107: Chapter 107 Breaking News

"This kind of projectile will deform upon hitting the armor surface, subsequently causing a large amount of fragmentation. At the same time, high-strength armor will also produce a large amount of debris due to spalling, thereby causing secondary damage."

"All of this data needs to be collected by you and then input into the central processor for simulation. Only then will the final theoretical data we obtain be considered qualified simulation data."

Chu Ge turned his head and looked at Li Gang seriously, speaking with earnest sincerity. Li Gang nodded hurriedly after listening, and the look in his eyes as he watched Chu Ge became fervent.

Seeing that look, Chu Ge shivered all over and silently shifted to the side.

"Academician Chu, how do you know about these military theories that are more oriented toward practical application?"

"Uh, I was quite fond of military matters back in school. I often read theoretical reports and classic battle cases from World War II. One of them mentioned cases regarding tank armor. You know about Germany's King Tiger Tank from the late stages of World War II, right?"

"I don't. Wasn't it the Tiger tank?"

Li Gang tilted his head, pondering.

"The two are not the same thing. Forget it, it's not important. In the late stages of World War II, Germany lacked sufficient molybdenum. You know that molybdenum is the main material for improving armor toughness; armor toughness actually refers to the ductility of the metal. This caused the quality of the King Tiger's armor to drop significantly."

"This 'quality' refers to the comprehensive index of the armor. Specifically for the King Tiger, its strength was sufficient, but its toughness was lacking. The consequence was that it cracked easily after being hit, and its resistance to non-penetrating hits was extremely poor, causing a large amount of secondary damage. Often, after a battle, the King Tiger appeared to have absolute superiority in data, with a kill-to-loss ratio of 25 to 150, yet the casualty ratio of the tank crews was often extremely disproportionate to that ratio."

"What does that mean? The tank is fine, but the people are injured, which is very awkward. So, do you understand what I mean? When simulating data, you must be meticulous and consider all aspects. In short, the more extreme, the better. Only then can we squeeze out the critical values of the new equipment."

Chu Ge felt embarrassed to say that you could push this equipment as hard as you wanted; at least in certain situations, it was invincible.

"Understood, Academician Chu."

Li Gang was deeply inspired and nodded solemnly to Chu Ge.

"I almost forgot, I came this time to give you a new task. Didn't you want to work on something big? Here it is."

As he spoke, Chu Ge handed the relevant information on the Electromagnetic Railgun from the aerospace carrier's weapon system to Li Gang. Li Gang took it, set aside the electronic USB drive with the data and the construction blueprints, and first flipped through the paper project report.

"aerospace carrier—Weapon System: Report on the Electromagnetic Railgun."

Li Gang read it out word by word, then became ecstatic.

"Academician Chu, is this a weapon system for the aerospace carrier?"

"Yes, one of the weapon systems. Its principle is somewhat similar to the Electromagnetic Pulse Rifle, so it should be relatively simple for you to handle. Coordinate your subordinates well. Both the individual soldier system and this railgun must be completed strictly according to the schedule."

When talking about the progress schedule, Chu Ge was at his most serious, behaving like a harsh taskmaster.

"Yes! I guarantee the mission will be completed!"

Li Gang gave a solemn salute, and Chu Ge returned it seriously, patted Li Gang on both shoulders, and then turned to leave.

After dinner, Chu Ge returned to his dormitory. Tonight, he didn't go to study any specific subsystem; instead, he browsed through the existing aerospace carrier database to clear his head.

He was also considering where to start next.

Chu Ge accidentally saw his prestige points; they were nearing 1 billion again, and he instantly became interested.

"System Big Brother, I remember you said 1 billion would trigger a reward mechanism. This thing doesn't accumulate, does it?"

[No, it's fixed. It triggers once every 1 billion.]

System Big Brother gave a positive answer and, for once, didn't raise the price on the spot. Chu Ge felt strangely touched.

"I'm really looking forward to it. It won't be another gene reagents, will it?"

