Chapter 115

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Chapter 115: Mimetic: Onboard Soundproof Armor!

“Then let’s apply for a bonus to encourage him! Carrying forward a good example will inspire the entire factory. If the higher-ups come for an inspection, it will reflect the spirit of our workshop, and cleanliness should never be just for show.”

Several engineers, holding folders, chatted as they walked through the spacious aisles of the factory. Nearby, a pressure relief valve occasionally puffed out white smoke, and the forging workshop radiated a dark red glow along with constant booming sounds. The busy scene was filled with various finished metal products like blue heat-treated metal bars, pipes, plates, and wires, all being quickly loaded onto heavy trucks for transport.

Among the metal pipelines, a slender shadow slithered like a snake, suddenly vanishing into a thick metal pipe, moving around the bustling factory area.

Meanwhile, Lin Mo roamed the streets with a DSLR camera, capturing the cultural and historical essence of this world. He and Gold Coin both engaged in their own activities, merely gathering at the same place before moving on to their next stop. In a city abundant with metal materials, their movements were slightly slower when embedded in metal, but it was still better than being locked on radar in the wilderness.

Thanks to the soul contract, Gold Coin could easily pinpoint Lin Mo’s location.

They wandered through areas densely populated with smelting plants, machining factories, and electronics companies, keeping to their own paths. Naturally, Gold Coin couldn’t resist sneaking some snacks, leading to complaints from local manufacturers about mysteriously diminishing metal raw materials, all thanks to its covert activities as a gold giant dragon.

Had Lin Mo not repeatedly warned Gold Coin, it might have joyfully become reckless, possibly even devouring Baosteel in Shanghai just to quickly regain its form. A couple of steel factories would surely suffice for its thousand-year metal consumption.

Despite enjoying itself, Gold Coin refrained from getting too carried away. Especially after one incident where workers used metal detectors to locate Gold Coin, it was frightened into making a hasty exit. It finally realized that even hiding within metal didn’t guarantee safety—methods using magnetic, X-ray, gamma-ray, and ultrasonic technology could easily detect uneven materials within the metal, something Gold Coin couldn’t hide from at all.

Humans hadn’t even considered that a gold-devouring beast from another world was eyeing their smelting factories. Gold Coin even slipped into a steel furnace, secretly reaping countless benefits, where the pure metal products surpassed the mixed-impurity ore rations from its world. The smelting plant was a paradise for the gold giant dragon, and who could imagine such bliss in a pile of food?

Lin Mo spent less than a week in Hangzhou, touring all the major industrial cities across the country, and stood contentedly with the gold giant dragon now strapped to his wrist like a watch, fulfilling its duty reliably. As the top-tier technological spy, it had succeeded.

For the gold giant dragon, technology that once seemed mysterious was now trivial. Whenever it wanted, it could combine various civilian products—like machine tools and assembly lines—and even elevate quality and precision to aerospace standards, reshaping a complete industrial system. Just by consuming ores, it could output a computer.

If creating industrial technology belonged to external skills, then controlling software development was akin to internal skills. As Gold Coin silently researched drive software while strapped to Lin Mo’s wrist, relying purely on its dragon spirit, it was indeed no easy task. If the volume and complexity of functions increased, Gold Coin would inevitably face diminishing operational efficiency. The implementation of standardized modules prompted it to think critically; this was not complicated. Humans used modular design to liberate their brains from complex calculations and control operations, and Gold Coin was doing the same.

Days later, Lin Mo applied for a flight route through Jianqiao Air Base, and within a day, his J-10A was approved to transfer to the Guangzhou Foshan Air Base, needing to take off and land at specific times, or risk being shot down by missiles.

After all, it was a fighter jet and remained under the jurisdiction of the Air Traffic Control Bureau and the Air Force.

The J-10 leaped off the runway at Jianqiao Airport and climbed to an altitude of fourteen thousand meters. Ordinary commercial airlines wouldn’t reach such heights. Suddenly, patches of armor rose and vibrated according to an unusual pattern on the black-gray surface of the J-10.

Lin Mo removed his helmet, and the external sounds inside the cockpit diminished instantly; even the normal vibrations of the aircraft ceased, and he could hardly feel the speed. The roar of the single-engine jet behind him grew quieter as the armor’s strange vibrations countered the air friction’s noise, creating a silence that enveloped the cabin.

“Well done! Gold Coin, it’s a success!” Lin Mo put his helmet back on. “Now, let’s define it as a silent cruising mode!”

