Huaxia, Xilin Institute of Mathematics, 8 a.m.
Lv Bei had just walked into the courtyard when he saw Dou Dou Number Three rushing over.
There were usually four Dou Dou bodies in the yard, sharing one "soul", so theoretically, they were all Dou Dou. However, from a human perspective, even identical industrial products needed distinguishing features.
It made assigning tasks easier. For instance, which number should pair with which for night duty or recharging...
Dou Dou was very considerate of human thoughts, so it simply assigned numbers to each body.
There was no need to engrave the numbers on the bodies, as a number would illuminate on the screen during communication, indicating which Dou Dou it was, all at the CPU's command.
From a distance, Dou Dou Number Three called out, "Uncle Lv, Uncle Lv, my dad wants you to hurry to his office."
Lv Bei felt overwhelmed.
Every time Qiao Ze sought him out, there was always trouble afoot.
"Good news or bad?" Lv couldn't resist asking.
"I don't know about that, but it should be a small matter for Uncle Lv," Dou Dou replied innocently.
Lv Bei let out a small sigh of relief internally.
For those in security, no news was the best news. If there was a problem, better a small one. At least Lv Bei felt, given the current situation, that uneventful days weren't bad at all.
Because the advantage was currently on their side.
Although Lv Bei didn't understand the complex theories regarding economic patterns, he could see that everything was moving in a positive direction.
The most immediate proof was the rumor that even their salaries would increase later in the year.
It had been a long time since the last raise.
So, all one needed to do was wait.
Once the new material's production capacity was up in the next year or two, every industry should be able to surge forward again rapidly.
The most crucial was the progress of the underwater unmanned exploration mega-project within Xilin University of Technology.
Once all the engineering centers completed the prototypes and systems, and when the project was officially launched, Huaxia's production capabilities might mean that within a decade, the surrounding seas would hold no secrets from Huaxia.
Lv Bei had seen the project details.
If this unmanned system was actually established, although officially for scientific exploration, its performance specifications were clearly military-grade.
Especially that command system.
Put simply, if this thing ever became a reality, the entire maritime strategy would change.
The current proud battleships and aircraft carriers, no matter how powerful, would become moving targets.
In particular, in the field of electronic warfare, the three Bearers controlling nine hundred Explorer units could create a signal dead zone within about thirty kilometers.
For modern combat systems heavily reliant on electronics, this would be nothing short of a nightmare. Moreover, it was cost-effective – the three Bearers cost about 15 million yuan, and the nine hundred Explorers just over ninety million. Altogether, for just over a hundred million yuan, they could immobilize an aircraft carrier group worth hundreds of billions.
Therefore, Lv Bei truly hoped nothing would happen before the project came to fruition.
The days were peaceful now, and that would be sufficient to cause a shock when the project went live.
Especially for Qiao Ze, who, as the chief designer, should better not have any issues and continue safely.
Holding onto this thought, Lv climbed the stairs of the small building, heard a response from inside, and then pushed open the door to enter.
"Professor Qiao, you wanted to see me?"
"Yes, come and watch a video," Qiao Ze nodded.
Lv Bei was puzzled and glanced instinctively at Su Mucheng, noting the girl was studying intently with headphones on. Qiao Ze's expression also didn't seem angry, which eased Lv Bei a bit more.
It didn't seem like those annoying videos full of slander circulating online had been spotted by Qiao, so it probably wasn't anything serious.
Could it be something suspicious in last night's surveillance footage?
His mind working quickly, Lv Bei approached Qiao Ze, accepted the given headphones, put them on, and turned to the screen.
The scenery looked somewhat familiar, and so did the person standing at the podium.
Something seemed off...
Weren't those frequently seen bigwigs sitting in the front row?
Holy smokes, that was clearly the White House's spokesperson; those sitting up front were all important figures...
Were they releasing an international version of the material model?
Lv Bei glanced at the expressionless Qiao Ze before seriously turning back to the screen.
Working often in foreign contexts, Lv Bei's English was quite good. Still, the video considerately included subtitles for the host's speech.
Indeed, it was a material model launch event.
The other side even came up with a new name, Reverse Material Optimization Model, RMOM for short. It did sound rather prestigious.
The next part, about activation?
And then, buying activation codes?
Wait, was this something he was even supposed to be privy to?
"Ahem, Professor Qiao, where is this?"
Though he had a hunch, Lv Bei couldn't help but ask.
"Inside the White House, footage from seventeen minutes ago," Qiao replied.
"Ahem, ahem, ahem..." Lv Bei broke into violent coughing.
This was a small matter?
Lv couldn't have imagined that Dou Dou putting the USB drive to use would result in this.
Had artificial intelligence evolved to this degree?
"No need to get excited. It's not as miraculous as you think. This should be a public area inside the White House, where network security isn't as tight. Dou Dou didn't violate any laws; it utilized the network equipment from the press's own devices to collect these images."