54: I don't like to eat dog food, I just like to see blood flow

Chapter 54: I don't like eating dog food; I only like to see rivers of blood!

“You want to see an aircraft carrier?”

“You don’t mean a nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, do you?”

Lucy looked at him in surprise.

“Yes, I want to see a nimitz-class aircraft carrier. Is there any way to visit one?” Lu Ze nodded in response.

The aircraft carrier he wanted to see was naturally the absolute core of Eagle-land’s current navy, the Nimitz nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, which supported their maritime hegemony.

A single B-2 Bomber was worth 50,000 achievement points. How many would a nimitz-class aircraft carrier be worth? If he could replicate that, who knew how many achievement points he would be rewarded?

Getting rich overnight was within reach.

However.

“If it were other conventionally powered aircraft carriers, it would be fine. Many have even been converted into amusement parks.”

“But almost all nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carriers are at overseas military bases. Few return to their home ports, and most of those are for maintenance and repairs.” Lucy frowned, finding the matter tricky even for her.

If it were a conventionally powered kitty hawk-class aircraft carrier that had already been decommissioned, the difficulty of accessing it would be incredibly easy. Many other decommissioned aircraft carriers have now become amusement parks or attractions, open for visits with a ticket.

But the nimitz-class, a main force aircraft carrier in active service, is different. Not to mention how many areas on board are core secrets of Eagle-land, making it impossible to reveal to outsiders, simply finding an opportunity to board the vessel is not easy.

It's even possible that there won't be a Navy Open Day allowing visits to a nimitz-class aircraft carrier for several years.

These aircraft carriers typically perform missions overseas for more than half a year before returning for resupply once, and undergoing major maintenance every two to three years.

“A conventionally powered aircraft carrier, you say?” Lu Ze rubbed his chin and smiled, “If there’s an opportunity, we can certainly go visit one.”

He had already anticipated that he wouldn't be able to access a nimitz-class aircraft carrier in the short term.

After all, no matter how much authority Lucy had, it would be impossible for her to make someone return from an overseas deployment, right? That's simply unrealistic.

However, aircraft carriers like the kitty hawk-class, which are relatively easy to access, might have been very helpful to Da Xia ten or twenty years ago, but now they might not be of much use.

After all, Da Xia’s current Varyag aircraft carrier will be fully refitted in two or three years, officially entering service under the designation Type 001 aircraft carrier, with a displacement of over 60,000 tons, similar to the kitty hawk-class.

‘However, if there are no better options, I could replicate a kitty hawk-class aircraft carrier once,’ Lu Ze thought to himself.

Even if it could accelerate Da Xia's research and development progress by a year or two, it would be worth it, and it could also clear up some technical difficulties for the subsequent development of the 002.

Moreover, the achievement points would surely not be few. However, these aircraft carriers are currently mothballed in the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, a distance of over 4,000 kilometers, so a good plan is needed.

“So, are we still going to the Navy Open Day on Sunday to see that Arleigh Burke-class destroyer?”

Lucy pulled two milk candies from her pocket, chewing one and offering one to Lu Ze.

“Yes, we’ll go together then.” Lu Ze didn’t hesitate.

The tickets were already booked. If he didn't go, wouldn't he be letting down Lucy's painstaking efforts? Besides, he had nothing else to do on Sunday, so it was a good opportunity to go there and see if there was anything worth replicating later.

Lu Ze peeled off the wrapper and popped the candy into his mouth, his eyes immediately lighting up.

‘Hoh, it’s White Rabbit creamy candy? Their business has even reached overseas?’

The taste was no different from his childhood, a rich and lingering milky flavor surged onto his taste buds.

During lunch break, the two were still sitting on the sofa in the lounge area.

This place had almost become Lucy and Lu Ze's private domain; almost no one would occupy this spot at this time of day.

Lunch was still a simple meal at the laboratory cafeteria, saving room for Lucy's big dinner in the evening.

Just then.

A system light screen popped up on his eyeball.

“Ding! You have received a new unknown message in your email.”

‘Why another message?’ Lu Ze frowned, thinking to himself. Did Da Xia have another urgent message to convey?

This time, he didn't go to the restroom but simply lay on the sofa, pretending to be dozing, and projected the email message onto his eyeball.

Instantly, a new email appeared.

“This urgent contact is mainly for two matters.”

“First: The subsidy plan for students in Northwest has already begun implementation.”

“Second: It has been decided to proceed with trade cooperation for Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles.”

“50% of the net profit from the Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicle trade will be allocated as the fee for the technology provided to your organization.”

The message sent was just a few brief lines of text.

As expected, it didn't come as a surprise to Lu Ze; this time, it was still about the student food subsidy plan.

‘Is the plan going to be fully implemented in the next few days? That's truly rapid progress,’ Lu Ze sighed inwardly.

He had initially thought this plan would take about a month to advance, as coordinating all departments from upstream to downstream, along with various deployments, would make a month considered very fast.

Simply negotiating with basic food suppliers for the lowest price wouldn't be settled in a day or two.

But he hadn't expected that in less than a week, all preliminary preparations were already complete, and it could be officially implemented in the next few days.

‘It seems the influence of my ‘Mysterious Organization’ is truly extraordinary,’ Lu Ze mused to himself.

‘Selling drones abroad? It seems they're already setting up in the Middle East.’

Lu Ze then looked at the most important second point.

Selling Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles to the Middle East was naturally not just about earning high profits; more importantly, it served as a bonding agent to re-unite the fragmented Middle East region.

