Chapter 1704 Amazing Efficiency

Washington's statement immediately raised global tensions to a critical point.

The world seemed to have returned to the Balkan Peninsula in 1914. The air was filled with the pungent smell of gunpowder, and it seemed that only a spark would ignite a head-on conflict affecting the entire world.

However, the subsequent developments surprised all the onlookers.

The expected situation where both the Chinese and Western camps would respond unanimously did not occur.

Apart from a few countries that expressed more "concern" or "support" than substance, the international community's response was either watertight and meaningless diplomatic rhetoric or a straightforward rejection.

Among them, the statement made by Liam Aziz, President of the Gulf Cooperation Council Bank, at a press conference was the most typical, and almost represented the general voice of the global industrial and financial circles.

"China contributes 63% of the world's industrial products and about one-third of its electricity generation. From food and textiles that sustain life to the aircraft and semiconductors that power the future, over 98% of the global product chains contain indispensable Chinese elements, and the vast majority of these elements are irreplaceable."

"More importantly, unlike ten or twenty years ago, this irreplaceability comes not only from cost and scale, but also from a wealth of unique technologies. The world, including Washington, cannot afford to exclude China from its economic environment. This is not a political option at the position level, but a practical physical issue."

Once this speech was reported, it immediately gained widespread understanding and recognition around the world.

The direction of international public opinion also began to quietly change, from fear of conflict to questioning and criticizing Washington's irrational behavior.

A day later, a spokesperson for China was also asked about his views on the matter.

Unlike previous responses, the spokesperson's response maintained a diplomatic tone, but the power of his words was unprecedented:

"Those who are righteous enjoy many supporters, while those who are unrighteous enjoy few. The reactions of various international parties to this matter over the past few days have actually provided a clear answer. In today's world where economies are deeply integrated and industrial chains and supply chains are closely intertwined, any actions that violate objective economic laws and attempt to exclude China from the global financial system are doomed to be unpopular and will never be widely recognized by the international community."

"We urge certain forces to recognize the trend of the times, face reality, correct their mistakes, and turn back. At the same time, we also kindly remind them that those who play with fire will get burned. If the relevant parties continue to be stubborn and insist on their own way, it will not be China that will be isolated and abandoned by the times, but they themselves."

This statement did not directly name anyone, but the warning contained in it was obvious, which was in sharp contrast to the defensive stance that China often adopted in diplomatic occasions in the past.

What is even more shocking to the outside world is that in the face of China's naked threat, the White House and the Federal Reserve, which initially provoked the incident, have inadvertently acted like ostriches and fallen into complete silence.

The previously high-profile threat of a "financial nuclear bomb" seemed to have never happened. No follow-up timetable was announced, and no tough remarks were made on the matter.

Trade and financial settlements between the two sides continued as usual, as if everything that had happened before was just an abrupt and extremely discordant episode.

Such a clownish performance has caused widespread ridicule around the world.

Analysts generally believe that this is not because Washington is subjectively willing to keep things quiet, but rather because the cold reality outlined by Aziz and the general opposition of the international community have forced Washington to swallow the bitter fruit of its own making.

They realized that the financial weapons in their hands, which were once invincible, not only failed to hit the target this time, but may also damage their own foundations and even accelerate the collapse of the US dollar system.

Countries around the world have also realized that the times have completely changed.

The huge advantages accumulated by China in fields such as science and technology and military have been irreversibly transferred to the economic and strategic fields.

Today, even in the financial field where the United States has the greatest advantage, it is no longer able to pose a substantial threat to China. The center of development of human civilization is not shifting, but has already shifted from North America to East Asia.

After the storm, the global market seemed to have returned to calm, trade continued as usual, and the stock market returned to rationality.

Only the US dollar index suffered setbacks and maintained a downward trend, but the overall trend remained relatively stable.

Some media even began to jokingly define this short-lived crisis as a "three-day storm," as if it were all just a false alarm.

However, many people have forgotten a line of Chinese poetry.

It is advisable to chase the poor with the courage of the left, but not to be the overlord.

Beneath the apparent calm lies the subversion and reorganization of the deeper power structure. A storm with greater power and wider impact, aimed at completely reshaping the global energy and financial order, is quietly brewing.

……

Two months later.

Zurich International Airport, Switzerland.

Accompanied by a loud roar, a Y-20 military transport plane slowly slid onto the runway in the night, accelerated, and rushed into the sky with its head held high.

Inside the cabin were a dozen technical experts from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, as well as four standard-sized military-grade reinforced cargo boxes that were firmly locked in the center of the cargo hold with special fixings.

There are no markings on the surface of the cargo box. Only the sophisticated temperature control and shockproof systems inside are working silently to ensure the absolute safety of the items inside.

After nearly twelve hours of non-stop long-distance flight, the Y-20 landed smoothly at Luzhou Kanji Military Airport.

Special transport vehicles and security personnel who had been waiting on the tarmac for a long time quickly stepped forward and carefully unloaded the four cargo boxes. Then, together with the acceptance team on the same plane, they headed straight for the heavily guarded Luzhou Institute of Material Science located in the suburbs of the city under the strict protection of several riot armored vehicles.

After arriving at the destination, Academician Liang Jianguo, who led the team, did not take time to rest and immediately found Chang Haonan and Peng Juexian who were leading the design and construction of the demonstration reactor here.

"Report, the acceptance team has successfully completed the task!"

Liang Jianguo's voice was a little tired, but more excited:

"We verified the main hardware and related technical documentation of the steady-state superconducting magnetic field background system at SNI in Switzerland, confirming that the product is consistent with the manual instructions previously provided by SNI and meets the strong background magnetic field requirements of the 'Junneng No. 1' fusion demonstration reactor!"

At this time, Peng Juexian had already come to a computer and began to check some of the information provided by SNI.

Suddenly, his fingers sliding the scroll wheel stopped, and his brows furrowed slightly.

"Wait a minute, Lao Liang."

He pointed to a page of parameter tables on the screen and said:

"Look at the critical current density and winding structure of this coil... Based on these basic parameters, the strength of this magnetic field system should be at least 17.5T. However, SNI only calibrated it to 15T. Isn't that a bit too much?"

Liang Jianguo came over and glanced at the screen, then immediately explained:

"The Swiss had previously tested a magnetic field system using the same technology, but when the magnetic induction intensity reached around 88% of the theoretical value, the plasma ruptured for unknown reasons. So when SNI designed this system, they set the calibrated magnetic induction intensity at 85% of the theoretical value to avoid similar problems."

After finishing speaking, perhaps worried that it was not convincing enough, he added:

"We specifically asked SNI to repeat a verification test on this claim and compared it with the operational data. We can confirm that the Swiss are not lying."

After listening to this, Peng Juexian nodded hesitantly.

From the perspective of technical prudence, he understood SNI's approach and did not really suspect that the other party would deliberately conceal or falsify information in such a place.

It's just that I feel a little bit awkward.

And some vague anxiety.

However, he also knew that sometimes engineering problems could not be solved too forcefully.

"Then..."

Peng Juexian was about to change the topic, but just as he was about to say that, Chang Haonan, who had been checking the acceptance report, suddenly closed the folder, looked up and said:

"Academician Liang, the detailed experimental data on magnetic field-induced plasma disruption that you mentioned earlier should have been brought back along with these materials, right?"

"Of course." Liang Jianguo nodded. "Except for the design process documents, which are commercial secrets, we have copied all the remaining materials."

It must be said that the Swiss side showed great sincerity this time.

He must have made up his mind to take sides.

Chang Haonan tapped the table lightly: "I want to take a look, now."