178: Chapter 178 The Fourth Aircraft Carrier!

The next day.

Xu Hao, dressed in his work uniform, gathered all the employees of the shipyard for a major meeting.

At the meeting, he primarily explained the specific task arrangements and personnel assignments for this project.

Then, Xu Hao made an announcement.

"The lg-20 nuclear-powered aircraft carrier project is officially launched!"

Standing in the vast shipyard workshop, Xu Hao held a microphone and announced loudly.

Instantly.

Thunderous applause erupted throughout the entire workshop.

All the researchers and workers were visibly moved, their spirits incredibly high.

They were about to participate in a national defense project unlike any the Dragon Kingdom had ever seen.

A Nuclear-powered Aircraft Carrier!

This was the maritime behemoth that generations of people in the Dragon Kingdom had dreamed of.

This was the goal that thousands of researchers in the Dragon Kingdom had pursued for decades.

And now.

It was an immense honor for them to be able to participate in the research, development, and construction of this project.

After the brief meeting, they dove straight into the busy construction tasks.

Because Xu Hao used a group-based arrangement, each group was responsible for a specific system module.

With a clear division of labor, each group quickly received its own tasks.

In an instant, the entire workshop was buzzing with intense activity.

Xu Hao watched everyone with a smile, thinking to himself at the same time.

"I wonder how things are going on Academician Qian and Academician Du's end?"

Academician Qian Wenwen is a professor at the Nuclear Technology Research Institute.

Academician Du Zhongshu is a professor at the Materials Research Institute.

Their research teams are primarily responsible for the development of the nuclear reactor.

Of course, the development plan was naturally provided by Xu Hao.

The development of the nuclear reactor needed to be carried out in an absolutely safe laboratory, so it couldn't be moved to the Changxing Shipyard.

"However, with the detailed design principles and ideas I provided, there shouldn't be any major problems."

Xu Hao thought to himself.

...

Right as the Changxing Shipyard officially began the construction of the Nuclear-powered Aircraft Carrier.

The USA also took action.

Based on in-depth investigations and research by its own intelligence agencies and the East State National Conditions Investigation Team.

They believed that the Changxing Shipyard was definitely preparing to build a large vessel.

Meanwhile.

Intelligence personnel spent nearly three days meticulously organizing, categorizing, and summarizing all news related to the Dragon Kingdom's maritime equipment from previous years.

Finally, they reached a conclusion:

The Changxing Shipyard was very likely building the Dragon Kingdom's fourth aircraft carrier.

According to information provided by the 'Elite Eagles' who frequented the Dragon Kingdom's internet year-round, Chief of Bureau, an official member of the Strategic Deception Bureau, had once stated.

That it was impossible for the Dragon Kingdom to build another aircraft carrier in the coming years.

He repeatedly emphasized that it was impossible for the Dragon Kingdom to possess so many aircraft carriers.

And the role of the Strategic Deception Bureau was to deceive the countries hostile to the Dragon Kingdom, led by the USA.

Therefore, they concluded that the Dragon Kingdom must be building an aircraft carrier at the Changxing Shipyard.

But even so, this was still just their speculation.

Because their intelligence was truly limited.

Their spy satellites had been discovered by relevant departments in the Dragon Kingdom and could no longer observe the movements at the Changxing Shipyard.

However, even if it was just speculation, it didn't stop the USA from sensationalizing the matter.

"Is the Dragon Kingdom's construction of a fourth aircraft carrier intended to escalate regional tensions?"

"The Dragon Kingdom's gradually increasing military spending is pushing the nations of the Blue Planet toward the brink of war."

"The Dragon Kingdom is exacerbating regional instability!"

"We urge the Dragon Kingdom side to immediately halt the construction of the fourth aircraft carrier and not let the Blue Planet fall into another major war!"

USA officials held a press conference to strongly condemn the Dragon Kingdom's actions.

They also harshly criticized the Dragon Kingdom's act of unilaterally starting the construction of a fourth aircraft carrier.

