Special Forces: At the beginning, An Ran pulled him to get his certificate.

The morning light streamed through the window onto the helipad at the Strategic Bureau base, where helicopter rotors were still slowly spinning. Old Wen clutched a thick stack of donation receipts, his eyes bloodshot but unable to hide his excitement: "Boss, after a night of verification and supplementary donations, we've raised a total of 500 billion!"

Chen Jun took the voucher, his fingertips trembling slightly. Five hundred billion—this was over six hundred billion allocated from the General Staff Headquarters, the Military, and the Ministry of Finance, plus one hundred and five billion from the National Security Bureau and the Ministry of Law Enforcement, plus two hundred and twenty billion donated by entrepreneurs last night, and over one hundred and ten billion added by several overseas Chinese entrepreneurs early this morning. This was not just a number, but a testament to the nation's determination, the responsibility of enterprises, and the trust of the people. He looked up at Wen Jiabao, a slight smile in his eyes: "You deserve immense credit."

Old Wen scratched his head, a smug look on his tired face: "It's all because of your high prestige, boss! When those overseas entrepreneurs heard that you were in charge, they flew back overnight, saying, 'We'd sell our companies to support you.'"

"I'm leaving the subsequent fund supervision to you. Make sure every penny is spent on research and development." Chen Jun patted Lao Wen on the shoulder, then turned and walked towards the helicopter that was already waiting. "I have to get back. The experts are already waiting at the Chinese Academy of Sciences."

Old Wen watched the helicopter roar into the sky, then smiled and waved, "Go ahead and don't worry! I'm keeping an eye on things!"

At 2 p.m., the largest conference room at the Chinese Academy of Sciences was packed with people. Five hundred top experts from fields such as physics, chemistry, optoelectronics, biology, electromagnetics, and microelectronics gathered together, representing a team of tens of thousands of researchers. Among them were senior academicians who had just emerged from their laboratory retreats, overseas scholars who had specially returned from abroad, and technical leaders from domestic private enterprises.

"Old Ji, didn't you say you were going into seclusion to study quantum communication? Why are you out of seclusion?" A professor with gray hair patted the shoulder of the person next to him.

The man known as "Old Ji" is Ma Ji, a senior academician at the Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. He usually keeps a low profile and rarely participates in activities outside of academics. "Chief Engineer Chen took the lead, the country called, how could I not come?" Ma Ji adjusted his glasses and looked towards the door. "You came back from Germany, right? Did you change your flight?"

“We must come back!” Another scholar sighed. “The Western blockade is getting tighter and tighter. My lab has been without chips for three months. How can we stand idly by when our country is in crisis?”

"We've been researching chips for decades, but we're still stuck with bottlenecks..." someone sighed softly. "This time the team is large, but I'm afraid there won't be enough time."

"Give it a try. With the strength of the whole country, we can always make a breakthrough."

Just then, the conference room door was pushed open. Chen Jun, wearing a faded research coat and holding a USB drive, walked steadily to the front of the stage. His hair was a little messy, and his eyes were bloodshot from staying up all night, but his back was straight, exuding the fortitude of a soldier.

The power of PPT

"Thank you all for taking time out of your busy schedules to respond to the national call." Chen Jun's voice was calm yet powerful. "Today, we have only one goal: to develop chips that belong to Yan and break the Western technological blockade. Please feel free to tell us if you have any difficulties."

"Dean Chen, I am Qian Jianguo from the field of optoelectronics and circuits." An elderly professor wearing reading glasses stood up first. "The difficulty of achieving a breakthrough in chips in the short term is too great! The circuit unit of a lithography machine is 100,000 times thinner than a human hair. To transfer it to photosensitive materials, at least tens of thousands of experimental verifications are needed!"

“Material consumption is also a problem!” another chemical expert added. “One kilogram of high-purity silicon crystal costs hundreds of thousands of yuan. If the experiment fails, the losses will be uncontrollable.”

"Dean Chen, could you please explain the research and development strategy for this project?"

Chen Jun did not answer directly, but instead plugged in the USB drive and opened the PPT: "Everyone, please take a look at this plan first. The answers to many questions are in it."

The title of the first slide of the PPT immediately stunned the audience: "4-Nano Chip R&D Full-Process Solution". As Chen Jun explained, the content left the experts speechless: from the purification process of silicon crystals to the circuit unit design of the lithography machine, from the formulation of photosensitive materials to the packaging and testing process, every step was detailed down to the millimeter, microgram, and nanosecond.

Academician Ma Ji leaned closer to the screen, his fingers trembling slightly: "This... this is the optical path design of a lithography machine? I've been researching this for thirty years, and I never dared to think of such a bold solution!"

Professor Qian Jianguo rubbed his eyes: "The redundancy design of the circuit layout... can actually solve the signal interference problem!"

