Chapter 535
is exactly like that.
Pan Jiayong then decided to take Jiang Nian directly to the construction base of the 004 aircraft carrier.
The construction of an aircraft carrier is divided into several parts: the basic hull is completed in the shipyard, other equipment is manufactured in the research and development base, and finally assembled on the ship.
The current Type 004 aircraft carrier is exactly like that.
Some basic structures are already under construction at the shipyard. Of course, most of these projects are currently stalled because the configuration required for nuclear power is far more complex than that for conventional power.
Time is indeed running out for the chief engineer of the 004 aircraft carrier—after all, the construction cycle of an aircraft carrier is extremely long, and they cannot afford to delay.
If a clear timetable for nuclear power cannot be given by the end of this year, then the Type 004 aircraft carrier will have to continue using conventional power.
That's why Pan Jiayong was also very anxious.
Although he was the chief engineer of the 003 aircraft carrier, he often communicated and discussed with the person in charge of the 004 project, hoping to make the configuration of the two aircraft carriers more perfect and the performance more powerful.
Now that we've finally seen hope, we naturally don't want to let it slip away easily.
So, Pan Jiayong gave Jiang Nian almost no time to rest before taking him away from the Southern Metropolitan Military Region and heading straight to another location.
Xu Lei, the chief engineer of the Type 004 aircraft carrier, is currently extremely busy. He watched the entire naval combat exercise between the Type 003 and Type 002 aircraft carriers.
It is precisely because he watched the exercise that he is now even more troubled.
The 003 aircraft carrier, powered by conventional propulsion, already possesses such power; if the 004 could utilize nuclear power… its combat capabilities would be unimaginable.
Therefore, Xu Lei went directly to the Institute of Physics.
After learning of Xu Lei's whereabouts, Pan Jiayong brought Jiang Nian with him.
Jiang Nian's rank had been determined before his departure: Level 1 Researcher. Otherwise, some of the experiments he wanted to conduct would have been impossible due to insufficient permissions.
Even so, a first-level researcher in his twenties is unique in the research institute.
Pan Jiayong and Jiang Nian arrived quietly, and instead went to Xu Lei's office first.
Although Xu Lei is the chief engineer of the 004 aircraft carrier, he is somewhat weak in nuclear power, so Xie Jianguo is in charge of the nuclear power section.
At that moment, the two were arguing about something in Xu Lei's office.
When the knocking sounded, Xu Lei and Xie Jianguo stopped arguing and looked towards the door at the same time.
Those who can freely enter and exit the research institute must hold a special pass. Therefore, neither of them expected that it would be Pan Jiayong and Jiang Nian who entered.
"Old Xie is here too? You two look... pretty relaxed."
Upon entering the office, Pan Jiayong immediately noticed the unusual atmosphere between Xie Jianguo and Xu Lei. However, since he had brought Jiang Nian to meet Xu Lei, he deliberately smiled and joked, trying to ease the awkwardness.
"Old Pan, what brings you here? Aren't you working overtime to finish the Type 003 aircraft carrier? What brings you here?"
Xie Jianguo's tone was not good, and even when facing Pan Jiayong, he didn't have a smile on his face.
He works in nuclear power, and he and Pan Jiayong are not in the same system. He was very puzzled by Pan Jiayong's visit.
In Xie Jianguo's view, Pan Jiayong should just stay obediently on the maintenance pad of the 003 aircraft carrier—there's a lot to do there.
After Xie Jianguo said that, Pan Jiayong's face also darkened.
He was in a hurry to bring Jiang Nian over, so he only greeted the director of the Institute of Physics, but forgot to inform Xu Lei and the others in advance.
"I'm here on business, of course. This is Jiang Nian, from our military region, a first-level researcher. He'll be studying at the Institute of Physics for a while. Also, with the special approval of our old leader, Comrade Jiang Nian has joined the nuclear power development project for the 004 aircraft carrier and will serve as your deputy, Lao Xie, to assist in advancing the nuclear power development."
Pan Jiayong introduced Jiang Nian to Xu Lei and Xie Jianguo in one sentence, explaining Jiang Nian's identity and his arrangement to join the 004 aircraft carrier nuclear power project.
As soon as he finished speaking, Xu Lei and Xie Jianguo were both stunned.
Xu Lei was somewhat better off, since he had already heard of Jiang Nian's name from Pan Jiayong and knew that a series of improvements to the 003 aircraft carrier were all made by Jiang Nian.
He had wanted to meet Jiang Nian for a long time, but he had been too busy to go to the Southern Capital Military Region. Unexpectedly, Jiang Nian was directly assigned to their project.
Thinking of this, Xu Lei's face was already full of smiles.
