At eight o'clock sharp, the workshop lights came on.

The equipment emitted a low hum, and the preheating program started automatically. On the metal platform, the mixed ore powder and base metal were fed into the molding chamber, and the sealing cover slowly closed. Nana stood in front of the terminal, her finger sliding across the virtual interface, confirming that every parameter matched the data she had checked the night before.

"Pressure set at 300 MPa, temperature at 1200 degrees Celsius, cooling rate decreasing by 15 degrees Celsius per minute," she reported the values.

"It sounds like cooking hot pot." Chen Hao leaned against the counter, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows. "It's just that the heat is too high, and it's easy to burn the bottom."

“This is just the first test,” Nana said. “We’re only making half the size of the standard size.”

Susan stood at the edge of the testing area with her whiteboard in hand. "I'm ready."

Carl sat on a repair stool in the corner, a soft cloth under his ankles. He stared blankly at the cutting machine, which he had used to cut ordinary alloys yesterday, but today he had to deal with something ridiculously hard.

"Start suppression." Nana pressed the start button.

The indicator light inside the machine turns from yellow to red, and the hydraulic system begins to pressurize. The curve on the screen rises steadily, and the temperature and pressure reach the preset values ​​simultaneously. After three minutes, it enters the heat preservation stage.

“Looks fine,” Susan whispered.

"Don't say anything," Chen Hao waved his hand. "Praising it now will backfire."

Five minutes later, the cooling process started.

Initially, everything was normal. However, when the temperature dropped to 800 degrees Celsius, an alarm suddenly popped up on the monitoring screen. Tiny cracks appeared on the surface of the sample inside the molding chamber, and then quickly spread.

"Stop!" Nana immediately cut off the power.

The sealed lid was opened, and a burst of hot air rushed out. Everyone gathered around and saw that the newly formed board had cracked into four pieces, with jagged edges, as if it had been torn apart from the inside by something.

“It’s ruined.” Carl stood up and walked over, picking up a shard with tweezers. “It shattered before it even hit the ground. This lunchbox is only good for holding tears.”

“It’s not a problem with the fall.” Nana took the fragments and put them into the testing tank. “It’s because the cooling was too fast, the outer layer contracted faster than the inner layer, and the stress concentration caused the fracture.”

"So we can't rush to lower the temperature?" Chen Hao asked.

"But it can't be too slow either," she said. "The longer it takes, the coarser the grains become, and the strength actually decreases."

Susan wrote on the notepad: "The cooling rhythm needs to be precisely controlled; segmented cooling is recommended."

"Don't draw any conclusions yet." Chen Hao looked at the remaining bags of raw materials. "A third of the material is gone. If this happens twice more, we'll have to switch to selling stone specimens."

“We can make a small sample,” Nana said, pulling up a new plan. “We can reduce the size, decrease the amount used per batch, and test the stability under different cooling gradients.”

“Okay.” Chen Hao nodded. “Let’s try a fingernail-sized one first. It won’t hurt if it explodes.”

Over the next two hours, they performed seven small-scale pressings. Each time, they adjusted the cooling rate and recorded the time and location of crack appearance. The results were unsatisfactory—either the surface cracked or the center became hollow.

"This thing doesn't look like metal, it looks more like a biscuit." Chen Hao pinched a crumb, "It crumbles at the slightest touch."

“The material’s ductility is too poor.” Nana pulled up the database. “The higher the purity, the more difficult it is to shape. The current ore’s ductility coefficient is only 0.4‰, which is below the safe processing threshold.”

"In other words, it would rather break than bend?"

"To be precise, it doesn't want to bend at all."

"Then what should we do? Let it figure it out on its own?"

“Perhaps we can try a different approach.” She switched interfaces and projected a layered structure diagram. “What if we don’t pursue overall suppression, but instead alternately layer ore powder and flexible metal mesh to form a sandwich structure?”

"It sounds like a sandwich."

"The functions are similar," she said. "The outer layer is shock-resistant and heat-resistant, while the middle layer cushions stress."

“That makes sense.” Chen Hao stroked his chin. “But the prerequisite is that the ore can be cut into thin slices, otherwise it’s impossible to lay them layer by layer.”

“Then let’s cut it.” Carl stood up. “I’ll go try the cutting machine.”

He walked to the equipment and installed the hardest alloy cutting head. The screen displayed the target thickness: two millimeters. The feed rate was set to the lowest setting.

