Copying Technology Successful; Great Xia's Cash Cow Acquired!

Following Lu Ze's gaze, Lucy's beautiful eyes revealed a hint of surprise.

"I didn't expect you to be interested in this high-tech item."

She had originally thought Lu Ze would prefer tanks or fighter jets, or at the very least, weapons like cannons or bombers.

After all, what man didn't enjoy a good, direct confrontation?

To Lucy's surprise, he chose an option she never would have guessed.

Lu Ze looked into the distance with a look of pleasant surprise and unconsciously walked towards it. "How does this thing end up in the maintenance center of the laboratory?"

"Isn't that a Boeing 777 airliner?"

Why would a commercial aircraft be at the LLNL Laboratory?

This behemoth had been parked on the runway outside the factory building, which was why Lu Ze hadn't noticed it until now.

Lucy walked beside him, tilting her head as she thought for a moment. "It seems Boeing brought it over and asked our laboratory to help with a round of verification tests."

Currently, the development of Boeing's 787 model was not going smoothly. Many key designs were being handled by India, resulting in not only high costs and slow progress but also several major accidents.

Therefore, Boeing planned to upgrade this 777 model to be prepared for future needs.

"Are you interested in this 777 aircraft?"

"YES, I think these large aircraft are also very interesting."

Lu Ze nodded solemnly.

He thought carefully; the technological level of these large civilian aircraft should not be much lower than that of an F-22 fighter jet.

After all, the difficulty of their research and development was comparable to many strategic weapons, and in some aspects, large civilian aircraft could even be considered more challenging.

There were three countries in the world capable of building fifth-generation fighter jets, but there were only two global giants in commercial aviation: Airbus and Boeing. Moreover, Airbus was a consortium of major European aviation companies.

Even if Great Xia could build strategic transport aircraft a few years later, the domestic large aircraft project had been in preliminary development and first flight for over ten years. It would still take a long time to compare with Airbus and Boeing.

This was mainly because military transport aircraft did not need to consider any economic factors or worry about whether a flight would be profitable or not.

However, civilian passenger aircraft required meticulous planning in every aspect and needed to have a certain profit margin.

This point determined the high level of technical content involved.

This technology is not only at a high technological level, but it could also be of great use to Great Xia, Lu Ze mused to himself.

After all, the Boeing 777 airliner was considered one of the most advanced and economically practical civilian aircraft.

Great Xia could not only gain valuable experience from it, significantly accelerating the development of its domestic strategic transport aircraft.

Most importantly, Great Xia could also reap substantial profits from civilian passenger aircraft, making it a win-win situation.

The two slowly walked towards the Boeing 777.

In front of this industrial behemoth, which was over 73 meters long, had a wingspan of 65 meters, and stood over 18 meters tall, Lu Ze, at his height of 1.8 meters, looked like an ant.

Lucy pulled out a bottle of milk from somewhere and took a sip. "Lu Ze, do you want to go inside and take a look?"

"But this is just a regular passenger plane, the difference being that this 777 is the extended fuselage and fuel tank version, the 300ER."

Lu Ze declined, "There's no need. I'll just observe it closely from the outside."

What was there to see in a civilian passenger aircraft? The interior was just rows of identical seats. Even first class was just a series of small compartments. He had experienced that feeling before when flying.

Moreover, he wasn't here to admire the 777 this time.

5.4.3

He gently placed his hand near the wing and silently counted down five numbers in his mind.

Instantly, a light screen, visible only to him, appeared in his eye.

[Current Technology Item: Boeing 777-300ER type.] [Value in Achievement Points: 8500.] [Please select whether to replicate.]

Yes. A smile crept onto Lu Ze's lips as he looked at the Boeing 777 aircraft.

He hadn't expected it to be worth 8500 Achievement Points; this alone made it worth replicating.

Furthermore, it could bring enormous benefits to Great Xia. What was there to hesitate about?

By mastering the manufacturing technology of a large civilian aircraft like the Boeing 777, Great Xia would essentially possess a cash cow.

Consider that Airbus alone received orders for over a thousand aircraft annually, and think about the profit each one generated.

Airbus and Boeing combined had annual revenues exceeding hundreds of billions of US dollars, a figure more staggering than even Great Xia's tobacco industry.

Crucially, their most profitable business wasn't selling planes but providing after-sales maintenance services.

Each year, a passenger aircraft required millions of US dollars in maintenance fees, along with various other expenses, allowing them to continuously extract money from airlines.

This was why many manufacturing industries in Great Xia weren't profitable: they were engaged in low-end processing. The money earned from producing a hundred million screws wouldn't match the cost of a single major aircraft repair.

[Current Technology Item Boeing 777-300ER, replication successful!] [Reward: 8500 Achievement Points, Boeing 777-300ER physical item (stored in inventory), Boeing 777 series aircraft technical design and manufacturing blueprints.]

Copy successful. There's no need to stay here any longer.

Lu Ze waved to Lucy. "It's too hot, let's go back. We'll come again next time."

"Okay, it's almost four o'clock anyway."

Lucy glanced at her watch. "I disappointed you this time. I'll call you when the B-2 bomber comes next time."

She thought Lu Ze was in a hurry to leave because he hadn't seen the B-2 bomber, and had lost interest after just a quick look.

"It's fine, I just have a bit of heatstroke and want to go back and rest," Lu Ze said, waving his hand. He continued, "Let's come back next week. I still want to see other things."

This maintenance center was a treasure trove, filled with all sorts of high-tech weapons and equipment.

If he didn't find any other worthwhile targets to copy next week, he would definitely come here to make a copy.

"Let's go, it's my turn to treat you to dinner this time."

Lucy muttered softly, "Lu Ze, I don't really want to eat at the cafeteria today."

Even though the food in the cafeteria was free, she couldn't eat it all the time. She was sick of it, and her appetite had been poor lately.

"Don't worry, we'll have a big meal this time, at that Italian restaurant in town," Lu Ze said, walking straight out of the maintenance center.

He was in a good mood this time and decided to splurge on a big meal.

Lucy's eyes lit up, and she hurried after him. "Wait for me!!"

If you talk about eating that, her appetite would definitely improve.

(Please follow, please collect!)