A knock sounded, and after gaining permission to enter, a woman with glasses and a capable aura walked in and reported to Shao Zhiwen, who was standing by the window.
"Shao, PPDC has received news that a Category IV Kaiju named Hatchet is about to make landfall at sea. They have already dispatched Shaolin Rogue and Crimson Typhoon to intercept it."
Shao Zhiwen was quite calm upon hearing this news and did not panic because of the Kaiju's impending landfall. This was not only because the PPDC headquarters was not far, and Crimson Typhoon and Shaolin Rogue, two Jaegers, would soon arrive for support, but also because he had other trump cards.
At the very least, Shao Industries would not suffer any significant losses in this Kaiju attack. At most, it would only be some insignificant losses.
However, he also sighed inwardly that this year had truly been a year of many disasters. The frequency and intensity of Kaiju attacks had suddenly surged this year, and many places had been attacked and damaged by Kaiju, with even many Jaegers being damaged and destroyed in high-frequency battles. The previously stable situation had suddenly turned for the worse.
Everywhere needed help.
Everywhere needed Jaeger support. The current number of Jaegers was stretched thin due to high-frequency battle damage, and in some cases, they were even unevenly distributed.
Of course, if you were to ask why, in such a tense situation, when the sea was threatened by a Kaiju, PPDC could immediately dispatch two Jaegers for support, then you would be ignorant!
Shaolin Rogue.
Crimson Typhoon.
These two Jaegers were built with funding, Technology, and manpower from PPDC, but the bulk of the funds, Technology, and manpower came from within the country. In other words, these two Jaegers were manufactured domestically and provided to PPDC for use. Although PPDC is an alliance organization, and all Jaegers are nominally under the unified management and combat arrangements of PPDC, rules are rules. In reality, everyone knows that the various member countries behind PPDC cannot truly be selfless and follow the rules.
One only needs to do the math to understand.
In the past, military creations, whether tanks, airplanes, or aircraft carriers, mostly had service lives of at least ten to twenty years or more during peaceful times! If nothing unexpected happened, Jaegers could also be like this, but precisely because Jaegers are expensive to build, and due to the need to fight and kill Kaiju, their damage rate is also extremely high! A Jaeger that can last four or five years without being thrown into a junkyard can be considered an old veteran. An older generation machine like Cherno Alpha, which has survived for nearly ten years, constantly repaired, updated, and upgraded without battle damage or retirement, is simply a miraculous living fossil!
In fact, as the Kaiju's strength continues to increase and upgrade, Jaegers are also forced to upgrade. In recent years, with mature and stable Technology, things have been relatively good, but the first and second generation Jaegers were miserable. Due to a lack of understanding of Kaiju combat methods and immature Technology, it was normal for them to be scrapped or eliminated within one or two years of fighting Kaiju.
Every time a Jaeger is deployed, it is a huge gamble!
Perhaps it can continuously refresh its own honors, or it might fall in the next battle with a Kaiju.
So the question arises, if you were a leader of a member country, would you be willing to take huge risks for no reason and casually send out Jaegers assembled and manufactured by your own country to show goodwill?
Yes, when the PPDC organization was first established, everyone cooperated seamlessly. Scientists from various countries worked wholeheartedly for the Hunter Program, and most member countries sincerely provided money, people, and whatever else was needed, helping each other with enthusiasm and love. Apart from the fact that a big brother in the organization drew a bit too much blood, making the contribution a bit more, the various allied countries indeed benefited greatly from it. Many member countries that originally had little heavy industrial strength were able to build their own Jaegers with the help of the alliance. The blood drawn from them was considered payment for knowledge and assistance.
But hasn't the frequency of Kaiju attacks increased, and their strength and difficulty become greater in the past year? What's worse, after eleven years, everyone's economies are not doing well. In the past, money and Technology could be invested regardless of cost, and Jaegers could be churned out like dumplings, but now that's really not possible.
Eleven years, the latest generation of Jaegers in the Hunter Project is the fifth generation!
This speed of iteration is simply incredible for military creations!
How long did it take for airplanes to go from the first to the fifth generation?
Nearly 100 years!
