Chapter 623
Teacher Xinbao
Chapter 623 Teacher Xinbao
The bus sped through the streets of the provincial capital, the hazy shadows of buildings flashing past the windows.
“They’re seconding people from the three academies, and they won’t even let us ask about the project names,” Zhang Zhihe from the Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, said in a low voice. “I heard Changhong makes color TVs, how come they’re getting into materials research?”
"I've been working in casting at the Institute of Metal Research for fifteen years, and suddenly they want me to report to the provincial capital," Wang Jianguo sighed. "I'm afraid it's another 'gift project' for them."
“I also signed a confidentiality agreement, and I can’t even tell my family.” Li Min, a female researcher from Hefei, held a bag of documents. “When my husband asked me where I was transferred to, I could only say a unit in Northeast China.”
"Could it be some kind of military factory?" some people speculated.
“Even military factories shouldn’t be this mysterious.” Zhang Zhihe shook his head. “I bet it’s a project that some leader decided on a whim, and they just brought us in to save face.”
The passengers in the carriage echoed this sentiment.
They were suddenly transferred to the provincial capital with an order, the project details were unknown, the deadline was unknown, and even whether they could return to their original units was unknown. How could they not be terrified?
The high-rise buildings of the Tienan District are visible outside the car window.
Everyone fell silent, gazing out the window, their hearts filled with mixed emotions.
Ma Dongmei rested her head against the car window, staring blankly into space.
The bus drove into the Changhong factory area and stopped in front of an inconspicuous five-story building.
The gatekeepers are armed police; you need to swipe your card to enter and exit, and everyone's identity is verified repeatedly.
The elevator requires a special access card to press a floor. They were taken to the third floor.
The entire floor was covered with a dark gray carpet, completely absorbing the sound of footsteps, creating a quiet that was somewhat oppressive.
The corridor is flanked by heavy fire doors, which only have numbers on them and no signs.
There is a camera every ten meters or so, and there are also indicator lights flashing on signal jammers in the corners of the walls.
"This doesn't look like a research institute; it looks more like a secret service bureau," Li Min whispered.
Zhang Zhihe glanced at the small round hole in the ceiling and lowered his voice: "I've been to all the key laboratories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and none of them have this kind of setup. This project..."
After passing through three security gates, the group was led into a conference room that could accommodate 100 people.
The long table was covered with a dark green velvet cloth, and a notebook and a pen were placed in front of each seat.
Several people in military uniforms sat in the front row.
The person in front of the podium was familiar to everyone; they recognized her as the chairwoman of Changhong Group and the vice mayor of the provincial capital—a remarkable young woman.
After everyone was seated, Lin Xiaohe slowly began to speak: "You are all elite soldiers drawn from your respective units. Today, I will introduce to you the true objective of the Dragon Scale Project."
She pressed the projector, and a set of data appeared on the screen: "We plan to develop a room-temperature superconducting material with a critical temperature of minus 20 degrees Celsius within one year."
The meeting room erupted in chaos.
"Minus twenty degrees? The current world record is only minus one hundred and forty degrees!"
"The cost is only one-third that of copper wire? That's impossible!"
"A year? That's simply a fantasy!"
Lin Xiaohe raised her hand to signal for quiet, her tone calm: "I know this sounds like a fantasy, but it is indeed our goal."
Lin Xiaohe didn't say much, but personally led the team through another sentry post deep inside the factory area to a standalone six-story building.
The building is grayish-white, and all the windows are made of one-way glass, so the interior cannot be seen from the outside.
There was no sign at the entrance, only a small stainless steel plaque with the words "Materials Research Center" engraved in tiny, inconspicuous characters. The lobby was predominantly white, with anti-static flooring and shadowless lights on the ceiling that made the space feel bright yet cool.
The reception area is made of a single piece of white artificial stone, and the receptionist sitting behind it is wearing a cleanroom suit and a mask.
"This building was only completed at the end of last year," the engineer who led the way explained. "It has constant temperature and humidity. The basement is an ultra-clean laboratory, and the third to fifth floors above ground are the workstations and computer rooms for various research groups."
Zhang Zhihe looked around and thought to himself, "How could a color TV factory like Changhong afford to build this? It must be backed by the power of the entire nation."
Ma Dongmei's dull eyes brightened again. This environment didn't feel like a cold palace!
The workstation area is on the third floor, in a spacious open space. Each workstation is separated by semi-transparent frosted glass, and a monitor, keyboard, and mouse are neatly arranged on the desk.
But everyone's attention was drawn to the computer on the table.
Unlike the computers in the research institute, the computers at the workstations have 15-inch screens, are less than 2 centimeters thick, have extremely narrow bezels, and display clear, sharp images with colors as rich as printed materials.
A silver logo is printed at the bottom of the screen: Dragon's Roar.
"LCD?" Li Min leaned closer to examine it closely, her voice trembling. "This... how is this possible? I've never seen this technology in foreign literature."
"This is the result of Changhong's own experiments," the engineer leading the way said calmly. "It's not ready for mass production yet; it's only been installed in this building so far."
Wang Jianguo reached out and gently touched the edge of the screen, as if touching a rare treasure.
The most advanced equipment he had ever seen at the metalworks was an imported CRT monitor—bulky, flickering, and emitting a lot of radiation. This Dragon's Roar monitor in front of him seemed to come from the future.
"We've spent our whole lives doing scientific research, using equipment that's all been phased out by foreign companies," someone whispered. "Changhong actually managed to build this themselves..."
“This project is becoming increasingly more complex than it appears on the surface.” Zhang Zhihe took a deep breath and sat down at his workstation.
Pressing the power button illuminates the Dragon Roar screen, but it does not enter the usual operating system interface.
In the center of the image appears a heavy stalk of wheat, golden and full, its ears drooping low, swaying gently in the breeze. The background is a deep blue starry sky, with the wheat field and the Milky Way converging in the distance.
A line of small text appeared at the bottom of the screen: "Stardust Wheat, at your service."
"What is this?" Wang Jianguo frowned. "A screensaver?"
As soon as the words were spoken, the wheat leaves swayed slightly, and a soft voice came from the monitor's built-in speaker.
"Hello, my colleagues at the Materials Research Center. I am Stardust Wheat, your virtual collaborator in Project Dragon Scale. You can call me Teacher Xinbao."
"Next, please complete the assessment tasks I have assigned. The system will assign the most suitable research direction based on each person's expertise and potential."
There was silence in the conference room.
"Artificial intelligence?" Li Min stared at the screen, her pupils shrinking slightly. "We...we have the capability in Dongguo?!"
This is shocking! It'll take a million years to tell you!
In their research institute, if you want to use a computer for calculations, you have to wait in a long line! And even if you finally get approved, you still have to wear dust-proof shoes and clothes.
Here, they not only saw LCD screen computers, but also artificial intelligence.
My God, I would never dare to do this in my wildest dreams!
Isn't artificial intelligence just something in theory? This world has finally gone mad in ways we never imagined.
The captains of the security bureau were also shocked when they saw this scene.
No! When Deputy Mayor Lin applied for assistance from the Security Bureau, he only mentioned that he wanted to work on room-temperature superconducting materials; he didn't say that there was artificial intelligence in this building! Even if this artificial intelligence is just a piece of AI with low intelligence, it's still globally leading and unique!
The team leaders exchanged glances, a fine layer of cold sweat breaking out on their backs.
Without further ado, report this immediately and increase vigilance!