Cost Control

The 100 sets of Kirin Armor produced this time with gold-titanium alloy had actually all been completed at Chen Mu’s Huaqiangbei Industrial Zone.

From the armor shells to the Arc Reactors, everything had been made with the best materials currently available in China.

Even the matching weapons had been manufactured by China’s top military-industrial groups, with quality fully guaranteed.

As a result, these 100 suits of armor all possessed combat power greater than Tony Stark’s current Mark III armor.

And war was no child’s play. Like fighter jets, an armor’s strength did not depend solely on its own performance. More importantly, it depended on the skill of its pilot.

Tony Stark had indeed invented the Iron Armor, and he could absolutely be called the father of Iron Armor. But when it came to combat talent, Tony Stark, as a playboy, could not hold a candle to those Chinese soldiers who trained tirelessly.

Therefore, the combat power these Qilin 1 armors could unleash would certainly far surpass that of Tony Stark, Iron Man himself.

"The cost of these 100 suits of armor is around three million yuan per set. Although that is much cheaper than other military equipment, it is clearly still difficult to equip the entire military with them as individual weapons."

At that moment, Xu Jia voiced the problem they were currently facing.

"So the military is considering this: Can you modify the armor’s specifications and bring the cost down?"

Like Iron Man’s Mark Series Armor, the parameters of the Kirin Armor could not simply be altered at will.

The material currently in use was gold-titanium alloy, so the entire armor had been designed entirely around that standard.

If they merely replaced the material, the resulting armor might not even be able to move.

Thus, the military hoped Chen Mu could revise the design plan.

"Also, the Kirin Armor costs three million yuan, and the energy reactor alone accounts for two million. Can its output be reduced so that its cost can be brought under control as well?"

Put simply, the current Qilin 1 was far too expensive. If they wanted to equip it on a large scale, they had to bring down its cost.

"That won’t be a problem. I’ll send you the revised documents later, and you can pass them on to Director Zhang."

After giving it some thought, Chen Mu did not refuse. He continued to Xu Jia, "As for the reactor, I have a weakened version. Its output is roughly one-fifth of the current Kirin Armor reactor’s, but it can still sustain two days of high-intensity combat. The cost should be under five hundred thousand yuan. However, the production requirements for this reactor aren’t high, so have it manufactured here at Huaqiangbei Industrial Park to prevent the production data from leaking. After all, if this thing is mishandled, the energy it releases could be more terrifying than an ordinary bomb."

The weakened reactor in Chen Mu’s hands was more or less the kind Tony had hammered together in a cave back then. It was actually very simple to produce.

Most factories in China could make it now, even Chen Mu’s Old Dad’s toy-processing factory, provided the materials were available.

So, for safety’s sake, Chen Mu intended to have all of it produced in the industrial park.

For the current industrial park, producing this one component alone was simply too easy.

After all, as Director Zhang had put it, China’s upper ranks were not entirely united at present. It was best not to let this thing leak out casually.

And the industrial park was now tightly guarded by the military—or rather, the God Spear Bureau. It seemed there was nowhere safer than this.

"That’s great. I’ll need to report the reactor matter to the general, but I don’t expect there to be much of a problem."

Hearing that Chen Mu could provide a scaled-down Kirin Armor, Xu Jia could not help smiling.

If the reactor cost less than five hundred thousand yuan and the armor used ordinary special alloys, the total cost would probably not even reach six hundred thousand yuan.

That was an utterly outrageous cost. Just think about it—Tony’s Mark III could not possibly be made for less than three hundred million dollars!

It had to be said, Huaqiangbei was incredible. A cost of three hundred million dollars had been forcibly brought down to six hundred thousand yuan here!

Of course, the main reason Tony’s armor was so expensive was its research and development cost. Chen Mu, with the system, had skipped that expense outright, so naturally it did not need to cost so much.

At six hundred thousand yuan per suit, this Kirin Armor could absolutely be promoted as an individual weapon.

After all, even though Chinese weapons offered the best value for money, a Type 99 Main Battle Tank still cost at least two million dollars—twelve million yuan by calculation. That was enough to manufacture twenty weakened Kirin Armors.

And those twenty suits of Kirin Armor would far surpass a Type 99 tank in both mobility and firepower.

Most importantly, the Type 99 tank could not fly, while the Kirin Armor could fly at supersonic speeds. Which was stronger hardly needed to be said.

"Come get the documents tomorrow morning. I can finish designing the armor tonight."

After glancing at the sky, Chen Mu said directly to Xu Jia, "Right, this batch of 100 Kirin Armors is the No. 1 armor, called the Qilin 1 Type. What should this reduced version be called? Qilin 1 Type SE? Or Qilin 1 mini?"

"Whatever makes you happy."

Xu Jia was completely powerless to criticize Chen Mu’s naming ability. After a moment of silence, she returned directly to her office.

By now, Chen Mu had his own armor, so under normal circumstances, he no longer needed Xu Jia, his "bodyguard," to protect him closely at all times. But Xu Jia had another identity as well: she was the manager of Chen Mu’s Xiao Mu Technology and still had business matters to handle.

Her role was effectively equivalent to Little Pepper Potts at Stark Industries.

So Xu Jia was usually very busy.

After seeing Xu Jia off, Chen Mu returned to his workshop. The reduced version of the Kirin Armor was actually very simple. He only needed to export the data for the Mark 2 and make slight changes to its appearance. What Chen Mu needed to do was simply modify the reactor and install it in the armor.

Finishing that would not take much of Chen Mu’s time. That night, he had an idea: he wanted to convert some of the useful technologies in his hands into civilian applications.

He had not forgotten that not long ago, his Old Dad had called him and said business at their family’s processing factory was getting harder and harder. He wanted Chen Mu to find some work for the factory, or they would soon be unable to support the old workers there.

For example, if armor technology were applied to civilian use, it could be developed within the prosthetics industry.

Since he was his own father, Chen Mu naturally would not shortchange him in such matters.

Although Chen Mu himself was no longer interested in making small money, his Old Dad wanted to earn it, so Chen Mu naturally had to show his support.

And now, Chen Mu’s plan was to design a civilian prosthetic limb—or rather, one specifically for "disabled people"—that could use ordinary batteries as its power source and give people with physical disabilities a brand-new life.