Steel torrents pioneering a different world.

Chapter 77 A Strange New Discovery: Alienated Metal? (Bonus Chapter for Monthly Tickets)

I'm writing some more, I'm writing some more, I've been typing away. The previous chapter was reported by someone, I don't know who, and I have to keep revising it, it's so frustrating!

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A sorting technician opened the door and saw staff members in charge of distributing materials standing outside.

He saluted the crowd with a serious expression.

"Team Leader Hou, excuse me, there's an urgent mission here. A new material has been discovered at the front! The higher command has ordered Comrades Zhang Zhongxiao, Qian Jin, and Li Zhe to immediately lead a team to the Class A metamaterials laboratory for analysis."

"New materials?" Hou Shuheng was taken aback for a moment, then his eyes lit up. "Do I have enough clearance? Can I go?"

The service personnel are from the military, and they are meticulous in their work.

He shook his head, his tone devoid of any emotion: "I'm sorry, Team Leader Hou, you can submit your application and wait for the coordination department to review it."

"Fine, never mind." Hou Shuheng shrugged, looking bored. "Xiao Zhang, you guys go ahead. I'll keep an eye on the finishing touches here."

The projects they were involved in were very similar to the mega-projects of more than half a century ago.

In scientific experiments, the principle of "seriousness, thoroughness, reliability, and absolute safety" has been adopted.

In terms of confidentiality regulations, job levels are divided according to the degree of confidentiality involved, and the scope of information that personnel at different levels can access is strictly limited.

Furthermore, some positions also have security and confidentiality requirements such as "don't ask what you shouldn't ask, don't look at what you shouldn't look at, and don't say what you shouldn't say!"

Zhang Zhongxiao nodded, took off his protective suit, and quickly followed the staff out.

In the corridor, a staff member handed over an encrypted tablet.

"This is a briefing from the front."

Zhang Zhongxiao swiped the screen, and a few lines of text came into view.

[Location of discovery: Advance Team Resource Point 2.]

[The magic detector detected that multiple readings, including gamma spectrum, neutron radiation, and strong electromagnetic interference, exceeded limits.]

[On-site description: ...mining...after the artillery barrage, the engineering team unearthed...]

The tablet included a compressed, blurry photo showing a large quantity of charred ore mixed with numerous irregularly shaped ore blocks the size of washbasins, ranging in color from golden to grayish-brown.

Below the photo is a line of annotation and an order for urgent analysis personally added by frontline commander Su Mingjin.

"A gold mine?" Zhang Zhongxiao laughed. "This time, the advance team has even more funds!"

……

The modern world!

Inside the mineral materials analysis laboratory, the constant, muffled hum of the high-powered ventilation system filled the air.

Professor Peng, who was thin with a thin face and even thinner eyebrows than others, yawned.

His hair was gray and his eyes were sunken. After a simple adjustment, he stared intently at the holographic projection of an atomic probe tomography scanner without raising his head.

When he saw Zhang Zhongxiao and Qian Jin come in, he simply nodded with his chin toward the large isolation box next to him.

"Xiao Zhang, these are all newly delivered and haven't been numbered yet. You guys analyze them first, and send the data directly to me."

Professor Peng's voice was hoarse, revealing the fatigue from long hours of staying up late.

"clear."

Zhang Zhongxiao responded and led his men over, skillfully opening the box.

Judging from the appearance, there were several tons of otherworldly ore piled up in one place, lying quietly inside.

The ore has a rough surface with faint yellow sulfide spots, and its main body is grayish-brown. The ore inside contains a large amount of gold, making it look particularly attractive.

Qian Jin put on radiation-proof gloves, clamped the ore onto the operating table, and started the electromagnetic analyzer next to him.

On the spectrum analyzer screen, the waveform fluctuated, eventually producing a few fine spikes in the 2-6 GHz band.

"That's it?" Qian Jin pursed her lips, somewhat disappointed. "I thought it could shut down the induction cooker in our lab. This little fluctuation might only interfere with a Bluetooth headset at most."

"Stop being sarcastic. The fact that ordinary minerals can produce stable interference in this frequency band is enough to write a report."

Zhang Zhongxiao ignored his joke, meticulously recorded the data, and then gestured to the side, "Same as always, grind or cut, then put it under the microscope."

"Alright!"

Soon, a thin slice the size of a fingernail was separated and sent to the optical analysis table.

Magnify it 100 times, then 1000 times...

"It's the same as always."

Qian Jin, who was in charge of the operation, shook his head. "The typical crystal structure of pyrite and chalcopyrite, mixed with some quartz and feldspar, is not much different from what we dug out in ancient volcanic areas."

Zhang Zhongxiao leaned over to take a look, but also found it uninteresting: "Analyze the others! X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, and then run inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry again."

Once the order was given, everyone immediately got to work.

For a while afterward, only the hum of the instruments and the occasional hushed conversations between the three remained in the laboratory.

The atmosphere was solemn and focused.

The process involves splitting the ore, purifying its components, confirming its oxidation properties, and testing its high-temperature stability. As each step is completed, a stream of data flows together.

"The content of iron oxide and ostrich ore is relatively high, and the black fragments are quite interesting." Zhang Zhongxiao tapped on the screen with his fingertip, enlarging a microscopic structure diagram.

It is a substance similar to obsidian, but under a high-powered microscope, its internal structure reveals a nearly regular, non-natural crystal lattice sequence.

"Extract and separate them, then test them individually."

Qian Jin nodded and then took action!

after a while……

He carefully peeled several black fragments, each about the size of a fingernail, from the sample.

Density 2.5 g/cm³, Mohs hardness 6, high brittleness...

These things have the same basic physical properties as Earth's obsidian.

But when the electromagnetic properties test results came out, Qian Jin was greatly surprised!

"Old Zhang, look at this dielectric constant, permeability, and resistivity—they all seem really strange!"

Zhang Zhongxiao leaned closer, his eyes narrowing.

The data curves on the screen, fluctuating back and forth between peaks and troughs, made him scratch his head.

"Something's not right. Why are these things acting so strangely? Why is the resistance sometimes high and sometimes low?"

"Perhaps they are one of the reasons for the electromagnetic anomalies in this other world!" Qian Jin pondered for a moment and continued, "I think it's the copper and iron oxide layers inside the ore, along with various other elements, that form a special Faraday cage, causing strong electromagnetic interference!"

Based on this analysis, it's clear that this is the root cause of the strong electromagnetic interference that Deputy Commander Su mentioned!

But something's not right!

"This requires more detailed analysis at a microscopic level. I feel it's not as simple as just resistance fluctuations," he muttered to himself.

Just then, Li Zhe, who had been engrossed in trace element analysis, suddenly looked up, his voice trembling slightly: "Old Zhang, Qian Jin, come quick! The gold I separated from the slag... something's wrong!"

"What's wrong?"

"This isn't gold at all; at least, modern gold doesn't possess these properties!"

(End of this chapter)