Chapter 64 Technology Launch Event
Holding interview microphones, reporters from leading media outlets in the sixth competition zone secured front-row seats at the exit, quietly waiting for the contestants to leave.
The live-streaming drone was about to fly over the heads of the row of reporters as scheduled. The reporter smiled, held up a microphone with the media name on it to his face, and skillfully waved to the drone camera.
Behind her was an internal road, which only vehicles with permission from the competition organizers could pass freely. At this moment, the road was empty of cars, and the outer ring was crowded with residents of Star 6C who had come to celebrate. Behind the residents was the entrance to Central Park.
The reporter had just finished interacting with the drone and, out of boredom, turned to observe the park gate for a while.
The entrance plaza alone is over a hundred meters wide and has a unique design. The three sides of the gray-black partition gradually narrow inwards, extending to a depth of about sixty or seventy meters. At the end is a black frosted surface with an indistinct outline, which is probably the real gate of the park.
For a public park on a remote industrial planet, this entrance plaza is quite well-designed.
The reporter had never been to 6C Star before, and secretly decided that she must go to the park during the day tomorrow. The square in front is so high-class, the environment inside must be pretty good too.
However, as she was looking at it, she suddenly noticed that the entrance building had moved.
She rubbed her eyes and suddenly realized she hadn't misread it.
The device, which was hundreds of meters wide, was lifted into the air and eventually rose to a height of about three or four meters above the ground. A huge staircase automatically extended down in front of it, and the steps just reached the residents who were watching the spectacle.
The reporter quickly patted the cameraman next to him, signaling him to take the picture immediately.
Meanwhile, other media outlets in the crowd also noticed the commotion directly opposite the venue and turned their cameras in that direction.
The match had just ended, and there were still over 800,000 viewers watching the official live stream. The scene of the park entrance miraculously rising in the live stream startled everyone.
[What's going on? Is this a paranormal phenomenon?]
[Is the JR boss really something special, a chosen one? He's even pulled off some supernatural feats.]
[Guys, can you guys stop being so anti-intellectual? Is the next step to being crowned emperor?]
[I'm a local resident of Planet 6C. I remember there used to be a plaza in front of this park. When was this structure built?]
The next second, the device that was originally hidden in the darkness lit up completely.
The original gray-black partition gradually faded from its original color and, under the light, turned into a wave-shaped transparent decorative brick that emitted a slight fluorescence. Several rows of seats were placed in the inward-curving part, and the end of the installation did not connect to the park gate, but to a large curved screen that was more than 30 meters wide.
The entire building was illuminated with dazzling lights, and even the steps were made of semi-transparent lattice material. The materials used were exquisite, and the cost of the lighting installation alone was at least several hundred thousand.
Three miniature mechs, each seven or eight meters tall, appeared beside the steps. The original outer plates of the mechs had been completely removed, and the various internal structures were clearly and concisely displayed to everyone.
While the liftable stage setup can be measured by price, these three clearly constructed miniature mecha models are obviously something only experts in their respective fields could create.
Not only the audience members present, but even the reporters present couldn't help but gasp in surprise.
The reporters at the front of the line exchanged glances—such a large entourage was most likely an event organized by the Star Government.
There appeared to be fewer than a thousand seats inside the installation, and the reporters, with their keen sense of smell, rushed over with their cameras.
As soon as they rushed to the front row, the big screen suddenly lit up with a short demonstration video of Giant Technology's new technology.
Fang Zhuo walked slowly out from the side of the stage with a microphone in hand. His first words caused all the cameramen present to raise their cameras in unison:
"Hello everyone, at this crucial moment when our team is advancing to the secondary league, I would like to announce another piece of good news."
"Giant Technology has spent billions to recently overcome the challenge of energy stone energy storage and power generation. Starting today, we will launch a technological revolution in mechs."
This information was like a huge bomb, shocking not only all the media and audience members present, but also causing the number of viewers in the official live broadcast room to jump by hundreds of thousands instantly.
The reporter who was the first to sit in the front row had a racing heart. Even as a layperson, she could understand the value of this research.
