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

The phone rang again in Director Zhang's office.

After the call was connected, Director Wang's deep voice came through the phone.

"Has the review team left?"

"Just left."

Factory Director Zhang leaned back in his chair and let out a long sigh of relief.

"Old Wang, we owe you a lot for that pass today, otherwise they would have turned Workshop One upside down."

There was silence on the other end of the phone.

Director Wang's voice was very soft, yet it carried a heavy weight that made it hard to breathe.

"Old Zhang, the pass can only keep out the obvious trouble."

"The situation in the Northwest is deteriorating."

"The frontline communications team detected that new pulse pattern of three short pulses followed by one long pulse last night."

"The enemy's activities are more frequent than we expected; they are clearly preparing for a major operation."

Factory Director Zhang's fingers tightened suddenly around the receiver.

"The exact location of the abandoned camel trail hasn't been pinpointed yet?"

"The terrain is too complex, and the reflection from the mountains seriously interferes with the accuracy of direction finding."

Director Wang sighed.

"Comrade Lu Qinghe has led his men to push West Point forward by two kilometers, and they have spent two nights braving the wind and snow on the Gobi Desert, but they still cannot achieve a precise intersection."

"Time is running out for Beijing."

"You must get those five improved prototype tubes out as soon as possible. The front line needs more stable anti-interference receiving equipment to filter out clutter."

Factory Director Zhang stood up and looked out the window towards Workshop No. 1.

"I see."

"Xiao Jiang and his team have solved the material problem, and the electrophoretic deposition process is being debugged."

"I will personally oversee the progress and make sure the front lines don't have to wait too long."

After hanging up the phone, Director Zhang walked to the window and looked at the snow falling heavier and heavier outside.

The snow covered the mud in the factory area, but it couldn't hide the approaching storm.

……

Outside the main gate of the Third Electronics Factory's administration building.

The two black jeeps were already running, spewing thick white smoke from their exhaust pipes.

Xu Chongwen stood by the car door, not in a hurry to get on.

He turned to look at the tightly closed iron door of Workshop No. 1, his eyes filled with a terrifyingly sinister gaze.

Although he was rendered speechless by Jiang Ming's receipt in the workshop, he did not miss a single detail.

When Jiang Ming slammed the receipt on the table, there was a bandage wrapped around the back of his right hand.

A little bit of pale yellow petroleum jelly seeped out from the edge of the bandage.

That was definitely not a normal bump or bruise.

It looks more like the marks left by chemical burns.

Xu Chongwen waved and called his assistant, who was following behind him, to his side.

"Go to the chemical plant in the eastern suburbs."

Xu Chongwen leaned close to his assistant's ear, his gaze still fixed on the direction of Workshop No. 1.

"Find the security guard or warehouse manager who greeted Jiang Ming yesterday."

"Ask them carefully whether any safety incidents occurred during the sampling process."

The assistant swallowed hard, looking at Xu Chongwen's face contorted with jealousy.

He knew the temperament of this PhD graduate from the United States.

Once they've set their sights on a goal, they'll never easily give up.

"I understand, Dr. Xu."

The assistant nodded and turned to walk towards another jeep.

"I'm going to the chemical plant in the eastern suburbs right now, and I'll definitely get to the bottom of what happened yesterday."

Xu Chongwen leaned back in his leather seat, looking out at the wind and snow.

He simply couldn't believe that a young man who hadn't even graduated from a regular university could complete such a difficult chemical purification process flawlessly.

Once evidence of Jiang Ming's illegal operations is found, he can completely destroy the Third Electronics Factory project.

……

Da Liu slammed the two heavy iron doors of Workshop No. 1 shut, pushing the bolts all the way down with a loud clang.

The sound of the jeep's engine outside was completely shut out by the wind and snow.

Jiang Ming stood in front of the control panel without looking back at the door.

He picked up a clean beaker with his right hand, the Vaseline on the back of his hand mixed with the seeping tissue fluid, sticking to the edge of the gauze.

The cold wind in the workshop made the wound sting with excruciating pain.

He simply tucked his hand slightly into his sleeve, a movement so natural that even Xiao Zhao next to him didn't notice.

