Chapter 84

The amount spent is ten times that of the previous era.

For example, when Lin Yi unlocked the 2020 artillery, it cost 200 million USD.

Then, by 2030, the cost would be 2 billion USD.

However, even if the artillery in 2030 had all become laser cannons,

Lin Yi felt it still wasn't worth 2 billion USD.

Of course, this fee isn't fixed; if Lin Yi's current era reached 2020,

then the unlock cost multiplier would revert to twofold.

Having spent a total of 705 million USD to unlock the entire existing weapon catalog to the latest era,

Lin Yi began focusing on the material technology tree, the equipment technology tree, and the biotechnology tree.

Particularly the equipment technology tree,

which contained numerous branches such as industrial equipment, semiconductor equipment, and medical equipment.

For instance, within industrial equipment, there were metal cutting tools, lathes, milling machines, pumps, compressors, fans, and electric motors.

The varieties were incredibly diverse.

As for semiconductor equipment, it included single-crystal furnaces, ion implanters, etching machines, lithography machines, and optical lenses.

Regarding medical equipment, there were X-ray machines, CT scanners, MRI devices, and blood analyzers.

In short, these sub-categories basically covered all important equipment.

However, just like the weapon catalog, the most advanced instruments available here were products of the 1980s.

Taking lithography machines as an example, they were still products from the micrometer era of the 1980s.

Clearly, this kind of lithography machine could no longer keep up with the times.

Opening the material technology tree, Lin Yi was dazzled by the various metals and alloys.

Nevertheless, special ceramics, carbon fiber, hydrogen energy materials, lithium battery materials, and graphene technology all made Lin Yi's eyes burn with desire.

Of course, these were also material technologies from the 1980s.

Among them, technologies born after 2000, such as graphene, still had empty content.

After unlocking these previously, Lin Yi had once asked the system about them.

The result he received was that upgrading the era for these sub-category technologies required money.

Furthermore, the amount required was consistent with that of the weapon catalog.

Taking lithography machines as an example again, upgrading to the 1990s level required only 5 million USD,

but upgrading to the 2020 level required 200 million USD.

Note that this only unlocks the era's technology.

Specifically purchasing the equipment still requires paying additional money based on different manufacturers and models.

However, even so,

Lin Yi was still very satisfied with the system's functions.

This basically allowed him to no longer need to purchase those advanced equipment from overseas that could potentially strangle his development.

As long as he upgraded and unlocked them, he could purchase equipment surpassing his current era,

and even, provided he had enough money, some equipment that didn't exist in reality and belonged only to the future would appear.

Of course, the premise for all of this was having money.

A tenfold cost multiplier for supra-era technology was no joke.

However, from this, Lin Yi finally understood

why the system claimed it could accelerate the process of civilization.

War and technology could be said to be the accelerators of civilization.

Of course, the premise was not to overplay one's hand, as the other side of war was destruction.

The next day, the world seemed to remain unchanged.

But relative to the nearly 6 billion people within the 360 who knew nothing,

millions in this world had witnessed last night's auction valued at 12 billion USD.

The Ford-class aircraft carrier, the world's most advanced carrier, was about to return to the embrace of the Ugly Country as if returning to its original owner.

According to the transaction time agreed upon between Lin Yi and the Ugly Country's network contact,

this aircraft carrier would appear off the coast of the Ugly Country in one week.

At that time, the Ugly Country would only need to tow the ship back.

Incidentally, the ship contained no nuclear fuel; it was merely an empty hull of an aircraft carrier.

After selling this aircraft carrier obtained through the lottery draw,

Lin Yi's wallet was considerably fuller.

Since it was the Ugly Country's money, he spent it with considerable ease and comfort.

As for whether that aircraft carrier would enhance the Ugly Country's combat power upon arrival, the answer was certainly yes.

But the issue was that no matter how many aircraft carriers approached the vicinity of the Dragon Country, they would merely be iron coffins at sea.

Given the Ugly Country's current military strength, the difference between having one more or one less aircraft carrier was actually not significant.

In reality, a single Ford-class aircraft carrier provided very limited combat power enhancement for the Ugly Country.

(PS: This new book needs flowers, tips, and review tickets; your support is the author's motivation!)

In view of this, Lin Yi was not afraid that a single aircraft carrier would endanger the nation.

Once he unlocked ship-class weapons later, the price for something like an aircraft carrier would certainly be very cheap.

At that time, he could simply sell a few more to the Dragon Nation.

Besides this, after last night's incident, Lin Yi discovered that the reputation column on his system panel had risen again.

"Host: Lin Yi."

"Stone Stone Stone Stone Age: 21."

"Race: Human."

"Arms Dealer Reputation: 2678 (An Arms Dealer Rising to Fame)."

"Tech Tree Level: 3 Stars."

"Lottery Prize: Ford-class Nuclear-Powered Aircraft Carrier ×1, Carbon Fiber Technology (Pending Extraction)."

It was well known that reputation points were linked to the upgrade of the system's tech tree.

Only upon reaching a certain amount of reputation could the system upgrade to the next level.

As for upgrading the 3-star tech tree to 4 stars, the conditions were extremely simple.

The sales volume requirements for light weapons and artillery were no longer applicable.

Instead, one needed sales revenue exceeding one billion US dollars and a reputation value reaching 5,000.

Additionally, last night's aircraft carrier auction counted as a lottery item and was not included in the sales revenue.

One billion US dollars did not seem like much, but given the current monthly sales of roughly 60 to 70 million US dollars, which were increasing month by month...

...it would still take at least several months.

Of course, with this major update to the system catalog, various new types of weapons had recently been added.

Lin Yi knew that weapon sales were about to experience a massive explosion in the future.

"However, much more promotion is still needed!"

Lin Yi thought about last night's live-streamed auction.

The popularity had been explosive; even afterward, the DWS Weapons Platform received global orders worth six million US dollars.

To be honest, whenever he opened the internet recently, he was bombarded with promotions for all kinds of live streams.

At first, he had no idea what this stuff was all about.

But after clicking to take a look, it was just some beauties on computer screens striking poses, begging for gifts, and initiating private chats.

Although Lin Yi had no interest in any of this, he could clearly see how booming the live-streaming industry was.

For this reason, he had specifically gathered some information.

He learned that this year, 6.cn had been acquired by Songcheng, Amazon had acquired Twitch, and ImbaTV was focusing on vertical content.

At the same time, the valuations of streamers on esports platforms had skyrocketed.

— Author's Notes —

(PS: New book seeking flowers, tips, and review tickets; your support is the author's motivation!)