However, just when he thought the matter could be laid to rest, Langley received another important piece of intelligence.
"There is ample evidence that Huaxia has synthesized the stable isotope of the new element - 311, and there is conclusive evidence that this material model simulation was for producing a new type of battery material.
This stable isotope of the new element possesses many special properties, able to improve energy density exponentially, and is safer."
Really, when Romand Willy saw this intelligence, he nearly spat out a mouthful of old blood.
The timing of obtaining this information was just too outrageous. It precisely coincided with this critical juncture.
For a moment, Romand Willy suspected that everyone in Langley could be getting kickbacks from dealing with the activation codes for artificial intelligence.
He even thought it was obvious what kind of wonderful chain reaction this intelligence would provoke if it reached those big shots.
So, with barely any thought, Romand Willy spoke up, "This intelligence needs to be suppressed, file it away."
Then he saw his secretary not responding and couldn't help frowning and asking, "What does that mean?"
"Actually, this isn't intelligence that we obtained, but it was copied over to us from a brother department," the secretary answered.
Only then did Romand Willy take a closer look at the source of the intelligence and discovered that it was first acquired by the National Investigation Bureau. He felt terrible all of a sudden.
After pondering for a moment, he said in astonishment, "They don't deal with satellites, how could they have such intelligence? Is the source reliable?"
"It is claimed to be absolutely reliable."
"Huh..." Romand Willy forced a smile, very bitter.
At the same time, at Xilin Ascension Group.
Lu Zhongguo was once again filled with energy recently.
This time it was because the Yuesheng Group had signed a contract with the Sea Bottom Unmanned Cluster Engineering Research Center of Xilin University of Technology.
This contract was for the opening of new mold designs for some structural parts, and also included orders for three types of sensing equipment.
Moreover, the responsibility for fulfilling this order was once again entrusted to him.
Although it was again a case of tight schedules and heavy tasks, according to the contract signed by the group, if manufacture could be completed within the designated time, the profit would be astoundingly high.
Most crucially, as the project manager, he would not only receive a handsome bonus, but his salary was raised by two levels.
Based on the calculations provided in the contract, if he could steadily fulfill these orders, his income could double from its original basis this year.
It wasn't just him—all the engineers and frontline workers involved in the project would see a significant increase in their income.
Dou Dou's judgment was correct.
For middle-aged men like Lu Zhongguo, there was nothing more motivating than tangible monetary rewards.
The increase in salary meant he could pay off his mortgage twenty years earlier, it meant his child could receive a better education, and the future life of his family would be more secure.
You see, for wage earners like Lu, every doubling of the salary brought exponential growth in happiness.
The logic is quite simple: maintaining a family's livelihood has a fixed cost.
For a three-person family like Lu's, coupled with a monthly mortgage of 3,500, the average monthly fixed expenses come to about 7,500.
Their days could be described as tight.
After all, before, Lu Zhongguo's post-tax salary was only about 9,000, and his wife, focusing mainly on nurturing their child, took an easy job with a monthly salary of only 2,500.
That is, on average, they could only save 4,000 a month.
This was still assuming that none of the three people fell ill. With any unexpected events, they would end up living paycheck to paycheck.
But ever since Lu's post-tax salary reached 20,000, setting aside fixed expenses, the family's monthly surplus directly soared to 15,000.
Even if 5,000 was taken out every month to improve the quality of life, buying some things they once dared not purchase, or dining out more frequently, they could still save 10,000 a month.
Now, it was truly remarkable.
If he could perfectly execute the orders, and the monthly salary genuinely increased to 40,000, aside from the vast improvement in living conditions for the family, just the enhancement of his status at home would be unprecedented.
What seemed insignificant in Qiao Ze's eyes meant dignity and confidence for countless ordinary middle-aged men in Huaxia like Lu Zhongguo.
And capitalists like Dou Dou, who enjoyed motivating workers through financial incentives, were fast becoming living Buddhas in the eyes of beneficiaries like Lu Zhongguo.
However, something Lu Zhongguo never imagined happened.
Just when everyone had rolled up their sleeves and was ready to work hard, another piece of news came from the group's general management office.
The client requested to re-sign a bonus contract to reward frontline workers for completing the task with high quality and on time.
While everyone was worried that the rewards might be overly generous and that the client was calling for a change, the latest news came through.
The new bonus contract added an extra 20% on top of the original rewards to be distributed among all the workers.
Really, when Lu Zhongguo heard this news, he initially thought it was an April Fool's joke.
After all, who the hell had heard of a scenario where a contract had already been signed, without any special circumstances, even when the project had just begun, and without any demands made by Party B, yet Party A suddenly proposed to give Party B more money?
"Lu, the other side indeed requested this. It is said that the project received additional sponsorship, and to motivate and ensure everyone's dedication to completing the tasks with quality and on schedule, an extra bonus was added.
Moreover, this amount isn't included in the profits and must be distributed according to the rank to all the engineering staff of the project department. It's not just us; all selected suppliers for this project have increased their bonus plans. This money was additionally allocated by that artificial intelligence."
"This isn't artificial intelligence; this is a living Buddha!"