279: Returning to the research institute

Six or seven days passed.

Xu Bai returned to the Research Institute.

Xu Bai accompanied Xu Le for a long rest, then got back up to make cards.

Although Xu Le didn't accompany him this time, he also didn't go to his old kindergarten. After some deliberation, he went to the military's nursery. It was located within the army, so safety was guaranteed, and it was also quite close to the Research Institute, allowing Xu Bai to visit Xu Le occasionally.

This satisfied Xu Le's desire to play with children his own age and also ensured his safety.

Alright, let's turn our attention back to the Research Institute.

Xu Bai's previous research was mostly complete; the subsequent steps involved continuous updates and optimizations, which other research assistants could handle. Xu Bai wasn't there to research old things; he was going to start researching weapons.

That's right, weapons.

The previous drones, while usable in that capacity, weren't really considered weapons themselves. Drones could be used for various purposes.

Xu Bai's purpose in researching weapons was also very clear: to deal with the Mythical Beasts.

While the cult was at fault for Xu Le's kidnapping, how could the Mythical Beasts be blameless? The cult used the Divine Blood to incite its followers to commit various crimes, and this Divine Blood that drove the followers mad was provided by the Mythical Beasts.

The Tianlong Republic was already cracking down on cult members, and many people should be caught through surveillance. However, Mythical Beasts were generally not in cities, so powerful weapons were needed to deal with them.

Thinking about the various powerful weapons from his previous life, although he didn't have the ability to recreate all of them, he could reference their performance and create weapons with similar capabilities. Perhaps there would be unexpected gains.

So, Xu Bai listed some weapons he knew from his previous life, enumerating their strengths and weaknesses. Then, he consulted the local weapon researchers to understand current common weapons and their performance pros and cons. Through comparison, he found that there were quite a few differences in weapons, many research directions, and ample room for him to innovate.

What weapons are used the most now?

Of course, it's individual combat weapons, which is why there are so many individual combat weapons in this world.

Therefore, from the perspective of weapons used in individual combat, weapons with strong offensive power need to develop in the direction of large caliber, such as individual rocket launchers and grenade launchers. This world already has these. At the same time, from previous research on anti-tank weapons, armor-piercing rounds have also emerged. This ammunition can be used to deal with both tanks and Mythical Beasts.

The research team that developed this ammunition was also in this Research Institute, and they even specifically came to consult Xu Bai.

The improvement Xu Bai could think of in this regard was to create large-caliber sniper rifles paired with armor-piercing rounds. This would give the weapon the advantages of strong armor-piercing capability and long range, allowing it to easily attack high-level Mythical Beasts from a distance. He assigned this to Liu Mengyan, who was interested in it... Secondly, there was heavy ground equipment.

The most typical example of this type is tanks. Although the Luo Lan Empire has tanks, it doesn't prevent the Tianlong Republic from researching its own tanks. After all, it's known as the king of land warfare, so it's better to have their own.

In fact, some people in the Tianlong Republic were already researching them, but Xu Bai felt they were too slow. Since he was researching tanks and knew the direction of later tank optimizations, why didn't he directly research the optimized tanks from later stages?

Well, he currently had a drawback: he had no clue about smart system research, making intelligent aiming and attacking impossible. However, other aspects could still be optimized.

Xu Bai presented his tank ideas. Initially, the tank research team was dismissive, but the more they listened, the more they realized he made a lot of sense. Why should they follow the Luo Lan Empire's lead in research? They could research tanks belonging to the Tianlong Republic.

First, for the tank's outer armor material, they could use composite materials to make it thicker and stronger in defense. Secondly, an electric drive system could be installed inside, allowing both to be used together for greater endurance and speed.

There would certainly be some difficulties, namely that the tank's protective performance and its weight would be contradictory.

At this point, Ai Xunyan would be crucial. Many people didn't expect, and even Ai Xunyan herself didn't expect, that the materials she researched could have such a use.

Anyway, the tank research team and Ai Xunyan reached a cooperation, and both sides were very satisfied.

Besides tanks, there were also rocket launchers and artillery, weapons with strong destructive power and wide area of effect. This world already had them, so Xu Bai offered a few optimization suggestions, then left, leaving behind a group of researchers looking at him with admiring gazes.

Honestly, if Xu Bai wasn't currently managing a research lab, they would have really wanted to stop him from leaving. In just a few minutes, the suggestions he made could evolve weapons by several levels. If he stayed longer, it would be even more incredible... After discussing land weapons, the next topic would naturally be aerial weapons.

Currently, they only have two types of aerial weapons: one is a simple drone, and the other is a manned drone.

The former's weapon attack power is still insufficient; currently, it can only attack low-level Mythical Beasts. Its advantage is that it allows people in the rear to attack from the front, sharing some of the firepower.

The latter can use quite a few weapons, but it requires some practice time. Although attackers and operators can communicate in real-time via walkie-talkies and with the aid of surveillance video, when a crisis occurs, the reaction time left for people is very short. If they are not careful and don't react in time, the people above will be in danger. Although there are protective suits and parachutes, if they fall into a pile of Mythical Beasts, they will hardly escape death.

Xu Bai handed over the subsequent improvements in this area to Bai Shan, and then entrusted his three—no, four, as Ji Jingping was Bai Shan's student but also his own—students to Bai Shan, who would lead them in research.

For flying weapons, the most important thing is the engine. This is the foundation; it determines how high and fast a flying object can fly, and to what extent it can maneuver. If the engine can be improved, the future development of flying weapons will be broader.

Of course, Xu Bai also knew that a powerful engine alone wasn't enough; multi-faceted coordinated development was needed, for example, improving the accuracy of weapon attacks.

The difficulty here is that the aircraft needs to accurately attack Mythical Beasts from high altitudes, which again involves smart systems. Alas, there's no way around it; times are developing too fast, and many things in the later stages will require smart systems.