Chen Yi's Passion for Tinkering

It was past nine at night.

The business van arrived near Yifei.

Watching Chen Yi get out and leave, Professor Zhang took out his phone and dialed a confidential number.

"He's a genius.

In drone design and manufacturing, engine design, and other areas, he's better than most specialized professors.

But he lacks quite a bit of foundational knowledge in certain systems.

Overall, his performance matches the previous investigation and analysis report that concluded he was self-taught. The knowledge he possesses also aligns with the books and papers he has purchased over the past few years, as well as the advanced technology embodied in the Lunar Lander Drone.

It can be confirmed that all of Yifei's technology came from the hands of Yifei's owner himself."

The other end was silent for a while before an elderly voice asked, "So does that mean there is no possibility of outside forces behind Yifei?"

"Outside forces?"

Professor Zhang was speechless. "You people working in security and confidentiality are practically thinking yourselves insane.

A top-tier talent like this, to put it in the words from across the ocean, is worth three divisions.

The rotary detonation engine technology alone is worth at least one division.

If there really were outside forces, we should be applauding them and welcoming them to send more talents like this over."

Chen Yi knew nothing about Professor Zhang's phone call.

Of course, even if he did not know.

Chen Yi could still make a rough guess.

National defense was no trivial matter.

The technology Yifei had revealed was already capable of changing the global defense landscape.

The results of the previous investigation were no longer enough to safely assess the technological level Yifei had demonstrated.

The relevant confidentiality departments would definitely conduct some real-world verification.

They needed to confirm the source of Yifei's technology, confirm the genius of Yifei's owner, and confirm that there was not even the slightest possibility of outside forces behind Yifei.

If the verification passed, he would be a genuine "genius."

From then on, as long as he did not openly create black technology in public, or produce black technology with too great a leap and no preceding technology to support it, he would have nothing to worry about.

If the verification failed and the source of the technology could not be explained, he and Yifei would face restrictions.

Although the market economy had been in place for many years.

Without evidence that Yifei had broken any rules, they would not demand that Yifei go bankrupt or force him to hand over the technology.

But they could revoke Yifei's drone operating qualifications, revoke his drone pilot's license as Yifei's owner, and forbid him from tinkering with machines on the grounds that it had failed the security review.

That would be entirely reasonable and compliant.

"Good thing I anticipated this issue long ago and made up for some of my weaknesses through virtual learning. Otherwise, I might not have gotten through today."

Whistling, Chen Yi happily returned to the studio.

"Brother Yi!"

The moment he pushed open the door.

Qin Xiaoyu, who had been anxiously waiting, spotted Chen Yi's return immediately.

She cried out and hurried over, her eyes scanning him from head to toe as though checking whether any parts were missing.

"You still haven't gotten off work?"

Chen Yi glanced at Qin Xiaoyu, then looked toward Xia Keke and Flower Arm Zhang on the other side.

When he left today, he had not said anything about working overtime.

After He Yu joined, the studio had not had anything particularly urgent to deal with lately.

Why had none of them gone home?

And what was with Flower Arm Zhang?

It was already past nine. Why had he not gone to lift weights?

"We were waiting for you to come back, Boss."

Xia Keke picked up the conversation. "Everyone was worried about what happened after you were taken away. We couldn't get through on the phone, either."

"They just called me in to talk and ask about a few things. What could possibly happen? I'm a law-abiding citizen who pays his taxes on time."

Chen Yi said, "As for why the phone wouldn't connect, the conversation involved confidentiality rules, so the signal was electromagnetically blocked."

The signal had been electromagnetically blocked.

He had discovered that when he opened his laptop in the vehicle.

As for that vehicle, its electronic components had probably received special treatment to protect them against electromagnetic shielding.

"Old Chen, is Yifei joining the military-industrial supply chain?"

Flower Arm Zhang walked over, his tone eager. "If Yifei becomes a military supplier, how about letting me become a supplier for one of Yifei's subsidiary industries?

My dream is to one day become part of the military-industrial chain and contribute to national defense and the country.

My great-grandfather died fighting the Japanese, my grandfather was a lower-middle peasant, and my father was a retired volunteer soldier who became a migrant worker.