The conference room was so quiet you could only hear breathing. These experts, who had been immersed in their respective fields for decades, looked like students discovering a new continent, their faces filled with disbelief.

The promise of 500 billion

"The funding issue that everyone is concerned about has been resolved." Chen Jun turned off the PPT and scanned the entire room. "A total of 500 billion has been received."

"Five hundred billion?!" Someone gasped.

“That’s right.” Chen Jun’s voice carried a hint of emotion. “The General Staff Headquarters allocated 50 billion, the military and the Ministry of Finance raised over 60 billion, the National Security Bureau and the Ministry of Law Enforcement contributed 10.5 billion… And last night, domestic entrepreneurs donated over 200 billion overnight. A retired real estate tycoon mortgaged all his properties and donated 5 billion; several overseas Chinese entrepreneurs sold their overseas assets and rushed back overnight to donate…”

The meeting room was so quiet you could hear tears falling. The scholar who had returned from Germany wiped his eyes, his voice choked with emotion: "So... we weren't fighting alone."

"I'm giving you two months." Chen Jun's tone suddenly became firm. "Within two months, completely solve the chip problem and break the technological shackles of the West!"

"Two months?" someone exclaimed in surprise. "The United States has been studying this for over a century, how could we possibly..."

"Because we are people of Yan!" Chen Jun interrupted him, his eyes blazing. "We may not have a century of accumulated experience, but we have the determination to burn our bridges! We have the full support of the nation, the selfless dedication of our entrepreneurs, and the wisdom of everyone here! We are not catching up, but creating history!"

There was a few seconds of silence, followed by enthusiastic applause.

"Dean Chen! I'll sign!" Academician Ma Ji was the first to stand up. "I'll also bring my quantum communication team here; we'll go all out!"

"I'll sign too!" Professor Qian Jianguo slammed his fist on the table. "I'm not going home for the next two months!"

"I gave up my job abroad to join the research and development team!" the returned scholar said firmly.

After all the confidentiality agreements were signed, Chen Jun began to divide the teams: "The first team is responsible for silicon crystal purification, with a target purity of 99%; the second team is responsible for silicon ingot manufacturing and silicon wafer cutting; the third team is responsible for the core technology of the lithography machine—I will personally lead the team!"

Breakthrough in lithography machines

In Chen Jun's laboratory, there lay the lithography machine blueprints he had spent half a month working on, covering the entire table. Senior engineers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Professor Song and Professor Zhang, were gathered nearby, studying them with furrowed brows.

"The angle of light refraction in this part..." Old Song pointed to a node on the drawing, "Why can't I understand it?"

"And the packaging material for this chip..." Old Zhang said with doubt, "We've never tried this formula before."

Chen Jun walked over, picked up a pen, and marked a few places on the drawing: "The refraction angle here is to reduce light loss and improve accuracy; the packaging material is our latest research and development of nano-ceramics, which is resistant to high temperature and radiation."

"Oh! I see!" Old Song exclaimed in sudden realization. "Your thinking is a generation ahead of even the most advanced international technologies!"

Mr. Zhang couldn't help but exclaim in admiration, "I never expected that you not only understand strategy and military affairs, but are also so professional in the chip field!"

Chen Jun smiled, picked up the tools, and began assembling the laboratory equipment: "I learned this on the spot."

Only he himself knew that this knowledge was acquired through "chip-related skills." But he understood that theory alone was not enough; he had to get hands-on experience and turn the blueprints into reality.

Conquer all experts

Over the next few days, Chen Jun became the busiest person in the lab. He not only had to lead the team to overcome the technical difficulties of the lithography machine, but also had to coordinate the overall situation, going wherever problems arose to solve them.

Professor Qian Jianguo of the optoelectronics group encountered a problem with circuit interference. Chen Jun glanced at the experimental data and pointed out the problem: "Your shielding layer is not thick enough. It should be increased to 0.5 micrometers."

After Qian Jianguo made the modifications according to his suggestions, the problem was indeed solved. He exclaimed, "I've studied optoelectronics my whole life, and I'm no match for a complete novice like you! Dean Chen, I'm impressed!"

The chemistry team encountered a purity bottleneck in silicon crystal purification. Chen Jun added a catalyst they had never used before, and the purity immediately met the requirements. The chemistry expert, looking at the test report, was so excited his hands almost trembled: "This...this is a miracle!"

In less than three days, Chen Jun won over all the experts. They no longer regarded him as a "chief engineer who came from special forces," but as a "genius in the field of chips."

Nearly two months

As time went by, the research and development progressed much faster than expected:

In the first week, the silicon crystal purification reached the target of 99%.

In the second week, the first qualified silicon wafer was successfully cut;

In the third week, the core component of the lithography machine, the "objective lens system," was assembled.

In the fourth week, the chip's circuit design passed the simulation test;

By the seventh week, the lab was filled with a tense yet exciting atmosphere.