Chapter 176

On the morning of the thirtieth day after the successful launch of "Kuafu-2," on the cafeteria television screen at the Longyin Research Institute.

A high-level press conference was being broadcast live.

Wang Hao, with half a fried dough stick hanging from his mouth, stared at the screen and muttered indistinctly:

"Damn, this lineup today... three ministerial-level officials are here?"

On the screen was the National Press Hall in the capital, with seven officials seated in front.

In the center was the Minister of Science and Technology, to the left the Minister of Industry and Information Technology, and to the right the Vice Minister of Public Security.

Further out on both sides were military representatives, the director of the Standardization Committee, and—Feng Yan.

This press conference today would change many things.

"... After a year of technical verification and safety assessment," the Minister of Science and Technology said to the camera, his voice steady and powerful.

"The state has officially approved the 'Civilian Exoskeleton/Mech Management Regulations (Trial),' document number: Ke Min Zhuang No. 001."

He held up the thin document in his hand, and the camera gave it a close-up.

The cover featured the standard national emblem and red-headed document format, with the bright red seals of three ministries stamped in the bottom right corner.

"These regulations will officially take effect at midnight today," the Minister continued.

"Based on technical maturity and application scenarios, civilian mechs will henceforth be divided into three categories."

A classification chart popped up on the large screen:

Category I: Light Exoskeletons (Assistance type). Maximum load 50kg, power limit 15kW, suitable for logistics, rescue, assistance for the disabled, and other fields.

Category II: Medium Engineering Mechs (Operation type). Maximum load 5 tons, power limit 200kW, suitable for construction, mining, firefighting, and other heavy labor industries.

Category III: Special Operation Mechs (Permit type). Requires special approval, suitable for extreme environments such as polar scientific research, deep-sea operations, and nuclear/biological/chemical handling.

"All civilian mechs must pass the 'Longyin Technical Certification System' and obtain a unique code and electronic license before they can be put into use," the Minister of Industry and Information Technology took over.

"Certification standards include but are not limited to: structural safety, energy safety, control safety, and data safety. The certification process will be posted on the Longyin Research Institute's official website."

The Vice Minister of Public Security spoke last, his tone serious: "Civilian mechs used on roads, at work, or on duty require the acquisition of corresponding operating qualifications."

"Behaviors such as unlicensed operation, illegal modification, and exceeding usage limits will be held accountable in accordance with relevant clauses of the 'Public Security Administration Punishments Law' and the 'Criminal Law'."

He paused: "Special emphasis: any attempt to modify a civilian mech into a weapon platform will be regarded as a serious crime, punishable by up to life imprisonment."

The cafeteria was deathly silent.

Everyone stopped their chopsticks and looked at the screen.

Wang Hao murmured: "This mech driver's license is even stricter than when I took my car driver's license test."

"It has to be strict." Chen Guang pushed up his glasses and sat down with his soy milk.

"Yesterday, 'Torch Dragon' simulated one hundred thousand abuse scenarios; in the most extreme case, a hacked Category II mech could cause hundreds of casualties within three minutes."

Li Yang walked over, holding a tablet: "The technical architecture for the certification system has been deployed."

"Every mech will have a unique key burned into it at the factory, and all operational data will be uploaded in real-time to the 'Torch Dragon' civilian monitoring center."

"Once abnormal behavior is detected—such as exceeding power limits or attempting to crack safety locks."

"The system will automatically impose speed limits and immediately notify the nearest law enforcement unit to handle it."

"There is also a remote fuse function," Zhao Kaiyuan added.

"In an emergency, 'Torch Dragon' can send a command to shut down the mech's power system directly. Of course, this requires level-three authorization and won't be triggered by mistake."

On the screen, the press conference entered the reporter Q&A session.

The first reporter stood up, and the question was sharp: "Hello Minister, I am a reporter from the 'Global Times'."

"With military technology being downgraded to the civilian sector, how is safety guaranteed? Will there be accidents where mechs go out of control and hurt people?"

The Minister of Science and Technology looked at Feng Yan: "For this question, please have the technical expert from the Longyin Research Institute answer."

Feng Yan adjusted the microphone, his tone calm but clear: "Safety is our highest priority when designing civilian mechs."

"All civilian models are based on downgraded versions of military technology—de-weaponized, power-reduced, and equipped with triple physical safety locks."

He signaled the staff to play a demonstration video.

On screen, a Category I exoskeleton was undergoing testing in a laboratory.

Test one: The operator tried to make the exoskeleton perform a punching motion. As soon as the mechanical arm was halfway up, metal limit pins popped out at the joints, locking the range of motion.

Test two: The operator tried to use the exoskeleton to carry a load exceeding 50kg. The system sounded an alarm, and power output automatically dropped to 10%.

Test three: Technicians simulated a hacker attack, attempting to remotely crack the control system. Three seconds after the attempt began, the mech's backup battery pack automatically fused, and the entire device was completely paralyzed.

"These triple safety locks are mechanical limits, electronic fences, and remote fuses, respectively," Feng Yan explained.

"They are independent of each other; even if two systems are breached, the third can ensure safety."

Another reporter followed up: "What if all three are breached?"

Feng Yan glanced at the reporter and said flatly: "That would require a professional technical team, with the equipment intact, to spend at least seventy-two hours on a targeted crack."

"And during this process, the 'Torch Dragon' monitoring center would receive an alert in the very first second, and law enforcement units would arrive at the scene within ten minutes."

He paused: "So theoretically, the probability of all three being breached simultaneously... is lower than the probability of being hit by a meteorite."

