Chapter 426: Overcoming the Challenge, Jiang Lai Runs a Fever

The lab's heavy isolation door clicked shut with a "clack", sealing off all the noise outside.

Jiang Lai handed her personal phone to Ke Zhongyu, picked up only an encrypted terminal connected to the internal network, and told Ke Zhongyu she had arrived.

After setting down the terminal, she went straight to the computer storing the database; she needed to review the data from start to finish.

In the lab's vast space, only the low-frequency hum of instruments could be heard; one advantage of the underground lab was that it blocked out the sky‑high hot searches, media hounding, and calls from all sides without needing to draw blackout curtains.

All of this was cut off from her; she only needed to focus on fixing the product's defects and optimizing some performance within two days.

Jiang Lai stared at the red markings in the core defect report: the low‑temperature energy storage module's loss exceeded limits, and the protective sensing response was delayed.

If these two flaws were exposed, even the hottest public opinion would become an indelible technical stain, and since this is military equipment, there is no room for ambiguity.

Jiang Lai put on her protective gear, approached the half‑finished bee armor, raised her hand and lightly stroked the shoulder plate's shell, feeling the icy‑cold special composite material clearly.

"Everyone outside is calling you black tech, so shouldn't we do a bit better?" Jiang Lai murmured softly.

On the first night, Jiang Lai didn't ask anyone to assist; she needed Professor Cheng and the others to get enough sleep, keep their minds clear, then help her finish the fine‑tuning.

The finer the detail, the more a clear, focused mind is needed; data often goes awry by a hair's breadth and ends up miles off.

Early the next morning, Professor Cheng walked into the lab carrying the matching components, saw Jiang Lai still standing at the test bench, frowned, and asked, "Did you rest last night?"

Jiang Lai didn't turn her head: "No, don't come over yet; this part will be done soon."

Ten minutes later, Jiang Lai lifted her head and looked at Professor Cheng.

Professor Cheng saw only her pair of red‑rimmed eyes from staying up; as a professional he admired her scientific spirit, but as an elder he felt both angry and heart‑broken that she disregarded her own health.

"The food outside the lab is piled up like a mountain; if you take a break to go out and eat a couple bites, what would happen?"

"My train of thought would break." Jiang Lai took off her gloves.

Professor Cheng finally couldn't hold back his concern: "I brought in a bowl of porridge; at least eat a couple bites. Your boyfriend set up a temporary office outside the lab and is turning into a stone statue waiting for his wife."

Jiang Lai's body paused slightly, she briefed Professor Cheng on what to do next, then walked over, picked up the terminal, and called out to Ke Zhongyu.

A low male voice came from the other end shortly after.

"You didn't sleep." Jiang Lai sounded a bit angry.

Ke Zhongyu was also angry: "Don't blame only me."

The two remained silent for a while, separated by the terminal.

Ke Zhongyu: "Do what you can, A Lai."

When he called her nickname, his voice unconsciously softened a bit.

Jiang Lai's voice softened as well: "Delaying would be tantamount to throwing away all previous effort; everyone's expectations are running high, as you said—if the hype fades, the outside world will only think we failed in R&D, military procurement trust will suffer, and leak investigations won't change the situation, so we must deliver a perfect product. Don't worry—we were originally going to hold a launch event; we're just moving it up a bit. We already have a plan for how to improve; we just need to focus intensely and finish it in a short time."

"I'm going to sleep for a while." She isn't a goddess; without sleep her mind easily becomes muddled and prone to mistakes.

Seeing that Jiang Lai said she would rest, Ke Zhongyu ended the call.

Jiang Lai told Professor Cheng she would sleep only three hours, and precisely three hours later she opened her eyes and dove back in.

In the evening, Professor Cheng left.

Xiao Qian entered.

At a glance she saw Jiang Lai's wrist covered in tiny iodine stains and immediately stepped forward to ask what had happened.

"It's nothing; the test prototype was nicked by a metal edge." Such a minor wound was no different from when Jiang Lai, as a child, went up a hill to pick herbs and got scratched by thorns; it would heal in a few days, and she didn't pay it any mind.

Jiang Lai urged Xiao Qian to get into work mode quickly: "The protective sensing module is almost done—Professor Cheng and I have finished most of it; tomorrow we'll refine it further with Director Guo. Tonight we're mainly tackling the low‑temperature endurance algorithm; it must succeed, or we'll run out of time."

The lab had a small polar simulator; Jiang Lai and Xiao Qian repeatedly lowered the chamber temperature to minus ten degrees, minus twenty degrees… the power‑consumption curve on the screen kept climbing, and the red warning light flashed nonstop.

Jiang Lai stared intently at the data, staying relatively calm, while she rapidly ran calculations on the engineering draft; Xiao Qian, however, wasn't so composed, looking like she was about to cry.

Because it was extremely late, and she was also thinking about the imminent press conference, her heart couldn't settle.

She took a deep breath and poured herself a cup of iced coffee.

Jiang Lai: "Give me one."

Xiao Qian brought over a cup; as dawn approached, Jiang Lai could barely hold on, so she grabbed a shot of concentrated coffee liquid and poured it straight into her mouth—the bitterness spread through her mouth, and her temples began to throb.

After three reconstructions of the thermal‑control logic and five replacements of the Crystal Core solution, by the time it was fully light outside, they finally met the standard threshold.

Jiang Lai let out a long exhale of turbid air; Xiao Qian happily threw her arms around her: "Senior sister!"

Jiang Lai patted Xiao Qian's back and told her: "Quickly record the data and sync it to the main control system, then go rest."

Xiao Qian nodded with an "mm‑hm".

