Her gaze immediately passed over Zhang Mingyuan and landed on the young girl behind him, who was wearing an old shirt, had a thin figure, and seemed out of place here.
His gaze was so sharp it seemed to pierce through his skin and reach right into Mingzhao's soul.
Examining, exploring, and a hint of barely perceptible, deep weariness honed by the weight of reality.
Mingzhao straightened his back and stared at her defiantly.
"Comrade Zhang Mingyuan, you are three minutes late."
Zhang Meng's voice was not loud, but carried the rigor unique to scientific researchers and a hint of unquestionable authority.
She didn't exchange pleasantries, her gaze remaining fixed on Mingzhao. "And this gentleman is?"
Zhang Mingyuan stepped to the side, fully exposing Mingzhao to Zhang Meng's scrutinizing gaze, his voice solemn:
"Comrade Zhang Meng, this is Comrade 'Zero'. Top order: Join the 'Mysterious Shadow' project team."
"Zero?" Zhang Meng's brows furrowed instantly.
The code name itself implies a blank, the unknown, or even a certain experimental nature.
Her sharp gaze swept over Mingzhao again. His slender figure, overly young and even somewhat immature face, and calm to the point of indifference made it impossible to associate him with the legendary genius.
The eyes of everyone else on the platform also turned to them.
There was curiosity, surprise, and even more so, undisguised skepticism.
An elderly man with gray hair, a burly build, and work clothes stained with engine oil snorted loudly, his voice filled with distrust:
"Director Zhang, are you sure you're not mistaken? This little girl? Zero? What could she possibly know? Blueprints or machine tools? This isn't a nursery!"
He is Wang Tiezhu, the project's deputy chief engineer.
Known for his extensive experience, fiery temper, and conservative thinking, he represents the conservative approach to technology.
Zhang Mingyuan's face darkened, and he was about to speak. But Mingzhao moved.
She didn't look at Wang Tiezhu, nor did she respond to Zhang Meng's scrutinizing gaze.
Her gaze, as if drawn by a magnet, passed straight past everyone and was firmly fixed on that huge drawing board.
On the drawing board lay a huge, hand-drawn aircraft design. The lines were bold, and it was covered with densely packed dimensions and data.
It was a typical fighter jet: a blunt, rounded nose, straight, slightly swept-back wings, and a square vertical tail.
The drawings also use striking red dotted lines to outline some simple shape modification suggestions: a slightly slanted vertical tail and tiny serrations on the leading edge of the wing, in an attempt to reduce radar cross-section (RCS).
In Mingzhao's eyes, this design drawing, which embodies the highest wisdom of the project team, is as rudimentary as a child's doodle.
In her understanding from the Federation era, those so-called "stealth" modifications not only had a negligible effect, but might even pose a fatal flight hazard by disrupting the original aerodynamic balance!
The theoretical value of its radar cross-section, which she calculated in an instant, was still as enormous as a lighthouse in the night!
Her eyes, though devoid of any emotion, clearly reflected every detail of the blueprint and the immense, despairing technological gap it contained.
The next second, to the astonishment of Zhang Meng, Zhang Mingyuan, Wang Tiezhu, and all the project team members, Mingzhao calmly walked toward the huge drawing board.
She held out her hand, but didn't pick up a pen or engage in any discussion.
Sizzle—!
A piercing tearing sound suddenly rang out on the silent platform!
She actually reached out and, without hesitation, precisely tore off the section of the drawing that represented the core area of the stealth modification, marked with red dotted lines, showing the leading edge of the wing and the vertical tail!
The movements were swift and decisive, like tearing off a useless piece of paper!
She casually held the piece of paper in her hand.
On the drawing board, there was a glaring, irregular hole, with red dotted lines still remaining around the edge, resembling a grinning, mocking mouth.
The entire project command center platform fell into a deathly silence instantly. Only the distant roar of machines from the workshop below remained.
"What did she do?!"
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