I started with a portal, then turned around and handed it over to the nation.

Zhao Zhenguo sat in his chair, his fingers rhythmically tapping on the table. He didn't answer immediately, but turned his head to look in the other direction.

"Old Sun, what's your perspective from a biological standpoint?"

Professor Sun Dehai adjusted his reading glasses, holding a newly released tissue analysis report in his hand.

He stood up and projected the report onto the secondary screen.

"Engineer Chen, don't get angry. The problem isn't the weapon; it's that thing is too powerful."

Sun Dehai pointed to a photomicrograph on the screen, his voice calm and professional:

"These are the minotaur flesh fragments we found on the special forces soldiers."

"Analysis revealed that this creature's muscle fiber density is more than eight times that of humans, and its skin contains a special silicon-based component."

"Simply put, they are born wearing a layer of bioceramic armor."

Sun Dehai turned a slide and continued:

"Moreover, their physical stress response is quite unique."

"Pain won't make them back down; instead, it will stimulate their nerves, putting them into a bloodthirsty state, where their strength and speed will instantly increase by 30%."

"In other words..."

Sun Dehai took off his glasses and rubbed his temples:

"Unless you hit a vital organ like the brain or heart, it's really difficult to kill them with conventional small-caliber bullets."

A murmur of discussion broke out in the conference room.

A staff officer raised his hand: "What about goblins? Data shows that the 191 rifle is very effective against goblins."

"Goblins are light units and very fragile."

Chen Yan chimed in, his tone softening somewhat:

"The 191's high rate of fire and large magazine capacity are good for dealing with large numbers of cannon fodder. But we can't always expect to only encounter cannon fodder."

"If we encounter a group of minotaurs charging in next time, are our soldiers supposed to fight them with firewood sticks?"

Chen Yan sat down again, crossing his arms over his chest:

"My suggestion is that the squad's firepower must be upgraded. At least a 12.7mm heavy machine gun should be provided, or..."

He paused, his eyes sharpening:

"Or we could deploy the QLU-11 sniper grenade launcher, or even a man-portable thermobaric weapon. We want a one-shot kill, not to give monsters acupuncture."

Zhao Zhenguo nodded and quickly took notes in his notebook.

"Fear of insufficient firepower, this is an old problem of ours, it needs to be cured."

Zhao Zhenguo raised his head and glanced at the crowd:

"Staff, take note. Develop a new firepower configuration plan to counter the heavily armored monsters."

"We need to assume the situation is even worse. If the tanks can't get in, then individual soldiers must be able to penetrate heavily armored targets."

"Yes, sir!" A colonel staff officer immediately took notes.

"Besides firepower, there is another serious problem."

Liu Jianjun from the logistics department stood up, holding an equipment loss list in his hand, his brows furrowed.

"energy."

Liu Jianjun pointed to the mechanical dog lying in the corner of the screen, its indicator light off.

"In this operation, the Howling Celestial Mechanical Dog became a complete burden in the later stages of the mission. There was nowhere to charge it in the other world."

"Once the battery is depleted, this high-tech contraption weighing tens of kilograms will become nothing more than a pile of scrap metal."

"The soldiers even had to take turns carrying it during the retreat, which greatly depleted their physical strength."

Liu Jianjun looked at the head of the technology department:

"If the problem of insufficient power is not solved, battery life will be the biggest issue for all exoskeletons, drones, and reconnaissance equipment."

"We can't expect soldiers to carry diesel generators into battle."

The head of the technical department wiped the sweat from his brow and said with a wry smile:

"Minister Liu, the current solid-state battery technology has reached its limit."

"Unless... unless we can make nuclear batteries small enough for soldiers to carry on their backs, but that will take time."

"Then let's think of another way!"

Zhao Zhenguo interrupted him:

"Foldable solar panels? Hand-cranked generators? Hydrogen fuel cells?"

"I don't care what methods you use, for the next mission, I don't want to see the soldiers coming back carrying those unpowered metal lumps."

"Understood! We'll set up a dedicated team to handle this immediately," the technical supervisor replied, standing at attention.

The atmosphere in the meeting room eased a bit, but a sense of urgency still weighed on everyone's minds.

Zhao Zhenguo took a sip of his now-cold coffee and pressed the remote control.

The image on the screen changed.

This time, it wasn't a bloody battlefield, but that cave.

In the scene, Lin Mo is handing a bottle of AD calcium milk to the girl from another world.

The girl carefully took it, took a sip, and her face showed a shocked yet enjoyable expression.

Then, the screen changes.

Lin Mo drew symbols on the ground with a twig, and the girl pointed at them beside him. It was difficult for the two to communicate, but it was still somewhat effective.

Zhao Zhenguo watched this scene, tapping his fingers lightly on the table, lost in thought.

"Old Sun," Zhao Zhenguo suddenly spoke.

"Here," Sun Dehai replied.

"You raised a question before," Zhao Zhenguo said, pointing to the screen, "about language."

Sun Dehai nodded, his expression turning serious:

"Yes, General. That's what I've been struggling to understand. According to Lin Mo's previous report, the system granted him the ability to understand languages."

"But judging from the videos we brought back this time, this ability doesn't seem as simple as we thought."

"In the video, Lin Mo communicates with the girl named Alia. Although there are difficulties, it's not like they're talking at cross purposes."

"Especially that girl, she seems to understand some of Lin Mo's gestures and pronunciations."

Sun Dehai walked to the screen and pointed at the girl's lips:

"This suggests that so-called language proficiency may have certain limitations, or..."

Sun Dehai paused, a glint of shrewdness flashing in his eyes:

"Or perhaps the language logic of that world is fundamentally the same as ours? Or perhaps the system is simply a real-time translator?"

"This is a crucial question."

An officer in charge of intelligence analysis interjected:

"If we can't communicate, we are invaders. But if we can, we can become allies, trading partners, and even..."

The officer glanced at Zhao Zhenguo, then lowered his voice:

"god."

There was a moment of silence in the conference room.

Everyone was watching the girl on the screen, who was holding an empty baby bottle like a precious treasure.

A beverage that is readily available in China and costs only a few yuan per bottle became a treasure like a miracle drug in that world.

"This is a dimensional reduction attack."

Liu Jianjun broke the silence, his eyes gleaming:

"Not only in military terms, but also in economic and cultural terms."

He stood up, walked to the screen, pointed to the girl's coarse linen clothes, and then pointed to the herb bag at her waist.

"Look at this. Their fabric is rough and doesn't keep them warm. And what about ours?"

"Even old military uniforms and synthetic blankets discarded in the warehouse are top-quality items to them."

"Let's look at food. Instant noodles, luncheon meat, compressed biscuits—these are high-calorie, high-sodium, and easily preserved processed foods."

What does this mean for a civilization facing starvation and low productivity?