Reborn in Tokyo: From Heiress to Global Tycoon

Chapter 181 Barrier

Mid-July 1989.

Headquarters building of Saionji Industrial Co., Ltd., Marunouchi, Tokyo.

Four underground floors.

On a screen that occupies an entire wall, a three-dimensional model of the internal refraction of an extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV) lens is projected.

A complex network of green light paths weaves together a vast and intricate maze. The outlines of an array of aspherical mirrors slowly rotate against a black background, while extreme ultraviolet beams, simulated by ray tracing algorithms, refract and leap between the mirrors in dazzling, nanoscale patterns.

Every line and every curvature represents the pinnacle that humanity has reached in the field of optical physics.

Dr. Klaus Weber stood in front of the curtain.

He clutched a red laser pointer tightly in his hand. His withered lips trembled slightly, and his cloudy eyes reflected the flickering green light.

From the dark and damp basement of the Jena factory to this black box surrounded by cutting-edge computing power, the tedious formulas honed over a lifetime have finally been transformed into this tangible industrial star map thanks to the supercomputer network of the University of Tokyo.

At the control panel, Suzuki Amy sat in an anti-static swivel chair.

The same green sea of ​​stars was reflected in the lenses of the thin-rimmed silver glasses.

At the bottom of the screen, a long green progress bar is slowly climbing toward the 100% mark.

"Refractive index is normal. Astigmatism is controlled within the threshold."

Her voice carried the weariness of staying up all night, but her enunciation was clear.

"Dr. Weber, the theoretical model works."

Dr. Weber exhaled a long, stale breath, his chest heaving. His two students behind him, Dieter and Frank, instinctively clenched their fists.

The culmination of half a century of optical achievements in East Germany was first declared in the digital world.

But that's not enough; it only means the model has run successfully.

Amy's finger hovered over the Enter key on the keyboard.

"Now, load the current industrial processing tolerance variables."

Press down with your fingertips.

"Smack."

The crisp sound of keyboard clicks echoed.

The green star map on the screen collapsed in a fraction of a second.

A torrent of red error data, like a burst dam, completely covered the entire wall. The glaring red light illuminated the dimly lit room, making it look like a disaster scene. One after another, piercing red alarm boxes popped up in the center of the screen, overlapping until they filled the entire visible space.

Dr. Weber's fingers suddenly loosened.

"Clatter."

The red laser pointer slipped from his hand. The metal barrel hit the anti-static floor and rolled down the slightly sloping floor into the shadows in the corner of the room. The red laser dot darted aimlessly across the floor a couple of times before finally coming to rest.

Amy took off her glasses, stretched out her thumb and forefinger, and vigorously rubbed her nose, which was covered in red veins.

She put her glasses back on, stared at the screen filled with red light, and remained silent for two seconds.

"...Dr. Weber."

"Substituting the actual physical processing parameters into the model, the actual manufacturing yield rate approaches zero."

Dr. Weber staggered back half a step.

Dieter quickly stepped forward and supported the teacher's swaying arm.

"Why?" The old man's voice was hoarse and distorted. "The formula is perfect..."

"The machining precision is not keeping up."

Amy typed on the keyboard, bringing up the first set of amplified limit parameters. Crimson numbers flashed wildly on the screen.

"The refraction of light in the extreme ultraviolet band requires the surface flatness of the mirror to reach the atomic level. Current digital simulations show that even a protrusion of 0.2 nanometers on the mirror surface can cause severe distortion of the exposure pattern."

"Currently, even the most advanced CNC multi-axis machine tools in Japan and the world still have nanometer-level tolerances in grinding precision. Current machining capabilities cannot even grind the most basic lens shell of this optical system into shape."

"This is the first barrier."

The keyboard was typed again.

The second set of red data occupies the center of the screen.

"The second barrier. The light source."

"Extreme ultraviolet light with a wavelength of 13.5 nanometers is easily absorbed by all matter. Existing mercury lamps or excimer lasers are far from sufficient in power. The model requires a special extreme ultraviolet light source generator that can continuously excite plasma. It is necessary to use a high-power carbon dioxide laser to bombard the liquid tin droplet at a frequency of tens of thousands of times per second."

