Chapter 427: Launching the Military Industry
As the meeting ended, everyone withdrew from the holographic meeting, filled with suspicion. The role of these Northern American financial groups was to act as a messenger, pa.s.sing on the requests of Blacklight Biotechnology to the higher authorities in Northern America, and then act as lobbyists.
Only Chen Chen remained in his chair without moving.
“This move has its risks.”
Little X walked up from the side. She could not help but sound a little worried. “If Northern America doesn’t intend to compromise and directly impose military sanctions on us under the pretext that we have weapons of ma.s.s destruction, what should we do?”
When Chen Chen heard this, not only was he unconcerned, but he even looked puzzled. “That won’t happen because after This Man incident, they will start to suspect that we may indeed have weapons of ma.s.s destruction...
“Furthermore, coupled with the fact that we have special drugs to fight cancer, this trump card is enough for the Earth Federation to prevent the Northern American Continent from attacking us. If the Northern American Continent wants to quell This Man incident, it must agree to our proposed ‘Mutual Cessation of Sanctions Agreement’.”
Chen Chen thought for a while and continued. “Of course, we’re not ruling out the possibility that they may stake everything in one desperate throw, disregard the opposition of the Earth Federation, and attack us, but the probability is very low. After all, in capitalism, preventing losses is always the most important thing, so revenge can only come second. There’s no problem that cannot be solved with money.”
“So, what if they resort to our least preferred method?”
Little X continued to ask.
“Let us battle then.”
Chen Chen suddenly took a deep breath and turned to look at the sunset outside the floor-to-ceiling window. His eyes flashed decisively. “Since ancient times, only by overthrowing old rules can one establish new rules. If Northern America wants to attack, it’s not like we’re powerless to resist. Whether it’s the T-virus or the black goo virus or even memetic weapons, any of them have the power to destroy any continent in the world...”
The dusk’s amber rays shone in, overlaying Chen Chen’s body with an aura of golden brilliance. When he was talking about destroying any continent in the world within one month, Chen Chen did not look murderous but instead wore a rueful look. “However, the only price to pay would be the great decline of human civilization and I’d become the world’s number one public enemy...
“I’m not an enlightened person nor am I a saint. I used to be just an ordinary mortal until the USB flash drive changed my life and everything about me...
“In the beginning, I wanted to gain power that transcends worldly concerns, so I created a company and made money. Only by making a lot of money can I get electricity. With electricity, I can get enough power. But when I got enough power, I found that I’m not satisfied and I still want more...
“Human needs are divided into five stages from low to high — physiological needs, safety needs, belonging needs, esteem needs, and self-actualization needs. Now I’ve been pursuing self-actualization and the goal of my needs is to protect the people around me, for my parents to live forever like me. I don’t want to see them die and I don’t want to live alone in this world. This is the reason I’m going all out in promoting the humankind anti-aging project.”
“And you don’t want them to be unhappy.”
Little X added. “If you become the enemy of the world, even victory won’t matter, because you don’t think they will acknowledge a son who’s like the devil. Am I right, Sir G.o.dfather?”
“... Yes.”
Chen Chen nodded. He exhaled, turned around again, and stared into Little X’s eyes. “Because I’m pragmatic, I can compromise and even suffer a little, but this doesn’t mean that I won’t resist when facing a life-and-death crisis, got it?”
Little X nodded seriously.
Chen Chen smiled, turned, and walked outside the office. “Let’s go and inspect the aces up our sleeve. If possible, I can even submit a purchase list to the Earth Federation. It’s time for our military factory to open for business...”
With that said, he directly stepped into the elevator and headed toward the bottom of the building.
Half an hour later, Chen Chen brought Little X and stepped into the industrial zone in the southern part of the Eco Science City.
If one looked at it from above, one would find that in the southern part of the industrial park, another huge, towering industrial area of the same scale had been built. Still, it was different from the previous heavy industry. This unfinished industrial park belonged to the military industry.
By the side of the military industrial park, a vacant lot covering more than 10,000 acres with high levels of cement was paved. This was the aeros.p.a.ce base that had just been built recently.
At this time, the interior of the aeros.p.a.ce base was in full swing. A rocket support platform with a height of about 100 meters was being built little by little.
