North to Bingcheng

After several hours in the air, Huang Xiuyuan and his party of more than a dozen people landed at Taiping International Airport in Bingcheng.

They left the airport and headed straight for Harbin Institute of Technology's main campus. Suiren Company had already set up a temporary office nearby.

It was a sunny June day in Bingcheng, and the Harbin Institute of Technology campus was lush and green. Several members of the school's administration stood at the entrance, along with six or seven student union officials.

They had hung a banner at the gate bearing several welcoming slogans. A Bingcheng News interview van was also there, and its cameraman was adjusting the equipment.

Before long, someone with a keen eye spotted four taxis pulling up one after another. A young man got out of one of them.

An elderly member of the school's administration recognized the young man at once with his sharp eyes. He hurried over, clapped Huang Xiuyuan on the shoulder, and laughed heartily. "Xiuyuan, you've done well for yourself."

"Uncle Liu, it's been a long time." Huang Xiuyuan beamed.

After exchanging pleasantries, they went to the auditorium, where Huang Xiuyuan gave an impromptu speech that lasted more than ten minutes. He then donated 50 million yuan to Harbin Institute of Technology and gave an interview to Bingcheng News.

Time flew by, and the sun was already setting.

After dinner in the school cafeteria, Huang Xiuyuan sent the others away and met in an office with the elderly man who had welcomed him that afternoon.

The old man asked happily, "How's your father? I heard he even went to the disaster zone?"

Huang Xiuyuan was making tea. Smiling, he replied, "He's doing all right. My company organized an engineering support team, and Dad just went along to lend a hand."

"He's always been stubborn. When you go back, tell him he has to come to Bingcheng sometime this year, no matter what."

"I will, I will."

The old man's name was Liu Zhenting. He and Huang Xiuyuan's father, Huang Fuqiang, had served in the same unit. Liu Zhenting had been a regiment commander, while his father had served as a guard.

Their unit had taken part in the counterattack in 1979. One of the few who survived, Liu Zhenting officially retired in the 1990s and had worked at Harbin Institute of Technology in Bingcheng ever since.

His father, meanwhile, had spent a few years working in government offices before choosing to go into business.

Back when Huang Xiuyuan had come to Harbin Institute of Technology, his father had practically driven him there with a whip. After all, going from Lingnan to Bingcheng to study was a major challenge, if only because of the weather.

Looking back, it all seemed a little unreal.

The old man and the young man spent more than two hours chatting about family and everyday matters before Huang Xiuyuan finally explained why he had come.

"Your company developed a high-energy material? With about seventeen times the power of TNT? You're not joking?" Liu Zhenting's expression turned serious.

Huang Xiuyuan was equally solemn. "I wouldn't joke about something like this. That's why I came in person. I hope the school can help test it and discuss what to do next."

"Where are the samples? Are they still in Lingnan?"

Huang Xiuyuan explained, "The lab in Lingnan only has a few kilograms of samples. I've already had the production equipment shipped to Bingcheng. Once it's reassembled and we have the necessary raw materials, we can resume production at any time."

Liu Zhenting hadn't expected him to move so quickly. The equipment was already in Bingcheng. He hurriedly asked, "What raw materials do you need?"

Huang Xiuyuan tore a page from his notebook and wrote down high-purity nitrogen gas, calcium carbonate powder, and sodium chloride powder.

After looking over the list and seeing that the materials were all ordinary, Liu Zhenting chose to trust him. He didn't care that it was nearly midnight and contacted a number of people right away.

Early the next morning, before dawn, more than a dozen green military trucks and a group of soldiers armed to the teeth surrounded the temporary warehouse. While no one was watching, they swiftly moved the equipment inside.

At eight that morning, after breakfast, Huang Xiuyuan set off for a hilly area outside the city with three engineers, accompanied by Liu Zhenting.

Among the others traveling with them were six Harbin Institute of Technology engineers and faculty members, all of whom worked with high-energy fuels and explosives.

