"Got it!"
At Jinling Aviation, someone shouted.
Wu Ande quickly pressed the telescope's capture button, using the phone connected to it to photograph the tracked footage.
"Quick, quick, quick! Let me see—did we really get it?!"
Shao Kaiwang was the first to rush over. He took the phone off the telescope and opened the gallery.
The moment he looked, Shao Kaiwang froze, one hand involuntarily clutching his heart.
"Wangwang, what's with that expression? Don't tell me it's fake?"
Lin Qian walked over, took the phone, and froze after one glance as well.
The next moment, she went to the laptop beside her, minimized the enlarged avionics data interface, and revealed the full livestream feed.
Watching Hurricane continue tracking and filming the debris filling the sky in the livestream, Lin Qian felt her breathing tighten.
"What happened? Why do you all look so grim?" Seeing their expressions, Lin Weijie and Luo Zehai came over curiously.
"The model aircraft was destroyed. That model aircraft that flew up to 230,000 meters and nearly reached orbital velocity—it was destroyed."
Shao Kaiwang answered listlessly.
Although the model aircraft was not his, he was a student of aircraft research and design.
Seeing a model aircraft capable of reaching satellite altitudes and nearly attaining orbital velocity, it was impossible not to be curious about it, not to love it.
But now, such a model aircraft had simply been destroyed.
Shao Kaiwang found it hard to describe how he felt.
"That really is insane."
Luo Zehai and Lin Weijie watched the model drone on the phone suddenly maneuver into a turn before breaking apart into debris and firework-like flames.
They exchanged a glance, both unable to hide their shock.
Anyone with eyes could tell at once.
Chen Yi had controlled the model aircraft himself and made it disintegrate high in the sky.
"This model aircraft still had a chance to land.
The fact that it could fly supersonically meant its aerodynamic layout was excellent, with a high lift coefficient and low drag coefficient.
It hadn't exceeded orbital velocity. As long as the engine was shut down, it could naturally decelerate and drift around the planet.
Once its speed dropped enough, the engine could be reignited, and the remaining fuel could be used to adjust its attitude. Landing would have been no problem—so why destroy it?!"
Shao Kaiwang cried out in anguish.
He wanted nothing more than to drag out Chen Yi, the streamer he had followed for years and his mentor in the field of aircraft, and beat him senseless.
"The planet is rotating. If it decelerated and landed naturally like that..."
Lin Weijie made a rough calculation in his head and shook his head. "The seller would have to go to the far northwest to pick it up."
No matter how formidable the model aircraft was, it was still an industrial product.
For a seller capable of making such a model aircraft, producing one might only cost a few thousand yuan.
Rather than carrying antennas into the far northwest and tracking the model aircraft the whole way, it was far more convenient to let it disintegrate at high altitude and use the atmosphere to destroy it.
"My heart hurts!" Shao Kaiwang cried to the sky.
"Come on, let's save the livestream video and ask the professor about it.
A model aircraft that could go supersonic and climb straight to 230,000 meters had an incredible engine, but its airframe's aerodynamic layout had to be extraordinary too.
If we figure out that aerodynamic layout, then get a more powerful engine during summer break, the academy's model aircraft competition next September will be ours!"
Lin Qian found Chen Yi's livestream replay and called Shao Kaiwang and the others over to consult their professor.
"Lin Qian, there's no need to look for another engine."
Luo Zehai took out his phone and opened Chen Yi's homepage. "This streamer just listed the same engine. 28,999 per unit, delivery within ten days if you order now, limited to 1,000 units."
"Hiss! For 28,999, why doesn't he just rob people?!"
Lin Qian sucked in a breath, doing her part for global warming.
"This engine shot straight up from the ground and nearly hit orbital velocity. Is 28,999 expensive?" Luo Zehai asked strangely.
For turbine-powered model aircraft, technology was the primary productive force.
Even ordinarily, a decent turbine-powered model aircraft cost fifty or sixty thousand yuan, sometimes even over a hundred thousand.
An engine that could shoot straight up from the ground and nearly reach orbital velocity for 28,999 was already dirt cheap.
"Not expensive."
