Second Generation

On the third floor of Shenma Technology Company's factory, dozens of machines of various sizes stood neatly arranged throughout the space.

Wearing work clothes and gloves, Ning Yifan watched the new material gradually take shape inside the high-temperature smelting furnace. A faint smile appeared on his face.

Once all the material inside the furnace had melted together, he shut off the fuel valve. The raging flames gradually died down. When he opened the furnace, a wave of scorching heat rushed toward him. At its center lay a glowing red mass of the new material.

Ning Yifan took a pair of long-handled iron tongs and swiftly carried it over to the small forging hammer.

Clang, clang, clang—

The hammer repeatedly rose and fell. After the material had endured the immense pressure and its internal atoms had settled into the shape Ning Yifan wanted, he picked it up with the tongs again and plunged it into cooling water.

In the end, Ning Yifan had a rectangular alloy made from the new material. It was both highly tough and exceptionally hard, making it ideal for a core component in the injection molding machine he was building—one that was prone to wear.

With the alloy finished, the next step was to shape it into the part Ning Yifan needed.

He started up the CNC machining center, secured the new material in a fixture, and began machining. As the ultra-hard diamond cutting tool spun at high speed, a shrill grinding noise rang out. It cut away excess material, shaped the piece, drilled holes, and polished it. Ning Yifan handled each step as effortlessly as eating or drinking.

In his dream training, Ning Yifan had operated all kinds of machines countless times. It had long since become instinctive: the moment he got his hands on one, he knew exactly what to do. His eyes were like precision measuring instruments, allowing him to judge the progress at a glance and make adjustments whenever necessary.

After just over ten minutes, he had worn down two of the ultra-hard diamond cutting tools, but the component he wanted was complete.

He switched off the machining center, took out the finished component, and carried it through the corridor formed by the many machines to a large piece of equipment.

The machine had already been opened, exposing its internal components. Using his tools, Ning Yifan dismantled it and removed a badly worn part. He coated the newly made component with lubricant, fitted it into the space where the old part had been, then reinstalled the remaining screws and parts.

Just like that, a badly worn machine was brought back to life—and it was even more stable than when it had been brand-new!

Ning Yifan had also updated the machine's control software. It was now much easier to operate and far smoother than the original version!

With the injection molding machine upgraded, Ning Yifan started it up for a test. The machine drew in the glue-like raw material through the inlet nearby and quickly molded it into a white plastic casing. It was the casing for the Phantom Projector!

Now that he had this injection molding machine, Ning Yifan could produce the Phantom Projector's casing himself instead of relying on orders from other companies.

This had several advantages. First, it saved a large sum of money on purchasing Phantom Projector parts.

Second, there was no longer any need to place orders online and wait for the parts to arrive.

Third, a single large barrel of raw material could make hundreds or even thousands of Phantom Projector casings. It was inexpensive and took up far less space than finished casings. Ning Yifan could stock enough material to produce tens or even hundreds of thousands of casings, make them whenever he needed them, and modify the design with ease.

Besides the casing, the Phantom Projector now required far fewer purchased components than before. Apart from the motherboard and light source, Ning Yifan could produce most of the equipment's parts himself.

He had spent more than half a month getting this done. Every morning, after getting up early for a run and having breakfast, he got straight to work. He took an hour and a half off for lunch, then worked until six in the evening.

Having finished upgrading another relatively simple piece of production equipment, Ning Yifan let out a sigh of relief. The remaining machines were much more difficult to make and would take considerably more time and effort, so he wasn't planning to build them just yet.

After taking a break, it would be time to upgrade the Phantom Projector. Online, customers who were looking forward to the new product had been growing impatient.

Ning Yifan had even finished preparing the model parameters for the next generation's casing. He only needed to start up the machines to produce it. But before that, he needed to visit Japan to buy something that would greatly benefit the product. It wasn't essential, of course—it was also just a personal interest of his.

For the second-generation Phantom Projector, Ning Yifan could draw on his software development skills and try to recreate a scene from an anime.

It was October, and more than half a month had passed since the factory relocation was complete and Phantom Projector sales resumed. Over that time, online sales had steadily climbed, allowing more and more customers to get their hands on the product.

They had started with an initial batch of two thousand Phantom Projectors, then produced five thousand a week later, and had recently reached ten thousand in a single batch. Production was accelerating, and Ning Yifan's finances were steadily improving.

Once the sales revenue from this batch of Phantom Projectors came in, Ning Yifan's funds would reach an astonishing one hundred million yuan!

It had taken only a little over two months to go from making the first batch of two hundred Phantom Projectors to reaching his modest goal of one hundred million yuan. And from here on, he would only make more money!

To prepare for production of the second-generation Phantom Projector, Ning Yifan spent a day reorganizing the factory floor and adjusting the production programs for the automated factory once again.

Now, several machines on the second floor were rapidly producing all kinds of Phantom Projector components. The newly completed injection molding machine, for instance, would make the plastic casings and then send them by flatbed cart to a designated area, where they would wait for the production line to start up.

The other machines, which produced cooling fans, copper heat sinks, and other components, could likewise complete the entire automated process—from loading the raw materials to making the parts and transporting them to their stations on the assembly line.

That way, even if Ning Yifan left the factory, production wouldn't stop as long as there were enough raw materials. The shipping system could also keep running as usual, packing the finished products and placing them in the designated area for SF Express to pick up.

Finally, to deal with unexpected situations, Ning Yifan had also modified a rather strange-looking flatbed cart. Two metal robotic arms were mounted on it, making it a machine he could control remotely. With it, he could have the arms handle simple tasks even when he wasn't at the factory, ensuring production continued steadily and normally without anyone on site.

With the work inside the factory all taken care of, Ning Yifan could finally set off for Japan with peace of mind. This trip was for business negotiations, but also to relax. After spending about a month cooped up in the factory, dealing with all kinds of machine parts, Ning Yifan needed a break.