Chapter 18: Astonishingly Low Cost

The cheers continued for a while before gradually subsiding, but the uncontainable excitement on everyone's faces lingered for a long time.

The excited scientists gathered around the test platform, gazing at the crystal on the screen that was identical to the original sample, as if admiring a peerless work of art.

Luo Lao took it all in, striving to calm his tumultuous emotions.

He walked up to Qin Hao, his eyes full of approval and anticipation, and asked:

"Xiao Qin, how much energy did this replication consume?"

As soon as the question was posed, the scientists who had still been immersed in joy all turned their gazes toward Qin Hao.

They were well aware that the sustainability of this ability largely depended on energy consumption.

Qin Hao recalled the system prompt and replied:

"Replicating this crystal consumed five thousand energy points."

"Five thousand points?"

Academician Qian Bowen repeated it, then, as if something had occurred to him, hurriedly asked:

"Is the conversion ratio of this energy point the same as before, where one kilowatt-hour of electricity yields one energy point?"

Qin Hao nodded: "Yes, Old Qian, that's what the system shows."

"Five thousand energy points… that's five thousand kilowatt-hours of electricity!"

An expert in charge of energy dispatch quickly calculated it, his voice trembling from excitement.

"Five thousand kilowatt-hours! The average comprehensive cost of industrial electricity in our country is about five jiao per kilowatt-hour."

"That means the electricity cost to replicate this top‑grade crystal is merely… two thousand five hundred yanhuang yuan?!"

"Two thousand five hundred yuan?!"

Academician Li's eyes widened to saucers, and he nearly dropped his magnifying glass onto the floor.

He abruptly turned to another expert responsible for semiconductor materials:

"Old Zhang, what's the quoted price for this 4‑nanometer crystal over in Yingjiang? I recall it's astronomical."

The elderly Zhang specialist adjusted his reading glasses, his voice shaking a little, but more so overflowing with uncontainable excitement,

"Not just astronomical! Yingjiang has imposed a strict blockade on us for this grade of crystal, refusing to sell it at all! Even on the international black market,"

"it starts at three to four ten‑thousand US dollars per piece, and even then it's price without availability! Converted to yanhuang yuan, that's at least 180,000 to 240,000 yuan—and that's just for a single piece!"

"Hiss——"

A wave of sharp intakes of breath rose and fell throughout the lab.

"Two thousand five hundred yanhuang yuan compared to nearly twenty thousand yanhuang yuan—that's a gap of almost a hundredfold!"

"What's more, the latter is a strategic resource that money can't buy, a chokehold cutting off Yanhuang's access to cutting‑edge technology!"

"The former, meanwhile, only requires Qin Hao to think a thought and expend some electricity that the national grid can easily bear, enabling endless production!"

"Less than one percent of the cost… no, this can't be measured merely by cost anymore!"

"A young researcher waved his fist excitedly, 'This is a strategic breakthrough! We can make it ourselves— as much as we need!'"

"Exactly!" another scientist interjected.

"It means we no longer have to watch their faces or fear being strangled! Our own high‑end equipment can now use the top‑grade crystals we replicate!"

The Rote Commissioner listened to the discussion, saw the light shining in their eyes, and his heart swelled with heroic fervor.

He slapped his palm down firmly, his voice decisive and powerful:

"Good! Then, Xiao Qin, let's start the first batch of replication right now!"

He turned to Academician Qian Bowen and Academician Li:

"Academicians, what do you think is an appropriate number for the first batch? Part would be used for thorough reverse‑engineering research to analyze its internal structure and material properties, and another part I'd like to immediately deploy in our most urgent projects."

Academician Qian Bowen pondered for a moment, his eyes flashing with sharp insight,

"To study it thoroughly and carry out all kinds of limit tests, we need at least several hundred pieces."

"As for other applications… we have a huge backlog of projects waiting for this grade of crystal! If possible, I'd like ten thousand pieces."

"That way we can not only research fully, but also immediately equip a batch of our most critical equipment!"

"Ten thousand pieces."

Academician Li also chimed in excitedly,

"Exactly! With ten thousand pieces, we can at least get more than a dozen stalled major projects back up to full speed!"

"Ten thousand pieces, each consuming five thousand energy points, totals fifty million energy points."

Qin Hao glanced at his energy reserve—over 170 million points—more than enough.

Luo Lao looked at Qin Hao, his eyes inquiring.

Qin Hao gave a slight smile: "Luo Lao, everyone, no problem. Ten thousand pieces, right? Leave it to me."

He walked over to the prototype crystal, reached out again, and lightly touched it.

This time, he did not replicate them one by one.

After issuing the command in his mind, Qin Hao sensed that the system seemed to have switched to a more efficient batch‑processing mode.

He only needed to maintain contact with the original crystal and sustain his focus.

Everyone in the lab held their breath and watched intently.

Without any earth‑shaking sound or light effects, Qin Hao simply stood there quietly.

But soon, on the empty ground beside the clean‑room workstation, black crystals identical to the original sample appeared one after another like spring shoots after rain, quickly piling up.

At first, everyone could still count them, but as the frequency of appearance increased, they soon merged into a continuous "flow".

Not long afterward, a small "crystal mountain" formed on the floor.

After about half an hour, Qin Hao finally exhaled and lowered his hand.

"All right, all ten thousand pieces are done."

Qin Hao wiped the non-existent sweat on his forehead, mainly a slight fatigue from intense concentration.

Looking at the mountain-like pile of top-grade crystal elements before him, the entire lab once again fell into a frenzied silence.

Moments later, Academician Qian Bowen was the first to react, he almost lunged over, carefully picking up a few, as if holding rare treasures, muttering:

"We have it! We have it all! We finally have it!"

Academician Li also quickly followed, grabbing a handful of crystal elements, tears streaming down his face: "How many years have passed! How many years have we waited for this day!"

The other scientists also rushed forward, some picking up crystal elements to examine closely, some even unable to resist rubbing a piece on their faces, their devout appearance,

It seemed these were not cold electronic components, but rain and dew after a long drought.

"Quick! Old Wang, the high-speed image processor for your 'Sky Eye' project is saved now!"

"Also, my 'Dragon Core' iteration plan, with this as reference and direct application, speed can increase tenfold!"

"The supercomputer project our department is in charge of can also break through its performance bottleneck!"

For a moment, the scientists were like children who had obtained their favorite toys, eagerly discussing the uses of these crystal elements.

Some of the impatient ones have already begun contacting their teams, preparing to immediately put these "treasures" into research.

A young scientist wearing deep myopia glasses, with somewhat messy hair, grabbed a small pile of crystal elements, smiling foolishly as he muttered to himself:

"Great, great, my quantum interference experiment model, finally no need to worry about the computing unit overheating and burning out..."

He said that, even wanting to kiss the crystal element in his hand, but was pulled back by a colleague who laughed and cried at the same time.

Old Luo looked at this scene full of vitality and hope, a relieved smile appearing on his face.

Afterwards he quietly gave a few orders to General Liu Zhijun beside him, ensuring the safe transport and distribution of these crystal elements.

And Qin Hao, seeing these scientists dedicating themselves to the country overjoyed by his ability, felt a surge of indescribable pride in his heart.

He felt that everything he had done was worth it.