44: Chapter 44 Individual Equipment

In the Space Force, this thing definitely won't cut it.

Chu Ge weighed the pistol in his hand. "Ouch, this thing is actually quite heavy." He almost dropped it the first time he weighed it.

"The power is lacking, the magazine capacity is lacking, the range is lacking, and the accuracy isn't that great either."

"For combat in space, this is just industrial trash!"

A piece of modern weaponry was dismissed by him as worthless.

"I'll modify it for you guys later; it's going to happen sooner or later anyway."

"Hey, alright! That's exactly what I was waiting to hear from Academician Chu! Hahaha."

Lu Nan was quite straightforward.

"Then we'll sit and wait for the good news from Academician Chu. Oh, shouldn't Academician Chu be off to calibrate the equipment? Stay safe, definitely. I won't see you out. Goodbye!"

"..."

Chu Ge held back his expression, walking out with black lines on his face.

This, damn it, he had never seen someone so straightforward.

The only consolation was that the installation of the accelerator and the accompanying detection spheres went relatively smoothly.

What remained was the arrival of equipment related to the data center.

Chu Ge dusted off his hands and left in the afternoon before it got dark. Calibration couldn't be done today, so he simply left the cleanup work to the people from the Research Institute.

Since he had made the big promise, Chu Ge prepared to fulfill it.

After washing up early in the evening, he sat at his desk to communicate with System Big Brother.

"System Big Brother, I still love you. I love arms, not beauties. Look, I didn't even pay attention to my little princess."

[...]

System Big Brother probably wasn't good at handling complex system engineering like human emotions, and ignored Chu Ge for a long while.

"Shall we get to work? Why are you so reserved today?"

[Congratulations to the host, successfully redeemed the complete research plan for the Aerospace Aircraft Carrier. Relevant data has been issued. Remaining Honor Points: 17,000.]

"Hey, what the hell! I didn't ask you to do that first. I was planning to research something small, like guns or cannons."

[System redemptions are non-refundable!]

"How come I've discovered you're even more strapped for cash than I am? I'm truly speechless!"

"Fine, whatever. It's going to happen sooner or later anyway. Might as well get it over with—ugh, scratch that."

"Let's put the Aerospace Aircraft Carrier on hold for now. I'll work on some small things first. You just said yesterday that the blueprints weren't ready, and today they 'popped' out? Isn't that absurd? Aren't you afraid of being dragged to a non-human research center for dissection?"

Better safe than sorry. No matter how much he talked, Chu Ge was still just a small fry; he had to hit the brakes a bit, otherwise, it would be easy to capsize in the gutter.

"Recommend some individual combat equipment, thanks!"

[System recommendation: Electromagnetic Pulse Rifle, Electromagnetic Kinetic Sniper Rifle, Laser Pistol, Laser Grenade, Exoskeleton Individual Auxiliary Equipment, Multi-functional Helmet System.]

"Cut the jargon, just give me the price!"

[200 each, 1,000 for the bundle.]

"Definitely the bundle. Hey, System Big Brother, are you running a street market here? I've never heard of bundling before."

[Before? Even if I bundled them before, could you afford it? Do you have money?]

"I... I... Fine. I really couldn't afford it before. You're just beating around the bush to say I'm poor, aren't you?"

[Ding! Congratulations to the host, successfully redeemed 7 individual combat equipment plans: Electromagnetic Pulse Rifle, Electromagnetic Kinetic Sniper Rifle, Laser Pistol, Laser Grenade, Exoskeleton Individual Auxiliary Equipment, Multi-functional Helmet System, and Individual Protective Armor. Files have been issued. Remaining Honor Points: 16,000.]

System Big Brother ignored him and went straight to reporting the account and collecting the money.

...

Chu Ge flipped through the research paths for each type of individual combat equipment; compared to the Prism Tower and mechs, these were simply too easy.

Especially since the Research Institute was already researching several sub-modules for the first few items; he only needed to integrate them.

For example, for the Electromagnetic Pulse Rifle, the sub-modules included high-energy batteries, pulse oscillators, caseless ammunition, high-speed alloy smoothbore barrels, etc.

Chu Ge checked; the Ordnance Research Institute had already finalized and was developing the caseless ammunition and high-energy batteries. He just needed to take them over and tweak the caliber and energy output mode.

He only needed to finish the other two modules, and a new type of rifle would be born.

But compared to current rifles, this gun was not just a little bit stronger.

First, the muzzle velocity was high, reaching 8,000 meters per second, with exponentially increased power. At this speed, hitting a person would basically have the effect of a heavy machine gun.

Second, the ammunition capacity was high. By eliminating the gunpowder propulsion mode, the entire bullet size was reduced by two-thirds, which indirectly increased the magazine capacity to 100 rounds per magazine.

Third, the rate of fire was high. It had 4 firing modes: single shot, fully automatic, semi-automatic, and 4-round pulse burst. Fully automatic was 900 rounds/minute, and the pulse mode reached a terrifying 2,000 rounds/minute.

Finally, there was the range. The Electromagnetic Pulse Rifle had a range of 2,000 meters, with an effective range of 1,500 meters, almost catching up to current sniper rifles.

Chu Ge looked at the data for the new rifle with delight; it was like getting it for free.

He immediately decided to start practicing with this Electromagnetic Pulse Rifle.

It was 2:00 AM. Chu Ge stretched, and a complete rifle improvement plan appeared perfectly before his eyes.

"The final step: pick a domineering name, and it's finished!"

[HQL-411 A]

"Huh? What does that mean? You've already picked it? What kind of weird name is this?"

[System recommendation. Use it or don't.]

"Is there a copyright fee?"

[No!]

"Then I'll just make do with it."

The stingy Chu Ge was too tired. From past 6 PM to past 2 AM, he had no energy left to think of a name, so he simply used this weird code name.

It had been a long time since Chu Ge slept this well, and he slept until past 8 o'clock.

A knock on the door woke him up.

"Report! Li Gang reporting to Academician Chu."

Li Gang stood straight outside the door.

"Oh, you're back? Is everything finished over at [Soul Blade]?"

"Yes, it's finished. It has been authorized for handover to the base. Before the Mech Hive is completed, [Soul Blade] will enter hibernation mode. Unless there are special circumstances, it will wake up automatically!"

"Good, it's a good thing you're back; it saves me the trouble!"

Chu Ge turned around and handed the report from last night to Li Gang.

"A new project. It's not very complicated. I've already marked the solutions for a few difficult points; the rest is up to your team."

Li Gang opened the report.

"Electromagnetic Pulse Rifle? Academician Chu, are you planning on fighting aliens?"

"What aliens? If you're backward, you get beaten. Do you understand?"

"Yes!"

"Right, the ergonomic matching for the Electromagnetic Pulse Rifle needs you to perfect it, along with the auxiliary equipment and so on. Finalize it as quickly as possible; I need it urgently on my end!"

"Understood, Academician Chu."

"Oh, and later I'll have Academician Chen add more people to your department. Remember, only elites. Let's expand the headcount by 3 times first!"

"Huh? I already have 50 people here, and half of them are professor-level. If you expand it by 3 times, there won't be anyone left in the other departments of our Research Institute..."

"It's fine, I'll talk to Academician Chen about this. You think there are too many people? Oh, I forgot, I have a few more projects to launch: a sniper rifle, a laser pistol, a multi-functional Laser Grenade, an exoskeleton system, and individual armor. Should I give them all to you?"

"Is 3 times a bit too little? How about 5 times?"

Li Gang's expression changed.