'kidnap' me directly from the project!"

"Elder Wu! Your... your health..."

President Liu Qianghua saw another thin figure being helped off the plane and his eyes reddened.

Academician Wu Mengda, the founder of Dragon Country's material mechanics and precision structural engineering, was already ninety-two years old and had been bedridden for years.

"I'm not dead yet."

Academician Wu waved his hand, his voice hoarse but strong.

"These old bones of mine can still carry a load for the country."

...

Optics, materials science, precision engineering, quantum physics, automatic control...

Overnight, over fifty of Dragon Country's top scientists, each a heavyweight in their respective fields, were gathered here with maximum efficiency.

They were the foundation of Dragon Country's confidence.

They were the reason this nation could slap its chest and declare "self-reliance" in the face of any blockade!

Base, main R&D center. The huge circular conference room was packed.

These national treasure-level academicians looked serious. They had received the highest-level "call to arms," yet even now, they still didn't know the specific mission.

Lieutenant General Peng walked onto the stage. Without a word of wasted breath, he projected the "impossible list" and Eagle Sauce's "Extreme Pressure" executive order onto the big screen.

"Respected elders, this is the situation."

"The enemy has already put a knife to our throats."

"Now, the country needs us to forge our own blades!"

The conference room was silent.

All the academicians' eyes were glued to that list, to those shocking technical parameters.

After a long time, Academician Qian Zhenhua slowly took off his reading glasses, rubbed his temples, and spoke in a heavy voice.

"General Peng, this isn't a blade."

"This is a myth."

"With our current industrial system, even if you gave us another twenty years, we might not be able to crack any single one of these items."

His words represented the feelings of everyone present.

This wasn't pessimism; it was the calmest judgment based on science.

"Twenty years is too long."

A young voice suddenly rang out from the corner.

"We must seize the day."

Everyone looked toward the sound.

They saw a young man in casual clothes, looking like an undergraduate who hadn't even graduated yet, walking slowly onto the stage.

Lieutenant General Peng turned to the side and introduced him to everyone.

"This is the Chief Engineer of the 'Sky-Opening' plan, Su Che."

As soon as Lieutenant General Peng finished speaking, the conference room erupted in an uproar.

"Chief Engineer? Him?"

"General Peng, this is no child's play!"

"A greenhorn, what does he know about industrial systems?"

Voices of doubt rose one after another.

Academician Qian Zhenhua stood up directly. His expression was complex; he recognized Su Che's ability, yet he found this matter hard to believe.

"Engineer Su, I have witnessed your talent in quantum computing. But this list is the Mount Everest of modern industry! The first item, diffraction-limited aspheric lenses—tell me, how do you make them?"

Su Che ignored the noisy voices.

He walked up to Academician Qian Zhenhua and bowed slightly, showing respect.

"Academician Qian, your question is excellent."

"We won't 'make' them."

He picked up a pen and wrote two words on the tactical board.

"Grow."

Academician Qian Zhenhua was stunned.

"That's pure fantasy! How can lenses grow? Do you think you're planting radishes?"

Su Che smiled.

He walked directly to the supercomputer terminal on the side and plugged in his encrypted USB drive.

"Respected elders, please look at the big screen."

"This is a simulation of the growth process I made overnight using 'Dragon Chip' and 'Pangu Quantum Computer'."

On the screen, a virtual space at the atomic level appeared.

Countless silicon and oxygen atoms were precisely stacked in single atomic layers, constrained by an invisible force field.

No cutting, no polishing.

A quartz crystal with perfect curvature, like an ice flower, slowly "bloomed" under everyone's gaze!

The entire conference room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

All the academicians, including Academician Qian Zhenhua who had been emotional just a moment ago, were staring at the screen, their breathing slowed.

"This... this is..."

Academician Qian Zhenhua's voice trembled as he pointed at the perfect atomic lattice structure on the screen.

"Single-atom impurity removal... quantum algorithm correction of lattice defects... this... this is the work of God!"

"Academician Qian, this is not the work of God."

Su Che pulled out the USB drive, scanned the room, and his voice was clear and firm.

"This is the work of the people of Dragon Country."

He paused and looked at Academician Wu Mengda, who was sitting in a wheelchair.

"Academician Wu, I know what you are worried about."

"Micro-Gal level active vibration isolation racks are indeed unsolvable using traditional methods."

"But what if..."

Su Che walked up to Academician Wu, crouched down, and looked him straight in the eyes.

"But what if... I use quantum fluid potential capture technology to make the entire lithography machine platform levitate, completely isolating the vibrations?"

A flash of brilliance suddenly burst forth from Academician Wu Mengda's cloudy eyes!

"Quantum fluid potential capture technology?!"

"Yes."

Su Che snapped his fingers.

Two "Dragon Shadow" team members, who had been waiting outside, walked in carrying something covered with a black cloth.

Su Che ripped off the black cloth.

Revealed was a bizarre, crudely constructed device pieced together from a scrap water pump, electromagnetic coils, and a few unknown metal plates.

"This is an Anti-gravity water pump I developed back in Su Family Village to solve drinking water issues, using quantum fluid potential capture technology. I just modified it slightly to use for this levitation demonstration."

The expressions of all the academicians present changed in unison.

They had heard of quantum fluid potential capture technology, but no one had ever seen a version capable of directly levitating heavy objects!

Su Che didn't explain; he just pressed the switch.

"Buzz—"

A faint sound of electric current rang out.

The next second.

Under the gaze of over fifty pairs of eyes, the standard experimental steel ingot, weighing over two hundred kilograms, along with the metal tray beneath it, levitated silently!

Three centimeters off the ground, without moving an inch!

The conference room fell into silence once again.

If the previous "crystal growth" simulation had overturned their understanding,

then this scene before them had completely shattered their worldview!

"Now."

Su Che turned off the power, and the steel ingot fell back to the ground with a "thud."

He stood up and brushed the dust off his hands, as if he had just done something insignificant.

"Respected elders, are there any more questions?"