Before coming here, Director Li had not actually held out much hope that the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study had produced a finished carbon-based chip.
After all, the Hua Academy of Sciences Semiconductor Research Institute was working on the same project, as were countless corporate R&D departments at the semiconductor industrial base in Jiangcheng. Yet so far, they had only seen the faintest signs of results.
After reading the report Professor Lu had sent to Shangjing, the elderly academician from the Hua Academy of Sciences had only offered the equivocal assessment that the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study might have made a breakthrough in integrating carbon-based transistors into integrated circuits. No one had imagined they were actually this damn good.
While everyone else was still puzzling over how to overcome the technical hurdle of integrating carbon-based transistors into integrated circuits, the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study had not only produced a finished product, but had even used it to build a DIY scientific calculator...
Had he not seen the thing before him, Director Li would not have believed it either.
Now, however, there was no room for doubt.
Keeping a serious expression on his face, he continued.
"Although the international situation looks calm on the surface, ever since our Lunar Research Base was completed, forces hostile to us have kept up their petty maneuvers and major operations alike. We haven't had a single moment of real peace. You know about the attack on Biosphere A last year, don't you?"
Lu Zhou nodded to indicate that he did.
Director Li said, "That only counted as a minor problem."
Lu Zhou asked, "Then what's the major problem?"
Director Li said, "According to reliable information, the United States is planning to make a move against our semiconductor industry."
Hearing this, Lu Zhou froze