Even the first-generation Jaegers, despite using the latest Technology from member countries, had many problems, especially their weight, generally above 7800 tons, close to 8000 tons! The second generation was around 5000 tons.
However, since the third and fourth generations, with the same height and increased combat power, what is the weight of a top-tier Jaeger? Around 2000 tons! With this as the dividing line, Jaegers below 2000 tons, generally around 1700 tons, are classified as agile, more lightly armored assassin-type warriors, while those above 2000 tons are focused on enhancing armor, i.e., heavy armored warriors.
The first-generation Jaeger debuted in 2015.
The second-generation Jaeger was developed and debuted in 2016.
The famous third-generation Jaeger, Gipsy Danger, debuted in 2017.
The fourth-generation Jaeger, Crimson Typhoon, debuted in 2018.
The fifth-generation Jaeger, Eureka Striker, which was the only fifth-generation Jaeger in the first Pacific Rim movie, debuted in 2019!
However, the current year is 2024, and in five years, no new generation of Jaegers has emerged, and even among the fifth-generation machines, there is still only the one that came out in 2019.
Why did Technology iterate like an avalanche before 2019, with earth-shattering changes every year, and then after 2019, the new generation became difficult to produce?
Because the achievements before 2019 were accumulated by the concerted efforts of various member countries, who invested money regardless of cost to cope with the Kaiju threat, relying on manpower, funds, and a bit of luck!
Why did things start to go downhill after 2019? That's because the lavish spending of the previous years by various member countries caused internal injuries, and the existing Jaeger Technology could already cope with the current intensity of Kaiju. Without the appearance of stronger Kaiju, there was no need to invest regardless of cost as before.
A new plan to block monster attacks was proposed again. That is to build walls.
Building fortifications has been an ancient human way of defending against Beasts and enemies. Although most of them have now become history, it does not prevent people from bringing them out for use when needed.
After all, if the walls were truly strong enough and could indeed block those Kaiju, it would obviously be much more cost-effective than the Jaeger Program. But all of this is predicated on the strength of the walls being sufficient to block Kaiju attacks.
Nowadays, even the initiators who heavily invested in the Hunter Program before, even if they wanted to invest as before, are mostly helpless. The economies of various member countries are in a slump, the number of people without work and unable to feed themselves is increasing, and the number of people dissatisfied with government officials is also increasing. Ultimately, the Wall Faction was successfully brought to the forefront.
It should be known that high-end projects like the Hunter Program are not for companies without research capabilities, nor for people without knowledge or ability to get involved. Simply put, there's good money to be made, but the barrier to entry is extremely high. And this barrier is something that ordinary citizens and businesses in many member countries cannot reach, so the subsidies and benefits that the Hunter Program enjoys naturally have nothing to do with them.
But building walls, which is hard labor, most people can do that! Such a large project, taking several years to complete, how much manpower does that require? How much money can be made from it?
The public is simple; they are certainly afraid of Kaiju attacks, but when certain scientists came forward and guaranteed that building walls could block monsters below Category IV, and that we could live safely and happily inside the walls as we did ten years ago, that longing and hope for a stable life and work, as well as the repeated defeats and damages of Jaegers in the past year, were enough to make them strongly support this project!
Are there clear-headed people?
Of course there are!
Is it useful for them to stand up?
No use!
Facing the public whose inner flames had been ignited, and facing the Jaegers who had been defeated frequently and disappointed people over the past year, under the influence of multiple factors, the so-called Wall Faction had already shown a trend of replacing the Hunter Program! If the walls could indeed block monsters, then the politicians, scientists, and businessmen who supported the Wall Faction would become heroes praised and sung by people, just like the initiators of the Hunter Program back then!
Although this plan sounds unreliable to clear-headed people, the public, who desperately needed hope and were struggling financially due to economic problems, would automatically block out those problems and think towards the best possible outcome before the worst-case scenario appeared.
As for what to do if a Category V monster that the walls cannot stop appears?
Didn't that politician say there are still existing Jaegers that can be used? It's not like the Hunter Program is being immediately abandoned. Moreover, the walls will continue to be reinforced, maintained, and built in the future!