Lin Qian gritted her teeth. "But I can't afford it!"
Penghai City Park.
Not long after the model drone disintegrated, Chen Yi ended the livestream, had Xia Keke list the engines, and began packing up to leave.
But before he had finished packing, Xia Keke, who had been constantly monitoring the backend data, cheered and ran over.
"Boss, the orders exploded! Our orders exploded! All 1,000 engines sold out in less than two minutes!"
"Sold out?"
Chen Yi looked up, thought for a moment, then smiled. "Looks like our peers are pretty enthusiastic."
Individual players generally would not buy a 28,999-yuan engine quite so readily. On top of that, Yifei's traffic had already been declining. The livestream had only just ended, and most model aircraft enthusiasts did not even know this engine existed yet.
Those who had reacted and ordered so quickly were probably mostly model drone sellers or factories looking to buy one to study.
"List another 3,000 units, with delivery within twenty days. We can't let the real customers who want one fail to get one."
"Understood. But Boss, aren't we worried other sellers might reverse-engineer something from it?" Xia Keke continued listing another 3,000 units as she asked worriedly.
"Even if they figure it out, it won't matter." Chen Yi answered indifferently.
On the surface, what he was selling was an engine.
But in reality, what he was selling was the material needed to manufacture the engine.
Without his low-temperature thermal-strengthening material, even if they knew the engine's blueprints, the only way to make an engine with the same performance would be to use powder alloy.
The kind of powder alloy used for the core turbine discs of real fighter jets and the core turbines of space rockets.
Never mind that the cost of that material alone would be terrifying.
The processing cost of turning it into an engine was far beyond what ten or twenty thousand yuan could cover.
Chen Yi was not worried at all that other sellers could threaten him through reverse engineering.
"Old Chen, you really weren't being decent this time. You had such a beast of a turbine-powered model aircraft, yet you sold me that ducted-fan garbage."
After Chen Yi finished dealing with everything, Old Zhang, who had witnessed the entire process from the other side, walked over and called out warmly, "Two hundred units. I want two hundred of these engines every month. Give me a wholesale price."
Chen Yi automatically ignored Old Zhang's earlier words and looked at his arm, which was even more covered in tattoos than the last time they had met. "You want me to supply engine parts. Aren't you afraid of falling out with your supplier?"
Unlike Chen Yi, who had his own small workshop factory and could produce some parts himself while running his own brand, Old Zhang and his people mainly relied on upstream suppliers for components.
Put simply, Old Zhang was just a salesman selling goods.
If he asked Chen Yi to supply engine components now, he would inevitably offend his upstream supplier.
"Afraid of my ass."
Flower Arm Zhang said firmly, "With an engine like yours that nearly flew into space, I'd love for that lousy factory to fall out with me. That would even save me the penalty fee.
"As for ducted-fan parts, that market is already competitive to the heavens. I can get stock from any factory."
"You're using me to show off."
Chen Yi thought for a moment. "We've known each other since we were screwing bolts at DJI, so I won't overcharge you. 25,999 per unit, 200 units a month."
"Fine, no problem. As long as the price isn't higher than other sellers'." Flower Arm Zhang did not haggle.
Based on what he knew about Chen Yi, the manufacturing cost of the engines could not possibly exceed 2,000 yuan.
But turbine engines were all about selling technology.
If the technology was amazing and you had the market to yourself—
Forget 25,999. Even if it cost tens of thousands more, you would have to accept it.
"Come pick up your engines in ten days. Pay first."
Chen Yi did not waste any more words with Flower Arm Zhang. With a thought, the system interface's consciousness wave value appeared before his eyes.
[Consciousness Waves: 128076↑]
He had 128,000 consciousness waves, and as the livestream's popularity continued to ferment, the consciousness waves collected by the system were still rising without pause.
128,000 divided by 200.
He could adjust 640 attribute points.
Chen Yi calculated in his mind, and a hint of delight appeared in his eyes.
He could finally build a true space drone with no shortcomings, no flaws, and no blind spots in any aspect.
PS: The black technology era is beginning. Please vote with recommendation tickets and monthly tickets.
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