If everything the JR team owner said is true, then this technology has the potential to completely change the development landscape of the entire Star Alliance's leading technology companies and all mech factories.
Upon hearing this opening statement, the residents who had been gathered outside the venue quickly climbed the steps, while a large number of people who hadn't managed to get seats waited under the installation.
At this point, the chat room in the official live stream had exploded with more and more people joining in, each with their own opinion, creating a chaotic and heated argument.
[I can recognize the words individually, but I can't understand them when they're put together. What does "energy stone energy storage" mean? And what does "spending billions on research and development" mean? Where did they get billions of dollars? Holy crap!]
[JR's boss is exaggerating too much, he might burn himself out. What is he babbling about? Why is there no response when I copy it to Pinduoduo?]
Do you believe he spent billions on technology, or do you believe I'm Qin Shi Huang?
Long live the Emperor!
Wait, don't rush to mock it. This device looks really expensive, and it seems to be custom-made. Its shape fits perfectly with the park entrance plaza. If it were even a meter bigger, it would crash into the trees next to the park.
Add to that the mechs next to it, the venue alone must cost several million. I think it's reasonable for a company of this size to spend tens of billions on research and development.
[You mean the team that was selling virtual reality pods last month suddenly announced they've spent billions? That's highly credible.]
[A true industry insider has arrived. These three miniature mechs are genuinely priceless; money can't buy them. If it were purely a matter of financial power, they'd be astronomically expensive. I personally believe the 10 billion yuan R&D investment is real. We'll see if it's true or not once the specific technical details are explained.]
Fang Zhuo knew that the internet would be in an uproar.
He casually switched to a short technical explanation video on the large screen behind him, and then slowly said:
"As we all know, the mainstream competitive-level mechs in the current main league are powered by batteries. Pure electric mechs are more powerful, but the battery compartment is heavy and puts a lot of mental strain on the pilots. More than 70% of the contestants will gradually decline in their condition after 20 minutes of the game."
"The secondary league mostly uses hybrid electric mechs, which are lighter, but their maximum power is much weaker than the pure electric mechs in the main league, resulting in poor animation and speed."
"These two types of mechs each have their own advantages and disadvantages, but now we are proposing a third independent type."
“The energy stone used to be just an external module, used to link the driver’s neurons and fire energy cannons.”
"But our new technology can replace the battery compartment with an energy stone, which can both store energy and generate electricity to power the various parts of the mech."
"Simply put, the energy stone is no longer just a functional module, but has become the core of the mech's energy storage and functions. Most importantly, it is 20% lighter than the battery compartment."
If the previous explanations could only be fully understood by industry insiders, then the large text displayed on the screen behind him was much more colloquial—"Lighter, faster, and cheaper."
This research was so bold and unbelievable that before the media at the scene could even begin to question it, several miniature mechs outside the demonstration hall had already started moving.
At this moment, these mechs are in specially approved display cases. The internal structure of the mechs is extremely clear. There are no battery compartments or fuel tanks, only the lowest grade E energy stones that are not under control.
Currently, the lowest-grade physical mechs on the market are only D-level; energy stones of E-level and below cannot fire energy cannons normally.
With a "bang," the energy cannon struck the target in the display case, and the values displayed on it were clearly shown on the large screen.
This shot was surprisingly powerful, almost identical to the energy cannon of a Class D mech on the market.
If Fang Zhuo's theory still left most people with some doubt, this live demonstration experiment instantly shattered everyone's understanding.
Fang Zhuo's voice drew everyone's attention back, forceful and clear:
"Based on this new technology, our Class A mechs will be comparable to the original Class S and Class E mechs in terms of strength. The performance of the Class S mechs will far exceed that of all mechs currently on the market."
"Not only that, we've also lowered the lowest tier of mechs from D to E, which will reduce the minimum cost of physical mechs by at least half."
The Covenant generally agrees that only energy stones of grade D or higher can be used for mecha manufacturing, while grade E energy stones have long been considered waste mines and can only be used to artificially synthesize other higher-grade energy stones.
