Mr. Arendelle wanted to see Cherry Military Industries' products, to witness the results of his investment firsthand.

As the chief designer, Fernando Donato knew this was the moment to prove his worth. He took out his latest improved Heavy Sword rifle.

"Compared to the previous prototype, the gun body is slightly smaller, and the weight has been significantly reduced. Its current weight is no longer a burden for soldiers."

Ethan looked at the row of rifles in front of him, all named Heavy Sword. He found the name quite accurate, the things looked truly substantial.

However, for Ethan, this weight was nothing. He casually picked up the large rifle in front of him and examined it up close.

At first glance, the appearance of the Heavy Sword was simple, just a long rectangular box. However, within this relatively simple large frame, it had still been aesthetically enhanced. Although it was a fully assembled rifle, the various components were clearly visible, allowing even someone encountering this weapon for the first time to instantly see the distribution of its modules.

"The modular design makes it convenient for soldiers to maintain, repair, or even replace parts. If necessary, they can simply disassemble several damaged rifles and assemble a working one from the intact parts. This rifle can still be used normally."

In the era Ethan once lived in, or the current era of the Marvel Universe, modularity was already a standard requirement for many weapon designs. However, in the world of Starship Troopers, this was a very advanced weapon concept.

Naturally, the ones who proposed this concept were Annette and Selene. It was precisely these advanced concepts that allowed them to successfully secure the Federation's order.

"After further improvements, the Heavy Sword rifle can currently fire five-millimeter diameter metal particles at six times the speed of sound. It can easily penetrate the bugs' exoskeletons and cause fatal damage to their internal tissues."

The principle of the Heavy Sword rifle was to use energy to propel metal particles at high speed. The basic principle was actually the same as gunpowder weapons, just with a different energy source. Even the basic principle of Gauss weapons in StarCraft hadn't changed, that Gauss rifle which fired needle rounds also used electromagnetic propulsion.

The world of Starship Troopers was quite advanced in energy application. Miniaturization was not difficult for them, and the technology to use energy for propulsion was readily available. What they lacked was practical combat experience and some inspiration. Long-term warfare would slowly stimulate this inspiration, which was why human weaponry rapidly evolved and upgraded in the later stages.

Ethan chose the period just as the war with the bugs began. At this time, the Federation most lacked various inspirations, and they took advantage of this.

At this point, Ethan and his team didn't even need to collect more advanced technology from other worlds. Using the existing technology of the Starship Troopers world, combined with their own knowledge, they could manufacture many pieces of equipment that would satisfy the Federation.

Ethan observed that apart from the modularity and energy propulsion, this rifle was essentially made entirely of existing technology in this world. Annette and Selene had merely combined some technologies and ensured they could be used normally.

At this moment, Fernando Donato was still introducing the Heavy Sword rifle in his hand to Ethan.

"Because it uses metal particles as ammunition and due to its size, the ammunition capacity is very high. This is beneficial for dealing with large numbers of bugs. At the same time, we have improved the cooling system to ensure that soldiers can empty all the ammunition they carry before the rifle becomes unusable due to overheating of the barrel."

Ethan had thought the cooling issue would be troublesome. He didn't expect it to be solved so easily?

Thinking about it, the technology in Starship Troopers was already quite advanced. It was not that the development of war weapons went off track, but rather that most technologies became obsolete because they weren't suited for the fight against the bugs, requiring a new tech tree to be developed, hence the awkward situation.

Listening to the various data reported by Fernando, this rifle was already an excellent, mature product. Considering it was to be issued to millions of infantry soldiers, with the current parameters of the Heavy Sword rifle, even if it received no upgrades for the next ten years, the Federation would likely continue to use this rifle as its primary weapon.

If the Heavy Sword rifle could be further upgraded to increase the projectile speed to over ten times the speed of sound, then it would be no different from the Gauss rifle in StarCraft.

Facing this kind of weapon, even if Ethan's team members were equipped with protective suits with energy shields, they wouldn't dare to charge straight into the dense hail of bullets head-on, because their protective suits' energy layers would be destroyed before they even reached the enemy.

As the explanation concluded, several targets appeared in front of Ethan and the others. They were all alloy steel plates. Ethan raised the rifle in his hand and pulled the trigger.

Ethan had specifically practiced marksmanship back then and wasn't unfamiliar with firearms.

With the strengthening of his mental power, the improvement of his physical fitness, and the enhancement of his self-control, he quickly mastered this simple weapon completely.

