"No problem," Sun Yi said, nodding vigorously after hearing the entire plan. "It's just a scapegoat, I can handle it! But Chief Engineer Xuan, I'm not the only one who knows Jing Mingqiu can produce two-nanometer chips."
Xuan Mingliang pushed a confidentiality agreement and a bank card to Sun Yi. "You don't need to worry about that. I've made arrangements. Someone is already going to them. This is one million as compensation for you."
"How can I accept this? Chief Engineer Xuan, I'm doing this for the future of our country..."
Sun Yi was about to politely decline and try to curry favor, but when he looked up, he realized Xuan Mingliang had already left. Only two stern-faced guards remained, staring intently at him.
Seeing this, Sun Yi could only force a smile and sign his name on the confidentiality agreement.
At the same time, Li Yong, an engineer from the Black Wolf team, and their head coach Chen Yuanshan also signed confidentiality agreements after their conversation with Wei Deze and Fang Haosi...
That evening, the official website of the 7th Drone Competition suddenly released a pinned announcement.
[Due to the Black Wolf team's illegal use of smuggled chips, their results are voided. Considering it's their first offense and they have shown good remorse, their participation qualification is retained.]
Following this, Sun Yi posted an apology letter online, admitting that he had colluded with the team's engineers and coach to secretly replace the main control chip in pursuit of victory. He sincerely apologized and promised never to repeat his mistake.
At the end of his apology letter, Sun Yi specifically expressed his apologies to Jing Mingqiu, stating that his eagerness to win had led him to make illegal modifications, wasting Jing Mingqiu's efforts.
In Sun Yi's opinion, even without replacing the chip, the Black Wolf team had a high chance of winning with Jing Mingqiu's modified drone.
Sun Yi's final words once again thrust Jing Mingqiu into the spotlight, igniting heated discussions among netizens.
Some claimed Sun Yi was simply being stubborn, arguing that if he hadn't replaced the high-precision chip to improve the drone's control capabilities, the Black Wolf team would have been eliminated long ago.
Others argued that Jing Mingqiu's modified drone demonstrated overwhelming superiority not only in maneuverability but also in speed, stability, and payload capacity, and that even with the original domestic chips, they could still have won.
To support their claims, they specifically used videos from international drone competitions for comparison, showcasing the astounding performance of Jing Mingqiu's modified drone with its two-nanometer precision control chip.
Unfortunately, the arenas and competition rules for domestic and international drone races were vastly different, making any comparison irrelevant. Even selectively edited clips could not serve as evidence.
Unless the Black Wolf team took their drones to compete abroad in a true test of skill, no matter how fierce the arguments, they could not convince the opposing side, leading only to futile bickering.
At the Jingda Mechanical Research Institute, Zhao Daniu, seeing some people online denigrating Jing Mingqiu as a mere attention-seeking clown, was very displeased and complained to Wei Deze.
"Dean, Chief Engineer Xuan said that Brother Jing hand-crafting the high-precision lithography machine shouldn't be leaked. Why did Sun Yi say that at the end!"
Wei Deze lightly tapped the white envelope on the desk, his face beaming with a triumphant smile.
"Daniu, Mingqiu is already in the eye of the storm. If we remained silent, it would be like protesting too much.
"Haven't you noticed? The public's discussion about Jing Mingqiu has shifted from him hand-crafting the lithography machine and producing two-nanometer chips to debating the true capabilities of his modified drone."
"I see now," Zhao Daniu realized with a sudden enlightenment, looking at Wei Deze with admiration. He noticed Wei Deze smiling broadly, but then looked confused. "Professor, why are you so happy?"
Wei Deze burst into laughter. "Of course I'm happy! To avoid suspicion, Fang Haosi cannot recruit Jing Mingqiu into his chip research institute. This way, Jing Mingqiu will have to join our Mechanical Research Institute, hahahaha!"
"But," Zhao Daniu mumbled softly, "Brother Jing's talent in chip manufacturing is truly remarkable. He might just end up having an honorary position with us..."
"What did you say?" Wei Deze hadn't heard clearly and asked casually.
Zhao Daniu quickly shook his head. "Nothing, nothing..."
While the Jingda Mechanical Research Institute was buzzing with discussion, the Shuimu Chip Research Institute was even more frenetically busy.
To verify the truth of what Xuan Mingliang had stated in his emergency call, the superior authority contacted thirteen top institutions, including Longke University, Longfang University, and Longjian University, forming a massive expert panel. Under the guise of an inspection, they visited the Shuimu Chip Research Institute.
Coincidentally, Xuan Mingliang had previously sealed off the entire research institute under the pretext of an accidental incident to prevent information leakage.
The higher authorities dispatching an expert group to investigate the cause of the accident was logical and did not attract much external attention.
After all, China had been facing chokeholds in the chip industry for a long time, and organizing large-scale expert discussion meetings had already occurred more than twice.
Those foreign powers did not believe that China had the opportunity to break free from the constraints of chips and produce high-precision ones.
At 8 PM, after all the professors related to chips had assembled, Xuan Mingliang, without any preamble, led everyone to the depths of the laboratory, to a machine emitting a silver glow, its surface covered with traces of manual work.
"This is the lithography machine modified by Jing Mingqiu. Not only is this lithography machine highly precise, but its speed is also thirty percent higher than the original, and its energy consumption is ninety percent lower."
"Our lithography machine does not require special circuit setup; ordinary civilian circuits can ensure its normal operation..."
Hearing this, the professors below were instantly stunned.
"Chief Engineer Xuan, you're not joking, are you!"
"We can't even reach the twenty-nanometer precision that foreign countries have already discarded. One nanometer, how is that possible!"
"Exactly! Lithography machines consume enormous amounts of energy. Ordinary civilian circuits, at most 220 volts, how can they support the normal operation of a lithography machine?"
"..."
Facing the crowd's doubts, Xuan Mingliang wasted no words and walked directly to the lithography machine, pressing the start switch.
"Buzz!"
After a brief hum, gears interlocked, mechanical arms began to extend and retract, and accompanied by a faint smell of burning, twenty chips were delivered via a conveyor belt.
"I didn't believe it at first either," Xuan Mingliang said, picking up a freshly manufactured chip with tweezers and placing it into a professional testing instrument, handing it to Professor Yun Jingchu of Longke University. "Professor Yun, please take a look yourself."
Yun Jingchu took the testing instrument and his expression changed drastically after just one glance. He exclaimed, "This is a one-nanometer precision chip!"
"One-nanometer precision? How is that possible? Let me see!"
Hearing this news, the other professors could no longer restrain themselves and reached out, eager to investigate.
"Don't worry, we have plenty of testing instruments here."
Xuan Mingliang made a gesture, and researchers from the Shuimu Chip Research Institute immediately ran over, placing the chips just produced by the lithography machine into the testing instruments, and then handing them to the expert professors from all over the country.
While everyone was testing the engraving precision of the chips, Xuan Mingliang added more fuel to the fire...