Volume One, Chapter 21: It Must Be Done

The heavy iron door remained open.

The light spilling in from outside stretched the shadows of everyone in the workshop into long, distorted shapes. A panting figure rushed in—it was Pang Qingquan from the Logistics Department. He ran up to Du Yuze, not even stopping to wipe the sweat from his brow. He glanced at the steel behemoth, then at Du Yuze, and finally scanned the deathly silent crowd.

"Did... did you all hear it?" Pang’s voice trembled.

No one answered. The response was a wall of solidified silence. After despair came a deeper, more profound numbness. One month to complete the ground taxiing tests—this wasn't an order; it was a death sentence.

"Why are you all just standing there! Waiting to die?" Du Yuze’s voice was low, yet it pierced the stagnant air like a steel needle. "Director Zhou has put his own career on the line. Are you planning to repay him with these long, mournful faces?"

Liu Chuang suddenly lifted his head, his face flushed red. "Brother Yu, one month... how is that possible? Just for the static structural tests, the application paperwork, the scheduling, and the results—two months wouldn't even be enough!"

"Who said we were going to apply by the book?" Du Yuze countered.

He walked to the center of the workshop floor and kicked aside an obstructing toolbox. "From this moment on, Workshop 207 follows its own rules!"

He turned to the older technician who had spoken earlier, Master Wang. "Master Wang, I know you don't believe it. But now, whether you believe it or not, we have to do it! You are our most experienced fitter. I need you to lead the team on all skin riveting and the reinforcement of load-bearing parts. Any problems?"

Master Wang opened his mouth, but seeing Du Yuze’s uncompromising expression, he swallowed his objections and grunted two words: "No problem."

"Ghost-Hand Li!" Du Yuze called out.

In the corner, the lean man looked up. He was the best turner in the workshop, Li Jianguo, nicknamed "Ghost-Hand Li." "Speak."

"I need a complete set of reinforced wing beams and structural strengthening parts for the landing gear mounts." Du Yuze pulled a crumpled blueprint from his pocket and tossed it over. "The drawings are here. As for the materials—"

"I'll figure out the materials!" Pang Qingquan immediately interjected, patting his chest. "I can't get the standard spare parts from the warehouse, but I have ways to get the scrap from the raw material storage! It'll be enough, I guarantee it!"

"Good!" Du Yuze’s planning left no time for hesitation. "Shen Qingyun!"

A young man with thick glasses adjusted them. "I'm here."

"Tear down the avionics system and start over. We don't have authorization to tap into the J7’s main system, so we’ll use our own. I don't care if you use an abacus or a calculator; in one month, I want to see a dashboard that can fully display engine RPM, hydraulic pressure, oil temperature, and basic flight attitude! Even if you have to piece it together with light bulbs and switches!"

Shen Qingyun’s lips twitched. "That... that’s too crude. That’s not an avionics system, that’s just a status indicator..."

"It’ll be enough to let us know if the plane is going to fall apart during the taxiing run!" Du Yuze interrupted. "Why does it need to be pretty? To show the King of Hell?"

Shen was rendered speechless, eventually nodding. "I'll do my best."

"Not your best—you must succeed!" Du Yuze’s tone left no room for doubt. He took a deep breath and turned to face everyone. "Masters, brothers! We used to work in the shadows, like thieves. Now, Director Zhou has given us a one-month 'amnesty'! One month, twenty-four-hour shifts! Whoever is tired, take two hours on the cots over there! Whoever is hungry, Pang will bring food to your hands!"

"From now on, the lights in Workshop 207 will never go out!"

These words acted like a shot of adrenaline, finally bringing some color back to their numb faces. After all, death was certain either way—why not go out in a blaze of glory?

Du Yuze walked beneath the belly of the "Sky Li Kui" and looked up at the massive void.

"First step: engine installation!"

[System: Generating the optimal assembly sequence for the WP-7A engine and the 'Sky Li Kui' airframe...]
[Process optimization complete. Key nodes: 1. Engine lift point load balancing; 2. Coaxial alignment of the drive shaft and airframe connection; 3. Hydraulic line interface leak-proof reinforcement.]
[Real-time error correction module activated.]

