53: Chapter 53 A New and Ingenious Use for the Guardians of Light! Chen Jingyi's Suggestion

"Young Master Yuan! Please have your Guardian No. 3 move this spare gravity gradiometer to Calibration Point B-7. Yes, right behind that sand dune!"

"Guardian No. 5! Please continue moving back and forth in Area Z-12, recording the background cosmic ray intensity along that path. Set the sampling frequency to once per second!"

"Guardian No. 1! Hold up this multi-spectral environmental sensor and slowly rotate three hundred and sixty degrees on the spot. We need the all-around environmental parameters for this point!"

...

The researchers quickly discovered that Li Yuan's Light Guardians were simply perfect scientific research auxiliary tools!

They possessed immense strength, easily carrying heavy instruments;

They were extremely agile, moving across the desert terrain as if it were level ground, greatly improving the efficiency of site deployment and data collection;

They followed orders absolutely, meticulously executing complex measurement procedures without any complaints or errors;

They also possessed a considerably high level of intelligence, capable of performing simple data preprocessing and anomaly detection.

Watching the Light Guardians bustling about the test site like tireless, top-tier research laborers, the researchers—who had been overwhelmed by the equipment damage—saw their expressions shift from anxiety to awe, and finally, even a hint of "envy, jealousy, and hate."

After directing Light Guardian No. 3 to perfectly complete a complex geomagnetic anomaly mapping, a young researcher finally couldn't help himself. He rubbed his hands together and approached Li Yuan with a fawning smile:

"Um... Young Master Yuan, can we discuss something?"

Li Yuan, who was using a soul link to simultaneously command several Light Guardians to transmit measurement data, turned his head at the words: "Hmm? What is it?"

The young researcher's eyes gleamed as he watched the Light Guardian nearby steadily holding a large sensor. He swallowed and asked, "Are these Light Guardians... for sale? Or... you could rent them to our lab! The price is negotiable! Academy points? research contribution points? Or Federation credits? Although our project team burns through money, we can still squeeze out this much budget!"

As soon as he finished speaking, several researchers nearby who had been eavesdropping also gathered around, their eyes eager, as if they had found the ultimate solution to the lab's labor shortage.

"Yeah, Young Master Yuan, why not consider it?"

"These are much better than our clunky engineering robots!"

"They can even judge data anomalies on their own; the intelligence level is just too high!"

Li Yuan was stunned by this sudden purchase interest. Sell summons? Rent out Light Guardians?

His gaze swept over the figures working tirelessly in the sand, emitting a soft glow, and a strange thought occurred to him: Have them "work" to earn Academy points, which could then be used to exchange for cultivation resources or custom equipment?

This seemed... like a path with quite a bit of "monetary" potential.

He stroked his chin and didn't refuse immediately: "Well... I'll have to think about it. After all, they are my main combat force..."

Hearing that there was a chance, the researchers became even more enthusiastic, promising all sorts of benefits.

...

When Li Yuan and the other three finished assisting with most of the external supplementary measurements and stepped back into the temporary laboratory, the atmosphere inside was filled with a scent of gunpowder quite different from the outside.

The focus of the argument was still the follow-up research plan for the mini-mega particle rifle project.

The "Reset Faction," led by Chief Theoretical Physicist Dr. Wang, was agitated, waving data pads in their hands: "Existence Erasure! This is a phenomenon we've never discovered before! It means there are blind spots in our previous understanding of the Void Engine! It preliminarily validates the Information Perturbation Theory."

"I suggest resetting! Suspend all application-level development and concentrate all our energy on thoroughly understanding the physical mechanism, trigger conditions, and scope of impact of this phenomenon! Otherwise, not just the mini-mega particle rifle project, but all technologies relying on the Void Engine could harbor hidden dangers!"

"Until the theoretical roots are cleared up, the current plan has lost the meaning of continued resource investment! This is building castles in the air—it's even playing with fire!"

Meanwhile, Engineer Zhao, the project's deputy director responsible for weapon system integration, argued his case: "Dr. Wang! I admit the 'Existence Erasure' phenomenon is very important! However, aside from this side effect, the current verification results show that all other performance indicators have perfectly met the design goals! This is a technology that can create a disruptive leap in combat power!"

"We can't stop eating for fear of choking! The battlefield won't wait! The Zerg Swarm won't stop their offensive just because we're still studying theory! We can first look for its tactical value, start small-batch trial production, equip elite units, collect data in real combat environments, and use practice to test and feed back into theoretical research!"

"Reckless! This is irresponsible to the world!"

"Pedantic! This is a disregard for the lives of the soldiers on the front lines!"

Both sides held their ground, citing classics and theories, arguing from Void Information Theory to Military Requirements Science, with neither able to convince the other. The atmosphere in the lab was tense to the extreme, as if a single spark could set it off.

Li Yuan and the others stood at the door, unsure for a moment whether they should enter.

"The scope of the Existence Erasure, based on the review of data from the existing three hundred and twenty-seven supplementary measurement points, is confirmed to be a near-circular area centered on the firing point, with the farthest radius being three hundred and five meters. The effective friendly fire radius can be estimated at three hundred and ten meters."

Her words caused both arguing parties to pause involuntarily and look at her.

Chen Jingyi continued:

"Individual use is suicide."

She paused, then threw out an idea:

"So, what if we don't use individuals?"

She raised her hand and pointed to the weapon model of the mini-mega particle rifle and a simulated interstellar battlefield star map on the holographic projection in the center of the research room.

"It has been confirmed that Li Yuan's Light Guardians can use this weapon, so why not generalize and try using drones?" Her finger tapped lightly on the terminal, and a set of complex calculation models was projected next to the star map. "Using three hundred and ten meters as the minimum safety interval, we can form a drone attack swarm."

Her gaze swept across Engineer Zhao and Dr. Wang, finally landing on Professor Reinhardt's face:

"This swarm density, whether on the scale of interstellar combat or planetary descent operations, can still provide a ship-to-ship firepower density at least three orders of magnitude higher than any existing physical system firepower configuration of the Allied Forces. Furthermore, launching an attack directly within the Zerg Swarm would also have the killing effect of a purification field."

Hearing this, Li Yuan looked at Chen Jingyi with great interest. He hadn't expected this seemingly quiet classmate...

...to also be an enthusiast of self-destruct tactics!