Chapter 166: Empty

"Don't worry, Wu Tong, leave it to me. I will definitely bring the award back to our country without a hitch!" Before even stepping onto the actual podium, Li Yisheng was already brimming with passionate anticipation. He had always believed his prospects in life were limited, destined to be nothing more than a humble schoolteacher doing his best to educate the children entrusted to him by the school and the nation.

Never did he imagine that a CMO competition would bring Wu Tong into his orbit, catapulting his career path toward a brilliant future. He had attended an international exchange conference for mathematicians on a government-funded trip, published in core top-tier journals, and now, he was even going to experience such a momentous award-ceremony firsthand. This felt far more wonderful than a dream!

"Take good care of yourself, Teacher Li, and try not to overwork!" Since she could not travel abroad in person, asking someone else to accept the award on her behalf was a sign of respect to the organizers, and if anything unexpected happened to the award, they wouldn't mind.

However, she had checked and found that there were plenty of precedents for proxy acceptance of these awards, with almost no major surprises likely. What required more attention was for Teacher Li to consider everything thoroughly while traveling far from home.

"I will, I will! I'll prepare properly this month!" Li Yisheng rubbed his hands together eagerly. He couldn't afford to ruin Wu Tong's reputation or betray Wu Tong's trust during such a glorious moment.

After sending off an enthusiastically preparing Li Yisheng, Wu Tong offered her apologies to Dean Pan and Zhou Wenhua, saying, "I will probably spend the rest of the year at the Materials Research Institute. If needed, I might have to leave campus and won't be able to report to the School of Mathematics as often!"

Furthermore, if things entered a critical phase, she might not even be able to spend the New Year with her family. Wu Tong planned to push herself from the very beginning, trying her best to squeeze out a few days to go home and visit her family. She had originally intended to make a trip home sometime this month, but that plan would now have to be temporarily shelved.

"Research is paramount. Put your research first, and don't worry about us!" Although they occasionally engaged in playful rivalry with Elder Cheng, hoping Wu Tong would show her face more often at the School of Mathematics, they were broad-minded enough to understand when it truly mattered.

"Thank you, teachers!" Wu Tong bowed deeply in gratitude. The word "thanks" felt far too light, yet only those words could slightly convey her emotions at this moment. In the past year or so, every mentor and friend she had encountered was of the highest caliber—this was her greatest fortune and luck!

"Go on, go on! It is our supreme fortune as teachers to have met you!" Dean Pan and Zhou Wenping smiled, their eyes slightly moist. The child was so sensible that it warmed and melted their hearts with sheer relief. To be an educator, this was perhaps the most blissful moment!

Wu Tong smiled as she exited the dean's office, walking with a resolute step as she advanced toward the Materials Research Institute.

Inside the room, watching Wu Tong leave, Pan Wenhua and Zhou Wenping exchanged a smile, both seeing the same moved expression in each other's eyes. "This child's talent and achievements give her every right to be even more flamboyant—even arrogant—and people would still tolerate it!"

Looking back at world history, those renowned geniuses were invariably known for their willful brilliance, capable of turning the world upside down. Their talent and their personalities were almost directly proportional.

Yet, of all people, the child they encountered, Wu Tong, was genuinely sensible, well-mannered, peace-abusingly calm, full of passion, devoid of distracting thoughts, entirely uncalculating, and dedicated solely to research... They felt that no amount of glowing praise bestowed upon this child could ever be considered excessive.

Just as they had said, meeting such a student was truly the blessing of their teaching lives.

"As for the Ramanujan Prize, I'll handle the connection with India. You're more familiar with Germany, so you can handle the Humboldt Foundation. Then we'll find Elder Tian and work together to connect with the American Mathematical Society. It's rare for the child to need us to lend a hand, so we must handle it impeccably!" Scouring their respective networks of connections, Pan Wenhua instructed carefully.

"No problem. Elder Tian mentioned before that whenever he is needed, we should go straight to him. Let's begin!" Zhou Wenping nodded, and the two simultaneously set to work making preparations.

On the other side, Wu Tong entered the Materials Research Institute. Elder Cheng was not there, so she went straight to her own office next door.

From the moment Wu Tong arrived at the institute, An Wenshu had openly accompanied her in the capacity of an assistant. Together with Cheng Yi, who had arrived earlier, they established security protocols right in Elder Cheng's office next door to Wu Tong.

Close-range protection had been placed on the agenda ever since Wu Tong became involved in this project.

The project Wu Tong was undertaking this time involved top-secret matters of the highest order, so the level of security naturally escalated in tandem. If they weren't worried that sharing the same room would make Wu Tong uncomfortable and disrupt her research, their best option would have been to stand guard right inside Wu Tong's office.

Fortunately, Elder Cheng's institute had been thoroughly combed and secured by security teams countless times since the advent of the T4 titanium-aluminum alloy, and safety was managed by the security department. Basic security within the institute was guaranteed, so they weren't in such a tense state that they had to shadow her every step.

Wu Tong turned on her work computer, logged into the internal system, and using the connection provided by President Hua Yanxing, entered her password and command codes to log into the database of the 624th Institute.

In addition to the connection, President Hua had thoughtfully provided her with a detailed order list for reviewing materials, saving Wu Tong from the need to search for a needle in a haystack. She could begin studying straight from the beginning. This truly helped Wu Tong immensely, sparing her time-wasting filtering and allowing her to dive straight into learning.

Wu Tong still wanted to go home for the New Year, so she mentally wound herself up, eager to finalize the project as soon as possible—ideally in time to contribute to the New Year gifts for the nation.

Compressing her schedule, aside from sleeping, washing up, and morning exercises, Wu Tong spent roughly from seven in the morning until eleven at night studying and researching inside her office at the institute.

Maintaining fourteen to fifteen hours of study every day, Wu Tong thoroughly studied and researched the entire knowledge domain associated with the missile institute, as well as all technological sectors involved in Chinese air-to-air missiles from their inception to the current series under development, all within half a month.

Ingesting this vast ocean of information allowed Wu Tong to truly gain a comprehensive mastery of the missile field.

Air-to-air missiles, as the name implies, are missiles launched from aircraft to attack aerial targets. They are one of the primary weapons for fighter jets, and are also used as air combat weapons for fighter-bombers, ground-attack aircraft, and helicopters.

Theoretically, they can also serve as self-defense weapons for military aircraft such as tankers and early warning aircraft.

An air-to-air missile consists of a guidance system, a warhead, a fuze, a propulsion system, a missile body, and control surfaces. Together with airborne fire control, launching devices, and testing equipment, they constitute an air-to-air missile weapon system.

Compared to surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles, air-to-air missiles boast rapid reaction times, excellent maneuverability, small dimensions, light weight, and flexible, convenient deployment. Compared with aircraft autocannons, they offer the advantages of longer range, high hit accuracy, and devastating firepower, making them formidable suppression weapons against the enemy.

Formidable combat effectiveness, beyond-visual-range capability, and anti-jamming technology are paramount among these. Beyond-visual-range capability requires a powerful propulsion system and superior airframe design; formidable combat effectiveness is provided by the warhead and equipment; anti-jamming and high hit accuracy are both critically dependent on the guidance system!