Industrial Cthulhu doesn't believe in the end times.

Chapter 28 This bastard wants to die!

When it comes to superconductors, some people may think that they are very rare and precious, but that is not actually the case.

In fact, humans have discovered tens of thousands of materials with superconducting properties; what is truly scarce is the ability to operate at room temperature and pressure.

The first superconducting material discovered by mankind was actually mercury. Mercury exhibits superconductivity in liquid helium, at a temperature below -268.95 degrees Celsius. This temperature is even close to absolute zero. Maintaining a material at this level of temperature during operation is extremely difficult.

For over a century, humanity has never ceased its research on superconductivity, but we still have a long way to go before we can truly achieve room temperature performance. In fact, in related fields, materials that can exhibit the corresponding properties above -233 degrees Celsius can be considered 'high-temperature superconductors'.

Many years ago, some people from South Korea claimed to have synthesized a room-temperature superconductor, but it turned out to be nothing more than a joke.

Before Su Xun's rebirth, this field had already seen many advanced achievements and a fairly mature development path.

The technology Su Xun provided was certainly not something to dabble in. As an extraordinary being who could create things at will, he selected a copper oxide composite metal material from among the many materials he possessed that was closest to the current human technological path and had the simplest production and modification work.

As he expected, the product successfully passed the experimental verification and achieved some output in the laboratory.

He wasn't there at the time and didn't see it, but it must have been an exciting moment.

Alloy materials in a superconducting state are also known as perfect metals. They are true macroscopic quantum state products. The emergence of such things means that human civilization has taken a big step forward.

In fact, unbeknownst to Su Xun, it had already caused a huge uproar. However, the news had not yet been made public to the wider public. ASEAN intended to keep the matter hidden for the time being and bring it up to boost morale when social pressure was greater.

As the group entered the workshop, the relevant person in charge came forward to greet them and introduced the equipment in the workshop to everyone.

"Due to the tight schedule and heavy workload, there are still some equipment for the preliminary processes in our workshop that have not been installed. Our current production relies on semi-finished materials provided by various upstream factories to directly react, mix, and sinter."

There are still many workers in the workshop debugging the equipment. Even if existing machines are modified, it is indeed impossible to put them into production directly in such a short time.

Su Xun looked around and couldn't help but wonder, "There seem to be quite a few lights here. Are they not all installed yet?"

Upon hearing this, the person in charge turned around and smiled, saying, "Only humans need lights; robots don't. Many of the devices in this factory were already highly automated. After our emergency modifications, the entire workshop can now achieve fully unmanned production. The current lights are for maintenance workers. Once it's fully operational, this will be a standardized, dark factory."

Su Xun nodded knowingly. The concept of a "lights-out factory" appeared a few years ago, and the technology has become increasingly mature in recent years.

In normal times, the construction of such factories might be constrained by local employment quotas, forcing them to recruit workers from the community. However, now that a large number of people have begun military training, production is facing a shortage of workers.

Enterprises involved in automation were finally able to operate at full capacity. In a short period of time, not only this workshop involving room temperature superconductivity, but also many similar "lights-out" factories emerged throughout ASEAN.

Because the security level here is quite high, Wang Wei and the others didn't really try to hide anything when they talked to Su Xun; at most, they just made sure not to call him by his name directly.

"If the cataclysm hadn't happened, the job market would have been even more difficult."

"The country has long had corresponding technological reserves. Some advanced technologies were restricted for fear of causing social unrest. Now that the situation is critical, we have no choice but to bring them all out."

Hearing this, Su Xun nodded and said, "No matter what, it would be best if the cataclysm didn't happen. There is still room to salvage all the damage caused now. But if the cataclysm really starts, then if we do less now, many more survivors will die."

Everyone nodded and continued to observe the workshop.

"Line 1, feed test." The person in charge gave the order over the walkie-talkie, and a production line that was nearing completion began to operate automatically. Copper powder, oxygen, mercury and other materials were continuously fed into the reactor. Through the thick glass, in the dim light, the machinery seemed to be alive, almost mesmerizing everyone present.

Looking at the scene before him, Su Xun suddenly understood why some people called the East an industrial Cthulhu. Perhaps in the eyes of those foreigners, such a miraculous creation was indeed incomprehensible.

……

"They're coming out."

The agent received a message from his comrade and tossed a bag of white powder to the thin young man who had been waiting beside him. The man pounced on it like a hungry wolf that had seen blood.

No, perhaps even crazier than a hungry wolf.

"I've got the stuff, you should go now."

The young man convulsed on the ground for a while, then finally stood up, revealing a ferocious smile on his tattooed face. His madness made even the agents frown.

As he turned to leave, a dump truck loaded with gravel started up in the distance and drove far away from the street. The agent sighed, went up to the top floor, where he could see the location of the target and the place where they were going to take action.

Meanwhile, a semi-trailer truck was starting from the library entrance, heading to the Chongqing Airport, and it was loaded with books.

This is a recent official task, and it's unclear where these books are going. In short, they are to be taken to the airport and then loaded onto a transport plane.

The task was being carried out under considerable pressure, and a large number of trucks were deployed to do it, including Tian Yong.

When he reached a crossroads, he sighed, "Damn it, traffic control."

Tian Yong looked at the traffic police in yellow vests blocking the traffic in front of him and couldn't help but curse under his breath. This was his last trip. It was already getting late, and it would be even later when he got to the airport.

The good news is that he happened to stop right at the intersection, so he could not only be the first to leave, but also see who could cause such a commotion.

Such a lively event is something that almost no East Asian would want to miss.

They're on the front lines of gossip.

A convoy approached from his left, led by police cars and escorted by armored vehicles. It seemed to be heading in the same direction as him, which made him feel a little better—when traveling with such a convoy, he didn't have to worry about traffic jams.

Just then, he heard a cry of surprise.

"Holy crap, what's going on?"

On the road opposite the convoy, a dump truck was speeding recklessly, heading straight for the turning convoy!
"Damn it, you son of a bitch, you want to die!" Tian Yong didn't think too much and stepped on the gas, rushing forward and just managing to block the dump truck in front of several military vehicles before it could get on.

"Boom!"

The world spun around, and everything was in complete disarray.

(End of this chapter)