Above the light blue earth, four long trails of flames propelled the huge vehicle body towards the boundless deep space at a rapid pace.
Without the obstruction of the atmosphere, in a short period of time, this bus was accelerated to ten times the speed of sound and quickly flew towards the established target that was empty.
On the ground, in the Shancheng Traffic Police Brigade, no one believed Liu Zhiyong and his team leader's words. However, when the footage from their recording devices was exported and played in front of everyone, all the traffic police in the brigade were stunned.
"This doesn't fall within our jurisdiction, does it?"
"Why doesn't it? Didn't you see that when it wasn't flying, it was still running on the ground with four wheels?"
"That makes sense!"
"Should we apply to the chief for some aviation vehicles? In the future, our Shancheng Traffic Police Brigade can also issue speeding tickets to airplanes."
Upon hearing this, Liu Zhiyong's eyes widened immediately;
"Can we really get the approval?"
The team leader beside him was amused by his apprentice's naive expression.
"Don't you see they're just talking nonsense? Do you really believe it?"
Finally, the captain of the traffic police brigade knocked on the table in the meeting room and said;
"Seal up the materials and transfer them to a higher level. Have you all forgotten the notice issued by the higher authorities some time ago? All information should be sealed up!
This meeting is adjourned!"
The next day, Wang Wei in the Beijing Command Center received the news from Shancheng. The moment he saw the report, he immediately led a team and rushed into the nearby Jian'an Building.
Luo Xiang's eyes lit up when he saw Wang Wei approaching;
"Just in time, I was about to look for you. Director Wang, do our domestic enterprises now have to be under the dual administrative supervision of Country C?"
Wang Wei was taken aback by the words before he could even open his mouth;
"What do you mean?"
Luo Xiang handed Wang Wei a newly received document and said in a depressed tone;
"The manufacturing factory subordinate to our Jian'an Technology received a collaborative investigation document from Country C today, asking us to prepare materials and welcome the inspection team from Country C."
Wang Wei frowned as he looked at the document in his hand and asked;
"What's the reason?"
"Suspected illegal international arms trade."
Wang Wei laughed upon hearing this;
"Your Jian'an Technology's business scope is getting wider and wider. Are you even involved in international arms trade? Have you reported it to the domestic authorities?"
Hearing Wang Wei's teasing, Luo Xiang said with a wry smile;
"Aren't the domestic inspectors always stationed at our headquarters? All the business activities we carry out are completely compliant and legal."
Wang Wei sneered and said;
"Since it's legal, why are you still afraid of them? A foreign country's sword can't be used to chop our own officials. Country C's reach is too long."
Luo Xiang pointed to a clause in the document and said;
"They initiated the investigation in the name of extraterritorial jurisdiction.
They said that among the equipment purchased by our Laiyang Steel Pipe Factory, part of the electronic components were produced and manufactured in their country, and all companies that have installed equipment parts from their country are included in the scope of jurisdiction."
"Laiyang Steel Pipe Factory?"
Wang Wei's expression turned serious as he thought of the report from the Academy of Sciences some time ago;
"Just ignore them. Now all the products of the Laiyang Factory have been included in the national control catalogue. Do you still need to be afraid of them coming to seal you up for a unique business?"
Luo Xiang said with a bitter smile;
"Our Jian'an has extensive investments in all the major developed countries in the world. Some time ago, the boss increased our capital limit a lot, and now we're investing money all over the world.
The document states that if we don't accept the inspection, all the projects of Jian'an in North America will be re-verified by them in the name of national security."
Wang Wei, who was frowning while reading the document, suddenly had an idea and remembered the purpose of his visit;
"Where's your boss? Have you been able to contact him? What did he say?"
"He's out of contact!"
Luo Xiang clapped his hands and said helplessly;
"A few days ago, after the boss arranged for our steel pipe factory to custom-produce a batch of special steel pipes, we couldn't get in touch with him."
Wang Wei frowned as he thought of the report from Shancheng that he had just received and asked;
"When exactly did he lose contact?"
"Yesterday."
"Damn it, I knew it. He must have sneaked back again!"
Wang Wei cursed and said helplessly;
"You can agree to their inspection at the Laiyang Factory. I will coordinate with the customs to reject their entry application.
They want to meddle in our affairs, but they have to see if we're willing!"
Upon hearing this, Luo Xiang was so excited that he quickly grabbed Wang Wei's hand and shook it vigorously;
"Oh, thank you so much, Director Wang. You've really helped us a great deal!"
"Hold on!"
Wang Wei pulled his hand back expressionlessly and said;
"I've helped you, so you should also support our work, right?"
Luo Xiang patted his chest and promised;
"Tell me, and I'll definitely do it!"
"Your boss custom-ordered a batch of special steel pipes. We also want a batch of the same model!"
This time, Luo Xiang didn't play any tricks. On the third day after Wang Wei led his team back, batches of goods of different sizes, with unknown uses and barely identifiable as steel pipes, were directly airlifted over.
