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

The escort team leader squatted in front of the wooden crate, the beam of his flashlight falling on the loose screw, illuminating the tiny rust fragments between the threads.

He didn't try to twist it.

The document Jiang Ming gave him was written very clearly on the third page.

If any abnormalities are found during transportation, the inner sealing structure must not be disassembled without authorization. A telegram must be sent back to the factory from the nearest secure station, and instructions must be awaited.

The escort team leader closed the wooden crate lid, fastened the buckle again, and got up to walk towards the carriage door.

The platform of this third-class station had only a dim yellow signal light, and the night wind, carrying the smell of coal smoke, blew in from the direction of the railway tracks.

He jumped off the train, ran to the station window, and woke up the duty officer with his military pass.

"Comrade, does this station have a telegraph machine?"

The duty officer rubbed his eyes and glanced at the red stamp on the pass, immediately snapping out of his daze.

"Yes, military lines."

Twenty minutes later, an encrypted telegram was sent from this small, third-class station whose name no one could remember. After two transfers, it landed on the receiving table in the confidential room of the Third Electronics Factory in the suburbs of Beijing.

At four o'clock in the morning, the security officer on duty was awakened by the telegram bell. Seeing the emergency sign at the top of the telegram, he put on his cotton-padded coat and ran to the single dormitory.

When Jiang Ming was awakened by the knocking, the coal stove was almost out, and the room was so cold that he could see the steam rising.

He put on his overcoat and followed the clerk to the confidential room, took the telegram, and looked at it under the lamp.

"During transport, the spring clip fixing screw on the right rear of the internal shockproof box of wooden crate A02 was found to be loose by one notch. No abnormalities were found on the exterior of the tube. The inner layer was not removed and the crate is currently docked at XX station awaiting instructions."

After reading the telegram, Jiang Ming put the paper on the table and rubbed his frozen fingers.

The spring has loosened by one notch, which means that the cushioning force on the right rear has weakened, and the protection level of the tube in that direction has decreased.

However, the telegram stated that there were no abnormalities in the appearance of the tube and that the inner sealing layer had not been removed, indicating that the glass shell most likely did not directly hit the box wall.

In the worst-case scenario, the pipe is subjected to asymmetrical impacts during bumpy rides, causing slight displacement of the pipe leads inside the bottom rubber liner.

However, as long as the glass seal does not come into contact with a hard surface, the vacuum will not be affected.

Jiang Ming picked up a pencil and quickly wrote down the reply instructions on the back of the telegram.

"First, do not remove the inner sealing layer."

"Second, tighten the right rear screw clockwise according to the numbering marked on the outer wall of the No. 02 shockproof box until it is flush with the other three screws."

"Third, after tightening, gently pat the side of the outer box with your palm and observe whether the shockproof box resumes its even shaking."

"Fourth, if the tube is already against the inside of the box wall, insert a piece of cork between the screw and the spring plate to compensate for the gap, and then tighten it."

"5. After processing, continue transportation. Upon arrival, prioritize vacuum maintenance retesting of tube A02."

After he finished writing, he handed it to the telegraph operator in the confidential room.

"Send it out immediately and wait for a reply."

The telegraph operator took the paper and began coding and sending the message. The copper telegraph key made a crisp ticking sound in the quiet early morning.

Jiang Ming sat on a wooden chair wrapped in a coat, waiting with his hands tucked into his sleeves to keep warm.

Half an hour later, the receipt arrived.

"Instructions received, in progress."

Forty minutes later, the second call came back.

"The screws have been tightened, the tube is not stuck to the wall, the shockproof box is shaking evenly again, and transportation can continue."

Jiang Ming folded the two telegrams and put them in his pocket, letting out a long sigh of relief.

As dawn broke, Director Zhang had already finished listening to Jiang Ming's report in his office in the administration building.

He leaned back in his chair, the collar of his military uniform undone, revealing the edge of his gray cotton undershirt underneath.

"The spring is a notch loose, and you're assuming the pipe is fine without letting people take it apart to check?"

Jiang Ming stood across the desk and explained his logic step by step.

"Factory manager, if the pipe has already hit the wall, dismantling it or not won't change the outcome. We'll know once we retest it at the site."

"But if the pipe body does not hit the wall, prematurely opening the seal may introduce new contamination and secondary vibration risks."

"Not dismantling it is the option with the least risk."

Factory Director Zhang remained silent for a moment, picked up the teacup on the table, took a sip of cold tea, and frowned as he swallowed it.

"You're much more shrewd and experienced than your senior and junior brothers."

He put down his teacup and his gaze fell on Jiang Ming's face.

"Making products is a skill, but being able to ensure the safety of products after they leave the store is a real skill."

