Cataclysmic Era: I can unlock the tech tree

12: 30.

Inside the meeting room.

Lu Yongchang sat solemnly in the main seat and gave a brief introduction to the situation on Mars in a deep voice.

"Everyone, the situation is urgent! The plan for Xuan Nu II must be finalized tonight!"

As he spoke, Lü Yongchang gave Cao Liangcai a wink.

Cao Liangcai quickly presented the three design proposals to everyone.

……

An hour later.

Lu Yongchang put down the documents in his hand and let out a long sigh of relief.

"Old Cao, let's just eliminate the third option."

Cao Liangcai's expression changed slightly: "Why...why?"

"Um?"

From Cao Liangcai's expression, Lü Yongchang sensed something was amiss: "Old Cao, this third plan, you didn't design it, did you?"

Lu Yongchang gently shook the document in his hand, looking at Cao Liangcai beside him with a surprised expression.

Upon hearing Lü Yongchang's question, Cao Liangcai's face flushed slightly, and he nodded gently: "That's right... this is indeed the plan I designed."

As he spoke, Cao Liangcai took a deep breath to calm his complicated emotions.

To be honest, he was somewhat unwilling.

As an academician, he was meticulous in every aspect of the design of Xuan Nu II.

Takeoff and landing within the atmosphere, atmospheric cruising, and spaceflight...

It is no exaggeration to say that, thanks to this design, even with the same power system, the performance of the Xuan Nu II is more than 50% higher than that of the Xuan Nu I!

Lü Yongchang shook his head with a wry smile.

"Academician Cao, have you forgotten the mission we assigned to Xuan Nu II?"

Cao Liangcai was stunned and stood there.

Lu Yongchang sighed softly and said in a low voice, "The Xuan Nu II series spaceplanes are mainly responsible for transporting supplies within the solar system."

"In other words, the main battlefield of Xuan Nu II is not on Earth."

"The Moon, Mars, or the distant Kuiper Belt are all its future destinations."

"In this situation, do you think the original aircraft design is still suitable?"

"Let's not talk about the moon, let's just talk about Mars."

"Mars' atmosphere is about 1% as dense as Earth's. How much lift do you think such a wing could provide?"

"That's such a waste of space!"

Cao Liangcai froze on the spot.

Lu Yongchang shook his head and sighed as he took another proposal.

Of these three proposals, I prefer this one.

Cao Liangcai looked at the plan in front of Lü Yongchang.

It was a proposal put forward by one of his professors.

The drawings clearly show that, in pursuit of greater capacity, the traditional aircraft design was completely abandoned.

After removing the wings, widening the nose, and thickening the fuselage, the entire Xuan Nu II takes on a roughly rectangular shape.

Cao Liangcai's eye twitched suddenly; this was the first proposal he rejected.

He quietly voiced his doubt: "Professor Lü, with this design, can it really take off from Earth?"

This unconventional design completely overturned Cao Liangcai's somewhat rigid thinking.

Lu Yongchang carefully examined the blueprints in his hand, a hint of satisfaction in his eyes: "Of course!"

"As long as its power is sufficient!"

"With second-generation nuclear fusion and second-generation Hall thrusters, I believe that power will definitely not be a major problem!"

"Only with this design can it shoulder the heavy responsibility of transporting supplies within the solar system!"

Cao Liangcai fell silent.

As an academician, he never imagined that his design would be inferior to that of one of his professors!

Lu Yongchang immediately noticed the disappointment on Cao Liangcai's face. He stood up, smiled, and patted him on the shoulder.

"Old Cao, your thinking is just limited."

"Since we believe that to leave Earth, sometimes we must learn to defy common sense!"

Cao Liangcai took a deep breath and turned his gaze to another design drawing on the table: "Professor Lü, what about the other design drawing?"

What's your opinion?

Upon hearing this question, Lü Yongchang also fell silent.

After a long while, he tugged at the corners of his mouth, shook his head with a wry smile.

"To be honest, I'm not really sure either."

"Who came up with this blueprint?"

Upon hearing Lü Yongchang's question, Cao Liang turned his questioning gaze to the crowd in front of him.

The professors and academicians all looked away, indicating that it had nothing to do with them.

A few seconds later, a young voice rang out from the corner.

"Professor Lü... I came up with this plan."

Everyone's eyes turned toward the direction from which the sound came.

A researcher in his thirties stood in the corner, cautiously raising his right hand.

A strange light flashed in Lü Yongchang's eyes.

"What's your name?"

"Tao Yuda".

Upon hearing the name, Lü Yongchang froze on the spot.

"Tao Yuda...did you write that paper on sonoluminescence and controlled nuclear fusion?"

Tao Yuda paused for a moment, then nodded with an awkward smile and said, "Professor Lü, have you read that paper?"

"That's something I wrote randomly when I was a graduate student..."

The strangeness in Lü Yongchang's eyes intensified.

To be able to perceive the relationship between the two during graduate school... that's incredible research intuition!

No wonder they could come up with such an "outrageous" proposal!

Yes, that's outrageous!

Lu Yongchang reached out and picked up another document from the table, examining it closely.

According to Tao Yuda's design, Xuan Nu II is a standard sphere.

It must be said that this design can both reduce atmospheric drag and maximize volume.

but……

Lu Yongchang's lips twitched slightly.

"With our current technological level, we probably can't build an aircraft like that, right?"

Tao Yuda scratched his head awkwardly: "Professor Lü, this was just an idea of ​​mine, you don't need to worry about it!"

Lu Yongchang gave Tao Yuda a meaningful look.

inspiration.

Another inspiration.

It must be said that once in space, spherical starships may be the ultimate direction of future development.

Tao Yuda's inspiration has been correct at least twice!

"zero!"

"Please help me verify these two plans."

"Stop the rest of the unnecessary calculations and focus all your efforts on these!" Lü Yongchang added softly. "I need the results in the shortest possible time."

The words had barely left his lips when a synthesized electronic voice rang out in the conference room.

"Yes, Professor!"

After receiving a zero reply, Lü Yongchang gently pulled Cao Liangcai aside and whispered, "Old Cao, come out with me!"

……

Cao Liangcai looked at Lü Yongchang in front of him with a puzzled expression.

He was somewhat confused by Lü Yongchang's sudden action of pulling him out of the meeting room.

Lu Yongchang's gaze passed over Cao Liangcai and looked at the tightly closed door of the conference room, as if he could penetrate it.

"Old Cao, we should focus on training Tao Yuda from now on."

Cao Liangcai's breath hitched slightly: "You mean...?"

Lu Yongchang said calmly, "This kid... he's got the makings of a research scientist!"