The steel smelting plant.
Meng Hao saw the four lithography machines that had been dismantled and were ready to be melted down into scrap iron.
Lithography machine, this name was just a common folk appellation.
To be precise, its scientific name was a mask aligner and exposure machine.
The actual working principle was similar to photo printing, where the fine image on the mask plate was exposed and etched onto a single crystal silicon wafer through light exposure.
The finished single crystal silicon wafers were basically quite standard circular thin slices, also known as wafers.
After slicing the wafers, chips, dubbed the brain of modern electronic technology, were obtained.
Lithography machines were very large.
Taking the nxe:3400B extreme ultraviolet lithography machine in front of Meng Hao as an example.
These four scrapped 5-7nm process lithography machines, which had had their core modules removed, were the size of two buses and weighed a terrifying 150 tons.
But.
Even this previous generation main lithography machine from Helan Country's Asman Company was being prepared to be melted down into molten iron in a steel mill, while Da Xia Country had not yet mastered the technology of such lithography machines.
Da Xia was already powerful.
But in many high-tech fields, there was still a long way to go.
"Dear Meng."
"These are the lithography machines you need."
"It is regrettable to say that, precisely speaking, they can no longer be called lithography machines, but merely four pieces of scrap iron with a total mass of over six hundred tons, waiting to be melted."
Indeed.
The core components of these four lithography machines had been removed.
Only the empty shell and some seemingly insignificant peripheral components that did not need to be bothered with remained.
De Vries watched Meng Hao nervously.
He was very worried that this handsome young man from Da Xia Country would go back on his word on the spot.
After all.
Spending forty million US dollars to buy six hundred tons of scrap iron was definitely a huge act of idiocy.
Meng Hao walked around the components of the four discarded lithography machines.
Despite their anxiety, De Vries and Jarvis waited for Meng Hao's final decision.
Of course.
Meng Hao was not considering whether to go back on his word and withdraw the decision to buy the lithography machines for forty million US dollars.
Instead, he summoned the system mall, which only he could see on his retina, and kept browsing and selecting.
Hmm.
He wanted to verify.
How long would it take for the relevant black technologies provided by the system to complete these four lithography machines and achieve mass production.
Hardware.
All core components except the illumination system, silicon wafer transfer system, and environmental system had been removed.
Especially, the core of the core, the key of the key.
The mask stage system, mask transfer system, nanometer-level automatic calibration system, leveling and adjustment measurement system, and other eight major components were completely dismantled, not even a screw left.
Fortunately.
These core components could all be found as replacements in the system mall... or rather, they were higher level, more advanced, and more sophisticated.
As for the software.
The storage devices loading the whole machine control system and the whole machine software control system had also been removed.
However.
This was not a big problem.
Anyway.
Using system technology, the repaired and replenished nxe:3400B extreme ultraviolet lithography machine would only have its outer shell looking the same as before... mainly to deceive others into believing that Meng Hao had directly cracked and reverse-engineered the technology of the United States and Western allies, and developed even more sophisticated lithography machines.
All key core components inside would be replaced.
Then, for the lithography machine's control system, a smart AI could be exchanged from the system mall.
However.
Meng Hao felt a bit of a headache.
Lithography machines were, after all, high-tech products.
Remembering so many things at once was really giving him a headache.
Later, he would have to look for potions in the system that could strengthen his brain and physique, and exchange a few bottles to drink.
As the black technology content of the products developed and manufactured by Meng Hao increased.
Strengthening the brain for memory, calculation, and design; strengthening the physique to cope with high-intensity work.
These were things that had to be put on the agenda.
To prevent forgetting, he should find some paper and a pen to write them down first.
"Excuse me."
Meng Hao patted his slightly dizzy head and walked up to De Vries and Jarvis.
"Dear Meng, are you planning to go back on your word..."
"However, it is understandable..."
"These lithography machines with their core structures dismantled are indeed no different from ordinary scrap metal..."
De Vries's face was full of dejection.
Indeed.
Seeing the forty million US dollars, which had not yet been pocketed, going down the drain like this.
Anyone would feel empty.
Meng Hao smiled faintly.
"You misunderstood, Mr. De Vries."
"I just want to borrow some paper and a pen, as there are some critical parameters I intend to record."
"By the way, please provide your account number. I will pay half the deposit first, and the remaining balance will be transferred to you after these lithography machines are loaded onto the ship."
What?
This pile of scrap metal was actually coveted.
Completely ignoring what kind of data Meng Hao wanted to record on the scrap metal, De Vries quickly rushed into the factory office, threw down a hundred US dollars in cash, grabbed a bunch of pens and a thick stack of paper, and rushed out.
Well.
It felt like if he wasted even half a second more, it would mean twenty million US dollars flying away.
"Here, dear Meng, this is the paper and pen you wanted..."
"Oh, right, this is the payment account..."
Without a doubt.
De Vries provided his personal account, not Asman's corporate account.
Meng Hao nodded.
He took out his phone, called the finance department of Shilin Company in his country, and provided De Vries's account number.
Soon.
Just as Meng Hao finished writing the contents he needed to remember on three full pages.
De Vries was so excited that he almost hugged Meng Hao and started biting him.
"My God, twenty million US dollars, it's really in my account."
"And it's an instant transfer, with no delay."
"Dear Meng, you must be Hades reborn!"
Well.
Hades was the god of wealth in the West.
He was basically on the same level as the God of Wealth in Da Xia Country.
"Let's go."
"We won't return until we're drunk tonight."
"All expenses will be on me."
The extremely excited De Vries took out all the cash in his pockets and scattered it in the factory.
Immediately, it attracted countless workers scrambling for it.
Looking at the overly excited De Vries.
Meng Hao scratched his head.
Where was the family honor and professional integrity that this De Vries, said to be a descendant of a Helan Country Duke, had been so insistent on earlier?
Well.
In comparison, he preferred De Vries's rebellious demeanor!
...
United States.
Senior officials responsible for national security summoned the high-level directors of Asman.
"Dear everyone."
"I heard you sold lithography machines to Da Xia?"
"Do you know that we have repeatedly warned you not to sell high-precision lithography machines to Da Xia Country?"
"Are you prepared to bear the serious consequences?!"
The senior US officials' faces were grim and their expressions were cold.