Chapter 284: Lin Lichung

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio  Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Online simulation technology had always been the trend in industrial development. In the early days of paper drawings, the “amount of paper used” was the most objective indicator of the complexity of a piece of equipment. Take, for example, a bicycle. 10 sheets of drawings were enough to depict all of its construction. At least 100 sheets of drawings were required for a motorcycle. As for a car, around 1,000 sheets of drawings were required. For complex equipment consisting of thousands of parts, such as tanks and aircraft, the amount of paper used may exceed 10,000 sheets.

The most complicated design went to the ships, which consisted of tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of modules or parts. The amount of paper used in their design was calculated in tons. It was said that the design drawings of a large aircraft carrier would require a few trucks to carry and transport them. Moreover, these drawings were all hand-drawn by the designers. Not only difficult to keep the design an absolute accuracy, but the efficiency of the design process was also very low as well.

However, after entering the computer age, industrial design software appeared as an aid. The world bid farewell to the era of hand-drawn drawings. Standardization and efficiency of the design process was greatly improved. Take, for example, the fifth-generation fighter jets of Z country, Jian-20. 14 years separated the start of the project and the first flight. It took another 6 years after the first flight for them to be used in military service. Their overseas counterparts needed 30 years to achieve the same thing.

The performance of the large military transport aircraft carrier -20 was even more outrageous. 7 years separated the establishment of the project and the first flight. It took 3 years after the first flight for aircraft carriers to be used in military service. Their overseas counterparts needed 20 years to achieve the same thing.

Of course, the hard work by their science and tech workers and the pace that they pushed themselves was one reason why Z country had such high efficiency. Other factors for their efficiency included the use of computer design software throughout the entire equipment development period, which greatly accelerated the progress of the project. Therefore, industrial design software could be described as the “accelerator” for the research and development of equipment.

But, compared to the common industrial software, the powerful “virtual factory” could no longer be described as a mere “accelerator.” It would be more appropriate to describe it as a “cheat code.” This was because the “virtual factory” was not only able to design the structure of the equipment, but it could also realistically simulate the equipment in its working state! Could ordinary industrial software do this?

Of course, one could not trash the West to such an extreme degree as to claim that they had nothing good. It was said the prowess of Merica’s engine technology was due to their advanced engine design software. This software could dynamically simulate the state of the engine while it was working and obtain some high-value data. But their simulation was not too realistic. The scope of application for their software was narrow. Compared to that, the “virtual factory” was in a totally different dimension. In other words, the “virtual factory” was the ultimate design tool.

Lin Lichung also learned about the various special characteristics of the “virtual factory” from his colleagues who had contact with and even operated the “virtual factory.” Then, he fell into a state of deep worry. Lin Lichung was from Treasure Island and he loved his hometown very much. He graduated from semiconductor design studies. He most desired to enter Mossey Electrics, which was known as “The Light of Treasure Island.” However, due to the fierce competition on the island and the severe shortage of relevant talents in the mainland, he came to the mainland to try his luck. He easily passed the interview and entered Zhongxin International. His salary was twice as high as his fellow graduates who entered Mossey Electrics.

According to logic, he should be happy. But he was not. He merely regarded it as a job that paid the bills. He still wanted to join Mossey Electrics after he improved his technical skills and abilities. Zhongxin was only a springboard for him. But he never expected that the two years that he joined Zhongxin International was the time where it would grow in such an exaggerated manner. Almost like it had a cheat code of some kind.

First, Zhongxin International conquered the 7-nanometer chip in eight months. Then, it overcame the sales ban on the photolithography machine from the West into Z country in a short period of time. After which, the company again took another eight months to overcome the 5-nanometer chip. It was now at the same level as Mossey Electrics.

Most of the netizens on Treasure Island did not believe the speed of Zhongxin’s progress. They thought that it was fake news. But, Lin Lichung, as the backbone of the production line technology, had seen the 5-nanometer chip coming out of the production line with his own eyes. He was extremely shocked at that time. However, he could not continue lying to himself. In addition, Zhongxin shared huge bonus rewards with him in its rapid rise. For example, his salary increased to $30,000 per month, which was three times that of his fellow graduates who joined Mossey Electrics. Zhongxin issued new shares last month and he received stock worth $100,000, which now appreciated to $400,000.

