Chapter 118

He Yushui's sleeve was still stained with some oil mud that hadn't been wiped, and Zhao Jianguo had already turned and entered the Laboratory. He slipped the door latch on, and with a Clack— the bolt fell. The lights were still on inside; Jia Dongxu was bent over a notebook drawing something, and when he heard the movement he snapped his head up, his eyes reddened as if he had pulled an all‑night shift for several nights.

"Brother, you came at the perfect time," he said, his voice low and a little tense with excitement, "I just tried the seventh ratio; at the final moment of the melt— the sample lit up."

Zhao Jianguo walked over, not hurrying to ask details, and first glanced at the crucible residue on the furnace platform. It was a black lump, its surface split by a few Fine Lines, like a dried riverbed.

"How many seconds did it shine?" he asked.

"Less than three seconds," Jia Dongxu closed his notebook, tapped the cover with his finger, "and then—Bang— it exploded. It wasn't the high temperature that gave out; the structure collapsed on its own. I suspect... we're missing something."

Zhao Jianguo nodded, took the detector from the Toolbox, aimed it at the residue and scanned once. The Screen flickered a few times, then a line of red text flashed: "Key catalytic element missing—insufficient rare‑earth component."

He furrowed his brow.

"Rare earth?" Jia Dongxu leaned over and read it aloud, scratching his head, "The term sounds fresh; we haven't seen it in our plant's material handbook."

Zhao Jianguo gave no reply, but his mind raced. He knew this stuff would be extremely valuable in the future—missiles, electric machines, precision instruments all depended on it. Yet in these days, even "alloy steel" was a rarity; anyone mentioning "rare earth" sounded like speaking a dream.

"Can we reproduce it?" he stared at Jia Dongxu.

"Yes!" Jia Dongxu slapped the Desk, "As long as the raw materials are complete, I can pull out a stable crystal phase in seventy‑two hours! The problem is where you'll find this stuff. The supply‑sales cooperative won't sell it, the metallurgy bureau won't recognize it, and even the test reports won't dare list the name."

Zhao Jianguo was silent for a moment, put the detector away, smoothly imported the data into an encrypted Crystal, and slipped it into a compartment of the Toolbox. He then pressed a hidden button at the Desk corner, and the ventilation fan stopped silently.

Just as he finished, Footsteps came from outside the door.

They were not heavy, but steady, step by step, as if deliberately made audible.

The door was pushed open a crack, and Chen Jianguo stood outside, his trench coat half soaked, water still dripping from his shoulder. He looked up at the two inside, offered no greeting, and said directly, "I know where the thing you're missing is."

Zhao Jianguo didn't move, only rested his hand on the edge of the Toolbox.

"Baotou Baiyun Ebo, three hundred meters underground, has an unregistered light rare‑earth vein," Chen Jianguo entered, bringing a wave of dampness, "Soviet experts probed it eight years ago but didn't reach the bottom. My system can locate it with an error of no more than five meters."

Jia Dongxu's eyes widened as he heard, "You… you also have a system?"

Chen Jianguo didn't look at him, only stared at Zhao Jianguo, "But I need a Signal Source anchor point—your spacetime Coordinates stabilizer. Without it, the mine data can't be transmitted."

Zhao Jianguo sneered, "Last time you said the system was breached, you hid faster than anyone. Now you're voluntarily coming to the door to trade?"

"The situation has changed," Chen Jianguo lowered his voice, "They've set their sights here. It's not just the technology, it's a node in the whole time‑chain. If you don't hand it over, they'll seize it. Rather than let them take it, let's make a deal."

"Deal?" Zhao Jianguo squinted, "What makes me trust you?"

"Because I also want to live," Chen Jianguo twitched the corner of his mouth, "And moreover—unlike them, I'm after a way out, not the technology."

The two stared at each other, neither backing down.

Jia Dongxu glanced at this, then at that, and suddenly spoke, "Wait, who are the 'them' you're talking about?"

Before the words finished, a Bang— exploded outside the window!

The glass shattered in response, a red brick slammed onto the experimental table, shaking the crucible over, the detector slid to the floor. The brick's front bore a skewed symbol, like a letter but not, its edges stained with some blue‑gray powder.

Zhao Jianguo reacted instantly, yanked down the electric switch by the wall. The moment the lights went out, the backup power kicked in, and the emergency light cast a cyan‑white glow. He grabbed the anti‑magnetic shield and covered the alloy sample, turned and shouted at Jia Dongxu, "Destroy the logbook! Burn all sketches! Keep only the core parameters!"

Jia Dongxu immediately got to work, tore off several pages and shoved them into the shredder. Chen Jianguo crouched, used tweezers to pick up a fragment of the brick corner, examined it closely, his complexion changed.

"This mark..." he whispered, "I've seen it on another timeline. It's called the 'Time Eraser', specialized in killing cross‑dimensional targets. They're not here to steal technology—they're here to cut the roots."

Zhao Jianguo stared at the brick, his gaze turning cold.

"They know what we're doing," he said.

"Then let them see," Jia Dongxu fed the last sheet of schematics into the shredder, looked up and continued, "We can not only fix the fan, we can also create something they've never seen."

