Chapter 161: Ordinary Products

Abu Dhabi International Defense Exhibition, Hall 7, Booth C-32.

The booth design was quite "simple."

A twenty-square-meter space covered with gray-blue carpet.

The background board was written in both Chinese and English: "Longyin Technology, Making Technology Serve Life," accompanied by several schematic diagrams that looked like construction transport, fire rescue, etc.

Two exhibits were placed in the center of the booth: a dusty exoskeleton frame and a quadruped robot dog.

The robot dog was carrying a plastic box on its back, with a label on the box that read "Sample: Do Not Touch."

The entire booth looked like a filler stall that some third-tier manufacturer had squeezed into a top-tier defense exhibition.

Wang Hao squatted on a folding chair at the edge of the booth, holding a cup of instant coffee, his eyes fixed on the passing crowd.

"I say Guangzi," he whispered into his headset.

"Is our booth too shabby? Look at the Mao Xiong family next door, that tank model is almost two meters high!"

"Look at Eagle Country over there, holographic projection plus real models, tsk tsk..."

Chen Guang's calm voice came from the headset: "Low profile is Brother Feng's requirement. Remember, we are selling 'civilian products' today."

"But this is too civilian!" Wang Hao muttered.

"Didn't even install a light strip! I was thinking last night about whether to have a laser show for the opening!"

"If you dare to have a laser show, Brother Feng will dare to let you perform chest-crushing boulders on the booth."

"That's not impossible, Brother Hao has practiced..."

"Shut up, a customer is coming."

Wang Hao immediately sprang up, his face instantly changing into a professional smile, as fast as if he had pressed a switch.

Walking toward them were three Europeans in suits, their badges showing they were from a certain Nordic defense company.

The leader was a bald middle-aged man, his eyes swept around the booth, with obvious disdain in his eyes.

"Hello, hello! Welcome to the Longyin Technology booth!" Wang Hao greeted enthusiastically in English with a slight accent.

"Take a look at our products? Civilian-grade exoskeleton and transport robot dog, sturdy and durable, seven-year warranty!"

The bald man picked up the brochure on the booth and flipped through two pages: "Maximum load 150 kg? Endurance 8 hours? This data... is very ordinary."

"Ordinary is good!" Wang Hao slapped his thigh.

"Think about it, what kind of high-tech do you need for moving bricks on a construction site? Stability! Durability! Cheap! That's the hard truth!"

He walked to the exoskeleton codenamed "Chengshan-Foreign Trade Version" and patted the frame:

"Look at this structure, all-aluminum alloy frame, key joints use our patented cushioning design. Workers wear it, moving a hundred pounds of cement is like playing, and it doesn't hurt the waist!"

"Can you demonstrate it?"

"Of course!"

Wang Hao beckoned to the back of the booth.

A staff member in work clothes walked over, it was Li Yang in disguise.

Li Yang silently put on the exoskeleton and fastened the seat belt.

Wang Hao took two standard weight blocks from the box on the robot dog's back, each 25 kg, and hung them on the hooks on both sides of the exoskeleton.

"Watch carefully!" Wang Hao said loudly, deliberately attracting the passing crowd, "Fifty kilograms, equivalent to a bag of cement!"

Li Yang activated the exoskeleton.

The motor made a slight hum, he bent over, reached out, grabbed the crossbar under the weight block, and then lifted it very easily.

The movement was as smooth as picking up a bottle of mineral water.

Li Yang even turned a circle on the spot, moving the weight block from left to right, demonstrating the flexibility of the exoskeleton under load.

The crowd gathered around increased by a few.

"This is just the basic mode!" Wang Hao continued to explain.

"We also have 'assisted walking' mode, climbing mountains and stairs like walking on flat ground; 'precision operation' mode, hands don't shake even when doing fine work!"

Li Yang cooperated to demonstrate several movements: going up stairs, going down stairs, turning in narrow spaces.

The response of the exoskeleton was extremely natural, almost no delay could be seen.

The bald man's young assistant whispered: "Boss, their motor response speed seems faster than the public data..."

"Cough, cough!" The bald man coughed to interrupt, turning to Wang Hao, "So, what about the price?"

"Easy to talk about!" Wang Hao took out a tablet, "Basic version, $35,000 per set. Bulk purchase has a discount, more than 100 sets get 15% off! And free maintenance for one year!"

"$35,000... not expensive." The bald man touched his chin.

"However, is the interface open? Can we develop application modules ourselves?"

Wang Hao showed a difficult expression: "Oh, this... this is a civilian product, for safety reasons, the system is closed."

"However, there are standard accessory interfaces, you can connect to the expansion modules officially released by us, there are lights, tool racks, first aid kits, by the way, there are also folding chairs for lunch breaks!"