After Xiao Qian left, Director Guo entered; seeing Jiang Lai's weary expression, he sighed and asked, "What stage are we at?"

Jiang Lai: "Optimize the sensing response a bit more, then run a full‑system integration test."

Director Guo nodded.

During the full‑system integration test, a problem arose: the built‑in battery overloaded and heated up, the outer shell began to heat; Jiang Lai calmly cut the power amid the alarm, but while checking for a short circuit she accidentally touched hot metal, her finger quickly got a burn mark; she shook and blew on her finger, then carried on.

Time ticked by second by second; the two worked late into the night, both shortcomings were overcome, and Director Guo clenched his fist, face bright with excitement.

"Director Guo, you should go rest first; just tell Ke Zhongyu to have someone come pick up the finished product tomorrow morning."

Director Guo frowned: "Are you still going to stay here?"

Jiang Lai looked at the bee armor: "I'll guard it a bit longer; otherwise I won't feel at ease."

Director Guo could understand Jiang Lai's feeling—it's like a doctor who just operated on his own child; if he doesn't stay by the child's side until they wake up, he won't truly be at ease.

"You'd better catch some sleep." Director Guo went out, announced the good news that the bottlenecks had been overcome, but Ke Zhongyu didn't see Jiang Lai come out and frowned.

Only Jiang Lai could contact him; he had no way to reach Jiang Lai.

Not long after, Jiang Lai's voice came from the terminal.

"A Lai." Ke Zhongyu's voice was urgent.

Jiang Lai gave a light chuckle: "It's me, I'm fine; we've overcome them—are you still waiting outside?"

"When will you come out?"

"Tomorrow morning I'll sleep here; you go rest, tomorrow you have to go to the press conference—I've finished everything, don't mess up." Jiang Lai's voice was soft, and Ke Zhongyu could hear the exhaustion in it, like someone drained of strength.

Ke Zhongyu's worries were all written on his face.

All right, I'm going to sleep. After tomorrow's launch event ends, I want to rest properly for three days, Boss Ke.

Ke Zhongyu: "Resting for three months is fine."

Jiang Lai smiled: "That won't do, I'll get moldy at home. Good night, Ke Zhongyu."

She cut off contact and didn't go to sleep.

Jiang Lai spent the whole night optimizing the human-machine interaction interface, simplifying soldiers' operating steps, fine-tuning the exoskeleton's weight distribution; the originally qualified product was polished by her to far exceed the expected specifications.

One person activated the final round of extreme combat simulation for the entire system, with artillery fire simulation, low-temperature environment, close-quarters assault and other scenarios, confirming that all parameters on the screen were stable, with no error reports, delays, or excessive loss before stopping.

The instrument alarms fell silent, leaving only the low hum of steady operation.

Jiang Lai's face showed a relieved smile, she leaned back against the chair, her gaze unfocused, her whole body stiff, yet she still clung to a thread of consciousness.

Until an hour before the launch event, Jiang Lai propped herself up on the table and slowly rose, contacting Ke Zhongyu: "Where are you?"

Ke Zhongyu: "At the launch venue, Mom, Dad, Professor Cheng and the others are outside the lab, responsible for transporting the product."

Jiang Lai relaxed: "Okay."

Ke Zhongyu: "Are you coming over?"

Jiang Lai shook her head: "I'm waiting for you at home, I'm really tired."

"All right." Ke Zhongyu's voice restrained: "I won't let you down."

"I know." Jiang Lai couldn't help but curl her lips: "I was just coaxing you to get a good sleep and work well."

Ke Zhongyu couldn't help but chuckle, then abruptly threw out five words: "Go back and tidy yourself up."

Probably due to exhaustion, Jiang Lai felt her whole body as if sunk in a soft, limp place, her whole body swaying, the thoughts in her mind seemed crossed, and she replied: "Then hurry up and come tidy me up after you're done."

After cutting off contact again, Jiang Lai lifted the lab's lockdown; Professor Cheng, Xiao Qian, and Director Guo led the research staff in to take away the product.

"Xiao Qian." Jiang Lai called out to Xiao Qian, handed her another report, and said: "Later give this to Professor Cheng, Director Guo, and Ke Zhongyu; I've made other optimizations."

Xiao Qian immediately realized: "So you didn't sleep at all last night?"

"Yeah, hurry up." Jiang Lai smiled at Xiao Qian: "Don't miss the launch event; that would be a real waste of our hard work."

Xiao Qian couldn't hold back a sour nose, nodded heavily, took the report and chased after them; Jiang Lai only slowly walked out after everyone had left.

"Jiang Lai sis!" Ke Zhongying waited for her at the door, still holding a steaming breakfast.

Jiang Lai smelled the aroma of meat buns and rice noodles, plus hot milk.

Ke Zhongying worried she was starving, fumbled to grab the buns and hot milk and hand them over; as soon as she touched Jiang Lai's palm, she got burned.

"My goodness!" Ke Zhongying grabbed her hand, the burn was unbearable, then reached out to feel her forehead, face, and neck: "You have a fever!"

Jiang Lai was still dazed: "What?"

"You have a fever!" Ke Zhongying set the breakfast aside and hurriedly reached out to support her.

After someone helped her up, Jiang Lai's body went limp, her head resting on Ke Zhongying's shoulder, she muttered dazedly: "I was wondering why I felt dizzy, I thought it was low blood sugar..."

She kept talking to herself, occasionally hearing Ke Zhongying speaking with others from her ear, but she could no longer make it out clearly, her eyelids growing heavier; before she completely closed her eyes, she struggled to open her mouth and said: "Ke Zhongying, first, don't, don't tell your brother, it will affect..."