355: Chapter 354 Foreword

Donghai City, Subspace Technology.

Lin Junfeng was sitting in his office on the third floor, carefully reviewing a document in his hands.

Opposite him sat a somewhat reserved young man.

"Zhao Cheng, you don't need to be nervous. You've done very well; the company's poor sales performance has no necessary connection to our products."

Lin Junfeng put down the document, looked at the young Zhao Cheng opposite him, and comforted him with a smile: "Besides, compared to before, hasn't there already been a significant improvement?"

Zhao Cheng shook his head and said: "This is all thanks to Manager Wang. I haven't made any innovations based on the data Manager Wang gave me, and I haven't even achieved the slightest improvement in the data."

Lin Junfeng laughed: "If everyone could improve Manager Wang's technical data, would I have had any need to sell the factory in the first place? Being able to produce it is already quite good, and Manager Wang is very satisfied."

Seeing that Zhao Cheng still seemed to be in low spirits, Lin Junfeng continued: "What you need to do now is to fully master the technology Manager Wang gave you and understand the technical principles. Manager Wang said that if you can do that, he has more important tasks to entrust to you."

"Really?" Zhao Cheng's eyes lit up.

"Why would I lie to you?" Lin Junfeng was in a good mood and said: "But before that, you need a little help."

Lin Junfeng turned his head to look at the corner and called out: "Zero."

A zero egg took off from its charging base and landed on Lin Junfeng's desk.

"You recognize what this is, so I won't introduce it much. This is something Manager Wang specifically instructed me to give you."

"For me?" Zhao Cheng was stunned. All his focus was on research, and he had no interest in Artificial Intelligence or anything of the sort.

"Yes." Lin Junfeng nodded: "Not just you, everyone in the head office, including myself, as well as some special technical personnel, have been equipped with a zero egg. Manager Wang's intention is to equip everyone in the company with a zero egg in the future."

Zhao Cheng was stunned again and looked at the zero egg. In his impression, this thing was just an entertainment device. The zero egg was powerful, but at this stage, other than chatting to relieve boredom and assisting with some uncomplicated matters, it didn't seem to be of any particular help to research.

"This might be how Manager Wang will manage our company in the future." Lin Junfeng looked at Zhao Cheng and smiled: "I know your heart is only in research and you aren't interested in these things, but life has many pleasures besides research, and the zero egg is one of them. If you interact with it more, you might find it beneficial."

"As for help..." Lin Junfeng pointed to the zero egg in front of him: "The latest system update for the zero egg has added new functions. Our factory only has one testing quota, and Manager Wang specifically designated it for you. You can test it thoroughly after you go back. If there are any issues, report them to me promptly, and I will relay them to Manager Wang."

"Understood." Since things had reached this point, Zhao Cheng couldn't say anything else. He gently picked up the zero egg: "Manager Lin, I'll go get busy then."

"Yes, alright." Lin Junfeng nodded, picked up the document on the desk again, and was just about to study the data when a message popped up on his phone screen.

After a quick glance, Lin Junfeng was momentarily stunned, then revealed a helpless smile.

"Zhao Cheng." Zhao Cheng, who had just reached the door, paused.

"Could you help me pass on a notification?" Lin Junfeng put down the document, looked up, and said: "Tell everyone to put down their work, go home and change clothes. We'll gather at the Sanqianli Restaurant at eight o'clock tonight."

"Friendly tip: you can bring family members."

"Go home? Bring family members?" Zhao Cheng was slightly taken aback: "Manager Lin, is this for an end-of-year review?"

"Something like that." Lin Junfeng looked up and said with a smile: "Go notify them quickly. Tell the guys to dress up sharply. Their clothes can be ragged, but their spirits must be high. If anyone makes me lose face, don't blame me for deducting their bonus."

Zhao Cheng realized what was happening, nodded repeatedly, and then ran out of the office.

Lin Junfeng smiled and shook his head, looked down at his own clothes, and muttered: "I need to change into new clothes too."

Meanwhile. Shancheng, First Equipment Factory.

The originally dilapidated factory building had completely changed. The rusty exterior had been repainted, the nondescript appearance had been redesigned, and even the huge holes opened up by Wang Jie and the others had been fitted with massive guillotine-style alloy doors.

As for the inside of the factory, it had changed even more. According to Wang Shuo's design requirements, this factory had been completely transformed into a fully enclosed, intelligent facility. None of the equipment required human operation, and the only feed and discharge ports were for adding raw materials and transporting finished products.

