I started with a ship full of max-level veterans, and I'm just a complete noob.

The next morning, the rotary vane pump in Workshop No. 1 was belching out coarse air, and the smell of machine oil was sour from the agitation.

A newly polished Kovar alloy support ring sits on the workbench, its cold light gliding across the metal tabletop.

Although the first tube produced data, no one dared to relax completely.

Jiang Ming pushed the ledger filled with top-secret numbers in front of Xiao Zhao.

"I won't touch the switch or report any parameters today."

He tapped the ink stains on the ledger.

"You read the instructions, and Master Sun and Da Liu will follow your commands."

"One wrong step and this pipe is ruined."

Xiao Zhao's pen slammed onto the table, leaving a blot of black ink.

"Engineer Jiang, this is the last bit of wealth the entire factory has."

"If I make a slip of the tongue, Director Zhang will skin me alive."

Jiang Ming pulled over a low wooden stool and sat down, sketching a thermal cycle diagram on a scrap of paper.

"Military production requires rules that can be written down and copied, not rules that someone can execute today."

Old Sun threw the assorted files onto the anvil and grabbed the Kovar alloy.

"Xiao Zhao, stop dawdling."

"These hands of mine are yours to command today."

"If you say go left, I will never go right."

Wearing asbestos gloves, Da Liu stood guard by the liquid nitrogen tank.

"Brother Zhao, just think of us as two tin-plate machines."

"Shoot wherever you point."

Xiao Zhao swallowed hard and turned to the first page.

"The first step is to plate the Kovar alloy surface with nickel, and control the temperature within the range of 400 degrees Celsius."

Old Sun lit the spray gun, and the blue flame licked the metal surface.

Da Liu held up the thermometer, staring intently at the reading.

"Brother Zhao, how do you judge the heat?"

"Look at the color of the nickel layer."

"Remove the heat when it turns dark red; don't rely on feel."

Xiao Zhao's voice became more steady at the end, and he drew the first checkmark on the ledger with his pen.

"Master Sun, cease fire."

"Use copper clamps to secure both ends before placing it into the furnace."

"Da Liu, the hydrogen-nitrogen mixture should be three to one."

"Keep an eye on the flow meter; the pointer must not cross the red line."

The tubes were pushed into the core area of ​​the sintering furnace.

Jiang Ming remained seated to the side, only glancing at the instrument panel at crucial moments.

He wanted to forcefully pull this workshop, which relied on the craftsman's skill, into the military production line.

The temperature climbed to 800 degrees Celsius, and then the annealing process began.

Xiao Zhao stared at the second hand and called out the next command.

"Gradual cooling begins."

"A one-hour stop is required in the 400°C range to release stress."

The red light in the furnace chamber gradually dimmed.

Old Sun gripped his tobacco pipe, staring at the thermometer, while Da Liu didn't even dare take off his gloves.

The clock completed one lap.

The tubes are out of the oven.

Old Sun used long-handled iron pliers to clamp the still-warm tube into the white porcelain plate.

Jiang Ming picked up a magnifying glass and brought it close to the outer ring of the support ring where the glass and metal were sealed.

The deadly ice crack did not appear.

The expansion coefficient of Kovar alloy suppresses the glass shrinkage curve.

The tube survived.

Da Liu rushed up to connect the vacuum pump pipeline.

The rotary vane pump emitted a muffled roar, and the black needle of the mercury gauge slid all the way to the ten-to-five mark, stopping below it without rebounding.

After packaging, the tube is sent to the electron emission test stand.

Pull down the black rubber switch.

The microammeter needle broke through 200 and finally settled at 275 microamps.

Wu Hanzhang walked over carrying a teacup, his face wrinkles smoothing out.

"Good lad, this time we've really given the Soviets a second life."

He slammed the teacup on the table, turned around, and shouted.

"Old Sun, go find Old Li from the cafeteria."

"Two meat and vegetable dishes will be added to Workshop Number One today."

Jiang Ming reached out to stop him and locked the power switch of the test bench in the normally open position.

"Engineer Wu, the pipes cannot be taken offline yet."

Wu Hanzhang stopped in his tracks.

"Two hundred and seventy-five microamps isn't enough?"

"When the military radios arrived in the Northwest, they would stay on for days and nights at a time."