Ordinary corporations were not allowed to dabble in the military industry. The ones that could dabble in this field were either state-owned enterprises or had military backgrounds. However, for Chen Chen who practically ruled over Namibia, this was not a problem.
Still, thinking of this, Chen Chen’s expression suddenly became gloomy. These politicians, whom he had fed until they were practically sweating money, had unexpectedly undermined him at a critical moment. After this incident was over, the Namibian Parliament might need some cleaning up.
The vehicle drove into the military industrial park that was under construction. Outside of a factory that was fully built and guarded by dozens of Black Knights, Chen Chen got out of the vehicle and walked in slowly.
“At present, we’ve designed the a.s.sembly line for four pulse weapons, namely, the ‘imitation Cousar Crowe Pulse Rifle’, the ‘imitation Asgari Chemrail’, the ‘imitation Cousar Crowe Sky Sweeper’, and the smallest Gauss pistol that is most suitable for carrying.”
Looking at the slowly operating a.s.sembly line in the fully automated, unmanned factory, Little X casually explained, “The imitation Cousar Crowe Pulse Rifle, a powerful weapon in Elysium, is a standard weapon for an individual soldier. I remember you’ve tried it out when it was first produced. Its rate of fire, power, and range are far beyond anything in this era. Not only can it hit people, but it also has strong destructive effects against armored vehicles.”
“Very good, the a.s.sembly line has started production.”
Chen Chen glanced at this rifle that looked like a large AUG rifle and nodded. “Are all the Black Knights equipped with this?”
“Yes, they are. 5,000 pieces have also been prepared as a stockpile, enough to start a local war.”
Little X replied.
Then, Little X took Chen Chen to the second a.s.sembly line, where a large rifle with a length of more than one meter was being produced.
“The imitation Asgari Chemrail is likewise an individual weapon, but it has a range of more than five kilometers and kinetic energy of up to 12 megajoules, which surpa.s.ses all anti-material sniper rifles. It’s able to paralyze ninety percent of vehicles in just one shot.”
“The sniper rifle in the pulse rifle series? Very good.”
Chen Chen made a mild evaluation.
“The imitation Cousar Crowe Sky Sweeper is a single-soldier portable air defense system, which can launch the corresponding type of missile. The launch system is equipped with a 0.5 watt, 3.73 MHz ignition device, and the gun is equipped with a 50x zoom thermal-imaging aim. It can be aimed at targets outside the atmosphere.”
The third a.s.sembly line had a weapon similar to a rocket launcher, but with a greater sci-fi aesthetic.
“In terms of missiles, we’ve produced the ultra-long-range intelligent missiles in Elysium. It has four stages of rocket boosters and each stage has a gravity adjustment device that can automatically adjust to the ma.s.s change caused by the separation of the booster during flight, keeping the warhead at a constant speed in flight.
“Not only that, but it also has independent infrared and thermal imaging guidance systems as well as long-distance environmental sensors and portable digital barriers, which can perfectly simulate the Coriolis effect. Thus, it’s able to automatically adjust the deviation when pa.s.sing through the atmosphere and achieve precision detonation, effectively hitting air targets.”
Following Little X’s explanation, this miniature missile, only as long as an arm, was also presented to Chen Chen.
“Have you tested it?”
Chen Chen’s expression shifted uncertainly when he saw this missile.
“No, but through simulation calculations, I can roughly calculate that even the fastest-flying intercontinental missiles in the world and the highest-flying satellites in the world can be shot down with this.”
Little X said confidently, “That is to say, as long as our Black Knights are equipped with this kind of individual air defense system, the missiles and aircraft from Northern America will no longer be able to approach our Eco Science City!
“The last one is the Gauss pistol produced through the miniaturization of the pulse rifle.”
The Gauss pistol was a firearm similar to the Desert Eagle. Its entire body was silvery white. If one did not know that it was a pulse weapon, one would think it was a work of art.
Although the power of this pistol was amazing, compared to the first three weapons, Chen Chen barely took any notice of it.