Chen Jianguo stood, placed the fragments into a sealed bag, "Are you going to give the stabilizer or not? Without it, the mine is just a worthless map."

Zhao Jianguo gave no reply, bent to pick up the detector, re‑aimed at the powder residue on the brick and scanned. The Screen flashed, a low alarm sounded: "The contacted material contains foreign‑made special‑mark particles; source outside the national system."

He turned off the sound, looked up toward the window.

The night was as dark as ink, and beyond the courtyard wall lay a dead silence. A distant broadcast station had just finished playing "Dongfang Hong", the Speaker was mute, leaving only the hum of wind rattling the Electric Wire.

"You can leave," Zhao Jianguo finally said, "or you can stay. But the stabilizer can't be given now."

"Then what will you use to verify the mine?" Chen Jianguo asked.

"My way," Zhao Jianguo shoved the detector into the drawer, "It's not relying on your vague Coordinates; it's solid sampling analysis. If you want to cooperate, you must follow my pace."

Chen Jianguo stared at him for a few seconds, then laughed, "You really think you're the backbone, don't you?"

"I'm not," Zhao Jianguo opened the Toolbox, took out a pencil, and drew a simple circuit diagram on paper, "I'm the one who can let everyone stay alive and see the results."

Jia Dongxu leaned over to look, "Is this… a signal shielding enhanced version?"

"Correct," Zhao Jianguo nodded, "From now on every data transmission must go through encrypted relay. The Laboratory will install a double‑layer anti‑magnetic wall; all experiments will be conducted in a shielded environment. If anyone tries to steal, they'll have to breach three layers of physical isolation first."

Chen Jianguo crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, "Sounds solid, but what about the raw material? Without rare earth, you can't even produce the first qualified billet."

"There's always a way," Zhao Jianguo folded the schematics and slipped them into his inner pocket, "The old plant's dismantled motors, some use cerium‑containing permanent magnets. There are also scrap gauges, aviation parts—if you search finely enough, you can always scrape out a bit."

"How many tons of scrap must we sift?" Jia Dongxu forced a smile.

"If one ton isn't enough, then ten tons," Zhao Jianguo walked to the window, looking at the red brick kicked into the corner, "They dared to smash it in, which shows they're afraid we'll succeed. The more they fear, the more we must do."

Chen Jianguo was silent for a while, then suddenly asked, "Aren't you afraid I'll leak the information to the other side?"

Zhao Jianguo turned his head and gave him a look, "If you really wanted to betray, you wouldn't have stood here in the rain to negotiate. You'd disappear outright, reappearing only when the army presses in."

Chen Jianguo didn't deny it, but slipped his hand into the soaking trench coat pocket, pulled out a Metal Sheet, and placed it on the Desk.

"This is the backup key for my system," he said, "It can render a three‑dimensional model of the vein. But it can only be activated once—once used it's destroyed."

Zhao Jianguo walked over, picked up the Metal Sheet, examined it, and didn't rush to take it.

"Why help us?" he asked.

"Because I also want to know," Chen Jianguo stared straight at him, "If ordinary people could master high‑dimensional material technology, would this timeline be different?"

The room fell silent for a moment.

The emergency light flickered briefly.

Jia Dongxu suddenly pointed at the detector Screen, "Brother, look at the powder reaction!"

Zhao Jianguo immediately leaned in. On the Screen, the molecular structure of the blue‑gray particles was slowly re‑forming, showing an arrangement pattern identical to the magnetic powder previously on the Gear Set.

"Same batch source," he whispered, "They use the same mark to track the technology flow."

Chen Jianguo also understood: "This means——they have already been monitoring the material flow around the Siheyuan."

"Then don't take the open road." Zhao Jianguo put the Metal Sheet into his pocket, "Starting tomorrow, all purchases will be carried out individually and dispersed. Motors, instruments, old equipment—all will be collected under the banner of 'repair parts'."

Jia Dongxu nodded: "I can go stake out at the Scrap Yard and go through the goods one by one."

"I'll go to the factory logistics department to inquire about the scrap list." Zhao Jianguo added, "Chen Jianguo, you're responsible for verifying the authenticity of the vein data—but you must not act alone; any abnormality must be reported immediately."

Chen Jianguo raised an eyebrow: "You don't trust me?"

"I don't trust any sudden kindness." Zhao Jianguo stared at him, "including myself."

Three people stood in front of the broken glass, nobody moved.

Outside, the wind grew stronger, making the window frames creak. In the distance, a Dog Bark sounded twice, then suddenly stopped.

Zhao Jianguo bent down to pick up a brick fragment, his fingertip brushing over the twisted Symbols. His watch vibrated slightly, and a System Prompt appeared: "High-risk contact object detected; please seal the sample immediately."

He didn't look at the prompt, just put the brick fragment into the evidence bag and casually shoved it into the bottom of the Toolbox.

"Next step." He raised his head and said, "Find the raw materials."

Jia Dongxu was about to respond when Chen Jianguo suddenly raised his hand to signal silence.

His ear twitched, as if he had heard something.

The three of them held their breath.

Outside the courtyard wall, the sound of a bicycle rolling over puddles approached from far to near, a bell chimed once, then slowly faded away at the alley entrance.