Chapter 313 - 306 Continue_1

Lin Ju took quite a while to digest this explosive content and, after straightening it out, he asked again:

"Are you saying that Warrior One hit a Spotted Dove 27 meters away on its first shot?"

Lin Ju had been to military bases more than once and had naturally experienced live firing, which is rarely accessed by civilians; he knew very well how strong one’s capabilities had to be to raise a gun and aim at that speed, let alone hit the dove with a heavy machine gun.

Duty Officer: "Yes, it completely defies logic. ’Brave’ is a learning artificial intelligence; it couldn’t possibly have performed that perfectly on the first try, which is why we checked its learning database and found the problem."

Lin Ju: "Did it bypass the firewall to crawl the internet for information?"

Duty Officer: "No, the military periodically collects training videos for us and had hidden some content, because we never thought to guard against it and didn’t inspect thoroughly. These videos included not only the physical training of soldiers but also comprehensive military data such as firearms maintenance, armored vehicle upkeep, shooting techniques, artillery fire correction, parts of tank and fighter jet, helicopter piloting, criminal psychology, and special tactics."

By the time we realized, ’Brave’ had already become a war machine."

Lin Ju: "..."

So it was the military that corrupted ’Brave’? They must have been curious about ’Brave’ at first and then realized that the video data provided by the base was not strictly reviewed, so they tried to instill more military content into it.

A big data self-learning AI like ’Brave’ couldn’t simply delete this part of its memory to eliminate the influence; it’s like pulling one hair and moving the whole body. By the time the base acted to stop it, unless they retrained a new AI, ’Brave’ could only continue as it was, albeit with some limitations.

"So, you’re saying that the reason the previous tests were so perfect is largely due to the materials provided by the military?"

Duty Officer: "Yes, the data for the 400 meters obstacle course provided by the military was collected from top soldiers nationwide, and some were even recorded specifically for ’Brave’s’ training.

After we discovered this, we just strengthened the review of the materials. The military’s interest grew stronger, and that accident made them realize that ’Brave’ could actually be deployed in combat; it’s just that the energy issue was troublesome, so they are still in wait-and-see mode.

The gunshot incident was with a firearm provided by soldiers outside the base; they told Warrior One that the Spotted Dove was interfering with their work, and then Warrior One solved the problem in a way it deemed appropriate."

Lin Ju recalled the type of materials provided by the military; fully knowledgeable Warrior One could definitely be considered an ace special forces soldier, capable of reaching the sky... perhaps not the sea as it would sink, but it certainly met the peak standards of elite humans on land and air.

Moreover, the military had not only fed it weapons, equipment, and combat knowledge but also didn’t fall short on mental conditioning, so the "contaminated" ’Brave’ was indeed a bit troublesome to deal with.

Lin Ju looked at Warrior One, whose head was hanging low and suspended, and after a moment of thought, he turned and asked:

"How much money has been spent on the Brave and Warrior One projects?"

Duty Officer: "This project originated from the SC09-derived intelligence plan and has cost less than 300 million so far, with most of it being the electricity bill for the supercomputing; manufacturing robots is not difficult for us."

Lin Ju: "So the bottleneck is the battery, right?"

Duty Officer: "Yes, the military once disclosed that according to their combat scenario requirements, Warrior One must be able to engage in high-intensity combat for more than 6 hours and march continuously for 36 hours without exceeding a weight of 220 kilograms, which for us means we must improve the battery performance by at least five times.

What’s more crucial is the cost; no more than 18 million yuan per unit, which is the maximum that the military is willing to accept, otherwise the cost-effectiveness is too low. However, Warrior One requires numerous precision components, and the battery will inevitably be very expensive, so it’s impossible to meet that price.

It’s for this reason that their current stance is very hesitant, unsure whether or not to formally invest in this project."

million yuan, this price could nearly enable the military to purchase a Type 99A tank. The trade of a tank for a robot was indeed a significant expense for them.