Laughter erupted at the scene.

The third reporter was from foreign media, and the question was more direct: "Mr. Feng, I am a BBC reporter."

"Is your country's large-scale promotion of mech technology going to impact the global labor market?"

"Many traditional jobs might disappear."

Feng Yan answered even more calmly this time: "Technological revolutions always bring adjustments to job structures. But they also create new jobs."

"According to our calculations, after the full popularization of civilian mechs, it will directly create over two million new professions such as 'mech operators,' 'mech maintenance technicians,' and 'mech dispatchers'."

"And the reduction in traditional manual labor jobs can be smoothed out through retraining programs. We have already formulated detailed transition plans with the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security."

He looked at the camera: "The purpose of technological development is not to replace people, but to liberate them."

"To free humanity from repetitive, dangerous, and heavy manual labor, so they can engage in more creative and wisdom-intensive work."

"That is the warmth that technology should have."

After this sentence, the press conference scene was quiet for a few seconds, and then warm applause broke out.

In the cafeteria, Wang Hao poked Chen Guang: "Guangzi, Brother Feng's speaking level is getting more and more leader-like."

Chen Guang stared at the data stream scrolling on the screen: "He practiced it a full seventeen times last night."

"How do you know?"

"Because I saw the version history of him modifying the speech draft in the backend," Chen Guang pushed up his glasses.

"From the technical parameter stacking in the first version to the humanized expression in the seventeenth, the progress is significant."

Wang Hao was amused: "So Brother Feng is also practiced!"

"It's all practiced," Li Yang said suddenly.

"Three years ago, the first time he went to my warehouse, he would still stutter when he spoke. Now... you see."

The press conference was still continuing, but the people in the cafeteria had started to get busy.

Today was not just a policy release day, but also a task launch day within Longyin.

As soon as Feng Yan returned, he organized an internal meeting in the Number One Emergency Conference Room.

All project team leaders were present, and Feng Yan stood in front of the main screen without wasting words.

"The document has been officially released, and the tide is coming," he pulled up the backend data.

"In the past three hours, 217 companies nationwide have submitted 'Longyin Certification' applications. It is expected that this number will exceed one thousand within this week."

The list of companies scrolled on the screen: from state-owned heavy industry groups to private logistics companies, and even a few agricultural cooperatives.

"Our task is very clear," Feng Yan switched to the task distribution table.

"Li Yang's team, responsible for the productization of Category I exoskeletons. Design a civilian version based on the downgraded technology of the 'Iron Wolf-Assault Type'."

Li Yang nodded: "The design plan has been confirmed. The first batch of prototypes can officially roll off the line in three days."

"Can it meet the requirements?" Feng Yan asked.

"The cost has been controlled within 50,000 yuan, maintenance is simple, and ideally, it should be like an electric bike, repairable at roadside shops," Li Yang paused.

"In addition, we have designed a modular interface; users can add tool arms according to their needs, of course, using standard certified modules."

"Very good. Wang Hao's team."

"Here!" Wang Hao raised his hand.

"You are responsible for the safety system," Feng Yan looked at him.

"The hardware implementation of the triple safety locks, as well as the anti-cracking algorithms."

"Remember, the safety of the civilian version must be higher than the military version—because the usage environment is more complex and the operators are less professional."

Wang Hao patted his chest: "Don't worry! I've specifically designed a 'foolproof' safety protocol!"

"How foolproof?"

"Let's put it this way: to crack our system, you have to pass an IQ test first; those with a score below 80 won't even be able to find the cracking interface!"

There was a burst of laughter in the conference room.

"Chen Guang's team," Feng Yan continued.

"You have full authority over the civilian monitoring center."

Chen Guang pulled up the architecture diagram. "'Torch Dragon' civilian branch has been deployed, and computing resources are completely independent."

"It can monitor the status, location, and energy consumption of every civilian mech in the country in real-time."

"Data processing capability?" Feng Yan asked.

"It currently supports million-level concurrency, and we've reserved ten-million-level expansion interfaces," Chen Guang pushed up his glasses.

"But if it really reaches a ten-million-level scale, we will need to add more servers to support the demand."

"Approved," Feng Yan said directly, "Whatever you need, you get."

Finally, it was Zhao Kaiyuan: "Energy team, are you confident about the supply of the civilian version of the 'Xuanming' pile?"

Zhao Kaiyuan pulled up photos of the production line: "The civilian version of the micro-pile has passed 100,000 hours of safety testing."

"The output power is limited to 30% of the military version, but it is enough for Category I exoskeletons to work continuously for 24 hours, and Category II mechs for 8 hours."

"What about the cost?"

"The unit cost after mass production can be pressed below 200,000," Zhao Kaiyuan paused.

"If there is a state subsidy, the actual payment by the end user might be less than 100,000."

Feng Yan nodded and looked around the room: "Is everyone clear? For the next three months, our focus is on civilian implementation."

"But this does not mean that military R&D will stagnate," he pulled up another schedule.

"The design of the 'Bi'an-3' must continue to advance, the mass production line for 'Kuafu-2' must also be built simultaneously, and the 'Torch Dragon' quantum fusion project will proceed as planned."

"We must walk on two legs: one foot planted in the current civilian market, and one foot striding toward the future sea of stars."

After the meeting, Wang Hao hooked his arm around Chen Guang's shoulder as they walked out: "Guangzi, can you add a small feature to your monitoring center?"

"What?"

"For example, when it detects a mech delivering takeout, automatically play a voice saying 'Your takeout has arrived, please give a five-star review'?"