The USA's move instantly sparked heated discussions among netizens.

Especially among the netizens of the Dragon Kingdom.

They didn't care at all about the USA's condemnation of the Dragon Kingdom.

Because everyone understood.

The more the USA blustered, the less willing it was to actually take action.

Instead.

Netizens were extremely interested in the 'reason' behind the USA's condemnation of the Dragon Kingdom.

Weibo.

*Dragon Kingdom's Fourth Aircraft Carrier Construction Begins!

This topic climbed the hot search rankings with lightning speed.

And it immediately took the top spot.

Numerous netizens clicked on the topic and engaged in heated discussions.

"What? The government has actually started building the fourth aircraft carrier?"

"Holy crap, that's awesome!"

"Aircraft carriers are starting to be produced like dumplings now..."

"Upon hearing this news, I silently took out my 'Seven Wolves' and lit one up."

"Yay! The Dragon Kingdom is going to have a fourth aircraft carrier!"

The netizens who learned this news were naturally overjoyed.

An aircraft carrier is a large maritime combat platform.

With this mobile platform, one can travel to distant oceans and conduct cross-regional military operations.

What the netizens didn't expect was that not long after the third aircraft carrier was launched, news of the fourth one would already arrive.

As the conversation continued, everyone began discussing other details about the fourth aircraft carrier.

For instance, its tonnage, what its name should be, and so on.

Of course.

The most heated discussion was still whether the fourth aircraft carrier would be nuclear-powered or conventionally powered.

A famous 'biased' military affairs expert on Weibo, 'Ha Ba Gou', posted a blog saying:

"The Dragon Kingdom's fourth aircraft carrier absolutely cannot be a nuclear-powered one."

"According to the information I've gathered, the Dragon Kingdom's nuclear reactor technology has failed to make a breakthrough and is still stagnating."

"So, even if the Dragon Kingdom starts building a fourth aircraft carrier, it can only be a conventionally powered one. That is an indisputable fact!"

Although Ha Ba Gou's words were very harsh and made netizens very uncomfortable.

It was true, as he said, that the Dragon Kingdom's nuclear technology had not yet achieved a major breakthrough.

It would be extremely difficult for the fourth aircraft carrier to be nuclear-powered.

Or rather, absolutely impossible!

It wasn't that the netizens lacked confidence, but rather that nuclear technology was indeed a current shortcoming for the Dragon Kingdom.

Facing shortcomings and gaps doesn't mean failure; it is for the sake of catching up more effectively.

Although the netizens were angry, they had no way to refute it.

Seeing Ha Ba Gou's smug, petty expression, they could only watch with resentment without arguing with him.

Some upset netizens posted threads to express their frustration.

"Sigh, if only the fourth aircraft carrier were nuclear-powered!"

"Although I really don't want to admit it, what Ha Ba Gou said is a fact. The Dragon Kingdom indeed hasn't fully mastered nuclear technology for aircraft carriers yet."

"There's no helping it; we started quite late, after all. To have achieved what we have today is already very good."

"Everyone, why so discouraged? Even if it's conventionally powered, so what? We're not the USA, going around robbing and invading other countries. Our aircraft carriers are for protecting our own citizens and deterring enemies!"

"Exactly! It's already very difficult to independently build an aircraft carrier. How many countries on the entire Blue Planet can do that?"

"Let's be content, okay? Do you want to run before you can walk? Give the Dragon Kingdom a little more time; Nuclear-powered Aircraft Carriers will come!"

Ha Ba Gou's post didn't discourage the Dragon Kingdom netizens.

On the contrary, it made them more united and shared a common hatred for the enemy.

The Publicity Department, which was monitoring all of this, did not step in to stop it, but instead allowed things to develop naturally.

As for the higher-ups in the Dragon Kingdom, they didn't say anything either.

It was as if they hadn't seen any of it.

Only a few insiders knew exactly what the specifications of the Dragon Kingdom's fourth aircraft carrier were!