"Currently, there is no stable light source of this level in the industry. Without a light source, this optical lens system is just a bunch of blind people who can't work."

The keyboard was struck for the third time. A crisp, resounding sound echoed.

"The third barrier. Materials."

"The silicon wafers that bear this level of exposure, as well as the matching photoresist, require extremely high purity and special chemical coatings. Current civilian and even military silicon wafers will experience irreversible thermal distortion and focus drift under continuous high-energy wavelength bombardment."

Three sets of scarlet data.

Three towering walls of physical sighs.

These stand in the way of perfect theoretical blueprints, cruelly mocking humanity's current weak manufacturing capabilities.

The laboratory fell into dead silence.

Only the hum of the exhaust fan continued tirelessly.

Dr. Weber pushed Dieter's hand away and slumped into the metal folding chair. The metal legs scraped against the floor with a piercing screech.

The old-school scientist, who had survived a near-death experience, covered his face with his hands. Through his fingers came heavy, almost desperate breathing.

Dieter and Frank stood to the side, their faces ashen.

The perfect formula, painstakingly derived, turns into a pile of unusable, useless data when faced with outdated processing capabilities. For any researcher, this is tantamount to the collapse of their faith.

A red error message flickered uneasily in the room.

A series of crisp footsteps, the sound of leather heels clicking on the anti-static floor, came from the shadows behind the control room.

"Click, click."

Saionji Satsuki stepped into the light source.

Her gaze lingered for a moment on the three sets of scarlet, despairing parameters on the screen.

"Is there a shortcut around these three walls?" she asked, her voice piercing through the hum of the exhaust fan.

Amy shook her head.

"This is a hard barrier in fundamental physics and materials science. No code or algorithm can compensate for atomic-level processing errors. The only way is to acquire the most advanced multi-axis machine tools, extreme ultraviolet light source generators, and special silicon wafers. However, these technologies are scattered among different giants in Europe and Japan, and most of them are in a top-secret, non-saleable state."

Satsuki nodded slightly.

Fujita stepped forward and placed the two heavy document signing folders steadily on the stainless steel workbench.

The leather struck the metal with a dull thud.

Satsuki lowered her eyes and opened the first folder.

That was a preliminary budget drafted in advance by Amy and her think tank team, titled "Breaking Through Hardware Barriers: Overseas Mergers and Acquisitions and Penetration." To acquire these three core hardware components across borders, it was necessary to utilize offshore funds and establish dozens of shell funds to acquire shares piecemeal. The figure at the end of the form was as high as tens of billions of yen.

Her fingers tapped lightly on the paper.

The cost was considerable.

But these three technologies are the final pieces that will assemble that future money-printing machine. Monopolizing the upstream equipment will bring strategic premiums far exceeding the current investment.

Then, she opened the second folder.

Rush bill. The header bears the emblem of the Saionji Temple construction project: "Air transport and temperature control system maintenance fee for the first phase of the tropical rainforest greenhouse at Niseko, Hokkaido, 'Gokurakukan'".

Two bills, representing the extreme spending limits of different fields, overlapped in physical space. One was a technological barrier pushing the limits of human industry; the other was a massive trap designed to strangle the Saibu Empire. Fighting on two fronts simultaneously meant that the Saionji family's currently enormous cash flow would be drained by nearly half in an instant.

Her gaze lingered briefly on the two long strings of numbers at the end of the two bills.

The index finger, wearing a leather glove, tapped lightly on the stainless steel tabletop.

"Da, da."

Amidst the subtle sound of leather rubbing against metal, the brain automatically switches to Wall Street's risk assessment model.

The hundreds of millions of dollars in offshore funds held in the Cayman Islands SA Investment account remain stagnant as a ballast against risks.

In the domestic market, the massive interest-free cash flow generated daily by S-Mart and Uniqlo, coupled with the monthly net profit of 2.5 billion yuan from S-Food's comprehensive supply chain of three major convenience stores, is sufficient to form the first line of defense.

The stable revenue from real estate and entertainment sectors such as the Ginza "Crystal Palace" and the Akasaka "Pink Building" is enough to offset the financial costs of Mitsui Bank's 30 billion yen low-interest credit loan.

