Who would still be a social slave when they are so rich?

"Miracle?"

Xiao Chen was taken aback by Su Chen's sudden serious tone and subconsciously followed Su Chen as he stepped through the heavy electronic security door.

After passing through a corridor about ten meters long, the view inside the door suddenly opened up.

The scene before him left Xiao Chen slightly stunned; it was completely different from the laboratory full of sophisticated instruments he had imagined.

This place is more like a huge indoor testing ground, brightly lit, where several researchers in white lab coats are standing in front of what looks like a data monitoring system, discussing something.

Directly in front of those people was a tall glass curtain wall, through which a huge object covered by canvas could be clearly seen.

The air also carried a faint, distinctive odor, a mixture of metallic smell, engine oil, and some other material.

Xiao Chen was all too familiar with this scenario; he had seen similar scenes in many top-secret projects before.

"Old Su, what are you doing... conducting a test run on an aircraft engine?" Xiao Chen swallowed hard in shock, looking at Su Chen beside him with disbelief.

The surprised exclamations were made without any attempt to conceal them, making them particularly noticeable in the relatively quiet environment.

The group of people who were discussing in front of the detection system stopped and turned to look in the direction of the sound. When Li Qiwen and Wen Zhanpeng, who were in the lead, saw Su Chen and his group, they were slightly stunned. No one expected that strangers would come here.

But when Li Qiwen saw Xiao Peng standing at the very back, he immediately realized that the mysterious behind-the-scenes boss of the park had arrived.

Regarding the rumors about this boss, although Li Qiwen is engaged in research, he still learned some things from the park's leaders to avoid being completely clueless.

Moreover, he knew that the park had reported the results to the boss before, so he naturally knew that the boss would come to inspect the results in person.

Once Li Qiwen came to his senses, he gently nudged the still somewhat puzzled Wen Zhanpeng with his elbow and immediately stepped towards Su Chen and the others.

Upon seeing this, Xiao Peng immediately took two steps forward and came to Su Chen's side, introducing him in a low voice: "Sir, the one leading the group with graying hair is Professor Li Qiwen, the person in charge of the White Emperor Project. He is a top aviation expert arranged by the old man."

"The man next to him is Wen Zhanpeng, a top expert recruited from Chengdu. He is a leading figure in drone technology and the deputy head of the Baidi project!"

This scene was naturally witnessed by Li Qiwen and Wen Zhanpeng. When they approached, they greeted Su Chen with smiles, "Mr. Su!"

"Professor Li, Professor Wen, thank you for your hard work!" Su Chen smiled faintly and shook hands with each of them.

As he spoke, his gaze swept past the two men and fell upon the covered object in the area behind the glass curtain wall. "It looks like you've already test-driven the car. How did it go? Did it achieve the desired effect?"

"A great success!" Upon hearing Su Chen bring up this topic, Li Qiwen and Wen Zhanpeng's faces instantly lit up with excited smiles, the kind of excitement that came from the inside out!
"After repeated testing, all the data is exactly as we expected, and in fact, it has even exceeded our expectations in terms of performance. It can be called a groundbreaking achievement!" Li Qiwen's voice trembled slightly with excitement. He knew that what they had researched would change the existing world order!

Xiao Chen, who had been silent all along, felt like he had countless cats scratching at his heart. He really wanted to pull Su Chen and the two experts aside and ask them what exactly was going on with the aero-engine in this experiment.

He knew Professor Li Qiwen and understood that for this aviation expert to lose his composure like this and actually mention a groundbreaking achievement was enough to show how amazing the test engine was.

I was just thinking of pulling Chen Fei aside to ask what was going on, since he had been by Su Chen's side all along and knew a thing or two about these confidential matters.

Before Xiao Chen could even extend his hand, Su Chen turned to look at him with a big smile and said, "Brother Chen, let's go take a look. Professor Li and the others are preparing to test drive again."

He then introduced Xiao Chen to Professor Li and the others, adding that he came from the capital.

Xiao Chen shook hands with Professor Li and Professor Wen, suppressing his curiosity and maintaining a calm demeanor, because he knew that the mystery behind it was about to be unveiled to him.

"Mr. Su, Mr. Xiao, please follow me!" Li Qiwen turned slightly to the side and led Su Chen, Xiao Chen and the others to the huge glass curtain wall.

