Something Special; How About Copying an Arleigh Burke-class Destroyer This Time?

Something Special; How About Copying an Arleigh Burke-class Destroyer This Time?

At Great Xia Academy of Sciences, the silent early morning was quiet everywhere, with only a few insects suddenly croaking noisily through the still night.

Inside that secret room, whose security level had been raised another notch.

Zheng Lixing spoke in surprise. "This Mysterious Organization is going to provide us with entirely new technology again."

They had not expected that what they thought would be a routine status report would bring such an unexpected delight.

"It seems this 'Mysterious Organization' is quite generous." A smile appeared at the corner of Zhang Yuli's mouth. "I thought we would have to wait a long time for the next technology."

He could tell that their asking what technology Great Xia needed this time was entirely because they had felt how seriously Great Xia valued them, which was why they had proactively asked what technology was needed.

Otherwise, he estimated that the next technology trade would probably have taken several months at the very least.

Zheng Lixing stroked his graying beard. "What technology should we ask for? The B-2? Or some other technology?"

"Who wouldn't want technology like the B-2 bomber or the C-5 strategic transport aircraft?"

Zhang Yuli smiled helplessly. "But how could technology like that be so easily acquired? Let's take it one step at a time."

He even wanted the complete technology for an EUV lithography machine, but that was clearly unrealistic.

He was not particularly surprised by this. After all, the last time, this 'Mysterious Organization' had similarly asked whether Great Xia wanted top-tier global military technology such as the B-2 bomber.

But even for the 'Mysterious Organization,' such technology was not so easy to obtain. It all depended on whether their luck was good enough and how deeply they had infiltrated Eagle Sauce.

After thinking carefully for a while, Zhang Yuli typed a reply.

[Any technology will do. We Great Xia still lack many things, so there is no need to make excessive demands.]

This time, he did not remind them to pay attention to safety. Instead, he chose to speak plainly.

After all, this was not their first time cooperating. He believed that safety was always the Mysterious Organization's top priority.

Likewise, he did not specify any particular technology that they needed.

For Great Xia today, there were simply too many technologies lacking in both the military sector and commercial market. As long as it could be useful, they needed it all.

This was a critical point in the transformation of Great Xia's manufacturing industry. Large amounts of low-end manufacturing urgently needed to shift toward mid-to-high-end production.

After all, the saying still held true: Great Xia could not trade a hundred million shirts for one airplane. That could only feed Great Xia's more than one billion people, but it could not make Great Xia a truly prosperous and developed country.

White cat, black cat, blue cat—any cat that could catch mice was a good cat.

As for copyright issues, they were no longer the first thing to consider. India copied counterfeit drugs all day long, yet no one dared tell India that it had infringed on "copyright."

How many divisions did you have? If you had the guts, come over in warships and say, "Open the door. Free trade."

Soon, a reply from the Mysterious Organization arrived.

[We have understood. We believe the technology this time definitely will not disappoint you.]

Looking at those words, neither of them hurried to reply.

"Actually, the drone technology the Mysterious Organization gave us last time was quite good."

Zheng Lixing's face was full of irrepressible smiles. "It has a wide range of applications, and the manufacturing difficulty is not too high."

Compared with the Boeing 777 from before, he even felt that small drones could create greater value.

There was no need to say much about military applications. Small drones were simply miraculous weapons for street fighting, local wars, and low-intensity conflicts.

Although the Boeing 777 could also be temporarily converted into a transport aircraft, it was still only a civilian airplane.

Even in the civilian market, small drones could likewise create immense commercial value.

Who would not like a technology that gave them the best of both worlds?

Zhang Yuli frowned when he heard that. "But for this small drone technology, we should still give that organization appropriate compensation."

"The unconditional 'reward' we promised before is far from enough."

"Indeed, it isn't enough. We need to find a way to make it up to them." Zheng Lixing did not object.

When they had obtained this small drone technology before, they had not actually given much thought to the enormous potential it contained.

Now that they understood its significance, that previous verbal 'reward' seemed somewhat shabby. If the Mysterious Organization did not use it at all, would that not be equivalent to no reward whatsoever?

If it were Eagle Sauce's technology, Great Xia would not mind freeloading outright. Money? What money? Hadn't Old Buddha already paid for it back then?

But for this extremely important Mysterious Organization, they should give whatever was due. They were not afraid it would ask for too much; they were afraid it would ask for nothing.

After pondering for a long while, Zhang Yuli slowly explained his idea. "How about this? We take out half of all net profits earned from this small drone technology."

"When the time is right in the future, we can give that money to them."