The bald man's mouth twitched: "Closed system... what about data? Can usage records be exported?"

"Yes! How long it was used every day, how much stuff was moved, how much electricity was consumed, all have records!"

"You can see it through our 'Longyin Life' APP, and it can generate work reports, very convenient for bosses to check!"

"... I'll consider it again."

The bald man left with his assistant, and looked back at the booth before leaving, his eyes complex.

Wang Hao waited until they were far away before whispering into his headset: "Guangzi, was that bald guy just trying to fish for information?"

"Yes." Chen Guang's voice came from the headset.

"Their badges are fake. I checked the database, that Nordic company went bankrupt last year. Should be intelligence personnel."

"Holy crap, there's a spy at the door half an hour after opening?"

"'Torch Dragon' monitored at least seven suspicious signal sources around our booth. Keep acting, don't reveal anything."

Wang Hao grinned: "Okay! Brother Hao is best at acting!"

Ten o'clock in the morning, the flow of people in the exhibition hall reached its peak.

A dozen people finally gathered in front of the Longyin booth, most of them attracted by Wang Hao's loud voice.

Wang Hao had completely entered the "gold medal sales" state, holding a megaphone (which he found from his suitcase).

Standing on a folding chair, he was exactly like an uncle selling vegetables in a vegetable market.

"Come, come, come! Take a look! Longyin Technology, military quality, civilian price! Buy it and you won't suffer, buy it and you won't be fooled!"

"This big brother looks like he knows the business! Come and try our robot dog?"

"Hey yes, this little guy, called 'Xiao Bai-Transport Version'! Don't look at him as silly, he can do a lot!"

He directed the robot dog to demonstrate the carrying function.

A simple obstacle field was set up in the corner of the booth: stairs, ramps, simulated rubble piles.

The robot dog carried a 20 kg weight box and moved flexibly between them.

When going up the stairs, the four legs were coordinated like a real dog;

When passing through the rubble pile, the sensors at the end of the feet adjusted the stepping points in real-time to keep the back level;

When going downhill, it actively slowed down, so steady that a cup of water on the box wouldn't spill.

A young technician with glasses squeezed to the front, squatted down and looked carefully at the joint structure of the robot dog:

"This foot cushioning design... is a bit like Boston Dynamics' plan, but simpler. What material did you use?"

Wang Hao jumped off the chair and leaned over: "Brother, good eyes! But as for the specific material... trade secret! Anyway, it's light and sturdy!"

"Maximum load?"

"Nominal 200 kg, measured can reach 250! Endurance, walking on flat ground for eight hours, complex terrain 70%!"

"Control system? Can it be programmed remotely?"

"Yes! Use our APP, swipe the screen to set the route! And you can form a team, look—"

Wang Hao operated his phone a few times.

Behind the booth, two other robot dogs crawled out of the box (they had been folded and stored just now).

The three robot dogs quickly formed a triangular formation, carrying simulated material boxes, and began to march in coordination along the edge of the booth.

They automatically maintained distance, slowed down to avoid people when encountering crowds, and when turning, the inner side slowed down and the outer side accelerated, cooperating tacitly as if controlled by the same brain.

The technician with glasses stared straight: "This path planning algorithm... developed by yourselves?"

"That's a must!" Wang Hao puffed out his chest, "Our Longyin AI, it's called smart! But how smart—still a trade secret!"

Laughter broke out around.

A middle-aged man in a Middle Eastern robe walked over at this time, followed by two bodyguards.

The company name on the badge showed it was a royal fund of a certain oil country.

"This robot dog," he said in English with an accent.

"Can it be used in the desert? Sand, high temperature, sandstorm."

Wang Hao's eyes lit up—holy crap, this is a big customer!

"Yes! Very much so!" He let the robot dog stop and pointed to the end of the foot.

"Look at this foot pad, special rubber, anti-slip and high-temperature resistant, and easy to clear sand. Sealed design, IP67 protection level, walk a circle in a sandstorm, just blow it when you come back!"

"Battery? Will it explode at 50 degrees high temperature?"

"We use lithium iron phosphate, safety first! High-temperature environment automatically reduces power, guaranteed not to explode! Besides." Wang Hao whispered.

"If it really doesn't work, we have solar charging backplanes as an option, you can walk in the desert by basking in the sun!"

The Middle Eastern man was obviously moved: "Price?"

"Single unit $80,000! Bulk price private chat! We also provide custom painting services, whether you want local tyrant gold or oil green, we can spray it!"

"I need some samples for testing."

"No problem! Leave contact information, we'll talk in detail after the exhibition!"

Wang Hao handed over his business card, his movements as skilled as a salesman who had been doing it for ten years.

