83: Chapter 83 Lightning Charging

The next day, Cao Xiao woke up early and was about to head out. Everything was now ready, and he planned to visit that National Martial Arts master before leaving for Africa. Just as he drove out of the garage, his mother rushed out and stopped him.

"Xiao Xiao, don't go out today. The TV station just issued a Red Lightning Warning Signal, accompanied by heavy rain. It's very unsafe to go out now. I've already told Xiao Chang and the others not to go to school."

Lightning warning signals are divided into three levels, represented by yellow, orange, and red. Red is the highest, indicating a very high probability of lightning activity within two hours, or that strong lightning activity has already occurred and may continue, with a very high possibility of lightning-related disasters.

Driving in such thunderstorm weather was very dangerous, and there was no rush to visit the master. Just as he was about to park the car back in the garage, his heart skipped a beat. He had been worrying about energy these past few days. The ten-plus percent of energy provided by over eighty thousand tons of grain was almost exhausted. After paying the 150 million for the house, he had transferred another 50 million to Wu Feng as start-up capital for Tianxing Security. Now, the balance in his card was only a little over 50 million. Even if he sold grain, he couldn't buy much; for him, it was just a drop in the bucket, far from enough. He had thought about using lightning to charge the industrial mother machine before, but lightning was sporadic and not something you could have just by wanting it, and he didn't have the conditions to attract lightning at the time. But now was different. Lightning would be generated in an hour or two. He had plenty of gold and silver in his space that could be used to make a lightning rod-like device. Looking up at the overcast sky, where the black clouds were especially heavy in the direction of Tianxing Garden, he immediately made a plan.

"Mom, I have something to do at Tianxing Garden. I'll be there in half an hour and won't be back for a while. Don't worry." Cao Xiao restarted the car, said a word to his mother, and left.

Arriving at the main gate of Tianxing Garden, he found someone already on guard duty. Needless to say, it was arranged by Wu Feng, and Cao Xiao was very satisfied with this. He parked the car outside the villa and also took the mercedes-benz s600 bulletproof car out of his space and put it into the garage.

"Brother Wu, didn't you go to pick up your family today?" Cao Xiao asked curiously when he saw Wu Feng in the living room.

"They'll come in a few days after settling things at home. The other brothers have gone to set up their new homes; every one of them is incredibly happy." Wu Feng said with a beaming smile when he saw Cao Xiao arrive.

"By the way, is there anyone among you who can drive a stretched bulletproof car? I have one in the garage but haven't found the right person to drive it." Cao Xiao asked.

Wu Feng said proudly, "Never mind bulletproof cars, we've all received armored vehicle driving training and can drive all kinds of civilian special vehicles. However, the best driver is Duan Hong. Before he joined the special forces, he was an excellent transport soldier, and his driving skills were among the best in our military region. He's one of the four bodyguards assigned to you; he doubles as a driver and sniper. We aren't just bodyguards who only know how to block bullets. While defending, we also have to counterattack and eliminate the source of danger directly. So, the other three are Cheng Xiaodao, who is responsible for assault and demolition; Niu Zhen, who excels in close-quarters combat and protection; and Li Quanshuo, a marksman. Each of them has formidable combat abilities and is proficient in hand-to-hand combat, cold weapons, and firearms. Among them, Li Quanshuo is also skilled in electronic interference, tracking and positioning, network intrusion, and protection—various electronic information technologies. With them by your side, as long as you don't encounter a large-scale hostile armed attack, your safety can be guaranteed."

Cao Xiao was very satisfied with Wu Feng's arrangements. Being a passive target was not his style; only by dealing with all enemies would he be truly safe. So he spoke, "That's good. I'm going to Africa in two days, so let them come with me. I'll have someone prepare their passports."

"There's no need to find someone else for these overseas documents. Just leave it to us to handle; we're very familiar with these matters." Wu Feng took over the task.

"Alright then. I'll leave the keys to the bulletproof car to you. Have Duan Hong familiarize himself with it when he returns. I'm going to take a walk around the garden." After giving the car keys to Wu Feng, Cao Xiao drove toward Baiyun Mountain.

