As he thought this, Fred habitually patted his younger sister's head and smiled. "Alright, get up and go take a bath."
Upon hearing this, everyone around them instinctively glanced down at themselves. Though they'd known each other for some time now, could his brother complex be any more obvious? Fred had just finished sparring with all three of them, yet he hadn't told any of them to go wash up. But with Flay, he treated her like some precious treasure.
Flay's face flushed red at his words, and she shot her brother a glare. "I don't need to."
"Alright." Fred wasn't upset at being contradicted. He simply felt that Flay had reached the age where she'd become shy about such things - probably just embarrassed about being doted on by her brother in front of her friends.
"It seems some adjustments are needed," Fred muttered to himself. Raising children was indeed a profound art. Though he had no prior experience, here he desperately needed to learn, especially since there were quite a few children to look after.
Fred scanned the group of children before him, then corrected himself - calling them children wasn't quite right anymore. At ten years old, they could properly be called youths now.
Looking at this future all-star lineup of PLANT before him, Fred continued, "That's all for today's lesson. Tomorrow is your field trip to the Agricultural Research Institute, don't forget."
"Understood," they responded to Fred's words before filing out one after another.
Watching their obedient retreating figures, Fred felt a surge of satisfaction well up inside him. How well-behaved they were. Though the future remained uncertain, they clearly respected him. Moreover, they had apparently kept what he'd mentioned about retirement to themselves, not reporting it to their parents. Gaining the trust of these core figures who would dominate future battlefields would provide significant assistance for his own future, not to mention he was steadily improving himself as well.
With these thoughts, Fred didn't waste any time after seeing everyone off and returned directly to his study.
...
"Director Freed, our final test has been scheduled!" Heinline's voice came from the other side of the screen. "Representative Jiuer has set the date - one week from now."
Though this was good news, Heinline's face showed no smile. Instead, he looked grave and somewhat helpless, quite different from his usual calm demeanor. He quickly explained the reason for this.
"Director Freed, our simulations for the final test have revealed one remaining problem."
"Yes, I've seen what you're referring to."
Fred nodded.
Aside from video communication, their progress had been continuously synchronized through the internal network. Otherwise, the progress wouldn't have been this rapid.
Moreover, this issue was quite troublesome and couldn't be resolved casually.
"The pulse generated at the moment of engine ignition transmits through the battleship's keel to the interface of the forward catapult deck. The engine's resonance frequency will superimpose with the energy storage cycle of the catapult."
As Fred spoke, his fingers tapped on the keyboard, yet his expression showed no particular gravity.
Seeing Fred's completely relaxed demeanor on the screen, Heinline was puzzled. This was a major problem—a sudden and significant one.
"But we're assuming the catapulting of high-mass fighters. As far as I know, we currently don't have anything with that kind of mass..." Martha, who was also in the communication, began to voice her discontent but was interrupted by Heinline.
"The data was provided by Representative Jiuer. It can't be wrong."
Their challenge was straightforward: the mass of the fighters or other objects to be catapulted was too large, requiring greater thrust, which overall affected the power reactor and caused numerical deviations.
The data was staggering—the mass for a single catapult equaled that of five or six work pods.
But as Heinline said, the data came from Jiuer's side, so it must be accurate.
If new battleships were under development, then research on new high-mass fighters seemed entirely plausible.
Hearing this, the group felt both excitement and concern. They were thrilled by PLANT's capabilities but dismayed that such a minor detail could set their research back significantly.
While others were troubled, Fred felt a surge of excitement. He knew exactly what it was—the MS.
According to what Jiuer had implied, once his research was completed, he would likely catch a glimpse of the MS.
Of course, it hadn't been explicitly stated, but with the mass data already provided, it was clear a concrete plan was in place. Any later, and the MS might already be developed.
Still, these past three months hadn't been wasted.
As the others engaged in heated discussion, Fred glanced at his data panel:
[Aerospace Engineering (Proficient) 10.87/100]
[Structural Engineering (Proficient) 10.33/100]
His skills had been steadily improving over time. Once he gained access to MS knowledge, he believed his progress would accelerate, and he could also increase his proficiency with MS.
The thought made Fred's heartbeat quicken.
Just as Fred was envisioning the future, Heinline followed up, "Director Freed, where do you think we should start?"
"Hmm."
Heinline's words successfully brought the young man back to the present. Clearing his throat lightly, Fred spoke under the eager gazes of the others, "Based on this catapult mass calculation, after three consecutive maximum-speed catapults, resonance will cause the initial velocity of the fourth fighter's catapult to deviate."
A heavy silence fell over the room after Fred's words. As he had pointed out, this error was far more critical than they had imagined.
They had overcome many challenges along the way, but this problem emerged suddenly and came with a time limit.
"Why didn't Heinline go ask in advance?"
"Will we have enough time?"
"Should we postpone the final test?"
Franji pressed seriously with consecutive questions.
Upon hearing this, Heinline rolled his eyes internally.
Why didn't he ask earlier? If Jiuer's representative wasn't volunteering information, was he supposed to chase after them asking if there were any latest developments?
Why don't you go ask Jiuer yourself what our secret weapon is?
This just proved how difficult it was to work for others - being this deputy director was even harder, since he essentially existed to take the blame.