Zheng Lixing nodded in agreement. "That's a good idea. Let's do that."

Both Zhang Yuli and Zheng Lixing understood very well that favors would eventually run out. Even if they had an extremely favorable impression of Great Xia and were willing to provide technology without compensation.

What about the future? Such a thing was not sustainable. Only shared interests were the key to ensuring continued cooperation between both sides.

And Great Xia would not care about such petty profits. Just as the song said: fine wine for friends, hunting rifles for enemies—that had always been Great Xia's style for thousands of years.

California, Livermore, LLNL Laboratory.

Seeing that no more messages were coming from the other side, Lu Ze closed the light screen over his eyes.

The Special Secret Group currently interfacing with me should still be those people from Great Xia Academy of Sciences.

Based on his several previous interactions with them, the people speaking with him had never actually changed.

Then Great Xia had probably merely changed this communication channel from a temporary emergency arrangement into an official, long-term one.

And the Special Secret Group was the department permanently responsible for the Mysterious Organization, with its authority raised greatly once again.

"Any technology they need is fine? Then which one should I choose?"

Lu Ze turned to thinking about the second question.

What technology did Great Xia need? If he made a list, it would probably stretch dozens of meters long.

Leaving aside familiar technologies like ultra-high-precision high-speed multi-axis machining centers and EUV lithography machines, there were things as large as nuclear-powered aircraft carrier technology and as small as hand-torn steel, a basic processing material.

Even after excluding the many technologies he could not access, there were still choices as numerous as the sea.

And most importantly, he needed to copy based on his own current needs rather than copying blindly.

"I feel like I've copied too many aircraft-related things." Lu Ze shook his head. "I should choose something else. Otherwise, it's too monotonous."

The technologies he had copied before had all been aircraft-related, and two of them had even been F-22 fighter jets.

No matter what, he should change things up this time and copy some other technological item.

Besides, the B-2 bomber he had wanted to copy all along still had not entered the database, making him even less interested in copying aircraft.

"What should I pick? Something that would help Great Xia while also providing lots of Achievement Points."

Lu Ze muttered to himself. Then, a flash of inspiration struck him. "Hey, why not copy a destroyer?"

Since he had little interest in the air, and there were too few top-tier technological items on the army's side, he naturally had to start with the navy.

Most of Eagle Sauce's nuclear-powered aircraft carriers were either docked at overseas bases while cruising around the world or undergoing maintenance and repairs in shipyards. It would be difficult for him to get close to them unless some special opportunity arose.

But destroyers were different. They were often docked at various ports, and it was even possible to get in and take a close look. They were not like aircraft carriers, which could only be viewed from afar and never approached.

"In 2009, Eagle Sauce should still be using the Arleigh Burke-class. That seems pretty good too."

Lu Ze's eyes lit up. He had finally found a target!

Eagle Sauce's most advanced future Zumwalt-class destroyer had begun development as early as 1997, but it would not be finalized until 2013 and would not enter service until 2016, seven years later. He estimated there was no hope of it anytime soon.

The Arleigh Burke-class was also an excellent choice. Although it was like a little brother compared to the Type 055 destroyer developed by Great Xia in later years, the Type 055 project had not even officially been put on the table in 2009. Even the Type 052D would not enter service for another five years. During this period, it truly could be called an invincible destroyer.

"I think it costs two billion US Dollars per ship? How many Achievement Points would that be worth?"

Thinking of this, Lu Ze could no longer suppress his excitement and hurried out of the restroom.

He needed to quickly ask Lucy how he could get access to a destroyer.

After all, Achievement Points were not based solely on the technological item's level. Its rarity and expensive value were also considered before a comprehensive evaluation was made.

And the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer happened to combine high technological content, rarity, and high cost.

How had he never thought in this direction before? Even with Great Xia's low construction costs, a Type 055 would easily cost one billion US Dollars each.

He conservatively estimated that the Achievement Point reward for an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer would be around ten times that of an F-22 fighter jet. Wouldn't he be rolling in it?

Lu Ze washed his hands and hurried back to where he had been resting.

Lucy was still sitting in her chair, watching anime with great interest. She was even imitating several lines from it, saying in an extremely serious voice, "Jeanne transforms! What happened? What happened?"

"Lucy, stop watching for now."

Standing in front of Lucy, Lu Ze said with a serious expression, "Tell me. Can we get access to destroyers around here?"

He did not directly mention the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer as his target, instead choosing to ask about the broader category.

Even another type of destroyer would be acceptable!

(Sorry for being late today, I had something to deal with. This is the second update. The third update will come later tonight; I'll try to finish it before midnight.)

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