Distant thunder was already rumbling in the sky, and it would start here soon. He had to quickly find the highest point to place the lightning-attracting device. The highest point in Tianxing Garden was Shenlong Terrace. No tourists had come today, so he wouldn't be disturbed. The small lake he had dug out was now half-full of water, and he believed it would be more than half-full after this heavy rainfall. The woodland hadn't been developed yet. According to the design company's plan, it would cost no less than a billion to build. When the design plan came out not long ago, he hadn't planned to start construction anytime soon because when he saw that beautiful rendering, he decided to build it exactly according to the plan, but he lacked the funds and could only wait until later.

Lightning was already flashing in the sky. Staying here any longer would be dangerous, so he no longer hesitated. He dug a large hole in the ground, placed a huge silver block into it, and then inserted a black metal rod, five centimeters in diameter and one hundred meters long, onto the silver block. The metal rod was made of hollow x1 alloy; otherwise, an ordinary metal would be melted by the powerful current of the lightning. The middle part was metallic silver, and at the top was a silver cone with a square slot in the middle, which happened to fit the main body of the industrial mother machine. After setting it up, Cao Xiao drove back to the villa and looked toward Shenlong Terrace from a distance. Due to the dim light, the black metal rod was completely invisible, so no one would notice anything unusual.

As long as he could attract lightning this time, the energy problem that troubled him could be solved once and for all, and even fully charging the energy wouldn't be a problem. According to statistics, lightning occurs over 3.1 billion times in the Earth's atmosphere every year, averaging 100 times per second. The average current of lightning is 30,000 amperes, with a maximum current of up to 300,000 amperes. The voltage of lightning is very high, about 100 million to 1 billion volts. The power emitted by a single average lightning strike reaches 20 billion kilowatts. The total installed capacity of the world's largest hydroelectric power station built in Huaxia is 18.2 million kilowatts, which is only one-thousandth of the power of a single lightning strike. The power of a medium-intensity thunderstorm can reach ten million watts, equivalent to the output of a small nuclear power plant. The total electrical energy released by lightning in a year is about 1.75 billion kilowatt-hours. If the electricity bill for one kilowatt-hour is 0.30 huaxia currency, the annual value of lightning worldwide is 5.25 trillion huaxia currency. This is a huge fortune, but because the duration of lightning is extremely short, humans have not yet been able to capture this electrical energy. Currently, no method has been developed in the world to utilize lightning's electrical energy. However, the industrial mother machine was fully capable of instantly absorbing all the energy from lightning. For him, it was like picking up free money. A bit of energy was equivalent to five thousand tons of corn, and full energy was equivalent to the energy provided by five hundred thousand tons of corn. At 1,400 per ton, that would be 700 million huaxia currency. If the industrial mother machine could store more energy at once, he wouldn't have to scramble around. By chasing the power of thunder and lightning every day, he could become the world's richest man within a year just by using the industrial mother machine to manufacture products.

Crack!

Suddenly, a thunderclap exploded in the sky, and enchanting snakes of electricity danced across the air, connecting heaven and earth with flashes of white light. Cao Xiao stared intently toward Shenlong Terrace from the third-floor bedroom window, nervously observing the direction in which the lightning spread. After several minutes, a burst of electric light lit up above Shenlong Terrace, making his mind feel as if it had gone numb as well. He couldn't wait to call up the energy panel. This was also one of the functions of the industrial mother machine; as long as the main body of the industrial mother machine and the host were within a range of a hundred times the detection distance, it could be operated, and the main body could even be recalled directly. The current detection range was one hundred meters, and a hundred times that was ten thousand meters, so there was no problem with the operation.

From just that one lightning strike, the energy instantly rose by five percent. This was just the beginning; this thunderstorm would last for three hours, and fully charging the energy would be no problem at all. But this opportunity was rare. Since there was an energy supplement, he would start manufacturing the atomic energy reactor. If he could find fuel on this trip to Africa, he might be able to upgrade to level three authority.