Three generations, red to the core.

With me included, that makes four generations of loyal patriots.

There definitely won't be any problems with background checks or anything like that!"

"You? A loyal patriot?"

Chen Yi glanced at the two massive tattoo sleeves exposed on Flower Arm Zhang's arms. "With that image, you wouldn't even pass the military physical examination, and you call yourself a loyal patriot?

They were only asking about a few things this time. They didn't ask Yifei to join the military-industrial supply chain. I'm afraid your dream will have to go down the drain."

"No way! With technology like Yifei's, why wouldn't they want Yifei in the military-industrial supply chain?" Flower Arm Zhang cried out in disbelief, his dream shattered.

"I think they had that intention, but I didn't want to."

"What are you thinking? Yifei has this kind of technology, yet instead of making a name for yourself in military industry, you're hiding here selling drone toys?"

"The military-industrial confidentiality system is too troublesome."

Chen Yi said calmly, "Still, even though Yifei isn't going into military industry, that professor invited me to enter his direct doctoral program. He said he'd look out for me from now on."

"Holy crap, Cao Cao!"

Flower Arm Zhang's reaction was even stronger this time, blurting out a national curse that crossed time itself.

Like Chen Yi, he had graduated from a vocational college. They had both tightened screws in factories and taken their beatings from society.

Flower Arm Zhang's greatest regret was that he had not studied hard back then and had not received much education.

Even though he had become a modestly successful boss over the past two years, that regret still lingered in Flower Arm Zhang's heart.

After all, greater wealth did not count as crossing social classes.

Only the combined improvement of wealth, knowledge, and education could be called a true class leap, one that benefited three generations.

But now.

Chen Yi had livestreamed a trip to the moon, gone out once, and come back with a doctoral degree practically reserved for him.

And the invitation had come personally from a professor.

This was truly taking off on the spot and joining the ranks of highly educated intellectuals.

How could Flower Arm Zhang not feel jealous?

"Don't get worked up yet."

Chen Yi patted Flower Arm Zhang on the shoulder and said calmly, "Although he invited me into the direct doctoral program, I turned him down."

Gah!

Flower Arm Zhang's expression froze.

Looking at Chen Yi's calm face, he gritted his teeth. "Just wait. Bring me a fifty-kilogram dumbbell tomorrow, and I'll smash it over your head."

What kind of person was this?

He was deliberately provoking him, wasn't he?

After teasing Flower Arm Zhang a little, Chen Yi did not continue.

He called the others out for a late-night meal, then returned alone to the work area on the second floor.

Chen Yi took out his laptop and began organizing and planning the things he needed to do soon, along with the matters requiring attention.

"The rotary detonation engine technology needs to be refined and upgraded over the next few days, then I'll extract the technology and send it to Professor Zhang."

"After that's done, the next step is researching the Hall thruster and preparing the relevant components to build myself a true space drone, one more advanced than chemical-fuel propulsion.

Without a doubt, propulsion more advanced than chemical fuel is ion propulsion, and the most suitable option is the Hall thruster.

Ion propulsion is easy enough to understand.

The first step is ionizing the propellant, splitting it into electrons and ions.

Since ions carry electrical charges, they can be accelerated through a magnetic field and then expelled, generating reverse thrust.

To put it vividly, it's like a series of ion-scale electromagnetic cannons.

The key component is the electromagnetic field module. To build one, I need stable energy-storage electromagnets, as well as a core power source for generating electricity."

"Also, if the space drone isn't following an orbit and instead travels directly through space, the requirements for the avionics control system won't be ordinary. At the very least, it will need Artificial Intelligence to assist with control."

Chen Yi looked excited, full of energy as he wrote line after line of plans and technical targets in his laptop.

If Qin Xiaoyu and Xia Keke, who knew him well, saw this scene, they would probably realize it.

Chen Yi's passion for tinkering with machines had flared up again.

It was the powerful spirit that burst forth when he faced something he loved.

It was the undying passion of designing a powerful drone aircraft from nothing.

Barring any surprises, tonight would be another all-nighter.

PS: The editor told me about the numbers today. They're terrible—so terrible that I almost didn't get a second round of recommendations.

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