Chapter Twenty-Three: Assigning Tasks

"Tonight? Chat a bit?"

Zhang Mingyang felt himself tempted to stray, and hurriedly replied, "It's my first official day at work today, so I'm sure I'll be busy tonight. Let's talk about it later."

Upon hearing Zhang Mingyang's response, Bai Muqing stopped, exhausted and bent over, raising five fingers as she said, "Just five minutes. I'll only take five minutes of your time."

"Well… alright!"

Satisfied with his answer, Bai Muqing's lips curled into a slight smile, quickly fading back to seriousness.

"I'll head back first. You keep going. We'll meet tonight at nine, on the northern hillside."

With that, Bai Muqing turned and left.

"Going to the hillside tonight?"

"Hehe…"

Zhang Mingyang grinned foolishly.

…

After finishing his run, Zhang Mingyang took a hot shower and changed into clean clothes, feeling entirely renewed and energetic.

After breakfast, he hurried to the 'Qiangzi Collider Laboratory' on the first basement level.

As soon as he opened the door, the team was already assembled, all waiting for him.

"Everyone's here so early!" Zhang Mingyang glanced at the time—it was just past eight.

"Didn't you see Professor Lin's message yesterday?" someone reminded him.

"Message?"

Zhang Mingyang quickly checked his wrist communicator, and sure enough, there was a message from ten o'clock last night, informing everyone to gather at the laboratory at seven thirty in the morning.

Oh dear! He'd been too engrossed in moon gazing last night and hadn't noticed.

But turning around, Zhang Mingyang surveyed the room and realized Professor Lin wasn't present, nor was his own mentor, Lin Guangming.

"Master Yang, where are Professor Lin and my teacher?" Zhang Mingyang asked Yang Jiechí beside him.

"Oh, the two of them were called away by the base leadership. They said they'd be back soon and told us to wait here."

Seeing that the two leaders were absent, Zhang Mingyang relaxed, and learning they'd left early, he felt even more at ease chatting freely with the others.

Before long, Lin Su and Lin Guangming entered, smiling as they saw everyone engrossed in conversation. "What are you all talking about, so happily?"

With the leaders' return, the group fell silent.

"Not much, just discussing work," someone replied.

The group echoed in agreement.

"Professor Lin, did the base call you about our team's issues?" someone asked.

Lin Su didn't answer directly, instead gathering everyone together.

"The base leadership just met with me and old Lin, giving a brief response to the questions we raised yesterday."

"Professor Lin, what did the base say? Are they cancelling the project or reassigning it?"

Lin Su smiled and replied, "The project won't be cancelled or reassigned. Instead, we're required to reduce the original fifty-ton target by half, to twenty-five tons."

"Twenty-five tons?"

The room erupted in chatter.

"That's pretty much the same as before!"

"Exactly, twenty-five tons or fifty—it's all the same to us."

…

"Enough!" Lin Su shouted, silencing everyone. "Let me finish. Although the target is now twenty-five tons, the base has already contacted several smaller research institutes across the country, secretly sending them the antimatter production plan, so they can assist us in manufacturing."

"But Professor Lin, even if all the institutes work together, there's no way we'll produce twenty-five tons in a year."

Lin Su shook his head helplessly. "That's why the main burden still falls on our institute. We must produce at least eighteen tons ourselves within the year."

"But…"

Someone was about to speak, but Lin Su cut him off. "No excuses, no questions. I'll work alongside you all to accomplish this."

Hearing Lin Su's promise, everyone refrained from further complaints, knowing there was someone to shoulder the consequences.

With the room quiet, Lin Su produced a thick manual from behind him and set it before the group. "Everyone's read this manual, right?"

Some shook their heads; others nodded.

"This operations manual was compiled when the 'Qiangzi Collider' was first built, detailing methods for acquiring and storing antimatter."

"Given the time constraints, we can't have everyone relearn the entire book. Instead, you'll each study one operational post as outlined in the manual, master it quickly, and take up your positions."

"There are eight posts in the laboratory, requiring over two thousand personnel, but most are auxiliary roles. The base doesn't have that many people yet; even with you sixteen, we don't reach five hundred."

"So, I need you sixteen to form pairs. While learning your own posts, you'll also lead auxiliary staff through the operational process. More personnel will be assigned later, but for now, get familiar."

"Understood?"

"Understood," the group replied in unison.

"Good. I'll assign roles based on everyone's experience."

"Tian Wenyuan and Li Jiguang will handle tunnel inspection and maintenance."

"The accelerator tunnel is divided into two posts: proton vertical tube placement, managed by Yang Jiechí and Zhou Haibin; and channel magnetism and liquid helium checks, handled by Qu Jie and Lin Xiaoxiao."

"Next, there are four collision points on the acceleration ring, each equipped with five detectors in the underground pit. The super-ring apparatus and compact muon coil are general-purpose particle detectors, managed by Wu Yuanyuan and Zhou Yang; the other three—bottom quark detector, large ion collider, and full cross-section elastic scattering detector—are specialized detectors, handled by Zhao Yongyuan and Li Xiaomei."

"The central control room will be managed by myself and Lin Guangming."

"Additionally, we'll add an inspection post, assigned to Zhang Mingyang and Hui Jun. Your main task is to patrol all posts, supervise and guide, and prevent any loopholes. You two are young and energetic; this post requires familiarity with all positions and mastery of the entire manual. The others are older and can't memorize as much, so this responsibility falls to you."

Zhang Mingyang covered his face, nodding to indicate his acceptance, though his heart bled—the manual was nearly fifteen centimeters thick, and who knew how long it would take to read.

…

Once all posts were assigned, everyone dispersed.

Descending the spiral stairs to the small plaza inside the cavern, hundreds stood waiting for their job assignments.

Zhang Mingyang and Hui Jun arrived at the plaza, reviewing the list of personnel assigned to them, calling out names one by one.

"Hui, we've got our hands full—not only must we finish this thick manual, but we also have to train these twenty people."

Hui Jun gazed at the twenty young people before him, then at the communicator displaying the manual—over fourteen thousand five hundred fifty-one pages—and felt utterly despairing.

"Mingyang, let's get started!"