In contrast, Xie Jianguo was completely stunned.
Why did they suddenly send someone to join their project? And how come he'd never heard of such a young Level 1 Researcher before?
In an instant, Xie Jianguo's expression changed repeatedly, his expression complex and indescribable.
Why didn't I receive a notification?
After a long while, Xie Jianguo asked Pan Jiayong in a stiff tone.
"The notice is here; I brought it directly. Things were so urgent that I forgot to inform you beforehand. However, I have already spoken with the director of the Institute of Physics."
Pan Jiayong handed the notice to Xie Jianguo and said with a slight apology.
Normally, such transfer orders should have been communicated to Xie Jianguo and Xu Lei in advance. However, after confirming Jiang Nian's wishes with Li Lianzhong, they were both eager to have Jiang Nian come first and forgot to inform them of this.
Fortunately, Pan Jiayong carried the notification with him, otherwise he would have made a real fool of himself.
Xie Jianguo skimmed through the notice and then casually handed it to Xu Lei.
"You're so young, and you're already a Level 1 Researcher?"
Squinting and glancing sideways at Jiang Nian, Xie Jianguo asked the question almost as if holding his breath.
He didn't believe Jiang Nian's identity at all, and only felt that Pan Jiayong brought Jiang Nian here purely to cause him trouble.
"Old Xie, what do you mean by that? The man I brought is being questioned like this. Do you suspect I lied to you?"
Before Jiang Nian could even speak, Pan Jiayong couldn't sit still any longer—Xie Jianguo's words were practically a slap in the face to him.
"Comrade Jiang Nian is indeed a first-level researcher, there's no doubt about that. He previously participated in the development of the 003 aircraft carrier. It can be said that the 003 aircraft carrier was able to surpass the 002 aircraft carrier even before it was fully completed, which was basically entirely due to Comrade Jiang Nian's contributions. The higher-ups specially transferred him here, which definitely shows that they have high hopes for our research and development—nuclear power must be realized on the 004 aircraft carrier!"
Xu Lei walked to Xie Jianguo's side, reached out and patted his shoulder, as if to calm his irritable heart, and then began to explain earnestly.
He was genuinely afraid that Pan Jiayong would start arguing with him on the spot. The man had clearly come to deliver talent; how could he let him drive him away before anything even happened?
Hearing Xu Lei say this, Xie Jianguo's anger, which was about to explode, gradually subsided.
At least he knew one thing: Xu Lei, as the chief engineer, would never do anything detrimental to the 004 aircraft carrier.
However, Xie Jianguo was still very dissatisfied with Jiang Nian becoming a first-level researcher at such a young age.
"If you want to join the nuclear power research and development project, you must show us your true abilities. Otherwise, even if it's an order from above, as the person in charge of the nuclear power project, I still have the right to make you leave!"
Xie Jianguo spoke to Jiang Nian in a slightly gentler tone this time, but he still emphasized in his words that strength is the only true measure of success.
In his view, Jiang Nian may have some ability, but the 003 aircraft carrier uses conventional power after all, and suddenly transferring him to work on nuclear power may not be a good thing.
"Don't worry, Mr. Xie, I understand, and I definitely won't let you down!"
Jiang Nian naturally understood Xie Jianguo's meaning, but he was equally confident in his own abilities.
"Alright, then I'll wait and see." Seeing Jiang Nian's confident demeanor, Xie Jianguo didn't say anything more and turned to leave Xu Lei's office.
This is the Beijing Institute of Physics. To conduct experiments, all the necessary procedures must be completed. Even though Jiang Nian has orders from his superiors, the rules still need to be followed.
Xu Lei was quite satisfied with Jiang Nian.
Because Jiang Nian's materials were complete, Xu Lei asked his assistant to handle all the formalities for him, while he, Jiang Nian, and Pan Jiayong drank tea in the office.
After chatting for a while, Xu Lei's smile became even more relaxed.
He had at least a general understanding of some of Jiang Nian's abilities, and that was enough.
“Chief Engineer Xu, my previous understanding of nuclear power was mostly theoretical. But as you know, aircraft carrier construction cannot tolerate the slightest mistake, so I chose to come to the Institute of Physics in the hope of improving my practical skills and gaining a deeper understanding of all the information on nuclear power.”
This time, Jiang Nian spoke with particular seriousness.
He wondered if he should talk to the system and get a set of disassembled blueprints for a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. Otherwise, with his current capabilities, developing a nuclear reactor would be quite difficult.
It is especially difficult when conducting experiments.
Even a tiny error can lead to drastically different results.
"You're so promising at such a young age! Don't worry, I'm here. Just go for it and don't be afraid of any problems. I'll cover for you!"