[The reward mechanism is set within a certain range of rewards, random.]

"Heh, that's quite a mouthful. Could you reveal that range, old man? So I can be mentally prepared."

[The host's medium-to-long-term plan is space exploration, landing on alien planets, and building space bases. Therefore, the system rewards will be randomized within this range. The prizes will all be things that assist the host's plan.]

Chu Ge felt something was strange about this reply. After thinking about it, he guessed this guy had probably gone to learn another country's language again, causing it to speak with a bit of a lisp now.

As Chu Ge washed up, he silently conversed with System Big Brother in his mind, laughing from time to time. If an outsider were present, they might think he was mentally unstable.

The conversation continued all the way to his bed.

"So, are the prizes categorized into big and small?"

[They are, and they aren't.]

"Can you speak properly?"

Chu Ge was reaching his limit.

[The aerospace carrier is rated SS-rank, the heavy cruiser is rated SS-rank, and the frigate is rated S-rank. In principle, system rewards will not include things at the level of an aerospace carrier or a heavy cruiser, but lower-grade ones may appear as prizes.]

"Then what's the lower limit? For example, if I roll something useless, like 'chicken ribs'?"

[With a mechanism that triggers and deducts 1 billion prestige, do you think this system is a garbage dump? Comparatively, the macro-level remains unchanged. It is suggested to refer to the item where 1,000 prestige is exchanged for a certain lifetime achievement.]

"Ha, your comparison really is helpful. To summarize, it's like a competition scoring mechanism: remove the highest score, remove the lowest score, and take the average."

...

System Big Brother did not reply to Chu Ge again; it seemed that this time it was the one in a bad mood. Chu Ge curled his lip and turned over to go to sleep.

That night, Chu Ge felt he had never slept so comfortably.

May 20th, a very romantic date.

In a key high school on West Yanjing Road in H City, Chu Xiaowu and her best friend Ma Xiaotiao were eating breakfast in the cafeteria. Ma Xiaotiao was Xiaowu's playmate and classmate; both were from the same county and had been together through middle school and high school, both excelling in their studies. Chu Xiaowu had been mysteriously transferred to this city's key high school at the beginning of the year.

Ma Xiaotiao followed later. Ma's father was a leading entrepreneur in the county, and plus his daughter's grades were very good, so it didn't take much effort with a little maneuvering.

Thus, the two sisters—both with great looks and tall figures, one quiet and one energetic, inseparable—could once again play happily together hand in hand.

Ma Xiaotiao was chatting and laughing with Chu Xiaowu while watching the morning news. She was a bit of an unconventional girl; while other girls liked soap operas, she preferred news and current affairs, perhaps influenced by her father.

"We interrupt with an important news item. Following a decision by the high-level officials of Huaxia and confirmation by Huaxia's supreme military command, Huaxia's first aerospace carrier, the 'kunpeng', was officially approved for development yesterday afternoon. Academician Chu Ge has been appointed as the project's chief designer. It is reported that this type of aerospace carrier will use a Nuclear Fusion Engine as its primary power source, and its speed will subvert all existing space shuttles, fighter jets, rockets, and other aircraft."

"Additionally, according to industry insiders, the 'kunpeng' will serve as the lead ship of the Interstellar Fleet, with construction set to begin at the end of this year. Related auxiliary vessels will also gradually enter construction plans. At that time, Huaxia will be the first country in the world to possess an Interstellar Fleet, representing Earth in conquering the future sea of stars."

"Simultaneously, Huaxia's supreme military command confirmed that Huaxia's sixth military branch, the 'Heavenly Army', was also established yesterday afternoon. It will initially recruit 100,000 heroes to reserve military and scientific talent for the Interstellar Fleet. The military reiterated: the mission of the Heavenly Army is to explore outer space and has no interest in nations or military alliances on Earth. We hope certain countries do not over-interpret this."

Inside the cafeteria, there was total silence. High school kids already understood the gravity of such matters. This news item contained a bit too much information, and they couldn't react for a moment.