"Prepare for the twentieth test run of the Baidi Project engine!" As Professor Li Qiwen's voice fell, a researcher pressed the button in his hand.

The canvas that had been covering the huge object was slowly pulled up, revealing its true form.

In an instant, even Xiao Chen, who was used to seeing all kinds of cutting-edge engines, couldn't help but gasp and his pupils suddenly contracted.

Beneath the canvas was not the traditional aircraft engine he had envisioned.

It was a device with an extremely unique design, which could even be described as futuristic.

It presents a streamlined structure and shimmers with a unique metallic luster. The core part vaguely reveals a complex ring-shaped design and nozzle, which is quite different from the shape of traditional turbofans or turbojet engines.

"This...this is?" Xiao Chen's voice was filled with disbelief and astonishment. "This shouldn't be a conventional jet engine, right?"

“That’s right!” Wen Zhanpeng chimed in, his tone filled with pride. “This is indeed not a traditional aero engine, but a new type of oblique detonation engine that we have independently developed. Its performance far surpasses that of traditional aero engines. You could say that the two are not even in the same league!”

Xiao Chen naturally didn't think it was a compliment. He had just heard Li Qiwen mention the twentieth test drive, which was enough to show that... before they arrived, the other party had already done more than ten test drives.

The relevant data must have been collected quite a bit, otherwise Wen Zhanpeng wouldn't have said such confident words.

Xiao Chen was full of anticipation for the new oblique detonation engine that Wen Zhanpeng mentioned, wanting to see what made this supposedly groundbreaking engine so special.

He didn't ask Li Qiwen or Wen Zhanpeng for any test data; he only knew whether it was real or fake after seeing it with his own eyes.

"Professor Li, inspection complete, all systems are ready!" Several researchers quickly completed their inspections and left the test workshop, at which point someone stepped forward to report.

Li Qiwen looked at Su Chen, his eyes seeking instructions. Su Chen nodded slightly and said in a deep voice, "Let the test begin!"

"Project Baidi, 20th ignition test, start!" Professor Li Qiwen's resolute voice echoed in the room.

The moment the order was given, the atmosphere in the test field tensed instantly. As the researchers pressed the start button, a faint blue light first appeared at the uniquely shaped exhaust nozzle, and then… the light surged at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye! “Vroom—!”

It wasn't the deafening roar of a traditional jet engine, but a deep, soul-piercing hum.

The ground vibrated slightly, and Xiao Chen felt his heart beating in sync with the vibration.

Through the specially reinforced glass curtain wall, one can see the eerie blue light at the engine's tail quickly stabilize, forming an incredibly solid, almost pure white plasma jet.

The jet of air was perfectly still, as stable as a solid, but the distorted air around it revealed the terrifying energy it contained.

"This...this is impossible, this is absolutely impossible!" Xiao Chen blurted out, his body instinctively leaning forward, his hands pressing against the cold glass curtain wall, his eyes fixed on the white jet.

Within the almost solid white jet, one, two, three... a dozen or so diamond-shaped halos shimmered with dazzling light, as if precisely sculpted by an invisible hand, arranged at equal intervals within the jet.

The halo was perfectly circular, with sharp edges like a cut diamond. Inside, there were energy ripples that intertwined with deep blue and bright white. Even under the bright lights of the test site, it still radiated an undeniable and breathtaking light!

"Mach rings! More than a dozen Mach rings!" Xiao Chen's voice trembled uncontrollably. "This... how terrifying the jet velocity and stability would it take to form?"

It is important to know that in traditional jet engines, bright Mach rings are formed in the exhaust plume due to the periodic compression and expansion of shock waves at supersonic speeds.

However! Usually there are only three or four at most, and their shape and stability are far less regular and dense than what we see here!
There were more than a dozen clearly visible Mach rings, which means that the speed of the jet had reached an unbelievable level.

Seeing Xiao Chen's shocked expression, Su Chen smiled with understanding and pride, and gestured to Li Qiwen to project the real-time monitoring data onto the large screen next to them.

"Mr. Su, Mr. Xiao, please take a look! The engine's thrust is currently stable at 320 kilonewtons, which means that the engine's equivalent thrust exceeds 32 tons!"

