CHAPTER 264: CHAPTER 262: EMBARKING ON THE RETURN JOURNEY

For the four people he rescued from the abandoned city, Chen Xin actually didn’t care much.

From the perspective of recruiting partners for the team, among the four, both Lao Tang and Ning Jie’s roles were just ordinary grassroots auxiliary police officers. In terms of professional abilities or their own qualities, they were quite average, incomparable to veterans like Han Ping or specialized tactical police like Qin Lan.

They themselves didn’t possess any more professional talents, which resulted in their lack of military power if they were to be combat personnel, and the lack of irreplaceable professional knowledge if they were to be professional personnel in a team.

Therefore, for Chen Xin, he didn’t want to recruit these two people, especially since he had already helped them once and they were still pushing their luck by coming to him for more help.

In contrast, Zeng Liu was more valuable for recruitment. After all, she was a licensed pharmacist and knew some other medical skills, making her an asset as a doctor or healer in a team.

However, on one hand, Zeng Liu herself had no intention of joining Chen Xin’s team, and on the other hand, Chen Xin also had better options.

In Xiang Province, Mo Qingyan’s sister, Mo Qingxin, although not officially graduated, had completed all the systematic knowledge learning of medical school, and was already considered a qualified doctor.

Moreover, Chen Xin also knew a "doctor" who could independently open a clinic. His professional capability was more trustworthy, and he even came with a little nurse, making it a great deal with one purchase and a bonus.

If compared to a game, Zeng Liu and the four others were like the clear blue sky frequently seen in the card pool, usable only when there were no other options. But around Chen Xin, he already had rare purple allies like Qin Lan and Mo Qingxin, naturally not eyeing the ordinary options.

Of course, if Zeng Liu and the others could display golden legend-like qualifications and abilities, Chen Xin wouldn’t mind looking at them differently.

But unfortunately, among the people Chen Xin had encountered so far, those worthy of golden legend status were not non-existent, but only Zhang Chengguang and the three astronauts. Besides them, no one else had reached the level he deemed worthy of golden legend status.

Therefore, refusing Zeng Liu’s request became inevitable for Chen Xin.

However, he still felt perhaps he could give Zeng Liu a chance, so he asked her, "They want to hitch a ride with me to the Three Towns, so what about you, Miss Zeng Liu? Do you want to go to the Three Towns?"

For this question, Zeng Liu did not hide her true thoughts. She nodded and said, "If I could go to the Three Towns, that would naturally be good, but Mr. Chen Xin, you have already helped us once, and we have no reason to ask you for more help. Even if we paid you, Mr. Chen Xin, you are not a taxi driver and have no necessity to agree to such a thing, do you?"

"Also, I now have my work and have restarted a new life. Just leaving like this is somewhat irresponsible. So if I want to go to the Three Towns, I would prefer to achieve this goal through my own efforts rather than asking you for help, Mr. Chen Xin."

"Hmm, if that’s the case, then I can only wish you success." Chen Xin was quite satisfied with Zeng Liu’s attitude, and after expressing his approval, he gave up the idea of recruiting Zeng Liu.

After all, since she intended to improve herself through her own efforts, Chen Xin had no reason to stop her from striving for her future.

After exchanging a few more pleasantries, Chen Xin saw Zeng Liu off the vehicle and returned to the driver’s seat, where he spoke to Han Ping, who was studying the control panel: "Alright, we can prepare to depart now, watch how I do it."

"Okay, Mr. Chen." Han Ping quickly responded and readied himself.

"System, cruise mode, forward." Chen Xin gave the command via voice while steering the vehicle with one hand, directing the whole vehicle into motion.

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As Chen Xin embarked on his return journey, in a confidential laboratory at the Chuanchong Aerospace Launch Center, a group of researchers clad in heavy protective suits had already disassembled the isotope thermoelectric battery provided by Chen Xin and placed it on the laboratory bench.

"The radiation index is quite high, considerably higher than what would be emitted from normal isotope decay. It seems more radiation energy is being released by accelerating decay to increase the battery’s output power." One researcher, holding a Geiger counter, pointed it towards the disassembled battery materials, staring intently at the nearly maxed-out reading as he spoke seriously.

