That afternoon, Dr. William Nelson, chief scientist of DuPont Group, suddenly felt a tightness in his chest. The sealed laboratory, the hum of the air filters—everything made him feel stifled, to the point where even breathing became difficult.
He handed the remaining work to his subordinates and hurried out of the laboratory, onto the open lawn outside, where he took deep breaths of fresh air.
Not long afterward, his assistant Durand also left the laboratory. He sat down beside Nelson and let out a long sigh.
"Failed again?" Nelson asked.
Durand nodded helplessly. "Damn it. Our chemical ratios were clearly the same as Kunlun Company's, yet the gap in the results is enormous. Kunlun Company's fiber quality is outrageously good, while our imitation is complete trash!"
Nelson wore an unsurprised expression. "They look the same, but they are not. Kunlun Company added trace stabilizers to its chemical formula. Those special stabilizers protect the fiber structure, preventing it from losing strength due to excessive honeycombing while greatly improving the fiber's toughness."
In fact, DuPont Company was far from alone in its predicament. On the banks of the Rhine River in Germany, in Hakone at the foot of Mount Fuji, every company attempting to imitate X Fiber was suffering one setback after another.
Gao Yuan was utterly confident that X Fiber could not be replicated.
But Gao Yuan was also pleased to see the entire world trying to crack it. The more attempts they made, the more money and resources his competitors would waste. Watching competitors hit a wall was something Gao Yuan had always enjoyed.
Nelson rubbed his temples and sniffed. The California wildfires, which had been burning since September, had made the air along the entire West Coast anything but sweet. The sky had turned a strange orange-yellow, and a faint scorched smell lingered in the air.
In 2019, Australia's months-long wildfires released more than 400 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, equivalent to the combined annual emissions of 139 countries. The global hegemon North America was even more formidable; wildfires on the West Coast had become routine, flaring up every few days.
Yet Australia and North America turned around and accused the Chinese people of being insufficiently environmentally friendly, of disrupting Earth's carbon balance and deserving punishment.
Many Chinese people did not understand. Why did they not put all their effort into fighting the fires?
The question was truly boring. First, whether they fought the fires or not had nothing to do with us.
Second, if you truly wanted to know why, then visit Mohe and take a look at the Greater Khingan Range Fire Memorial Hall. Look at the soldiers who had rushed into the blaze one after another, at the shovels they used, the charred clothing, and the photographs they left behind. Perhaps then you would understand that many things in this world simply had no why. We were fundamentally different from them. That was all.
Nelson said meaningfully, "People often fail to appreciate materials science, but as the foundation of industry, once a new material is born, it can very likely change the entire world. It is like people in the Bronze Age accidentally inventing ironmaking. What follows is bound to be an upheaval."
Durand's eyes widened. "You think Kunlun Company's X series fibers have the potential to overturn the chemical fiber industry?"
Nelson looked up and replied seriously, "It is not that I think so. It is already happening. In just half a year, our COOLMAX, Toray's Softwarm, Asahi Kasei's Thermogea—so many top-tier fiber technologies that once monopolized the market have been knocked to the ground by Kunlun Company. Recently, there was even news that Toyobo had gone bankrupt."
"From X1 to X2, those Chinese people have taken on the best-selling chemical fiber products on the market one by one, and so far they have met no rival."
"What comes next? Will enhanced and derivative versions of X Fiber enter even more fields? The rubber industry, tire manufacturing, medical care, military industry?"
"You see only a tiny fiber? But it may very well be the cornerstone that overturns the world! After all, no one knows how many derivative technologies can be developed from X Fiber."
Nelson's words shocked Durand. X Fiber itself was not the frightening part. The key was that this Super honeycomb structure fiber possessed unimaginable potential and might shine in many more industries in the future.
Suddenly, Nelson's phone vibrated. He glanced at the screen, then his brow immediately furrowed. "It's our research center in China," he told Durand.
To be fair, DuPont Group's strength was not without reason. It valued research and development far more than people imagined. Setting aside its testing facilities scattered across the globe, it had a large research center in Shanghai, China alone, with eight laboratories and hundreds of elite researchers holding doctoral degrees or above.
Durand watched from the side. Nelson's increasingly grim expression made it clear that the matter was probably far from simple.
At last, Nelson hung up and revealed a weary, bitter smile.
"What was I just saying?" Nelson said as he scratched his head. "Kunlun Company's X3 type fiber has already entered the market in large quantities. It is an elastic fiber aimed directly at our Lycra fiber, but its performance is far superior to Lycra's. Our laboratory in China has made preliminary calculations. Its overall performance is roughly three times that of Lycra."
Durand could hardly believe his ears. History had repeated itself. At the end of summer, Kunlun Company had launched X1 Fiber and beaten DuPont's COOLMAX into utter collapse.
Now that winter had arrived, Kunlun Company had launched X3 type fiber, targeting the king of elastic fibers, Lycra. DuPont Company had once again become the target of attack.
Was this some kind of vendetta?
Nelson paused, then continued, "What is even more frightening is that besides evaluating X3 type fiber's performance, our laboratory in China also received a rumor."
"It is said that Kunlun Company has developed a bulletproof fiber called Silver Frost based on X3. Its performance is far better than our Kevlar, even surpassing third-generation PE bulletproof fiber. They are currently making intensive preparations for mass production."
"Given the hostile relationship between us and China, that news has probably already made the people in the Pentagon furious."
Hiss—
Durand sucked in a sharp breath. He finally understood why Nelson was so worried.
The prophecy was becoming reality step by step. X Fiber was replicating and mutating like a virus, changing from one type into two, then from two into three, until it formed an army and destroyed the world's existing systems and rules.
One had to remember that Kunlun Company had only entered the chemical fiber industry half a year ago!
Yet it had already driven Toyobo Group to death, broken into the military market, and become a supplier of winter uniforms and bulletproof vests for the PLA!
Such a pace of development was simply inhuman!
COOLMAX, Lycra, Kevlar—three great generals had fallen in rapid succession!
Even with DuPont Group's deep reserves, even as the King of Chemical Fiber, how many rounds of attacks like this could it withstand?
"Too ruthless... Those damn Chinese people!" Durand roared furiously, both hands clenched into fists.
Achoo—
Without warning, Gao Yuan sneezed. He walked over to the air conditioner and touched the vent with his hand.
The warm air was still blowing strongly, but his office was a little too large, and the sealing was not particularly good. The indoor temperature could not compare at all to rooms in the north with central heating.
This place had previously been a textile fabric factory, so its conditions were indeed rather crude.
Returning to his desk, Gao Yuan stared at the content on his screen and checked for typos with great care.
After all, the paper was meant to be shown to peers across the country. Countless eyes would be watching it. Gao Yuan was at least someone who cared about his dignity; he did not want to embarrass himself in public.
As for why he was showing it only to domestic peers rather than the entire world, the reason was simple: his paper on X Fiber was written in Chinese. Whether foreign peers could understand it was not within Gao Yuan's consideration.
After rubbing his dry eyes, Gao Yuan clicked his mouse and saved the paper. After thinking for a moment, he opened the homepage of the materials forum again.
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