I Found A Planet

Actually, this was not the first time that Xing Hai Technologies would be working with the military. Many military departments wanted to use the Work Assistant when it was launched. But the core parameters of most of the equipment such as the weapons operations systems, missile control programs, and radars on the fighter jets could not be uploaded onto the server. A leak could happen.

Xing Hai Technologies had to specially build a set of servers for those military departments so that sensitive data could remain classified. Only the military researchers from the management had access to these servers. Even so, Xinghai Technology’s background operation and maintenance personnel found that there were more than 100,000 programmers specially dedicated to the military. There were many expert programmers amongst them.

After the scandal of Google’s “Backdoor Incident” had broken out, the military had approached companies in the “Star Alliance” and signed billion-dollar orders to free themselves from the dependence on Android devices.

Including today’s request, this would be the third time that the military had actively sought out collaboration with Xing Hai Technologies. And the first thing that they asked for was the “Supernova 1!”

What did they want to use it for? What was their purpose in purchasing so many units of the supercomputer? Chen Jin really wanted to ask this question. But upon further thought, he decided not to.

Rocket testing, engine development, explosions from nuclear weapons… Was there anything that the virtual factory could not do? He predicted that soon after the military had gotten their hands on the “Supernova 1” that was installed with the virtual factory, another wave of highly advanced weapons in various forms would arrive. The world would become more peaceful and harmonious.

As he thought of this, the depression in Chen Jin was lifted. He immediately said, “Sure, Xing Hai Technologies will sell three Supernova 1 to you!”

Yuan Lang’s face lit up with delight. He asked, “Then… What’s the price?” He was rather apprehensive about this.

Chen Jin threw the question back at him. “What do you think is a suitable price?”

“This… This is… Ten… cough, cough! It’s better for President Chen to name a price!” Yuan Lang smiled awkwardly. He wanted to follow the orders given by the higher-ups and state a price of 1 billion for a unit. But he thought that 1 billion was dirt cheap considering the value of the virtual factory. It was so cheap that people might come out in droves to grab a unit for themselves. His conscience told him that 1 billion for a unit was too cheap. But the higher-ups had approved of only 3 billion for this transaction. His mission was to buy three units with this 3 billion.

Now that he had given away his initiative, he felt an immediate sense of regret. He forced a smile and added, “President Chen, we are buying this equipment for the protection of the country. I hope that you can sell them at a cheaper price.” Yuan Lang spoke in polite terms. He was born into the army and did not like to be calculative. Even though he did not like the atmosphere in a business negotiation, he had no choice but to go through it frequently. After all, every dollar and every cent that the military spent was the blood and sweat of the civilians.

“Oh, you want it cheaper?” However, he heard Chen Jin continue, “I had intended to sell one unit for 1 billion. Was that too expensive? How about this, I’ll give you a 10% discount since you are buying in bulk. 900 million for one unit. This price should be acceptable?” He even added, “I can give you a greater a discount if you buy even more the next time.” This offer by Chen Jin seemed to have made the package deal of a supercomputer+virtual factory into a price elastic product. The more units one purchased, the greater the discount.

Yuan Lang quickly said, “Yes, it’s acceptable!” He grinned from ear to ear. This was too unexpected. He had saved 300 million! Fearing that Chen Jin would take back his words, he quickly added, “President Chen, let’s sign the purchase contract immediately. We’ll set it at 900 million per unit.”

Chen Jin threw back his head and laughed heartily, giving the impression of someone with more money than sense. Actually, he had his own plans. He was hoping to establish a friendly relation by selling it so cheaply. He would become friends with the military. What were the benefits of making friends with the military? He could not tell what the benefits were for now. There were no instant results. But there were definitely no disadvantages! He should establish good relationships and make friends not only with the military, but also with other organizations like the various government departments and state-run enterprises. There might not be any benefits, but there were definitely no disadvantages.

Moreover, the country had become prosperous and powerful. The armies were mighty and the environment had stabilized. Xing Hai Technologies could also develop with a peace of mind, without fear of external harassment and suppression… This was a win-win situation.

The purchase contract was quickly signed. Due to the large order, the delivery of the three “Supernova 1” would only start after three months and the full order would be delivered in six. They had to wait for some time. Yuan Lang reflected this situation back to the higher-ups. In turn, they replied, “Can you give us one unit now? We have a research project that needs to use it urgently. It’s best if we can receive the item within a month. We can pay an additional fee for that!”

This request was made to Chen Jin. Chen Jin shook his head. “This is not an issue of money. Xing Hai Technologies only has a total of five Supernova 1. Four are for our own uses and one has been ordered by Shangfa Corporation. We have to procure the various parts before assembling a new Supernova 1. This would take three months or more.”

“What? Your company is using four? Isn’t that too many? Can you transfer one of them for our use? We really have an urgent need for one.” That higher up military official was very surprised. Four supercomputers. Were they running a supercomputer internet cafe?

“I can’t transfer it out. All the supercomputers are running at full capacity with the various projects. Our projects and servers would be interrupted once the supercomputers are transferred. This will affect our day-to-day operation. The clients will be unhappy. I really can’t move any one of them! But…” Chen Jin added, “About 50% of the computing speed of our fourth supercomputer is idling. If you are really in urgent need, you can bring your project over and run it on the supercomputer. Half of the supercomputing speed should be sufficient. You can use it free of charge… Is that ok?”

“Um….” The other party gave it some thought but had no choice except to agree. “Ok! We’ll send someone over!” The higher-up official from the military accepted Chen Jin’s plan of compromise.

…

On the evening of that very same night, a military aircraft slowly descended on Shang Hai International Airport. Dozens of armed special forces and experts carrying computers for military use alighted from the plane… They got onto two buses and went straight to the eighth development plant of Xing Hai Technologies in the Bao Shan District.

The special forces sealed off half of the development plant. Staff was restricted from entering or exiting a portion of the area. The armed forces were on high alert and the atmosphere was rather tense. But it was the first time that the experts from the military had come across the virtual factory so they did not know how to operate it. The technicians from Xing Hai Technologies guided them step by step for three days. After teaching them, they were all chased out by the group of special forces who gave the reason of “maintaining secrecy.”

Even so, Feng Xuehong, who was the leader of the technical team sent to provide guidance, was also a highly experienced fan of the military. He had more or less guessed what the military experts were developing.

He called Chen Jin. He said excitedly into the phone, “President Chen. It’s too amazing. The equipment that those experts from the military are developing is simply too amazing. It will transform the structure of this entire world.”

“What equipment?” Chen Jin, who had been messing around all day with a call girl, lowered his voice. He was very curious.

“The detonation engine!” Feng Xuehong said, “The detonation engine that they will soon have a breakthrough with! Look at how anxious those experts are. This means that the sixth generation of our country’s fighter jets will soon take their first flight!”

F**k! The sixth generation of fighter jets! We actually achieved a breakthrough so quickly?

Realizing the detonation engine in the military sector was akin to taking the opportunities at tight corners to make swift progress. This would fully solve the core issues. Chen Jin was stupefied. He immediately said, “Keep it a secret! Don’t ever tell this to anyone else. If this is leaked, I won’t protect you even if you are faced with a death sentence.”

“I know, I know. President Chen, I won’t tell this to anybody else. I promise to keep this secret to myself. Haha, hahahaha…”

The sixth generation of fighter jets. They were equipped with the detonation engines of the next era that had a simple structure, high thrust-to-weight ratio, and low production cost. Once it was successfully launched and Merica got wind of it, they would probably faint from shock!