62: Chapter 62 Chu Ge's Space Carrier

Before they knew it, it was 6:00 PM.

Chu Ge and the others chatted in the office for several hours, covering everything from naval equipment to future layouts, aerospace carriers, heavy cruisers, Interstellar Fleet, and the Lunar Base...

Chu Ge briefly explained some key milestones to the two big shots, especially the subsequent Lunar Base.

Chu Ge was practically salivating over the Helium-3 on it; this stuff was a necessary element for the Super-Dense Gas Shield. Chu Ge didn't dare take any risks; the most important task after the aerospace carrier was built would be to establish a base on the moon.

Only then would he be able—or rather, dare—to continue exploring further.

Leaving aside how many staff members, soldiers, and top experts would be stationed there, the material and financial resources invested alone would be astronomical; he absolutely could not take risks lightly.

By the time Chu Ge finished speaking, his stomach began to growl in protest, which was quite embarrassing.

Elder Meng burst into laughter and then led the blushing Chu Ge to the base cafeteria.

When Chu Ge entered, the entire cafeteria was silent. The soldiers sat with their backs straight, and the food on the tables appeared to have been meticulously prepared.

There was roast chicken, braised pork, and fish—a table full of food.

The two elders brought Chu Ge to the officers' table. Xu Kai, Xue Rui, and Old Lei were all there, sitting upright and formal just like their soldiers.

"Alright, don't be so serious. Today can be considered a festive day, so there's no need to be so restrained."

"Cooking Squad! Go grab a few crates of beer. Put two crates at each table—one bottle per person, no more!"

"Yes, sir!"

The Cooking Squad master quickly complied.

After a round of applause, everyone finally relaxed. A few of the bolder ones who usually liked to cause trouble had already started whispering.

"Xu Kai, Xue Rui!"

"Present!"

The two captains immediately stood up.

"Haha, come over here. Let me introduce you to an extraordinary person!"

The two of them jogged over.

"Xu Kai, Xue Rui, the two captains of our newest destroyers. This is Chu Ge, an Academician of the Ordnance Research Institute. As for his military rank, well, you already know."

This sentence was equivalent to a direct confirmation of Xu Kai and the others' suspicions. Everyone turned their gaze toward Chu Ge.

"Salute!"

The two captains excitedly stood at attention, chests out and stomachs in, performing a standard salute.

"Salute!"

With a collective "swish," all the soldiers below stood up, facing Chu Ge's direction with their hands raised in salute and their eyes burning with intensity.

"To all of you who were fearless in the open sea today! Salute!"

Chu Ge returned the salute and then slowly turned to face everyone.

After a long moment,

In truth, the resonance between passionate men is very simple; it could be a person, an event, or a shared belief.

"Alright, you've made this look like a blind date. What? Are you planning to just stand there and fill your bellies with the smell? If you're not hungry, I'm going to start eating myself."

"Haha."

The soldiers laughed in unison. Elder Meng felt that if he didn't step in, these little rascals might "eat" Chu Ge alive.

"Xu Kai, Xue Rui, I'm giving you a mission: take good care of Little Chu today. I don't want my old buddies complaining later that I didn't look after him properly."

"Yes, sir! Then... can we have Academician Chu sit with us?"

Xue Rui smiled cheekily.

"Little Chu, go ahead."

"Okay—hey, hey..."

Xue Rui and the others didn't care; they just hoisted him up and ran off.

"Hahaha!"

Chu Ge hadn't experienced this kind of atmosphere in a long time; he was glad he had decided to stay.

The celebration banquet officially began. The soldiers finally let go of their usual meticulousness, and the cafeteria was filled with laughter.

On Chu Ge's side, as soon as he sat down, he began acting as a temporary "Baidu." Several deputy captains and the Navigator were like curious babies, asking all sorts of questions.

"Academician Chu, I heard we shot down a stealth drone today?"

"Um..."

Chu Ge was about to talk about the situation at the time.

"Academician Chu, I heard you also designed our naval guns?"

"Um..."

"Academician Chu, why didn't [Soul Blade] come with you? I really love mechas; I want to give it a hug so bad!"

"Huh???"

"Academician Chu, I heard you have a girlfriend who's a very famous star? Are you two..."

This conversation was going nowhere...

"Alright, if you keep asking like this, Academician Chu is going to go hungry tonight. If that happens, I'll make sure you all go hungry for a few days too!"

Xu Kai intervened just in time, and Chu Ge quickly shot him a grateful look.

Halfway through the meal, Xu Kai couldn't help himself.

"Academician Chu, I heard you're planning to build an aerospace carrier?"

Chu Ge looked at everyone. Fine, he could finally give a proper answer to a question.

"Yes. The overall construction blueprint isn't out yet, probably by the end of the year. Construction should start next year, but several small subsystems are already in early development."

"What does an Aerospace Aircraft Carrier look like? Oh, if it involves confidentiality regulations, then I'll take back my question."

"It's not that serious. If this thing could be built just by talking about it, I would have said it long ago, haha. So, in your minds, what does an aerospace carrier look like?"

Chu Ge didn't answer directly, passing the ball back to Xu Kai.

"Um... a flying aircraft carrier?"

"Right, right, right!"

Xue Rui, beside him, also nodded.

"Functionally speaking, it's similar. It's a platform—a platform for fighters, drones, and reconnaissance planes to take off and land."

"An aerospace carrier is also a platform for various aircraft, but it's more like a large-scale, long-range mobile scientific research platform. So its main feature is its size—it's huge! Oh, it's like a self-contained island with every facility you'd expect. People can live and work comfortably on it, but most importantly, they can conduct research—researching the moon, the Solar System, the Milky Way, and the entire sea of stars."

Chu Ge said all this in one breath.

"This... just how big is it?"

Xue Rui's mouth was wide enough to fit an egg.

"Then, are there escort warships? Like the destroyers and frigates that accompany our current aircraft carriers?"

Xu Kai didn't have time to be shocked; he pondered for a moment and then quickly asked.

"Yes, there are frigates, but no destroyers..."

"Huh?"

The two captains sighed. They were destroyer captains, so they naturally had a special attachment to their own class of ship.

"There are heavy cruisers, though. I wonder if you two are interested?"

"Cruisers? Are they the same size as current ones?"

"No. In terms of size... well, they're about the same size as current heavy aircraft carriers."

After recalling the data, Chu Ge answered with certainty.

"*Hiss...*"

That would be at least the 100,000-ton class.

"How will the crew be selected?"

Hearing this, Chu Ge looked at everyone. He knew this was what they really wanted to ask, so he understood the importance of the grand finale.

"From among you, of course. Who else? The Army? Or the Air Force? They have their own missions."

...

"Yeah!"

Everyone instantly burst into happy laughter.

Old Lei looked dazed for a moment. He secretly reached into his pocket and crumpled something up hard.

His poor discharge report was ruthlessly abandoned just like that.