All human labor needed to do was perform an initial sorting of raw materials and transport them into the feed ports. For everything else, even loading and unloading, there was no need to worry. The specially customized, massive mechanical grippers above the feed port operation platform would automatically complete the loading and unloading, and other small mechanical arms would complete the detailed sorting.

Whether it was the ground tracks or the overhead tracks, they would transport these sorted raw materials to their designated locations in the shortest possible time. Countless complex assembly lines would start simultaneously, completing all processing tasks according to the established procedures, until the finished product appeared intact in the testing area.

After a simple test, the qualified products would be transported to the packaging area and then sent to the shipping warehouse. The entire process sounded simple and no different from an ordinary factory, but... if you removed all human participation from these processes, maximized the compression of spatial volume, increased space utilization, and concentrated all functions into a small factory building through complex design, the resulting feeling could not be summed up by the word "shocking."

At least, Factory Manager Zhou was very shocked now. Looking around, the factory, filled with white, was clean and new. Rows of equipment and mechanical arms were arranged quietly, countless mechanical arms moved orderly on the ground track system, and dense swarms of transport robots shuttled back and forth in the overhead track system.

If not for the time on his phone being correct, he would have even thought he had traveled twenty years into the future. Was this the kind of factory a 2018 facility should be?

Taking a deep breath, Factory Manager Zhou could somewhat understand why the technical personnel at Subspace Technology in Donghai City were so admiring of Wang Shuo. This factory brought him more shock than the Exoskeleton had.

Taking a deep breath, Factory Manager Zhou said softly: "Zero, has all the work been prepared?"

Beside him, a zero egg floated. Upon hearing this, it emitted a gentle male voice: "Yes, Factory Manager Zhou. All parts of the system are ready and can be activated at any time."

"Your relevant permissions as the Factory Manager of the First Equipment Factory have been issued to device number 0000327. This device will automatically bind to you and cannot be actively unbound. Now, you can select the product you need to produce from the following directory."

As the voice finished, a list appeared on the screen of the zero egg, with only three options. "Type K-001." "Type KD-001." "Type KDD-001."

Factory Manager Zhou was slightly stunned. What was going on with showing only the model numbers and not the specific information? How was he supposed to choose?

"Zero, what are these things?"

Zero replied: "Factory Manager Zhou, according to relevant confidentiality document requirements, detailed descriptions of the above products are temporarily unavailable. If you need to query their specific types and performance parameters, you need to have Mr. Wang Shuo review and approve it. Would you like to send the request now?"

"Forget it." Factory Manager Zhou shook his head and asked: "Then how should I formulate a production plan? Which one is better to produce first?"

"The production plans for the above product types do not require your adjustment. You can view the production progress at any time and perform basic maintenance on the equipment."

Factory Manager Zhou was a bit speechless. Fine, he, the factory manager, was really just a mascot; other than being able to look, he couldn't do anything. He didn't have much resistance to this; the products behind these models involved confidentiality issues, which was indeed a scope he couldn't interfere with. Forcing himself to interfere would only anger Manager Wang, and the loss would outweigh the gain.

"Since that's the case, let's start production tomorrow." Factory Manager Zhou made his decision. There were still some raw materials brought by Wang Shuo in the warehouse. The materials were not confidential, and many products could be deduced from the materials; he would know when he took a look later.

"Factory Manager Zhou, the instruction from Mr. Wang Shuo is: Once the system is confirmed to be error-free, start production immediately." The zero egg's voice remained unchanged.

"Is that so?" Factory Manager Zhou was stunned for a moment, then shook his head with a wry smile. He had ultimately fallen into old ways of thinking. The assembly line in front of him didn't require any human labor at all and could operate twenty-four hours a day without interruption; he just needed to have the raw materials ready.

Just as he was about to arrange manpower, his phone suddenly vibrated. "Factory Manager Zhou, new message." Before Factory Manager Zhou could even look, the zero egg beside him reported: "From Mr. Wang Shuo." It was sent by Wang Shuo. Factory Manager Zhou didn't dare to delay and quickly checked it, then revealed a helpless smile. "This Manager Wang..." Factory Manager Zhou didn't continue, put away his phone, and hurried out of the factory.

A moment later, a cheer erupted outside. Everyone was jumping for joy and running towards the factory entrance. In just over ten minutes, only a few people were left in the factory. Factory Manager Zhou stood in the empty courtyard, looking at the scene, and revealed a smile. He was definitely going to stick with this Manager Wang.