Their minibus wound its way along twisting roads until noon, when they finally reached their destination: a test site, or rather, a proving ground.

After lunch at the base, the group received the batch of parts. The three engineers from Suiren Company assembled them with practiced ease.

Finally, Huang Xiuyuan took a parameter chip and Hexagonal Silicon Oxide–Graphene Film from the briefcase he'd brought with him and completed the most critical part of the assembly.

They started up the equipment and ran it for more than ten minutes. Then one of the engineers said to him, "Mr. Huang, we're ready to begin production."

Huang Xiuyuan immediately gave the order. "Then let's get started."

"Understood."

The Harbin Institute of Technology engineers and faculty members watched in eager anticipation. After all, a material seventeen times as powerful as TNT sounded hard to believe.

The Nitrogen-20 production machine and passivation machine began operating. Fifteen layers of Hexagonal Silicon Oxide Film were combined. Under a specific voltage and vacuum pressure, and with a large supply of electricity, Nitrogen-20 powder was rapidly produced.

More than two hours later, over a hundred kilograms of Passivated Nitrogen-20 had been produced and pressed into blocks of various sizes.

The blocks were then taken to the test site for detonation tests.

Inside a bunker, everyone held binoculars.

Several Harbin Institute of Technology engineers discussed the tests in low voices.

"How much for the first test?"

"0.1 kilograms," Li Feng, a researcher lost in thought, replied casually.

"Old Li, what do you think?"

"In theory, polynitrogen ionic salts could indeed reach that level of power, perhaps even surpass it. But..." He hadn't finished speaking.

Suddenly, an explosion sounded in the distance. The sensors in the sealed test chamber sent back a set of data. Everyone took a closer look and immediately lost their composure.

"Holy crap!"

"17.36 times the power of TNT."

"This stuff is incredible."

Li Feng was deeply shaken, too. As far as he knew, China did have research projects on polynitrogen ionic salts, and there was a research institute in Nanjing working on them.

In fact, high-energy materials were being developed both in China and abroad. Metallic hydrogen, which had become a hot topic in recent years, was one major area of research.

Polynitrogen ionic salts were another.

While everyone's thoughts wandered, dozens of kilograms of Passivated Nitrogen-20 were detonated in succession at the test site.

In the initial tests, the measured power varied with the conditions and quantities, ranging from 16.87 to 17.62 times that of TNT. The results were essentially consistent with Huang Xiuyuan's figures.

As a scholar in the field of high-energy materials, Li Feng knew the terrifying potential of this material.

Passivated Nitrogen-20 was powerful and could be produced on a large scale. Its raw materials were cheap, making it possible to manufacture an effective product at low cost.

He had seen the equipment. The film was probably one of the key technologies, while the chip contained the process parameters. The overall process shouldn't be difficult.

He had spoken with Huang Xiuyuan that morning. The material's storage conditions were not especially demanding, and it could be detonated in the same way as TNT. Given all these advantages, Nitrogen-20 replacing TNT seemed all but inevitable.

Over the next half month, production of Nitrogen-20 continued, while related experiments and tests were carried out at a rapid pace.

A steady stream of people came to the base, including quite a few important figures.

During those two weeks, with Harbin Institute of Technology acting as intermediary, Huang Xiuyuan signed a memorandum of comprehensive strategic cooperation with Norinco on behalf of Suiren Company, along with a patent licensing agreement covering Nitrogen-20 and its passivation process.

Norinco would pay Suiren Company 60 million yuan in patent fees each year for the license to the relevant Nitrogen-20 patents.

Norinco would also purchase Hexagonal Silicon Oxide–Graphene Film from Suiren Company for 200,000 yuan per sheet. The first contract was for 1,000 sheets, worth a total of 200 million yuan.

All these agreements were confidential.

Suiren Company also joined with Harbin Institute of Technology to establish a research project on high-energy fuels, exploring the use of Nitrogen-20 as rocket fuel.

These were only the gains that could be seen. There were many more benefits that remained unseen.