"Put away all those messy ledgers."

Jiang Ming placed the beaker on the table and glanced at the glassware on the worktable.

"From now on, Workshop No. 1 is closed to visitors."

"Even if the sky falls, we'll have to wait until this tank of suspension is electrified before we talk about anything else."

Old Sun pulled out a bundle of thick cables with brass terminals from under the metal cabinet and connected one end of the cable to his homemade sliding rheostat.

"It should have been done a long time ago."

Old Sun brushed the dust off his hands, his tone tinged with the frustration he'd been holding back all afternoon.

"Those office workers don't know anything about the material."

"We're almost risking our lives, and they're still calculating those few kilograms of quota."

Jiang Ming did not respond.

He picked up a bottle of acetone that had been dehydrated with quicklime and redistilled.

The liquid in the glass bottle was as clear as a large block of melted ice.

He pulled out the cork, and a slightly sweet, pungent smell wafted out.

Jiang Ming used a dropper to draw a very small amount of dilute nitric acid, with his wrist suspended above the beaker.

The liquid at the tip of the dropper was about to fall but hadn't quite.

Xiao Zhao stared intently at the pH test strip, not daring to even blink.

"drop."

Jiang Mingsong opened his fingers.

Xiao Zhao quickly stirred the test paper with a glass rod and dipped it into the test paper, then brought the test paper up to the light bulb to compare it with the color chart.

"4.6".

Xiao Zhao read out the numbers.

"Give me another half drop."

Jiang Ming tilted his wrist slightly.

The clear acid liquid clung to the mouth of the test tube, then he precisely shook it into the beaker.

4.8.

Xiao Zhao's voice rose a little, and his hand holding the color chart trembled slightly.

"It's locked."

Jiang Ming put down the dropper and turned to look at the center of the worktable.

There was a specially made square glass tank there, with hardwood clamps securing the four corners of the tank.

The positive electrode consists of two symmetrical platinum meshes salvaged from a discarded Soviet-made high-frequency radar.

That was a set of assets that Factory Director Zhang had specially approved, which he dug out from deep within the scrap warehouse.

The negative electrode was a nickel-based cathode substrate that Lao Sun and his team spent an entire night grinding with canvas and polishing paste.

The surface of this nickel substrate is so smooth that it reflects light perfectly, and not even the tiniest sand hole can be found.

This is the physical limit that grassroots craftsmen can achieve.

Jiang Ming picked up the glass of milky white anhydrous cerium oxide suspension in acetone and slowly poured it along the edge of the glass tank.

The liquid flowed down the tank wall without creating a single bubble.

The platinum mesh and nickel substrate were gradually submerged by this milky white liquid.

"wiring."

Jiang Ming took half a step back, making room for Lao Sun.

Old Sun picked up the wire with the alligator clip attached.

The red wire bites into the terminal of the platinum mesh, while the black wire is stuck at the top of the nickel base.

Da Liu took a mechanical stopwatch with a bakelite case off his neck and pressed his thumb on the crown.

"Jiang Gong."

Da Liu looked at Jiang Ming and gave him a slight thumbs-up.

"You can stop the watch anytime."

"Push the gate."

Jiang Ming gave the order, his gaze fixed on the old-fashioned voltmeter on the wall.

"The voltage starts from zero and rises; pay attention to the ammeter pointer."

Old Sun gripped the bakelite handle of the slide wire rheostat with both hands.

The handle slid slowly across the thick resistance wire, making a rustling friction sound.

The hands of the old-fashioned voltmeter on the wall began to jump.

Ten volts.

Thirty volts.

50 volts.

"Stay calm."

Jiang Ming stared intently at the glass tank, his voice very low.

"Keep pushing until you reach 80 volts, then stop."

Old Sun gritted his teeth, the veins on his wrists bulging.

He moved the handle forward little by little, afraid that if he used too much force, he would over-push the voltage.

When the pointer came to a steady stop at the 80 mark, Old Sun let go of his hand, a thin layer of sweat already seeping from his forehead.

"The 80 volts have arrived."

"Timer begins."