On the other side, in the abandoned military base, Wang Jie and the other nine people sat together, enjoying a rare moment of leisure. Behind them, a row of ten Exoskeletons stood quietly, the blue lights on their chests flickering slowly, looking very peaceful.

Casually throwing down a card, Wang Jie turned to look at the nearby construction site. Six-legged robots of various sizes, like diligent ants, constantly shuttled between the construction site and the tunnel. The sparks that occasionally appeared in the distance proved that these guys were not slacking off.

"I've lived for thirty years, and I never thought that being a construction worker could be this easy." Someone in the crowd saw Wang Jie look up, glanced at the six-legged robots in the distance, and said with a smile.

"Well, I have you beat. I never thought I would be a construction worker, and I never expected to be doing it with such relish." Another engineer also responded with a smile.

"Alright you guys, you've only had a few days of peace and you're already getting cocky." Jiang Jun said irritably: "Without the Exoskeleton, none of you can carry anything on your shoulders or lift anything with your hands; you're useless at everything."

"We weren't meant for this in the first place." A younger engineer said with a smile: "If Manager Wang hadn't forced us into it, I wouldn't even know I had a talent for being an electric welder."

"Haha, I didn't know I had a talent for being a mason either." "This... I'm not good at leveling terrain either..." One after another, the engineers joked, and the atmosphere was relaxed and joyful.

Wang Jie smiled from the side without saying anything; he understood everyone's thoughts very well. After doing what they originally thought was drudgery for a few days, they realized it wasn't bitter at all, but rather a kind of enjoyment. Anyone would sigh a couple of times, and there was no malice whatsoever.

The laughter stopped, and everyone was silent for a moment. Someone asked: "Everyone, we're all from the same trench, so we can talk about anything..." This engineer whispered: "What do you think of this company?"

"What do you think?" Jiang Jun pointed to the Exoskeletons behind them: "What do you think?"

"I think it's good too." The engineer who spoke chuckled and said: "I mean, since this company is so good, shouldn't we also make some plans for our future?"

"What do you mean?" Someone asked. "Everyone." The engineer's voice lowered further: "This is an Exoskeleton, a real Exoskeleton, something that might be more advanced than the Exoskeletons of other countries in the world. If we could research even a little bit..."

Wang Jie frowned: "Yang Qi, do you want to steal Manager Wang's design?"

"How would I dare to steal Manager Wang's design." The engineer said sheepishly: "I mean, we could discuss it with Manager Wang and organize a tutorial class, how about that? If my calculations are correct, this thing is likely the future research direction for light Weapon."

"Everyone, do you want to spend your whole lives designing a few crappy guns?" As soon as this sentence was spoken, even Wang Jie fell silent. Who couldn't see these issues? But the problem is, if you want to learn, will they teach you? After all, this is their property; it's already quite good that they let you use it, and you still want to learn? These days, if you teach your apprentice, the master will only end up worse off.

"What are you planning to do?" Someone said in a dry voice: "I'll say this first: I absolutely cannot do anything that offends Manager Wang. One must have a conscience."

"Naturally not." The engineer said with a smile: "Manager Wang saved my wife and children, and the back pay made me come alive again. How could I ever betray him? What I'm saying is that we need to be more proactive, just like when we first entered this industry. Back then, weren't we working tirelessly and being humble just to learn a little more craft from our masters?"

"What's the matter, everyone? Could we do it back then, but we can't do it now?" Everyone thought silently, and no one spoke.

"Let me state my judgment first. Everyone, I can't speak for others, but here with Manager Wang, not learning is equivalent to suicide." The engineer said with a determined face: "Forgive my bluntness, everyone, but in five years, everyone here will lose their value because we won't be able to keep up with the company's pace!"

"Only by continuing to learn, learning the latest things, can we limit the loss of our value and delay the arrival of that day."

"I'm in." Wang Jie stood up and said: "Manager Wang has let me see the development direction of new technology, and I want to go further to see it."

"I'm in too." Jiang Jun also said: "There's no special reason; I just don't want to be left behind." Three people expressed their stance, and the others also expressed their thoughts; there wasn't a single one who didn't want to strive to improve.

"Since that's the case, let's work hard. When we go back, we'll jointly request Manager Wang to lecture for us." Yang Qi looked up at the people around him and said with a smile: "Everyone, please trust my judgment. Ten or twenty years from now, when you recall today, you will never regret making this decision!"