Chapter 208: Crystal Element Crisis Alarm Rings·Technical Reserves Rapidly Mobilized

Zhao Jianguo stared at his phone screen, his brows furrowing tighter. The System Prompt he had just seen was still in view: "Detected abnormal device connecting to the local network." He opened the log and found that the device had remained for less than twenty seconds, as if a probing connection, then disconnected quickly.

He didn't rush to call anyone; instead he exported the data and pasted it into a small window at the edge of the computer for repeated comparison. The signal frequency was odd, unlike ordinary household appliances or the phones of nearby residents. As he was thinking, the room suddenly lit up.

A semi‑transparent human silhouette floated up from above the Desk, dressed in a crisp uniform; the face was blurred but the voice was clear.

"Zhao Jianguo, listen to me," the figure said. "In 1985 the world will erupt into a Crystal Element Crisis; import channels will be completely cut off, and every technology project that relies on external supply will grind to a halt."

Zhao Jianguo's hand trembled, nearly flinging the mouse. "Who are you?"

"You may call me Chen Jianguo," the Projection stood perfectly upright. "I don't have much time to explain. The lithography schematics you now possess are the only breakthrough, but they must be self‑manufactured within two years, or the entire technical system will regress ten years."

As the words finished, the wall clock ticked once. A countdown box popped up in the lower‑right corner of the computer: **730 days 00 hours 00 minutes**.

Zhao Jianguo hadn't recovered when the Projection began its briefing: "Materials, light source, packaging—none of the three links can be missing. What you lack most now is nanometer‑scale basic material; without it, the lithography machine is scrap metal."

He finished speaking and vanished, leaving not even a shadow.

Zhao Jianguo sat on the Chair, stunned for a few seconds, then sprang up, grabbed the phone, and dialed Jia Dongxu's number.

"Old Jia, come to the tech room, something's happened."

Half an hour later, Jia Dongxu barged in carrying a bundle of schematics, his hair a mess, chewing a half‑piece of mantou.

"What are you saying? Crystal Element Crisis? Where did that news come from?" he tossed the schematics onto the Desk, gasping as he asked.

"Someone just told me," Zhao Jianguo said, pointing to where the Projection had appeared.

Jia Dongxu looked up at the empty Desk, rolled his eyes: "Who? Fell from the ceiling?"

"Not a person, an image." Zhao Jianguo opened the computer, pulled up the countdown screen, "Look at this."

Jia Dongxu leaned toward the Screen, the easy grin on his face fading a bit. "This isn't a joke… If the supply really gets cut, all our equipment will have to go idle."

He turned, opened the topmost schematic, and traced a line with his finger: "The problem is here. This structure requires an extreme‑ultraviolet light source to etch, but we can't even produce such a lamp domestically right now."

"What do we do then?"

"Either redesign or make the light source ourselves." Jia Dongxu bit the mantou, "Redesign means starting over, time's insufficient. Making the light source, the materials can't keep up either."

The two fell silent for a moment.

Zhao Jianguo suddenly recalled something, pulled out a portable encryption device, and tapped a draw in the system.

The page refreshed, and a new folder popped up: "Nanomaterials Studies Fragments."

He double‑clicked it open; inside were a slew of parameters and molecular structure diagrams, headache‑inducing but understandable.

"Got it." he whispered, "This one's usable."

Jia Dongxu peered in, his eyes brightening: "Is this… a basic formula for some new‑type alloy?"

"More than that." Zhao Jianguo worked quickly, "It can also simulate crystal growth. We can first run material simulations to find the most feasible path."

As he spoke, he launched modeling software, disassembled the key modules from the schematics, and imported the new material parameters. The computer began computing, the progress bar advancing slowly.

"If this model holds, we can bypass some high‑precision processing steps." Zhao Jianguo stared at the Screen, "First produce a lower‑generation Crystal, even if its performance is a bit poorer, it will suffice for an emergency."

Jia Dongxu picked up a pen and drew a three‑stage flowchart on the paper.

"Stage one, secure the material; stage two, set up the light‑source test bench; stage three, assemble the prototype." He numbered them, "If any step gets stuck, we have to start over."