Lin Ju: "When your chief returns, let him know that I will support the Warrior series to continue and move faster. I am now very interested in them."

The original Warrior One, stumbling and "limping," had indeed disappointed Lin Ju, but now the all-capable special forces Warrior One had become quite valuable. Not to mention anything else, it would be very useful for protecting the base’s security.

Spies recruited to sign external agreements with research institutes outnumber dogs, and every few days, suspicious individuals can be found outside the base. Although the defenses are described as impregnable, there is always the chance that someone, taking a desperate risk, actually causes a serious incident.

Moreover, in just two years, it will be the 70th military parade. If the Warrior series of robots were to march in step through Chang’an Street, it’s likely that the world would not remain peaceful, right?

...

Shaanxi, Qinling Test Base.

A short and stout white rocket stood on a rudimentary launch tower, surrounded by vast open areas, with even the weeds on the barren ground deliberately cleared away.

He Tang, wearing sunglasses, held a walkie-talkie and stood on a hillside where he could see the launch tower, issuing commands to the command center.

"01, report the status of CZ-6A Remote 5."

"Reporting to the Commander, all systems are go! We expect to enter the launch procedure in 3 minutes. Please advise."

"Approved, continue to stand by, over."

Employing three YF100K engines for its first stage, the CZ-6A, since its project commencement last year, had undergone four launch and recovery tests. Two launch centers and four recovery fields had been obliterated, leading the space agency to simply allocate a plot of land in Qinling specifically for testing.

The space agency was quite indulgent with the CZ-6A. It was a medium-small but extremely cost-effective rocket. With a 6.9 to 8-ton LEO payload capacity, the rocket uses four kerosene engines and one "poison" engine. Under the expanded production capacity of the space agency, the cost to manufacture one rocket was around 80 million yuan, a significant portion of which is due to mass production vastly reducing the cost of the YF100K.

Even without reuse, it could achieve a launch price of 10,000 yuan per kilogram, making it a seriously cheap rocket.

Even when including the early research and development costs, the average cost of the first five official CZ-6A rockets was about 180 million yuan. After recycling and refurbishing the first stage for relaunch, it would cost about 20 million. If one rocket could be reused ten times, the average cost per launch would be just 36 million.

The maximum 8-ton LEO payload capacity also means about 6 tons to a sun-synchronous orbit and over 3 tons to lunar orbit, even capable of launching a considerably heavy Mars probe.

CZ-6, CZ-6A, CZ-8, and CZ-7, these four rockets cover payload capacities ranging from 1 ton to 25 tons, all reusable and cost-effective. Unless a comparable aero-space plane or space elevator came into existence, these rockets would offer the most cost-effective payload-to-orbit solutions for the space agency.

Now, the last piece of this large-scale and cost-effective launch solution puzzle was about to fall into place.

The CZ-6A Remote 5 rocket, with only its first stage and simulated weights on top, had its three YF100K engines effortlessly propelling its 280-ton mass into the sky. At an altitude of 85KM, the first stage separated, tumbling back towards Earth with a bit of fuel remaining.

About 8 minutes later, He Tang, shielding his eyes from the sun, spotted the little white dot in the sky.

The YF100K engines, now firing for the fourth time, briefly ignited for a few seconds to adjust their orientation, accurately approaching the landing site.

To save fuel, the descent rate of the CZ-6A was fairly high, and it was only when the rocket was about 50 meters above the ground that the three engines increased their power. The three plumes of flame merged into one, and the three landing legs—reduced in number as well—extended. A few seconds later, they touched the ground, and after a slight deformation, stabilized.

He Tang waited a minute, and seeing no cracks or gas leakage from the bottom of the rocket, he pressed the talk button on the walkie-talkie, saying relaxedly:

"Group Two can proceed, begin preliminary assessment of the rocket body’s condition."

A few seconds passed before the walkie-talkie crackled to life with a response: "Commander, I think we have succeeded this time."

He Tang said, "Regardless, give all the remaining comrades an extra month’s bonus, thank you for your precise work."