After the Middle Eastern man left with his bodyguards, Wang Hao said to the headset: "Guangzi, is this one real?"

"Real. That fund invested in seven robot projects last year, this is the eighth." Chen Guang paused.

"However, their background is complex, they might buy it and turn around to dismantle it for research."

"Let them dismantle!" Wang Hao giggled, "The self-destruct program I designed myself, it starts when dismantled to the third layer, guaranteed to melt even the chip into a lump!"

"When did you add the self-destruct program?"

"Last night! Welded in the hotel room until 3 AM! Engineer Zhao provided 'thermosensitive memory alloy', the trigger temperature is set at 120 degrees."

"Once illegal dismantling is detected, pop! Internal short circuit, instantaneous temperature rise, perfect destruction!"

"... Haozi, what exactly did you bring in your suitcase?"

"Not much, just a few sets of tools, a few parts, and 'small gifts' specially made by Engineer Zhao. Don't worry, I said they were 'exhibit accessories' when passing customs, they couldn't find them!"

The morning exhibition passed in the noise.

During the lunch break, Wang Hao squatted behind the booth eating a sandwich, Li Yang sat next to him checking the joint wear of the exoskeleton.

Although it was only demonstrated for a morning, Li Yang's habit was to check after each use.

"Brother Li, do you think our acting is a bit over the top?" Wang Hao said vaguely.

"I saw several real customers just now, they left as soon as they heard it was a closed system."

"If they left, they left." Li Yang didn't look up, "Brother Feng said, we are not here to sell goods today."

"Then what are we here for?"

"To tell everyone, we have this thing. As for whether to sell, how to sell, and who to sell to, we'll talk about it when we go back."

Wang Hao thought about it and understood: "Oh—fishing law enforcement!"

"It's a strategic display."

"Same thing!"

One o'clock in the afternoon, the exhibition hall reopened.

There were more people.

There were always a dozen people watching in front of the Longyin booth, Wang Hao's throat was a bit hoarse, but his spirit was still full.

He even started a "challenge" in front of the booth: whoever could guess the principle of the robot dog maintaining balance on uneven ground would be given a keychain with the Longyin LOGO.

As a result, a German engineer analyzed the foot sensors and PID control algorithm in detail, talking eloquently.

Wang Hao was stunned for two seconds, then laughed and applauded: "Brother is amazing! But we don't use PID, we use adaptive fuzzy control! The keychain is yours!"

The German engineer got the keychain, but was even more confused: "Civilian products use such complex algorithms? Won't the cost be too high?"

"Technology sinking!" Wang Hao didn't change his face, "Our Longyin loves to do this kind of thing, making good things cheap and benefiting all mankind!"

He said it righteously, Chen Guang watched the monitoring screen in the background, the corners of his mouth slightly raised.

Feng Yan's voice came from the headset: "Guangzi, how is the situation?"

"Everything is normal." Chen Guang pulled up the data panel.

"So far, twenty-seven groups of potential customers have contacted the booth, including five groups of confirmed intelligence personnel, eight groups of commercial competitors, and fourteen groups of real buyers."

"All tentative scans were intercepted and back-tracked by 'Torch Dragon', marking nineteen signal sources."

"What about Haozi? Didn't act too much, right?"

"Just right. His persona now is 'overly enthusiastic but technically solid salesman', very credible."

"What about Old Li?"

"Playing 'taciturn but skilled technician', also very credible."

Feng Yan smiled: "It seems our play is performed well."

"However," Chen Guang pulled up a notification he had just received.

"The exhibition hall management sent a message saying that at nine o'clock tomorrow morning, there is a request for a closed-door demonstration by a 'special customer'. Need to provide product technical white papers and test videos, and report in advance."

"Which customer?"

"No specific name written, only said the level is very high, from a 'certain major power delegation'."

Chen Guang paused: "Need to refuse?"

"No." Feng Yan's voice was very calm.

"Promise them. Since someone wants to see the real thing, then show them, as for how much they see, it's up to us."

"Understood."

Communication ended.

Chen Guang looked at the monitoring screen.

In front of the booth, Wang Hao was demonstrating the "dance mode" of the robot dog to a group of young people who looked like students.

The four legs swayed with the rhythm of the music, the movements clumsy and funny, drawing bursts of laughter.

In the sun, the shell of the robot dog reflected a gentle luster, and the label "civilian product" on the side was particularly eye-catching.

Chen Guang adjusted his glasses and marked the appointment at nine o'clock tomorrow morning on the schedule.

Then he pulled up the defense log of "Torch Dragon" and began to check whether there were any particularly noteworthy patterns in all the suspicious scans intercepted today. ===== CHAPTER 162 =====