Chapter 1553: A Stress Test First

A few days later, several articles with provocative titles and carefully edited content were published on the designated platform:

"Candlelight" puzzle: technological breakthrough or patent magic?

"Perspective on "Candlelight Technology": Hidden Concerns Behind Rapidly Growing Giants"

"Patent War: The Halo of Independent Innovation Must Stand Up to Questioning"

It should be said that this public opinion war is quite professional.

The first two articles, in a "neutral" tone, described the lawsuit filed by Liming Technology and others as "the industry's legitimate doubts about the source of its technology", implying that Candlelight Technology's patent cluster is "obtrusive" and "suspicious", and may involve improper use or packaging of international existing technologies.

The third article repeatedly emphasizes the sharp contrast between Candlelight Technology's "extremely short establishment time" and "extremely high level of achievements", and implicitly mentions the direction of the country's major scientific research investment, leading readers to think of the possibility of defrauding subsidies.

This series of reports quickly sparked discussion, with opinions on online platforms being particularly polarized.

Some people think that the doubts are reasonable.

“It is incredible that a shell company could come up with a disruptive patent in such a short period of time!”

"Support strict investigation and maintain the pure land of scientific research!"

"..."

The other part is relatively calm——

"Patent documents are publicly available, so if there were any problems, they would have been exposed long ago."

"Such companies are likely to be backed by scientific research institutions, and questioning them requires solid evidence."

"..."

For a time, supporters of the two sides were arguing back and forth, from print media to Internet platforms, the argument was very lively.

But because the Candlelight Group never responded, the balance gradually tilted in favor of the skeptics.

Just as public opinion was fermenting, Alcard followed the script and met with Huang Huijie, the key figure in charge of attracting investment in high-tech industries - Director of the Investment Promotion Committee, and expressed his "deep concern" to the latter.

"Director Huang, FEI has great sincerity and long-term commitment to the Chinese market and high-tech industry cooperation." Alkad said sincerely, but with worry, "Our potential cooperation with Candlelight Technology could have been a model. But now, the other party is deeply involved in many serious patent disputes, and the independence and clarity of ownership of its core technology are widely questioned."

Later, Alkad handed over a carefully compiled summary of media reports: "This is not only a business risk, but it is also likely to affect the reputation of the local investment environment and the smooth implementation of major cooperation projects... Therefore, we urge the relevant departments to pay attention to this matter and push Candlelight Technology to resolve its internal legal risks as soon as possible and thoroughly, and eliminate these obstacles to high-level international cooperation."

The initial investment amount offered by FEI was extremely large. Logically speaking, Huang Huijie, whose political achievements could be lost at any time, should have been extremely anxious at this time.

But this time the situation is a little different -

He had already received confidentiality reminders from the procuratorate and was fully aware of Alkad's purpose and the actions behind it.

In fact, one of the followers following him was the prosecutor Levi.

For a leader of his level, the deterrent power of the Supreme People's Procuratorate is still maximum.

"Mr. Alkad, we at the Investment Promotion Commission attach great importance to the situation and concerns you have raised. It is our core responsibility to create a stable, transparent and rule-of-law business environment and ensure the smooth progress of major cooperation projects." Huang Huijie tried not to show his nervousness. "We will reflect and communicate your concerns and demands to the relevant parties, and urge all parties to actively and properly resolve differences in accordance with laws and regulations..."

"..."

He did not make any clear commitments, but at the negotiating table, such a statement was actually quite positive.

……

After seeing off Alkad and his party, the formal smile on Huang Huijie's face disappeared.

"Prosecutor Li, you have seen the situation. FEI is using two methods at the same time, trying to use us to suppress the candle flame..." He looked at Li Wei who had returned to normal, "How should we deal with it next?"

Seeing that the other party did not answer immediately, he cautiously suggested: "Do we need to coordinate with the propaganda department to properly control certain obviously false and biased reports? At least to prevent the situation from escalating and affecting the local image and investor confidence..."

The matter of Candlelight Technology has been coordinated by superiors, so even if the investment fails, it will not be included in the annual assessment.

But as the head of the Investment Promotion Committee, Huang Huijie still needs to consider other impacts.

Li Wei also understood the pressure on the other party, but he couldn't make the final decision on this matter, so he hesitated for a moment: "I will report the latest situation to the higher-ups first and see if there are any opinions..."

