A live stream of someone hand-making a giant white robot attracted the attention of the government,

Bai Che's lazy, slightly mocking tone echoed clearly in the quiet laboratory.

salary?

Security services?

A surge of heat rushed to the top of her head, and Su Wanqing felt that her cheeks must have turned bright red, not from embarrassment, but purely from anger.

"The company account hasn't been opened yet, and the financial procedures haven't been completed."

Bai Che shrugged indifferently.

That's why I asked you, as the CEO, to personally cover the cost.

He stretched out his finger and tapped it lightly on the table, making a soft tapping sound.

"Just so you know, I own 99% of Zero Boundary Technology's shares. In other words, I also pay your salary. Now, it's reasonable for me to ask for an advance, isn't it?"

Su Wanqing was rendered speechless by this flawless, rogue logic.

She stared intently at him, her chest heaving violently.

This man always managed to use the most nonchalant tone to completely disrupt her composure and rationality.

She took a deep breath and squeezed out a few words through gritted teeth.

"password."

A triumphant smile finally appeared on Bai Che's lips, though it vanished in an instant.

"Six zeros."

He looked at her calmly and added, "It doesn't need to be much, just a dollar will do. The main thing is to help you understand that as a CEO, you need to give sufficient respect and material incentives to the company's core technological assets."

Su Wanqing: "..."

She felt like she was about to have a heart attack from angering this jerk.

She picked up the card and her phone, intending to transfer that one yuan "salary" to him and end this absurd conversation in that way.

Just then.

hum~ hum~ hum~

Her other personal cell phone, which was on the table, suddenly started vibrating wildly.

On the caller ID, a name she knew all too well appeared, but one that should never have called at this time.

Li Jianguo

Su Wanqing's movements froze instantly.

Her communication with Li Jianguo was always conducted via encrypted lines, and they had fixed contact times.

These urgent calls directly to her personal cell phone only mean one thing.

Something terrible has happened.

The absurd and ambiguous atmosphere in the laboratory was instantly dispelled by the rapid vibration.

Su Wanqing's expression instantly returned to its cold and solemn state, and she quickly answered the phone.

"Minister Li".

On the other end of the phone, Li Jianguo's usually calm and deep voice carried a hint of barely concealed anxiety for the first time.

"Comrade Wanqing, something's happened. Check your email; I just sent you an urgent document forwarded from the Academy of Sciences. It's an open letter from the journal *Science*."

"The Americans have begun their attack from another battlefield."

The phone hangs up.

Without the slightest hesitation, Su Wanqing immediately closed her laptop and rushed to Bai Che's workbench, where there was a computer specifically used for processing external information.

She sat down, her fingers flying across the keyboard as she logged into her email.

An email marked as "Top Urgent" was prominently displayed at the very top of the inbox.

She clicked on it.

The attachment is a PDF file with an English title.

"AnOpenLetter to theGlobalScientificCommunity:OnTheDubiousNatureofZero~BoundaryTechnology"

[An Open Letter to the Global Scientific Community: On the Questionable Nature of Zero-Boundary Technology]

Su Wanqing's heart sank as soon as she glanced at the title.

She quickly copied the entire text, put it into translation software, and began to skim it using her excellent professional English skills.

Bai Che had walked over at some point, still holding the bowl of unfinished millet porridge in his hand, and stood behind her, also looking at the screen.

The translation software quickly provided the full text.

Every word carried a chilling aura and an overwhelming arrogance.

"...We must be wary of this kind of commercial scam disguised as science. Any energy conversion that violates the second law of thermodynamics is a blatant provocation against the foundations of modern physics. That so-called 'non-heating battery' is very likely using some unknown, violent endothermic chemical reaction to create the illusion of zero energy loss. This is not technological progress, but the most shameless desecration of the scientific spirit..."

The author of the letter is a name that Bai Che and Su Wanqing both know well.

Richard Stone.

Nobel Prize laureate in Physics, member of the Royal Society of England, and a leading figure in contemporary condensed matter physics.

The letter was accompanied by a list of scholars who co-signed it.

There were hundreds of them, densely packed together.

Each name represents a significant academic authority in one of the world's top universities or research institutions.

The final paragraph of the statement was filled with undisguised threats.

"...On behalf of 117 scholars in the fields of physics, chemistry and materials science worldwide, we jointly demand that Zero Boundary Technology immediately disclose all experimental data, theoretical models and preparation processes of its 'room-temperature superconducting materials' for public review by the international academic community."

"If you refuse, we will jointly push all major academic journals worldwide to indefinitely suspend the review of all research projects related to energy and materials science from China. We must defend the purity of science!"

boom.

Su Wanqing's mind was buzzing.

This is no longer commercial suppression, or even a technological blockade.

This is academic bullying.

It is a "crusade" launched with the reputation and discourse power of the entire Western academic community for a century as a weapon, aiming to completely strangle the legitimacy of Zero Boundary Technology from the root.

They don't talk to you about the market, they don't talk to you about the product.

They directly undermined your theory, declaring it false and that you were a fraud.

Once this label is firmly attached, Zero Boundary Technology will never recover. The reputation of the University of Science and Technology of China, and even the entire scientific research community in China, will suffer a devastating blow.

"Bastard..." Su Wanqing's knuckles turned white from the force she exerted. She stared intently at the domineering threat on the screen, a sense of powerlessness and anger she had never felt before engulfing her.

Just then, a hand reached out and took the mouse from in front of her.

Bai Che finished his porridge sometime during the day, casually placed the bowl aside, and remained expressionless.

He was already getting annoyed by an optimization problem for a suspended particle collision algorithm, and now he was being bothered by this trivial matter. His impatience was almost overflowing.

He scrolled quickly with the mouse wheel, scanning the several thousand words of open letter from beginning to end.

Then, he slammed a marker down on the table.

"It's annoying."

Su Wanqing was in a state of great worry when he suddenly looked up in surprise.

Bai Che scratched his somewhat messy hair and spoke impatiently.

"It's just a research paper, right? Some old fogies are still playing these tricks."

After saying that, he didn't give Su Wanqing any time to react and directly created a blank Word document on the computer.

His long, slender hands covered the keyboard, their knuckles clearly defined.

Then, without turning his head, he gave the order to Su Wanqing, who was completely petrified behind him.

Give me half an hour.

"Another cup of coffee, please."