Arc Reactor

Meanwhile, Chen Mu returned home and could not resist treating himself to a good sleep. He slept straight through until noon the next day.

"The Arc Reactor technology has finally been cracked!"

When Chen Mu woke up, he received some good news. The Arc Reactor technology he had been working to crack before going to sleep had finally been completed.

Of course, Chen Mu had not obtained the complete technology for a miniature reactor, but he had fully mastered the technology for a large-scale industrial reactor. That was precisely the breakthrough he had achieved this time.

The large-scale Arc Reactor had actually been researched by Howard back then. Unfortunately, the industrial technology of the time had been unable to manufacture it. It was only later that Stark Industries succeeded in producing one, but it was mostly used for display and could not truly be put to practical use.

It was not until several years later, when the Avengers began, that Tony perfected it and made it possible to harness its energy. That marked the beginning of Arc Reactor Energy's practical application.

Chen Mu's breakthrough this time did the same: it made the reactor's energy directly usable.

In other words, as long as the reactor could be manufactured, it would provide an endless, inexhaustible supply of energy!

For a company, that was absolutely crucial!

Moreover, this technology could help resolve China's domestic energy crisis. Its significance to the country was extraordinary. China would no longer have its throat held by other nations when it came to energy.

"Unfortunately, I didn't crack the use of the new element."

The new element could make the reactor more stable, and it was also the key to resolving Tony's Palladium poisoning. This breakthrough alone had not yielded that technology.

"The new element's greater purpose is to cure Tony's poisoning. If I want to obtain it, I'll probably have to make a breakthrough with the miniature reactor."

Unfortunately, the same technology could only be cracked once. Otherwise, Chen Mu could have kept focusing on reactor technology and developed it to an extremely advanced level.

"Or I could analyze Tony's technology after he makes his breakthrough?"

That was certainly an option, but it required waiting. And what Chen Mu lacked most right now was time.

There were only four years left until 2012—the plot of Avengers 1. The alien army's first invasion of Earth would be a massive shock to every nation on the planet. It was also this event that allowed America, with its Avengers, to become the undisputed leader of the world.

That was what Chen Mu least wanted to see. With America calling the shots, every other country would become second-rate. Earth would truly become America's one-man show.

And Chen Mu, who sought China's resurgence, intended to use this event to demonstrate China's formidable strength. Might made right; only then could China stand no weaker than anyone else!

"Tony's Iron Armor is basically an exoskeleton suit. With my current technological reserves, I can make one too. And with the core energy source, making a knockoff Iron Man wouldn't be a problem."

Chen Mu had already acquired the weapons technology of the two arms-industry giants, Hammer Industries and Stark Industries. With the technology of those two companies, creating an entirely new suit of armor naturally would not be difficult.

"Unfortunately, I don't have an intelligent system. I wonder when I'll finally get Jarvis."

The main reason Chen Mu was so eager to obtain Jarvis was exactly that. If the Arc Reactor was Iron Man's heart, then Jarvis was its soul. An Iron Armor without a soul would inevitably suffer a drastic drop in power!

"With my current technological reserves, the armor I make might end up just like Obadiah's Iron Monger. Better not make it and embarrass myself."

Without Tony's crucial black-tech, making armor compact enough to fit close to the body was nothing but a pipe dream. It was simply impossible.

Even if Chen Mu made it himself, at best he could create something like Obadiah's armor—extremely bulky, without even an ai program, and a pain to operate.

"The Iron Army plan will have to be shelved for now."

"So I should first think about how to develop Xiao Mu Technology."

Chen Mu had no capital for Xiao Mu Technology, so he was waiting for Stark's investment. He did not place much importance on the profits of the phone industry. All he needed was for Xiao Mu Technology to grow rapidly. That was all.

"Obadiah tried to swallow eighty percent of Xiao Mu Phone's shares in one bite. Stark Industries really is insatiably greedy!"

What Chen Mu was doing was practically "selling out his country." He knew full well that the other side wanted to use the phones to bring Jarvis into China, yet he had still agreed. And even with that agenda, they wanted to take most of the shares. It was truly shameless.

"Fine. We'll see who ends up unlucky."

Chen Mu was no pushover either. Jarvis was being delivered right to his doorstep—why would he refuse it? With his knowledge of the future and the powerful aid of the Huaqiangbei System, what did Chen Mu have to fear?

When the time came, they would see who cried.

As for the phones, Chen Mu planned to develop Xiao Mu Phone according to the development path Apple had taken in his previous life.

The first step was to launch an entirely new smartphone and take down the current giants, such as Nokia.

As for the design, he could simply release models step by step according to the development history of his previous life.

Chen Mu had even designed the company logo: the letters "mu" in white on a pink background, set within a rounded rectangle. He had not used a square background, lest he later have to spend millions hiring a designer to round off the corners.

The logo on the phone itself would be much simpler: a laser-engraved "mu."

No matter the world, phones ultimately came down to the user experience, hardware performance, and, most importantly, appearance. As long as he grasped those points, he could easily seize the initiative. Then, by drawing on the development of phones from his previous life and casually copying a few designs, he could lead the entire trend.

"In fact, all the conditions needed for a smartphone are already in place. The first-generation phone will be easy to manufacture."

He could simply purchase all the necessary components. Even the operating system was ready—Google had already developed Android. With a few casual improvements, the first-generation smartphone could be launched.

"And whenever I run into a technical problem, I can just use the Huaqiangbei System to crack it. Making phones couldn't be easier."

Thus, for Chen Mu, everything was ready except the final push. As soon as Stark's funding arrived, he could begin launching the first generation of smartphones.

The phone market would begin to stir from this moment onward.