Chapter 525: Nuclear Physicist Maguire's Report and Suggestions. |
——Bronze Rank Authority: Unlocked 【★-level】 equipment access, unlocked civilization ruins exploration access, unlocked 【Covenant】 cooperation access.
——Leaderboard Challenge Authority: Players can challenge those ranked above them on the Bronze Rank leaderboard. A successful challenge inherits the opponent's ranking.
——Shelter Restriction Lifted: Unlocked shelter facility free construction permissions, unlocked shelter facility and building merger permissions.
Yu Yuan stared at the three newly obtained authority descriptions on the Virtual Light Screen, lost in thought.
He had known before that advancing to Bronze Rank would bring major changes.
But he never expected so many permissions to be unlocked.
The good news was that his options and channels for improving his strength had expanded.
The bad news was that the pressure on him would also grow.
It was easy to imagine that, with him suddenly landing at rank 7,867 on the leaderboard, he would inevitably become a tempting target in the eyes of countless players.
Even those on the leaderboard, as long as they ranked below him, were poised to strike.
Everyone knew he was no ordinary player, but which player who had managed to reach Bronze Rank was ordinary?
Compared to those old veterans, he, who had just ascended from Rock Rank, was clearly the more promising challenge.
Although Green Forest World had now entered the third phase of the Endless Cold Wave, there were countless civilized worlds out there. Yu Yuan wasn't arrogant enough to believe that the Extreme Cold Disaster could handle everything.
"Strength, it all comes down to strength!"
"As for the Bloodsucking Werewolf research, Miller is fully focused on analyzing the Silver-glowing Blood. Now I just need to wait for his final results. With Jiu Feng's talent and Hammond's alchemy, crafting the Genetic Modification Serum shouldn't be a problem."
"As for Masier's research on Mechanical Armor, she was already analyzing the Mechanical Armor structure from the Ruined City before. Now that she has the Xuanwu Shield Mech Armor, an upgrade for the Mechanical Armor is within reach."
Yu Yuan quickly analyzed the current situation.
"Whether it's the Pioneering Group or the soon-to-appear Bloodsucking Werewolves, our offensive and combat forces have already reached a certain scale. What I'm lacking now is a strategic weapon capable of producing a deterrent effect, a trump card that can seal the deal in one decisive blow."
The first thing that came to Yu Yuan's mind was the 【Dawn】 tactical nuclear missile.
It perfectly fit his requirements.
But the only drawback was that there were only two of them.
Thinking this over, Yu Yuan asked Carmen for directions and then headed to the room of the former Dawn Consortium nuclear physicist, Maguire, and his two assistants—the Nuclear Physics Research Laboratory.
Two soldiers stood guard outside the room.
Yu Yuan raised his hand to stop them from announcing his arrival.
He pushed the door open and walked in directly, only to find three people hunched over the table, doing something.
They were completely absorbed, not even noticing Yu Yuan's arrival.
Yu Yuan quietly approached to get a look, only to discover the three were sketching out some kind of device. On another nearby table lay three thick stacks of blueprints.
Yu Yuan picked up the blueprints and looked at the information panel that appeared on the Virtual Light Screen.
——【Advanced Isotope Separation Array Blueprint】 Rare-tier
——【Gas Diffusion Plant Blueprint】 Rare-tier
——【Production Reactor Blueprint】 Epic-tier
......
They were densely packed, all Rare-tier and Epic-tier construction blueprints, and without exception, they were all related to uranium ore refining and nuclear reactions.
Yu Yuan flipped through the blueprints faster and faster, and his eyes grew brighter and brighter.
At that moment, Yu Yuan truly understood the real meaning of one phrase.
—The cornerstone of civilization's progress lies in its talent.
The sound of Yu Yuan rapidly flipping through the blueprints finally caught the attention of the three.
They turned their heads and, seeing someone casually rifling through their hard work,
Immediately shouted:
"Put that down! Who told you to touch that!"
The sudden commotion caused the two soldiers outside to push open the door and enter.
Yu Yuan also turned to look over.
The moment they saw Yu Yuan, Maguire and his two assistants, who had been furious just a second ago, instantly underwent a dramatic transformation.
Shock, disbelief, double-checking, joy—
Multiple expressions flickered across their faces.
"L-Leader?"
Maguire still couldn't believe it. His lips trembled as he spoke.
After all, since they had been brought back to Green Forest City by the Pioneering Group, Yu Yuan had never once paid them any attention.
If it weren't for Carmen occasionally coming by to check on them and doing her best to meet their research needs,
Sometimes Maguire even thought they had been forgotten.
Maguire was a man who had seen the world, and precisely because of that, after witnessing the discipline and iron resolve of the Pioneering Group, followed by the unbelievable spatial teleportation and other miraculous machinery,
He immediately recognized the immense potential here.
His submission was genuine. He had a feeling that here, his research could achieve the greatest breakthroughs.
Yu Yuan set the blueprints down and patted Maguire on the shoulder.
"Good work on the blueprints. Hard work pays off."
"N-no, it's not hard. This is what we should be doing."
Maguire, after all, had experienced big scenes. Or rather, he shared a common trait with research-oriented talent.
After the initial excitement passed, he quickly calmed down, his expression returning to normal.
"Leader, we've completed half of the blueprints for the nuclear weapons research base. Right now, we're working on the 'reprocessing plant' design..."
Maguire clearly didn't want to waste such a rare opportunity. He hurriedly briefed Yu Yuan on the current situation.
Yu Yuan listened quietly.
"Right now, the core fission equipment blueprints are essentially complete. As long as we find a sufficient supply of uranium ore, we can begin the separation and enrichment process.
But these are only processing procedures. To actually produce finished nuclear weapons, we'll need the involvement of nuclear weapons specialists."
Saying this, Maguire showed a hint of shame.
"Leader, my area of expertise is uranium ore processing. I'm not skilled in weaponization. To turn the uranium ore into weapons, the participation of a nuclear weapons expert is indispensable."
"Also, the choice of the nuclear weapons test site is very important. After all, if any accident occurs, the losses would be incalculable."
Hearing Maguire's introduction, Yu Yuan now had a general understanding of the situation.
The nuclear weapons test site was simple for Yu Yuan—he could just find a desolate world to set it up.
The nuclear weapons expert, however, was the problem.
He looked at Maguire.
"What about the Dawn Consortium's nuclear weapons expert?"
Maguire had clearly anticipated this question.
"The Dawn Consortium's nuclear weapons expert is named Angris. If he could come, that would be ideal. The two of us could skip the running-in period and go straight into the nuclear weapons development phase."
"Of course, the Dawn Consortium's Research Department also has quite a few old-timers with impressive skills, like aerodynamicist Old Jin, systems scientist Liss, automation control... They, like me, were all tricked into joining the Dawn Consortium back in the day."
Maguire rattled off several names. Yu Yuan nodded lightly.
"Later, brief Carmen on these people's situations. I'll figure out the rest."
"Yes, Leader."
Yu Yuan didn't stay long. He turned and left.
When the room fell silent again, Maguire's gaze remained fixed on the direction of the door.
He silently murmured to himself:
"Old buddies, don't say I didn't think of you. Whether you can come over or not depends on the leader's decision. I... did my best."