Jiang Ming didn't pick up on that topic, but instead steered the conversation back on track.

"Factory manager, after tube A02 arrives, I suggest we prioritize retesting."

"If the vacuum is maintained normally, it will not affect the use."

"If something goes wrong, there are still Jia-01 and Jia-03 to take the fall."

Factory Director Zhang nodded and waved for him to go back and rest.

But Jiang Ming didn't go back to his dormitory; instead, he went into Workshop No. 1.

He needs to use up his psychic quota for today.

He used all five of his spiritual connections to investigate the potential impact of transportation anomalies on the vacuum system.

Could the asymmetrical impact caused by the loosening of the spring plate cause micro-fatigue cracks in the cathode coating?

The pioneers scolded him, but also gave him direction.

The mechanical strength of the sintered rare earth lattice at room temperature is much higher than the transport impact energy level.

Unless the sealing interface breaks, causing air leakage and oxidation, the coating will not be affected.

Jiang Ming further confirmed the protective effect of the low-temperature drying environment on the paraffin sealing layer, as well as the key information compression method for remote technical commands under the limitation of telegram character count.

three days later.

The sandstorms on the Gobi Desert turned the sky into a murky, yellowish-brown. Outside the base's classified warehouse, a military truck covered in sand and dust was parked.

Chen Zhiyuan stood at the warehouse door, watching two soldiers unload three locked wooden crates from the carriage and carefully carry them into the warehouse.

He was holding a document he had retrieved from the confidential room; it was Jiang Ming's remote retest plan.

The five stages, with the operating procedures and abnormal shutdown conditions for each stage, were described in more detail than any Soviet technical manual he had ever seen.

The preheating time is accurate to the minute, the reading interval is accurate to ten seconds, and even the probe connection position for pin insulation testing is illustrated.

Old Zhou leaned over for a look, then smacked his lips.

"Who wrote this? It's more meticulous than our own operating procedures."

Chen Zhiyuan folded the document and put it in his pocket without answering.

He knew that this was Jiang Ming's doing.

That guy who gets seasick to the point of vomiting bile on the ship and has such social anxiety that his hands tremble when he talks to strangers, can now write technical documents that the entire communications team can follow.

Chen Zhiyuan couldn't help but curse inwardly.

"Jiang Ming, you coward! You're so afraid of dying that you've even thought of the steps for opening the box for others."

After he finished cursing, the corners of his mouth unconsciously curled up slightly.

The things written by people who are afraid of death are the most reassuring to use.

That afternoon, the communications team conducted a retest in the base's secure laboratory according to the pre-arranged plan.

Chen Zhiyuan personally opened the first wooden box and took out the shockproof box of tube A01.

He followed the procedure, opened the box, and scanned the seal with a leak detector. The reading was normal.

After 20 minutes of low-voltage preheating, the pin current stabilized.

The voltage is gradually increased, with each level held for five minutes, and the transmitting current is increased step by step.

Under rated operating conditions, the microammeter pointer steadily falls at 273 microamps.

It is two microamps lower than the factory setting of 275, which is within the normal attenuation range.

Chen Zhiyuan wrote down the data in his notebook and breathed a sigh of relief.

Old Zhou rubbed his hands together beside him, his face wrinkled with the dust of the Gobi Desert.

"This pipe is great. It's been used on thousands of kilometers of railway and it can still run at this speed."

Chen Zhiyuan nodded and carefully put the No. 01 tube back into the shockproof box.

"Don't rush, there are still two left."

He picked up the shockproof box of tube A02, and remembering the loose spring mentioned in the telegram, he glanced at the right rear as he opened the box.

The screws were screwed in neatly, flush with the other three, and the spring tension was also uniform.

The pipe is in good condition, and there are no cracks or discoloration on the sealing line.

He took the tube out and connected it to the leak detector.

The probe moved slowly along the sealing interface, and the eyes of all five or six people in the communications team were fixed on the dial.

The pointer is normal, but there is no response.

Chen Zhiyuan placed the tube on the test bench and connected the low-pressure preheating.

Twenty minutes later, the pin current stabilized.

Boost to the first level, and it's stable.

Second level: Stable.

The third setting is the rated operating condition.

The microammeter needle moved upwards, passing the 250 mark and continuing to climb.

Two hundred and sixty.

265.

The pointer suddenly jerked.

Chen Zhiyuan was flipping through his notebook to write down data when he suddenly stopped in the middle of the page.

The pointer did not continue to rise, but instead oscillated between 265 and 268, with a significantly larger amplitude than that of tube A01 during its stable period.

Old Zhou leaned closer to take a look at the watch face, then turned to look at Chen Zhiyuan.

"This reading doesn't seem right."