Chapter 171 Official: Our Intelligent Combat Platform Still Has Weaknesses

Liu Jianguo had given Li Jiajun his word, bragging that he would definitely provide him with a direction.

Immediately after, he hung up the phone on Li Jiajun, who had been signaling surrender, let out a long sigh, and leaned back into his office chair.

He had finally managed to stabilize this ticking time bomb.

He rarely brewed himself a cup of Dahongpao tea.

As the tea leaves unfurled in the cup, his suspended heart finally settled down.

The kid was finally willing to follow instructions.

This was no small improvement.

"Even a stubborn donkey is a good comrade as long as it's willing to pull the millstone," a thought surfaced in his mind.

As long as he assigned him an absolutely safe, purely civilian project to exhaust his energy, the world would be much quieter.

Liu Jianguo picked up his teacup, blew on the steam, and a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

What kind of task should he find for this kid?

Since it was the Li Family Toy Factory, he definitely had to make toys.

It had to satisfy his vanity for high-end customization while ensuring the technical ceiling remained locked within the civilian sector.

"Make a spinning top for kids?"

This thought first popped into Liu Jianguo's mind.

Spinning tops were good; simple structure, primitive principle, just a rotating piece of iron—surely that couldn't be used for war.

But the next second, his hand holding the teacup froze in mid-air.

His mind automatically conjured up Li Jiajun's excited face, along with the heavily modified version of a spinning top he might come up with.

Given that kid's personality, he definitely wouldn't be satisfied with a regular wooden spinning top.

He would most likely install a superconducting magnetic levitation bearing on the top, pushing the rotation speed to one hundred thousand revolutions per minute.

That wasn't even all; for stability, he might even add a micro-vector rocket booster.

Finally, for wear resistance, he would use that tungsten-chromium-cobalt memory superalloy of his.

Liu Jianguo shuddered.

How was that a spinning top?

That was clearly a hypersonic tactical armor-piercing drill capable of penetrating main battle tank armor.

"No, a spinning top is too dangerous."

Liu Jianguo shook his head and rejected this plan.

"Then, how about a rubber duck for kids to play with in the bath?"

This had to be safe, right? Made of plastic, floating on water, no harm in that.

But Liu Jianguo's professional sensitivity immediately made him think of the subsequent developments.

To make the rubber duck swim realistically, Li Jiajun would definitely install a bionic silent pump-jet thruster.

To allow the duck to avoid obstacles in the bathtub, he would surely install a micro multi-beam sonar detection array.

Finally, he'd add AI image recognition to distinguish whether it was a bathtub or the open ocean.

There it was—that was just an intelligent micro anti-submarine unmanned underwater vehicle capable of automatically tracking underwater targets and killing without a trace.

If he sold this to the coast, those foreign submarines off the coast of the Eastern Country would probably be afraid to even surface for air in the future.

"This won't work either."

Liu Jianguo rubbed his temples in agony.

Over the next few days, he thought of countless plans, only to reject them one by one himself.

Even if he asked him to dig sand, Liu Jianguo suspected he would casually whip up a rapid excavation machine for individual bunkers.

Liu Jianguo felt a bit dejected; in front of this guy with excessive comprehension, there didn't seem to be any absolutely safe civilian products in the world.

As long as it was man-made, once it reached his hands, he could always add a different flavor to it.

He was so worried that his hair was falling out in clumps, and his hairline was receding at a visible speed.

He felt that finding a proper job for this big shot was harder than solving a world-class military problem.

Just when Liu Jianguo was frowning about this and on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

"Knock, knock, knock!"

The office door was knocked on.

Secretary Xiao Zhao pushed the door open and entered, looking serious: "Director Liu, the General Armament Department has notified us that an emergency meeting will be held immediately, and all heads of first-level units must attend."

Liu Jianguo's heart skipped a beat.

Emergency meetings of this level usually didn't mean anything good.

...

Two hours later, the No. 1 conference room of the General Armament Department was filled with smoke.

On the huge projection screen, a video was playing.

In the video, the new mechanical dog from the Ugly Country's Boston Dynamics was running and jumping on rugged terrain, and even when kicked from the side, it could quickly regain its balance.

Its agile movements and powerful off-road capabilities made the Experts and leaders present look grave.

The theme of the meeting was very clear: technical breakthroughs for unmanned intelligent combat platforms.

Also commonly known as war robots.

The commanding officer presiding over the meeting tapped the table, his voice heavy: "Comrades, the situation is pressing. The Ugly Country has already made breakthrough progress in this field, which means that in future ground wars, they might possess an iron legion with zero casualties. And what about us? Our technical reserves are currently lagging behind in every aspect!"

The officer's gaze swept across the room: "High torque density motors in hardware, all-terrain dynamic balance algorithms in software, and multi-modal perception system integration—these are all stumbling blocks! But we must overcome them!"

The atmosphere of the meeting was very oppressive.

This wasn't a problem that could be solved by shouting a few slogans.

The domestic foundation in this area was indeed weak, and catching up would not be easy.

After a heated discussion and task allocation, the meeting finally ended unhappily.

Each unit received its own task.

Bipedal, quadrupedal, multi-legged.

And the unit where Liu Jianguo worked received the task of tackling a quadrupedal intelligent combat platform.

When he returned to his office, Liu Jianguo felt like his legs were filled with lead.

The pressure was too great.

The miniaturization of servo motors was always stuck at the materials hurdle.

The dynamic balance algorithm failed miserably in every test.

And that damned system integration—it was like trying to stuff the performance of a sports car into the volume of a bicycle.

Which one wasn't a bottomless pit?

He slumped in his chair, looking at the technical parameter documents on his desk, his mind in a mess.

Internal troubles and external threats.

Outside, there was Li Jiajun waiting for him to point the way, and inside, there was an impossible task waiting for him to fill the void.

This life was unbearable.

"Buzz, buzz."

Just then, his private phone on the desk vibrated.

Liu Jianguo picked it up and took a look; the name flashing on the screen was none other than the source of his rising blood pressure, Li Jiajun.

And it was a video call.

Liu Jianguo took a deep breath, suppressed the urge to throw the phone out the window, and pressed answer.

On the screen, Li Jiajun's big, expectant face was pressed right up against the camera.

"Uncle Liu! Uncle Liu!"

Li Jiajun was very excited, his eyes shining, "It's been a few days since we last spoke; have you thought about that direction you mentioned last time? Except for the ones producing giant jump ropes, all the machines in my factory have been stopped for days, and the workers are waiting for food! You can't fool me!"

Looking at this face and listening to this life-urging voice, Liu Jianguo's head exploded with frustration.

I am breaking my heart here for the future of the country, and you kid only know how to nag, nag, nag!

Can't you let me catch my breath for a second?!

A wave of anger surged up, mixed with exhaustion, making Liu Jianguo completely lose his patience.

He just wanted this noisy voice to disappear so he could sit quietly and stare at that pile of technical problems.

"What are you nagging for! It's only been a few days? Don't you know that good things take time?!"

Liu Jianguo said to the phone, sounding annoyed, "I'm in a meeting researching your matter! Give your uncle some more time, and I will definitely find you a good job that is absolutely unconventional! Hanging up!"

After speaking, he didn't wait for Li Jiajun to say anything else and immediately pressed the hang-up button.

The world was finally quiet.

Liu Jianguo threw the phone aside, leaned back wearily against the chair, and rubbed his throbbing temples vigorously.