Then, he called Chang Haonan's encrypted phone, briefly explained Alkad's pressure and the current public opinion situation, and then asked:

"Academician Chang, do you think we need to coordinate and control some of the obviously biased false information currently on the Internet?"

"Prosecutor Li, thank you for the report." Chang Haonan's voice was calm, as if he was talking about something that had nothing to do with him: "There is no need to intervene in the turmoil at the public opinion level for the time being."

“But those reports…”

"Let them ferment." Chang Haonan interrupted, "These noises will not interfere with the core process. On the contrary, they are a rare opportunity."

"You mean..."

"It's a good opportunity to see which media outlets are objective and rational, which ones are used to making groundless accusations, and which ones... have questionable positions." Chang Haonan considered for a moment and chose a relatively euphemistic statement, "Just treat it as a stress test in advance for the potentially more severe public opinion war in the future, to identify friends and foes and accumulate experience."

On the other side of the phone, Li Wei shook his head at Huang Huijie, indicating that no additional action was needed.

The latter looked bitter, but the current situation obviously involved issues of stance and position. He opened his mouth several times but in the end did not dare to say anything.

……

After hanging up the phone, Chang Haonan went straight back to the supercomputing center of the Torch Laboratory without delay.

The huge cabinet group was running at a low hum, and the screen was processing in real time the huge data packet sent by Lianhai Institute of Physics and Chemistry, which contained detailed four-dimensional imaging data of the failed sample and a full set of experimental parameters.

Initial test data has shown that there are no issues with the route of introducing laser intervention, but the nature of the product is not ideal.

The 95% probability of fracture also means that there is basically no possibility of data error.

It's most likely some kind of universal defect.

Chang Haonan called up the surface calculation model he had previously built - that was the core of optimizing the laser induction solution.

After a long period of thinking and analysis, he turned to Li Yabo on the other side of the computer room and said, "Yabo, input the real state of the carbon nanotube surface revealed in the characterization results into the model as boundary conditions and perform 75 rounds of high-precision inversion calculations."

"it is good."

As the Enter key was pressed, the supercomputer's computing power was fully mobilized.

On the screen, the dynamic distribution of electron clouds, the evolution of molecular vibration modes, and the visual simulation of interface energy transfer paths unfold with unprecedented accuracy.

Chang Haonan's eyes swept across the key microscopic areas where the energy flow abnormally converged, fluctuated violently, or suddenly dissipated during the simulation.

Time passes in intensive calculations.

The only sounds in the computer room were the hum of running machines and the occasional tapping of keyboards to fine-tune parameters.

Suddenly, Chang Haonan's fingers stopped on the keyboard, and his eyes focused on a group of highlighted data nodes——

As Academician Zhang Tao analyzed, there were significant systematic deviations between the simulation results and the actual four-dimensional imaging data provided by Sun Fei in specific areas, and the core of the deviation pointed to the surface of the carbon nanotube carrier.

Furthermore, model calculations show that under laser excitation, the local electronic state of these oxygen-containing defects will be violently disturbed, causing the interface energy barrier at that location to produce nonlinear and violent oscillations with an amplitude far exceeding the original assumptions of the model!

"Here's the root of the problem!" A hint of understanding flashed across Chang Haonan's eyes.

Li Yabo also quickly saw the clues: "So, the interference source is the oxygen defects on the surface of the carrier. They become unstable sources of vibration under the laser field, causing violent and uncontrollable fluctuations in the local energy barrier?"

Chang Haonan nodded: "Yes, the wave is like an invisible hand, constantly breaking up the cobalt atoms that are trying to form a chain."

After finding the problem, the solution will almost instantly come to mind.

He immediately called Zhang Tao's hotline: "Academician Zhang, the root of the problem can be locked on the surface of the carbon tube. The oxygen-containing defects cause the local energy barrier to oscillate violently in the laser field, resulting in the instability of the chain formation process..."

"Oxygen defects..." Zhang Tao, as an academician, quickly thought of the right direction. "So, before depositing the metal precursor, we need to pre-deposit an interface transition layer on the surface of the carbon tube support?"

"Use hexagonal boron nitride." Chang Haonan further gave a more detailed answer: "Using its ultra-flat surface and chemical inertness, it can shield the defect interference of the underlying carbon tubes to a certain extent."