Chapter 17: Starting the Break-in Period

"What? You are that person from the news?" Zhang Wen said in surprise.

"That's right, it's me."

Wang Shouxin said with a hint of decadence.

In his view, he should have taken some counter-measures.

Zhang Wen, however, saw through his thoughts.

"Captain Wang, you don't need to worry too much; that incident was not your fault."

"It was just that we truly didn't have suitable ships at the time."

"However, you don't need to worry now; I have already delivered the ship to you." Zhang Wen said to Wang Shouxin, pointing at the newly built missile boat.

As the topic shifted to the ship, Wang Shouxin's eyes lit up instantly.

The appearance of the missile boat truly shocked him.

"What is her name?"

Wang Shouxin asked.

"She doesn't have a name yet, and hasn't been commissioned, but we all call her the missile boat."

Zhang Wen said, looking at the ship.

"Is she stronger than the torpedo boat I had before?"

Wang Shouxin asked the question he cared about most right now.

"Stronger. Just you wait and see!"

Zhang Wen said decisively, without the slightest bit of modesty.

"Shall we go up and take a look?"

Zhang Wen looked at Captain Wang.

"Alright."

In the shipyard of Haimo City.

Director Feng held his coffee like a treasure, sipping it leisurely.

He felt no tension about the upcoming competition; on the contrary, he was very relaxed.

Facing the soldiers who came to test the ship.

Director Feng said bluntly: "Test? What is there to test?"

"My ship features a design passed down for a hundred years!"

"There is absolutely no need for changes!"

"The usage methods, the positions—everything is exactly the same as the previous warships."

"There is simply no need for testing."

"As expected, a decaying, bureaucratic country is just like this." After saying this, he ignored the gazes of others and continued to drink his coffee on his own.

The leading soldier had no choice but to head to the ship with resignation.

Only after boarding the ship did he realize.

What was meant by a design passed down for a hundred years.

It was simply identical to the previous warship design.

There was absolutely no difference.

Even the position of a tiny button was exactly the same.

To put it nicely, it reduced learning costs.

To put it bluntly, it was a lack of progress.

The only difference from the old ships was that the torpedoes had been replaced with newer ones.

The engine had been replaced with a slightly better one.

Everything else remained completely unchanged.

Even the much-criticized canteen hadn't seen a single change.

This made the soldier so angry he felt like his lungs were about to explode.

But constrained by orders, he could only reluctantly accept the results of testing this warship.

However, he still intended to find Director Feng to reason with him.

"Director Feng, everything else is unchanged. Can you tell me what exactly you have improved?"

The soldier sternly questioned Director Feng.

"Hmm? What did I improve?"

"What do you know?"

"Have you ever been to school?"

"Have you ever attended university?"

"Have you ever studied abroad?"

"Have you ever come into contact with the warships of advanced Western countries?"

"Hmm?"

The soldier was left stunned by this barrage of questions.

He himself only had a middle school education and had finished university later while in the military.

How could he have ever been abroad?

Seeing the soldier at a loss for words.

Director Feng snorted coldly.

"Do you know that my design originates from Western countries and has a hundred-year heritage?"

"Do you think you understand ship design better than those Western countries?"

"Hmm? Answer me!"

The soldier's face flushed red, and he remained silent.

"Hmph! How many years has our country been building ships? These are things they have been playing with for a lifetime."

"You want to make changes?"

As soon as the words fell, the soldier couldn't help but speak up.

"Then should we also follow suit with coffee machines, steaks, and bread?"

"Can't there be space for tea and steamed buns on the ship instead of just coffee, steak, and bread?"

"Do you know how much foreign currency the whole country spends on food for ships alone just because of your design?"

Facing the soldier's questioning, Director Feng said dismissively: "That can't be blamed on me. Go take a look for yourself; aren't all the warships in the world designed this way?"

"Crews across the entire Western world eat this."

"You aren't thanking me for bringing you into the civilized world, and yet you're here scolding me?"

"Get out!"

Director Feng's words completely enraged the soldier; he wanted to rush up and hit Director Feng, but he was held back by others.

"Hmph, barbarians." Seeing this scene, Director Feng dropped a final remark and quickly slipped away.

"Let me go!"

"Today I'm going to let him know what the hell dignity is!" The soldier tried to break free, but the people behind him held him tightly.

"Captain, Captain, don't lower yourself to his level. If you get into a fight with him, you might end up losing this uniform."

"Don't bother with people like this."

"I heard that in two days he has a competitor, one built by our own people."

"Captain, don't you want to see what a ship built by our own people looks like?"

After these words, the soldier finally calmed down.

He stood in place for a long time to recover.

"I hope so."

He dropped the remark and left.

Inside the military base on the South Sea island.

Zhang Wen was watching the excited Captain Wang Shouxin.

Watching him touch every part of the warship with endless excitement.

"I say, Captain, that's enough, isn't it?"

"You're going to rub the paint off the ship!"

Wang Shouxin then sheepishly pulled his hand back.

After a few days of testing, Wang Shouxin had gained an extremely deep understanding of the ship's performance.

It was precisely this understanding that made him love the ship so much he couldn't put it down.

He wished he could become the captain of this ship right now.

"Don't get too excited."

"This ship hasn't passed the competition yet."

"Only after passing can it be accepted and then mass-produced."

Zhang Wen said very calmly.

"What kind of bullshit is that!"

"Can't you have a little confidence in yourself?"

"If this ship can't beat the ship designed by that idiot Director Feng."

"I'm telling you, I'll eat this ship!"

Captain Wang Shouxin said bluntly.

"Whether equipment is good or bad depends on how people perform, doesn't it?"

"Are you sure you and your crew are proficient?"

Zhang Wen continued to ask.

Zhang Wen was the type of person who always thought of the worst-case scenario.

Then he would push forward to strive for perfection in everything.

"Of course. These past few days, look at us—the dozen or so people on this ship—how many hours have we slept?"

"Haven't we all been getting familiar with this ship with dark circles under our eyes?"

"That's true!" said Zhang Wen, who also had dark circles under his eyes.

"These past few days, you've been dragging us along; my workers below are complaining to me that they didn't even work this hard when building this ship."

"If we go on for a few more days, we'll have to go to the zoo to pose as pandas."

Zhang Wen said with annoyance.

"Heh, I was just too excited!"

Captain Wang Shouxin said.

Then, he added in a sorrowful tone: "If only your ship had come a few months earlier."

"We wouldn't have had to suffer such humiliation."

"That wasn't just a slap to my face; it was a slap to the face of our country's military! It was a slap to the face of our country!"

"Every time I think about it now, my teeth ache with hatred!"

"If I had known, I would have just rammed my ship into them!"

Wang Shouxin said with resentment.

"It would have been useless. Even if you had rammed them, they wouldn't have been affected; a gap in weaponry is a gap."

"No matter how much you hate it, it's useless."

"But!" Zhang Wen sat up and stared into his eyes.

"Do you want to get revenge?"

"I dream of it!" Captain Wang Shouxin said without hesitation.

"Good. You know this ship was originally scheduled to be completed in a month."

"But after the workers in my factory heard about your situation."

"They worked overtime and finished it a month early."

"Tomorrow is the competition against Director Feng's ship. The country wants to win, but Director Feng can't win."

"So, you have to win it back for him."

Captain Wang Shouxin gripped Zhang Wen's hand.

"Alright!" ===== CHAPTER 18 =====