by <unknown>
Kinetic weapons contained limitless potential as well. With enough accumulated power, it was able to fire more concentrated and faster artillery shells. When the artillery shell was accelerated to light speed, it was even able to destroy an entire planet.
Therefore, kinetic weaponry was going to maintain its place in history for at least several centuries to come.
If the Galaxy pendant could instantly release powerful bursts of energy, would it be possible to repurpose it into a weapon or even utilize it as the core energy of a weapon, thus allowing it to unleash unprecedented power?
Thus, Chen Che spent several hours of his spare time learning how to draft blueprints. With the help of the references provided by Little X, he had produced several weapons blueprints which he handed over to the newly constructed mechanical factory in Eco Science City.
Now, they had brought Chen Chen's designs to life using the ultra-high precision machine tools.
When they arrived at the industrial zone, it was immediately noticeable that this sector was much more desolate than Eco Science City. The mechanical factory was the only structure erected in the middle of Namibia's barren plains.
Still, it would only remain this way for now. Soon, the construction team would arrive and begin constructing plenty of factories in the area to make up for the industrial sector shortcomings of Blacklight Biotechnology.
If it was possible, Chen Chen would like to liaise with ASML Holding in Netherland and bring back several EV lithography machines. However, even with the generous reward offered up by Chen Chen in the God's Forbidden Zone forum, none of the families could help him with it.
After all, even the central government of the Mainland was unable to obtain such equipment, there was no reason to expect a company like Chen Chen's which was rooted in the Mainland would be granted the privilege.
As the proud holder of the plaque of the world's most precise machinery, it was even rarer than the ultra-high precision machine tools. Their orders were lined up till several years away. Under the strict joint administration of the North American and European continents, the relevant technology was locked away. This was not something that can be acquired with just money.
Chapter 192: New Weapon |
The twenty-first century is the age of digital communication. Such rapid development of digital information largely depended on the development of IC chips.
IC chips combined the transistors, resistors, capacitors, inductors, and other components and wiring required in a circuit, all fabricated on one or several small semiconductor chips. The smaller they could be manufactured, the more of them could be arranged together which led to greater processing speed.
Therefore, the development of IC chips was in essence, the miniaturization of integrated circuits.
The so-called lithography machine played a crucial role in the manufacturing process of computer chips. It utilized light sources of various wavelengths to execute the printing process using lithography, allowing it to manufacture chips.
There were several classes of lithography machines. Currently, the Mainland only had mastery of up to 16 nanometers lithography techniques while the most refined lithography machine in the world was as precise as 5 nanometers.
This class of lithography machines was known as EUV lithography machines.
It was widely regarded that human vision only covered an extremely small portion of the known light spectrum in the universe, they were "red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and indigo". Colors closer to red resulted in a longer wavelength while on the other spectrum, colors closer to indigo resulted in a shorter wavelength.
Beyond the red light, there were ultra-long waves such as infrared, microwave, and radio waves. Similarly, below indigo, there were ultra-short waves such as ultraviolet rays, x-rays, and gamma rays.
What was known as extreme ultraviolet light was a light source invisible to the naked eye that was set between indigo and x-rays on the light spectrum. Its wavelength span was as low as 13.5 nanometers, which could be utilized to produce chips with only single-digit nanometer-level.
The only company in the world that was capable of manufacturing the EUV lithography machine was ASML Holding based in the Netherlands.
Such a feat was not achieved by this company alone. It was the result of a joint effort by dozens of countries all over the world.
The lens and light source of the EUV lithography machine were sourced from countries all over Europe while the optical components and control chips came from North America.
In other words, ASML Holding was the heralded product of Western civilization.
Previously, the Mainland had already signed an agreement with the said company and planned to finalize the delivery of the EUV lithography machines by the end of 2019. However, due to interference from North America, ASML Holding never made the delivery till this date.
Therefore, if Chen Chen planned to acquire the EUV lithography machine using regular methods, it was going to end up as nothing but a fool's errand.
However, Chen Chen had no way to pull it off using unorthodox methods either. A EUV lithography machine weighed up to 180 tons, the machine was made up of 120,000 parts and required 40 containers and three freighters just to transport it. The installation and trial-running may take more than a year.
Without the other party's cooperation, it was not even an option for Chen Chen to take it by force.
It was no surprise that the Mainland was exhausted of all options.
The reason Chen Chen wanted to acquire the EUV lithography machine was to aid in the research of the T-800 chip. The research staff employed by the Blacklight industrial zone had been researching the T-800 and concluded that its chip was produced using EUV lithography technique. The precision of the nanometer-scale craftsmanship had reached an astonishing degree of one nanometer.
This was bordering on the utmost limit of silicon semiconductors.
Artificial intelligence also played a crucial role in achieving such refined craftsmanship. It was reasonable to assume that such precision down to one nanometer was achieved with the prowess of Skynet.
Chen Chen had Little X on his side. So long as he was able to acquire a set of EUV lithography machines, he was optimistic that he could achieve such precision as well.