While operating on two fronts simultaneously will compress this quarter's free cash flow to the limit, the group's overall monthly net profit of 6.5 billion will still keep the debt-to-equity ratio firmly below a safe 15%.

The cash flow stress model closed loop is valid.

If the Saionji family can overcome these three barriers, they will be able to monopolize the future of chip manufacturing. The premium return on capital will far outweigh the immediate costs.

Stop tapping with your index finger.

The weighing of options is complete.

She pulled out the pen.

The pen tip touched the paper. The pen smoothly signed its name on both documents.

"Click".

Satsuki capped the pen.

She closed the two folders together and pushed them toward Fujita Takeshi, who was standing to the side. Then, she looked up, her gaze passing through the red light and shadow, and fell upon the ashen-faced East German engineers in front of the screen.

Weber slowly lowered his hands from his face.

He looked at the expressionless girl, whose cloudy eyes were bloodshot and whose withered lips twitched slightly.

"Miss Saionji..." Weber's voice was terribly hoarse, as if his throat was filled with grit, "The processing error is too great. Current industrial technology simply cannot overcome it."

He lowered his head, gripping the edge of the metal folding chair tightly with both hands. He still didn't know what decision Satsuki had made. But in the East German system, research projects that offered neither political gain nor immediate profit, and faced countless obstacles in their development, had only one fate.

"The theoretical model has been handed over to you without reservation. If the Saionji Group decides to cut its losses in time, terminate the research and development, and lay us off..."

"The issues with the blueprints are your responsibility."

Satsuki cut him off.

Weber froze. He looked up, staring blankly at the light source in front of him.

"Leave these three walls in reality to me."

Satsuki turned around to face Amy and clearly outlined her next plan to break the deadlock.

"Since we can't compensate for physical tolerances with code, we should use capital to acquire physical entities that can meet the tolerance standards."

"Amy."

"Yes." Upon hearing her master's name, Amy immediately straightened her back and placed her hands back on the keyboard.

"Package and encapsulate the existing digital model. Prepare all external connection protocols for the devices. Reserve ports for future connection to high-precision multi-axis machine tools and extreme ultraviolet light sources."

"Understood. I will initiate the data packaging and encapsulation protocol immediately."

Satsuki nodded slightly.

She turned around, her gaze sweeping over Weber, Dieter, and Frank before finally settling on Fujita.

"If we can't manufacture precision machine tools, we'll buy them from Europe or the United States."

"We'll swallow up the company along with the specialty silicon wafers and light source technology that we can't buy."

"The Saionji family will be responsible for collecting all the hardware puzzle pieces."

Weber's lips trembled violently. He couldn't believe his ears. To acquire those massive, established companies across borders for a physical barrier that wouldn't generate any profit in the short term?

"But...that requires an extremely large amount of capital..." The old man's voice trembled slightly with disbelief, "This kind of bottomless investment..."

Satsuki looked down at him from her high vantage point.

"Didn't I already say that?"

The clear, crisp sound pierced through the hum of the exhaust fan.

"There is no upper limit to the budget as long as the targets can be met."

Weber stood there, stunned.

Two seconds later, his cloudy eyes suddenly became bloodshot. His back, which had been hunched over in despair, straightened instantly. His chest heaved violently like a bellows, and his heavy breathing was particularly noticeable in the quiet laboratory.

The technological fervor that had been suppressed for half a century was completely ignited by this illogical promise from capital.

He finally understood that as long as the profits are enough, capitalists really can pluck the moon from the sky.

He suddenly grabbed the notebook on the table, his fingers gripping the red laser pointer tightly.

"No... Thank you so much!! Ms. Saionji! We... We promise to complete the mission!"

A hoarse German voice boomed in the control room. Dieter and Frank straightened up as well, their eyes burning with the same fervent fire.

"We will push the chemical formula of the special glass to its limit! As soon as the puzzle pieces arrive, this model will be ready to operate!"

An impeccable deal.

Seeing everyone's reaction, Satsuki nodded in satisfaction.

"I look forward to your results."