The main combat faction, also known as the supporters of the Hunter Program, faced with boiling public opinion, a sluggish economy, and spirited opponents, many were disheartened and overwhelmed. The discourse power in the public opinion arena had completely shifted in recent years, especially in the past year. In this situation, even if a very small number of authorities in member countries were still clear-headed, it was already too late.
Such is the general trend.
It is vast and mighty; those who follow it prosper, and those who oppose it perish.
The country still wanted to try to maintain the existence of the alliance and the Hunter Program, but with many member countries, including the U.S., the leading big brother, also turning to the Wall Faction, what could be done?
To support the entire PPDC with the strength of one country?
Don't be ridiculous!
Research and development investment, Jaeger maintenance, labor costs, Jaeger repairs, and new generation construction. Every year, these are dizzying and massive expenditures!
A gold-swallowing organization that dozens of member countries can barely afford would truly perish if only one country tried to support it.
So, in recent years, the member countries behind PPDC have long lost their previous intimate and concerted cooperation. Everyone is quietly building their own Kaiju walls, and most of their domestically developed Jaegers have been in their own Bases for a long time. In the past year, their attitude has been one of self-preservation.
Help is possible. Give some money or resources?
No?
Then why should I let the Jaegers at my Base risk damage to help you? For Jaegers built at our own Base, we are responsible for at least one-third of the Technology, money, and maintenance. Every time a Jaeger is deployed, even if it returns safely, the subsequent energy replenishment, body inspection, and overall maintenance all burn through money!
You say this is an order from Marshal Stacker Pentecost of PPDC Headquarters?
We also temporarily need the protection of Jaegers! We are also facing the threat of Kaiju, so we are willing but unable to help you. Furthermore, you can seek help from a closer Hunter Base.
This is a major trend.
Even Marshal Stacker Pentecost, as the Marshal of PPDC, was powerless to stop this kind of feigned compliance from member countries.
Nominally, he is the Marshal of PPDC, the supreme person in charge, and can manage all PPDC affairs. But in reality, as Marshal, what he can truly focus on and be responsible for are only most matters related to the Hunter Project. However, the management of the Bases must still come from the various member countries, especially the eight Bases established in other member countries, where most of the staff must certainly be recruited locally. Within these Bases, there will certainly be officials from member countries stationed, holding important positions and wielding certain power.
For example, finance!
As long as PPDC still has the shadow and support of various member countries behind it, Stacker Pentecost will always be only the nominal Marshal of PPDC. There are simply too many things he needs to compromise on and cannot make decisions about.
As the head of Shao Industries, he also had some worries about the possible shelving of the Hunter Program. After all, as the most famous Jaeger industry chain supplier in the World, even with a fallback plan, he needed to plan ahead. Although even without a fallback plan, relying solely on the mature Jaeger industry chain, he was not worried about reaching a near-bankruptcy situation like three years ago.
After all, the amount of capital invested by many Pacific Rim member countries in the Hunter Program over the past decade has been staggering. The Technology developed and construction techniques acquired from it are not something that can be easily abandoned. Even if there are a few years of winter, the industries extended from the Hunter Program's Technology alone are enough to sustain the development of Shao Industries.
What's more, he still had Dr. Luke Field, who brought Shao Industries back to life!
Thinking of Luke, Shao Zhiwen turned and asked his secretary, "Where is Dr. Luke Field now?"
The female secretary looked at the tablet in her hand and reported, "Dr. Luke Field is in the G3 Hunter Factory. The sixth-generation Jaeger, Kurtulu, developed by Luke Laboratory, is about to be assembled. He is on site."
"Oh, has he finally completed his big toy?" Shao Zhiwen smiled, his eyes filled with excitement. Although he called it a big toy, he understood that as the World's first sixth-generation Jaeger, even with the current unfavorable trend, its debut would certainly attract much attention. This was good news for Shao Industries!
After all, previously, only national-level entities could build Jaegers!
If Dr. Luke Field's sixth-generation Jaeger, Kurtulu, could truly pass its tests, then Shao Industries would have set a precedent!
The first company to build a Jaeger on its own!
The first company to build the World's most advanced and only sixth-generation Jaeger on its own!
No matter which statement it is, it proves that Shao Industries' industrial strength, construction Technology, and research and development capabilities are far ahead of its peers, making it a unique entity among unique entities!