Xu Lei suddenly burst into laughter, patted his chest, and made a promise.
Jiang Nian smiled too.
Of course he wasn't afraid—with the system in his hands, how could he possibly lose?
As a first-level researcher with a military background, Jiang Nian's travel permit was processed very quickly.
The next day, the assistant delivered the documents and also assigned Jiang Nian a private office, lounge, and laboratory at the Institute of Physics.
Everything was arranged perfectly.
"Old Xie is really anxious and irritable right now, so he's been a bit harsh with his words, but he's actually a good person. You can go to him anytime if you have any problems!"
After taking Jiang Nian on a tour of his private laboratory, Xu Lei didn't forget to say a few good words for Xie Jianguo.
In any case, Jiang Nian has now joined Xie Jianguo's team to work together on nuclear power. It wouldn't be good if their relationship became too strained.
“I know. But I don’t have any concrete results yet, so I’m not in a hurry to talk to Engineer Xie. I’ll do a few experiments myself first, and once I have a better understanding, then I’ll go and discuss it with him.”
Jiang Nian was genuinely anxious. Xie Jianguo's team certainly had their own ideas about nuclear power research and development. If he were to join them rashly, it might disrupt their progress, and some of his own ideas might be rejected. It would be better to conduct some independent experiments first.
Seeing that Jiang Nian seemed to know what was going on, Xu Lei swallowed back all the words of advice he was about to say.
Never mind, he's not familiar with nuclear power himself, so he won't cause trouble for Jiang Nian and the others.
Jiang Nian went to the library of the Institute of Physics.
He brought out all the books related to nuclear power.
Fortunately, Jiang Nian reads extremely fast, able to read ten lines at a glance, and he also has a photographic memory. Even with so many books, he finished them all in just half a day.
"Calling the system! Calling the system!"
Jiang Nian shouted in his mind. There was nothing he could do; the system was incredibly lazy these days and wouldn't show itself unless absolutely necessary.
"Host, what do you need?"
The system's voice was mechanical and cold, devoid of any emotion.
"The rewards for the previous satellite repair mission haven't been distributed yet. Can I choose my own reward?"
Jiang Nian was thinking to himself—the system only gave a notification when the last mission was completed, but didn't issue any rewards. Maybe he could negotiate a better deal now.
"Data on aircraft carrier nuclear reactors; this is currently the only reward the host can choose."
Jiang Nian was prepared to negotiate with the system for quite some time before reaching an agreement.
After all, in the past, the system always directly distributed the rewards for each task, never giving me any choice.
At that time, after the prototype of the marine integrated surveillance satellite was successfully repaired, Jiang Nian heard the system prompt tone.
Strangely, the system only notified that the task was completed, but made no mention of the reward.
What left Jiang Nian speechless was that the system actually started to play dumb and didn't take the initiative to pay attention to him at all—since the system didn't say anything, Jiang Nian really couldn't do anything about it.
When Jiang Nian took the initiative to contact the system this time, she was actually prepared to be rejected, but she didn't expect the system to be so easy to talk to.
The option provided by the system, in particular, is exactly what Jiang Nian needs right now.
Thinking of this, Jiang Nian narrowed his eyes slightly—this system really does issue tasks and rewards based on his current situation.
"Redeem the reward! I want the data on this nuclear-powered aircraft carrier reactor!"
Since the system only offered one option, Jiang Nian had no choice but to confirm the redemption.
A flash of white light appeared in Jiang Nian's mind, and he saw a thin sheet of paper appear before him.
The paper suddenly rushed into his head.
It was like a bucket of cold water being poured over his head; Jiang Nian shivered.
Immediately afterwards, a sharp pain shot through my head.
Jiang Nian wanted to curse in his heart.
This lousy system usually makes you choose to receive rewards before transmitting them, but this time it transmitted them directly without my permission.
This wouldn't have been a big deal, but Jiang Nian was completely unprepared and suddenly received such a large amount of information. It would be strange if he wasn't troubled!
The headache lasted for a full half hour before it subsided.
Don't be fooled by the fact that it's just a piece of paper; the contents inside are extremely complete.
After receiving the information, countless physical equations and the complete experimental process of building the reactor from scratch were already in Jiang Nian's mind.
Looking at the books he had borrowed, Jiang Nian suddenly felt that compared to the system, the knowledge in these books was really not enough.
With that thought in mind, he got up and put all the books back in their places, then returned to his laboratory.
Although the laboratory has been set up, he is currently the only person there, and since he has only been there a short time, the various materials provided inside are not yet fully in place.
Jiang Nian had never done an experiment before, so he started to do the most basic experiments with the materials he had on hand.
The experiments are graded. (End of Chapter)