Chapter 499: Insufficient Precision

"We must act immediately," Maxwell said, his voice low and dangerous. "First, increase reconnaissance efforts on Penglai Base; spare no cost to obtain detailed intelligence on 'Kunpeng.' Second, launch our own thrust vectoring research project and go all out to catch up with this technology. Third," he paused, a cold glint flashing in his eyes, "I want to know everything about Li Mingyuan—his background, education, experiences, social circle, even his way of thinking. There is something wrong with this person, and I must find the answer."

Everyone in the conference room nodded, their expressions grave. They all realized that a new arms race had begun, and this time, they were no longer the ones far in the lead.

"Sir," an elderly aviation expert spoke up hesitantly, his voice tinged with unease, "if... if Long Country has truly achieved this kind of leap in aviation technology, then we must re-evaluate our entire Taipingyang strategy. Especially if the 'Kunpeng' project is truly some kind of revolutionary aircraft carrier, it will completely change the balance of naval power."

Maxwell's expression turned even gloomier: "I know. That is why we must understand the true face of 'Kunpeng' as soon as possible. Use every means, spare no cost."

Just then, the conference room door was pushed open, and an officer hurried in, whispering a few words into Maxwell's ear. Maxwell's face turned even uglier in an instant.

"Just received news," he announced to the group, "Beijixiong Guo has also obtained intelligence on this mysterious fighter jet, and they have already launched an emergency research program, codenamed 'Vulture'."

The atmosphere in the conference room became suffocatingly heavy. If even the traditionally conservative Beijixiong Guo attached such importance to this discovery, then the situation might be even more serious than they had imagined.

"Gentlemen," Maxwell stood up, his voice carrying a rare sense of urgency, "we are facing not just a technical challenge, but a revolution that could completely alter the global balance of power. If we cannot respond quickly, the dominant position of the Star-Spangled Country in the Taipingyang will be under unprecedented threat."

His gaze swept over everyone in the room: "From this moment on, countering Long Country's aviation technology breakthroughs is our highest priority mission. I want to see progress reports every day and attend evaluation meetings every week. We must catch up, we must surpass."

As people left the conference room, an unprecedented tension enveloped the Pentagon. That Eastern country, once viewed as technologically backward, had suddenly displayed an unsettling lead in multiple key fields. Even more unsettling was that all these breakthroughs seemed to stem from one person—Li Mingyuan.

Maxwell stood by the window, looking out at the Washington skyline, his heart filled with an indescribable unease. Those silver fighter jets in the photos were like ghosts flown in from the future, foreshadowing a world they might no longer dominate.

"Li Mingyuan..." he whispered the name, as if it contained some mysterious power, "who exactly are you? Where on earth did you get these technologies?"

No one answered, but a vague fear had already begun to spread through the military and political circles of the Star-Spangled Country.

……

Li Mingyuan stood inside the workshop of the Kunpeng giant structural parts factory, sweat from his forehead sliding down his cheeks. In July, Penglai was as hot as a steamer inside the workshop; dozens of old machine tools roared, workers were drenched in sweat operating the heavy equipment, and the air was filled with the smell of metal-cutting oil and hot, humid sweat.

"Chief Engineer Li, this is the main wing connector we just machined; take a look." Lao Wang was the most skilled master in the workshop, handing over a complex-shaped metal component with a face full of smiles.

Li Mingyuan took it, and his eyes dimmed instantly. He didn't need to measure it to see that the precision of this critical component simply did not meet the design requirements. Not only was the surface rough, but even the coaxiality of several key hole positions was clearly out of tolerance.

"Scrap. Redo it." His voice was calm, but everyone in the workshop heard the disappointment in it.

The smile on Lao Wang's face stiffened, and he said sheepishly, "Chief Engineer Li, this is already the third time we've reworked it. The machine tool precision is just like this, and the masters have done their best..."

Li Mingyuan didn't speak, just walked toward the scrap pile on the side, which was piled high with parts discarded for various reasons; a rough estimate put the scrap rate at at least 40%. For months, the Kunpeng project's schedule had been constantly delayed, largely due to the difficulty of machining these high-precision components.

"Our old machine tools and veteran masters have already done their best," the workshop director said in a low voice, "but some of the precision requirements are really..."

Li Mingyuan took a deep breath.

He had long been accustomed to CNC machining centers and automated production lines precise to the micron level. But now, what he saw were Semi-automatic Machine Tools relying on hand-cranked feeds, and masters using the naked eye and old experience to judge machining precision.

The massive gap between eras left him momentarily unsure of how to respond.

"How is the situation over at Sea Eagle?" he changed the subject and asked.

The workshop director looked troubled: "Worse. The complex curved parts of the vector nozzle basically rely on manual polishing, and the yield rate is less than 20%. If these curved surfaces aren't precise enough, they either leak air or jam; the pilots' lives are hanging on them."

Li Mingyuan nodded and asked again, "How is the progress on the weld inspection for the nuclear power plant reactor pressure vessel?"

"It all relies on manual X-ray inspection, checking at most two or three weld spots a day. At this speed, the inspection work alone will take three months."

A series of bad news made Li Mingyuan's heart heavy. The knowledge and concepts he brought from his time travel were advanced, but the manufacturing capability of this era was a massive bottleneck.

Coming out of the workshop, Department Head Zhang was standing at the door waiting for him, his expression even uglier than his own.

"Lao Li, something happened." Department Head Zhang lowered his voice, signaling him to follow.

The two arrived at a temporary conference room, and Department Head Zhang locked the door and pulled out a report: "Ground espionage activities by the Star-Spangled Country and Beijixiong Guo have intensified. Ever since 'Sky Eye' made their satellites 'blind,' they have switched to human intelligence networks. Yesterday, we caught two suspicious 'geological survey teams' near the nuclear power plant construction site and seized high-precision cameras and radio transmitters."

Li Mingyuan frowned: "Infiltrated to such a deep level?"

"Not just that," Department Head Zhang's expression was grave, "the Sea Eagle test flight has already reached the high levels of the two major powers. Beijixiong Guo has already launched a copycat program codenamed 'Vulture,' and the Star-Spangled Country is frantically searching for your background information."

"Searching for me?" Li Mingyuan raised an eyebrow.