Chapter 19: with translation of chapter title

General Liu Zhijun waved his hand, preparing to have people carefully package and transport the mountain‑piled crystal cores.

Suddenly a somewhat urgent voice sounded:

"Wait a moment! Commander Liu!"

Everyone turned toward the sound and saw a young researcher with glasses hurrying over, his face full of anxiety.

"Xiao Wang, what's got you so flustered? Commissioner."

Academician Qian Bowen recognized him as a young member of his team who does crystal core testing.

Wang Zhiming pushed up his slipping glasses, took a deep breath, stared directly at Luo Lao, his tone tinged with worry:

"Rote Commissioner, fellow academicians, shouldn't we first conduct a comprehensive safety check on these replicated crystal cores?"

He paused, seeing everyone's eyes fixed on him, then continued:

"Yingjiang Guo has precedent for leaving backdoors in the underlying code of crystal cores or planting concealed logic bombs."

"This 4‑nanometer crystal core sample also comes from them; if the original harbored a trap we missed, the system's perfect replication would copy those hidden threats, and the consequences…"

"Hiss——"

Wang Zhiming's words were like a bucket of ice water poured over the heads of the people, who had been somewhat carried away by great joy.

The laboratory's formerly lively and noisy atmosphere instantly froze, a chill shooting up from the soles of their feet to their foreheads.

Qian Bowen and Academician Li's smiles froze; they were still holding a few crystal cores they treasured like jewels, but now the cores felt hot in their hands.

They had been so thrilled at being able to replicate these top‑tier crystal cores that they overlooked this most basic step!

"Exactly! Safety! The safety issue!"

An old expert slapped his thigh hard, his face turning somewhat pale.

"How could we have forgotten this! If it were deployed on a large scale in national defense and key facilities, any problem would be catastrophic!"

The temperature in the laboratory seemed to drop several degrees all at once.

If these crystal cores truly contained a backdoor, all the earlier excitement and joy would turn into empty happiness, and could even evolve into a massive disaster.

Luo Lao's expression also changed; his sharp gaze swept over everyone and finally rested on Wang Zhiming, his tone unusually grave:

"Comrade Xiao Wang, your reminder came at just the right time! You also pointed out a major oversight in our work."

"Now tell me, with our current technical means, can we effectively detect such potential backdoors and security hazards?"

Wang Zhiming, under Luo Lao's stare, nervously swallowed, but when speaking of his specialty he straightened his back,

"Although we still lag behind Yingjiang Guo in the overall design and manufacturing process of crystal cores, when it comes to safety analysis of specific crystal cores,

detecting known or suspicious malicious code, backdoor programs, or unauthorized instruction sets, we still possess the technical reserves and capability!"

He paused, his tone gaining a hint of the persistence and confidence typical of researchers,

"If we can't even do this, then the crystal core security labs and cybersecurity systems we've poured huge funds into over the years in Yanhuang Guo would be mere decorations,"

"and we information‑security folks would be rather useless!"

These remarks, half assurance half grumble, actually eased the heavy atmosphere a little.

"Good!"

Luo Lao gave a slight nod.

"Then immediately assemble the top‑tier technical team to conduct the highest‑priority safety inspection of the replicated crystal cores! Make sure not a single suspicious byte is missed!"

With the order given, the laboratory instantly sprang back into high‑gear operation.

A portion of the replicated crystal cores was swiftly transferred to another special lab with tighter security and equipped with numerous precision detection devices.

Academician Qian Bowen and Academician Li personally led the team, joining forces with multiple domestic top‑tier crystal core security experts to carry out a carpet‑like sweep of these "precious lumps" that concern the nation's future.

While waiting for the results, every minute and second felt extraordinarily long.

The scientists who had just been immersed in elation now fell silent, their brows furrowed with deep worry.

Qin Hao stood to the side, watching their tense expressions, and secretly clenched his palms in anxiety.

He trusted the system's replication ability, but when it came to this national‑level security issue, no amount of caution was excessive.

About two hours later, the door of the special lab finally opened.

A technical officer in charge of the main detection walked out briskly, his face slightly fatigued but his eyes flashing with excitement.

He approached Luo Lao, stood at attention, and reported.

"After multiple rounds of cross‑comparison and deep analysis covering instruction sets, microcode, physical layout, and other layers,

the first batch of one hundred sampled replicated crystal cores, plus another five hundred randomly selected cores, showed no suspicious backdoor programs, implanted malicious code, unauthorized hardware trojans, or logic bombs!"

"All the crystal cores' behaviors matched design expectations and were consistent with the functions of the original cores we analyzed from public data! They are clean!"

"Phew——"

Sighs of relief rose and fell throughout the laboratory.

Academician Qian Bowen and Academician Li exchanged a glance, each seeing in the other's eyes the ease of having shed a thousand‑jin burden, and they were almost moved to embrace on the spot.

"Good! Good!"

Academician Li repeated, his voice choking up, "Just clean is fine! Just clean is fine!"

Luo Lao's tense face finally broke into a faint smile; he nodded, turning his gaze toward Qin Hao, his eyes holding a hint of inquiry and approval,

"Xiao Qin, it seems your system, when replicating objects, not only perfectly reproduces their physical structure and function but also avoids some artificially added 'hazards'—that's quite impressive."

Qin Hao also felt a sigh of relief; the system appears smarter and more reliable than he had imagined.

With the crisis over, the laboratory's atmosphere revived, though a bit less frenzied than before, it now carried a greater sense of post‑disaster steadiness and caution.

Luo Lao pondered for a moment, then said to Qin Hao:

"Comrade Xiao Qin, this crystal core replication is of great significance. But just as the earlier interlude warned us, follow‑up work must be more meticulous and comprehensive."

"Our preliminary plan is that for the next batch we need you to replicate one hundred thousand crystal cores of the same model, to meet the demands of our several major research projects and key equipment."

One hundred thousand!

This number made the scientists present feel another surge of excitement.

Luo Lao continued speaking:

"Replicating these one hundred thousand crystal cores will require approximately five hundred million energy points."

Based on the current charging rate of eight hours per day, two thousand points per second, you will need about ten days for dedicated energy replenishment and storage.

During this period, we will fully guarantee all your needs. Your side... any problems?

Qin Hao glanced at the system interface; after consuming ten thousand crystal cores, the energy reserve still had over one hundred twenty million points.

To complete the replication of one hundred thousand crystal cores, a substantial amount of energy replenishment is indeed needed.

He nodded: "Luo Lao, all scientists, I have no problem. Please rest assured, I will fully cooperate."

"Good!"

Luo Lao's eyes flashed with satisfaction,

"During these ten days, you can peacefully recharge and recuperate at the Six Gorges Base. After ten days, we will carry out a larger-scale replication operation!"