Chapter 439

Chapter 439: Overwhelming Technology Files

Compared to becoming an astronaut, Lin Mo was actually more reluctant to leave his job in Night.

Flying a fighter jet and battling foreign pilots, tearing them apart mid-air, then slaughtering their ground forces until blood flowed and bodies lay everywhere.

The sky and earth brimmed with blood and fire as adrenaline surged through him; amidst death and chaos, he fought fearlessly. Even if shot down, he had no regrets, as he forged the unmatched glory of an ace Air Knight with his extraordinary achievements.

This was the life a warrior should lead.

If he transferred to the Aerospace Department, wanting to continue building that “monstrous” machine, he would not only be unable to use the technology he had just obtained but would also face accusations of snatching jobs from the Aerospace Department.

If they built spacecraft and he, too, built a quasi-spacecraft, and if he truly succeeded, it would be a direct slap in the face to all the technical experts and staff.

The level of human technology in this world essentially reflects the quality of metal processing techniques.

A gold giant dragon capable of achieving extreme precision in metal products, one that would make high-precision machine tools feel embarrassed, targeting the industrial ecosystem of this world to snatch jobs was truly ruthless.

The aerospace center offered various reasons to eliminate Lin Mo, and Lin Mo had just as many reasons not to stay. Even if he was successful, he would likely find an excuse to refuse.

After nearly two months of training and study, Lin Mo developed a profound understanding of the lifelong career of an astronaut. Unfortunately, while being an astronaut was honorable, it didn’t attract him much, especially the thought of sitting idle, which was utterly intolerable.

No matter how Lin Mo explained, nobody could understand his mindset; any explanation was seen as a cover-up, and a cover-up was considered telling a story, a sentiment shared not just by his junior Meng Yinan.

During the banquet, everyone tried to weave words of comfort for Lin Mo, including the eliminated candidates such as Number 15, Number 39, and Number 53. They thought the one suffering most at that moment was Number One, whose unfortunate timing was truly sympathetic.

Even the leaders of the training center picked flattering words to comfort Lin Mo during the banquet.

This poor Number One seemed to have been deeply affected; otherwise, how could he express himself in such a disjointed manner? He resembled a child throwing a tantrum over not getting a lollipop, insisting that lollipops tasted bad.

Regarding others’ misunderstandings, Lin Mo could only wear a bitter expression as he spent the entire evening feeling frustrated, saying no more.

“I heard you have shares in National Defense Star?”

After the collective dinner, Major General Sun personally handed Lin Mo the tickets and travel expenses.

At the aerospace training center, every candidate received their usual salary plus a living subsidy of ten thousand yuan.

“Uh? Yes!”

Lin Mo was momentarily surprised and then nodded vigorously, using a simple sound to signify his response.

Major General Sun’s comment caught Lin Mo off guard. How did the other party find out? News travels so fast!

“That’s good!” Major General Sun nodded as well, his concise words leaving Lin Mo puzzled about his attitude.

Was this a good thing? A bad thing? Or was he trying to drag him into gun practice? This couldn’t be classified as collusion between officials and business, could it?

Lin Mo furrowed his brow. Could it be that National Defense Star was somehow linked to the aerospace center? In an instant, countless thoughts raced through his mind, and he immediately asked, “Is there something going on?”

The shares in National Defense Star were exchanged for Lin Mo’s metal formulas by Chen Haiqing. If there were only a few dozen or hundred formulas, National Defense Star might give Lin Mo some bonuses or subsidies as a fair exchange.

However, the number of alloy formulas Lin Mo copied that night was enormous; offering bonuses would likely fall short given their value, exceeding what National Defense Star could handle. It was impossible for them to casually let him go without some concession. Even if Lin Mo currently had no grievances, if he ever became unhappy in the future, it would be outsiders profiting from it. He could hand them over today, but he could easily do the same for anyone else tomorrow, and regret would be pointless then.

National Defense Star had to establish a dedicated department to methodically research and utilize these alloy formulas. As expected, these formulas exceeded their expectations, rapidly bringing in numerous patents and generating significant extra income when authorized to other units. For National Defense Star, which was still in the early stages of research and technical accumulation and required massive funding, these additional incomes were equivalent to timely help, somewhat alleviating their financial demands and allowing them to shorten their early development time to reach profitability faster. Therefore, distributing a portion of shares to Lin Mo was also a reasonable decision for Tianjin.

However, the relevant stock documents were circulated to Lin Mo by the Night Special Forces, leaving a copy for their records before being submitted to upper management to review.

Currently, it seemed that active-duty military personnel couldn’t hold equity in companies, plus Lin Mo was still single and couldn’t let his family manage shares belonging to a military industry enterprise.

