Chapter 861: Pionneer
Translator: _Min_ Editor: Caron_
With a complex expression, Bernard and his assistant left Jiang Chen’s mansion.
Madagascar had just gotten rid of Arrow, but then the country soon welcomed Celestial Trade into its backyard. He didn’t know what this would mean for his country; whether it was a blessing or a curse to his motherland. It was difficult for the new present to accept the girm reality.
The former president’s assassination was quite sudden. The former party leader left no useful information, and the position of vice president was like a mascot. If it wasn’t for the death of the president, he wouldn’t be able to sit in this seat.
Madagascar’s post-war recovery required help from Future Group. Even if he didn’t want private armed forces to continue to proliferate in the country, he had to make compromises on this issue.
According to his agreement with Jiang Chen, Future Bank would provide 2 billion Xin New Dollar in loans to the Madagascar government. In addition to the mines promised to Future Group, Future Mining would also have priority mining rights in its domestic mines. In addition, Celestial Trade would establish five military bases with a force of 200 in Madagascar and be able to legally employ locals to join the Foreign Corps.
On the plane returning to Madagascar, Bernard pinched his sore eyebrows.
He was now worried about how to convince his people to allow Celestial Trade to establish military bases in Madagascar. Fortunately, Future Group promised it would help shift public opinion, so it shouldn’t be too difficult…
In the basement of Future Building, inside Amos’s laboratory, the blonde girl led Jiang Chen to Dr. Amos, who was testing the robot in the laboratory.
Amos was sitting in a chair with an improved Phantom helmet on his head. On the opposite side, there was a “water tank” 100 square meters in size separated by graphene partitions. A robot no different from the human body floated in a water tank. A string of air bubbles was ejected through the joints, surrounding a satellite floating in the center. It was performing a series of difficult and complex movements.
When Jiang Chen saw Amos last time, he asked Amos to develop a neural access robot designed specifically for use in space, with the goal to replace the need for astronauts to enter a vacuum environment to perform dangerous work. Unexpectedly, his progress was so fast that he created a prototype in less than three months.
The robot in the tank looked in his direction.
After realizing that Jiang Chen had arrived, the floating robot quickly stopped moving. About two or three seconds later, Amos, sitting in a chair, disconnected the nerves connected to the robot and took off his helmet.
With the helmet aside, Amos rubbed his daughter’s hair, allowed her to go play on the side, then looked at Jiang Chen with a grin.
“What do you think?”
“Absolutely amazing…” Jiang Chen could offer nothing but praise to him.
Once these robots became available, the construction speed of the space elevator would undoubtedly be much faster! Humans could get tired and must eat and drink, but machines would only require charging. It was no exaggeration to say that the construction speed would more than double if a floating charging station was placed next to the construction site in outer space.
“Produced at scale, the unit price of each robot is 1 to 1.5 million Xin New Dollar, and it’s about the same price as a spacesuit. With just a little training, anyone can use these fun toys.” Amos smiled.
“Can I try it?” Jiang Chen looked at the robot in the tank and eagerly asked.
“Of course.” Amos got up from his chair and gestured toward the helmet on the table.
Jiang Chen stepped forward and put it on his head.
“The connection password is 1452. To start, just say ‘connect’ or ‘start.’ A holographic interface will appear on your retina. Focus on the options and wait 3 seconds for it to finish loading. After that, special function operations can be performed.”
After listening to Dr. Amos’s explanation, Jiang Chen repositioned himself into a comfortable position. He cleared his throat then said, “Connect!”
It was similar to how the Phantom started, but it didn’t connect to the virtual reality network. Instead, he switched to the robot’s field of view. Jiang Chen looked at the robot’s arm through its electronic eyes and looked around again, feeling a difficult-to-restrain excitement.
Through the holographic interface in his field of vision, Jiang Chen saw his heart rate and the secretion of hormones such as insulin, adrenal glands. This was meant to determine if the previous body suffered from hunger or other physiological effects.
The button in the upper right corner was a shutdown option. After focusing on the button for 3 seconds, the neural bridging mode would be disconnected. Compared to the previous model that had to be disconnected with the help of others, this design was undoubtedly more user-friendly.
Jiang Chen opened his mouth and merely wanted to ask: “How do I control the propulsion of the joints?” However, no sound came out.
Instead, what he wanted to say was delivered as text and sent to a computer outside the tank.
“This is one of the difficulties of the neural bridging technology.” Amos helplessly opened his hands and explained to Jiang Chen, “It’s as if I put a pair of wings behind you, but if you can’t understand how to use the wings. They’ll only be used as a decoration.”
“What does that mean?” Jiang Chen moved around in the water tank, trying hard to imagine the propulsion in his joints, but no matter how he tried, the stream wouldn’t come out.
“Literally,” Amos sighed. “The core that controls this mechanical body is still your brain. But you lack something in your body; it’s impossible for your brain to understand this situation without training for an extended period of time.”
Jiang Chen gave up trying to focus on the exit option and ended the neural bridging state.
He removed the helmet and set it aside. He then massaged his somewhat swollen brain and casually asked Amos, “… Well, let me ask, how long did it take you to smoothly control this robot?”
“About two weeks? After all, my brain is a bit more powerful than the average person.” Amos laughed without the slightest humility and picked up the helmet. “By the way, using this device for the first time puts a big load on your brain. If you feel tired now, I suggest you go home and sleep.”
After Amos listened to Jiang Chen’s opinion, the neural bridging robot destined for space activities was eventually given a name of “Pioneer” and would be produced by Future Heavy Industries. At the same time, the space launch center would assign 100 people to the astronaut training center to be trained on this groundbreaking invention
After returning to the office to make arrangements for production, Jiang Chen was yawning continuously and decided to give himself the rest of the day off.
Ayesha was driving. Jiang Chen was just about to doze off before a call disturbed his nap.