If Lin Mo could see the airflow, he would notice the quiet armor plates generating numerous small streamlined vortices that diminished air friction and vibration. The dense armor plates further dissipated any noise, ensuring that at most a hundred meters away, all one could hear was the whisper of the wind. At five hundred meters, the turbulence created by the aircraft completely blended into the air, leaving only the sound of the engine.

After successfully convincing Gold Coin to apply the silent armor previously used on Spada Codatronca to the J-10, Lin Mo envisioned that if this technology were applied for low-altitude flight, it could evade radar detection. Unless someone looked up, no one would notice this colossal beast flying overhead, especially at night, making it as stealthy as an invisibility aircraft without the need for stealth coatings.

Lin Mo even imagined what it would be like if the entire aircraft were completely transparent—an actual radar, sound, and visual stealth effect, possibly even going undetected over a foreign capital.

“If we could get radar-absorbing stealth coating, it would be perfect!” Lin Mo and Gold Coin almost simultaneously chimed in.

“Hahaha!”

The cockpit echoed with their laughter, a rare moment of mutual agreement among heroes.

“Stealth coatings aren’t easy to come by!” Lin Mo removed the oxygen mask, rubbing his nose. Fourth-generation fighter jets generally included radar stealth features, such as the well-known B-2 stealth bomber, F-117 stealth fighter, and domestically produced H-10 stealth bomber. These aircraft not only featured small radar cross-sections but also utilized special radar-absorbing coatings that were highly classified. Each country has regulations concerning the collection of aircraft fragments, maintaining military technology secrecy.

Extracting a piece of paint the size of a fingernail from a finished aircraft would be impossible; for modern technology, even a grain-sized sample suffices to analyze related components, ensuring that stealth fighters’ security far surpasses that of ordinary fighters.

Moments later, the J-10 roared again, all its armor plates disappearing and returning to their original state. Only at high altitudes, during single aircraft flights, did Lin Mo dare to let Gold Coin experiment with new technologies, as these advancements were suitable only when having a gold giant dragon; typical aircraft simply could not handle such complex structures and strength designs.

Over an hour later, Lin Mo’s distinctive black-gray J-10 landed at the air force base of the 9th Fighter Division in Foshan. It seemed Lin Mo’s exploits against the 28th Division had reached here, as he received a warm welcome the moment he stepped off the plane.

The base’s leaders especially dragged Lin Mo into a practical lesson for the pilots still flying J-8s and J-7s, dissecting the entire battle process of the J-10A versus the J-10B before finally letting him go. As a token of appreciation, they dispatched a helicopter to take Lin Mo directly to the Zhuhai Airshow.

The Zhuhai Airshow is the only international professional aerospace exhibition approved by the Chinese central government, featuring physical displays, trade negotiations, academic exchanges, and flight demonstrations.

The organizers included the People’s Government of Guangdong Province, the National Defense Science and Technology Industrial Committee, the Civil Aviation Administration of China, the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, the first and second groups of China Aviation Industry Corporation, the China Aerospace Technology Corporation, and the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation.

With nearly five hundred exhibitors from over thirty countries and hundreds of thousands of attendees, each exhibition generates billions of dollars worth of orders, making it a coveted feast for aviation industries worldwide.

At the entrance of the exhibition area, Lin Mo contacted Director Shen, responsible for security. Shen, dark and stout, looked just like an ordinary person, except for the sharp glint in his eyes. Dressed in camouflage military attire and carrying a pistol at his waist, his walkie-talkie buzzed continuously.

When Lin Mo dialed Shen’s number to identify himself, Shen immediately recognized him, likely having been informed of Lin Mo’s appearance by Old Pan.

“Captain Lin, you really are early!” Shen pulled a badge from his pocket and handed it to Lin Mo. It featured Lin Mo’s photo and name, surprisingly being a work ID for the security group. “Here, this is your badge and pass. No need to buy a ticket!”

This was a special favor for Lin Mo; a public ticket couldn’t allow a continuous stay at the ten-day airshow. This was undoubtedly a privilege granted by Shen using his authority.

In case something unexpected happened, Lin Mo’s security presence could still play an unexpectedly critical role.

“Thank you, Director Shen!” Lin Mo accepted the work ID, which meant he could enter for free.

“Just a small thing!” said the stout Shen, leading Lin Mo through the security gate. “Enjoy yourself! There’s a working lunch at noon; just present your badge to claim it. For more details, check the back of the ID.”