Chapter 86 An Unprecedented Scale

Inside the conference room of the confidential hotel in the Beijing suburbs.

The military industry bigwigs present, especially the heads of Chengfei Group, struck a posture of demanding to be sent to the front lines, strongly requesting to go personally to witness the technology capable of overturning the future pattern of air combat.

Their reasoning was sound; this technology was too bizarre, and only they, who understood the bottlenecks of the Sword Project best, could make the most accurate judgment on the spot.

The Old General looked at this group of usually steady national treasure-level Experts, now all flushed with excitement, and finally nodded.

Thus, following the Swarm Drone incident, a large-scale, higher-level joint investigation team was urgently established once again.

This time, the lineup was very powerful.

In addition to the old faces from the military, National Security, and the MIIT,

along the way, core Experts from the Air Force Equipment Department were also added.

Even more noteworthy was that Academician Zhang Jingmin, the Chief Engineer of Chengfei Group, along with several of his most core materials science Experts, also volunteered to join this team.

The investigation team had only one goal — Lu Province, Baishui City, Li Family Toy Factory.

It was morning, and the sun was shining brightly.

At the military airport in the western suburbs of the Imperial Capital, on the huge runway, a gray military transport plane was parked quietly on the tarmac, the sunlight shining on the fuselage, reflecting a metallic luster.

The ground crew had completed their final checks, the gangway had been lowered, and it was ready to take off at any time.

Academician Zhang Jingmin and several Experts from his team were gathered around a military encrypted laptop, repeatedly dragging the progress bar, analyzing the surveillance footage urgently retrieved from the Baishui City traffic police system frame by frame.

The resolution of that footage was not high.

"Look here!" A young Expert pointed at a frame on the screen just before the vehicle disappeared, his voice trembling with excitement, "The light is slightly distorted at the edges of the vehicle body! This is very similar to the gravitational lensing effect predicted in our theoretical models, but it was actually achieved at room temperature and pressure!"

"It's truly unimaginable..." Academician Zhang Jingmin adjusted his reading glasses and muttered to himself, "We have always tried to achieve our goal by changing the physical properties of the materials themselves, but judging from this video, it... it seems to have changed light itself..."

Their discussion was filled with all sorts of obscure technical terms, each word representing the most cutting-edge exploration in the field within the country.

But at this moment, these explorations seemed so pale in the face of a toy factory.

Their eyes didn't look like they were analyzing evidence for a case, but rather like they were admiring a miraculous creation.

For them, this trip to Baishui City was not an investigation, but a pilgrimage.

They wanted to see with their own eyes what kind of eccentric genius could research something that they hadn't been able to research despite spending so many resources.

Not far away, Liu Jianguo was leaning back in his seat, resting with his eyes closed.

He did not participate in the Experts' frenzied discussion, just listened quietly.

A complex bitter smile hung on his face.

'Here we go again...' he thought, speechless, 'This kid, he really can't settle down without causing some kind of trouble.'

He had completely accepted his fate as a fire brigade captain.

He just didn't expect that the second emergency call would come so quickly, and the fire would be so much bigger than the last one.

"Report, Chief, all personnel have boarded, ready to take off at any time!" A service soldier walked over, saluted, and reported.

The Old General nodded and gave the order: "Take off."

Accompanied by the roar of the engines, the special plane, carrying the future hope of Eastern Country's aviation industry, drew a silver trajectory in the bright sunlight and flew toward Baishui City, thousands of miles away.

...

Meanwhile, at the center of the storm, in Li Jiajun's factory manager office, it was sunny and warm.

Li Jiajun was completely unaware of everything about to happen in the outside world.

He was leaning comfortably in his boss chair, drinking iced cola while streaming, chatting and joking with tens of thousands of Netizens in the live stream.

The great success of dragon knight no. 1 put him in an excellent mood.

Although there were some small accidents, the final result was good, right? The product's performance was certified by the entire internet, and his persona had also transformed from an arms dealer to a high-end children's toy designer; it was simply a double harvest of fame and fortune.

He felt that his business empire could start expanding again.

"family, to be honest, I've made a little money recently, and I feel a bit empty in life." Li Jiajun looked at the camera with a humblebrag expression, "Money, this thing, once you earn enough of it, it really just becomes a string of numbers, it's meaningless."

The barrage in the live stream exploded instantly.

"Damn! The Streamer is starting! He's at it again!"

"Brothers in front, make way, I've brought my blade! Don't anyone try to stop me!"

"Main Streamer, shut up! I can't even afford instant noodles this month!"

Looking at the screen full of wailing, the smile on Li Jiajun's lips widened.

In order to make his financial freedom appear more concrete, he simply opened the website of a local high-end real estate agency.

"Sigh, people have to have some pursuits while they're alive. Money is meaningless, but spending money is always interesting, right?" As he spoke, he skillfully clicked on the most expensive real estate listings on the website, "Today we won't talk about technology or toys; let's do some cloud house hunting and see how unpretentiously simple the lives of the rich are."

He clicked on a river-view villa area called Cloud Palace, and exquisite promotional pictures immediately popped up on the screen.

Detached villas, with their own gardens, facing the big river.

"This won't do," Li Jiajun shook his head, looking disgusted, "The privacy is too poor, the neighbors are too close. What if I'm working on some small invention at home one day and make a big commotion, scaring the neighbors? That wouldn't be good."

The barrage scrolled crazily again.

"I don't believe you! How big of a commotion can your small invention make? Last time you knocked down a wall!"

"The Main Streamer has redefined the three words 'big commotion'."

"I beg you, stop humblebragging. I haven't even had dinner yet, and watching your stream has filled me up."

Li Jiajun ignored these barrages and clicked on another top-floor duplex property also called Cloud Palace.

It was a sky villa located at the top of the tallest building in the city center, with 360-degree panoramic floor-to-ceiling windows, an open-air swimming pool, and a private elevator.

"Hmm... this seems okay." Li Jiajun stroked his chin and analyzed seriously, "The view is nice, high enough, quiet enough. I just don't know if I can park a plane on the roof."

As soon as he said this, the live stream was quiet for 0.5 seconds, and then a more intense wave of roasting erupted.

"Park... park a plane? Main Streamer, have you lost your mind?"

"I'm falling apart, brothers. I'm still struggling with whether to renew my monthly pass for the shared bike, and the Streamer is already considering parking a plane on the top floor!"

Li Jiajun looked at the barrage, feeling that the timing was about right, and delivered the heaviest blow of the day.

He looked at the camera and asked for help from the vast number of Netizens in a sincere tone:

"family, no jokes, give me some advice. After my toy car sells well this time, do you think I should buy myself a top-floor duplex like this with a helipad in the city center, to make it convenient for working on new projects later?"

These words completely shattered the psychological defenses of all the Netizens in the live stream.

On the screen, it was a sea of wailing, filled with the sour taste of lemons.

And Li Jiajun, watching this scene, took a sip of cola with satisfaction.

He had absolutely no idea that a team composed of the country's top Experts was boarding a special plane and speeding toward his toy factory.