"Crane! Hook it up!" Du Yuze commanded.

Several young, sturdy workers scrambled up the overhead crane, and the massive hook began to descend slowly. The heavy WP-7A engine was hoisted steadily by steel cables, like a heart waiting for a transplant, slowly approaching the cavity in the belly of the aircraft.

"Slow down! Left side is 0.5 degrees high, lower it!" Du Yuze was practically lying on the floor, observing from a difficult angle.

"Again! Right side, three millimeters forward!"

The engine underwent millimeter-level adjustments in mid-air. Sweat streamed down the workers' foreheads, dripping onto the cold engine casing and evaporating instantly.

*Clang.*

A faint sound of metal rubbing against metal echoed.

"Stop!" Du Yuze shouted. "What happened?"

The master technician operating the crane was drenched in sweat. "It’s jammed! One of the bolt holes on the main load-bearing frame won't align!"

"Impossible!" Liu Chuang immediately retorted. "When we did the mock-up, it fit perfectly!"

"It doesn't fit now!" the master technician snapped back, his temper flaring. "It’s off by nearly two millimeters; the bolt won't go through at all!"

Trouble had arrived. Everyone crowded around, and the morale that had just ignited in the workshop showed signs of flickering out. In core structural installations, a hair's breadth of error was unacceptable.

Du Yuze crawled into the narrow belly of the fuselage, shining a flashlight on the misaligned bolt hole. He touched the edge with his finger; there were slight, irregular burrs on the metal.

[System: Micro-stress deformation of the airframe load-bearing frame detected. Cause analysis: Localized overheating during previous unauthorized welding caused 0.8mm of internal thermal expansion upon cooling.]
[Correction plan: Apply pulsed high-frequency heating to three points opposite the bolt hole. Temperature control at 750 degrees Celsius for 8 seconds. Utilize thermal expansion and contraction to reset the structure.]

Du Yuze crawled out from under the belly, his face smeared with grease.

"Get me the welding torch!"

"What?" Master Wang was the first to object. "Little Du! Have you lost your mind? This is the main load-bearing frame! If you hit it with more heat, the whole structure will be scrapped!"

"Master Wang, do as I say!" Du Yuze didn't explain. "Target this point, and here, and here—three points." He marked three circles on the blackened steel beam with chalk. "Use the minimum current. Count eight seconds for each point, then stop immediately!"

"This..." Master Wang hesitated. It completely violated his decades of operational protocols.

"Execute the order!" Du Yuze’s tone turned stern.

Master Wang gritted his teeth, picked up the torch, and aimed at the first point. "I'm counting! One, two, three..."

Blue electric sparks flickered in the dark belly of the plane, emitting a buzzing sound. The workshop was terrifyingly quiet, save for the counting and the crackle of current.

"...seven, eight! Stop!"

The torch was pulled away instantly, a red glow slowly fading on the steel beam.

"Next one!"

...

The three points were heated. Du Yuze crawled back on the floor. "Slowly, move it forward! Align it with the bolt hole!"

The engine, suspended in mid-air, moved slowly once more. Everyone held their breath.

Under the gaze of the crowd, the bolt that had been two millimeters off gave a satisfying *click* and slid smoothly through the hole.

It was a perfect fit!

The entire workshop was silent for a heartbeat, then erupted into thunderous cheers!

"My god... it went in! It actually went in!"

"Little Du is a genius! How did he do that?"

Master Wang stood there with the welding torch, stunned. He looked at his own hands, then at Du Yuze, as if meeting this young man for the first time. This wasn't just technique—it was magic.

Only Du Yuze knew it wasn't magic; it was precision calculation far ahead of this era.

With the engine in place, the next task was laying the lines. Hundreds of colorful electrical cables, hydraulic lines, and fuel hoses had to be connected precisely to every interface on the engine, like veins and nerves.

Shen Qingyun took charge of this, diving into the complex "viscera" of the plane with a few young workers and the wiring diagrams Du Yuze had provided.