A Middle Eastern world where each fights for itself can be bullied by any Tom, Dick, or Harry in the Western world, but a united Middle Eastern world, even Eagle-land, wouldn't dare to stubbornly confront.

‘If Da Xia can complete this layout years in advance, Eagle-land will probably panic,’

Lu Ze then thought, ‘Even the entire Western world will panic.’

If Saudi Arabia and Persia, the two regional powers in the Middle East, could coexist harmoniously, it would be the best strategic choice for Da Xia's interests, and also the scenario Eagle-land least wants to see.

Last year, Eagle-land's global economic crisis again used the same tactics to drain wealth from all developing countries globally, including Da Xia and the Middle East.

Of course, all the welfare in the entire West comes from exploiting the entire Third World.

Without the low-end labor force from Da Xia, Southeast Asia, South America, and other regions, what kind of welfare would they want? Dream on.

Therefore, they will try every means to hinder Da Xia's development, prevent reconciliation in the Middle East. In their view, other countries are only suitable for low-end manufacturing for life, forever just selling resources and land.

Once you start developing successfully, they will bring up 'carbon neutrality,' when in reality, the per capita emissions of the Western world are among the highest globally.

Are Da Xia people not human? Are people from all developing and underdeveloped countries not human? In their view, perhaps only they themselves count as human.

As for the 50% net profit from the Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, Lu Ze really didn't expect Da Xia to go to such lengths.

After all, all manufacturing processes were handled by Da Xia, and he was directly taking half the profit. This was even more ruthless than the squids on Wall Street.

After thinking for a moment, he silently sent a message: ‘We have received the email and are very satisfied with this arrangement. We hope the plan proceeds smoothly.’

Since it was Da Xia's goodwill, he saw no reason to refuse it at this time.

He closed the light screen message on his eyeball.

Suddenly, Lu Ze felt a tap on his shoulder.

A middle-aged man with a casual shirt, a full beard, and blonde hair, a typical old white male image, stood before him.

“Hello, Lu.” He extended his hand, “Are you interested in joining my lab project?”

“Professor Johnson, you want to invite me to join your project team?” Lu Ze pointed to himself, feigning an incredulous expression, but inwardly he was even more bewildered.

Dr. Daman Johnson, one of the highest-ranked professors at LLNL Laboratory, was the complete opposite of Professor Hassen.

He was highly regarded and extremely capable.

At the same time, the project he was in charge of was the National Ignition Facility (NIF) project, considered the most important in the entire laboratory.

For such a person to suddenly invite him to join the project team, Lu Ze couldn't help but suspect he had ulterior motives.

“I believe a genius like you, who can get a full scholarship at DUKE University, shouldn’t be wasting time in a group like this.”

Dr. Daman Johnson smiled, his eyes narrowing slightly, “Join our project, and you can have better development.”

There was no subtlety whatsoever. In his view, Lu Ze, being in Professor Hassen's project development group, had long suffered the cold shoulder of the entire laboratory, and giving up was merely an act of helplessness.

Now that he was offering him an olive branch, would he still refuse?

As for whether Professor Hassen would agree? Did he need to consider the opinion of someone who was about to be sent into society to serve as an 'elite'?

Besides, if Professor Hassen had an objection, he should go discuss it with the laboratory's senior management.

“This…” Lu Ze pursed his lips, falling into thought.

Indeed, if he joined the NIF project team, it would certainly be much easier for him to replicate some high-tech items later.

But once this leash was voluntarily put on, it would be difficult to untie it later. With a project like this, it wouldn't be so easy to leave after graduating with a master's degree.

He didn’t like eating dog food; he only liked to see rivers of blood in the Western world!

It was like what General Zheng encountered in Eagle-land back then; they almost locked him up and put him under strict supervision.

However, if he was merely an employee with a very weak presence on the periphery of the LLNL Laboratory, leaving would basically not be an issue for him.

Of course, there was an even more critical issue.

This NIF project was extremely unreliable. After decades of research, more than ten years later, it was even considered by the entire scientific community as an impossible path to Controlled nuclear fusion, merely exaggerated by Eagle-land's 'love for grand achievements.'

Inputting hundreds of times the power, yet achieving less than 1% of the output power, does this even qualify as nuclear fusion ignition?

Da Xia’s current EAST project, on the other hand, seems to be the most correct path.

Joining this project team but being unable to replicate its core technology, and even potentially leading Da Xia down a wrong research path, would be a huge loss.

At this moment, Lucy, who had been soundly asleep beside him, finally woke up and said softly, “Daman, Lu Ze has always been with me under Professor Hassen.”

“Even if you are a higher-level professor, according to laboratory regulations, you cannot poach people casually.”

She seemed to have sensed Lu Ze’s dilemma and made the decision for him directly.

She had finally found a soulmate for slacking off; how could she let you snatch him away so easily?

Lu Ze smiled, “Professor Johnson, I also prefer to stay with Lucy.”

He politely declined the invitation.

“It’s Lucy. I would make the same choice. Well, good luck, boy.” Dr. Daman Johnson shrugged, turned, and walked away indifferently.

His task was simply to invite this person into the project team; whether it succeeded or not was no longer his concern.

‘I didn't expect this, even though I'm not eating dog food anymore,’ Lu Ze sighed inwardly.

He glanced at Lucy, who had once again fallen into a deep sleep, the overhead light now casting a vibrant glow on her face.

‘I'm actually living off a woman.’

(Two-in-one chapter, please vote for monthly tickets and recommendation tickets!!)

(From now on, update times will be fixed: 12 PM and 6 PM.)