Chapter 9: Do You Know How I’ve Spent These Five Months?

At this moment, Professor Li had only one thought in his mind.

This kid has solved both major problems? Impossible!

Before Professor Li could react, Professor Huang tapped on the second box and said, “Professor Li, inside the second box are some designs and ideas about the radar regional air defense system. I think they are quite good; you should take a look.”

Professor Li was responsible for radar in the 956E research project.

Hearing this, he quickly turned his gaze to the second box.

He casually picked up a set of blueprints and after glancing at them, his eyes suddenly narrowed with a sense of familiarity.

It resembled the “Warship Bird-MA” type airborne situational awareness radar.

Feeling puzzled, he swiftly grabbed several sheets.

The more he looked, the more astonished his expression became.

The radar structure depicted on these blueprints was remarkably similar to the radar he was working on for the 956E!

He even saw the latest progress made by himself and others on the blueprints!

Moreover, many technologies still under development were already drawn out on the blueprints, including calculation processes sketched in the corners.

“This…”

“Professor Li, what’s wrong?”

Seeing Professor Li’s expression, Professor Huang was startled.

“I asked you to look at this design, why do you look like you’ve seen a monster?”

“This is the ‘Warship Bird-MA’!” Professor Li exclaimed excitedly.

“What?” Colonel Zhang was surprised.

He had heard of the ‘Warship Bird-MA’—it was a very powerful radar system on the 956E, designed for regional air defense!

Far superior to the point-defense radars equipped on their own navy ships!

He hurriedly leaned in to examine.

“This really is the ‘Warship Bird-MA’!”

Turning toward Su Dingping, he asked, “Su, did you design this yourself?”

“Yes, Colonel Zhang,” Su replied.

Colonel Zhang gasped sharply and then looked at Professor Li. “Professor Li, what about your side?”

“Don’t ask—that’s classified!”

Although Professor Li gave no direct answer, he sensed the underlying meaning: the 335 Research Institute had not yet cracked it!

“Dingping,” Professor Li instinctively tried to get closer.

“We were researching the Mertassov microwave formula before, but encountered many problems—for example, during the microwave mapping process... How did you solve this issue?”

“And why is the Loris theory ineffective in practice? We had previously hypothesized...”

He proceeded to ask several difficult questions in rapid succession.

Professor Huang quickly stopped him with a glance and said, “Professor Li, don’t rush. There are still two more boxes!”

Professor Li suddenly realized.

The occasion was not right; some questions should not be asked.

Reluctantly, he put down the blueprints and looked at Su Dingping with a gentle tone. “Dingping, let’s continue.”

Su Dingping took out blueprints from the fourth box and handed them over.

“Professor Li, this is the naval ship command system I designed!”

“Our navy’s current ships have dispersed command systems—the artillery, missiles, torpedoes, radar, all operate independently.”

“I connected all these systems together through a unified coordination and command…”

Before Su finished, Professor Li snatched the blueprints away, and Professor Huang and Colonel Zhang crowded around.

“This as well, this is…”

Looking at the designs, Professor Li wanted to ask questions many times but restrained himself.

These were all core technologies still under development!

His mind was full of questions, but it was inappropriate to ask now—it was suffocating him.

“These are treasures!”

Professor Li’s mind was restless. These five boxes of blueprints were of immense help to their research.

The breakthroughs from over five months combined couldn’t compare to the value contained in these blueprints.

His gaze settled on Su Dingping, and countless thoughts flashed through Professor Li’s mind.

These five boxes of blueprints must be taken to the research institute!

Su Dingping must also be brought to the research institute!

But competing with the Defense Armaments Office and the Navy Equipment Evaluation Research Center for talent would be tricky.

The value of these five boxes was immense and incalculable—both Professor Huang and Colonel Zhang knew this well.

Even more so, if all these were created by Su Dingping alone, his value was even greater!

One man’s worth could surpass that of an entire research institute!

Bringing such talent back would be a dream come true.

The three exchanged glances, reading each other’s thoughts.

When they came to Harbin Institute of Technology, they had been laughing and chatting; now, within a few hours, they were wary, ready to compete for the same person.

Ahem—

Su Dingping cleared his throat, breaking their reverie.

“Gentlemen, I have already built the related model. Could you please evaluate it?”

“What? The model is already built?”

The news stunned the three.

“Where? Quickly, take us to see it.”

They couldn’t sit still.

“It’s in the independent office in the laboratory.”

Su Dingping led the three toward the office.

Zhao Haikuo and the others exchanged curious glances and instinctively followed.

Click—

Su Dingping opened the office door.

Before they entered, they were shocked by the scene inside.

The large office was packed to the brim.

Blueprints used for the design were stacked all around, and at the center of the room lay a huge model about five meters long and less than one meter wide, tilted slightly.

Next to the model were many large components yet to be attached.

At first glance, Professor Huang was amazed at the model’s exquisite detail, while Colonel Zhang felt a sense of familiarity.

But Professor Li was different—he immediately recognized it.

This was the 956E he had been researching for five months!

“Dingping, this…”

Su Dingping scratched his head awkwardly. “Time was tight, so it’s not fully assembled yet. But I scaled everything proportionally, so the details are accurate.”

“That’s not what I meant!” Professor Huang was puzzled. “What’s wrong with Professor Li? It’s just a model—why the fuss?”

“This is the 956E!”

“What! This is the 956E?”

Colonel Zhang also recognized it, nodding emphatically.

Professor Huang was stunned.

If the nuclear submarine was the navy’s trump card, the 956E was its heavy artillery!

When the 956E first arrived, the Defense Armaments Office sent experts to inspect. None of them returned without shaking their heads and sighing.

It was clear that cracking the modern core technology on the 956E was extremely difficult!

Since the 956E couldn’t be dismantled, it was hard to know its internal workings! Without internal details, breaking through core technology was a monumental challenge!

But now, here they were, looking at a model of the 956E!

Professor Li trembled as he asked, “Su, did you… actually build the 956E?”

“I’m not sure. This is just what I deduced based on some clues and my own understanding,” Su explained.

“Recently, Professor Zhang showed us photos of the 956E. Then I researched some related material and found that our first batch of ships were derived from those of Bearland.”

“After studying those ships and fully grasping their technology, I reverse-engineered Bearland’s naval technology and combined it with information on the 956E to predict possible future evolutions of these technologies…”

“Due to time constraints, it’s still just a model stage…”

When he said this, the three were collectively stunned.

Five months, and he had already made such a splash—and he still complained about time being too tight?

Professor Li wanted to cry but had no tears.

Do you know how I’ve spent these five months?