Another researcher studied the battery’s core on the table, shaking his head, "It’s not only about increasing the isotope decay speed; the heat energy conversion efficiency of the battery itself is quite high. We’ve tested this core’s efficiency in converting radiation heat to electricity; it’s at least twice as efficient as the Federation’s similar products. Such high conversion efficiency is simply astonishing!"

Apart from these two researchers, others were also evaluating the disassembled isotope thermoelectric battery in their specialized domains. Despite extensive testing done on its performance, and although they were well aware of the battery’s superior performance, they were still shocked by the technology contained within it.

To the uninformed, it’s nothing more than an exceptionally impressive battery, a technological marvel felt but not fully understood. They couldn’t truly grasp how remarkable it was.

But for knowledgeable researchers like them, they were able to clearly sense how extraordinary such an isotope thermoelectric battery was, and how challenging it would be to replicate similar feats themselves.

"The precision of these components is too high! Even domestically we don’t reach this level; only a few cutting-edge labs in Lucia and the Federation could produce similar products even before the disaster, but these components were manually crafted by someone—it’s utterly unbelievable..." A researcher observed a component in his hand with a magnifying glass, astonished by its processing precision.

Leading the researchers was the chief engineer of the Space Launch Center, an elderly man with white hair, also wearing a heavy protective suit. With admiration, he commented, "High-precision manufacturing capabilities are certainly praiseworthy, but they are not the key focus. The most important aspect of this isotope thermoelectric battery is the technology! The technology to convert ordinary car batteries into high-performance isotope thermoelectric batteries!"

The old chief engineer emphasized this point, surveying the group of researchers standing before the bench, speaking with heartfelt sincerity: "Although Mr. Chen Xin claims to suffer from the acquired savant syndrome, not knowing why he possesses such abilities and knowledge, nor how he can achieve what he does, we cannot use this as an excuse to abandon research and exploration!

As researchers, our job is to explore the unknown! If we don’t understand it, we must strive to understand it! If we don’t comprehend it, we must work hard to decipher it! We must do everything possible to analyze the technology contained in this battery!

Even if we cannot reverse-engineer all the technology within it, we must at least create a replica to improve our products’ performance, reduce costs, and deploy them quickly!

This concerns national reconstruction after the disaster and whether humankind can survive this current catastrophe! Such a high-performance battery could herald a new energy revolution! Therefore, comrades, we must go all out, overcome all obstacles, and complete the reverse analysis of this battery! Do we have confidence, comrades?"

"Yes!" All the researchers faced the elderly chief engineer, responding affirmatively with vigor.

"Good, that’s the spirit we need! Let’s get to work!" The elder engineer nodded with satisfaction, giving the command, and all the researchers immediately began working.

Although age was catching up with the chief engineer, seeing the work proceed orderly, he left the laboratory.

After removing the heavy protective suit, he returned to his office, sitting on the sofa and feeling his body’s fatigue, inevitably reflecting on how he was indeed growing old.

But after a brief rest, the chief engineer revitalized himself and returned to the desk to resume work.

As the chief engineer responsible for overseeing all aspects of the Space Launch Center’s activities, even though his subordinates tried their best to complete what they could to ease the old man’s burden, he still had a significant workload each day that required his attention.

Especially in these post-apocalyptic times, the tasks for him to handle only increased.

"Chief Engineer, here’s the proposal we drafted for collaborating with Mr. Chen Xin. Please review it." The door to the old man’s office was knocked, and a staff member presented a plan on his desk.

After completing the performance test of the isotope thermoelectric battery, the nation paid significant attention to it and set up a special team to manage the collaboration with Chen Xin. The staff member before him was part of this team.

Raising his head, the old engineer looked at the staff member in front of his desk, not immediately reviewing the proposal delivered, but nodding slightly and saying, "Leave it there, I’ll read it shortly."

"Yes, Chief Engineer." The young staff nodded, preparing to leave the office, but he could not restrain himself from advising the old engineer, seeing his fatigue: "Chief Engineer, please take care of yourself and don’t overwork."

"Thank you for your concern, but this old man can still hold on, it’s not time to rest yet!" The chief engineer wasn’t ready to yield to age, merely smiled, and continued working unperturbed.

Seeing this, the staff simply had no further words, as for the entire Space Launch Center, the chief engineer was a pillar of stability, controlling too many important affairs. The staff could only advise the old engineer to maintain his health.