As a natural mineral, E-grade energy stones have lower purity, the largest reserves, and are incredibly cheap. Almost every region has a large mine that produces a lot of E-grade energy stones.
Fang Zhuo was actually being quite modest. Starting today, the minimum manufacturing cost of mechs will be reduced to at least one-third of what it used to be. The price of a single mech, which used to be over a billion, may now be as low as four or five hundred million.
This also means that the price of low-end mech rentals will be significantly reduced, and mech training will no longer be an expense that only middle-class and above families can afford.
At this point, the number of viewers watching the live stream had quickly surpassed three million, reaching the viewing level of a secondary league final. The chat was flooded with comments, almost entirely consisting of various shocking remarks—
[Seriously, buddy, are you serious?? I can't see any flaws in your story, am I just not smart enough?]
It's not that you can't hear the flaws, it's that there really are no problems.
I don't need to speak with a big name if I have a stake in this, but I currently work at a fairly well-known mecha factory. My boss has already urgently called the entire energy department back to work overtime. Now it's just a matter of seeing which companies will reach strategic cooperation agreements with Juke first.
This technology is the result of countless energy stones and mecha modification experiments; it must have cost at least tens of billions, no doubt about it.
[I'm so angry! What about the 100,000 yuan mecha combat class I just enrolled my child in last month? I feel like these kinds of classes will be at least half the price in the future.]
[Sorry, Brother Fang, I shouted too loudly earlier. Could you refund some of my money?]
[So you're going against the Heavenly Gang, huh?]
[Can those who said Fang Ge borrowed money from a bank apologize? I'd like to know which bank can lend hundreds of billions of yuan. Could you please recommend one? I'd like to take out a loan too.]
[I feel like Giant Interactive will be on the Star Alliance Top 100 list next year ^^]
[Not that slow]
[wocwocwoc, the engineer explaining the specific R&D details on stage right now is my former colleague. He saved me! Before he left, he mentioned the prototype of this technology in an internal meeting, but the leadership completely ignored it and wouldn't approve funding for his project.]
I remember that on the day he left the company, he even went back to film a video of himself deleting his personal folders, indicating that he hadn't taken any data from the company.
At the time, we all thought he had been driven away by the company, but we never expected his future to be so bright. We were a little dazzled by it, sob sob.
[Continuing from a wish-fulfillment novel plot, after I switched jobs from my previous company, the new company's leadership highly valued my skills and approved billions in funding for me]
[Fang Ge: A mere 10 billion? We can dream even bigger.]
[It felt like there were signs all along. When JR first entered the competition this season, he was in a private van and they even brought in a new virtual reality pod. In the finals, he wore a special isolation suit and a training watch, but at the time everyone thought they were rented.]
[I've never questioned Brother Fang once, and I've won against 99.999% of people, so if Brother Fang has any unwanted money, I can help him dispose of it for free~~]
When will Juke go public? I'm thinking of buying some shares.
[The truly smart people have already started buying shares in major official mining farms.]
As Yang Yurong meticulously explained the technical details on stage, Fang Zhuo sat on a sofa backstage. Even before this press conference, he had already acquired a small stake in several mining companies.
While this portion of the investment was guaranteed to generate profits, it didn't offer a tenfold return. Therefore, he simply leveraged 20 billion yuan in these mining companies, with the majority of the profits coming from the technology itself.
Even before the press conference ended, his inbox was already overflowing with inquiries about the technology, coming from various mecha factories as well as leading technology companies that include mecha production lines.
The Star Alliance has strict anti-monopoly laws. Although Fang Zhuo could afford to buy the mecha manufacturing production line, he could not monopolize this patent in his own company.
The best business practice right now is to sell patents to major factories and then sit back and collect hefty patent fees without a care in the world.
Even if he does nothing, money will flow into his pockets like it has legs.
During this period, all he needed to do was move his index finger and select which companies to sell the technology to.
Fang Zhuo quickly checked the invitation emails and immediately saw the company's name—
Platinum Technology.
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