This was the reason Chen Chen wanted to acquire the EUV lithography machine.
As things were now, it would appear that it would involve some long-term planning.
At the moment, Cheng Cao had just parked the car outside the mechanical processing plant. Several researchers had been waiting by the entrance and immediately came up to them upon noting Chen Chen's arrival.
"Hello, Mr. Chen."
"Professor Charles, I hope all is going well."
The two men shook hands and headed inside the factory together.
"Mr. Chen, we have manufactured a weapon according to your specifications."
They continued the conversation as they walked. "The only thing missing is the energy source. Once we have a proper source of energy, we may begin conducting weapon tests."
"No problem, just leave the test firing to me."
Chen Chen nodded. The crew soon arrived at the inner section of the factory. Three oddly-shaped weapons could be seen set on top of a table.
One of them was a hand-held weapon similar to a pistol, except it was not painted so it looked like it was coated in midnight black.
"We constructed the body of the gun using carbon fiber as carbon fiber is much lighter than steel. This allows us to minimize the weight of the gun body."
Professor Charles began explaining, "In addition, we made the gun barrel using the latest high-alloy chromium-molybdenum steel. Its alloy composition includes chromium, molybdenum, carbon, silicon, manganese, nickel, vanadium, and sulfur. The tensile strength of this alloy is up to 12,000 kilogram-force per square meter. It's supremely resilient and has extreme temperature and pressure-resistant qualities, it should meet your requirements."
Che
n Chen nodded. He picked up the pistol and grazed its surface.
The pistol felt cold and hard to the touch. Since it was Chen Chen's very own design, he was well-versed with its structure. When he gently pressed the button on its left side, the magazine suddenly popped out of the grip.
What was contained inside the magazine were not regular bullets but oval bullets only two centimeters long and half a centimeter in diameter, slightly resembling grains of rice.
"Since there was the special propelling force you mentioned, we took the cartridge case and gunpowder installation out of the construction process. We also expanded the magazine into an enhanced magazine that can hold fifty bullets."
Professor Charles went on explaining, "As for the bullets, the outer shell is a layer of 1.5 mm thick nickel-plated steel while the bullet core is an implemented lead design to maximize its damage."
Chen Chen knew exactly what the other person was trying to achieve with all the winded explanation. However, Chen Chen was going to have to disappoint him. "Professor Charles, thank you for everything you've done here. After I've tested the firearms, I'll send the resulting data to you."
When Chen Chen finished, he patted the professor on the shoulders. Then Cheng Cao took the other two weapons as they turned around and left.
Unsurprisingly, Professor Charles unveiled a look of disappointment when Chen Chen took his leave. When he had received the blueprints for the weapons, his accumulated experience over the years quickly gave him the insight that the weapons were specifically designed this way because there was a specialized power source available.
The power source could ceaselessly release energy upon receiving impact, taking the place of the gunpowder in the cartridge place to fire bullets.
Based on Chen Chen's provided specifications, the explosiveness contained in the specialized power source appeared to be far more devastating than regular gunpowder.
Charles and the other manufacturing staff just could not figure out for the life of them just what sort of substance was able to power these mechanizations.
After all, if such a power source did exist, its potential should be utterly limitless. It was the likes that could revolutionize the energy weapons industry and pave the way to a new industrial system.
Although the existence of such a power source was near unfathomable, even breaking the supposed laws of thermodynamic formula, not a single soul would dare assume Chen Chen was out of his mind. After all, when Backlight Biotechnology presented the remains of T-800 before them, their worldview had been utterly shattered.
Such a shame that in the end, Chen Chen still did not let them have a preview of what sort of power source it was.
Chapter 193: Firearms Testing |
Spire underground laboratory, Black Knights training grounds.
Chen Chen stood at the shooting range, silently admiring the pistol in his hands.
Presentation wise, the pistol appeared rather ordinary. It was not much different from a regular pistol except its sleeves appeared thicker than ordinary pistols, giving it a stocky, sturdy impression.
However, this was not the finalized product but merely a prototype. Should it yield convincing results, Chen Chen could make it the standard weapon to fit the Black Knights with.
A piece of the Galaxy pendant only weighed twenty grams. Since the nuclear power station had been completed, the USB drive could accumulate enough energy each day to instantiate 2,000 pieces of Galaxy. Even if the output was cut in half, it still made for a good 1,000 pieces.
Therefore, there was little need for Chen Chen to hold back.
If he were to directly instantiate weaponry from science fiction movies, he may be able to do it in moderation, but to issue them as standard weapons for the Black Knights was not worth the energy it was going to cost him.
With this in mind, Chen Chen gently pressed the hammer of the gun which caused a sealed air chamber at the end of its body to pop up. He put the Galaxy pendant inside it.
With a proper energy source, the gun in his hands was finally complete.
Chen Chen's gun operated on a similar principle as regular guns by producing an explosive pressure inside the chamber. It propelled the bullet from the chamber.