However, a new problem soon arose.

Pang Qingquan ran over, looking anxious, and pulled Du Yuze aside. "Yuze, we have a problem."

"Speak."

"The high-strength countersunk rivets for the skin—there aren't any left in the warehouse. I went to the warehouse manager, and he just gave me the runaround, saying the stock was used for the official model repairs and told me to submit a formal application. By the time that paperwork clears, a month will have passed!" Pang lowered his voice. "I checked around; someone tipped them off to deliberately block us!"

Du Yuze’s fists clenched. As expected, those people wouldn't let them succeed so easily.

"It gets worse." Pang’s expression darkened further. "The TC4 titanium alloy plates for structural reinforcement? None in the warehouse either. This is strategic material. Even if I wore my tongue out, I wouldn't get a single piece without an official authorization slip!"

Without rivets, the skin couldn't be installed. Without titanium plates, the frame couldn't be reinforced. These two items had effectively put a stranglehold on the "Sky Li Kui."

The atmosphere, just energized by the successful engine installation, plummeted to freezing point once again.

"Damn it! Those sons of bitches!" Liu Chuang smashed his fist against the workbench. "They just want to watch us die!"

"Without materials, what are we supposed to build with?"

"Let’s just pack it up. This is impossible..."

Despair spread once more. This time, even Du Yuze was silent. The system could help him calculate and correct errors, but it couldn't conjure materials out of thin air.

Just then, Ghost-Hand Li, who had been silent the whole time, wiped the oil from his hands and walked up to Pang Qingquan.

"If there are no titanium plates, are there titanium alloy raw material bars in the warehouse?"

Pang was stunned for a moment, then thought, "Bars? Yes! There are a few stacked in the back warehouse for making spindles for new machine tools. They’re thirty centimeters in diameter—top-grade TC4 stock!"

Ghost-Hand Li nodded and turned to Du Yuze.

"Are the rivets a special specification, too?"

Du Yuze regained his focus. "Yes, they need a countersunk head and three locking grooves on the shank. The strength requirements are extremely high; nothing currently in the plant will work."

After hearing this, a look of what might have been arrogance or madness appeared on Ghost-Hand Li’s face. He walked over to the blueprints for the reinforcement parts that Du Yuze had left on the table, took one look, and let out a scoff.

"I thought it was something serious. Isn't it just some plates and nails?"

He picked up a piece of chalk, walked to a blank wall in the workshop, and sketched out a machine tool in a few strokes, followed by several odd-looking cutting tools.

"Pang Qingquan, go find me a scrapped C630 lathe—make sure the spindle still works! And find me some high-speed steel; I’m going to grind my own tools!"

He turned around and roared at his apprentices: "Don't just stand there! Get every angle grinder and bench drill in the workshop and bring them to me!"

Everyone was bewildered by his actions.

Du Yuze, however, seemed to understand.

Ghost-Hand Li walked up to Du Yuze, pointing at the wall sketches and then at the reinforcement parts on the blueprints.

"If there are no titanium plates, I’ll use the lathe to 'turn' that bar stock into plates for you! If there are no rivets, I’ll 'turn' the remaining material into rivets for you!"

He grinned, revealing teeth stained yellow by tobacco.

"Tell those bastards who look down on Workshop 207! If they won't give them to us, I’ll build them myself!"

"I, Ghost-Hand Li, have never been stopped by a pile of scrap metal in my life!"

The entire workshop fell silent.

Du Yuze looked at this man, at his hands—covered in calluses and scars, yet steady as a rock.

He slammed his hand onto Ghost-Hand Li’s shoulder.

"Good! Pang, go get the machine and the materials! Everyone else, clear the floor! From now on, this is our 'Material Workshop'!"

"All hands, listen up! Assist Master Li! We’re making our own parts!"

Night deepened, and the other workshops at the Red Star Plant had long since dimmed their lights. Only Workshop 207 remained ablaze with light, bright as day. The arc of the welders and the sparks from the cutters danced together, carving an sleepless legend into the skeleton of steel.