Even though the signature confirmation section of the stock documents remained blank, Lin Mo retained all the rights of a shareholder, apart from the usual dividends.

“I heard National Defense Star holds a lot of alloy formulas, do you know about that?” Major General Sun clearly had inside information but didn’t realize he was speaking to the right person.

Unfortunately, Major General Sun didn’t know the truth. In fact, only a handful of people from Chen Haiqing’s family knew the source of these formulas, and National Defense Star kept it highly confidential, revealing not a word. If everyone found out, they would all come asking Lin Mo for formulas, leaving him no chance to maintain his status. Better to close up shop early.

Making a treasure become the talk of the town would be incredibly unwise.

“I know!” Lin Mo nodded again, confirming.

Some things are ultimately impossible to hide from others. If he claimed ignorance, it would be too petty.

Major General Sun smiled broadly; this was excellent news—a connection made everything easier.

“Could you persuade National Defense Star to share the complete catalog of the alloy formulas with our Aerospace Department? It’s crucial for us. We need better alloy formulas for material application, especially to improve spacecraft performance, particularly in the engine section,” Major General Sun felt a bit uneasy in his heart. Just moments ago, he had eliminated someone, and now he was asking for a favor. His face unwittingly felt a bit embarrassed.

“Um…” Lin Mo tilted his head; Major General Sun seemed to be a jack-of-all-trades, wanting to meddle in everything.

Perhaps sensing Lin Mo’s thoughts, Major General Sun rubbed his hands together and hurriedly explained, “Hey! I’m just relaying a request from others. I think with your equity, you could say a few kind words for us at the board meeting.”

Though National Defense Star was semi-state-owned and semi-collective, it didn’t mean that high-level state departments could casually access a company’s secrets; not even the Americans dared to do that.

Unless National Defense Star posed a significant threat to the nation and society, agencies like the Aerospace Department could only stand by, unable to investigate their alloy formula library.

Thus, the aerospace center, learning about the alloy formula library held by National Defense Star, attracted numerous domestic cooperative units. Some patents bore considerable value, and certain alloy parameters even surpassed those in the aerospace center. The center immediately felt the itch to acquire them. However, obtaining a corporate library of alloy formulas considered the lifeline of the business wouldn’t be easily granted.

If they discovered the metal components and ratios, wouldn’t the production process become clearer?

All special smelting plants, both domestic and international, treat their alloy product formulas as secrets, concealing them like treasures.

The Aerospace Department had already sent people to reach out to National Defense Star, requesting to access their library, but it was immediately refused. Now, it was unknown who had discovered that a shareholder of National Defense Star was one of the current astronaut candidates—what an opportunity that was!

Although the shareholding process hadn’t been completed, National Defense Star unilaterally took the initiative, and whether Lin Mo signed off on it didn’t seem very important. Everyone had already regarded him as a shareholder of National Defense Star.

Upon hearing Major General Sun’s explanation, Lin Mo quickly grasped the situation, nodding, “I can speak for you, but I need the Aerospace Department to open up some directories related to aerospace technology to National Defense Star as a form of technical exchange.”

Lin Mo had already given all the alloy formulas to National Defense Star; therefore, they were truly National Defense Star’s property. Whether they agreed or not was up to them, and Lin Mo could only speak up on their behalf. Opening the Aerospace Department’s technical catalog to National Defense Star, however, was purely for his personal interests.

Opening it to National Defense Star was no different from opening it to Lin Mo himself.

The gold coin took advantage of others’ misfortunes, while Lin Mo made a rightful claim, and the other party would have to willingly offer it.

The difference was clear to see, which is why, even though the gold giant dragon was fiercely independent in another world, Lin Mo managed to use his intelligence to make it willingly act as his mount.

“Um…” Lin Mo’s condition caused Major General Sun to hesitate for a moment, but after a while, he nodded and said, “Alright, you first talk to them, and I will report your request to my superiors.”

As Major General Sun spoke, he took a business card from his pocket and handed it to Lin Mo, saying, “Here, this is the contact for the manufacturer of Concentrated Energy Bars, the top-tier military strategic rations. They typically don’t retail publicly, but I’ve already put in a good word. You simply need to give your name to purchase at factory prices. Order as much as you want; if the quantity is substantial enough, custom orders are possible.”

Lin Mo finally smiled; Energy Bars were his favorite. He promptly took the business card, placing it in his wallet as if afraid of losing it, and said, “Alright, I’ll also inform National Defense Star. Regardless of the outcome, they’ll contact the Aerospace Department.”

With Chen Haiqing behind this, there was still a good chance of making it happen, and Lin Mo was quite interested in the Aerospace Department’s technical catalog.