After visiting the a.s.sembly line of the four weapons, Chen Chen suddenly wore a thoughtful expression. “The pulse weapons can only be used by us, at least for a period of time. It can just be us. After all, there are ‘normal-temperature superconducting materials’ in the pulse weapons, which is something momentous enough to trigger an industrial revolution. Now isn’t the time to announce the ‘normal-temperature superconductor’.
“However, a single-soldier air defense system like the Cousar Crowe Sky Sweeper can be weakened and then sold to countries that need them...”
Little X quietly listened to Chen Chen’s decisions. Indeed, the imitation Cousar Crowe Sky Sweeper did not include a pulse system. Most of its black technology was added to the missile, such as the “perfect simulation of the Coriolis effect”. This was a directional aiming system that could automatically adjust its deviation and trajectory, enough to turn traditional coordinate measurement and wind speed testing into a pile of waste paper.
“As for the missile, we must also weaken it so that it loses the ability to attack s.p.a.ce targets. After all, no one wants an intercontinental missile that can be launched wantonly.”
Chen Chen continued. “And we can also sell the technology in the missile separately, such as the directional aiming system, the long-distance environmental sensing system, and the digital barrier system, that have exceeded current standards. We can sell them so that the Earth Federation will gradually recognize our strength. It also has the effect of diminishing the superiority of air forces in dominant regions, inducing a new s.p.a.ce race.
“Besides, I remember that we’ve also obtained a new rifling technique from the dimension of Elysium?”
Suddenly, Chen Chen asked again.
“Yes, the new rifling technology is a major improvement over the traditional rifling technology since the 19th century. It enables firearms to shoot at twice the traditional muzzle velocity, with higher firing accuracy. However, the new rifling technology requires extremely high industrial precision, to the degree of nanometers. For the more advanced pulse rifles, this new type of rifling is meaningless.”
Little X replied.
“Very good. It seems that besides the sky sweeper, we can have one more product.”
Chen Chen clapped his hands. He thought about it and finally decided aloud, “However, before submitting the list to the Earth Federation, we must also produce some sky sweepers and intelligent missiles. This is what we need most at the moment.”
“Got it!”
Little X nodded at once. The only shortcomings of Blacklight Biotechnology were air superiority and long-range strike capabilities. Since it could not achieve air superiority, it was enough to prevent the other side from achieving air superiority. With this kind of sky sweeper, even air supremacy strikes from Northern America could be resisted.
After leaving this tightly guarded factory, Little X continued to explain, “In addition to the factory used to produce weapons, we also have a factory that will specialize in the ma.s.s production of GS Combat Suits, only they don’t perform as excellently as the combat suits in Gantz.”
Little X pointed to a factory under construction. “This huge building is the factory for producing the GS Combat Suits, but because it hasn’t been fully built yet, the a.s.sembly line is still located in the industrial park for now. When the construction for all the factories in the military industrial park has been completed, it will be moved over.”
“What about this one?”
Chen Chen looked at another factory that had also been built. This factory was more tightly guarded than the weapons factory.
“This is the android factory of our Project Xingtian.”
Little X replied.
Chen Chen understood instantly. “You mean XTN-003?”
“Yes.”
After Little X’s answer, the two entered the factory. The moment they entered the equipment workshop, Chen Chen suddenly saw rows of robots with mechanical appearances, which were like one-third NS-5, one-third T-800, and one-third Alita. They were lying on the a.s.sembly line.
If anyone familiar with Xingtian’s bionic prosthesis project were here, they would also notice that these robots bore a resemblance to Xingtian’s prosthetic limbs.
“Presently, the number of T-virus Black Knights that can partic.i.p.ate in war is only 1,600. This number is still too small. Therefore, if you want to go to war, it’s necessary to use combat robots.”
Chen Chen nodded. This robot was a fusion of the advantages taken from various robotic bodies in several movies such as Terminator, Elysium, I, Robot, and Alita. In addition to what they had learned from Project Xingtian, this was the resulting ultra- amalgamation that was designed.
This robot had a skull-like head. The inside of the body was a t.i.tanium alloy structure and the outside was covered by a translucent plastic sh.e.l.l. These plastic sh.e.l.ls could also be replaced by bulletproof armor.
As for the name of this robot, Chen Chen had extracted a letter from each movie, so it was eventually called the XTN-003 Security Robot.