The contents of the telegram were like a Siberian cold front, instantly freezing the already extremely tense atmosphere in the conference room.

"Embargo...can't buy it anymore..."

The technician's tearful voice echoed in the deathly silence, each word like an icicle piercing everyone's heart.

The core of Valery's plan—the expensive yet reliable traveling wave tube—was rendered useless!

This seemingly unique and successful path was cut off by the enemy!

Despair! A despair deeper than before, like a tangible darkness, instantly engulfed everyone.

Some people slumped in their chairs, their faces ashen; others clenched their fists so tightly that their nails dug into their flesh; Valery's anger froze completely, then turned ashen, and he opened his mouth but could not utter a sound.

The "authority" and "aid" he relied on appeared so pale and laughable in the face of cold reality.

Yan Zhensheng swayed, and he quickly steadied himself by grabbing the table. The telegram paper trembled in his hands.

External nooses, internal disputes... Is the "Milky Way" going to die before it even truly rises?

His bloodshot eyes swept across the entire room, and finally, as if drawn by a magnet, they fixed on the figure who still stood upright: Mingzhao.

Amidst the room's collapse and Valery's silence, Mingzhao's presence seems out of place, yet incredibly striking.

She didn't even look at the telegram announcing the death sentence; her gaze remained fixed on her notebook, as if it contained another world.

That unusual calmness, in Yan Zhensheng's eyes at this moment, was no longer arrogance, but rather like... the only unextinguished flame in the darkness!

"Academician Yan!"

Su Xuan's voice was hoarse with a sense of desperation. He took a step to Ming Zhao's side, as if to build a human wall for her.

"The import route is blocked! Valery's plan... is also out of the question! Now, the only thing we can try is Comrade Mingzhao's! One week! Just one week! We'll fight tooth and nail to get the prototype out!"

His words were like sparks thrown into an oil drum, instantly igniting the passion of some of the young technicians.

"Yes! Academician Yan! Give it a try!"

"We can't count on imports, and the Soviet Union's route is cut off. We can only rely on ourselves!"

"Trying anything is better than sitting around waiting to die!"

However, some people strongly oppose it.

"Nonsense! That plan is too simplistic! It's child's play!"

"A week? With those junk components, how could they possibly make a decent prototype!"

"What if it fails? Who will be responsible? Who will bear the responsibility for delaying the project?"

The argument erupted again, even more intense than before. In despair, the spark of hope clashed violently with the cold water of fear.

"Shut up, all of you!" Yan Zhensheng roared suddenly, his voice like a thunderclap. His bloodshot eyes were fixed on Ming Zhao, his voice hoarse but carrying a resolute strength: "Comrade Ming Zhao! You just said that you would have a week to complete the initial verification of the prototype?"

"Yes." Mingzhao finally closed her notebook and looked up. Her answer was still concise, just one word, yet it carried immense weight.

"What do you need?" Yan Zhensheng asked, each word seemingly squeezed out from between his teeth.

"An undisturbed, independent workspace. Project library access, allowing me to use all domestically produced basic components at will."

Mingzhao's voice was clear and steady, "Comrade Su Xuan will be my assistant. Also,"

For the first time, her gaze truly fell upon Valery, whose face was ashen, with a calmness that was purely focused on exploring technical issues.

"If Comrade Valery is available, you are welcome to come back in a week to observe the test results."

boom!

This calm invitation is more lethal than any provocation!

Valery felt a rush of heat to his head. He stood up abruptly, his tall body trembling slightly, and pointed at Mingzhao.

He roared in broken Russian, "Fine! Very well! I'd like to see what kind of junk you're using to challenge aerospace-grade communication technology! I'll be there in a week! If your toy can produce any decent data, I, Valery Ivanov, will change my name!"

He angrily kicked the chair away, sending a gust of cold air flying, and slammed the door shut as he left. The loud noise echoed in the conference room for a long time.

The meeting ended hastily amidst tension and chaos. Under immense pressure, Yan Zhensheng overruled objections and signed the order to allocate supplies.

The moment the order was given, he felt as if he was signing not his name, but a military order that could potentially end his political life.

The next seven days became the most bizarre and insane period for the "Galaxy" project team.

Mingzhao was assigned an old warehouse in the most remote corner of the base.

Far from the core laboratory, this place is filled with obsolete equipment and discarded parts, and the air is thick with the smell of machine oil and dust.

When Su Xuan led a group of young technicians, following the list provided by Ming Zhao, and brought in piles of seemingly insignificant, even somewhat dilapidated, domestically produced resistors, capacitors, transistors, coils, high-frequency heads salvaged from old radars, and some strange materials whose uses they couldn't understand at all, everyone was dumbfounded.

"Sister Mingzhao...is this really going to work?"

A young technician looked at a rusty metal plate in his hand, his voice trembling, "This...this looks like an old, scrapped computer case..."

Su Xuan wasn't sure either, but remembering Ming Zhao's calm eyes, he gritted his teeth and said, "Enough talk! Clean up the site and set up the workbench as Ming Gong requested!"

Mingzhao offered no explanation.

She changed into work clothes, rolled up her sleeves, revealing hands that, contrary to her appearance, were calloused yet remarkably steady.

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