In the case of regular firearms, the hammer hit the firing pin which caused the firing pin to hit the tail of the bullet. This chain effect triggered an explosion of gunpowder in the eggshell which launched the bullet. In the case of Chen Chen's firearm, the firing pin hit the Galaxy pendant which triggered the appropriate amount of energy used to launch the bullet.
With the pistol gleaming in front of him, a flash appeared in Chen Chen's eyes as he abruptly raised it and aimed it at a target a hundred meters out!
With a "bang", the target a hundred meters away shattered into pieces!
"Initial velocity 800m/s. Kinetic energy 1200J. Effective range of 150 meters."
The corresponding data was immediately reflected in the test detector beside him.
Such destruction…
Chen Chen lit up. Bullets shot from regular pistols only reached an initial velocity of up to 370 meters per second with kinetic energy hovering around 500J, the effective range was usually 50 meters at best. With the Galaxy pendant serving as a power source, its power instantly reached a level equivalent to a rifle.
Furthermore, this power could still be further improvised. By hitting the Galaxy pendant with a greater force, it should be able to unleash power at a greater velocity.
As for the topic of ammunition loading, since the installation of a cartridge case was not a requirement for the bullets, the magazine was able to load more bullets. The pistol used oval bullets with a diameter of 5 millimeters and was able to load up to 50 bullets at capacity.
If this was a rifle, it should be able to hold far more bullets.
Apart from that, there was also a biometric authentication device installed into the gun. In the hands of anyone else other than the owner, it was merely a piece of junk metal.
It was also able to rotate between semi-automatic and full-automatic modules. Chen Chen put the firearm into full-automatic mode and pulled the trigger again. With a violent gatling motion followed by a round of deafening explosions, the pistol emptied out its magazine in just six seconds!
"Hm, it's alright in the speed department."
Chen Chen inspected the target sitting in the distance again. The target had already been smashed into smithereens. Even the concrete wall behind the target was punctured with countless concave pits.
After concluding the test, Chen Chen extracted the Galaxy pendant and refitted it into a larger rifle.
Compared to the previous pistol, the rifle was far more aesthetically pleasing. It was a variation of an unsupported rifle, holding a slight resemblance to an AUG rifle. Since it used the same bullet model as the previous pistol, it was able to hold up to 200 bullets at a time.
However, the structure of the rifle was sturdier. As a result, it could generate a stronger impact into the Galaxy pendant which in turn kindled a greater kinetic force.
With this, Chen Chen raised the rifle and switched to another steel target. He took aim and fired!
"Bang, bang, bang, bang…"
There was a huge recoil. It took everything in Chen Chen to hold down the raised muzzle.
After ten seconds, the magazine along with its 200 bullets was completely emptied out. The rate of fire reached as much as 1,200 bullets per minute.
The steel target had long been obliterated.
"Initial velocity 1500m/s. Kinetic energy 3400J. Effective range of 1013 meters."
Chen Chen was struck dumb by the newly reflected readings. It had blown all of the manufactured rifles in the world out of the water. The only question that remained was regarding its durability and stability.
Which was to say that with the Galaxy pendant as an energy source, pistols were escalated to the level of rifles and rifles were brought to the level of sniper rifles. In that case, what about sniper rifles?<
br />
Chen Chen turned to the third gun.
It was a sniper rifle with a design closely resembling the AWP.
To optimize the power of the sniper rifle, it did not use the 5 millimeter bullet models used in the pistol and rifle. Instead, it used an enlarged version of bullet measuring at a diameter of 10 millimeters.
Chen Chen extracted the Galaxy pendant. After a momentary pause, he suddenly tossed it to Cheng Cao beside him. "Want to give it a shot?"
Cheng Cao caught the Galaxy pendant and briefly inspected it before responding with a nod. He took the sniper rifle and inserted the Galaxy pendant into it.
"Be careful, the recoil might be a bit powerful."
Chen Chen gave him a word of caution. Immediately, a 100 millimeters thick steel plate was erected on the shooting range, slanted at an angle of 170 degrees.
The purpose of this inclined angle was to emulate the rear armor of a tank.
Thanks to the Galaxy pendant, the sniper rifle did not have to implement a bolt-action structure, it was able to fire in continuous motion. Cheng Cao knelt on the ground. With the end of the rifle propped against his shoulder, he aimed at the steel plate a hundred meters away.
There was a thunderous rumble. A look appeared on Cheng Cao's face as his entire body stumbled half a meter backward. Instead of finding time to look at the results, he began rubbing his shoulders. It would appear that the recoil did a number on his shoulders.
Chen Chen heaved a slight breath of relief when he saw what happened to Cheng Cao. "That's some destruction, good thing it wasn't me testing it…"
Cheng Cao, "…"
"Initial velocity 3400m/s. Kinetic energy 14400J. Effective range of 3100 meters."
Upon noticing the reflected readings in the detector, Chen Chen and Cheng Cao were both visibly impressed. Such power had surpassed what was the realm of a regular sniper rifle, it was practically an anti-material rifle.
