The purpose of Director Carson's visit to China was very clear.
One was to strengthen cooperation with China in the space field, such as negotiating the rental of the lunar mass accelerator, etc. The second was to buy time for the US aerospace industry.
However, China didn't seem to give him much room for negotiation. Although the White House had high expectations for his visit, they couldn't provide him with more support.
This could be seen from the White House's silence on the Guanghan City issue.
Even if they were extremely unwilling, they still had to, or rather, were forced to make compromises on many issues.
The controllable fusion power station in California had pulled the entire western region to the pro-China camp. Maybe the people of California didn't like China's culture and products that much, but they at least hoped that the authorities would not offend China. It was best to forget about them for a while and pretend that they didn't exist.
After all, the citizens of Los Angeles had enjoyed clean and cheap fusion energy, and the social development of the entire western region had once again entered the fast lane.
If they were asked to go back and accept terrible and expensive thermal and chemical energy, most people wouldn't be able to accept it at all.
This was how society worked.
It could only be compatible with the next stage.
If they took a step back … Even if it was just a small step back, it would lead to very serious problems.
If the relationship between the two sides deteriorated and the China withdrew their experts and equipment, even if this was in line with the national interests of the United States, the resulting consequences were unacceptable to the people of California and even the entire western region. It was unacceptable to the politicians who hoped to gain votes from the people …
All in all, the meeting in Beijing was quite smooth.
No matter how angry he was in his office, no matter how much he cursed his competitors in front of him at meetings, Director Carson was as docile as a sheep. His behavior was humble and full of grace, like a politician from a developed country.
This situation was actually very rare.
People would only show their humble side when facing the strong. When facing the weak, even if they abided by the rules of politeness, the arrogance in their eyes couldn't be hidden.
After the meeting, Director Li brought a meeting memo to the elder's office and reported the meeting to the old man sitting behind the desk.
After quietly listening to his report, the old man's index finger tapped on the table and spoke.
"I'll draw a line for you. You just have to follow it."
Director Li said respectfully.
"Please go ahead."
"Economic cooperation is welcome, but political compromise is out of the question."
Director Li nodded solemnly.
"I understand."
Although it was only a short sentence, the amount of information it contained was extraordinary.
Economic cooperation meant that the rental of the lunar mass accelerator could be negotiated. As long as their transportation needs were met, part of the excess capacity could be sold to international customers.
There was also the construction of public facilities in Guanghan City, as well as the supply of daily necessities and consumer goods for the residents of Guanghan City. China had no plans to monopolize these markets. If they could provide better service at a lower price, no one would refuse.
As for political compromise, it was even easier to understand.
To put it simply, do business honestly and make money together. Don't talk about the problems of the Guanghan Special Economic Zone. Everyone can still be friends.
The old man: "Is there anything else?"
Director Li: "One more."
"Go ahead."
"Carson hopes to bring some lunar soil from us … or meteorites from the Moon back as a symbol of our friendship."
Upon hearing this, the old man smiled. After pondering for a while, he replied.
"For a friend to repay me with a peach, I will repay him with a plum."
"They gave us 1g of lunar rock samples before. We have no reason to refuse such a request. Go to the Lunar Orbit Committee and tell them to pack up a kilogram of lunar soil. When Carson leaves, let him take it back.
"Also, remember to ask him to bring a message back.
"The resources of the Moon belong to all of mankind, not the United States. No country has the right to possess it alone, but it has the right to develop and use it. We welcome any country and organization to join this exploration of the future of all mankind.
"As long as everything is within the framework of peace.
"As long as they understand the principle of seeking common ground while reserving differences."
…
Jinling.
A mansion in Zhongshan International.
Lu Zhou was sitting in his study room. He was playing with the new toy he just received from the last system mission.
It was a black bracelet with a similar shape to most sports watches. Even the LED screen inlaid on the surface was the same design.