"Then we split up." Zhao Jianguo said, "You handle schematic optimization and engineering disassembly; I'll focus on material simulation and system integration."

"Alright." Jia Dongxu nodded, "But I must warn you, building the light source requires massive power and cooling units; this little room can't sustain it."

"Find a way first." Zhao Jianguo didn't back down, "Even a simplified version, as long as it can light up, will do."

As they spoke, the computer emitted a soft chime.

The simulation results came out.

The Screen displayed a new material combination scheme, labeled "Feasibility: 68%."

"Not high, but worth a try." Jia Dongxu leaned in to examine the details, "These metal ratios… we seem to have ready stock in the warehouse."

"I'll go check the inventory." Zhao Jianguo stood to leave.

"Wait." Jia Dongxu grabbed him, "What if that 'Chen Jianguo' is a fake? What if someone set a trap to deliberately waste our resources?"

Zhao Jianguo halted his steps.

"I've thought about that too," he said, "but the person who filmed us on the train yesterday wore a badge that read 's Technology Institute.' An organization that doesn't exist—why would it appear in reality?"

Jia Dongxu fell silent.

After a while, he nodded, "Then you fetch the material; I'll keep revising the schematics. Let's first conduct a minimal viable experiment to see whether this thing can actually react."

Zhao Jianguo left, heading straight for the warehouse, where he rummaged out several sealed jars from a corner. Some labels had peeled off, but he roughly recalled their contents: aluminum powder, titanium alloy fragments, and special coating residue brought back from the previous Mechanical Lesson exhibition, all packed into a bag and carried back.

Back in the tech room, he was already drenched in sweat.

Jia Dongxu was adjusting a circuit board, a soldering iron sparking small flames in his hand.

"The wiring needs to be re‑routed." he said without looking up, "This power supply can't drive high‑frequency excitation."

Zhao Jianguo placed the materials one by one onto the Operation Console, opened a small reaction chamber, and set temperature and pressure according to the simulation parameters.

"The first run isn't about a finished product; we just need to see crystal precipitation traces."

He pressed the start button.

The machine buzzed to life, the indicator light shifting from red to green.

The two stared at the observation window, neither speaking.

Five minutes later, faint lines appeared on the interior mirror, like traces left by mist brushing across.

"Something's growing." Jia Dongxu pressed his face to the glass, "It's unclear, but it is definitely a regular pattern."

Zhao Jianguo logged the time and parameters, and casually saved the log.

At that moment, the computer popped up another window.

Countdown updated: **729 days 23 hours 58 minutes**.

Simultaneously, a System Prompt floated a line of text: "First‑round material reaction completed, recommend conducting optical testing to verify structural stability."

"Looks like we need to add a spectrometer," Zhao Jianguo mused, "If we modify that old microscope in the institute, it might serve for a while."

"I'll go borrow a transformer from the electrician team tomorrow." Jia Dongxu put down his welding torch, "Without a stable current, we can't proceed to the next step."

"That's enough for now." Zhao Jianguo turned off the main power, "I'll finish organizing the records tonight and continue early tomorrow."

The two each tidied up what they were holding.

Outside the window the sky turned gray, dawn approaching.

Inside the room only the main unit's fan was still turning.

Zhao Jianguo suddenly thought of something, opened his contacts, found a number marked "Special Procurement," and edited a short message: "Urgent need for high-purity quartz tubes, high-temperature resistant, UV-transparent, quantity unlimited, the sooner the better."

He hit send, looked up at Jia Dongxu, and asked, "Do you think we can pull this off before the supply cutoff?"

Jia Dongxu grinned: "What do you think? If we can't, we'll just mess around with something else."

Zhao Jianguo also laughed.

He reopened the modeling interface, syncing the latest data into the master plan. On the screen's center, a rough technical roadmap gradually took shape, three main lines extending side by side, labeled "Materials," "Light Source," and "Encapsulation."

He moved the mouse to the "Materials" column and clicked to expand its subitems.

The first entry read: "Initial reaction successful, entering verification stage."

He was about to add the next task when the computer suddenly jolted.

A new system prompt popped up:

"External signal scan detected, source unknown."