Even so, when he chatted with his fellow graduates online (after breaching the Great Firewall of Z country), he never shared the joy of his salary increase. Instead, he summed up the insider information he heard and communicated his worries. “They have a set of design software that runs on a supercomputer; this software is used to support the research and development on chips. It is called the ‘virtual factory.’ With the aid of this software, they conquered the 5-nanometer chip production techniques in a few months. This is a deadly ‘technological ambush’!”

Due to the problem of his identity, Lin Lichung did not have the opportunity to operate the ‘virtual factory’ on the supercomputer itself. But he learned a lot of details from a mainland colleague that he was close to. The colleague regarded him as a confidante and also liked to brag to him. Lin Lichung successfully made use of these two facts.

All of his fellow graduates back on the island were shocked. A virtual factory that could create simulations that had 99.9999% match with reality. Research and development costs were reduced by more than 90%. The efficiency of scientific development increased by more than 10 times. By creating such a powerful “cheat code,” how could they expect other players without this “cheat code” to stay in the game?

“Impossible! How could such an outrageous technology exist?”

“Lin Lichung, have you been brainwashed? How could you come up with this ridiculous story!”

“Haha, he’s been in the mainland for too long. He has actually learned how to lie and brag.”

His ex-classmates were all skeptical. They raised their suspicions one after another. Some even wanted to break off their friendship with him.

“I really didn’t lie to you!”

Lin Lichung tried his best to explain, “Do you know Xing Hai Technologies? The technology of the Virtual Factory technology was developed by Xing Hai Technologies and then they, in turn, provided it to Zhongxin International. Do you think that Xing Hai Technologies has the ability to develop this tool?”

Xing Hai Technologies? His ex-classmates were all silent now. Even though they often looked down on the various technologies of the mainland as being too outdated, they could not find any weak spots regarding Xing Hai Technologies, which had risen at the speed of light in the past few years. There were even a group of “Xing Fans” in Treasure Island. After trying out for themselves the various products by Xing Hai Technologies, they began to praise the mainland mindlessly. And if you disagreed, you would be faced with various kinds of passive-aggressive attacks. “My son topped the exams with the help of the Little Star learning machine, what’s your ranking then?”, “With the Bang Bang robot, our family rarely falls sick”, “The Star Cloud mobile phone is really good, let’s compare if you really don’t believe it.”

One would get sick of the passive-aggressive attacks by the “Xing Fans” after being on the receiving end of such comments for long enough. There were now very few people on the island who spoke badly of Xing Hai Technologies.

Now that they knew the “virtual factory” technology was developed by Xing Hai Technologies, Lin Lichung’s fellow graduates stopped questioning him. But they all started to panic! How would they resist in the face of the Zhongxin empire, who was playing with a “cheat code?” Moreover, they were simply small fry with their mediocre abilities at work. They would be the first to be laid off when the crisis hit. Perhaps out of the desire to save themselves, they quickly reflected this situation to the higher-ups in Mossey Electrics.

A few hours later, Lin Lichung became an important informant of the Central Intelligence Agency of Merica. He was given the mission to investigate all information pertaining to the “virtual factory.” He was the 15th most important person on the list of CIA’s secret executors. He enjoyed an expense allowance of $30,000 per month. Of course, he never received this money. He never even heard of it.

Still, Lin Lichung faithfully completed his given mission. He paid for his expenses with his own money when he treated the colleague who had the opportunity to be in contact with the “virtual factory” to meals and entertainment. He got even more information about the “virtual factory.” With his earnest pleading, he even got a few photos that his colleague secretly took… Which was quickly sent to the other side of the ocean.

…

On the 18th of June, in Merica, at the President’s Office in the Washington White House, CIA Director, Sanders Capello, walked into the office with a thick file in his hands. He laid the file down in front of the President and said, “Mr. President, we must raise our protest to Z country and request that they immediately hand over a deadly technology that has the capability to change the geopolitical pattern; that has the capability to endanger the entire Western civilization. We have enough evidence now and we should take serious actions against them. We must exert the greatest pressure to safeguard our interests, and safeguard the fairness of the world!”

Dana Trump opened the file with some suspicion. In a short time, his angry roar shook the office.

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