The degree of contraction varied with voltage, approximately 12%. For example, a 10cm-long piece of Toughtex would contract to 8.8 cm when exposed to a 12V current.

This did not mean that the contraction increased indefinitely depending on the voltage. Up to 12V, the ratio of contraction was proportional to the voltage, but beyond that, there was no significant difference. At 30V and above, the contraction increased only to 8.5 cm.

Not all tuftes had the same contraction.

As STM produced only gasoline, there was only one type of Toughtex on sale, but there were various types of Toughtex.

Turftex was not only produced in a volatile purification process. The same was produced in the purification process of diesel oil, heavy oil, bunker C oil, and white kerosene.

Seemingly, it had the same shape but different properties. Looking at it with an electron microscope, it had a different composition.

The difference in the rate of contraction was also large. The one produced in bunker C oil had the least contraction while the one produced in white kerosene had the most contraction.

Most importantly, no matter how often the experiment was repeated, the contraction according to voltage was always constant.

Its durability was also very good. Repeated experiments on contraction showed no change at all. In Duyoung’s eyes, no number of repetitions would cause change.

He called Hyunwoo in an excited voice.

“Hyunwoo, I think I have really made a great discovery.”

“Great discovery? Greater than Super Green?”

“If what I think is right, Super Green is nothing.”

“Let me come to your research room right away. Let’s meet for more details, dad.”

Hyunwoo stopped the debriefing at KOVE DREAM office and hurried to the STM Research Center in Tapgokri.

Duyoung explained the characteristics of Toughtex, along with his own idea on how to use it.

“If we make good use of it, we can move all the machines with this. This could even replace human muscles.”

Hyunwoo’s heart was throbbing with excitement. If the contraction rate was constant, depending on voltage, it had an indefinite use, as Duyoung explains.

The problem was its durability.

“How many times did you experiment? One thousand, or ten thousands of experiments is not enough. At least, it should endure one million times.”

Duyoung nodded his head.

“Absolutely. But I have no way to test its durability.”

“Why?”

“Because it has an aluminum core.”

Toughtex’s core now used cheap aluminum.

Repeating the contraction test, the Toughtex itself was fine, but the aluminum core was damaged, which made it impossible for the current to pass through it.

Duyoung tried to continue the experiment in other ways by coating it in a highly conductive material, but that wasn’t possible either. If the experiment was repeated for a long time, the coating was also damaged, and the contraction rate was not constant when the electricity flowed into the core, so he could not perform accurate experiments.

But Duyoung was convinced.

“Toughtex doesn’t pose any problem of durability. It won’t be damaged with millions of repetitions. I did experiments on it in high temperatures over 100 degrees Celsius and in low temperatures under negative 30 degrees Celsius, but I didn’t notice any big difference.”

“All you have to do is to find a good core, right?”

“Right. I have to find the same core that has the same rate of contraction of Toughtex. I wonder if I can find it, though.”

At that moment, Hyunwoo opened his eyes suddenly. He remembered in Taeho’s failed experiment notes that he did fail in some experiments because of the strong contraction.

“Carbon nanotubes. Don’t you remember Dr. Taeho Min’s failed experiment notes?”

Only then did Duyoung remember it and opened his mouth with joy.

“Yea, I remember it.”

Duyoung was about to resume the research immediately.

But Hyunwoo stopped him.

Forgetting his promise to Hyunwoo that he would stop researching at 9 pm, Duyoung had been doing the research night and day these days.

Hyunwoo felt sorry about it.

What was the point of doing this research if Duyoung lost his health? Hyunwoo realized that he was not taking care of his parents.

He was determined to do so from now on.

“Have a good rest today, dad. It looks like your health got worse these days.”

“I’m alright. I am as fit as a fiddle. I’m really energetic. Don’t worry, son.”

“Nope, you just don’t feel that your health has deteriorated. Have you forgotten your promise to me? If you keep breaking the promise like this, I’ll come back and interfere with your work. Next time, I’ll hire a man to keeps tabs on your daily schedule,” said Hyunwoo sternly.

Scratching his head, Duyoung said, “Got it, son. As it has grown dark, let me call it a day now. Shall we have dinner together, son? We haven’t done so in a long time.”

“Sure, dad. I know a very nice seafood shop. Just follow me.”

“Good, If Yu Zuung is available, she can join us.”

To the best of his knowledge, she had no particular schedule this afternoon. Probably, she was at home now, watching TV.

Hyunwoo called her.

“How about having dinner together with my dad?”

“Oh, that’s great! Can I cook for you?”

Hyunwoo opened his eyes wider at that.

“You want to cook for us? What food would you want to prepare?”