“Most importantly, according to the feedback from the Doppler laser velocimeters we deployed in the test section…” Li Qiwen paused, deliberately emphasizing his words, “the average velocity at the jet exit reached an astonishing Mach 16.8! The peak burst velocity was even close to Mach 20!”

"An average speed of Mach 16.8? And a peak burst speed of nearly Mach 20?"

Xiao Chen felt as if his brain had been hit hard by a heavy hammer, and it was buzzing.

This number has exceeded the limits of his understanding of the dynamics of aircraft within the atmosphere.

It's important to know that the most advanced J-20 in China is currently equipped with the Russian AL-31F engine, which has a maximum speed of only Mach 2.5. Compared to the current slant-knock engine, it is truly a revolutionary product, just as Professor Li and his colleagues have said before.

The two are not comparable at all; the performance of the AL-31F engine is not even a fraction of that of the other.

He abruptly turned to look at Su Chen, his eyes filled with disbelief and an almost frantic desire to investigate: "Old Su, what kind of engine is this? I heard that knock engines are still only in the theoretical stage, and you've come up with a tilting knock engine, and you've even built this thing?"

"And what's this Baidi Project? Is this the drone project you told the old man about before?"

After being asked several questions in a row, Su Chen didn't know where to begin answering. So he simply let Xiao Chen take a look at the entire Baidi project, since he was prepared to be honest this time anyway.

He then turned his gaze to Li Qiwen beside him and said, "Professor Li, please show me the specific details of the Baidi Project!"

Li Qiwen nodded upon hearing this, and then asked the staff in the room to leave him and Wen Zhanpeng alone. He then took out a key from the lining and inserted it into his personal computer.

Li Qiwen skillfully operated the computer, and the large screen began to display detailed information about the "White Emperor Project" page by page.

The first thing you see is a highly summarized project summary, accompanied by a visually striking concept image.

It was an extremely futuristic and sci-fi-inspired aircraft.

Its entire body is painted in a streamlined silver color, with a flat fuselage and a blended wing-body design. There is almost no obvious cockpit protrusion. Its overall shape is like a raptor poised to pounce, or... a sharp sword hidden in the sky!

"White Emperor Space Fighter!"

Xiao Chen read out the subtitle below the project name word by word, his voice hoarse, feeling as if he were watching the setting book of a science fiction blockbuster.

"Combat radius exceeding 5,000 kilometers! Altitude reaching 100 kilometers! Aren't these figures a bit too surreal?" Xiao Chen muttered to himself. Although he felt like he was watching a science fiction movie, the engine was already right in front of him.

Seemingly worried that Xiao Chen, an "outsider," wouldn't understand, Wen Zhanpeng stepped forward and introduced: "Mr. Xiao, the Baidi Aerospace Fighter is an unmanned aerospace fighter that we have built based on this new type of oblique detonation engine. It is capable of hypersonic cruise and combat within the atmosphere and near space."

Upon hearing the words "near space," Xiao Chen's breathing suddenly quickened. He knew that near space was a gray area between traditional aviation and aerospace, and could be considered a strategic high ground.

With an average speed of Mach 16.8, even at normal cruising speed, it would be at least Mach 10 or higher. This means that it would take only the time it takes to drink a cup of tea to travel from the capital to the southern sea.

what does this mean?
This means that any existing air defense system is rendered useless in its presence!
This means they control the airspace, or rather, they control the sky.

If they had possessed such advanced White Emperor aerospace fighters before, they wouldn't have faced a 5v1 or even 8v1 situation in the airspace battles in the southern seas.

Thinking of this, Xiao Chen clenched his fists tightly and stared intently at Su Chen.

Seeing this, Su Chen's lips curled up slightly, and he said softly, "Brother Chen, let's go to the office and sit down. We won't bother Professor Li and the others here!"

"Okay!" Xiao Chen nodded without hesitation. Right now, all he could think about was the White Emperor Sky Fighter. It didn't matter to him where he went.

Su Chen spoke with Professor Li and Professor Wen, inquired about the replacement machine from the General Assembly Department, and then left the test building with Xiao Chen and the others.

Emerging from the building, Xiao Chen glanced back in the direction of the testing building before turning to Su Chen, saying with a serious expression, "Old Su, you truly created a miracle!" (End of Chapter)