Chapter 35: Maglev Motor

"Breaking news: at 6:30 this afternoon, the National Academy of Sciences announced that under the leadership of our country's scientists, Comrade He Xingzhou and Comrade Yu Xing, our national battery research team has successfully developed the world's first commercially viable metal-air battery with completely independent intellectual property rights. It is reported that this battery represents a revolutionary new generation of energy storage..." the news anchor with a square face reported in standard Mandarin.

Upon hearing He Xingzhou's name, the entire family froze.

"Did he just say He Xingzhou?" He Xingzhou's uncle, He Qiguang, asked in astonishment.

"Did I hear that right? Is it him?" He Qihang was equally bewildered.

"It sounds like it, but surely it can't be the same person, right?" Even Jiang Manrong couldn't be sure. Appearing on the national news, with an announcement from the Academy of Sciences about a technology leading the world—was that something an ordinary person could achieve?

"That's my brother's name!" He Mengyao said. "Brother, someone on the news just now has the same name as you, but that person is a scientist who invented some incredible battery technology."

"That is me," He Xingzhou replied helplessly. "I told you before that I work at a research institute. This technology is something my team and I developed."

"As for the house and the bonuses, those were all arranged by the institute. You should believe me now, right?"

As soon as He Xingzhou finished speaking, the four of them were stunned speechless.

"This... is this real?" He Qihang's voice faltered.

"Mom, Dad, look! My brother is on the TV!" He Mengyao pointed at the screen. During the broadcast, there was a clip of He Xingzhou and Yu Xing explaining the battery technology.

The person on screen was identical to their own He Xingzhou. If it were just the name, they might have remained skeptical, but seeing his face as well, they could no longer doubt it.

"My goodness, it really is Xingzhou!" Jiang Manrong cried out.

"It really is my son!" He Qihang exclaimed, then suddenly burst into laughter. "Hahaha! Good, son, well done! To think you've developed something so amazing—you've brought such honor to your father and our ancestors!"

"Wow, brother, how did you do it? That's so cool!" He Mengyao's young face was filled with admiration.

"Naturally, through hard work and ability!" He Xingzhou said proudly.

"Don't hog all the credit for the team; you must stay humble!" Jiang Manrong scolded him, though her face was beaming with joy.

"My god, Xingzhou has done something extraordinary!" He Qiguang stood up abruptly and said, "Doesn't this bring glory to the He family? Developing technology and winning honor for the country!"

"No, no! Big brother, you have to spread the word! I'm going to find a print shop right now, get a banner made, and hang it in the neighborhood. Shouldn't we celebrate this?"

He Xingzhou wiped the sweat from his brow. "Uncle, isn't that a bit too high-profile?"

"What do you call high-profile? If you were here, I'd hire a band and march through the streets with gongs and drums—the whole city needs to know!"

He Xingzhou: "..."

He Qihang interjected, "Forget the gongs and drums. Xingzhou isn't here, and it's better not to be too flashy. A banner is fine, and when Xingzhou comes back, we'll host a dinner for our friends and family!"

Such an honor was worth celebrating, and it satisfied his pride as a father.

He Xingzhou said, "Mom, Dad, that's how it is. You should move soon; I'll contact my colleagues there and have them arrange everything properly."

"I have things to attend to, so let's talk next time."

"Alright, you go ahead and get back to work."

The video call ended, but the family remained in high spirits. It turned out He Xingzhou hadn't been lying; it was all real!

"Incredible, truly incredible! Our He family has produced a great talent!" He Qiguang said, already typing a message into the "Happy Family" WeChat group.

Upon seeing the news, relatives flooded the chat with congratulations: "Amazing!"

"He Xingzhou has really brought honor to our family. This must be written into the ancestral records!"

"I just finished watching the news! My brother's son is absolutely brilliant! @He Qihang"

"Congratulations! When is Xingzhou coming back? I'd love to ask him for advice; my son's grades are a disaster!"

It wasn't just the group chat; there was a knock at the door. It was a neighbor coming to visit.

He Qihang opened the door to see his neighbor holding a phone, asking curiously, "Is that your He Xingzhou on the news?"

"Yes, it is," He Qihang replied with a broad smile.

"That's incredible! Congratulations!" the neighbor exclaimed.

"Come in, come in! We were just talking about it!"

...

After confirming things with his family, He Xingzhou hurried to the room next door.

"Sister Lan." In Xu Zhilan's room, she was wearing tight sportswear, practicing boxing against a sandbag.

"What's up?" Xu Zhilan panted, sweat beads rolling down her flushed cheeks.

"I've spoken with the other Xuanwu executives," He Xingzhou said. "Our research institute can take full responsibility for the technology, and we can manage the benefits derived from it ourselves."

"That's great! If we license this battery technology, we can secure a significant amount of funding," Xu Zhilan said. "I'll arrange for someone to handle the commercial side of things; you just focus on your work."

"That's exactly what I intended," He Xingzhou laughed.

He didn't have the energy to deal with corporate entities; there were still piles of technologies waiting for him to develop.

He Xingzhou returned to his room and began to unlock the next technology.

"The battery technology is sufficient for now. Until giant mechs or large-scale military weapons appear, nuclear batteries aren't an urgent priority." Looking at the tech tree, he decided the next item to unlock should be "magnetic levitation motors."

These are special motors where the stator and rotor operate without physical contact. They can convert electrical energy into magnetic fields and come in various types, such as attraction or repulsion models.

They were the soul of the upcoming electromagnetic levitation vehicles. With the batteries and motors, the two most significant technical hurdles had been cleared.

As for other aspects: the research institute already had a reserve of autonomous driving technology; engineers were already designing the vehicle body; wireless charging was a nice-to-have but not strictly necessary for the vehicles to function; and magnetic roads were simple—it was just a matter of laying magnetic materials on existing surfaces, which was technically easy, just costly.

Over the past few days, He Xingzhou had accumulated enough energy to unlock the small-scale maglev motor on the tech tree.

The large-scale maglev motors required for super-high-speed trains and giant mechs were still beyond his reach for now.

"Unlock the small-scale magnetic levitation motor," He Xingzhou commanded the Quantum Optical Brain.

"Small-scale magnetic levitation motor technology unlocked!" A stream of information flowed into He Xingzhou's brain, containing all the relevant science and technical specifications.

"So that's how it works!" In an instant, He Xingzhou understood many problems that had previously eluded him.

"As long as I follow this technical logic, I can design the maglev motor. Let's get to work!" He Xingzhou opened the design software and began.