After starting, the blade slowly made contact with the ore surface. With a "clang," the blade flew off, hit the protective cover, and bounced to the ground.

“Another one ruined.” Susan picked up the fragment. “This is the third one.”

“The tool is no good.” Nana checked the material hardness comparison chart. “The maximum Mohs hardness of a regular cutting head is 8.5, while this ore is close to 9.3.”

"Can't we just make do with this little bit of difference?" Chen Hao asked.

"It's like hitting a rock with tofu; the tofu breaks, but the rock is fine."

“So we need to change the ‘stone’,” he said. “Is there any other way? Would lasers work?”

“Theoretically feasible.” She nodded. “High-energy beams can locally melt and avoid mechanical stress.”

Does the workshop have a laser?

"Yes, but the power is insufficient."

“Then let’s increase the power.” Chen Hao looked at the pile of old energy components in the corner. “I remember the focusing device we removed last time is still here, right?”

“It’s in the warehouse,” Nana confirmed, “but it needs to be modified to connect to the cutting system.”

“Then let’s change it.” He rolled up his other sleeve. “Anyway, there’s no other way to go right now.”

For the next forty minutes, the three of them busied themselves around the cutting machine. Chen Hao was in charge of wiring, Susan calibrated the beam angle, and Nana monitored the energy output curve in real time. Carl squatted to the side, checking if the interfaces were secure.

"Is the energy stable?" he asked in a low voice.

“The current volatility is 3.2%, which is within a controllable range,” Nana replied.

"It'll be fine as long as it works." Chen Hao patted the main unit. "Give it a try."

They replaced the stone with a small piece of ore and activated the laser mode. The pale blue beam landed precisely on the surface and slowly advanced. A few seconds later, a thin crack appeared, reaching the target depth.

"It's done!" Susan breathed a sigh of relief.

"Don't get too excited," Nana cautioned. "Working continuously for more than ten minutes may cause overheating."

"It's better to cut one slice at a time than nothing at all," Chen Hao said.

They successfully cut five qualified thin slices, each with a thickness between 1.8 and 2.1 millimeters. Following Nana's new plan, they then alternately stacked the ore slices with copper-nickel alloy mesh, preparing for low-temperature slow pressing.

"This time, the temperature drops to 900, the pressure is halved, and the cooling time is extended by three times," Nana set the parameters.

"If it cracks again, I'll burn incense for it." Chen Hao stared at the molding chamber.

The second pressing lasted for nearly an hour. At the end, the hatch opened, and the sample was intact, with a smooth surface and no obvious cracks.

"It worked?" Susan leaned closer to look.

"The initial structure is intact," Nana said after the inspection, "but a drop test is still needed."

They secured the sample to the clamp, lifted it to a height of two meters, and then released it. The sample hit the ground with a crisp sound.

Slight cracking appeared at the edges.

“Still no good.” Carl picked it up. “The key parts break at the slightest touch.”

"This indicates that the stress is concentrated in the corner," Susan pointed to the crack. "Was the pressure unevenly distributed during compression?"

"It could also be that the material itself cannot withstand the impact," Nana analyzed. "Even if it is layered, a single ore sheet still lacks toughness."

"Then what should we do?" Chen Hao asked.

“Perhaps we could add an extremely thin polymer film between each layer,” she said. “Although it would reduce heat resistance, it could absorb some of the impact.”

"Another design change?"

"This is the optimal solution at present."

"Fine," he sighed. "Anyway, we weren't expecting to get it right the first time. We're not geniuses; we're lucky if we can figure it out step by step."

He turned and walked towards the mold area, "Let's press out the first layer first and see the effect."

Susan continued sketching the structure on the whiteboard, the pen tip making a soft slurring sound. Carl crouched back beside the equipment, checking the laser interface for proper attachment. Nana's fingers slid rapidly across the terminal, simulating a new number of composite layers.

Chen Hao rolled up his coat and draped it over the back of the chair, then reached for a new batch of raw material bags.

The moment his fingertips touched the bag, the warning light on the top of the workshop suddenly flashed.

He stopped what he was doing.

Nana looked up at the main control screen.

“Energy fluctuations,” she said, “do not affect current operations.”

Chen Hao nodded and continued unpacking.

The bag was torn in half, and the mineral powder inside emitted a faint blue light.