“That’s a secret. I’m going to prepare it starting now, so please come in an hour later. You can come with Kuroda.”

After the call, Hyunwoo told Duyoung about the good news.

Duyoung was pleasantly surprised because he had never seen her cooking.

But what mattered was not whether she cooked well or not. In due course, she would be his wife, so it was important for her to learn housework including cooking.

So, Duyoung wished deep inside that Yu Zuung would learn cooking from his wife, Jisook.

And now, Yu Zuung said she would be willing to cook on her own, which pleased Duyoung.

“Hahaha, I think she is qualified to be my daughter-in-law.”

“You bet. Haha.”

Yu Zuung’s house was a five-minute walking distance from Hyunwoo’s and a ten-minute drive away from STM Research Center.

“What kind of food is she making?”

Along with Duyoung and Kuroda, Hyunwoo went into her house with a big expectation.

Today’s menu was Vietnamese spring rolls. As it didn’t require any good cooking skills, Hyunwoo was a bit disappointed.

Of course, he didn’t express his feelings. What mattered was that she started cooking on her own. It would be great for her to get interested in cooking on this occasion.

“I wonder if you like it. Please try it.”

Starting off with Kuroda, the most senior among them, Duyoung and Hyunwoo began to enjoy Vietnamese spring rolls. She looked at them with a nervous look.

A little later she asked impatiently, “How was it?”

In fact, she didn’t have to ask as she knew the answer. Besides, Vietnamese spring rolls inevitably tasted good because all she had to do was to chop the existing ingredients.

As if they agreed in advance to do so, Kuroda, Duyoung, and Hyunwoo all thumbed up at the same time.

“Wow, this is great! It seems like you couldn’t cook because you had no time. Tastes very good.”

“Really? I feel happy to hear that.”

They had a great dinner time, chatting away in a pleasant mood. At some point, they watched some news on the TV. It was about Samryong Motors, a hot topic these days.

Samryong Motors was on the verge of bankruptcy as it was unable to overcome its financial difficulties several years ago. At that time, Shanghai Motors bought its shares and emerged as its large shareholder, throwing a lifeline to Samryong Motors.

But Shanghai Motors didn’t make any investments into the company after its takeover of Samryong Motors. Rather it took Samryong’s high-end technology and used it in the production of its own vehicles.

To make matters worse, the Chinese company fired Samryong employees in large numbers, which led to a warlike demonstration by them with several being killed in the process.

But that was not the end of it.

Shanghai Motors had no intention of reviving Samryong Motors from the start. Its purpose was to take Samryong’s technology.

As if to prove that, Shanghai Motors filed for legal management of Samryong Motors five years after its takeover.

“What a bad company….”

“Why is our Korean company being beaten like that all the time?”

Hyunwoo and Duyoung were enraged, even cursing at Shanghai Motors.

But Kuroda disagreed.

“You shouldn’t necessarily blame Shanghai Motors. It’s part of their business activities, isn’t it? If they can’t make profits, they have no other choice but to give up. Of course, Samryong might feel very resentful from their point of view, but in my opinion, Shanghai Motors’ action is legitimate.”

Hyunwoo could not agree with him.

“I don’t think so. This is clearly a criminal act.”

With a curious look, Kuroda asked, “Why is that?”

“First of all, they broke the promise. Secondly, they illegally took Samryong’s technology.”

Though Shanghai argued that there was no illegal technology outflow, that was nonsense.

Initially, Shanghai took tangible and intangible technology of Samryong Motors worth tens of trillion won by paying only 24 billion won.

Besides, what was important was that Shanghai Motors took not only the SUV technology but also the right to produce and market the models and parts of SUV vehicles based on their original SUV design for the next ten years.

In short, Shanghai Motors came to own almost all the knowhow on the diesel engines of Samryong Motors at the bargain price of 24 billion won.

Only then did Kuroda nod his head.

“I didn’t know such details. If that’s true, Shanghai Motors is morally reprehensible.”

Then Kuroda made a proposal to Hyunwoo all of a sudden.

“Why don’t you take over Samryong Motors?”

“What? Me?” said Hyunwoo with a surprised look.

Duyoung was just as surprised. Even though Hyunwoo and Duyoung’s STM were producing Super Green, oil refinery and automobiles were fundamentally different types of business.

Ani & Funny, as well as KOVE DREAM, had nothing to do with an automobile company.

But Kuroda had a different viewpoint. He was formerly a car engineer.

And he was confident in his technical skills.

“In fact, I’ve recently developed a gasoline engine. It can also be used as a diesel engine. I think Samryong Motors would be able to make a successful comeback if I apply that to Samryong Motors.”