"Looking at the activation data is just fooling yourself."

Jiang Ming looked at Xiao Zhao and handed him the record board.

"Establish a continuous life test log."

"From now on, 12 hours of thermal cycling to resist pressure."

"Uninterrupted power supply, no load reduction."

Wu Hanzhang stared at the liquid nitrogen cold trap, his face contorted with pain.

"Running at full capacity for twelve hours straight, how much liquid nitrogen does that broken cold trap consume?"

"You're exposing the true nature of the logistics warehouse."

"On the battlefield, a disconnected pipe means a life."

Jiang Ming did not back down.

"No matter how expensive liquid nitrogen is, it can't compare to the lives on the front lines."

He shoved the record board into Xiao Zhao's hands.

"The three of you will work in shifts."

"Your eyes must not leave the dial."

After giving his instructions, Jiang Ming grabbed his bag and left the workshop.

At night, the cold wind outside the factory area swept through the iron gate.

Jiang Ming returned to his single dormitory and sat cross-legged on the hard bed without even lighting the kerosene lamp.

The bronze-covered book of connections unfolded in my mind, its metallic sheen rising layer by layer.

Today's last three psychic opportunities must be used to lay the groundwork for the lifespan test.

He first approached the female pioneer in precision instrument and vacuum systems engineering.

"Senior, what hidden risks of gas venting might occur inside the tube shell during continuous 12-hour full-load heat circulation?"

The female pioneer cut to the chase from the very first sentence.

"Over time, the residual gas adsorbed by the metal will be released a second time."

"The vacuum gauge will exhibit periodic vibrations."

"If the shaking amplitude does not exceed half a scale mark, it is considered to be in physical equilibrium."

"Do not disconnect the power."

Jiang Ming groped his way down half a mark in the dark.

This is the critical line between judging air leakage and normal venting.

During his second psychic communication, he connected with his fellow students in the Materials Interface Physics School.

"Senior, could prolonged thermal cycling cause the cathode coating to slowly peel off?"

The other person was speaking very fast.

"The mica ceramic pad has been drained of crystal water, and the bottom can hold up."

"Lattice migration will occur in the top rare earth slurry at high temperatures."

"Four hours later, the launch efficiency will enter a natural decay period."

"A drop of no more than 5% is acceptable."

"Don't touch voltage compensation."

Jiang Ming circled five percent of the line.

If the red line is exceeded, the domestic rare earth formula cannot withstand prolonged high pressure.

For the last time, he connected with that hot-tempered early vacuum tube pioneer.

"Senior, if the test bench runs for a long time, will the insulation resistance age and interfere with the data?"

The other party started swearing right away.

"Those broken instruments in your workshop get hot after running for three hours."

"The readings must be adjusted to account for the temperature drift error of the test bench."

"Otherwise, it's all just waste paper."

Jiang Ming circled the words "temperature drifting error" and exhausted his three-time psychic quota.

He opened his eyes, grabbed his coat, and headed straight for Workshop No. 1.

The incandescent bulb hissed.

Xiao Zhao sat at the testing table, holding a pen. The clock on the wall had just reached the end of the third hour.

The metal door was pushed open, and a cold wind rushed in.

Xiao Zhao looked up, his pen leaving long ink marks on the notebook.

"Jiang, stop the meter."

He pointed to the micro-ammeter, his throat tightening.

"The emission current fluctuates periodically between 275 and 274."

Jiang Ming strode to the control panel and stared at the black pointer.

The pointer jumps at a fixed frequency, always stopping at the same beat.

This does not belong to the residual gas release pipe.

The gas release was irregular.

The pointer in front of us, however, clearly shows signs of human intervention.

Jiang Ming's hand hovered in front of the main power switch, not falling.

"There's nothing wrong with the inside of the pipe."

He turned to look at the old industrial cable in the corner.

"The electromagnetic environment outside the factory area is changing."

"Something crawled into the test bench along the power cord."

Da Liu squatted next to the liquid nitrogen tank, watching the frost layer melt abnormally.

"Engineer Jiang, the liquid nitrogen consumption in the cold trap has doubled."

"This broken pot is struggling with that thing outside."

Jiang Ming withdrew his hand and tightened the voltage compensation knob on the test bench.