However, Lu Zhou's intuition told him that the material and technology used on the screen probably didn't exist on Earth. In addition to that, there were five grooves on the side of the bracelet.
When his index finger gently touched the screen, five black metal balls less than 10mm in diameter popped out of the five grooves. These small balls moved slowly under the influence of the constantly changing magnetic field, which looked very magical.
Lu Zhou tried to turn his hand over or wave his arm. The five black metal balls seemed to be following the bracelet on his hand as they moved closely with his arm.
"Interesting …"
Lu Zhou tried to pinch one of the small balls with his left hand and pull it away from the magnetic field above the bracelet. He then let go. The small ball seemed to be tied by an invisible spring. The moment he let go, it bounced back like a slingshot.
"Is this a toy of an alien civilization?"
Lu Zhou looked at the black metal ball floating above his palm. The look of interest in his eyes became more and more obvious.
The system's description of it was very vague; it didn't even give a specific name. However, according to his exploration, he had already discovered some of the functions of this bracelet.
For example, the most basic function was that it could measure heart rate and record time like other sports bracelets.
Other than that, it also had one of the most important functions, which was to form a constantly changing electromagnetic field around the bracelet, which could control the movement of the metal balls.
At the same time, there seemed to be a special brainwave recognition device built into the bracelet, which could recognize the received nerve signals and convert them into electrical signals. After processing by the built-in chip, the signals were fed back to the magnetic field control unit in the bracelet to control the trajectory of the five black metal balls in the air.
In terms of effect, this phenomenon was very strange, like magic. As for what it was used for, Lu Zhou didn't quite understand.
In fact, this was understandable.
It was like an alien without feet. If he got a pair of A-cones from Earth, he wouldn't know what they were used for.
The only thing that Lu Zhou could conclude now was that the core materials used in this bracelet, the design of the electromagnet, and the control technology of the magnetic field were far beyond the existing technical level on Earth.
But at this moment, Lu Zhou, who was touching the bracelet, suddenly found a familiar symbol on the inside of it.
He vaguely remembered that he had seen this symbol in a certain dream …
"Xiao Ai."
The drone hovering at the side flew over with a small TV attached to it.
[What's up? Master. (???? ▽??)]
Staring at the five metal balls floating in his hand, Lu Zhou thought for a moment and asked, "Is there any information about this thing in your database?"
When issuing this order, Lu Zhou didn't have any hope in his heart.
After all, he had asked similar questions countless times, but he didn't get any valuable answers.
The only thing he could conclude now was that Xiao Ai was probably the intelligent navigation program on the spacecraft that the Calan civilization last sent to the center of the Milky Way galaxy.
Unfortunately, the memory of the previous universe seemed to have been completely deleted from its database, and there were no valuable clues left.
[There seems to be information about this thing in Xiao Ai's database. (?????)????】
Lu Zhou: "…???"
For a moment, Lu Zhou thought he was seeing things.
It wasn't until he confirmed the line of text on the small TV that he snapped back to reality and immediately asked.
"Get all the information about it, all of it!"
[I'll go find … (????)???]
This time, Xiao Ai disappeared for a long time.
Just when Lu Zhou was wondering if it crashed or went to play games, the light blue text finally emerged from the small TV.
[Strange … There are traces in the cache, but it seems to have been deleted … Σ (° △ ° | | |)]
[In short, this seems to be a weapon. It used to belong to a very powerful officer. (@ _ @;)]
Lu Zhou: "…?"
What the hell is this?!
But what surprised him even more was another thing.
If it wasn't for the problem with Xiao Ai's expression, then it probably discovered that in its "memory", there seemed to be traces of something being deleted.
But then again, did artificial intelligence have such a thing as "memory"? Could this kind of memory exist independently of the hardware?
While Lu Zhou was thinking about this question, another line of text appeared on the small TV.
[Master, why don't you try, use your imagination or something like that … Launch it in a certain direction? (° ー ° 〃)]
Imagination?
Weapon?
Launch it?
