Chapter 19

1960-1970, 1993-1994.

1993-1994.

Over the course of this year, Atlas, fully mobilized by Sui Yang, engaged in "production" at a speed unimaginable to the outside world.

Atlas possessed numerous departments and subsidiaries.

Among them, there were fourteen wholly-owned subsidiaries alone. As for departments, beyond general ones like Human Resources, Finance, and Logistics, there was the Communication Technology and Private R&D Department—which was hosting this press conference—and the Bioengineering Department, headed by Alexia.

Each department was closely interconnected, and their respective heads were all Sui Yang's confidants who understood the company's secrets; it was difficult to determine which was the most important.

However, if one were to ask which department spent the most, it would undoubtedly be the R&D Department.

It is uncertain how other companies operated, but at Atlas, the simpler a department's name, the more "complex" its actual scale and operations were.

The R&D Department was primarily dedicated to translating theory into practice, especially in the military-industrial field. Otherwise, how could Atlas have possessed sunglasses with HUD displays and bulletproof suits made of carbon nanofibers back in the 1980s and 90s?

As for the head of the R&D Department, Wang Zhaofeng, he held doctoral degrees in both mathematics and physics and had once studied at MIT in the United States.

However, this double-doctorate holder did not have a harmonious relationship with Atlas in the early days; after all, Wang Zhaofeng had been "half-kidnapped" into working for the company.

Fortunately, the final result was that Wang Zhaofeng worked conscientiously, serving Atlas for nearly thirty years.

Although he had transformed from a high-spirited, handsome young man into a balding director, he lacked neither wealth nor fame, and he had an environment where he could devote himself entirely to research. Wang Zhaofeng not only held no resentment toward Sui Yang but was actually quite grateful.

More than half of the technologies mastered by Atlas were unknown to the outside world, and all of them were at an absolutely leading level.

One of the key reasons Wang Zhaofeng was able to fully support Sui Yang was that the moment he became the head of the R&D Department, Sui Yang had placed a well-preserved Mate 60 Pro on the double-doctorate holder's desk.

From 1960 to 1970, Atlas ushered in its first wave of rapid development, and a large number of new electronic products began to flood the market.

It even predated Motorola's announcement of the DynaTAC 8000X, becoming the first company to define what a "personal business phone" was and pioneering the field of mobile communications.

Furthermore, over 35% of the communication base stations across the United States belonged to Atlas.

Had Sui Yang not worried that overreaching and achieving a monopoly would draw the attention of federal government officials—with whom his relationship was not particularly cordial—or that such monopolistic behavior would be too flashy and invite sieges from hostile forces, including Vought, he could have achieved his goal of reaching a net worth of one hundred billion ten years earlier.

Returning to 1993-1994.

The opening of the first portal, combined with the data and physical samples continuously brought back by investigators, allowed the R&D Department led by Wang Zhaofeng to break through limitations in multiple fields.

Many new weapons, vehicles, and equipment were still in the design and improvement phase, requiring the manufacture of prototypes for testing to ensure performance and safety. However, for technologies like exoskeletons, Atlas had already successfully produced several prototypes even without the technology from the portal or the United Defense Force (UDF).

The real trouble and bottleneck had been a power source that was small in volume while possessing enough endurance to support the long-term operation and combat of an exoskeleton. The hydrogen battery technology used by the UDF solved this problem perfectly.

This allowed Atlas, which was already superior to the technology of the main universe, to pull even further ahead.

To achieve mass production of exoskeletons and the manufacture of new equipment and vehicles, one needed to control a series of links including the manufacturing system, production equipment, process flows, and material supply.

For example, the arsenal at Accra Park only completed its first production workshop on February 6, 1994, possessing the capability to manufacture exoskeletons—improved by Wang Zhaofeng's team—and related accessories, though the monthly output was a "pitiable" 14 units.

Atlas possessed the prerequisites to independently complete all mass production, but this would take time.

Moreover, before all of Atlas's military units completed their equipment upgrades, or before Vought International was dealt with, there was absolutely no way Sui Yang would make the decision to sell to the outside world.

However, Sui Yang believed that as time went on, Atlas would eventually become like the Titan company from his "lingering regret," Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, allowing all of his mercenaries to be equipped with the most advanced weapons.

It is worth mentioning that the reason the R&D Department was able to free up manpower and time to design and develop carbon nanofibers for the company's investigators was actually at Sui Yang's instruction.

Leon's arrival always made Sui Yang inadvertently think of Resident Evil 4 Remake.

Although the Leon of the main universe leaned more toward the original version in terms of personality and appearance, if one didn't count nostalgia, he felt the story logic, overall playability, and realism of the remake were better.

Furthermore, the Mozambique Drill used by the remake's Leon reminded Sui Yang of the John Wick series and the "black technology" of bulletproof suits found within John Wick.

And his overly heaven-defying luck and "three-light" attribute made Sui Yang conclude that the job of an investigator would be very suitable for Leon.

He provided an absolute high salary and weapons and equipment that allowed him to exercise his inner sense of justice, while Leon could bring back intelligence and even unexpected extra gains; it was absolutely a win-win.

At this moment.

Sui Yang, who had been momentarily distracted while recalling the past, locked his tablet, set it aside, and closed his eyes to prepare for a short rest.

Controlling a multinational corporation with 160,000 employees, raising two "bear" children who were sometimes obedient and sometimes troublesome, not to mention needing to pay attention to and guard against the movements of Vought and various other forces...

Sui Yang could be said to be physically and mentally exhausted every day.

He couldn't be bothered to judge whether his strong self-healing and endurance far exceeding that of ordinary people were good or bad; he only knew that a few minutes of napping for him was equivalent to a full day's sleep for an ordinary person, which felt more like some kind of "curse" and "shackle."

At the same time, Sui Yang deeply understood why the God-Emperor of Mankind would make some incomprehensible moves.

One wants to slack off, but is forced to "work overtime" and "take care of the kids." Even with a transcendent spirit and body, one would eventually become "abnormal."

Finally, the portal.

Ever since he mastered this ability, he knew that each opening required a massive consumption of psionic energy, and the "cooldown" time was 414 Earth days.

The first time the portal opened was June 5, 1993, and today, July 12, 1994, excluding time zone differences and other factors, a total of 403 days had passed.

There were 11 days left until the next opening.

Just as well, aside from population and natural resources, Earth-01 had been nearly picked clean of its technology by Atlas; it was time to find a new target to learn from and compensate for his own shortcomings.