For Meng Hao,
whether it was the obsequious William,
or the self-important Bruce,
they were merely minor disruptions in his life.
His primary objective was to find a way to return to his homeland, Great Xia.
Perhaps, in his spare time, he would cause a little trouble for Bruce or offer a small token of appreciation to William.
There's a saying: a speck of dust from history, falling on an ordinary person, can become a mountain that crushes their spine.
But Meng Hao,
would eventually lead and create history.
For him,
minor emotional shifts
could alter the fate and trajectory of individuals, nations, and even all of humanity.
For instance,
William, or Bruce!
The research center was quite vast.
However,
compared to the desert oasis granted by the system, it was akin to the difference between a child's playhouse and a presidential suite.
If not for his fear of revealing the existence of his system,
Meng Hao could have left this forsaken place right now.
He gambled with his own life.
He couldn't afford to gamble... and the system offered Meng Hao no room for error.
A mistake
meant annihilation.
It meant complete erasure from this world.
Therefore,
as a precaution,
Meng Hao had to find an alternative route to escape this place.
...
After sending Luna away,
provoking Bruce into leaving,
and politely declining William's kind offer to accompany him in observing the sprawling research center,
Meng Hao walked alone in the deserted facility.
This place
was indeed extensive,
but it lacked any sense of warmth or life.
The research assistants were all plainclothes soldiers with a military bearing.
Expecting them to participate in his research was virtually impossible.
Their sole function was to assist in transporting supplies and materials.
In the workshop,
several fully disassembled Tester cars lay quietly.
Meng Hao approached them, observing for a while, and managed to understand the working principles of these so-called advanced new energy vehicles from Tester.
Under the influence of the system, and aided by the blue pills that enhanced intelligence and stamina, which he had exchanged from the system,
Meng Hao had transformed from an ordinary graduate of a third-rate university into an expert with profound research capabilities.
Looking at the car parts scattered across the floor, Meng Hao began to ponder.
Should he genuinely help Tester develop their most advanced new energy vehicles?
Did he look like a complete fool to Tester?
They imprisoned him, and he was supposed to diligently contribute to their efforts?
That was laughable.
What if he converted these vehicles into land military equipment and drove them straight out?
This approach seemed unfeasible.
Since this place had been taken over by the US military and converted into a military base, it was bound to house various military hardware.
For example, tanks.
No matter how a civilian vehicle was modified, could it possibly stand against a tank, the king of land warfare?
It was practically impossible.
If escaping by land was not viable,
could he escape by air?
To begin with,
this coastal area, now a military base, was surely equipped with phased-array radars, anti-aircraft missiles, and the like.
Even if it wasn't,
the moment Meng Hao piloted a modified, air-capable new energy vehicle out,
he would be spotted visually and forced down.
After all,
new energy vehicles didn't burn traditional fossil fuels; they were powered by electricity.
Scanning through all the electric-powered equipment in the system store,
there was no device that could provide both long-duration driving and significant lift.
Escaping by air was also ruled out by Meng Hao.
Therefore,
with air and land routes impossible,
Meng Hao's only option
was to escape by sea.
However, escaping via the sea surface was also not feasible—it was essentially the same as escaping by land.
His only choice
was to escape through the seabed.
Developing an electric-powered new energy submarine capable of sonar stealth seemed to be the only feasible method.
It was worth remembering that
early submarines were all electrically powered... their working principle involved surfacing in safe areas and charging their batteries via high-power diesel generators before diving.
Entering a state of deep focus,
Meng Hao began sketching and writing on his desk.
Naturally, the US had provided Meng Hao with a top-tier, central computing system.
However,
Meng Hao had no intention of leaving even a single technological fragment on these powerful computers.
Damn it.
They imprisoned him and expected to extract technology from him?
They were dreaming.
Of course,
there was another reason.
What Meng Hao was designing was not a new energy vehicle, but an electric submarine capable of underwater stealth.
For safety reasons,
he could not display the relevant technical parameters on the computer.
After all,
the US military was undoubtedly monitoring Meng Hao's computer.
If any clues were discovered, it would completely extinguish his hope of escape.
Therefore,
Meng Hao adopted the most primitive method.
All design plans were executed through the safest and most rudimentary paper sketches.
Only fragmented data that couldn't reveal the overall picture was processed by the computer to derive the parameters he needed.
"First, we need high-capacity lithium batteries... this has already been developed back in Great Xia, and can be manufactured directly using relevant equipment."
"Second, a sonar system for seabed exploration... this can be exchanged from the system store. Otherwise, in deep sea areas, crashing into a reef would be fatal."
"Next is the stealth system... it must achieve optical stealth while also being able to block most radar wave detection."
"Of course, finally, the power system... it needs to have a cruising range of over a thousand kilometers, and the more powerful the better... after discovering Meng Hao's escape, when the US radar couldn't detect his signal, they would surely deploy numerous submarines in a grid search, so sufficient speed is necessary to quickly exit the US monitoring range."
Looking at the pile of over a hundred sketches on his desk,
Meng Hao stretched, about to take a breather.
A voice reached him.
"My dear Meng."
"I've always heard that your researchers are so engrossed in their work that they forget to eat and sleep."
"Look, it's already past midnight, and you haven't eaten anything!"
Meng Hao looked up.
He saw William with a wide smile.
Meng Hao's heart skipped a beat.
However,
it was too late to hide the blueprints on the table.
"Wow."
"You've drawn so many sketches in just one afternoon."
William walked over to Meng Hao and began examining each design sketch.
Damn.
I must remember to lock the door from now on.
How did this guy just walk in?
If he discovers any issues with my blueprints, it'll be a huge problem.