Wang Wei looked at the old man who kept circling around these steel pipes in the factory building. He no longer had the usual firmness in his work;
"Academician Wang, have you got any results?"
Academician Wang looked at the serrated bell-mouthed pipeline that had been drilled for sampling in front of him, took the still warm fax document handed over by his assistant, and frowned;
"This is a graphene composite ceramic matrix pipe. Judging from its appearance, it should be the main frame structure used in a plasma electrospray engine."
Thinking of the blurry video transmitted back by the Shancheng traffic police, Wang Wei's expression changed;
"What kind of engine is it used for, inside the Earth's atmosphere or outside?"
Looking at the document in his hand, Academician Wang's frown deepened.
"The extremely high energy utilization rate of the plasma engine makes its application range very wide. Whether it's for navigation within the atmosphere or for use outside the atmosphere, it's the main concept of the ideal next-generation engine.
At present, the relevant research institute of our aerospace engine has once made an experimental model, and the comprehensive energy utilization rate has reached 64%.
Calculated according to the conductivity of this engine frame, the energy utilization rate of the other side's engine won't be much higher than ours."
"We already have it?"
Wang Wei thought of the huge irregular vehicle body that soared into the sky in the video and the slender shape of the country's fourth-generation aircraft, and he couldn't believe it;
"Is our country this advanced?"
"It's not a matter of being advanced or not."
Academician Wang explained;
"Compared with the turbofan engines and turboprop engines that we currently mainly use, their energy utilization rate is only between 30% and 40%.
To put this next-generation plasma engine into practical use, the problems of ultra-high voltage transmission of current and efficient utilization of energy must be solved.
Just as the main fuel of the current jet engines is aviation fuel, the main energy source of this engine can only rely on electricity.
If the conversion of electrical energy is added, its actual energy utilization rate will be much lower than that of our current mainstream engines.
At present, in our laboratory, with xenon as the medium, this experimental engine can at most maintain a thrust of 1 Newton.
According to the size of this engine frame of the other side, if it's really put into use, it can at least generate a thrust of several tons.
By comparison, it's like the leapfrog generational gap between the first-generation steam engine and the jet engine."
"Can we figure out how to make it?"
Academician Wang shook his head and said;
"The engine frame can be manufactured according to the sample of the other side, but to make it practical, it requires leapfrog breakthroughs in the fields of materials and energy."
"The other side has very mature applications of graphene, a next-generation material. This engine frame, combined with superconducting electromagnetic coils, has been able to solve the problem of the engine's working duration under the impact of high-energy electrons.
Even according to the application of the complex system of the current ultra-low-temperature superconductors, with huge thrust and energy utilization rate, it can be turned into practical equipment.
At present, for the practical application of large thrust of the plasma engine, our main solutions are still room-temperature superconductors and nuclear fusion reactors.
Without a breakthrough in the storage and conversion of electrical energy, you can't expect a single power plant to supply power to such a small engine alone."
Wang Wei said with a bitter smile upon hearing this;
"But the other side has already put it into practical use."
Academician Wang said helplessly;
"That can only mean that the other side has solved the problem of nuclear fusion. Judging from the size of this engine, it's highly likely that the other side has solved the technical problem of miniaturizing the fusion reactor."
"Can you tell that from this?"
Academician Wang looked at Wang Wei with the helpless expression he usually reserved for his research students and said;
"The standard configuration of this kind of engine is a thermonuclear fusion. Other energy supplies simply can't keep up with the engine's consumption.
A thermonuclear fusion reactor plus an energy conversion system will bring a huge volume that this small engine can't possibly push.
Since the other side has really put it into use, it can only mean that the other side uses a small-scale nuclear fusion method to supply power. Calculated according to the thrust ratio, the mass of the other side's energy core won't exceed one ton!"
"Why is it so fast?"
Academician Wang looked at the engine frame in front of him in disbelief;
"At the middle of the year, the other side was still working on a fission reactor. We've just figured out the usage logic of that fifth-generation thorium element fission reactor we brought in. In just half a year, the other side has even completed the miniaturization of nuclear fusion?"
Wang Wei asked curiously;
"If the other side is really an alien, isn't this kind of leapfrog development supposed to be normal?"
"No, no!"
Academician Wang shook his head and said;
"If you were thrown back into ancient society, you would be an alien who mastered a lot of technologies to them.
According to the productivity of ancient society, if you want to build a jet fighter, you also have to upgrade and apply from the basic industrial part bit by bit. At least, you need to reach the foundation of the first industrial revolution to build a simple piece of equipment with some practical value, which will take at least a generation's effort.
You can't expect ancient craftsmen to hammer out a jet engine with a hammer and a mallet.
There must be something we don't know about this."
After thinking for a long time, Academician Wang looked at Wang Wei seriously and said;
"If the other side has really put the miniaturized nuclear fusion reactor into practical application, it means that this technology is not as profound as we imagined.
At least, it's not so profound that there's always a gap of fifty years between us."