After just three shots, he had figured out the Heavy Sword rifle's trajectory. After that, the bullets he fired never missed the humanoid target's head, quickly shattering the heads of the targets at ten, thirty, and fifty meters.

"Good power!"

After test firing for a while, Ethan nodded to Fernando with a satisfied expression and then gave Annette a look. Such a good weapon, they should first get a few dozen for themselves as reserves.

Those like Logan and Ada, who liked using thermal weapons in combat, definitely needed to upgrade their equipment.

Furthermore, aside from being a bit large, this rifle had very little recoil. It wouldn't drift randomly during continuous fire due to recoil and trajectory, making it quite simple to use.

If used in conjunction with the various aiming assistance systems on their protective suits, they could completely harvest enemy lives as if playing a video game.

Ethan expressed his satisfaction. This was good news for Fernando, meaning his abilities had been recognized by the backer. Considering the company was already on the right track, it seemed he wouldn't have to worry about his livelihood for a long time.

Since the main concept for the first generation Heavy Sword rifle was proposed by Annette, one of the company's founders, although he was the chief weapon designer, he didn't have personal copyright on this weapon, so he couldn't enjoy royalty fees for it yet.

As long as he could make significant and excellent improvements to this weapon, he could get a share of the income from the company's main product. For every Heavy Sword rifle sold, he would receive a certain percentage.

The premise was that he could remain firmly in his position as chief weapon designer. If the big boss wasn't satisfied with his abilities, this long-term meal ticket might slip away from him.

"Besides the rifle, are there any other new projects in the weapon lab?"

Ethan put down the weapon, while Nebula beside him was still firing the rifle. In this relatively enclosed weapon testing ground, the sound of the Heavy Sword rifle firing wasn't unbearable. The sound of the rifle firing was less deafening than the sound of bullets hitting the targets. This also meant that prolonged firing of the weapon wouldn't damage the soldiers' hearing, which was another advantage.

It didn't even affect Ethan's conversation with Fernando. The chief designer, hearing Ethan's question, immediately listed several planned projects currently on the list.

Including the design draft for a new all-terrain vehicle (still in the initial conceptual stage); a new type of exoskeleton armor with decent defensive capabilities; heavy infantry weapons that could complement the Heavy Sword rifle; and small firearms for officers or use in confined spaces.

"Currently, these are the directions we've set, but we don't have many people at the moment, and most of our energy is focused on the modifications to the Heavy Sword rifle."

This was also normal. After all, the Heavy Sword rifle had already secured an order. Before it was completely finalized and put into production to start bringing in a steady stream of funds, those other projects would definitely have to be postponed.

"The all-terrain vehicle can be dropped. After the Heavy Sword, prioritize the design and manufacturing of exoskeleton armor."

Upon hearing this, Fernando looked at Manager Edward Miller and company boss Annette. This matter wasn't something he could decide, and he also wasn't sure if he should listen to this behind-the-scenes backer.

However, Annette quickly stated her position. "This is also the company's decision. Our company doesn't have much advantage with all-terrain vehicles, and as for the other types of infantry weapons..."

Edward Miller, having been recruited as a manager, was quite sensitive to these business matters and immediately understood why these projects were being abandoned.

Cherry Military Industries was not a top-tier military industrial group. Securing the rifle order was already the limit. The boss was actively giving up the market for the other types of infantry equipment to avoid being ganged up on by the large corporations.

Then, while other large corporations were competing for the other pieces of the pie, they would first focus on developing exoskeleton armor, which the Federation didn't currently prioritize too much. This way, when the Federation had a demand for such equipment, Cherry Military Industries would already have a stable foundation and a relatively mature product prototype.

"That sounds like a correct development strategy."

As for whether this mysterious backer had received some information, Edward and Fernando didn't care. In any case, their work had been recognized, and the next step was to work hard to make the company develop better and better, which was also a way to secure better treatment for themselves.

It was a good thing for the company to have a clear development strategy. Since the boss had approved, they naturally had no reason to object.

Moreover, with Cherry Military Industries' current R&D capabilities, it wasn't suitable to start multiple projects simultaneously. Focusing on one was better.

The specific details would definitely be discussed slowly afterwards. There was no need to continue this topic now.

At this moment, Nebula put down the rifle. After this period of test firing, through her body's feedback to this firearm she was very familiar with, and comparing it to her state when using this weapon before, she gained a better understanding of her current body.

The improvement in physical fitness was very obvious.

(To be continued.)