Chapter 533: Satellite

Sun Cheng was not aware that on the very night he returned to Nandu, inside a workshop belonging to the Precision Instrument Manufacturing Company in Shencheng, several people who clearly held high status had gathered together.

Leading them was an old general in military uniform, who looked to be in his sixties.

"... Director Wu, what are the test results for these two lithography machines?"

The old general was none other than General Chen Jichang from the Equipment Department. As one of the primary individuals responsible for the research and development of national defense equipment in Xia Country, how could this old general, who had been engaged in national defense construction for over forty years, contain himself now that two cutting-edge lithography machines capable of influencing the revolution of national defense equipment had entered the country?

Upon hearing the news, he had rushed from Nandu to Shencheng at the first opportunity.

It was no surprise that the old general was so anxious; with the rapid changes in military technology, various electronic products that utilized chips were no longer just ordinary consumer goods.

In the field of national defense and military, the demand for chips in an increasing number of cutting-edge military equipment had become higher and higher.

To give the simplest example, the various air defense and fire control radars equipped by the army, navy, and air force had extremely high requirements for chips.

In the past, because the process precision of Xia Country's lithography machines did not meet the standards, the gap between them and the powerful nations of Europe and America in the field of radar production was very obvious.

The lithography machines manufactured by Precision Instrument itself were not advanced enough, and ASML strictly guarded every lithography machine sold to Xia Country.

They installed a large number of sensors inside the lithography machines; once they discovered they had been dismantled or used in the military field, they would remotely lock them through the backend, turning them into scrap metal that could never be used again.

For such scrap, ASML would not only refuse to provide after-sales maintenance, but would even bite back, freezing the lithography machine sales agreements already reached with Xia Country.

Therefore, Xia Country's demand for advanced lithography machines was very great, even elevating it to the level of national strategy.

Moreover, behind these two lithography machines lay a secret channel that was highly likely to change the situation where Xia Country's cutting-edge equipment was controlled by others; the old general had to take it seriously.

The person being questioned by the old general was a man in his fifties, wearing a coffee-colored suit, with a faint smell of alcohol on him.

He was Dong Qizhen, the chairman of the Precision Instrument Manufacturing Company. At noon, he had originally been in Sichuan Province attending a banquet held by the local government for the landing of a new production base under his company, when he was informed that his superiors had notified him to rush to Shencheng as soon as possible.

It was only after arriving in Shencheng that someone from the National Control Bureau informed him that two pieces of equipment secretly purchased by the state were about to be delivered to Precision Instrument, and he needed to send people to receive them and conduct tests along the way.

Although his schedule had been disrupted by the sudden arrangement, Dong Qizhen had been at the helm of Precision Instrument for several years. As the leader of this old state-owned enterprise, it was not his first time experiencing such things, so although the alcohol in his system had not yet fully broken down, he handled it without the slightest disorder.

"General, after comprehensive testing by the laboratory, the conclusion reached is exactly the same as the first test this afternoon. These two lithography machines, which the National Control Bureau is not sure where they obtained, are indeed 14nm-class advanced equipment..."

Dong Qizhen had arrived in Shencheng by plane at three o'clock in the afternoon, and after learning the sequence of events from the general manager, he had stayed in the laboratory, witnessing most of the testing process with his own eyes.

Although Precision Instrument did not directly engage in the production of national defense military equipment, many of the instruments and equipment used by Xia Country's national defense enterprises and laboratories needed to be purchased from them.

However, Dong Qizhen also knew that national defense units should also need this advanced equipment.

So he asked, "General, should we do as before, with us keeping one for research while the other waits for other units to receive it?"

After the old general received a very affirmative answer from him, he was in a great mood, and his face could not stop beaming with smiles.

Hearing this, he shook his head, "Let these two lithography machines stay with you for now. There should be a few more coming one after another later; having waited for so many years, I don't mind waiting a few more months."

The old general had another layer of meaning, but he did not say it out loud.

The National Security Bureau had been investigating Sun Cheng and the P·C·F behind him, but they hadn't found anything yet.

Precision Instrument's testing of the two lithography machines for the time being was also only focused on performance. Out of consideration for national defense security, it was impossible for the Equipment Department to feel at ease letting two pieces of equipment that had not yet passed safety inspections enter the field of national defense equipment production.

The old general did not stay in Shencheng for long; after witnessing it with his own eyes and getting the answer he wanted, he soon returned to Nandu by car.

"... Yes, Mr. President... The equipment has passed the performance testing at Precision Instrument; they are indeed two 14nm-class advanced lithography machines... However, due to time constraints, the safety testing has not yet begun. I will arrange for it to be carried out as soon as possible..."

"... We are not clear about the investigation results from the National Security Bureau, and there are still quite a few misgivings for the time being..."

"Oh? You mean we can give the other party a little more trust..."

"... I understand... The Equipment Department still has some special equipment procurement funds left for this year. I will prepare a detailed procurement list and submit it to you after I return..."

"Yes, we cherish this opportunity!"

Sun Cheng clearly did not know how busy this night had become because of him.

In fact, he himself was also very busy.

He had only fiddled with the Sleep Pod for a while, solving a few small problems he had discovered not long ago that he hadn't had time to fix.

After finishing this, he saw there was still some time left.

Sun Cheng simply took Xiao Wu out of his inner pocket, "Xiao Wu, activate Yinhao satellite. I need to check the disaster situation on Nublar Island as soon as possible..."

The Black Market is a good thing; many things that ordinary people cannot imagine can be bought here.

This even includes satellites!

Although the vast majority of satellites orbiting Earth belong to various countries, there are also many private satellites launched by commercial companies, among which meteorological, hydrological reconnaissance satellites, and communication satellites are the most numerous.

Satellites orbit in outer space and have a very short service life, yet their construction costs are extremely expensive.

Therefore, many European and American commercial companies will take them to the Black Market to sell when the satellite's lifespan is about to end. They wouldn't care if they sold the satellites to some African warlord or some big drug lord.

They only need to announce on the surface that a certain satellite has been scrapped due to a malfunction, and they can have an income ranging from hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars. Making use of waste, why wouldn't they do it?

Ever since he realized the convenience of satellites in the Transformers universe, Sun Cheng had been pondering how to get a few satellites for his own use after returning to reality.

By chance, when his micro-Decepticons were probing the major dark webs around the world, they accidentally discovered a satellite black market, and it was because of this that a special trading market hidden very deep became known to Sun Cheng.