Staring at the five metal balls floating around his palm, Lu Zhou fell into deep thought.
Suddenly, his heart moved as if he thought of something. He quickly looked at the vase on the wall.
"If it's a weapon …"
His attention gradually focused on the flower pot. Although he knew that he might look a bit stupid, since there was no one else in the study room, Lu Zhou didn't care.
The heart rate index on his wrist began to change. Lu Zhou didn't know if it was an illusion, but he felt the five metal balls floating above his palm began to tremble slightly.
In an instant, it was as if a trigger was pulled.
A huge recoil force climbed up his wrist and forearm. Before Lu Zhou realized what was going on, the vase he was staring at burst into pieces.
Just like …
It was like being shot by a bullet.
At the same time, one of the metal balls floating above his palm was gone.
Looking at the deep bullet hole left on the wall, Lu Zhou's eyes finally showed a dignified look.
"Magnetic slingshot?"
Or something similar.
After all, he didn't know what to call this thing. The only thing he could conclude was that there was probably some kind of special controlled electromagnet installed inside the metal ball. When he "issued the attack command", the electric energy stored in the energy container was instantly released and transformed into a magnetic field that repelled the bracelet.
The entire ball was like a bullet on a slingshot, ejecting in an instant.
Although it was a very simple thing in principle, it actually sounded quite incredible.
What kind of electromagnet could make a 10mm metal ball shoot out like a bullet? Not to mention, it was extremely difficult to integrate the electromagnet and the control chip into a small ball with a diameter of less than 10mm.
At least from the recoil from his wrist, Lu Zhou could feel that the magnetic field driving this thing was probably not small.
Lu Zhou stared at the glass fragments in the corner and fell into deep thought. After thinking for a while, he spoke.
"… Let's clean this place."
Xiao Ai: [Okay, Master ~]
I'll have a chance to study the structure inside.
Lu Zhou didn't expect to be able to reverse engineer the entire technology from the [Sample], which was far beyond the level of Earth's technology. He didn't want to replicate an exact replica in the real world.
However, if he could refer to some of the designs, it might still be able to inspire science on Earth.
For example, more advanced magnetic field control technology.
For example, magnetic levitation technology.
Xiao Ai controlled the drone to fly over. While cleaning up the broken glass on the ground, Xiao Ai also helped Lu Zhou recover the metal balls embedded in the wall and cleaned up the bullet marks on the wall with repair foam.
After Xiao Ai controlled several drones and cleaning robots to clean up the scene, Lu Zhou took off the bracelet on his right hand and put the five metal balls back in order.
He was about to put this matter aside and turn on the computer to continue reading literature, looking for a "great enough research topic". Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.
Lu Zhou closed his laptop and got up. He went downstairs and opened the door.
He originally thought that Wang Peng heard the noise and knocked on the door. He didn't expect Luo Wenxuan to appear at the door.
Lu Zhou looked at Luo Wenxuan and spoke with a strange expression.
"Why did you come all the way from Shanghai?"
"What are you talking about? I'm a professor at Jin Ling University. Isn't it normal for me to come back?"
Lu Zhou looked at the "bright" smile on Luo Wenxuan's face. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes and sighed.
He sighed and said, "Tell me, what is it?"
"Looks like you don't know yet." Luo Wenxuan smiled and said, "There was a phone call to your office."
"Phone call?"
"Yeah, guess who did it?"
"Who …"
"The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences!"
The second Lu Zhou heard this name, he paused for a second.
At this moment, he suddenly remembered what day it was.
"Maybe …"
"Hahaha! That's right! Looks like you guessed it! "
Luo Wenxuan finally didn't have to act anymore. He laughed out loud. He was even more excited than if he had won the lottery. He reached out his arm and put it around Lu Zhou's neck. He used all his strength and patted Lu Zhou's shoulder.
"You're nutty, Lu Zhou!"
"Congrats, congrats!"
"You've won an award again!"
Lamp pen
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